Fear of the Fathers (42 page)

“There we go,” said Oggi. “Let's get going.”

They picked up their rucksacks and vacated the room.

Alonso shook Keane's arm. “They're coming out!” he said earnestly.

Stratton and Oggi walked past the car casually, pretending not to notice they were being watched.

“Right then,” said Alonso. “Let's get out after them.” He attempted to open the car door, but it was jammed. He tried again, ramming his shoulder hard against it. “It's stuck!” he shouted.

“Mine too!” exclaimed Keane. “What the fuck's going on?”

Alonso looked back through the rear window and saw Stratton and Oggi jogging across to the edge of the car park. He hit the steering wheel hard. Then, gathering his composure, he started up and engaged the engine. He'd only gone a yard when he heard a number of loud pops. His heart sank as he realized that his tyres were history.

“I don't believe it,” said Keane in exasperation. “I don't bloody believe it. All that waiting, and now they're just going to get away!”

Alonso removed his hands from the steering wheel and gave a resigned sigh. But he wasn't beaten yet.

“Nice one Tags,” said Stratton as they got in the van. “I don't think they're going to be following anybody now.”

“No,” said Tags. “Not with four burst tyres they're not. And their doors are wedged nice and tight as well.” He revved the engine. “Right then, let's get out of here.”

The van turned quickly and sped off towards the motorway.

“Well, that's it then,” said Keane despondently. “They've gone.”

“It is not over yet,” said Alonso.

“What do you mean it's not over yet? There's no way we can catch up with them now!”

From nowhere a man's face appeared at the driver's side window. Alonso whirred it down and said, “Please tell me you got the registration of that van.”

“Better than that,” said the man. “We've got a tracker in the wheel-arch.”

Minatory clouds cloaked the night sky in an impenetrable blackness. Nothing stirred in the trees that lined the narrow, muddy track. At the side, on a grass verge, a Range Rover was parked up with its sidelights providing perfunctory illumination. Inside the vehicle Grady and Jennings were passing the time by arguing the relative merits of American football against rugby.

“All I'm saying is that rugby players don't wear all that poncey protection,” said Jennings. “American football is just a pouf's version of rugby. You've taken a great game and sanitized it.”

“You don't know what you're talking about Jennings. Your rugby boys wouldn't last five minutes in a football game, they'd be crushed like the insignificant ants they are. Have you seen the size of the guys that play? They're athletes man, real athletes.” He looked at his watch. “Where the hell is everybody? Are you sure we're in the right place?”

“Well, the SatNav says we are, and I can smell the sea, so we must be. We'll just have to be patient. Cronin told us to hang back, so that's what we'll do. He'll be here soon I'm sure.”

Grady gave his watch another glance and grunted.

A few minutes later a set of headlights appeared behind them. A Jeep slowed and pulled up at their side. The passenger window came down and Stella's silhouetted face popped out. “Sorry,” she said. “We're a bit late. Any sign of Stratton and Oggi?”

“Not yet,” said Grady. “We were beginning to think we were in the wrong place.”

Cronin pulled up in front of the Range Rover and killed the engine. He and Stella got out and joined Grady and Jennings.

“I wouldn't be surprised if they're lost,” said Grady. “It's not the easiest place in the world to find.”

“That's the idea,” said Cronin.

“Are you sure your friends aren't going to leave without us?” said Jennings. “I mean, time is getting on a bit.”

“Don't worry,” said Cronin. “They'll wait.”

It wasn't long before the van finally turned up. Cronin and Stella returned to the Jeep and Stratton and Oggi got in the back of the Range Rover. Grady turned round to say hello and was immediately confronted by a large black whiskered face. Titan growled.

“What the—!?” shouted Grady, springing back in terror.

“I think you remember Titan, don't you Grady?” Stratton laughed.

“Yeah, we have been acquainted,” said Grady composing himself. “Just remember, I'm on your side now.”

Calming himself from the shock of being but two feet from a live panther, Jennings craned his neck round and his eyes met Stratton's in the dimness of the inside light. They exchanged a brief glance and nodded to each other.

“Jennings.”

“Stratton.”

Tags turned the van round and left.

Cronin led them slowly along the track, which sloped steadily downwards. The torrential rain of the previous weeks had turned it into something resembling a swamp, but both vehicles coped admirably and they made solid progress. After a while the track widened and eventually opened out onto a sandy inlet. Jennings could just make out the white of the surf foaming in the headlights.

Cronin stopped and flashed a predetermined message in Morse code with his headlights. Out in the sea a light reciprocated.

“They'll be sending a landing craft out for you,” Cronin said to Stella. “It should be here in about fifteen minutes.”

Stella was a mixture of apprehension and nervous excitement. “I'm going to step out and have a cigarette,” she said.

“I'll join you,” said Cronin. “I need to talk to Stratton anyway.”

Apart from a light westerly breeze the weather was holding up well. They all gathered round next to the Range Rover with their lean baggage in one small pile.

Jennings gave Titan a curious look. “So, Stratton, is this some sort of pet?”

“I wouldn't call him a pet – he does his own thing. He's more of a companion. He's been living on the moor for years. I thought it was about time he got back to his roots.”

“I think you owe me an apology,” Jennings said to Stella.

“What for?” she asked.

“I seem to remember you telling me I was seeing things in the hedgerow at Stratton's cottage. I think the evidence now says otherwise.”

“It doesn't mean you weren't seeing things. But if it makes you feel better, then I apologize.”

Cronin and Stratton separated themselves from the main group and went to talk in the shadows. Stratton removed a roll of parchment from his inside pocket and handed it to Cronin. “Well, here it is,” he said.

Cronin took it with reverence, aware of the history he held in his hand. “Thank you,” he said. “I'll guard it with my life, I promise. I'll return it at the rendezvous.”

“No problem,” said Stratton. “You don't have to return it to me though, it's not mine anyway. We're giving it back to the monks.”

“Of course,” said Cronin.

Jennings rushed over to join them. “Sorry to disturb you guys,” he said. “But I think there's something coming down the track. Titan's ears are stiff as boards. He's getting very agitated.”

Cronin raced over to the end of the track and looked up through the trees. He saw and heard nothing. Titan prowled around next to him sniffing and growling.

“What is it?” said Stratton joining them.

“I can't see anything,” said Cronin. “But Titan here seems to be on to something.”

“Well then,” said Stratton. “We'd better be careful. How long will our transport be?”

Cronin looked at his watch. “About five minutes,” he said.

“Let's hope that's not too late,” said Stratton.

As the minutes ticked away the tension grew rapidly. Everyone was looking backwards and forwards between the trees and the sea. Eventually the sound of a motor carried over the waves.

“Sounds like they're close,” said Cronin. “Everyone get their stuff together. The sooner you're on that boat the better.”

Jennings picked up his rucksack and slung it over his shoulder. He took one last look back up the track, wondering who, if anybody, could have followed them. Titan's constant pacing was doing nothing for his nerves, and he willed the boat to get to them quickly.

A large powered dinghy floated up into the shallows. Jennings could just make out the silhouette of a man sitting astern with his hands on the rudder.

“Ahoy!” came a shout across the water.

They made towards the craft.

Suddenly a shot rang out from the trees behind. It was followed by another, and then another. One of the bullets hit the water just in front of Jennings.

“Fuck!” he shouted. He sprinted for the dinghy and dived in.

Behind him Stella followed suit.

Oggi was next, and the boat swayed as his massive weight hit the deck.

Amidst the gunfire and whistle of bullets Stratton was having difficulty persuading Titan to follow him. “Come on Titan!” he shouted. “We've got to go!” But the panther stayed fast at the edge of the water. Stratton threw his rucksack onto the boat and went back to the shore. He laid his hands on Titan's head and whispered gently in his ear. Titan slowly began to trot into the sea. They reached the dinghy and jumped in simultaneously, but as they did Titan let out a blood-curdling howl and collapsed limply next to Oggi.

Back on the sand Grady and Cronin were crouched behind the Jeep. They were both armed, and in between salvos from their unseen enemy they returned fire into the darkness.

“How many do you think there are?” said Grady.

“I'd say three,” Cronin suggested. “Judging from the trajectories and the timing. I think they're too late though – the dinghy's moving off.”

Grady poked his head over the bonnet and saw a body break from the trees and run towards the water shooting wildly. He raised his weapon and shot at the man twice. Both bullets hit their target, and he went down. The gunfire from the trees became heavier and Grady dropped back down behind the Jeep, cringing at every ping on the bodywork.

“Nice shooting,” said Cronin. “Do you think he's dead?”

“Probably,” said Grady. “But I'm not going to take it for granted.”

Cronin replaced his empty magazine and moved across to the edge of the bonnet, readying himself for another assault on the unseen enemy. He knelt on one knee waiting for a break in the sustained volley. But before he had a chance to fire, a stray bullet ricocheted off the underside of the front bumper and hit him in the heel. He screamed and fell forward as he felt his Achilles tendon snap.

Grady dived across and pulled his companion back to safety. “Is it bad?” he asked.

“It's my Achilles,” panted Cronin. “It's…fucking painful…but I'll live.”

Grady lay him out of harm's way and returned to an offensive position. Another flurry of shots pinged and whizzed past his head. He thought of Brooke and wondered if he would ever see her again.

With bullets flying around and above, the dinghy raced out to sea awkwardly, jumping off the surf and crashing back down with little grace. Jennings, along with everyone else bar the pilot, lay face down and hoped for deliverance.

As the sound of gunfire faded he pulled himself up and looked back to the shore. He could see nothing but the Range Rover's headlights. One by one the rest of the boat rose to a sitting position.

“That was close!” shouted Stella above the noise of the engine. “I thought at least one of us was going to get hit there.”

“One of us did,” said Stratton leaning over Titan and stroking his side.

“Is he dead?” asked Oggi.

“No,” said Stratton. “Well, not yet anyway. He's taken a shot just behind his front leg. I think it might have hit something vital. His breathing's very laboured.”

“Can't you do anything?” asked Oggi.

“I'm trying, but he's not responding to me.”

The pilot slowed the boat down and spoke for the first time: “The animal will have to be left,” he said in a thick Eastern European accent. “We cannot take him. It is too difficult.”

“We're not leaving him anywhere,” said Stratton.

The pilot shrugged. “You will see,” he said.

The boat chugged on out to sea. After a while Jennings noticed that they were heading towards a light. With no point of reference he couldn't tell if it was small or merely distant. With the wind picking up and scything through his bones he hoped that it was close.

Stratton continued to attend to Titan, placing his hands on the big cat's body and head, and trying with all his heart to get his energies flowing. But whatever he did, and however hard he concentrated, nothing seemed to reverse the developing blackness. Oggi looked on in silence, praying that the panther would suddenly come to life, but knowing inside that it was hopeless.