“And you’re sure the town was called Thorndale?”
“Certain.” She smiled. She remembered Max laughing at the way the customer had pronounced it. She was sure alright. Her smile vanished. Wasn’t she betraying him by going along with them?
“I can take over the driving now.”
“No you won’t.” She put the car into reverse and manoeuvred out of the little lay-by. She couldn’t hear a thing now—they’d lost their pursuers. She’d lost any link to Max. “It’s my car. I’m driving.”
It was further away than she’d thought, but she found it easily enough. And once she got the right motorway exit, it wasn’t far to the village itself. She was relieved to see it was just as peaceful and quiet as she remembered—and also that there was not one, but two, pharmacies on the main street.
It didn’t take them long to scope out the whole town, turn, and return to the square. It was a small place, and there were only a handful of cars sitting unnaturally in the middle street as if time had been frozen. They were easily avoided.
Si stopped the car with a squeal of brakes. “Well?” She looked in the rearview mirror.
“It looks deserted.”
There was a murmur of agreement.
“Olivia and I will go. The rest of you… sit tight.”
“What is it, Clive? You don’t sound so sure.”
“It’s nothing. It just seems a little too deserted.”
“What do you think… You’re the only one who’s been here before. I don’t know your name.”
“It’s Si. And yeah, I was only here once, but it was pretty quiet then too.”
“Si, you stay here with Annie. Terry, you watch from outside in case there’s trouble. Come on now, let’s move. No sense in hanging around longer than we need to. Those men are still out there somewhere even if we can’t hear them anymore.”
Si stared out the window. There was no sign that the pharmacy had been looted. It wasn’t just the pharmacy, either. None of the other shops looked like they’d been touched. She frowned. She could see in through the windows and there were no security shutters or anything. She turned to say it to the others, but they were already gone.
Never mind, she thought.
She drummed her fingers on the steering wheel and tried to think of what she was going to do once she was able to take one of their guns.
Time passed slowly. Si struggled to focus. She watched the street in front of her. There wasn’t a single person around. Even the birds had disappeared. The sky was blue and cloudless for the most part and there wasn’t a sound to be heard over the idling engine.
It wasn’t peaceful. It was strange. Kind of creepy.
Was it like this before?
She couldn’t remember. She’d driven to the address Max had given her and picked him up in the van. That was all.
“Look…” Annie sighed heavily. “I know you were trying to set up the guys who took your boss. But you almost killed us.”
Si shrugged. “I know. I’m sorry. I was only thinking about trapping them and getting them to tell me where he was, you know? It was the only way I could think of making them talk. You arrived at the worst time.”
“I know. You’re telling me. We could have died.” She coughed and shook her head. “At least we’ve lost those men.”
Si didn’t react. She wasn’t sure that was a good thing. Part of her had hoped for a standoff—these people had guns. That changed everything.
“Look, you’re welcome to come to the farm just like I told the others.”
“Thanks,” she said, distracted. Something was really starting to bother her but she couldn’t work out what. She cleared her throat. She’d wanted to ask so many times and stopped herself. Now she couldn’t hold back. She needed to know. “Did you mean what you said? About coming back and helping me find Max?”
She knew from the way the woman looked at her that she hadn’t. She looked away. She had the strangest sense of… what was it? Deja vu. She remembered way back when she was little. Running around her Grandma’s house in Bath, fingers stinging from making snowmen outside. It was the oddest thing. It was winter now but that was the only thing that day had in common with the happy day in her memory.
Olivia, maybe? She reminded Si a little of her Grandma.
She looked around. The street was quiet. There was still no sign of them coming back. She had no idea how much time had passed.
She took a breath and told herself to relax. The place was like something out of a movie. There were flowers and hanging baskets and the footpaths were spotless. It was the opposite of the chaos she’d seen at home.
Even so, the feeling remained, accompanied by a growing sense of panic.
It hit her then. It wasn’t what she was seeing that had set off her long-forgotten memory. It wasn’t Olivia.
It was what she was smelling.
Coal.
Burning coal.
“Annie,” she hissed. “I’ve just realised something.”
“What? What is it?”
“Coal! Can’t you smell it? Something’s wrong. This place isn’t as deserted as we thought.”
Annie frowned. “I can’t smell a thing after earlier. Are you sure?”
Si looked around. Now the net curtains and flower boxes didn’t seem innocent and old-fashioned. They were potential hiding places for people watching them. Anyone could have been behind there, waiting. She shivered.
“Just make the others hurry up, okay?”
She shook her head. “I can’t go in there. I need to keep watch.”
“I’ll keep watch. Just go. Please. We need to get out of here.”
Then the door opened and the others bustled out, cheery as if it was just a normal day and they’d been shopping. They had so many bags full of stuff that Olivia was carrying them on her forearms as well as her hands.
“Come on,” Annie cried, waving her arm. “Let’s go.”
Olivia stopped and stared and Si was sure she could see the blood draining from the older woman’s face. Clive pushed her forward.
“Come on! We can stop and put stuff in the boot later. When we’re out of here.”
Terry climbed in after the couple. “Did you get everything?”
Clive nodded. “Yes. The place was untouched. Not just antibiotics but pain medication and Livvy’s pills. Tetanus shots. Everything we could need for the next few months.” He squeezed his wife’s shoulder. “Are you alright, love?”
“Sorry,” Si said, putting the car into gear. “I shouldn’t have panicked.” Maybe the smell had come to her on the breeze. Maybe it was just the combined stress and fear of the past two days coming to a head now that she was safe.
Safe.
As much as she hated it, she felt safe with these strangers. And who cared if they wouldn’t help her find Max—she’d regroup for a day or two and go find him herself. Maybe one of the others would join her.
She pulled away from the kerb feeling almost light for the first time in days. She’d almost pulled it off before—it was just timing that had stopped her trapping the people she really wanted. She’d figure something out.
She sped up, changing up to second and third in quick succession. It was nice driving on deserted roads. Easy.
Then she turned a corner and realised what an idiot she’d been for letting herself relax.
35. Pete
“All I’m saying,” Josh murmured, leaning close to his brother on the pretence that he was reaching for something on the shelves underneath them. “Is maybe this will work to our advantage.” He jerked his head almost imperceptibly towards Kenan.