"He'd? What's the matter? What's happened?" Lynn was shouting now, trying to cut through the scrambled syllables. She heard a deep intake of breath.
"It's David. I think he's dead."
Lynn understood the words, but she couldn't grasp the sense. "What are you talking about? What's happened?"
"I came home, he's on the kitchen floor, there's blood everywhere and he's not breathing. Lynn, what am I to do? I think he's dead."
"Have you phoned an ambulance? The police?" Surreal. This was surreal. That she was capable of such a thought at a moment like this bemused Lynn.
"I called them. They are on their way. But I had to talk to somebody. I'm afraid, Lynn, I am so afraid. I don't understand. This is terrible, I think I'm going mad. He is dead, my David is dead."
This time, the words penetrated. Lynn felt as if a cold hand was pressing in on her chest, constricting her breathing. This wasn't how things were supposed to happen. You weren't supposed to pick up the phone, expecting your husband, only to hear your brother was dead. "You don't know that," she said helplessly.
"He's not breathing, I can't feel a pulse. And there is so much blood. He's dead, Lynn. I know it. What am I going to do without him?"
"All this blood?has somebody attacked him?"
"What else could have happened?"
Fear hit Lynn like a cold shower. "Get out of the house, He'd. Wait outside for the police. He could still be in the house."
He'd screamed. "Oh my God. You think this is possible?"
"Just get out. Call me later, when the police are there." The line went dead. Lynn lay frozen, unable to process what she'd just gone through. Alex. She needed Alex. But He'd needed him more. In a daze, she speed-dialed his mobile. When he answered, the sounds of a boisterous restaurant in the background seemed incongruous and bizarre to Lynn. "Alex," she said. For a moment nothing else would come.
"Lynn? Is that you? Is everything OK? You're all right?" His anxiety was palpable.
"I'm fine. But I've just had the most awful conversation with He'd. Alex, she said Mondo's dead."
"Hang on a minute, I can't hear you."
She heard the sound of a chair being pushed back, then a few seconds later the noise subsided. "That's better," Alex said. "I couldn't make out what you were saying. What's the problem?"
Lynn could feel her self-control slip. "Alex, you need to go to Mondo's right away. He'd's just phoned. Something terrible's happened. She says Mondo's dead."
"What?"
"I know, it's incredible. She says he's lying on the kitchen floor, blood everywhere. Please, I need you to go there, find out what's going on." Tears were on her cheeks now.
"He'd's there? At the house? And she says Mondo's dead? Jesus Christ."
Lynn choked on a sob. "I can't take it in either. Please, Alex, just go and see what's happened."
"OK, OK. I'm on my way. Look, maybe he's just hurt. Maybe she got it wrong."
"She didn't sound like there was any doubt in her mind."
Aye, well, He'd's not a doctor, is she? Look, hang in there. I'll call you as soon as I get there."
"I can't believe this." Now the tears were choking her, turning her words into gulps.
"Lynn, you've got to try and stay calm. Please."
"Calm? How can I be calm? My brother's dead."
"We don't know that. Lynn, the baby. You've got to take care of yourself. Getting into a state can't help Mondo, whatever's happened."
"Just get there, Alex," Lynn shouted.
"I'm on my way." She heard Alex's footsteps as the call ended. She'd never wanted him more. And she wanted to be in Glasgow, to be by her brother's side. No matter what had passed between them, he was still bound to her by blood. She hadn't needed Alex's reminder that she was nearly eight months pregnant. She wasn't about to do anything that would put her baby at risk. Groaning softly as she wiped her tears, Lynn tried to make herself physically comfortable. Please God, let He'd be wrong.
Alex couldn't remember ever having driven faster. It was a miracle that he reached Bearsden without once seeing flashing blue lights in his rear-view mirror. All the way there, he kept telling himself there must be a mistake. The possibility of Mondo's death was one he couldn't entertain. Not so close on the heels of Ziggy's. Sure, terrible coincidences happened. They were the stuff of tabloid ghoulishness and daytime TV shows. But they happened to other people. At least, they always had