The sixteenth day

Ben opened his eyes to the morning light and smelled roasting meat. Alex was squatting down next to the fire, and he saw that she’d built it up and was cooking a rabbit over it using two pronged sticks and a spit.

‘Something smells good,’ he said.

She glanced round at the sound of his voice, and there was genuine warmth in her smile. Her hair was tousled. ‘You’re hungry. That’s a good sign.’

He lay back against the cave wall, watching the way she was running the fire hot to minimise smoke. The juices from the rabbit were dripping fast into the flames, sizzling and popping. He let his eye wander down the curve of her body, noticing for the first time how attractive she was. She was tall and slender, with an athletic grace to her movements.

His gaze rested on the butt of the Beretta sticking out of the back pocket of her jeans.

She seemed to read his thoughts. ‘You can have it back, if you want. I hope you don’t mind that I took it from you while you were sleeping. But Zoë needs to eat. And so do you. You look pale.’

He sat up slowly. It felt like someone was sawing off his arm at the shoulder with an angle grinder. He reached for the codeine and popped two tablets in his mouth. ‘I don’t mind. You keep it.’

She smiled. ‘So you trust me now.’

‘Do I have a choice?’

‘Not really.’ She poked the serrated knife into the rabbit’s flank and drew it off the spit, laid the roasted carcass on a flat stone and started carving pieces off. She offered one to Zoë on the point of the knife.

Zoë wrinkled her face up in disgust. ‘I’m not eating that.’

Alex frowned. ‘You’ll need your strength. Looks like we have a lot of walking to do today.’

‘I’m vegetarian.’

‘Good,’ Ben said. ‘More for us. But if you think we’re going to carry you, you’re wrong.’

Zoë pointed at Alex. ‘I’m not going anywhere with her. It’s thanks to her that Dr Greenberg was killed.’

‘I didn’t want that to happen,’ Alex said. ‘There was nothing I could do to stop it.’

Zoë grunted and huddled tighter into her corner. She sat and watched them darkly as they ate.

‘Never mind her,’ Ben said. ‘If she wants to starve, that’s fine. This is good.’

‘I never shot a rabbit with a 9mm before,’ Alex replied. ‘I was scared there’d be nothing left.’ She wiped her mouth, got up, walked to the entrance of the cave and took out her phone.

‘Put that away,’ Ben said. ‘If there’s any signal up here, they’ll track us from it.’

‘OK. But as soon as I get to a landline I’m making a call.’

‘Yeah, right,’ Zoë burst out. ‘She’s going to call them.’

‘No, little lady,’ Alex said sharply. ‘I’m going to have you taken into protective custody until we can get this whole thing sorted out.’

Ben shook his head. ‘No chance. She’s my responsibility. She’s not going anywhere near the CIA. I promised her family that I’d get her home safely. That’s what I aim to do.’

‘She has no papers. How the hell are you going to get her out of the US?’

‘By delivering her to the nearest British Consulate. Her parents can come and collect her.’

‘And then what?’

‘And then I’m going after the people who started all this.’

‘On your own? You think that’s the solution – killing more people?’

‘That’s not what I wanted,’ he said. ‘I wanted a life of peace. I didn’t ask to be brought back in.’

‘But now you’re here.’

‘And I mean to finish it.’

She shook her head. ‘It’s not going to work, Ben. You’re wanted for murdering two police officers. You’ll get picked up before you get anywhere near these people. You have to do this thing my way. I’m your only alibi, remember.’

‘You’re in just as much shit as I am,’ he said.

‘Try explaining to your superiors why you killed one of your fellow agents and aided a fugitive.’

Alex said nothing.

Ben turned to Zoë. She was slumped against the wall with a sulky expression, staring into space. ‘You have a lot of explaining to do,’ he said.

‘Me?’

‘Yes, you. Where are the ostraka?’

She huffed. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

‘I thought Greenberg said you were making progress,’ Alex said. ‘You still don’t remember anything?’

Zoë screwed up her face and sank her head in her hands. ‘I want to go home.’

Ben stared at her. ‘How do you even know you have a home, if you don’t remember anything?’

Zoë looked up and fired a filthy look at him. ‘Piss off. Leave me alone.’

‘You have no idea what I’ve had to go through to find you. People have died because of your stupid little scheme.’

‘Easy on her, Ben,’ Alex said. ‘It’s been a tough time for her too.’

Ben was quiet for a moment. ‘All right. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be hard on you.’

‘You almost broke my jaw last night,’ Zoë said, rubbing it.

‘I’m sorry about that too.’ He reached out and laid a hand on her arm. Pain stabbed through his shoulder with the movement. She pulled away from him.

‘We’d better make moves,’ Alex said. ‘This could be a long day.’

They killed the fire, wrapped the remnants of the rabbit in fresh leaves and stowed them in Ben’s bag. After packing up all their kit they took turns washing in the cold stream at the bottom of the wooded slope. Then they left the cave behind them and set out across the harsh terrain. To keep moving due north would mean going over the mountain, so they skirted its base through miles of fir and spruce trees.

‘We could walk for weeks and find nothing,’ Alex panted. ‘This is one of the biggest States, with one of the smallest populations. We should have stayed on the road.’

After a few more miles Ben was beginning to think she was right. Apart from the occasional buzzard, the only sign of life they saw for hours was the big elk that stepped out of the trees as they passed, stared at them for a moment and then vanished like a ghost.

They stopped and rested a while, then kept moving. Ben’s head was spinning and his shoulder was throbbing badly. After just a few hundred yards he had to rest again.

‘You’re in a bad way,’ Alex said. ‘Listen. I can move faster on my own. I could scout ahead. Maybe I’ll come across a road or a farm. I’ll come back for you. With luck I won’t be more than a few hours.’

He knew he couldn’t argue. ‘You be careful.’

She smiled. ‘I can take care of myself. Back before you know it, OK?’ She checked her pistol, took a long drink of water from the bottle and headed off without another word.

It suddenly struck him that he hated to see her leave.

‘She’ll come back with Jones,’ Zoë said, watching Alex walk away. ‘You’re pretty naïve, letting her go off on her own.’

He ignored that. ‘She’ll be gone a while. We need to find a place to rest up.’

After a few minutes of hunting around they came across a broken spruce, its trunk bowed sideways at a right angle. Ben grabbed a branch. ‘Help me pull this down,’ he said.

‘What are you doing?’

‘Making a shelter. We can’t just sit out in the open, where we can be seen from the air.’

She frowned. ‘They’ll be looking for me, won’t they?’

He nodded. She took hold of another branch of the bent tree, and together they strained and heaved downwards. With a crackling of timber, the trunk gave. The heavy canopy sagged right down to the ground, forming a space they could crawl into without being seen. He settled himself into the leafy den, resting against his bag.

Zoë crawled in after him and arranged a blanket on the ground. She lay down and sighed loudly. ‘I’m so fucking exhausted,’ she complained. ‘My feet are killing me, and this place crawls with insects. Jesus, I’d give anything for a soak in a hot bath right now.’

Ben ignored her. After a few minutes, when she realised he wasn’t going to react to her huffing and puffing, she shut up and they sat in silence for a while. The pain in his shoulder was dulled by the codeine, but it still hurt badly. He drifted in and out, and time passed. He checked his watch. Alex had been gone more than half an hour.

‘I’m so hungry,’ Zoë groaned.

He pulled the bag out from behind him, undid the straps and reached inside for the package of leaves. He opened it and tossed it across in front of her. ‘Eat. Alex went out of her way to prepare this for you.’

‘I can’t eat dead things.’

‘Then you’re not hungry, are you?’

‘I’m starving.’

‘You look it,’ he said.

She glanced down at the rabbit in distaste, then glanced back up at him, hesitated, then picked up a piece with her fingers and took a small bite. Then a bigger one. After two more bites she was chewing away happily, except when she thought he was watching and she would pretend to be revolted. He smiled to himself at the display. When she’d finished and was covertly licking her fingers, he reached for the drinking flask and tossed it over to her. ‘I know how unpleasant that was for you,’ he said. ‘Wash it down with this.’

She twisted the cap off and sniffed. Her eyes lit up. She took a long gulp, then passed the flask back to him. He took a small sip and returned it to her. As she drank some more, he took out his cigarettes. He offered her one, and she refused. ‘Smoking kills you slowly,’ she said.

‘Good. I’m not in any hurry.’

She chuckled. ‘I haven’t had a drink for weeks,’ she said. ‘This stuff ’s going to my head a little.’

‘Finish it,’ he said, lighting up a cigarette.

She drank down the last of the Scotch, screwed the cap back on and leaned back, stretching. She gazed up at the blue sky through the leafy canopy. ‘So good to be outside,’ she breathed. ‘Feels like I was cooped up for ever.’

‘I’ll get you home soon,’ he promised.

‘You saved me. I haven’t thanked you.’

‘You can thank me when it’s over.’ He closed his eyes again. Waves of hot and cold were washing over him. He needed to get this bullet out.

She nodded. ‘I don’t understand. How do you know my parents?’

‘I’m one of your dad’s students.’

‘You? A theology student?’

‘I get that a lot,’ he said. ‘I was a soldier before. But now I’m looking for a new direction.’

‘The Church?’

‘Maybe.’

She smiled. ‘What a waste. You’re far too dishy to become a vicar.’

‘Thanks. I’ll bear that in mind.’

‘Have you got a girlfriend?’

He shook his head.

She smiled again. ‘You’re not gay, are you?’

‘Not that I know of.’

‘Good.’ She moved a little closer to him. Brushed a lock of hair away from her face. ‘I wonder how much longer she’s going to be away for.’

‘Alex? Probably quite a while.’

‘I’m glad we can talk like this,’ she said.

‘Me too.’

‘You’re nothing like any of Dad’s other students I’ve ever met. They’re all wimps.’

The sun was overhead now, rays filtering through the branches. Zoë squinted up at the dappled sunlight. ‘Getting warmer,’ she said. She peeled off her heavy jumper and laid it down on the ground. She was wearing a flimsy top underneath. She leaned forward and smiled again.

‘Your bangle just slipped off,’ Ben said, pointing down at the gold bracelet that was lying in the leaves.

‘Shit. That’s always happening.’

‘You should be careful,’ he said. ‘It looks expensive.’

‘It was my great-grandmother’s.’

He nodded thoughtfully, and was quiet for a few moments. ‘Shame about Whisky,’ he said suddenly.

‘Yeah, it’s loosened me up a lot,’ she answered. ‘Wish we had more of it.’ She giggled.

He shook his head. ‘I wasn’t talking about the drink. I was talking about Whisky. He got hit by a car. He’s dead.’

Her eyes widened in horror. She drew away from him, her body snapping rigid. ‘What? When did this happen?’

‘While you were partying on Corfu.’

‘Those bastards never told me,’ she said.

Then she clapped a hand over her mouth, realising what she’d done.

‘No, they didn’t tell you,’ he said. ‘Because it’s not true. I just made it up. Your dog’s alive and well. And I think you’ve just given yourself away, Zoë Bradbury. You walked right into it.’

She went red. ‘I don’t know why I remembered that. I don’t remember anything else.’

He grabbed her wrist and held it tight, ignoring the pain in his shoulder. ‘No, of course not. Apart from the fact that your father is a theologian and all his students are wimps. That you don’t eat meat. That you’re wearing your great-grandmother’s bracelet. That a couple of weeks ago you were living it up on a Greek island. You know what I think? I think you know a hell of a lot more than you’re pretending.’

She struggled against his grip. ‘Let me go!’

He shook her. ‘No chance, Zoë. For once in your life, you’re going to tell the truth.’