‘What are you doing?’ he asked.
‘I need to find something,’ she said.
As she thought, when they got back to the entrance, without Joe Folly there, the imposters had disappeared.
‘I think maybe you were right,’ she said.
‘About what?’
‘Joe Folly.’
‘Why would you trust a podcaster called the DiggerMan anyway? What kind of name is that?’
‘Look, they’ve gone. It was a dramatic set-up to try to scare us away again. Idiots.’
‘Now what?’
He followed Kelly into the cave once more and she walked around the lone rock.
‘Johnny, can you see a way of hiding anything under this?’
He laughed. ‘No, but I’d say that if that was your intention then I’d look around the back and see it’s a manmade trig, to hide an old electric supply when this place was modernised as a quarry before it closed.’
Kelly stared at him.
‘Here,’ he said.
She walked around the rock and saw what he was pointing at.
It was a small hatch, and she tapped the rock, shocked to hear a hollow sound.
‘Fuck me,’ she said.
He grinned. She hugged him and her face fitted into his neck perfectly. She pulled away but he held her tightly before letting her go.
He found a rock and slammed another against it to break the lock and Kelly reached inside and pulled out a plastic bag containing a USB.
‘You can thank me later,’ he said.
Chapter 53
Joe’s exit from Dow Bank House had been surprisingly unproblematic.
He’d imagined all sorts of scenarios where they wouldn’t let him leave. Before doing so, he’d peered up at the grand staircase and imagined himself hurtling down, headfirst, from the top, smashing into the Italian marble below. As he’d walked to his car and two burly blokes in military-style gilets peered at him from under caps, he’d suffered a vivid visualisation of what Angelina might have felt as she met her end. He didn’t know for sure but he assumed she’d put up a fight. The police investigation was ongoing. Angie gave her life for what she knew.
That’s what they all risked.
The short drive down the long private road that led to the gates felt like an eternity.
Did they believe him?
Now, as he drove from Rydal towards Ambleside, he remained unmolested, and still alive. He could hardly believe it.
So far, so good.
Sandy had been true to her word. The detective had come, and now she’d discover the truth and they’d both be safe.
Or at least that was the plan. He had no insurance, only that he’d involved the police.
