"How was the burger?"
"Fine. I saved Euan some fries."
I sat on the bed next to her.
"Listen, Kelly, me and Euan have been talking, and because I've got to do some stuff in London, we reckon it's a good idea if you go to the countryside with him and stay at his house. It's only for one night; I'll be back tomorrow. What do you think? Hey, you can even see the floor we laid--remember I talked about it?"
She suspected she wasn't being offered any option, and her face said so.
I said, "I won't be long, and Euan's house has sheep all around it."
She looked down at her fingers and mumbled, "I want to stay with you."
I said with mock surprise, "What, don't you want to go?
You'll see all the sheep!"
She was embarrassed. She was too polite to say no in front of Euan.
I said, "It won't be for long." Then, like a bastard, I closed the trap.
"You like Euan, don't you?"
She nodded, never losing eye contact with me in case she made it with Euan.
"It's just going to be for one night. I'll be calling you anyway; I'll be able to talk to you."
She looked very unhappy about it. After all, I'd promised not to leave her again. I caught sight of my mobile and had an idea.
"How about I give you my mobile phone. I'll show you how to use it." I started playing with the buttons.
"Here you are, you have a go. If I show you how to use it, you can put that under your pillow tonight, all right?"
I looked up at Euan, trying to bring him in.
"Because she'll have her own bedroom, won't she?"
"That's right. She'll have her own bedroom, the one that overlooks the sheep pen."
I said, "And I believe there's a TV in her bedroom, isn't there?"
"Yes, there's a TV in there." He nodded and agreed, wondering where he was going to get one from.
There was an acceptance; she wasn't wild about it, but that was good enough. I switched on the phone, tapped in my PIN number, and handed it over.
"Just plug the charger into the wall when you get there and it'll work,
OK?"
"OK."
"Then put it underneath your pillow so when it rings you'll be sure to hear it. All right?"
"Whatever." By now she understood that she definitely had no choice.
Euan said, "I'll tell you what. We'd better get your teddies organized if we're going to the country. What are their names? Have they ever been on a train before?"
She warmed to him. We went downstairs and got into a taxi to Paddington station. We bought Kelly ice cream, candy, soda, anything to keep her mind off what was happening. She was still deciding what comic to buy as Euan looked at his watch and said, "Wheels turning soon, mate."
I went with them along the platform and gave her a big hug at the door of the train car.
"I'll call you tonight, Kelly. I promise."
As she climbed up. Jenny and Ricky were looking at me from the Virgin Atlantic day sack on her back.
"OK."
The guard was walking the length of the train, closing the doors. Euan lowered the window so Kelly could wave.
"Nick?" She leaned toward me through the open window and beckoned as if she wanted to whisper something.
"What?" I put my face near hers.
"This." She threw her arms around my neck, squeezed, and planted a big kiss on my cheek. I was so taken aback I just stood there.
The train started moving.
"I'll see you tomorrow," Euan called.
"Don't worry about us. We'll be OK."
As the train slowly disappeared from the platform, I felt the same wrench as I had at the moment I'd seen Pat's body being loaded into the ambulance. But this time I couldn't figure out why. After all, it was for the best and she was in safe hands. Forcing myself to see it as one more problem out of the way, I headed for the pay phones.
I got a very businesslike reply from Vauxhalclass="underline" "Extension please?"
"Two-six one-two."
There was a pause, then a voice I recognized at once.
"Hello, two-six one-two?"
"It's Stone. I've got what you needed."
"Nick! Where are you?"
I put my finger in my ear as a departure was announced.
"I'm in England." Not that he needed me to say that when he could hear that the Exeter train was leaving in five minutes.
"Excellent."
"I'm pretty desperate to see you."
"Likewise. But I'm tied up here until the early hours." He paused to think.
"Perhaps we can go for a walk and a talk.
Let's say three-thirty tomorrow morning?"
"Where?"
"I'll walk toward the station. I presume you'll find me."
"I'll do that."
I put the phone down with a feeling that at long last the dice were rolling for me. Kelly was safe, Simmonds sounded amenable. With luck I was only hours from sorting out this mess.
Back at the hotel I rented a car so I could pick up Kelly from Brecon after the meeting, and had something to eat. In my head I ran through exactly what I was going to say to Simmonds, and the way I was going to say it. Without a doubt, I had in my possession precisely the sort of evidence Simmonds had asked for. It was a shame I didn't have the videotape to back up some of it, but, even so, the stuff I had was probably more than he could have hoped for. The worst-case scenario now was that I'd get the slate wiped clean and be let loose. At least I had a few quid to start a new life with.
I thought about Kelly. What would become other? Where would she go? Would she have been affected by everything she'd seen and all that had happened to her and her family? I tried to cut away from that, telling myself that it would all get sorted out--somehow. Simmonds could help there. Perhaps he could orchestrate the reunion with her grandparents, or at least point me in the direction of the right kind of expert help.
I tried to get some sleep but failed. At 2 a.m. I retrieved the rental car and headed for Vauxhall Bridge.
I went a long way around, going all the way down the King's Road to World's End, then turning for the river and heading east again, mainly because I wanted to organize my thoughts one last time, but also because to me, the drive along the deserted Embankment and past all the historic, floodlit bridges offered one of the most beautiful sights in the world.
This particular night the lights seemed to shine a bit brighter, and the bridges seemed more sharply in focus; I found myself wishing Kelly was there to see it with me.
I got to Vauxhall Bridge early. I drove east along the road that follows the river toward the next bridge, Lambeth.
Nothing looked suspicious at the RV point on the drive-by.
The gas station on the opposite side of the road, about halfway toward Lambeth bridge, had about four cars by the pumps, groups of kids buying fuel and Mars bars, and some early-morning office cleaning vans filling up before their shift.
Farther along the river, and on the other side, I could see the Houses of Parliament. I smiled to myself. If only the MPs really knew what the intelligence services got up to.
I did a full circle and headed back on the same road toward Vauxhall for one more drive-by. I still had time to kill, so I stopped at the station and bought a drink and a sandwich.
The RV point still looked fine. My plan was to pick up Simmonds, make distance and angles as we walked to my car, and go for a drive. That way I controlled the environment. I could protect myself as well as him.
I parked about four hundred yards west of the RV While eating my sandwich I checked my route back to the car. I got out and walked down the road, arriving at five minutes to three. There was still nothing to do but wait, so I window-shopped at the motorcycle shop, resolving that I really would buy one as a gift to myself. No, more than a gift--a reward.
At twenty after three I moved into the shadows of the railway arches opposite the exit point I knew Simmonds would use. There were one or two people wandering about, clubbers on their way home, or to another club. Their drunken laughs shattered the still morning air, then there was silence again.