Safe House Read Online Free Page B

got the impression she didn’t believe there was likely to be anything. As if she thought of the island as the smallest, most ridiculous place you could possibly imagine. Maybe she’d heard some of the local myths. Like how you had to say hello to the fairies if you were passing over the humped bridge on the way to Ballasalla, or risk a dose of bad luck. How no Manx person would dare to say the word ‘rat’, referring instead to ‘long tails’. How the local cats, as if to compensate, had no tails to speak of.
    ‘Depends,’ I said. ‘Ever been on a motorbike?’
    Her chin snapped up, as if I’d got her interest all of a sudden.
    ‘Or heard of the TT races?’
    ‘What is this TT ?’
    ‘It’s a road race. Happens every June. Timed laps. Each lap is over thirty-seven miles long. If you like, I could show you?’
    ‘You have a motorbike?’
    ‘Several. I race.’
    She glanced down at Rocky, as if seeking his approval. ‘We could do this tomorrow, maybe?’
    ‘If you like, we could go after I fix the boiler.’
    She checked over her shoulder, towards the door. Chewed the inside of her mouth. Then she stepped closer to me. So close that I could feel the heat coming off her body.
    ‘I do not think they will like it,’ she whispered.
    ‘I wasn’t offering them a ride.’
    ‘No.’ She was being serious now. Holding my eyes. ‘They maybe would not like it if I go.’
    ‘Oh. Well.’ I hitched my shoulders. ‘If you want to leave it . . .’
    She turned and peered out of the garage doorway, into the beating rain, almost as if she hadn’t heard me at all. ‘Your van,’ she said. ‘Is it possible – can you bring your motorbike inside it?’
    ‘I suppose I can. But –’
    ‘Then this is perfect.’ She twirled and placed her hands on my shoulders. Blinded me with her smile again. ‘Here is what you must do.’

Chapter Four
     
     
    ‘You’re saying she asked you to back your van up to the garage?’ Detective Sergeant Teare asked. ‘Why would she do that?’
    ‘So the two guys she was with wouldn’t see my bike. Her idea was, we could wheel it out of my van and get everything ready inside the garage. Then, when we were geared up in leathers and helmets, we could be out of there before they realised what was happening.’
    ‘Sounds like a lot of effort.’ Teare had left the wall and taken a seat on the other side of my bed from Shimmin. Close up, she looked older. Her skin was dried. Pocked and lined. I could see the white of her scalp through her thinning hair. ‘How about your dog?’
    ‘I left Rocky at home.’
    She nodded, as if that made sense. ‘Didn’t it make you suspicious at all, the way this Lena was talking about the two men you say that you saw?’
    ‘I did see them.’
    She waved a hand. No rings on her fingers, I noticed. ‘Point is, the things she asked you to do are pretty unusual, agreed?’
    ‘I think she just wanted to get away without any hassle. Like telling them would cause some kind of argument.’
    Teare watched me closely. Truth is, I suppose I had been curious about why Lena had wanted everything done in secret. But not enough to turn her down.
    ‘What happened when you left?’ Teare asked. ‘These men come outside?’
    ‘I didn’t see them.’
    ‘So you made it out of the plantation like Bonnie and Clyde. And then you had this crash of yours.’
    This crash . As if the fact I was lying before her in a hospital bed was some kind of elaborate smokescreen.
    ‘Want to tell us about that?’ she asked.
    ‘I told you. I don’t remember the accident.’
    She made a humming noise, unconvinced. ‘Know where you were when they found you?’
    ‘I heard it was the track leading to the Sloc.’ The Sloc is the A road that skirts South Barrule hill and connects the middle of the island with the southern coast. I’d been planning to follow it in the opposite direction towards the village of Foxdale. I was going to pick up the TT course at the Ballacraine