Driftnet (23 page)

Rhona’s chest
tightened at the sight of the boy’s untidy blonde hair. He looked
as if he would prefer to be anywhere rather than in front of that
camera. She felt a surge of pity. She knew how Edward could
persuade people to do things they didn’t want to do. The voice-over
gave an inventory of his distinguished legal career, his climb
through the Party and his successful bid for power. Edward made a
statement saying that his victory showed he had the heart and will
of the people and he would do his utmost to put forward the
Scottish perspective in parliament. He intended taking a flat in
London, returning to Glasgow at weekends to see his family and
conduct constituency business.

‘Had enough?’
Chrissy’s voice broke the silence.

‘Yes.’

‘I’ll turn it
off, then?’

‘Yes.’

As Chrissy
reached for the remote, the family picture was replaced by a more
recent snapshot of the boy, sitting in a bedroom with a black
labrador between his knees. The report continued with the news that
Edward Stewart’s son Jonathan had been admitted to hospital soon
after the by-election for an unspecified reason. He was expected to
make a full recovery.

‘Why don’t we
put some music on?’ Chrissy said. Rhona didn’t answer. She knew
where she had seen Edward’s son before.

‘You’d better
phone Edward.’

‘And say what?’
Rhona looked at Chrissy. ‘Say I saw his son meeting a man I thought
I knew at the Art Gallery of Modern Art. He’ll tell me I’m being
hysterical.’

‘What about the
boy’s name in the email. You said those low-lifes talked about a
Jonathan.’

‘There are lots
of Jonathans. It could even have been a code name.’

‘Rhona. You
know and I know it’s probably a coincidence, but if you think for a
minute there was anything strange about that meeting, you’ve got to
phone Edward. If he knows Gavin, we can at least relax about this
one.’

‘I know.’

‘Look, I’ll go
and put the kettle on while you try and get him.’

When Rhona
finally dialled the number, the phone rang out unanswered. Wherever
Edward was, he wasn’t at home. She was expecting an ansaphone to
click on when a breathless voice answered.

‘Hello. Yes?
This is the Stewart residence.’

‘I’m sorry to
bother you,’ said Rhona, embarrassed. ’I’m trying to get in touch
with Edward Stewart.’

‘I’m sorry,
they’re all at the hospital. They’ve been there all day.’

‘Yes, I saw
something on the news about Jonathan. I hope he’s going to be
alright?’

‘He’s off the
danger list now, but it was touch and go for a while.’ The woman
was gabbling on in her distress. ‘What could have possessed the
poor lamb to do such a thing?’ she mumbled as much to herself as to
Rhona. ‘He takes things too much to heart.’

Rhona agreed
and rang off.

‘Well?’ said
Chrissy.

‘Edward’s at
the hospital,’ said Rhona, accepting the mug of tea. ‘The
housekeeper told me Jonathan was off the danger list, but it was
touch and go for a while.’

Chrissy looked
puzzled. ‘If you saw him on Thursday, it must have been something
pretty sudden.’

‘That’s the
funny thing,’ said Rhona.

‘What?’

‘The woman said
“what could have possessed the poor lamb to do such a thing?” ’

‘What
thing?’

Rhona didn’t
like what sprang to mind.

‘You don’t
think Jonathan tried to kill himself?’

‘Why would he
do a thing like that?’

‘It’s just
that, the woman said he took things too much to heart.’

‘My mum used to
say that to me,’ said Chrissy grimly. ‘How else are you supposed to
be?’

Chapter
35

Jonathan was
dreaming.

The dream was
nice and he didn’t want to wake up. He was back in his bedroom. Amy
had cleaned it, he had nothing to worry about any more. He heard
Lobby barking in the garden, so he went over to the window. Lobby
hardly ever barked. His mother was always saying he wasn’t much of
a guard dog anymore. Too old. To Jonathan’s surprise and delight,
he saw the labrador running across the grass towards the apple
trees, running like a puppy. It made Jonathan feel like a kid
again, like when he used to hide up the apple tree, or go swimming
in the river. Before he got embarrassed about everything.

The dog had
disappeared into the trees.

Jonathan waited
for him to bound back the grass. He could hear barking but Lobby
didn’t came out. The dog was with someone. Someone who had called
him, and now wouldn’t let him come back. Jonathan was
frightened.‘Lobby. Here boy. Lobby,’ he called.

Then there was
someone saying his own name, someone in the room with him. Someone
who could help him open this window and get Lobby back.

He turned
towards the voice. A figure stood in the doorway. He knew that
voice. He didn’t like that voice.

‘It’s me
Jonathan. I’ve come for you.’

The figure
began to come towards him. Jonathan huddled against the wall,
wrapping his arms about his body.

‘Jonathan. It’s
okay.’ Someone was lifting his hand in theirs. ‘You can open your
eyes Jonathan. It’s a dream. It’s only a dream.’

Jonathan opened
his eyes.

‘There, I told
you.’ A nurse smiled down at him. ‘You’ve been dreaming. Was it a
nightmare?’

Jonathan shook
his head embarrassed, but Nurse Jenkins didn’t seem to notice.
‘I’ll just check your temperature, then I’ll leave you in peace.
Your father will be in shortly.’ She gave an encouraging smile.
‘Right. Do you want your earphones over?’

Jonathan
nodded.

She handed him
the portable CD player from the bedside table and four CDs.

‘I like this
one,’ she said. ‘I’ll borrow it when Sister goes off duty.’ She
gave him a conspiratorial look and smoothed his covers. ‘I’ll be
back later to check you’re okay.’

Jonathan wished
he could speak to her. He liked Nurse Jenkins, (her first name was
Rachel, he’d heard one of the other nurses call her that). He
worried at first that she might despise him for what he’d done, but
she didn’t. She told him the first time she met him that she
understood. Once it had happened, that was the turning point, she
said, things got better after that.

But did
they?

Jonathan put in
his earphones and tuned the sound up. If the music was loud enough,
it would shut out the nightmare.

Chapter
36

Bill put the
phone down, then picked it up again. If there was the smallest
suspicion that Connelly’s informer was right, then he had to speak
to Rhona.

The phone rang
half a dozen times and then a sleepy voice answered. It wasn’t
Rhona.

‘This is the
police. Is Dr MacLeod there please?’

‘Yes. But she’s
asleep.’

‘Chrissy?’

‘Yeah.’

‘It’s Bill
Wilson here. Thought I’d got the wrong number.’

‘I’m staying
with Rhona for a couple of days. I’ll go and get her.’

Bill heard the
pad of feet and Chrissy’s voice. A few seconds later, she was back,
sounding frightened.

‘I don’t
understand. She was here when I went off to sleep.’

‘When was that
Chrissy?’

‘About ten. We
were watching telly together. Then she said she was tired and went
to bed. I conked out on the couch.’

‘Was there any
reason for Rhona to go out.

Chrissy didn’t
seem too keen on answering that one.

‘Chrissy, it’s
important I speak to her.’

‘I don’t know.
Maybe she just went out for a walk. She was upset earlier.’

‘Why? Why was
Dr MacLeod upset, Chrissy? It might be important.’

‘I don’t
know.’

Bill knew he
was wasting his time. If Chrissy and Rhona had secrets, Chrissy
wasn’t going to give them away. ‘Right. When Rhona gets back, will
you ask her to get in touch with me?’

Chrissy agreed.
Bill Wilson wasn’t happy. Ever since that call from Connelly, he’d
had an uneasy feeling he was missing something.

Rhona didn’t
like leaving without any explanation. But she wasn’t even sure what
she planned to do. She fished in her coat pocket for the key and
got into the car.

Once she was
inside she locked all the doors and turned on the radio. Anything
to hear a friendly voice. She drove around the quiet streets for
half an hour, wondering why she was out there, wishing she could
talk to Sean, hear his calm voice unravel this mess that had become
her life.

At ten o’clock
she’d told Chrissy she was going to bed. It seemed pointless
waiting for Neil to come back, since they had no idea when that
might be. She had drifted off to sleep for a couple of hours till
the nightmare woke her up. She lay in bed shaking. If she didn’t do
something, she would go mad.

So here she
was, driving around, in the middle of the night, planning to tell
her ex-lover his son might be in danger from a paedophile ring. She
was making a total fool of herself.

Rhona pulled in
and switched off the engine. She reached in her bag for her mobile.
It obeyed her spoken command and showed Edward’s number. She
pressed okay.

Edward
answered. If it had been Fiona’s voice she would have put the phone
down.

‘Rhona! What
the hell are you doing? It’s one o’clock in the morning.’

‘I had to ring
you.’

‘Rhona. If
you’re still on about...’

‘Shut up,
Edward. I’m phoning about Jonathan.’

‘Jonathan?’

He was taken
aback.

‘I think he’s
in trouble. Has he ever mentioned someone called Simon?’

‘What?’ Now
Edward was giving her his full attention.

‘Please answer
me. Does Jonathan know anyone called Simon?’

His numb
wordlessness told Rhona what she didn’t want to know.

Rhona drove
straight to the hospital. If Edward left home right away, he would
get there ten minutes after her. With the engine turned off,
silence settled heavily round her. It was funny. Here she was,
seventeen years later, waiting for Edward to come and meet her at
the same hospital. Only it was the middle of the night. And this
time, it wasn’t her child.

When they
discharged her, Edward had come to collect her. She had spent all
morning pacing up and down the ward like a demented hen without a
chick. Edward had never come to visit, not the whole week she was
there. He sent cards and flowers that made it feel as if she had
been ill, rather than having their baby.

On the evening
she had been admitted, Edward took her to Accident and Emergency
and handed her over to a nurse, then cleared off. Rhona had tried
to make a joke of it. Her boyfriend, she told anyone who would
listen, was allergic to hospitals. Allergic to babies would have
been nearer the mark.

The silence was
split by the sound of a siren. It sent a shiver down Rhona’s back.
She watched as the ambulance drew up, and the latest emergency was
rolled in through the front doors. At least in her job she wasn’t
expected to save lives.

Edward heard
out her garbled story about paedophiles using the Internet to
locate vulnerable kids. She’d told him about the email she’d found
and the man in the park meeting his son. For once, Edward didn’t
interrupt. Instead, he had asked her to meet him. He had something
to tell her face to face.

Rhona felt dog
tired. She would tell Edward everything she knew, then it was up to
him. She would be able to forget about it and go home. She’d tell
Sean she was coming to Paris.

A figure that
might be Edward was approaching. She could see the outline of his
face and his blonde hair in the car park lamp as he walked towards
her. Then he tapped on the car window and she leaned over and
flipped the passenger lock and he slipped into the seat beside
her.

‘Hello
Rhona.’

‘Gavin!’

‘I couldn’t
believe it when I spotted your car,’ he said. ‘What on earth are
you doing here?’

Rhona couldn’t
find her voice.

‘A friend was
involved in an accident,’ she managed. ‘They’ve decided to keep her
in overnight for observation.’

Gavin was
looking at her strangely.

‘Why are you
here?’ Rhona tried.

‘My nephew has
suspected appendicitis and since I’m in charge this week, while my
sister and her husband have a week’s holiday...’ Gavin paused. ‘Are
you sure your friend’s alright? You look very worried.’

‘She’s fine.
I’m going to head home now.’

Gavin opened
the door. ‘Okay. I’d better get back inside and find out what
happening,’ he paused, meeting her eyes. ‘Can I give you a call
tomorrow?’

Rhona
nodded.

‘Good.’ He
smiled back at her.

Rhona watched
him walk back to A&E. Only then did she admit to herself how
scared she was.

It took ten
more minutes for Edward to appear and during that time Rhona
careered wildly between suspecting Gavin and feeling like a
complete idiot for doing so.

‘Edward. Thank
God.’

‘Rhona. Why
didn’t you wait inside?’

‘You told me
the car park.’

‘Did I?
Sorry.’

‘Look. While I
was waiting for you, that man was here.’

‘What man?’

‘The man I told
you about. The one that works for the police.’

‘He’s here?
Why?’

‘He said his
nephew has been admitted with appendicitis.’

‘And you don’t
believe him.’

‘I’m not
sure...’

‘This is the
same guy you saw Jonathan with?

‘Yes.’

‘The guy with
the printout?’

‘Yes.’

‘Right. Let’s
go and find if he’s telling the truth.’

The A&E
entrance was lined with trolleys as if there had been an earlier
catastrophe that had filled the hospital. Inside, the reception
area was as Rhona remembered, apart from a lick of paint and a
Trust Hospital sign on the wall. The nurse in charge wore her name
above her left breast on a similar label, but she looked just as
tired and overworked as the one that had admitted Rhona all those
years ago.