Driftnet (25 page)

‘Go on.’

‘It was an
email from someone called Caligula. A Jonathan was mentioned. But
she reckoned that MacLean working for you explained it.’

Bill listened
grimly. He left Stewart and dispatched a Constable to check. At
least if MacLean’s story was genuine the hospital would have his
sister’s address.

The Constable
was soon back with the news that there had been an appendix the
previous night and the mother was at her son’s bedside.

‘His
mother?’

‘Yes, Sir. She
came with him in the ambulance. A tall, fair-haired man was seen
near the waiting room. No one saw him after that.’

‘And the
mother. What did she have to say?’

‘Never heard of
any Gavin MacLean.’

‘Contact the
Station. I need a search warrant for Gavin MacLean’s house and I
want the Stewarts’ house searched thoroughly too.’

‘Have we got Mr
Stewart’s permission to do that, Sir?’

‘We will have,
Constable. Count on it.’

Chapter
39

Rhona was going
to be sick. It was like a nightmare fairground ride. She bounced
between the metal walls of the boot, bashing her against one, then
the other. She willed the contents of her stomach to stay where
they belonged.

She was losing
the battle when the car began to slow down, throwing her abruptly
against the boot door; then it accelerated again, but not as fast
now. The road wasn’t as good as before. It felt as if they had been
travelling for about an hour. They could be anywhere within a
sixty-mile radius of Glasgow.

Rhona braced
herself for the next turn, forcing her cramped legs against one
side. The car suddenly swung abruptly and she struck her head on
the jack. She bit hard down on the gag.

Rhona had
barely been asleep an hour when the phone had woken her. Chrissy
got there first.

Rhona hurried
out.

‘Neil?’

Chrissy shook
her head.

‘They want you
down at the Station right away. They’ve sent an unmarked car. It’ll
be waiting at the end of the street,’ Chrissy told her.

‘Right.’

Rhona got
dressed, stuffed more money into her pocket and headed for the
door.

‘Don’t worry,’
she called into the kitchen. ‘Neil will be back soon.’

Chrissy nodded,
unconvinced.

The cloudless
morning sky promised of a warm day. Rhona walked briskly towards
the corner. Bill would get this cleared up. She would support
Neil’s story. She would tell them everything, and to hell with
Edward. Jonathan would be safe.

She hurried
over to the waiting car. As the driver got out she called ‘Good
Morning’, thinking it would be someone she knew.

It was.

Gavin MacLean
was still smiling when Rhona felt the car jack hit her head.

When she first
opened her eyes in the suffocating darkness, Rhona thought she had
been buried alive and adrenalin filled her body. Her hands were
tied behind her back. In blind panic, she kicked wildly at the
metal walls.

Once she
realised she was in the boot of a car, she calmed down slightly. So
often she had arrived at a murder scene, to find a body trussed up
just as she was now. She had taken blood samples, urine, semen. She
had swabbed the victim’s fear and carried it back with her to the
laboratory. For her it was a puzzle to be solved. This time it
would be Tony carrying the swabs back to the lab. Tony who would
ask Chrissy to carry out the tests.

No! She would
not think like that. If Gavin had wanted to kill her, he could have
done it many times before now. He was going to dump her somewhere,
give himself time to get away. She just had to be calm, think
straight. And she must not be sick. She could not be sick with this
gag in her mouth. She had to find a way to take her mind off the
nausea.

Then she
remembered. When she was pregnant and feeling sick, she had found a
way to cope. Whenever the nausea rolled over her, she would hum a
tune, concentrating on every simple note.

Rhona began to
hum through the gag. She managed the first few notes, then the next
few. She got to the end and began again. Then again. The third time
through, she realised what it was. It was the tune Sean was playing
when she first saw him. She could almost hear the tender notes he
always coaxed from his sax.

She took a deep
breath.

She would not
die. Chrissy would come looking for her, Chrissy and Neil and the
police. Bill Wilson would find her. She was going to stay alive and
she was going to keep Jonathan alive.

Rhona realised
she hadn’t heard the boy now for several minutes. At first she had
heard him crying, the heartrending sound seeping down through the
back seat and into the boot. She had tried to call to him, to let
him know she was there, but the gag completely muffled the sound.
All she could do was to go on humming her tune, and praying.

The past five
minutes they had been travelling over a dirt track. The car had
been rising and falling, throwing Rhona heavily against the roof
and floor of her prison. She braced herself as the vehicle drew to
a halt. It seemed an age till the boot opened. She could smell
water.

She was so
dazzled after being in the dark that she couldn’t focus as she was
dragged from the boot.

‘Come on, Dr
MacLeod. Come and see your holiday cottage.’

Gavin prodded
her along a path and into a low white cottage. After the bright
daylight, her eyes now had to adjust to the dim hallway. She felt
the stairs before she saw them and tripped forwards, knocking her
shin. Irritated by her clumsiness, Gavin pushed in front of her and
began to haul her up behind him. Then, as they turned on a landing,
she was in full light again. He didn’t look at her as he went on
pulling her along a low-ceilinged corridor. He stopped at the first
door and thrust her inside.

As she lay on
the bare floorboards, he grabbed her hair. He propelled her towards
the far wall and shoved her hard against it. Her head hit off the
plaster. The exploding pain disorientated her completely. He
suddenly released his hold and her legs gave way. She found herself
sinking to her knees in front of him, with horror she realised her
face was level her face was level with his crotch. He wrenched off
the gag and looked down at her speculatively blocking her efforts
to draw back.

He had her
trapped between himself and the wall. He grabbed her hair again and
yanked her against him. She boaked as her face met the bulge of his
erection.

‘It’s all your
fault. I was only going to the hospital to remind our young friend
to keep his mouth shut.’

He jerked her
face upwards.

‘Then I met
you. You don’t hide as much as you’d like to think. I asked myself.
Why would sweet little Rhona be frightened of me? And I remembered
the other time you looked at me like that. The night I found your
son on that list.’

‘I wasn’t
frightened.’

He looked down
at her pityingly. ‘You’re a bad liar, Rhona. I always know when
you’re lying. All that crap about Sean, when you really wanted me
to fuck you. Well your luck may be in there. But let’s not hurry
things. It was fun always watching you. And finding children is my
speciality.’

The thrust of
his words was dreadful.

Liam. Had she
led him to Liam? And all those other vulnerable young people.
Children that Gavin only knew about because of her.

‘What have you
done with Jonathan?’

A smile crossed
Gavin’s face. ‘Jonathan is downstairs. I mustn’t be too long. He’s
waiting for me.’

His strangely
vacant expression terrified her.

‘Gavin you
could just leave us tied up. We won’t be able to get away. We won’t
tell anyone about this.’

‘I can’t do
that. I have plans for Jonathan.’

‘If you stay,
they’ll find you. Neil knows who you are. Neil will tell them where
to come.’

Gavin gave an
ugly laugh.

‘Don’t you
know? The rent boy’s dead.’

‘No.’

‘He was very
pretty. But he crossed some people you just don’t cross. They had
to teach him a lesson. And he still didn’t know when to shut
up.’

He reached for
his zip. His breath was coming in short sharp gasps.

‘My friends
like boys. But they’re busy men. So I find them what they
want.’

‘You killed the
student.’

Gavin ran his
tongue over his lips. ‘We don’t kill during sex. Not on purpose.
Certain...routines... can heighten sexual pleasure. The boys all
know the risks. We pay them enough.’

‘Enough to
die?’

‘People die all
the time.’ He pulled his cock free of his trousers. ‘They come
looking for it. Jonathan came looking for it. I only gave him what
he wanted.’

She tried to
keep him talking.

‘He was a
child.’

‘Poor
misunderstood little Jonathan. His parents didn’t want him.’ He
stopped and gave her a hard look. ‘But you would know all about
that, Rhona. You gave your own child away.’

He was playing
with himself.

‘Caligula tells
me he thinks we should kill you both. But that’s rather extreme.’
He paused. ‘Caligula likes death.’ Here he smiled, ‘but I keep him
under control.’

‘Don’t talk as
if he’s another person, Gavin. I know it’s you.’

He sighed.

‘Caligula is me
and I am Caligula.’

He pressed
closer. Her nostrils filled with the sour smell of urine and sweat,
overlaid with a hint of exoensive cologne.

‘My friends
have asked me to find out exactly what you know.’

He placed his
hands round her neck like a steel butterfly. The pressure drove her
mouth open. She gasped for breath.

‘Who else knows
about me Rhona?’

She shook her
head. ‘No one.’

The pressure on
her larynx was becoming unbearable.

‘If you don’t
tell me the truth I’ll let Caligula do what he wants with you.’

Lack of oxygen
was making her brain turn black. Her muscles began to go into
spasm. Involuntarily her bladder released. With a flood of shame
she felt the hot liquid run down her legs making a pool on the
floor.

‘Who else knows
about me?’

Her fear was
exciting him more than he expected. He had plans for her.

The sudden
drill of his mobile shattered his concentration.

He released her
neck and she keeled over.

Gavin glanced
down at Rhona, his face expressionless. Without a word he left the
room and went downstairs. Rhona pulled herself up. There was some
slack in the cord. With a large effort, she freed her right hand
from its bonds round her wrist. In his preoccupation with the call,
Gavin had left the door open. This was her chance.

She stood on
the landing, gripping the stair post, listening.

Jonathan lay
spreadeagled, hands and feet secured to the corners of the bed.
Simon was outside talking on his mobile. He’s coming for me,
thought Jonathan and he twisted his body in a desperate futile last
effort to get free.

Gavin had
finished his conversation and was coming back inside. He started up
the stairs. Rhona froze. Suddenly, he stopped as if something had
occurred to him, and went back down.

‘I was going to
keep you all to myself. We were going to have a little weekend up
here on our own. Good food, good wine and all the time in the world
for games.’

Simon’s smile
made Jonathan’s skin crawl.

Then the smile
vanished.

‘And now you’ve
spoiled it.’

‘Don’t look at
me. I don’t want you to look at me.’

Simon sighed.
‘I don’t want to look at you. And neither will any of the girls,
once they find out what you’ve been up to.’

‘Shut up!’

‘Shut up?’
Simon’s face was a mask of distaste. ‘I don’t think so. I say what
goes. I’ll say whatever I like... and do whatever I like.’

‘Don’t you
fucking touch me.’

Simon smiled.
‘Caligula was right. You’re not my type.’

Chapter
40

The glass door
opened and Janice came out of the cubicle. Bill Wilson looked up
hopefully. She shook her head.

‘He’s still
unconscious, Sir.’

Bill looked
through the glass panel at Chrissy’s worried back.

‘The Doctor
says he’s lucky to be alive, Sir. They nearly beat the life out of
him.’

‘How did
Connelly find him?’

‘Neil phoned,
said he was meeting someone in the park near the bandstand. Someone
Connelly should see. Connelly got there late and found him. Neil
was trying to tell him something before he passed out. Something
about a loch. They’re at the loch, he said.’

‘They’re at the
loch?’

‘Yes, Sir.’

‘We’re not
short of lochs round here,’ Bill snapped.

‘The Trossachs,
Loch Long, Loch Lomond. Spoiled for choice.’

‘Have you asked
Chrissy what she thinks?’

Janice shook
her head.

As Bill pushed
the door open Chrissy looked up at him defensively. She wasn’t
going to let him try and question Neil, that was for sure.

Bill pulled a
chair up beside her. She was holding Neil’s hand.

‘His mother
wasn’t in,’ she said quietly. ‘It was his father that answered the
phone. I told him Neil was in hospital,’ she paused. ‘He said he
didn’t have a son called Neil.’

Chrissy fell
silent.

‘There’s
something you might be able to help me with. Connelly heard Neil
say the word loch before he passed out. Do you know what he
meant?’

She looked at
him puzzled, and then realisation suddenly dawned.

‘Yes,’ she said
triumphantly. ‘I think I know where he meant.’

Chapter
41

Jonathan felt
the sweat prickling the side of his face.

Simon had
stopped talking to him.