‘Hello?’
Nothing, but silence followed my voice.
It was most likely a mouse or a vole, digging in the soil around me.
‘Good, you’re awake.’ The familiar voice of my dad came from the darkness beyond, but it made me feel anything, but safe and warm.
‘Dad?’ I yanked the rope, but all the movement did was cause it to bite into my skin even further.
‘I wouldn’t pull too much, or you’ll do yourself damage.’
‘What’s going on? Why have you brought me here and tied me up?’
My dad stepped forward just as a light flickered to life nearby. It illuminated only one side of his face, causing him to look menacing, evil. He didn’t look like my dad.
‘To save you,Cariad. To save you.’
Chapter 46
GRAHAM
‘Should we show the police what we’ve found?’ asks Stephen as he grabs his coat from the hook by the door. ‘I know they just left, but …’
Graham huffs. He knows it’s counterproductive and hypocritical of him to think so, but involving the police right now is the last thing he wants to do. After their earlier visit, even if he does call them back to explain what they found, he doubts they will believe a word he says. Dead bodies don’t disappear from trees. They would accuse him of tampering with a crime scene. He knows that, but without solid proof, the police are often blind to whatever is in front of their eyes, especially if it suspends disbelief. He used to be like that too. Things change.
Graham scratches his chin. ‘Let’s leave the police out of this now,’ he says. ‘Let’s move. We’ll have to walk into the village to fetch your car, since mine is still incapacitated and I don’t fancy walking all the way to Blackberry Farm again. We’re on a deadline now.’
‘Wait, I need to grab something first.’
Once Stephen has grabbed what he needs, they waste no time in walking into the village to The Fox pub where Stephen had been forced to abandon his car last night. He hasto admit that while Stephen still looks a little pale, he does appear morewith itthis morning. Graham is glad there’s another explanation for Stephen’s odd symptoms. He would hate to think there was something genuinely, medically wrong with him. He doesn’t want to lose another friend.
Upon arriving at the car, Graham drives while Stephen searches through the pages of one of the diaries he grabbed before following him out of the door, but Graham is having issues with the gear box. Every time he changes gear, it makes a loud, clunking noise.
‘Go easy on the clutch, Graham,’ says Stephen. ‘It needs a light touch.’
‘This car is bloody ancient. Have you had it serviced recently?’ Graham grumbles as he shifts into third, accelerating down the narrow lane.
‘It’s slipped my mind.’
‘Clearly. What are you looking for exactly, Stephen?’ asks Graham, only taking his eyes off the road ahead for a moment, but it’s not long enough to catch what Stephen is doing.
‘These diaries we found in the hidden room at Rosemore Cottage … I saw some blueprints somewhere. Not blueprints, but drawings. I didn’t take any notice of them before, but now I keep thinking about them, what they could mean … here.’ Stephen stops talking for a moment. He’s using thelight from above the passenger side visor to see better as the gloomy early afternoon is playing havoc with his vision.
‘At first, I thought they were sketches of barns, but I think they’re more than that.’ Stephen leans closer to the page while Graham navigates the car around a tight corner.
‘Talk to me,’ says Graham. ‘What are you getting at?’
‘John Hammel’s family also owned Blackberry Farm that now belongs to Frank Hammel. It’s been in their family for years. The place we’re driving towards this very moment.’
‘Okay …’
‘And they had a barn where they kept animals and hay or possibly farm equipment.’
‘That’s not exactly ground-breaking stuff …’
‘But it had a secret room underneath the floor.’
Graham sucks in a breath as he slams on the brakes to avoid a collision with an oncoming car, which sounds its horn. ‘Come again?’
