‘Sit down. I’ll try to explain.’
She sits, nervous as a kitten.
Gideon feels her panic infecting him. What he says next could unhinge her. But he has to let her know, she must understand what is going to happen. She has to realise that these are her last hours alive.
148
Draco’s eyes are fixed in his rearview mirror, his hands locked on top of the van’s steering wheel. About five miles back he caught a glimpse of something behind them. A dark blur way back. Maybe five hundred metres. Tiny but enough. The road out of Imber is always deserted. Always. But not today. The blur is still there.
‘Can you make out what’s behind us?’ he says to Musca, beside him. ‘What kind of vehicle?’
The big butcher swivels in the passenger’s seat. He struggles with the shape. Not a van. Not an estate. ‘Too far back to see properly. A hatchback maybe. A Focus or a Golf, that kind of thing.’
‘Did you see where it came from?’
He turns back round. ‘Not a clue. Why?’
‘The army doesn’t let anyone park down here. So where the hell did it come from and what’s it doing out at this time?’
Musca leans forward so he can see it more magnified in the wing mirror. ‘Maybe they’re lost.’
‘Maybe.’ Draco takes his foot off the gas and slows the van down to thirty. Another glance in the rearview. A blood-red rising sun and the small black car. It’s closing the gap. The builder slows to twenty-five.
‘I’m going to brake and pull over without indicating. Get yourself ready.’
Musca eases a subcompact Glock 26 from his waistband and cradles it on his lap.
Draco hits the brakes. The car slides into a gravel run-off.
The hatchback swerves, its horn blaring. But it doesn’t stop. A window rolls down and the driver shakes a meaty fist.
Neither Draco nor Musca speak. Their eyes stay fixed on the tail-light of the car as it carries on down the dusty road. They watch until it completely disappears.
‘Pissheads,’ guesses Musca. ‘I’ll bet they’ve been on an all-nighter and are heading off to work.
Draco restarts the stalled engine. It makes sense. They might be going over to Tilshead or Westdown Camp. ‘Let’s hope so,’ he says. ‘Today is not the day we want anyone on our tail.’
149
‘You must be fucking crazy,’ Caitlyn says, backing away from Gideon. ‘Cults and and sacrifices? This is not for real.’ She paces nervously around the cell.
Gideon glances to the door. The Lookers are out there. Volans and the others. They are waiting. They will hear.
‘And this place?’ She raises her arms. ‘What is it? The room next to the fucking death chamber? Are you and your whack-job buddies going to take me somewhere and roast me over a fire?’ Her mind can’t cope with the madness of what he’s been trying to tell her.
He lets her vent. Pace. Blow off steam. Then he completes the picture. ‘Just before twilight you will be moved from here. You will be washed and changed into ceremonial robes and taken to the Great Room inside the Sanctuary. There the Master will perform a pre-sacrificial ritual.’
Her eyes widen. He’s deranged. Insane. Isn’t he?
Gideon tries to reassure her. ‘It is not sexual, but it is painful. Your body will be cut with the marks of the Sacreds. One incision for each of the trilithons. This is down your arms, your legs and your spine. Your wounds will be anointed with water of the Sacreds and you will be left for five hours.’
‘And then what?’
‘The Bearers will take you to the river. You will be immersed in the waters that the ancients crossed to erect the temple that you are in and Stonehenge.’
As she hears the word, she thinks of Jake. The last intimate moments they spent together.
‘The henge is where the final part of the ceremony will take place. The offering.’
She stares in utter disbelief. His words are from a lexicon of lunacy. Offering, sacrifice, Bearers, Sacreds. ‘How?’ The question jumps from her of its own accord. ‘How will it be done?’
‘It will be quick. Merciful.’
‘Merciful? What kind of word is that?’ She looks down. Her hands are trembling. It’s all so crazy she can’t believe any of this is going to happen. ‘Where’s Jake? Is he …’ Even saying his name distresses her. ‘Is he going to go through all this as well?’
‘No.’ Gideon tries to be gentle. ‘Your boyfriend is dead. The police found his body a few days ago. In a Campervan.’
Caitlyn loses her breath. It’s what she feared. Locked in that hole, she’s thought as much a hundred times, but the news still breaks her.
Gideon wraps his arms around her and feels her sob against his shoulder. Her whole body shakes as the tears come.
Over her shoulder, he sees a face at the bars of the cell. The face of his father.
150
Sammy is already awake and causing mayhem by the time Megan gets back to her parents’ place. She has make-up plastered across her face and over half the bedroom furniture.
‘Making myself pretty, Mummy.’ She smiles proudly and puckers her newly lipsticked lips.
‘Come on, let’s get you cleaned up.’ Megan sets the shower running and tries to wipe up some of the mess.
Her daughter walks to the low cabinet beneath the sink and collects her own bottle of shampoo. ‘I’m a big girl now, I can wash myself, Mummy.’
It makes Megan smile. Her daughter is growing up. Another few months and she’ll start big school. It doesn’t seem five minutes since Sammy was a babe in arms. Time is going so fast.
The water is fine and she helps Sammy over the edge of the cubicle, careful she doesn’t catch her toes, then closes the door. ‘You okay in there?’ She presses her face to the already steamed-up glass. Sammy slaps the other side, giggles.
Megan holds her head and pretends to be hit, puts her face back to the glass.
Sammy slaps it again and giggles even louder.
This kind of clowning could go on all day.
‘Very funny,’ says a deep voice behind her.
Megan spins round.
‘Adam.’ Her head fills with panic. ‘How did you get in?’
He smiles thinly. ‘Back door. Your mum left it open. I must have told her a dozen times to lock it. She just doesn’t listen, does she?’
Her heart is thumping. ‘What do you want, Adam? What are you doing in here?’
He shuts the bathroom door behind him. Traps them both in the bathroom. ‘Where were you last night, Meg?’
‘What?’ She tries to sound indignant.
‘You were out all night. And not in your car. You left it on the drive, and you weren’t working. So where were you? Who were you with?’
‘I think you should leave, Adam.’ She tries to step around him but he blocks her.
She stares him down. ‘Where I go and what I do is my business. Nothing to do with you. Now get out.’
His face colours. A vein in his neck twitches.
Megan tries for the door.
Again he blocks her. Slips his left hand the other side of her so she’s trapped between his outstretched arms.
‘Let me out.’ Megan doesn’t shout. She has one eye on Sammy. Her baby girl is sat squeezing shampoo down the shower drain.
‘When I’m ready, Meg. Now tell me where you were.’
He is so much bigger than she is. She knows she’ll lose any fight between them. But it doesn’t stop her trying. She drives a knee hard between his legs. He catches it with one hand. His fingers lock like a grip wrench. He squeezes until he sees pain on her face. With his other hand, he grabs her throat and pushes her hard against the bathroom door. ‘I hear you’ve been offered a job in Swindon. Promotion. Good for you. Best you take it.’ He glances towards his daughter. ‘Best for everyone. That way you keep your nose out of my life and out of everything else around here. Do I make myself clear?’