Secrets Remembered (7 page)

Resolutely she tried to ignore the thought of spiders, rats, bats and anything that might go bump in the night, and counted the steps as she moved downwards. By the time she got to the last one she was sweating, and she still had to venture out of the building and into the shed. Then the fun may well begin. The only plus point was that the lean-to was at the rear of the castle and it would take a while to reach it once Connie was discovered. Ailsa had to risk getting out and away.

She eased through the door in the castle wall, and shut it behind her. If they hadn’t worked out where she’d disappeared to, she wasn’t going to help them find out. It took a few moments to wriggle around the spades, hoes and other old gardening implements without disturbing them, before she was able to peer outside. As far as she could tell, the area was deserted.

Stay or go?

She went. With a speed born of desperation, Ailsa ran over the rough grass between the lean-to and the woods, and didn’t stop to see if anyone had glimpsed her. She reached her car in a time an Olympic champion would be proud of, scrambled in and drove away as if the hounds of hell were after her.

Which in one way, she reckoned, they might well be.

Chapter Six

“So, they said everything was fine and let us home and aren’t they cute?” Kath snuggled into the overlarge chair, and held a baby in each arm. She looked from one of her companions to another in turn. “I mean burps and poos aside, they are very well behaved. Of course they are
very
advanced for their age
.
” She giggled. “How I hated our Aunt
Gwenda who always said that about her children. Luckily she lived in Swansea and we lived up here so we didn’t have to suffer her or her oh so advanced children very often. Tudor ended up in prison and Sioned ran away to be a hippy in Mallorca with a guy who already had five kids by four women. Mind you, I think Tudor is going straight now, which evidently is more than can be said of us. We have kinks. Okay,” she said without taking a breath. “What aren’t you telling me?”

Aidan, who was stroking the cheek of Lola—or was it Grey? Why couldn’t Kath be stereotypical and dress one in pink and the other in blue, not both in red?—shrugged and looked toward Jeff. Jeff raised one eyebrow. Behind him, his twin Jess became busy pleating the curtains and David, her partner, leaned on the wall and crossed his arms.

“Look if something is going on that has you all talking in corners, and by all I include my so called best friend, and you’re not telling me what it’s all about then I will start to get mad,” Kath said in such a sweet, saccharine voice Aidan had to stop his lips twitching. “And my milk might dry up, and Lola and Grey will suffer and you’ll get no sleep, and I’ll get crotchety and—”

“Okay, you blackmailer, you. You never know, you might have a theory all about it. Here, come to papa.” Jeff took his son from his wife and began to stroll around the room. He handed him to Jess who went white before she took the baby and held him close. The look on her face defied description.

Grey gave a burp and farted.

The five adults in the room laughed and the tension eased. Even Jess relaxed and didn’t hold Grey as if he were a time bomb.

“I guess it’s partly down to me,” Aidan said. “Well it could be, I honestly don’t know. I’m thinking it’s my bloody father again, but it’s not quite his style. Too subtle for him. But when you went into labor something happened, which was nothing to do with any of you. Except for Jeff asking me to act for him.”

“Clear as mud. Gah, you men are so pathetic at explaining anything except what you want your sub to do,” Kath said in a voice Aidan knew was full of put-on pathos. “How about start at the beginning?”

That was the problem. “I would if I could, but to be honest, I’m not sure I really know where that is,” Aidan said. “Apart from that, is it just one thing or lots? Well I’ll give you my bit and we can try and sort out the jigsaw.”

“Fair enough, but before we start, can someone bring me a laptop and a glass of water?” Kath asked. “And if you’re going to cringe when I feed my children, now’s the time to say so.”

Behind her, Jess went pale, and David leaned forward to hug Jess and the baby. Jess leaned on him for a second.

“Here, take your godson for a while,” Jess said and passed Grey to David. “He’ll want his mummy in a sec, so there’s no need to panic.” Luckily the baby didn’t seem to mind playing pass the parcel. “Jeff can get a laptop, he’ll know which one better than any of us. I’ll get water and coffee and stuff. Aidan, will you help me, please?”

“Sure.” Aidan wondered why she’d asked him, but it was no big deal. He followed Jess out of the comfortable lounge of Kath and Jeff’s apartment, and into their kitchen. He knew they were hoping to move into the house they were having built on the grounds of the castle before long, but a series of unusual occurrences and the indication that there had been intruders in the castle had delayed the move by several months. Neither Jeff nor Jess, who owned the castle between them, wanted to leave it empty overnight. However, as both owners were building new homes nearby, Aidan wondered what they would do once they were ready. Maybe employ a night watchman, or offer one or both of the flats to someone in the lifestyle.

“You’re an artist, aren’t you?” Jess asked as she piled soft drinks and water onto a tray along with dips, salad and crackers. “Could you sketch who you took to be Annabelle?”

“Annabelle?”

Jess leaned against the sink. “Oh, sorry, I forgot we hadn’t got to that point yet. The sub from the night Kath went into labor. Her name is Annabelle. There was a message on the answering machine the next morning. She’d spent the evening in A & E at the local hospital with a friend who’d had a suspected heart attack. So the one thing we do know is your sub wasn’t her. I wondered if you could sketch her, and we could see if we recognized who it was.”

“Not a bad idea,” Aidan said. “I’m no David Hockney, but I can get a rough idea. Do we have paper and charcoal?”

“Yep, I, shall we say, purloined some from uni a few weeks ago for something I was trying out for the students.”

He remembered Jess was a lecturer there.

“It’s still in my study. If you take this through, I’ll grab it and bring it along. Oh and just so you don’t accidentally put your foot in it, I love Jeff and Kath and my new niece and nephew to bits. But please don’t ask David and me if we’ll be next. I’m sterile.” She turned and left the room in a hurry.

Deep in thought, Aidan picked up the tray. So that was why she’d looked as she had. Poor Jess, if indeed she did want children. Oh there were ways and means, but he could imagine that to see her best friend and brother with two healthy kids would bring out mixed feelings.

He walked back to the lounge, wondering about the low blows fate dealt people. He himself had never wanted to father a child. His own father’s attitude had made sure of that. However, that was one thing. Finding out what Ailsa was up to was more important, and he’d do what he needed to do to help.

“Right, let’s see.” Aidan shut his eyes for a second to consider how he could portray Ailsa. “I’ll only do a head sketch, but she wasn’t very tall and had a nice shape. Not stick thin, not over heavy, just perfect.” He colored and laughed self-consciously. “Busted. I must admit, I knew damn well she couldn’t be your A, Jeff, because my first thought was that she was as green as grass. I bet everything she knew came from reading a novel. But she was an out and out sub, even if she didn’t realize it. God, what I’d give for her to be on the level and want me as her Dom.” He looked up from his sketching to see each of the others with a look of astonishment on their faces. “What’s up?”

“Nothing, except you admitting you want someone as your sub,” David answered him. “This from the man who is adamant he wants no ties.”

“Yeah well, hasn’t it hit all of us at one time? You think you’re really happy, and then, wham, you find out you aren’t. That something is missing and you don’t realize it until it, or in my case she, appears and affects you like a punch in the gut.”

“True,” Kath said as she looked from one baby to another, where they slept side by side in two carrycots. “And
I
realize I need food. Or maybe gummy bears. Yep, definitely gummy bears, after all they’re fruit flavored so they have to be one of my five a day, yes?”

“Sorry, honey. The clue is in the word flavor. Have some milk instead.” Jeff handed her a glass.

Kath made realistic retching noises but drank the liquid and handed the glass back. Then she took up the laptop and began to type. “Okay, good to go. But I’d still like gummy bears.”

Aidan laughed. “I’ll buy you some in the village when I get my paper in the morning. How’s that?”

“Good, thank you. Can you sketch and talk?”

“Of course. Right, so my father and his threats to us all.” Rapidly Aidan spoke of his father’s attitude and ultimatum. “I wondered at first if Ailsa had been sent by my father for some underhanded something. Then I accepted not even he could get things in place so fast.”

“Ailsa?” Jess spoke for the first time since she’d returned to the lounge with the sketchpad and charcoal. She walked toward Aidan and peered over his shoulder.

He shaded part of the sketch, tore it off the pad and handed it to Jess. “She said her name was Alisa Mac something, and she used to know you. To be honest, there was so much going through my mind, I was more concerned with trying to fathom out why she was here, because I was damned sure it wasn’t to sub, than listening to her name. I was somewhat annoyed and confused as well, because I thought Ross hadn’t locked the door.”

Jess picked up the sketch and took a brief look at it.

“Ailsa McLagan. I met her in the village a few weeks ago after not seeing her for years. We were friends when I lived here and… Fuck, shoot and bollocks. Oh, sorry, cover the babies’ ears and don’t wash my mouth out, Sir. She knows about the passage. We used to play in it as kids, and hide from Jeff in there because he could never find the mechanism. Is that it? Is it Ailsa who’s been wandering around and checking out stuff? Why, though?”

Jeff took the sketch from her. “Are you sure this is your sometime mate? I don’t recognize her.”

“You wouldn’t. You ignored her after she broke your spaceship, and Dad said you couldn’t tie her up and spank her. Grief, I’d forgotten that. It seems you had Dominant tendencies even at nine.”

Kath looked up from the laptop. “Before my time. We were in Stirling until I was about thirteen. There’s no Ailsa McLagan on the members’ list, I’ve checked. Nothing remotely like it.”

“I didn’t think there would be,” Aidan said. “She was clueless. I pushed, went all out Dom and teased her as well, but if Ross and Connie hadn’t come back then, I wouldn’t have played. There’s no way I’m causing any problems for Diomhair when some wannabe or not sub cries assault. Do you know anything about her now?”

Jess shook her head. “I hadn’t even thought of her for years. When I saw her in the village I could have sworn she was as surprised as me to meet up. Is she on any social network, Kath?”

Kath pressed some keys on the laptop and shook her head. “Not that I can see. Mind you neither are you, and lots of teachers, police or firemen, et cetera, et cetera choose not to have a profile or go for something stupid. Hold on… Blimey, now then… Oh yes…” She typed rapidly. “Got you, you bitch. Well, I think so. Look.” She turned the laptop toward the others.

As if on cue, one of the babies began to grizzle. “Grub time. I need to feed Lola, because as sure as eggs are eggs, Grey will wake up any—” A wail from the other baby made her pause. “Told you. Someone pass me Lola and cuddle Grey whilst I get Lola latched on, and then I can get him attached as well. What someone does with more than two children who want feeding, I have no idea.”

Aidan went to the Moses baskets, and peered in. “Who is who? I’m a clueless male who needs visual confirmation as to who is a she and who is a he.”

“The one red in the face and screaming like he hasn’t been fed for a fortnight, which as he’s only twelve days old is impossible, is of course Grey. Typical male. He’ll have to wait. I got him latched on first last time.”

It took a few seconds to sort out both babies. Then Kath looked up. “Well?”

“Like an old hand,” Jess said. “Oh, you mean the article. Something’s rotten in the state of Denmark. Well, in the district of here anyway.”

David whistled. “A policewoman, eh? Decorated for bravery and an inspector to boot. Now why didn’t we know that?”

“Because she isn’t a member,” Aidan said. “Where’s the entrance to the passage?”

“Leading question—and I feel sorry for your sub if you don’t know that,” Jeff replied and burst out laughing. “Sorry, couldn’t resist. It’s in the room we store furniture and use as an extra lounge if we need it. In what was David’s flat before we configured stuff. But damned if I can work the mechanism. Even now.”

“You lot go and play detective,” Kath said. “Then come back and tell me what you find. I’ll get these two settled then we can have food and plot.”

Chapter Seven

“Aidan, there’s a policeman here who wants to talk to you.” Jackie poked her head around his office door. “You forgotten to pay a parking fine?”

Aidan shook his head, although the way his mind had been working lately, he reckoned it could have happened. He checked the time. Almost five. Where had the day, or even the last week or so, gone? He needed to get his act together, forget about missing subs, and move on. It wasn’t easy, though, not when a certain scent, or a woman with short blonde hair, made his heartbeat speed up and his Dom side itch to punish someone. No, not someone, just her.

“Aidan?”

He’d forgotten Jackie was waiting for a reply. “Sorry, Jacks, I was wool gathering. Not that I know of. What’s his name?”

Jackie snorted. “Chauvinist. He’s a she, an Inspector McLagan.”

“Well, well.” Aidan pushed his chair back from the desk and tucked his T-shirt into his jeans. The anger that filled him surprised him, especially as he was wise enough to accept that it stemmed from hurt. “Tell her I’m busy.”