The House Guest - Mark Edwards Page 0,67

call received, sent to voicemail. About an hour ago. There’s no name attached and the number is withheld.’

‘That was when we were driving here. Have you listened to the message? Was it them?’

‘Let’s have a listen. How do you get it on loudspeaker?’ While he fiddled with the phone he said, ‘Jesus, my hand is shaking.’ I could see now that he was sweating heavily. Greasy droplets clung to his beard.

‘Have you . . . have you ever done that before?’

‘Killed someone? Christ, no.’ He looked into my eyes. ‘I wasn’t lying. I’m desperate. And these people, son. They’re scum. They’re evil.’ His voice cracked. ‘I just want my little girl back. If they’ve hurt her, if they’ve . . . I’ll kill every last one of them.’

Finally, Callum managed to get the message to play. The voice was clear in the dark, silent woods. It was a man.

‘I’m guessing you’re busy. Call me when you’re done.’ The message ended.

‘That’s it?’ I said. ‘At least we’ve got the phone.’

‘We can go through his messages. And maybe we can figure out where he’s been with it. Is that possible?’

‘I’m not sure. But you should disconnect it from 4G, so it can’t be wiped remotely.’

‘I’m terrible with these things. How do you do that?’

‘Give it here.’

He handed it to me. As I took it, the phone beeped. Krugman had received a text.

‘Oh my God,’ I said, reading the message.

Where are you? What’s happening? I need to see you. I miss you xxx

‘What is it? Who’s it from?’ Callum asked, trying to take the phone back. I held it out of his reach, and another text arrived from the same person.

Is he dead yet?

I stared at the screen in shock.

The messages were from Mona.

I held the phone up so Callum could see. ‘Holy shit,’ he said. ‘She’s one of them?’

The phone beeped again.

For fuck’s sake, if you won’t reply I’m calling Gabriel.

‘Gabriel?’ I said.

Callum took the phone from me and, after thinking for a moment, began tapping at the screen. Tapping out a reply.

Sorry, had my hands full. All is good. It’s done. But it got a bit messy. Tell Gabriel I need to lie low for a couple of days xxx

Mona’s response came almost instantaneously.

Poor baby. But at least Adam’s out of the picture now. Hope you’re not hurt but if you are I’ll kiss it better when I see you xxx

Callum hesitated for a second and wrote, Can’t wait xxx

He handed it back to me. ‘There, I’ve bought us a couple of days. But I think you should still switch the 4G off.’

I did it on autopilot, unable to focus on what I was doing.

Mona. It wouldn’t sink in.

Callum looked over at Krugman’s body, then nodded at the shovel that lay on the ground beside him. ‘You’re younger than me and I just saved your life. You can dig the hole. There’s probably a pair of gloves in his back pocket. You might want to use them.’

‘What are you going to do?’ I asked, discovering that there was indeed a pair of gloves there. Krugman had come prepared.

Callum had his own phone in his hand now. ‘I’m going to try to figure out who Gabriel is. And where we can find him.’

Chapter 31

‘I haven’t told you my name,’ he said when he returned. It was hard to keep track of time here but Ruth thought it had been more than a few hours. She had been on the verge of giving up waiting. ‘I’m Gabriel.’

He took a seat at the table and gestured for her to join him.

‘Gabriel. Like the angel? Sorry, you probably get that all the time.’

‘Every now and then. But we’re all angels here – of a kind, anyway. Guardian angels. Except, well, we watch over each other.’

There was a knock and Emilio came in, carrying a tray of sandwiches and coffee. Once again, Ruth was struck by how insanely beautiful he was, as if he’d been designed on a computer. It was difficult not to stare at him. The way he moved, the fluidity of the simplest gesture, like setting the tray down on the table, captivated her too. If anyone around here was an angel, it was Emilio.

Ruth’s eyes lingered on Emilio as he left. Gabriel noticed.

‘You like him, don’t you?’

‘I . . .’

‘And he told me he likes you too.’ He poured artificial sweetener into his coffee. ‘You’re single now. You can do whatever you like.’

Her face must have shown surprise because Gabriel said, ‘Don’t