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“Sore. Did you look at the pages?”
“Yeah, more names. It’s done now, though, Cal. I just need to verify the accounts and we can end this.” My brain is feeling foggy. How does she expect to verify the accounts? I ask her and her face does this thing when she’s feeling uncomfortable. “We need to go to Edinburgh.” That’s when I realise what she’s saying.
“Are you insane?” Okay, that’s not the nicest thing to ask someone, but she has to be kidding. Going back to her flat isn’t safe and contacting anyone from her work is foolish.
“We have to, Cal. Look, you need to trust me.” That’s not fair, is it? I trust her but this. “Trust me, Callie.” Her eyes are fierce and I know that what I say next will determine our future relationship.
“I do. I’ll follow you.” If I don’t trust Daisy, then what is the point? Honestly, I have no idea what to do next, anyway. If Daisy thinks she’s found a way to bring Betty to her knees, then I’ll go with it.
Ewan’s phone rings. He excuses himself to take the call. Daisy sits next to me and gives me a kiss that portrays how much she appreciates my last words. The moment is ruined when Ewan marches back in. “We have a problem.” Excellent!
“What?”
“There was a guy looking for you two. He’s been asking around the farms.”
We knew it was only a matter of time before they caught up with us. I just wish we knew whotheywere.
Chapter 26
Daisy
At least I don’t have to get back on that awful boat! Now we know that there is a creep hanging around Ewan’s place, we can’t go back. I should be panicking, but I’m not. Am I becoming desensitised to this shit? Possibly. Is that healthy? Definitely not.
Callie looks more worried than me, but that could be pain. I can’t imagine how much her shoulder must have hurt. I nearly passed out watching Hamish pop it back into place. Not forgetting our time spent with Karl, which got all our adrenaline pumping. It’s no wonder she looks freaked out.
We decided to take Hamish up on his offer to use his truck to get us back to Edinburgh. I’m surprised how calm Ewan and Hamish are being. I know they don’t know what’s going on, but they’re not stupid. This isn’t a normal situation.
Ewan didn’t bat an eye when he found out Callie’s real name. I accidentally used it in conversation. I know that Ewan thought her name was Jenny. Callie told me this morning. To be fair, Hamish didn’t react either, which I find curious. Here was this woman who turned up out of the blue six years ago calling herself Jenny and they were super cool about it. No invasive questions, nothing. They just let her crash.
Fast forwarding to the same woman re-introducing herself as someone entirely different and still no probative questions. I kind of want to ask them about it. Surely they must be curious? Callie is asleep again. The whiskey she knocked back is doing its job. Hamish is cooking dinner and Ewan is sitting watching him.
“Why aren’t you two asking about all this?” I ask Ewan.
“If Callie wanted us to know, she would have told us.”
“But you’re not curious? Come on, you must want to know what’s going on.” I don’t know why I’m pushing it. I should just be grateful they have been so good to us, to Callie.
“Everyone has shit going on, lass. It’s not our place to intrude on Callie’s life, not if she doesn’t want it. All we can do is offer kindness. When Callie turned up on this island, it didn’t take a genius to figure out she was running from something. Under the tough girl routine, we could see how scared she was. We weren’t going to turn our backs on her. If all we could offer was a roof and a little conversation now and then to help her out, then that’s all that mattered.”
“You’re not angry she lied about her name?”
“Och, do you really think we believed her name was Jenny? Like I said, it didn’t and doesn’t matter. She needed someone to have her back, and we did that.”
“Well, I appreciate it. I couldn’t be there with her at the time. I’m just pleased she met you guys.”
“Aye, we can see that you mean a lot to each other. I hope one day you can sort out whatever’s going on and settle down. That girl needs some normal, I reckon.” Isn’t that the truth! Callie does need normal and I’m going to give it to her.
Callie is still sleeping, so we eat without her. The clock on the fireplace tells me it’s almost nine in the evening. I’m conscious that Callie hasn’t eaten since breakfast. Gently, I wake her up. Her face is marred with pain and I hate it. She manages to eat a little but she clearly wants to go back to the land of nod. I take her upstairs and get her into bed.
Tonight I plan to work on the rest of the coded letters. There are pages of them and I’m keen to have them finished for when we get back to Edinburgh. I find the whole process quite therapeutic. It reminds me of when I first started to work for my company.
It’s past midnight by the time I finish, but I’m happy. I was able to work through the pages quickly once I got focused. Unlike the other two sections, I can’t take pictures of them and upload them to my vault, which means I have to keep them safe. If anything happens to them, we’re fucked. I won’t have a copy to back up our claims.
* * *
Callie, rolling over, wakes me. There is a sliver of light shining through the crack in the curtains. Judging from the weakness of the light, I would guess it’s just past dawn. It’s not surprising Callie is ready to get up. She’s slept for hours. I roll over to face her. I can’t help but smile when I see she’s watching me. “Morning creepy,” I joke. She laughs and kisses me. Perfection.
“I’m sorry. I sort of passed out yesterday.”
