A light was glowing in the kitchen and probably had been for a while. The old fella rarely got more than a handful of hours sleep as he got older. He had heard the car pull up because I saw him frowning out of the window over the sink, his bearded face framed by the flower-patterned curtains my Grandma had made and he left up after she died, even though they were ugly as sin.
I got out of the car and waved and that frown turned to a grudging smile, cheeriness being as uncomfortable for him as it was for me.
We did hug, though, and I kissed his whiskers while he made noises that meant he was happy to see me.
“What happened to your Prius, then? Why’re you driving this piece of shite?” he gestured towards the old sedan. He was a strong old cuss, looking as much like something carved of woodas anything, and not like someone who would grow organic veg and teach occasional classes at the community college on green farming.
He taught me to husband the land as well as love it, and now he was teaching anyone else who would listen.
“I still have it, I just needed something with more boot space for the moment,” I said, walking to the back of the car. Leaning down, I pressed my ear against the damp metal and listened. Silence. Though that meant little, he could have been shamming at unconsciousness.
Opening it up slowly, I made sure Davis was still secured, still knocked out, before I gestured for my granddad to come around and look. “Sorry, I brought extra company, but don’t worry, the basement will be fine for him.”
The old fella whistled, “And how we’re getting that behemoth into such a small space, girl? That’s some of that origami there.”
“He was limp, and rather limber, for all the muscles,” I added, not without admiration.
Granddad bent over, not a short man himself, and poked Davies’ shoulder. “Out like a light.” Then he looked at me, a storm brewing on his face, “What did he do for you to cosh him? He didn’t-”
Knowing where this was headed, I cut him off, “He’s been molesting the environment, not me, that’s why he’s still breathing. This is Alec Davies, Godking of the Davies Corporation, and its subsidiaries. Worth in the billions, destroyer of wetlands, and stupid enough to walk around without security and to drink a whiskey given to him by a stranger.”
“Don’t people tend to look for those types when they disappear?”
“Have you ever met an Englishman who could find anything in County Mayo? Anyway, I am only keepinghim here for a few days or so while I arrange for a more secure place. I wouldn’t have brought him here but I didn’t have much time to plan.”
While I made sure the bag over Davis’s face was secure and the ties around his wrists, knees, and ankles were tight but not cutting off the circulation, Granddad made a disdainful sound, scratching the back of his neck. “You know I don’t care. Won’t be the first or last time I’ve been involved in a bit of criminality. There is a problem, however…”
“What?”
“Fee!”
Christ!
I spun around, slamming the boot closed.
From the kitchen door, my Da, who was supposed to be in Glasgow, called to me, holding a mug and with a numpty smile on his sweet face, “Darlin,’ what a treat!” All but galloping over, sloshing tea everywhere, he hugged me like we’d been separated for years rather than the two weeks since I’d been to Scotland for my mother’s birthday.
“Did Ma kick you out again?” I managed to ask, despite the squeeze he had on me, milky tea soaking the right side of my good suit jacket.
“She’ll get over it. Come in, have some tea,” Da took my arm and started pulling me towards the house.
“Er, Martin,” Granddad said in a cagey tone, taking the now empty mug from Da’s hand, “why don’t you take Fee to see the new goats I got, like? You know she’s a great one for the animals, and I can get some breakfast started.” He looked at me over Dad’s head and winked.
“Yeah, goats, so good for the planet. They eat invasive species, did you know that, Da?” I said, loosening my arm from his grip and taking his in turn, moving us towards the animal enclosures.
“You mean like hamsters and that?” Da asked, letting himself be led, as was his wont.
“Ah, no,” I talked louder, covering the creaking sound of the boot opening again with my voice. “Like knotweed andthat.” Granddad made a groaning sound as if lifting something heavy, then I heard a noise that was maybe a billionaire’s head hitting something that went bong.
Da started to turn around, so I put my head on his shoulder, “It's great to see you, too, you know? So, what did Mom put you out for this time?”
“Well, I don’t know if you can say it's my fault, she being the one that wanted to replace the showerhead, like…”
Behind us, I listened to the kitchen door open, and then close, and I nodded and made sympathetic sounds to Da’s latest misadventure, hoping that Granddad could get Davies down the narrow staircase to the basement without breaking both of their necks.
Chapter Six
In which Alec discovers waking up with a hangover was not the worst thing to happen that morning.
