In Denial (56 page)

She ran down to the water’s edge.

Shading her eyes against the sun, she peered across the water for something, anything.

But there was nothing.

She sat down on the rough ground, buried her head in her hands and gave in to the torrent of tears she had no way of stopping.

‘
Creatures of habit, aren’t we?’

Gabrielle did not want to look round because she was sure she had only imagined his voice.

‘
But it’s role reversal this time,’ the voice said, ‘so come away from the water before you do something both of us would regret.’

Slowly she turned her head. Her second prayer had been answered.

He was sitting on the same log she had sat on an eternity ago.

‘
You’re safe,’ she said.

‘
I am.’

‘
And you’re real?’

He nodded and smiled. ‘For the first time in months I can say yes, I am real.’

‘
But -’

He held up his hand. ‘Explanations shortly but the first thing I need from you, minister or not, is a kiss to prove we are both real.’

He rose to his feet and held out his arms.

She walked slowly across the pebbles, her eyes never leaving his.

After a few seconds hesitation she went on tiptoes and pressed her lips onto his.

‘
What do we do now?’ she finally asked, her arms still round his neck.

‘
Is the Oak Tree open?’

She smiled at him. ‘It will be in about ten minutes.’

‘
Coffee?’

‘
And a little déjà vu.’

‘
But you left that note in the car.’

Adam picked up his coffee cup. ‘I didn’t change my mind until I got to our spot by the water.’

‘
But why here?’

‘
Because I hoped you would know where to look.’

‘
You wanted me to find you? You took one hell of a risk.’

‘
Perhaps.’ He smiled. ‘I sat down on that log and I heard again everything you had said before, but on this occasion I decided I really did have something to live for. If you had not come there would have been nothing.’

‘
Where were you when I got here?’

‘
I’d walked further along the road.’

‘
And you came back expecting to find me.’

‘
I walked back hoping to find you.’

Gabrielle lowered her eyes. ‘Your mother told me everything.’

‘
I thought she would.’

‘
I’m so sorry.’

‘
You have nothing to be sorry about. I should be apologising for getting you involved.’

‘
You didn’t. I involved myself. You didn’t ask me to come looking for you.’

‘
Not then, no, but I’m pleased you did. What happened to you, though, is my responsibility.’

‘
Again my answer has to be, no it isn’t. I was very foolish and just a little arrogant. I walked into a trap and paid the consequences.’

‘
You’re talking as though -’

‘
Inside I’m screaming and will be for a very long time. You’ll have to be very patient with me but for now there are more important matters to discuss.’

‘
Like where do we go from here?’

‘
Yes.’

‘
We decide all that over a coffee in the Oak Tree?’ Adam reached for both Gabrielle’s hands and entwined his fingers with hers.

‘
No, we decide after we’ve been back to the vicarage and you have helped me write my letter of resignation. A locum minister is looking after my parish, by the way, but he didn’t move into the vicarage.’

‘
You’re resigning?’

‘
A silly question, but yes. If being together is an option then we must start afresh. We must go somewhere where we’re not known and then take it from there.’

‘
We do want the same thing?’

‘
I think so.’

As they left The Oak Tree with their arms round each other’s waists, the manageress watched them go. As soon as the door closed Anne reached for the phone.

‘
I was right,’ she said, ‘young Gabrielle Brooks and that bloke I saw her with a couple of weeks ago have got a thing going.’

Forty-five minutes later they drove towards the vicarage in convoy.

Gabrielle was leading and therefore it was she who was first to negotiate the final bend in the road.

It was she who saw the police car parked in front of the vicarage and it was she who saw two policemen and a policewoman walking away from the front door.

She thought she knew what they wanted, but she had no idea how the Strathclyde Police could have been contacted so quickly, and how on earth her connection with Patrick Yong’s and the Chinese woman’s deaths had been discovered.

Gabrielle stopped the Porsche in front of the police car. The two policemen and policewoman were at the gate. They too had stopped and were looking at her. She took a deep breath and opened the door of the Porsche.

Adam drew up behind her and leapt out of his car. He was with Gabrielle, his arm round her waist, as she closed the car door. They approached the gate together.

‘
Can I help you?’ Gabrielle asked.

One of the policemen, a sergeant, stepped forward. ‘Are you Gabrielle Brooks?’ he asked, rather abruptly.

‘
Yes.’

‘
And you, sir?’ the sergeant asked, looking at Adam.

‘
My name is Adam Harrison.’

The other policeman and the policewoman had moved through the gate and were now standing behind Gabrielle and Adam.

The sergeant nodded. ‘Have you both recently returned from Hong Kong?’

‘
Yes.’ Adam replied. ‘Two days ago. Can I ask what this is all about?’

‘
You can, sir, and I will tell you. We would like you both to come with us to the police station in Helensburgh.’

‘
Is this to do with the death of my brother, Patrick Yong, Sergeant?’

The sergeant frowned. ‘Patrick Yong, sir? I know nothing about the death of any Patrick Yong. No, we wish to question you both about the murders of Eric and Elizabeth Elliott.’

Adam heard Gabrielle cry out just before she slumped against him.

The End

I would like to acknowledge the part two people played in the writing and eventual publication of this novel:

My first acknowledgment goes to The Reverend Joanna Jepson who, without knowing about her contribution, gave me the idea to introduce and develop the character of Gabrielle Brooks into this story. 

Joanna, thank you.

Shelia Mary Belshaw is one of the editors with Taylor Street Books. She painstakingly and meticulously edited my manuscript, but it is the way in which she managed me over the editing period that I would really like to acknowledge. Her author management is second to none and even when pointing out some pretty fundamental errors she did it with such an easy style I never felt I was being patronised!

Sheila, thank you.