“Looks like it’s just you and me, pup,” she said, looking down at the dog. Taggart tilted his head, and one of his ears perked up. “What do you think, get to work or go for a walk first?”
Taggart leapt up onto his hind legs so his front paws were on one of Sinead’s knees. His tail swished furiously from side to side, like a windscreen wiper trying to fend off a downpour.
Sinead patted his head and laughed. “Aye, it’s funny,” she told him. “I thought you might say that.”
It was an hour and a half later, and Tyler had still not been sick. He’d come close on the short ferry trip, and had got out of the car to go hang over the side for the duration of the three-minute crossing.
The boot of the BMW—a sizeable space—was crammed so full that Logan could barely see out of the back window. He still couldn’t quite believe what it had been crammed with, but Tyler had practically begged to bring the item in question along, and Logan hadn’t had the energy to argue.
Nor had he complained about the brief, blessed silence that had been afforded to him while Tyler was out on the deck of the ferry. He had taken the opportunity to check his messages, which had come through in a succession of rapid-fire pings when his phone had picked up a signal again.
There were a few from Shona, mostly asking if he was around and whether he had a signal yet, plus one where she’d sent a link to a new rumoured Katsu Curry-flavoured Pot Noodle. That one had included five exclamation marks and an emoji of someone’s head exploding.
He’d been reading through them when another batch of messages came through. These were mostly voicemail notifications, but there was one in there that made his heart soar.
‘She’s nice. I like her. x’
That one was from Maddie. It didn’t say much, but it said everything. It said there was a route, however long and winding it may be, to forgiveness. That there was a chance for them. For him. Even after everything.
He hurriedly tapped out a reply.
‘Sorry, had no signal. Aye, yours seems alright, too. For a guy with two last names.’
He sent it, and was just going back in to reply to the latest message from Shona, when the passenger door had opened and Tyler had clambered back in and the ferry approached the jetty.
That had been an hour ago. There had been no more messages received since. Or none that could have been heard over DC Neish’s constant wittering, anyway.
“Pretty sure it’s up this way, boss,” Tyler said, with a degree of confidence that felt misplaced, given that he’d made the same statement three other times already. “I recognise that hill.”
“You recognised those trees last time, and then you recognised that big rock, and you were wrong both those times,” Logan reminded him.
“Aye, but this is different,” Tyler insisted. “The track takes a right just up this hill.”
He sat in silence while Logan steered the BMW up the rugged, rocky incline.
“Yeah, I meant left,” he said. “It goes left, and then it goes right. Or left again. I can’t remember. I’m sure it’s up this way, though.”
“How sure are we talking?”
“Like, ninety percent,” Tyler said. The track came to an abrupt end at a wall of trees, and the DC quietly cleared his throat. “Maybe closer to seventy.”
Logan sighed and crunched the BMW into reverse. “Hasn’t anyone ever told you you’re a liability, son?” he asked. “Because if not, I feel I’ve been remiss in my duties as your superior—”
“Wait!” Tyler cried. He prodded a finger against the side window, to where a ramshackle old house was just visible through gaps in the branches. “Trees are thicker. That’s all. More leaves. That’s it there, though. I’m positive that’s the place, boss. That’s where Dinky lives.”
Logan grunted, then shut off the engine. “Aye, well. No’ before bloody time,” Logan said, throwing open his door and stepping down from the car.
“You’ll want to go canny, boss,” Tyler said, lowering his voice into a whisper. “You really don’t want to get on the wrong side of his dog.” He turned to look at the bulky item that filled the boot of the car. “That’s why I brought this.”
“I think you imagined things, son,” Logan said. He looked over in the direction of the house, then back at Tyler, who still hadn’t opened his door. “I don’t see any dog.”
And that was when the howling started.