Face the Wind and Fly (10 page)

Chapter Eleven

Willow Corner was the last Georgian house at the northern end of Forgie and the road was a cul-de-sac.

There was no reason for a car to be parked outside the house. Kate saw it from the upstairs landing, squatting low on the road like an iridescent beetle, on the exact same spot it had been a dozen times in recent weeks. She could make out a figure hunched over the steering wheel. She couldn’t even tell if it was male or female. Twice she had gone to the front door and started down towards the gate, determined to find out who it was, but as soon as she’d passed the rose arch half way down the path, she heard the engine turn over and saw the car drive off.

She was being watched, she was certain of it. It was a threat, nothing more. AeGen were big on personal safety and there were strict guidelines. House visits should never be made alone, no-one should leave a meeting alone. Kate had experience of protests and knew that when feelings ran high people could get vicious. Protestors might congregate in car parks, cluster round cars, bang on the windows or the bodywork. It could be frightening. Yet what could she do? There was nothing concrete to report.

Frank was certainly becoming a nuisance, phoning Kate every day, sometimes several times a day. Kate’s patience – never her strongest suit – was beginning to wear thin.
I can handle your father
, she’d told Charlotte. She could, she was sure, but she was beginning to wish fervently that she didn’t have to.

Eight weeks after the application, planning permission was granted for the Met mast on Summerfield Law.

‘Brilliant!’ Kate high-fived Jack, who happened to be passing when the news came in.

‘First step achieved,’ Jack grinned back at her. He’d been on best behaviour recently.

‘We’ll have to see what the mast records, of course. We shouldn’t get too excited,’ Kate warned. ‘But still, it’s into public consultation now. Full steam ahead.’

 Mark was pleased with progress. ‘The thing about women managers,’ he told the Friday wash-up meeting with a broad grin, ‘is that they can juggle a dozen balls in the air because they don’t have to use their hands to protect the other two.’

Everyone laughed dutifully. It was a small compliment, and a joke they’d all heard before, but it would do.

‘I told you,’ Mark said to her after the meeting, ‘that putting you in charge of Summerfield would be a good move. You’re doing all right, Kate. Well done.’

Kate smiled her acknowledgement of his praise, but privately, she had her worries. Feelings about the wind farm proposals were already running high in Forgie and this would bring things to a boil.

As Project Manager, Kate’s job was a complex one. Every task was vital and Kate knew that her days were about to get a lot busier. Over the weekend she took the decision to put the half-planned summer holiday on hold.

‘We’ll go somewhere fabulous in the October break,’ she promised Ninian.

‘Mu-um. This always happens.’

‘And we always go somewhere nice some other time. Chill, Ninian,’ Kate responded cheerfully. She loved getting her teeth into a complex project. Ninian could visit her mother in Devon for a week or two, he always liked that, and maybe Andrew would take him somewhere. A bit of bonding would do those two no harm – Ninian had been so snappy with Andrew recently, it would be a good time for them to rediscover each other. Seeing his expression, she relented a little. ‘I’ll try to find a few days at some point Ninian, I promise.’

Ninian stomped out but Kate’s thoughts were already jumping ahead to the next task. Spinning plates was a skill that required concentration.

On Monday, when she turned on her computer at work, a wave of new messages rolled in. Some of them were extremely aggressive. None of the addresses was immediately recognisable, though someone in AeGen would have the technical capability of tracking down the computer they’d been sent from. If they got too threatening, the police would be notified.

The threats had been escalating.
Or else?
What did that mean?
We’re watching you.
Was that one person, or a lot of people? Was it the person in the iridescent car? Was it a team?

She contemplated telling Jack or Gail, but decided she should cope with this herself. She created a new mail folder and transferred the messages into it. The worst thing was that these were probably from people who lived near her, maybe from people she actually knew. She could no longer trust anybody. She couldn’t even walk down the street without wondering whether the woman carrying supermarket bags she had just passed was one of the writers, or the jogger who always nodded, or the mother with the pushchair and the dog.

She stopped by Lisa Tranter’s desk. Lisa was fresh out of college, the youngest member of her team. ‘How are the environmental studies coming on?’

The slight blonde looked up, eager to make a good impression. ‘They’re all under way. We’ve got a bird surveyor up there today, as a matter of fact, Geoff Harkins.’

‘Good. He’s been briefed, I take it? And he’s properly equipped?’

‘Yes. I did it myself, yesterday afternoon because he was going up really early this morning, about three o’clock, he said.’

‘Make sure he checks out with you, won’t you?’

Lisa had reverted to reading her emails, multi-tasking, being busy and being seen to be busy. ‘Will do, Kate.’

Andrew caught her in the middle of everything. He sounded buoyant. ‘You’re remembering that the Bertolinis are here for supper?’

‘I hadn’t forgotten,’ she lied. ‘I’m looking forward to it.’

It was good to hear Andrew sounding so positive. She made sure she finished on time. The job was important, but family had to come first, today at any rate.

The smell of lamb pervaded the house. Andrew was in the kitchen and Kate halted on the threshold to watch him. He was reading a recipe in some recipe book – Delia or Jamie or Nigel or Claudia or Elizabeth, he had them all – his glasses half way down his nose as usual, his concentration absolute. She tiptoed up behind him, put her arms round his waist and laid her cheek on soft white cotton.

‘I’m so lucky to have you.’

 ‘You’re back.’ He sounded pleased. He was certainly pleased enough to lay the book down and turn to gather her to him.

‘Something smells wonderful. Want me to do anything?’

‘All under control.’ He released her and waved towards the dining room, where she glimpsed crisp damask and fuschia cotton, the gleam of silver and a bowl full of sumptuous peonies.

‘Wow.’

‘Not my doing.’ His smile was the smile that wooed her and won her. ‘Mrs G had a lot of fun.’

‘I didn’t know she had such a sense of style,’ Kate said, surprised.

‘There was a magazine or something—’ he gesticulated vaguely.

‘God, that woman—’

‘What’s wrong?’

‘She’s meant to clean and iron, not act the hostess.’

‘Well, if you weren’t out all the time—’

‘Don’t start that, Andrew. Just because you work from home.’

‘She was just doing you a favour.’

‘She makes me feel useless in my own house.’ Kate wrinkled her nose. ‘Is there nothing I can do?’

In a sudden change of mood, Andrew pulled her into his arms and kissed her. ‘Don’t be crotchety, darling. Why don’t you just go and make yourself look beautiful?’

Kate sighed. ‘It might take too long.’

‘Silly.’ He kissed her again.

What was she so worried about? She smiled. ‘Where’s Ninian?’

‘Out for the evening with Banksy and Cuzz.’

‘Oh God, no.’

‘What’s wrong?’

‘I don’t like Stephen Cousins. His mother’s an aggressive hippie, if you can visualise the type. I imagine she frightened off the father because there isn’t one in evidence. She smokes pot too, I’m sure of it, and I think Stephen has soaked up a lot of her attitude.’

‘Well I bribed the three of the them to go off to the movies in Edinburgh,’ Andrew said cheerfully. ‘So we’ll have to see if he gets back in one piece, eh?’

‘It’s just that—’

‘Not like you to worry over Ninian.’

She frowned. ‘What does that mean?’

‘Nothing. Relax. Just go and change, they’ll be here in half an hour. Here—’ He opened the fridge and poured her a small glass of white wine, then kissed her forehead. ‘Leave me to finish in the kitchen, okay?’

‘Okay. Thanks, Andrew.’

Kate carried the wine upstairs and peered into her wardrobe. What was the correct attire for film directors? She selected a cream-to-navy dip-dye Coast dress and added navy heels. As she leaned towards the mirror to apply the smokey grey eye shadow she favoured for evenings, her mobile rang.

It was Lisa Tranter, sounding panicky.

‘What is it, Lisa?’

‘I was just having my supper when – oh God, I hope nothing’s happened.’

‘Lisa, calm down,’ Kate abandoned her mascara, stood up and switched into work mode. ‘Tell me what’s wrong.’

‘Remember I was telling you about that bird surveyor, Geoff Harkins?’

‘Yes.’

‘His wife just called me. He hasn’t come home.’

‘Didn’t he check in with you when he left?’

She heard Lisa gulp. ‘I forgot about him, Kate. I’m sorry.’ She sounded on the verge of tears.

‘Have you tried his mobile?’

‘Of course, but I think he switches it off when he’s watching the birds.’

Kate reviewed all the possibilities in her head. The Summerfield site only stretched to a few square kilometers, but some of the terrain was quite inhospitable – bog and heather, areas of scrub and woodland and rocks. Besides, there was a long walk up to the site itself from the road. If he hadn’t driven up, if he’d tried to take a shortcut through the woods, he could be anywhere in quite a wide area. Had he fallen? Been taken ill?

‘Was he wearing a high-visibility jacket?’

‘I don’t know, sorry. I did issue one, but he made his own way up and I suspect he likes to camouflage himself so he doesn’t scare the birds off.’

‘Did he have GPS equipment?’ Satellite positioning equipment would make finding him – in theory at least – much easier.

‘Again, I did issue it, but to be honest, Kate, he seemed a bit unsure of the technology. I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t switch it on.’

 ‘We need to find him, Lisa. Have you put any action in place?’

‘No, I called you as soon as I heard.’

Kate’s brain was racing. Locating Geoff Harkins had to be a top priority – but the Bertolinis would be here at any moment and Andrew was relying on her. ‘Right. Lisa, here’s what I want you to do. Call Ricky and Evan and any other team members you can get hold of. See how many can turn out. Get them to meet you at the site in half an hour. And call me back as soon as you can to let me know what’s happening.’

‘Aren’t you coming?’

Kate slapped her hand against her chiffon-clad hip in frustration. Any other night, any other time at all, and she’d be there in an instant. ‘I don’t think I can, Lisa. I’ll call Jack, though, and he’ll take over.’

‘Right then.’ The girl sounded relieved, making Kate all the more exasperated. A chance like this was all Jack needed to make some kind of point that she was not up to the job.

‘Just get started, Lisa. We’ll talk in a few minutes, okay?’

Damn, and double damn! She’d have to tell Andrew. Even if she could get the team organised, there were going to be calls interrupting their evening. Any other day—

‘Did I hear you talking?’ Andrew was pouring mint sauce into a dish. ‘Everything’s pretty much ready now.’ He glanced up. ‘You look gorgeous.’

She stood in the doorway, chewing her lip with anxiety. Something about her stillness must have caught his attention because he looked back at her and stopped pouring. ‘What is it?’

‘Someone’s gone missing at the site. A bird surveyor.’

‘Missing? How?’

She explained. ‘The thing is, Andrew, I need to get a search organised.’

‘Oh no. Not you, Kate. Not tonight. Surely someone else can do it? Other people do work at AeGen, I take it?’

Kate gulped. This was hard. ‘Yes. I’m going to phone Jack Bailey.’

Andrew screwed the lid back on the jar of mint sauce and turned away. ‘Better get on with it then. They’ll be here in a minute.’

It was infuriating, but it had to be done. Kate retreated to Andrew’s den and dialled Jack’s number. His phone went straight onto voice mail. Shit! What was she going to do? She paused, thought quickly, called Lisa. ‘How’s it going? Who have you managed to contact?’

‘Not great, Kate. I’ve got three so far, but the others aren’t answering their phones.’

‘I’ve tried Jack. He’s not answering either.’

‘Jack plays five-a-side on Mondays.’

‘What? You didn’t say earlier.’

‘I’ve just remembered.’

‘
Je-sus
, Lisa!’

‘Sorry.’

Kate went quiet. She was in an impossible situation. She couldn’t leave Lisa and the others on her team unsupervised, not in these circumstances. It was too important. Potentially, there was a man’s life at stake – and even in the case of a bad injury, the repercussions if they didn’t do this right were serious in the extreme. There was only one other person she could possibly ask to head up the search and that was Mark Matthews, but asking your boss to do your job so that you could enjoy a cosy dinner at home was unthinkable. There was no choice.

‘Carry on phoning, Lisa. Get as many people as you can. And head to the site yourself. I’ll see you there in twenty minutes.’

Andrew had changed and looked remarkably at ease – considering how important this evening was to him – in a black open-necked shirt. He was wearing the silver cuff links she’d given him last Christmas, a closed book on one cuff, an open book on the other. Guilt engulfed her and she grimaced.

He guessed at once. ‘No, Kate. You can’t do this to me.’

Outside, she heard a car on the gravel. ‘There’s no time,’ she said quietly, ‘to tell you how sorry I am.’

The hooded eyes closed almost to slits and his lips tightened, sure signs of just how angry he was.

The doorbell rang.

‘I can stay for five minutes to explain. There’s a man’s
life
at stake, Andrew.’

His mouth clamped shut and his jaw jutted ominously. He went into the hall to answer the door. ‘Andreas!’ he greeted his guests smoothly, all signs of anger concealed, ‘How wonderful you could make it. And Signora Bertolini, welcome to Willow Corner.’