Fellowes’ phone rang. Ewan’s foot pulsed in pain with every heartbeat. Fellowes listened then hung up. He tapped the driver on the shoulder.
‘They’re at The Ceilidh Place, West Argyle Street.’
Shit.
They drove fast but smooth, turned right then left. Ewan saw a signpost for a police station. As if the local plod could save them now.
Fellowes sighed. ‘This will all be over soon.’
‘You’ll let us go if you get Sandy?’
‘Of course.’
Weird spasms ran up Ewan’s leg as he craned his neck to look ahead. They couldn’t be far. Fellowes looked forward. Ewan felt in his pocket for his phone to call Heather, but of course they’d taken it. He looked at the gun in Fellowes’ hand, maybe this was the time to grab it, be a fucking hero. But he sat there frozen, thinking about everything that could go wrong.
They stopped at a junction, two cars trundling up the hill from the shore. Ewan saw the ferry to his left, the gleaming water of the loch, a young couple pushing a buggy, squinting in the sun.
They went over the junction then pulled in alongside the other SUV, blocking the road.
Windows went down.
‘Straight ahead,’ the guy said, nodding to Fellowes. ‘A hundred metres. All three of them outside the hotel.’
‘What are they doing?’
‘Unclear. There was an altercation between the younger woman and her husband.’
‘Her husband is here?’
‘He was scared off by two locals.’
‘And the target?’
‘Not sighted, but they have a bag with them.’
‘It could be inside.’
Ewan’s stomach clenched up. He knew the doors of the SUV were locked, but what about the windows? He arched his neck to see past the driver. A horn sounded behind, and he turned to see a delivery van waiting to pass. Fellowes tapped on the back of the driver’s seat and they took off down the road, the second SUV following. Ewan saw the three of them ahead, Lennox and Heather standing over Ava, who was sitting on a low wall. He saw Paul’s truck behind them, the backpack on the ground. What were they doing? Just fucking leave. They were only fifty yards away.
Ewan coughed loudly and shuffled in his seat, moved his back to the window and pressed the button to open it. It slid down. Fellowes hadn’t heard, was still looking ahead. It was halfway down when he turned at the electronic whirr, just as Ewan put his weight on his blood-soaked foot and pushed upwards, getting his head and shoulders out the window, feeling a blast of summer air.
‘Run,’ he screamed at the top of his voice. ‘Heather, they’re here.’
They turned to stare as Fellowes pulled him back inside the car and threw him across the seat. He saw Lennox and Heather grab Ava’s hands and help her to the truck, Lennox lifting the backpack. Part of him wanted them to leave Sandy and run. Why were they still protecting that thing? But he knew why, Sandy had saved their lives, given them purpose.
They jumped in the truck and sped away as both SUVs accelerated, giving chase. They swung hard right as the road ahead ended, skidding round a narrow lane. There was a campsite to the left then the loch and the hills across the water. Small white cottages on their right. The truck couldn’t possibly outrun them.
Fellowes stared at him. ‘You idiot.’
‘Fuck you.’
Fellowes leaned forward and spoke to the driver. ‘I don’t want the target harmed, understand?’
They were doing sixty, parked cars either side, people on the pavement gawping as they hurtled past.
The road swung right and they followed, away from the loch and alongside a low river. This was pointless, the truck couldn’t escape.
They met a car coming the other way which skidded onto the pavement to avoid them. Up ahead the truck barrelled to a junction then hung right and they followed behind. The road opened up as it led them back into the heart of town.
The second SUV came alongside theirs, vehicles in the opposite direction pulling into the side or onto the pavement. They were almost nudging the truck in front, all of them racing down the hill towards shore. The truck slowed as it reached the shore road and Ewan had an idea.
All three guys in the SUV were staring out of the window at the truck as it approached the junction too fast. Ewan swallowed hard and balled his hands into fists, then launched forward with all his weight, feeling his throbbing foot as his body wedged between the front seats. The guys in front pushed at him and Fellowes tried to grab him but he kicked out and caught Fellowes in the face with his foot, leaving a smear of his blood. He jerked his body through the gap and rammed his shoulder into the driver’s arm, swerving the car into the SUV alongside them, the two of them barrelling along just a few yards from the junction.
He saw the truck up ahead thudding to a halt in the railings before the water’s edge. They hadn’t made it round the corner but they didn’t go into the loch either.
He had his torso through into the front of the car. The passenger goon pointed his gun at Ewan. He heard the bang before he felt it in his chest, an outrageous roar of anger and pain through him as he elbowed the driver in the face, lunged forward and pushed his hand on the accelerator. They piled over the junction, the other SUV alongside. He grabbed the wheel and turned it, forced the other vehicle into the ferry terminal building with a crunch. Their own car sped along the short jetty, knocking bollards out of the way as they pummelled past the safety barrier and through a final low fence. Then they were in the air for an instant and Ewan saw the view down the loch, an expanse of land and sea and sky blending into one, swirling in and out of the excruciating pain drowning him. They hit the water with a heavy thump and Ewan’s head jerked forward into the windscreen.