‘What sort of document?’
‘I’m afraid I’m not at liberty…’
‘This is a double murder investigation, Dr Wetherall.’
‘I’m aware of that,’ Kate replied acerbically. ‘That doesn’t change the fact…’
‘Why were you consulting Professor Campion?’
‘Because my uncle’s area of expertise was pertinent to our research. George is… was… one of the most respected physicists on earth.’
‘And you and Dr Bates talked at length with the professor?’
‘We did. Then we had dinner.’
‘And you left… when?’
‘About eight thirty… nine.’
‘Which?’
Kate took a deep breath. And chose not to answer.
‘I realize this must be a difficult time for you Dr—’
‘Do you?’ Kate snapped.
It was Colm’s turn to fall silent.
‘I apologize,’ Kate said. ‘You’re just trying to do your job. OK… I remember we were pulling onto the highway and the clock read eight forty, so I guess we must have left about eight thirty-five.’
‘Captain Derham reported that you were then driven off the road and ended up in the ER at Sentara Obici.’
‘That is correct. We were pursued by a white Cadillac. It rammed us. We were in a rented Toyota. Neither of us got the licence plate of the Cadillac.’
‘You then discharged yourself and came here with Dr Bates and Captain Derham.’
Kate nodded and looked away to see Derham approaching the car. Goldman and Lou behind him. Lou had the collar of his flying jacket turned up.
The captain tapped on the glass and indicated to the agent that he should open the window. It lowered and Derham leaned in. ‘That’s it for now, Agent Colm,’ he said, a hard edge to his voice. ‘These people have been through quite enough…’
‘This is an FBI matter now, captain.’
‘No, it’s not,’ Derham snapped. ‘I’ve just had a call from the commander of the base, Admiral Davis. Right now he is in a conference with the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon. He has given me explicit instructions to terminate this little chat immediately.’ He glanced at Kate, who stared back hollow-eyed. Derham stepped back and held the door open.
Colm did not move for a moment. ‘You can verify this officially?’
‘I don’t need to, Agent Colm. You either get out and let us be on our way or I have instructions to take you into custody at Norfolk Naval Base.’
Colm still refused to move and glanced at his colleague who had just approached the car behind the naval officers and Lou. Sighing, he slowly closed his notebook, returned it with the pen to an inside pocket and stepped out. ‘Very well. I will have to contact my superiors also.’
‘You do that,’ Derham replied evenly.
Lou slid into the back of the car beside Kate, Goldman got into the driving seat as Derham lowered himself into the passenger side and the car pulled away.
They were soon out on the main highway, heading east back to the naval base. No one spoke for several minutes before Lou broke the silence. ‘Anything on Newman?’
Derham half-turned towards the back of the car and shook his head. ‘I have a dozen men on it. We’ve seized his office computer. The technician guy you met, Kevin Grant? He’s going through the hard drive with a fine-toothed comb. Newman’s team are all being questioned. We’ll get to the bottom of it.’
‘Whoever killed the Campions must have been trailing us from the start,’ Kate commented.
‘They have been dead for at least three hours. I think whoever is responsible attacked the house immediately after you left.’
‘Which means there are at least three men involved.’
‘Four, minimum,’ Derham replied. ‘Lou… you told me you saw two figures near the crash. They couldn’t have been the same people who killed the Campions. There wouldn’t have been time.’
‘Unless they went back to the Campions’ home after our car exploded.’
‘It’s possible. But I reckon a more likely scenario is that two of them followed your Toyota, two stayed back at the cottage. They wanted to cover all bases. Someone — Newman, I guess — tipped somebody off about the papers from the Titanic. They realized you either handed them over to the professor to study or took them away with you. I take it you didn’t leave them?’
‘They were in the car when it went up,’ Kate said. ‘I led my godparents to their deaths and they never did have the damn documents anyway.’
‘Kate, you can’t…’ Lou began.
‘I’m OK,’ she said gently as he went to put an arm about her shoulder. ‘I didn’t do it intentionally. But I’ll have to live with what happened for the rest of my life.’
He took a deep breath and looked to Derham. ‘So, what now?’
‘I think both of you should get some rest. I’ll assign a couple of my men to your apartments.’
‘No, thanks,’ Kate responded. ‘Last thing I need. Can you take me back to the lab?’
‘You sure about that?’
Kate’s expression was hard. ‘I’ve always found that work is the best therapy.’
‘Very well, but I still want you two under guard, OK?’
‘Would it make any difference if I said no to that?’
The Institute of Marine Studies was an open campus, with no security gates, no armed guards — a fact that did not please Derham. He stopped the car close to the building where Kate and Lou worked and stepped out with them. To their left, ten yards away, stood a multistorey car park. The whole place was very quiet.
‘You’re certain about this?’ He turned to Kate then Lou. ‘It’s past one o’clock. Place is deserted.’
‘The car hasn’t turned into a pumpkin,’ Lou quipped.
‘All right,’ Derham shrugged. ‘I want you at the base at 08.00, no matter what time you quit work tonight. And my guys should be here within the hour. They’ll take up a spot around here, I guess,’ and he indicated a space in the car park. ‘You’ll be able to wave to them from the lab window.’
‘How nice,’ Kate retorted.
He took a step towards her and squeezed her shoulder gently. ‘I’m so sorry,’ he said softly, turned and shook Lou’s hand. ‘08.00.’
They watched the captain drive away, the car’s brake lights flicking on, then off. The car park lay silent.
‘So what are we working on?’ Lou asked and yawned.
Kate produced a faint smile, the first since she had woken up in Sentara Obici Hospital. ‘I love you, Dr Lou Bates…’ she said, shaking her head.
Lou looked at her askance. She gazed back at him.
A loud sound broke through the silence. A car with its lights off screeched around the corner of the car park and accelerated towards them.
It took Kate and Lou a few moments to realize what was happening and to react. Car doors swung open, three figures leapt from the car and charged towards them.
Lou grabbed Kate’s arm and they took off towards the multi-storey directly ahead. It was an ugly cube of concrete four floors high. Lights inside cast a faint lemon glow above the parapets skirting each floor. A pair of blue doors faced the narrow road. Kate and Lou reached them in seconds, not daring to look back.
Praying the doors were unlocked, Lou pushed on the bar with his good arm. They flew inwards. Ignoring the pain in her side, Kate took the lead, sprinting into the ground level of the car park. They heard voices, then a loud crack like a whip shooting through the night.
‘Christ!’ Lou exclaimed, ‘they’re shooting at us!’
They ran towards another door twenty yards to the left.
The men were through the main doors now. Kate and Lou could hear the echo of boots on concrete growing louder… Another crunch cut through the air, then a burst of gunfire from an automatic weapon. Shards of wall flew into the air inches in front of Kate. She felt a stab of pain on the left side of her face, ignored it and produced an extra burst of speed.