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‘No, sorry. Still here. I’m just juggling my phone. Clara’s just helping me with my cufflinks... Yeah, perks of having protection.’ He looked up at Clara suddenly. ‘Mike says hello.’
‘Tell him hello back. And to do as he’s told.’ This felt suddenly intimate. Helping him with his cufflinks and sharing a phone conversation. Clara reminded herself that although Joe and Ian had gone to fetch the cars, they were still visible on camera.
‘You heard the lady?’ Gabriel grinned at her. ‘Look, can you hold on for one minute, Mike? When I’m in the car we’ll have plenty of time to talk. Yeah...one minute.’
He switched the phone to mute and nodded towards her car keys. ‘You’re not coming with us?’
&
nbsp; ‘I’ll be following in a second car.’ Clara felt her cheeks begin to flush in response to his enquiring look. ‘It gives us a backup, and you might want to give someone a lift back to town.’
‘What do you think I am?’ He got the unspoken reason straight away.
‘A free agent.’
Suddenly all the warmth from last night flashed in his eyes. ‘Yeah, okay. Well, as a free agent, I won’t be giving anyone a lift back to town tonight. That’s a firm intention.’
Despite herself, Clara couldn’t help smiling. Ian wasn’t always right. ‘Well, two cars are better than one. I’ll be right behind you.’
‘Whatever you say. Make sure you’re looking over my shoulder.’ He gave her a delicious smile and raised the phone to his ear again. ‘Mike...are you still there? Yeah, good. Now, about tomorrow...’
* * *
Gabriel appeared alone in the hallway with his host and hostess, bidding them goodnight and thanking them for the evening. He waited for Clara to call Joe to let him know they were ready to leave, flashing her an I told you so look before they walked outside.
It was a quiet night, the full moon hanging low in the sky and shedding an eerie light on the trees on either side of the road. A car, travelling at speed, approached from behind and Clara kept her eyes on the rear-view mirror as it slowed, falling into line behind them. Then, on a stretch of straight road, it overtook both SUVs and continued on into the distance. Just someone out for the night, who couldn’t wait to get wherever they were going.
‘Clara. Up ahead.’ The walkie-talkie on the dashboard crackled into life.
‘Yes, I see it.’ A small bridge, most of the parapet on one side smashed. And in the stream below the car was upended, the nose in the water with the tail caught on the side of the bridge.
There was a procedure for this. Clara stopped the car, giving the leading SUV room to back up out of the way so that the client could be made safe. But it didn’t move, and the back door swung open. Gabriel wasn’t the average client and he clearly had other ideas.
‘Get back into the car.’ Clara ran over to him. ‘I’ll deal with this.’
‘The hell you will. Not on your own.’ Gabriel took off towards the riverbank, sliding down the steep slope.
Ian was already out of his seat, following Gabriel. Clara grabbed the tool kit from the back of the SUV, and ran after them, clambering down the muddy embankment. She could see now that the driver’s door was slightly open and there was a woman in the passenger seat, desperately trying to free herself from her seat belt. Blood was pluming in the water around her, which rose and fell, almost submerging her when it reached its highest point.
Gabriel was trying to get the driver’s door open far enough to reach into the car, but it was wedged tightly against something under the water. He waded around, tugging at the passenger door.
The tool bag was too heavy to carry into the water. Clara unzipped it, grabbing what she needed, and waded out towards the car, gasping at the icy cold of the stream. Now she could see that the driver’s seat was empty.
‘Ian, the driver’s not here,’ Clara called over to him. ‘He might be hurt somewhere. Can you ask Joe to try and find him?’
Ian nodded, getting the message. If the driver wasn’t hurt and this was all a set-up, then they needed to find him as well. But that was looking increasingly unlikely. Clara turned her attention to the car door. Brute force wasn’t working, and maybe a little leverage would budge it. She inserted the end of the crowbar she’d brought with her between the door and the frame, pushing as hard as she could. The door didn’t move, but when Gabriel added his weight to it, it shifted.
Gabriel pulled the door open, ducking inside the car to release the woman’s seat belt. ‘It’s jammed. Have you got something to cut it with?’
Before she could hand him the knife, another rush of water submerged the woman, and Gabriel with her. Then both their heads broke the surface as Gabriel supported the woman’s head above the water as best he could.
Clara squeezed past Gabriel to cut the seat belt, and he tried to lift the woman but her legs were trapped. Taking a deep breath, he ducked down into the water.
She was young, and she’d almost stopped struggling now, her head lolling to one side against the headrest. If Gabriel couldn’t free her soon, she was going to drown.
Suddenly the water clouded again with blood, which was carried away by the stream. As Gabriel’s head broke the surface, the woman floated free and Clara grabbed her, keeping her head above the water. Gabriel took a moment to catch his breath and then helped Clara to pull her out of the car.
Carefully, he carried her to the riverbank, climbing the muddy slope and setting the woman down on the blanket that Ian had laid on the ground at the top, in the shelter of one of the SUVs. Gabriel laid her down on her side, clearing her mouth and supporting her head, and the woman suddenly began to choke and retch.
