The recall of that scenario held him in its grip, but only briefly. If it was his tormentors come back, then he knew where he should make his last stand.

As he sat down again beside Jack, he heard the voices grow louder as more footsteps approached.

Suddenly the door was flung open and a figure stood in the shaft of light.

McNab wouldn’t have recognized the man as Firash, not with his head and face swathed in a scarf, with what looked like an assault rifle in his hand. Not until the figure called out his name.

‘Fuck’s sake, Firash! What took you so bloody long?’ McNab shouted back, surprise and joy colliding.

On his answer, Firash came quickly towards him, as three more men entered, one obviously Harim.

‘We need to get this man to hospital as soon as possible,’ McNab said.

Pulling down his mask, Firash shouted to his backup brigade to come and carry him to their vehicle.

68

The call had come before it was light. Rhona had expected it, although she hadn’t been sure when it would arrive.

‘Ava,’ she said quietly.

‘You know I published the material?’

‘I do,’ Rhona said. Like everyone else, she’d devoured it. Discussed it with Bill.

‘Was it a mistake to release it?’

Rhona chose her words carefully, aware of the impact they might make. ‘It was what Nadia wanted.’

‘But maybe it was already too late? If they’re both dead.’

‘There was never going to be a right time. We knew that.’ She used ‘we’ to take some responsibility for the decision too. Bill felt the same. They’d discussed doing this and keeping Nadia in Orkney for safety. Apparently that hadn’t worked out as planned.

Rhona had been involved with disappearances before. Where young people were involved, especially in a small tight-knit community such as Orphir, they usually returned, but not always. When the news was bad, the family often seemed to know that their loved one was dead before they were told.

‘What’s your gut feeling about Dougie?’ she said.

Silence, then . . .

‘He knows these waters as well as anyone. I don’t think they’ve drowned. But if the police thought I was in danger from Go Wild, then Dougie and the girl were too.’

‘If they left because you were hesitating to publish as you promised, then by doing that you might bring them back.’ It was what Rhona had been hoping for, as had Bill.

There was a moment’s silence, as though Ava was making her mind up what she should say next.