Tyler took a breath, his fingers flexing on the steering wheel. “Everything’s okay. We’re thirty minutes out of Inverness.”
Which meant I’d dozed for most of the four-hour trip. I struggled upright then took in the traffic, changed my mind, and curled right back down again. “What if your crew are here?”
We’d picked Inverness as a central hub that I could get in and out of to lay my trail. Close enough to make it feasible for me to have hitchhiked to from where I’d landed after leaving the island. Busy enough for me to disappear into a crowd.
“Pick up my phone. The passcode is seven-eight-nine-six. Now go to the app that has a blue map icon.”
I did as he asked. A map of Scotland loaded, three flashing dots displaying, one on the Isle of Skye, one over Ullapool, another further south in Mallaig.
“I track my crew’s locations. We do it for each other on active missions. It’s a safety mechanism. Also saves paperwork if someone goes missing.”
My mouth fell open. “Daddy Spy. Can they see you?”
“Only if I turn my location on. Currently, they think I’m working on something else which doesn’t involve them.”
“Clever. Who’s who?”
No names were displayed, which made sense when this was all about his team protecting each other.
“A1 and A2 are the Atherton brothers. Ye haven’t met them yet. R1 is Kane and by default Lovelyn.”
“According to this, Kane is still on Skye. That’s where we came in, wasn’t it?”
“Aye, it was.” He pursed his lips, clearly working something out. “I don’t like that assumption I just made about Lovelyn. Do ye mind if I call him?”
“Why would I mind?”
“In case he says something sensitive. He isn’t indiscreet, but he’s just been at your ma’s house. Your comment on her selling ye out means she might not have been kind. He’d share that.”
“My mother hates my guts, hun. That ain’t news. Call away.”
He gave a troubled half-smile then touched something on his dashboard that had the call blipping over the car’s speakers. It connected, giving a voice to the Shithouse AKA my brother.
“Here,” Kane said.
“Checking in,” Tyler replied.
Kane took a breath. “All good, but no sighting. Nothing since we left Torlum. Would’ve called ye if there had.”
“Lovelyn still with ye?”
“Of course. We’re working through every fishing village on Skye, northwest to southeast.”
I stiffened, unable to connect to any family feeling because of what Kane had said. I was pretty sure Tyler had taken me into Elgol, a tiny place off the beaten track. I’d recognised the rocky beach and raised car park. It was next on their path. Whoever he’d hired or borrowed the boat from might give us up.
Tyler’s gaze touched on mine. He tapped the steering wheel. “I’ve had intel to suggest she was seen in Inverness. Not a confirmed sighting, but one I’d like checked out.”
My shoulders tightened more, though his carefully phrased words were part of the plan.
Kane made a sound of interest. “Credible?”
“Enough for me to pass it on. Timing feels plausible, doesn’t it?”
“I’d say so. My gut feel is that wherever she landed, she’d leave again in a hurry. Probably begging a ride from whoever she could. It would make sense that she’d end up in a place with transport links. Want us to head there? It’ll take a couple of hours.”
“Aye, do it. Did ye manage to pick up her things?”
I sank in my seat, adrenaline eking into my veins from the near miss. Tyler continued the conversation, Kane doing exactly as he’d guessed and describing Mum’s sour jibes, how glad she was to see the back of me, but my heart pounded.
