The Blood Tree Page 31

  Haggs stepped aside as a large figure in white barged into him.

  “I found them, Quint.” Big Eye was looking pleased with himself. “They’re okay.” He pointed behind him. I made out a guy with a heavy shoe on his left foot and giveaway Byronic hair. Next to him was a crumpled figure in a specially constructed chair. The seal man waved a hand that was only a few inches from his shoulder.

  “Well done, my friend,” I said. “These officers will make sure you’re looked after.” I looked at Hyslop and Haggs. They both nodded, less appalled by the state of the inmates than I’d expected. Big Tam was even regarding the one-eyed young man with something that almost looked like compassion.

  “What are you planning to do now, Hel?” I asked after Big Eye had moved off.

  She was chewing her lip. “Give Duart the bad news, I suppose.”

  “About Rennie’s unfortunate demise?”

  She nodded. “The institute’s lawyers will have a field day. So will the newspapers. Illegal entry to private property, illegal damage, illegal use of the truck . . .”

  “Fuck Duart,” I said. “Fuck the lawyers and the newspapers. We’ve got to find Macbeth before anything happens to Aurora.”

  Now Hyslop and Haggs were the ones registering surprise.

  “Aurora?” Hel said. “Unusual name.” She narrowed her eyes at me. “You seem very concerned about the girl, Quint.”

  “Why shouldn’t I be?” I yelled. “She’s an innocent victim, she doesn’t deserve any of this, she—”

  “All right,” Hyslop said, taking my arm in a firm grip and leading me away. “What do you want from me?”

  I glanced back at Haggs. He had his eyes locked on the files I was still carrying.

  I thought for a few moments. “This is what I need. A Llama and the authority to use any means to find the bastards.” I wasn’t planning on telling her about the means I had in mind – Davie, Katharine and the bug monitor.

  Hel was shaking her head, her expression hard. “No chance, Quint. I can’t give you carte blanche. You’re not even a Glasgow citizen.”

  “I can catch them,” I said desperately. “I can catch them and set Aurora free.”

  “You’re not being straight with me, are you?” she said, her eyes opening wide. “You’ve got some kind of lead.”

  I slapped my free hand against my forehead. “Oh for fuck’s sake.” I moved closer to her. “You’re right, Hel. I’ve got a lead. But I’m not going to let you in on it. Your people didn’t even manage to spot them when they escaped.”

  Hyslop was looking at me intensely. “All right,” she said, “here’s the deal. I’ll give you whatever you want, but you have to share it with me and Tam. Only us, okay? We have to come with you.”

  I glanced back at Haggs. He was giving a junior policeman several pieces of his mind. I shook my head. “No. I don’t trust Tam. He’ll want to take the targets on.” Then I thought of Aurora and her beautiful face – Caro’s face. I’d never be able to look at my own wasted features in the mirror again if I didn’t find her. “Okay, here’s what we’ll do. You and you alone can come with me. I’ll tell you what I know and we’ll finish this together. Is it a deal?”

  She wasn’t overjoyed but eventually she nodded. “All right, it’s a deal.” She turned to Haggs and told him to supervise the search of the Baby Factory. Now they were in and Rennie was dead, Duart was going to want as much back-up evidence as he could get.

  “Where are you going, inspector?” Tam asked.

  “She’s coming with me,” I said. “To find out how the experts do it.” The bravado in my voice did nothing to mask the feeling of dread that had settled over me like an autumn mist.

  Hel turned the Llama out of the Rennie’s car park. “Who are you calling?” she asked suspiciously.

  I raised my hand to shut her up. “Katharine, it’s me. Where are they?” I felt Hyslop’s breath on my cheek as she looked at me.

  “On the M8 heading north round the city centre.”

  “What kind of vehicle is it?” I asked.

  “Flashy off-road vehicle,” she replied. “Bit like the one we’re in. Red.”

  “Okay, keep your distance. How many people are there inside?”

  “Not sure. Driver and small child definitely. There may be another person in the back.”

  “Okay.” I glanced at Hel. “You can call me any time now. I’m about to come clean to the inspector.” I gave her the mobile number.

  “Come clean?” Katharine asked. “What does that mean, exactly?”

  “Out.” I turned to my chauffeur. “Did you catch that? Head for the—”

  “I heard,” she said, accelerating away. “Who’s Katharine?”

  I told her. And about Davie. And about the bug. But I didn’t tell her about Aurora’s background, or about the kids from Edinburgh. I didn’t trust her that much.

  The mobile rang. “Quint, it’s Katharine. The target’s taken the M8o. Are you after us?”

  I confirmed that we were and signed off, then made sure that Hel had heard the route. To our right the lights of central Glasgow blazed out brighter than the tourist zone in Edinburgh ever does. The place was wealthy, but how would it be affected by the loss of the Baby Factory’s profits? I wondered if Andrew Duart and his supposedly independent judiciary would bury the institute. Maybe they’d just replace the management and redirect the funds to the executive’s coffers. I didn’t much care. All I was interested in was getting Aurora away from the lunatic who’d taken her.

  The vehicle’s phone rang. I heard the first secretary’s smooth tones after I spoke.

  “Quint?” he said in surprise. “Where’s the inspector?”

  “She’s driving, Andrew. Shall I put her on?”

  “Just a minute. You have some questions to answer, my friend.”

  “I know. I’m giving Hyslop the full story.”

  “I’m not sure if she’s fit to handle the investigation after the débâcle at the Rennie. What happened to the professor?”

  “Look, I don’t have time for this. We’re in pursuit of the guys behind the murders and they have a hostage.”

  “Ah. Very well.” Duart’s tone was business-like now. “What can I do to help?”

  “Nothing at the moment. I’ll let you know if we need your services. Out.” I replaced the phone and realised that Hel was shaking her head.

  “What’s the matter?”

  “You can’t talk to Duart like that.” She took the slip road and joined the M8o, flashing her roof-lights to clear the traffic out of her way. “He’ll have my warrant card.” She gave a humourless laugh. “Who cares? My career’s down the Clyde anyway after tonight.”

  “Not if we catch Macbeth and Broadsword.”

  “Maybe.” She gave me an inquisitive look. “You still haven’t told me everything, have you?”

  I looked ahead at the northbound traffic. “Where do you think Macbeth’s heading?”

  “Answer the fucking question, Quint!” she shouted, swerving round a refuse lorry and making me slam into the door.

  I glared at her. “No, I haven’t. I will do though – if you concentrate on nailing the dickheads.”

  She pursed her lips and pressed the accelerator harder. “Where do I think Macbeth’s going? You tell me. The last time I came down this road was with you when we came back from your home town.”

  “You don’t think he’s heading there, do you? Why would he?”

  “How would I know?” she demanded. “You’re the one with all the fucking answers.”

  The phone rang before I could respond to that.

  “Inspector Hyslop?” It was a female voice I’d heard before but couldn’t place.

  “She’s busy. Who’s this?”

  “Nurse Lennox. And you are?”

  “Dalrymple. You’re the one looking after Leadbelly, aren’t you?” I felt a stab of anxiety. “What’s up?”

  “Em, your friend . . . Leadbelly.” She pronounced the name as if it
were infectious. “I’m afraid he’s dead. He killed himself.”

  “What? What happened?”

  “He wrapped an electric lead round his neck and threw himself off his bed. I think his heart had already been weakened.”

  I immediately suspected the worst. “Did he have any visitors? Where was the guard?”

  “No visitors,” the nurse said calmly. “No one went into the room, including the guard. You can take my word for it. I was at my desk down the corridor all evening. I was the one who found him.”

  Before I rang off I ranted at her, my suspicions about the earlier suicide attempt still alive. Then I remembered Leadbelly’s eyes and his air of desperation. Maybe this was one conspiracy theory too far. Maybe the poor bastard really did believe that he’d killed the pregnant woman in a drunken, drug-fuelled haze. Not only that. He obviously knew something about what was going on in the Rennie. I reckoned he knew Big Eye and his friends. It looked like the “poor tortured fuckers” had got to him and made the former hardman feel guilty about what he was involved in for the first time in his life.

  I turned to look at Hel Hyslop. Maybe the idea that she and Haggs had framed Leadbelly was also a fantasy, nothing more than a nightmare from the darkest recesses of my imagination. Leadbelly hadn’t been able to take it any more and his second suicide attempt had been successful. But the real killer or killers, the ones who’d set him up, were in the vehicle further down the road – and Caro’s daughter was with them.

  I gave Leadbelly a quick, muted verse from “Must I Be Carried to the Sky” and let the old reprobate slip away.

  Chapter Nineteen

  “You’ve gone very quiet,” Hel said.

  I was looking out over the slopes of the fields to my left, the darkness dotted here and there with the lights from isolated settlements. The city was well behind us now – we were back in wolf country.

  “Quint?” she said, her voice rising. “What is it?”

  I still couldn’t talk to Hel about Aurora. The shock of seeing her face in the lab had been replaced by a numbness that made the idea of explaining who the little girl was impossible to entertain. I was very far from coming to terms with what Rennie had done.

  “Can I use that bag in the back?” I asked, deflecting her question.

  She glanced round. “If you like,” she replied. “The bulletproof jackets Tam and I drew were in it.” She shifted in her seat. “Christ, I’ve still got mine on.”

  “Don’t worry,” I said. “I emptied the Ladykiller into Broadsword so you’re safe from me.” I leaned over and took the nylon hold-all. I stuffed the files the bogeyman had dropped into it, along with his gun. I wasn’t sure how many rounds were left in it and I didn’t want to get Hyslop on her high horse by telling her about it, so it became another secret. The bastard things scare me shitless, but I was beginning to see that they had their uses.

  “What are those files?” Hel asked.

  “Don’t know yet. They’re from the Rennie. I’d check them out now but reading in vehicles always makes me throw up.”

  “Don’t even think about reading them now,” she said firmly.

  My mobile rang.

  “Quint? Davie. The target’s turned towards Grangemouth. We’re about a mile behind him.” He gave me the locations. “There’s no other traffic out here so he’ll see someone’s after him if we go much closer.”

  “Keep your distance, whatever you do,” I shouted. “There’s a hostage, remember.”

  “I know that,” he said, registering surprise at my agitation. “What’s eating you, Quint?”

  I wasn’t going to answer his question. I looked at the map by torchlight. “We’re about three miles from you. I tell you what – stop and wait for us. We need to come up with a plan of action. Out.”

  Before she could ask what I had in mind, the Llama’s phone rang again. I grabbed it first and answered.

  “Ah Quint, Duart here. What’s going on?” There was an uncharacteristic tension in his voice.

  I told him where Macbeth had gone and what we were doing.

  “There’s nothing for him in Grangemouth,” the first secretary said. “The place was destroyed during the drugs wars.”

  “There are still harbour walls and the like though, aren’t there?” I said, remembering a report from one of the Public Order Directorate’s recce squads a few years back.

  “I don’t know,” Duart said. “What are you getting at?”

  I had to give him something in return for what I was about to ask. “Listen, Andrew, I haven’t been as open with you as I might have been.”

  “What a surprise,” Hel Hyslop said under her breath.

  “You see,” I continued, “there are a lot of Edinburgh connections in this case.” I reckoned I was better off sharing the information with him as well as with Hel – I wasn’t sure how she was going to react.

  There were a few seconds of silence. “Go on, Dalrymple.” My first name had suddenly gone missing in action.

  “There isn’t time to explain everything now. What I can tell you is that Rennie had been using genetic material and subjects from Edinburgh for years. In fact, he arranged for the kidnap of three hyper-intelligent teenagers from a special facility in Edinburgh at the same time you people grabbed me.” I told him that Dougal Strachan was one of them and gave him the two survivors’ names. “I want you to arrange their return home, Andrew.”

  “And why should I do that?” he asked frostily.

  “Because I’m going to tell Hyslop everything else I know. After we’ve got the girl away from Macbeth and his psycho followers.” I could see a dim light on the road ahead. “I’m going to have to cut you off now, Andrew. Do we have a deal?”

  “Maybe.”

  “Definitely,” I corrected. “Out.”

  Hel pulled up beside the dark blue Super Llama, her headlights sweeping over Davie and Katharine.

  “So these are your friends,” she said, pulling out her gun and checking the safety catch.

  I put my hand on her arm. “You won’t need that.”

  We got out. Katharine gave me a quick smile and Davie nodded. I made the introductions and there were a few seconds of mutually suspicious looks. Then Davie angled the portable bug monitor away from the light.

  “Bloody hell, they’re out on the water,” he said. “Heading east.”

  “Jesus,” I said. “Maybe the mad bastards really are heading for the perfect city.”

  “We’d better get over to the boatyard at the Kincardine Bridge,” Hyslop said.

  “Why do you think they’d be going to go to Edinburgh, Quint?” Katharine asked.

  “He thinks he knows everything,” Hel said sarcastically, turning back to the Llama. “Follow me.”

  She meant the three of us to follow the Llama, but I took her literally and joined her in it. She was punching out a number on her mobile and frowned when she saw me.

  “Tam, it’s me,” she said. “Where are you?” She listened for a while. “Right, see what you can do about that. We’re heading for the bridge. Then probably to Quint’s home town. Wish me luck.” She listened and then glanced across. “Tam says you’re to make sure you look after me.”

  “Sure,” I replied. “At least as well as he looked after me in Glasgow. Where is he?”

  She started the engine and swung away. “He’s still at the Rennie. Duart’s insisting that the place be taken apart.”

  “I hope someone’s taking care of Big Eye and his pals,” I said as the lights from the other vehicle flashed in our mirrors. “No doubt Glasgow’s welfare services are world beaters.”

  Hel nodded, not favouring my irony with a reply. Then she called the dock at the Kincardine Bridge.

  “We’re in luck,” she said when she finished. “There’s a boat alongside. They’re fuelling it up now. Edinburgh here we come.”

  I looked at her. “It’s not a certainty that Macbeth’s going there. Maybe he’s heading for Fife or even further north. I heard he’s
got cult members all over the place.”

  “Really? I’m not exactly in a position to judge, Quint,” she said bitterly. “You’ve kept quiet about so much in this investigation.”

  I shrugged. “I suppose I haven’t got over the way we started – with a hypodermic full of dope in my thigh.”

  She gunned the engine as we hit the bridge approach road, her lights catching the skeletal shapes of cars that had been burned out decades ago. “Don’t tell me you haven’t enjoyed the trip,” she said in a mocking voice. “At least you got a decent jacket out of it.”

  I ran my hand down the smooth leather. “I suppose the last few days have had their moments,” I replied. Then Aurora’s phantom face came out of the darkness and stopped my heart again. “Look,” I said haltingly, “it’d be better if you didn’t come with us. If you’re discovered in Edinburgh, the guardians will have you in the castle dungeons before you can draw your pistol.”

  “I’m sure you’ll put in a good word for me,” Hel said, slowing down as the boatyard’s perimeter fence appeared in the headlight beam. “Save your breath, Quint. I’m coming. End of story.”

  Not yet, I thought. Not until Aurora was safe.

  “You’ll need to give me the passengers’ names, inspector.” The captain of the converted trawler was looking at Hel anxiously. “I can’t sail without a manifest.”

  I was glad to see that bureaucracy was flourishing even in go-ahead Glasgow.

  “Yes you can!” she shouted up from the deck. “This is a Major Crime Squad operation and there’s no time to lose. Move!”

  The skipper nodded reluctantly then waved to his crewmen. The lines were slipped off the bollards and we headed out into the middle of the channel. Astern I made out the shape of another boat in the murk under the bridge. There were no lights on it.

  I turned to Davie. “Where are the targets?” I asked, peering over his arm at the bug monitor. I couldn’t make head or tail of the green and yellow lines and the red numbers on the miniature screen.

  “About two and a half miles downstream.” He glanced at me. “Who knows what kind of boat they’ve got? If it’s a fast one, we’ll be hard pressed to catch up in this wreck.”