When we pulled up outside the house it was as if I was arriving for the first time all over again. The butterflies that had been going crazy in my belly when we’d arrived had returned. Charles’s Jeep was parked on the driveway, meaning he and Zack were back, too. Miranda would also be here. I knew the moment I entered the house they would all start to demand explanations.
After telling us the snow was going to make it difficult for any more police to get here, Susan– who was already starting to act like she was out of her depth– had made several more phone calls from her car while snow continued to build up around the caves.
‘I’ve arranged for you to go and see our local doctor,’ she said to me. She handed Holly a sheet of paper torn from her notebook. ‘Can you take him there?’
‘What are you going to do?’ Holly asked.
‘I need to go and talk to your family. Break the news about Lewis.’ Unsurprisingly, she didn’t look thrilled at the prospect of this. She met Holly’s eye. ‘I’m hoping Jasmine will have found her way back there.’
‘So we can get some answers,’ Holly said.
‘Well, yes. But also so we know she hasn’t come to any harm.’
She had gone over to her car again and Holly had drivenme to the doctor’s house, coming inside with me, but waiting while the doctor, a bearded man in his sixties whose name was Mackenzie, led me into his study and checked me over.
‘You’re very lucky,’ he said after taking my temperature and asking me a series of questions about how I was feeling. He also gave me some of his clothes: a pair of beige trousers and a thick woollen sweater. ‘We had a young man around here earlier this year who wasn’t so fortunate,’ he said as I got dressed.
‘Samir Anand?’
‘Oh, you heard about that? Terrible business. His parents…’ He must have realized he was being indiscreet because he stopped.
‘What about them?’
‘I didn’t actually see Samir. He was taken to the hospital in Inverness. But I met them when they came up here. They kept talking about how much potential the lad had. They said that Samir had ideas that would change the world.’
‘What kind of ideas?’
‘Oh, I don’t know. I guess we all think our kids are special, right?’
He had seen me out, talking to Holly and telling her to ensure I stayed warm. Before we left, he had said, ‘You’re Charles Grant’s lass, aren’t you?’
‘That’s me.’
‘I remember your mother. A lovely woman. PC Williams told me about your brother.’ A shake of the head. ‘Please accept my condolences and, well, pass them on to your sister, too.’
There had been no mention of expressing sympathy to Charles, I noticed.
While I had been talking to the doctor, Holly had receiveda flurry of texts from Miranda, who had just heard the news about Lewis. Holly had replied to ask if Jasmine had returned.
No, she fucking hasn’t, came the response.
Now, I sat beside Holly in our rental car, outside their holiday home. Swollen clouds hung overhead, threatening to break at any moment, and the snow was showing no sign of abating.
If I hadn’t been scared for Jasmine before, the blast of icy air that hit me as I got out of the car brought home just how much danger she was in. If she was hiding, or hurt, unable to move– if she wasn’t somewhere warm and dry– she stood very little chance of survival.
‘You’re back.’
The front door of the house had opened and Miranda stood there, arms folded, face stony. Her eyes were red and puffy.
‘The policewoman just left,’ she said. She looked at me but didn’t ask how I was, though I couldn’t blame her. Lewis’s death trumped everything.
Holly said, ‘Any more news?’
‘None.’
And then Charles was there, dressed down in a hoodie and trainers, and he was striding towards me. And to my great surprise, he threw his arms around me, pulling me close.
‘Patrick,’ he said, his mouth close to my ear. His body was solid. Muscular. ‘You found my son.’
