‘We will. I’ve just got one more stop before we leave.’
‘You said that last time,’ mumbled Marcus.
Lawrence had helpfully given Jake directions to a row of terraced stone cottages a few miles from the village, down in the valley, not easily located if you weren’t familiar with the area.
Jake checked the address on the post-it again. ‘It’s the next right.’ Jake looked out of the window as they turned down a steep, narrow track. It levelled off, cutting a winding path through the valley floor.
The cottages could be around the next bend. Jake didn’t want to risk sailing straight past them; the narrow road would make it difficult to turn around, and who knew how many miles they would have to travel further on until they could double back.
‘Slow down. It’s not far.’
Marcus glanced at him. ‘What’s not far? Where are we going,Jake?’
Jake didn’t reply. He kept his eyes peeled for any sign of the cottages while Marcus kept his eyes on the road. Jake, his attention momentarily diverted by the beauty and serenity of the heather-covered mountains rearing up on either side, happened to look Marcus’s way and catch him grinning insanely into his rear-view mirror.
Jake flipped the sun visor down and looked in the vanity mirror to see a young couple, looking decidedly irate, swinging a tatty red Ford Fiesta left and right on their tail, trying to get past and escape Marcus’s twenty-miles-per-hour crawl. Jake looked again at Marcus, who was clearly enjoying himself.
How was it possible that Marcus, who had just found out that he was not fully in control of his father’s business affairs, could be so cheerful? Jake was guessing that Marcus was relishing the thought of that surprise visit he was going to spring on the London office of the Ross Corporation. As Marcus had said, heads were going to roll. Jake thought of Aubrey ensconced on the top floor of the company apartment building in London and considered wiping the smile off Marcus’s face by telling him the business side of things was not the only thing he was losing control of. He decided it could wait.
Jake turned in his seat to look out of the back window. ‘Oh, for pity’s sake, will you just pull over and let them pass?’
Marcus frowned and swung the car abruptly towards the kerb. Jake looked past Marcus out of the driver’s side window as the young couple passed by. The young woman in the passenger seat was mouthing something that Jake guessed was probably quite obscene. He wondered what Marcus was mouthing back.
‘Marcus!’ Jake said to the back of his head.
Marcus turned in his seat to look at Jake.
‘Now I’ve got your full attention, can you stop faffing about and help me find this address?’ Jake held up the post-it.
Marcus’s eyes shifted to look past Jake out of the passenger window. ‘Well, blow me – isn’t that the house?’ Marcus pointed.
Jake turned and looked out of the window to find they were parked directly outside.
‘I’m guessing this is the home address of one Mr Wright. Am I right?’ Marcus laughed at his own play on words.
Jake grimaced and got out of the car.
‘I’ll just sit and wait then.’ Marcus got the message.
Jake shut the car door and looked up at the house. Like Lawrence had said, the terraced cottage was one of a small row of six standing alone, deep in the valley. There wasn’t another house in sight, even though the village was just a few miles up the road.
The stone cottages had dark wooden windows that just added to the dreariness, and they had a distinctly neglected, forgotten feel, not helped by the fact that one of the row, the one next door, had all four windows boarded up. Somehow, he couldn’t quite connect this drab house to the bright, cheerful, Arnold Wright.
Jake walked up the overgrown pathway. He stood in the small, pitch-roofed porch and knocked on the door. He waited. The strong smell of damp wood coming from the firewood stacked high on one side of the porch made Jake want to step back outside for some fresh air.
An old man answered the door. ‘Yes?’
Jake hesitated, unsure what to say, unsure exactly what he was doing here.
‘Can I help you?’
‘Did ... does Arnold Wright live here?’ Jake still could not believe what was on that computer screen. He had to check it out for himself. There just had to be a logical explanation.
‘What is it you want?’
‘Do you know Arnold Wright?’ Something in the old guy’s tone made Jake think he did.
‘Are you going to continue answering my questions with a question?’ The old man blinked at him.
