The Hunted Child Read online

  ‘It’s Richard.’

  ‘Hi, Richard,’ said Kirsten. ‘We’re safe at the moment. I’ll not stay long. I’ll ring you again in twenty minutes. How close are you to having something sorted for us?’

  ‘Well, it could be a while,’ he said. ‘But yes, ring in twenty minutes, I’ll see what I can do. Whereabouts are you?’

  ‘Not on the open line, Richard. You know that. I’ll call soon. Have something for me, twenty minutes.’

  Kirsten was annoyed because she hadn’t got Anna Hunt. With a situation this delicate, she preferred to have her involved. Anna had a reputation for dumping the blame on her troops when something went wrong, and Kirsten fully understood how big a situation she was in. Innocence Waters had seen Kyle Collins kill a man in cold blood. The police force in Inverness have been after Collins for years, unable to pin anything on him, but now they had a star witness, and all they had to do was get her to court. Kirsten mopped the sweat from her brow. She’d been on the go constantly, and she was starting to feel weary from it.

  She shook her coat out, the one she’d purchased on the island, and left it to one side to dry a little before she’d have to depart again. Her hair was soaking wet and she was finding her contacts sore. They had probably been in for too long. Carefully, she took out her weapon, looked it over, checked the chamber, put it away again. She may have more shooting to do tonight. She didn’t know because at some point, they would have to get from Forsnaval to somewhere else, and who knew who would stand in the way at that point.

  Mr. Waters walked in on Kirsten as she was tying her hair up and gave an apologetic look and tried to leave the room.

  ‘It’s fine. What do you need?’ asked Kirsten.

  ‘I just wanted to say thank you. You were right; if you hadn’t been there, we probably would have all been dead, so thank you for the risk you’ve taken. I’m sorry, I’m just—’

  ‘You’re just in the worst situation you’ve ever imagined, and you have no idea how to deal with it. It’s fine, Mr. Waters. Just listen to what I say and do it. Do it quickly and we might all just get out of this alive. Don’t go freelancing again.’

  Kirsten placed a call back into Anna Hunt, but again, Richard answered. ‘She’s still tied up, but I’ve sorted it for you. I’ve got two people on Lewis, but they’re in Stornoway at the moment. Is it easy for you to come to them or me to get to you? We can do that if you give us your location.’

  ‘No,’ said Kirsten. ‘We’ll come to you. Where are you wanting us to meet?’

  ‘There’s a new marina in Stornoway, beside the coastguard station. There, we’ll have a boat ready. We’ll take the family away by boat. Hide them out.’

  Kirsten knew better than to ask where they were going after that, so she simply said, ‘Agreed,’ and asked for a time.

  ‘Boat’s already there,’ said Richard. ‘Our guy owns it, so it won’t be a problem.’

  ‘Fine. We’ll get underway now. Should be there in about an hour at the most.’

  ‘Understood,’ said Richard. ‘I’m keeping Anna updated. She seems pleased with your progress.’

  Pleased with my progress? thought Kirsten. That’s not a very Anna comment.

  ‘Okay. Well, we’ll see your man soon.’ Kirsten hung up the call, not wanting to be on the line for too long. ‘Right, everyone, time to go.’ Kirsten assembled the group together before going back out to the car. She checked around the area to make sure it had not been compromised. After everyone was in the car, she drove back down the track to the main road, exiting right after the gate.

  ‘Where are we going?’ asked Mr. Waters.

  ‘Freedom. We’re heading back to Stornoway. We’ve got men there who can help you get off the island.’

  The man seemed happy. As Kirsten began to drive, Innocence fell asleep in the rear seat. Kirsten watched her brother put an arm around the girl but became aware that a car had begun to follow them. Once she turned a corner where a car couldn’t see, she switched their lights on, and the car appeared behind her some few seconds later.

  As she came up towards the Reef turn off, Kirsten had a bad feeling. Why was there a car behind her—it was four o’clock in the morning? She indicated and turned off towards Reef with the car following. The roads swung quickly past a small church and then came to a section Kirsten knew well. Take right or left? It was all one loop around the outcrop. Kirsten continued left.

  With her speed being held at a moderate pace, she took the left hand turn towards Reef Beach, passing a loch in her left hand side before beginning a climb up. The car behind sped up. Kirsten drove her car quickly up the hill, pursued by the other one. At times, the track was single, narrow, and tight. When they had reached the top, passing a cemetery in the left-hand side, Kirsten took the car down past an array of houses on the side of a hill. As she reached the bottom and turned right, she went past more, all dark and quiet.

  She continued to drive round, hotly pursued by the car behind. She spun the car this way and that. As the pace picked up, they cleared the hamlet and were out with grass on either side. Kirsten continued, realising she was close to Reef Beach, and found herself opening up the car for much more acceleration.

  The service had given her driving skills, and she was now using them to full effect. When they passed Reef Beach on the left-hand side, she didn’t have time to locate one of the whitest beaches and best inlets on the island. Instead, she continued diving around houses and onto a narrow road until it came back on itself, and she found herself passing the church again. The car was up her tail, and as she came out, another car was driving in. Kirsten didn’t hesitate but drove straight at the car ahead, causing it to swerve to one side, crashing into a wall.

  The car behind her stopped as she took the road back towards Stornoway. In some ways, Kirsten was bemused. They were pursuing her, and yet, they seemed to have just switched off. If it had been two cars, why hadn’t one come one way around the Reef and one around the other? Why hadn’t they been all over them? It was like they were giving the thought of chase, without actually doing it. Kirsten pondered this as she started on her way back towards Stornoway.

  Chapter 11

  The town of Stornoway was especially quiet as Kirsten drove into it at five in the morning. The previous hard rain had changed now to a light drizzle, which could be seen as a mist in front of the streetlights. The sun had yet to pervade and apart from the artificial light, it was dark. Kirsten struggled to see the castle grounds to her right as she drove along Bayhead, making for the harbour. The shops were silent, but on the harbour side, she could see fishing crews readying their boats to go out.

  She drove the car along to the new marina further up, closer to the coastguard station. There was a single road out to the car park by the marina and rather than drive straight there, Kirsten parked the car close to the ferry terminal several hundred yards away, advising her passengers to sit there, but leaving Ollie in the driver’s seat. Kirsten explained that if anything strange should happen, he should flee as fast as possible.

  Kirsten walked a short distance away from the terminal and found herself looking over at the marina from the road opposite. She was struggling to see two cars and Kirsten didn’t recognise anything from her department. That could be okay. They might have had to pick up a hire car, but where was the transport for onward passage? Kirsten looked at the marina and saw various boats, but none seemed to have any lights on or be preparing to head out. This was some distance from where the fishing boats were tied up, and she saw cruisers and sailing vessels. As the drizzle continued, she made her way closer to the coastguard station, seeing a building that was all dark, except for a single light up in what must have been the operations room.

  The road to the marina went past the coastguard station and was a single road with passing places. If she drove in, she could easily get blocked and struggle to get back out again. It seemed a strange place for a meet. Kirsten stood for a while to see if anyone was about. When she’d gone to f
ind the kidnappers, they were atop the Callanish Stones with a view for miles around. From there, you could get away quite easily in a number of directions, but not here. One road in and one road out, and it made Kirsten edgy.

  Again, she stared at the vessels at the marina, but saw no movement. Making her way back to the car, she brought Ollie outside and spoke a few words to him. Then both he and Innocence came to the back of the car where Kirsten opened up the boot. Looking around, Kirsten thought she saw someone in the distance and stared fixedly for a moment before closing the boot again. Carefully, she drove off, making her way up to the car park at the marina, Mr. Waters now sitting in the passenger seat.

  ‘Do you think they’ll be safe?’

  ‘I trust my instincts,’ said Kirsten. ‘They’re as safe as they can be. Don’t worry. This will all resolve.’ Kirsten said it with less conviction than she thought she should have. She saw the man’s anxious face but that was only to be expected. There’d been plenty of guns on the go so far and with guns usually came death in some shape or form. It was hard enough for a trained operative like herself to stay calm. Actually, she thought Mr. Waters was doing quite well.

  The first streaks of blue were beginning to cut across the sky as Kirsten drove down the single road towards the car park at the marina. She entered and parked the car in the middle of the car park and stepped out.

  ‘Not you, Mr. Waters. Stay there. Be prepared to slide over into this seat if things go wrong.’ The man nodded, his face full of fear.

  ‘Are they here?’ he asked, agitated.

  ‘Give it time. People don’t leap out in these things.’

  A car behind them suddenly switched on its lights, flashed them three times before pausing for a few seconds and flashing them twice more.

  ‘They’re here,’ said Kirsten. ‘It could be okay.’

  She walked around to the back of the car and tapped the boot twice. When she made her way back to the front of the car, two figures had emerged from the vehicle that had flashed the lights and were making their way across. Kirsten saw two men she’d never seen before in her life, one small and balding and the other tall and blond. They looked mismatched, like they belonged to two different races, but it was clear that the bald one was taking the lead.

  ‘You Stewart?’ asked the bald man.

  ‘Code?’ asked Kirsten.

  ‘Alpha Charlie Zulu Delta 86954 Alpha Charlie.’

  Kirsten nodded. The code checked out, but she thought she knew a lot of the agency staff. Maybe Richard didn’t have time to get her someone she could identify.

  ‘What’s the plan?’ asked Kirsten.

  ‘Boat,’ said the tall man and then took a step forward, lifting his hand out towards Mr. Waters.

  ‘And then boat to where?’ asked Kirsten.

  ‘Probably down to Oban, then down to Glasgow, maybe even London after that,’ said the bald man.

  Kirsten looked at the man’s hip and could see a bulge where a weapon was. Something in her was not happy. Her hand flexed, readying itself to reach for her weapon. You didn’t tell anybody where you were going when they didn’t need to know. If they were moving the asset, that was their business, not Kirsten’s. And it didn’t look like a standard holster on the man’s hip either, nor, for that matter, a standard weapon.

  ‘Excellent,’ said Mr. Waters. ‘We’ll be in London then.’

  Kirsten looked to her left, realising the man had got out of the car. She was distinctly unhappy about this.

  ‘Where’s your daughter and your son?’ asked the tall man. Kirsten went to put her hand up, but realised that this would seem bizarre, stopping the man from talking to the agents he was going to go with.

  ‘They’re in the boot,’ said Mr. Waters. ‘Just a precaution. That’s what the officer said, just a precaution.’

  Kirsten saw the hand fly up from his hip, and the small man was drawing a weapon towards Mr. Waters. Kirsten instantly grabbed her own and managed to get a shot off quickly that hit the man in the hip. Her second shot hit him in the head, and he spun off to the ground. The other taller man was reaching with his gun towards Kirsten. When she managed to get a hand up, he swung round, catching her in the head, knocking her over to the floor. Mr. Waters had reached past her. The taller man engaged with him momentarily before he managed to push the older man to the ground. Within seconds, the tall man was at the boot of the car, throwing it open, gun trained inside.

  ‘Where the bloody hell are they?’

  It was the last words he spoke as Kirsten recovered, and shot him from almost point-blank range. Something inside her reeled. She heard a loud scream of, ‘No,’ from Mr. Waters.

  ‘They’re not in there,’ said Kirsten. ‘I didn’t put them in. Get in the car. We need to go.’ Waters nodded, and then pointed to Kirsten. At the edge of the car park there were two more men starting to come towards them. Kirsten slammed the boot shut.

  ‘Get in the car, Waters. Get in now.’

  A shot rang out, and Kirsten saw the man spin into the car. She ran to him, quickly realising he been shot in the arm, and managed to shove him into the car. From behind his door, she fired over the top with her weapon, forcing the men coming towards her to run for cover. Slamming the passenger door shut, she spun around the back of the car before jumping into the front seat.

  The men had now started to run towards her, weapons drawn, but Kirsten floored the car as quick as she could. The men were blocking the exit from the car park, and she rolled down the window before putting her weapon out the front and firing wildly. Both men stood still, firing back, and Kirsten heard a shot ping off the car, but one of her own shots hit a target and the man spun, clutching his leg. The other one stepped across, a barrier between them and single road that would take them back into Stornoway town.

  Kirsten grabbed Mr. Waters, pulled his head down below the dashboard and joined him as she heard the sickening thud of the man being hit by the car. She popped her head back up again in time to spin the wheel and get the car heading towards the road back into Stornoway.

  ‘Where are my kids?’ the man shouted at her, and she could see his eyes beginning to reel. His arm was covered in blood. Kirsten realised he needed to be at a hospital. As the car drove towards the main road into Stornoway, the single track was suddenly blocked by a car coming the other way. It had put on its beam, blinding Kirsten, but having sounded no horn or even flashed the lights. Kirsten knew it must be someone else trying to block her escape. But they wouldn’t, not for a moment.

  Without hesitation, Kirsten put the foot to the floor, driving as fast as she could at the oncoming car. She held her nerve, hoping that they wouldn’t simply ram her head on. At the last second, the car veered slightly to the side, and Kirsten adjusted her wheel, clipping the car, forcing it into the barrier at the edge. She heard the wing mirror on her passenger side rip off, but her car kept going, bouncing up onto the pavement at one side before Kirsten could steer it back onto the road.

  She got back onto the main road, drove down towards the car park she had left Ollie and his sister in. She had told them to hide under a car after pretending to put them into the boot. Something had smacked of being wrong. Too many things weren’t done exactly right, and as hard up as Kirsten had been, she had decided to take no chances. They should be under one of the cars in the car park, hidden away. She reached the small roundabout in front of the car park, and took a left in the wrong direction before jumping out of the car and quickly looking under the parked cars that were there. She pulled her pen torch. No one was hiding underneath. She went back and forward quickly, knowing that more pursuers would be following.

  ‘Blast,’ thought Kirsten. ‘They’ve done a runner again.’ She looked quickly around seeing the Bali House she’d eaten her curry in not that long before. She could see no one along the stretch of south beach and reckoned the young people must have headed off into the town itself. Getting back into the car, she looked at Mr. Waters, and realising he was starting to swoo
n, Kirsten picked up her phone, dialled 999, and put it on the speaker phone as she started the car again. When the operative answered, she quickly explained the situation.

  ‘Bringing a man into the hospital. His name is Waters. Involved in the case against Collins. That’s Kyle Collins. He needs protection. I need officers to go. My authorization is—’

  Kirsten battered out a code that was ingrained in her memory. Her eyes darted from her driver’s near side mirror to the rear view, looking for any cars that were coming with her. The hospital was only a short distance away, and she asked the call handler to advise the A&E that she was coming in.

  ‘I won’t be staying. I’ve got two people who need protection that I’ve lost. I am putting this man into A&E. Get officers there to protect him.’ Kirsten didn’t know how long it would be when she put the phone down before the police would arrive, and she hoped having given her authorization code that they would blue light it all the way.

  The hospital was back along the route they’d taken, and Kirsten knew it well from her days of working in the town. As she reached the hospital, she found the car park to be empty. Normally, during the day, it would be rammed, as full as anything with parking spaces hard to come by. She took the road to the left, followed it around, and parked her car in front of the A&E entrance usually reserved for ambulances. Jumping out of the car, she opened the passenger door, grabbed Mr. Waters by the good arm, put it around her neck, and helped him in through the front doors which stood open. ‘Kirsten Stewart. You should have had a message from the police.’ She shouted this at the top of her voice, for the waiting room was empty. A door to her left opened with a nurse in her scrubs running towards her. ‘What’s happened to him?’ the woman asked.

  ‘Shot in the arm, bleeding badly. I can’t stay. I’ve got two more people to go and find. There will be police officers coming. You need to let them come and stand beside this man when you work on him.’