The Secrets of the Glen (Scottish Highlands #2)

Chapter 22

Robyn followed Duncan inside. He’d already disappeared into the kitchen. She stood in the entrance hallway, staring at a large stuffed fish in a glass case on the wall. A glass-panelled staircase rose to the next floor, with a very modern open-tread staircase, where she imagined was the lounge with the balcony that Duncan had described. She could see through a couple of open doorways that there was an impressive modern kitchen on the ground floor, along with a study. She stood in the hall and exhaled in relief. None of this was familiar at all. She’d never been inside this property in her life.

Yeah, that’s because I was the getaway driver.

Robyn’s heart skipped a beat. Why would I think that? she wondered. How strange.

Duncan was already in the kitchen, putting on the kettle and arranging some mugs, preparing to make tea. He joined her in the hall. ‘Come on, let’s go upstairs,’ he said. As they walked up the stairs, he added, ‘Thanks for helping me with that blasted alarm.’

‘I don’t get it,’ said Robyn, thinking of the keypad. ‘Why does he need a house alarm all the way out here?’

‘That’s what I said to him. I thought he’d had it installed just to make my life difficult while I’m living here. Then he told me he’d been burgled.’

Robyn stared at him. ‘What?’

‘Yeah – on Christmas Day, when he was out. Unfortunately at this time of year, when people have spent money on presents, you hear about it all the time, people getting burgled. And out here, when your house has no neighbours to spot someone breaking in …’ he trailed off.

‘That’s awful.’

‘Yes.’

‘But all the way out here? How would they even know this house was here?’

‘I think they got lost down this country road and happened upon the house, unoccupied.’

‘Did they take all his Christmas presents?’

‘No, they didn’t touch those, even though they were right there, in plain sight – right under a beautiful spruce Christmas tree by the fire.’

Robyn stared at the space where the Christmas tree would have been. She cast her gaze around the spacious room. It was just as Duncan had described.

She followed Duncan over to the double doors that led out onto a balcony with glorious views of the loch and the tree-covered hills beyond.

‘The view of the loch is spectacular – isn’t it?’

Robyn could see it was, but she barely gave it a glance. The burglary was still on her mind. She turned around to face Duncan. ‘So, if they didn’t steal the presents under the tree, what did they take?’

‘David wouldn’t tell me what they stole, initially. But I got it out of him.’

Robyn looked at him expectantly.

‘Cash.’

‘Cash?’

‘I’m afraid so.’ Duncan nodded his head. ‘And now I know where he got it from.’

Robyn caught him staring at her intently. ‘You mean – me?’

‘You mentioned he has investments. Sounds to me as though he must have cashed one in.’

‘Why do you say that? He could have withdrawn some cash from the bank to spend on Christmas shopping.’

‘Not that amount.’

‘What amount?’

‘Thousands of pounds.’

‘What?’ Robyn looked at him wide-eyed. ‘Why?’

‘Yep. That was what I said when I found out. Why leave a heap of cash lying around? I mean, not that you’d expect to be burgled all the way out here, in the middle of nowhere. That was just bad luck. But even so, why risk it?’

‘What did he need the cash for?’ Robyn asked, even though she assumed he hadn’t told his father that.

‘How do I know? After I had a go at him for leaving that sort of cash lying around, and said whatever he needed to pay for, why not pay by cheque, for goodness’ sake, or do a bank transfer – he got cheesed off, and wouldn’t tell me.’

‘How much cash was it?’

When Duncan gave her the figure, Robyn could feel the room spinning. ‘I need to sit down.’ She’d come over faint.

‘Are you all right? Do you need a glass of water?’

‘Yes, please.’

Robyn heard Duncan clomping down the wooden stairs. She also heard something else – the sound of a car turning up outside the house. ‘Oh, god! It’s David,’ she said under her breath.

‘They’re here!’ Duncan called up the stairs.

Robyn was thinking about the cash she’d discovered in the bottom of that rucksack. It had been in her car when she’d been speeding out of town on Christmas Day. It wasn’t me – surely, she thought. I’m a student at university – at least I was until I dropped out. And it’s not as though I needed the money. She was thinking of the money her mother kept sending her via cheque, and the amount in her savings account. Surely, it must be a coincidence.

The problem was that she knew how much cash was in that bag – she’d counted it to the last note, and the amount matched the cash that had been stolen. And she knew how much would be left after she’d paid for her outlet in Duncan’s shop; she’d counted out six months upfront. It was sitting in an envelope, waiting to be handed to Duncan on the first day that her outlet officially opened. He wouldn’t accept the money any sooner. But she couldn’t back out now. She’d committed herself to loads of expenses.

Alec had suggested she could hire a company to set up a website for her business too. That sounded like a fantastic idea – but it would cost money.

The income from her first interior design job for Rose and Goerge would not cover any of her expenses. She hadn’t charged Rose and George that much. She was lucky if she’d make a few hundred pounds of profit. Although they were fairly well off after downsizing from their larger property, they were retired on a fixed income, so she hadn’t felt inclined to charge them too much. In fact, she didn’t know what to charge. It was something she’d have to look into before she opened her outlet and found any new customers.

She had also committed to paying Marty for gardening and landscaping – he’d already turned up bright and early that morning, before they’d left for the hospital, and had made a start clearing the front garden. The garden would turn out to be a few months’ work, according to Marty, and would cost a lot of money for plants and materials. But she’d said yes to his estimate on the spot, and he’d surprised her by getting stuck in straight away.

She could mentally calculate that she’d already burned through half of the money.

‘Here we are.’ Duncan handed her a glass of water. ‘I’m just going to nip back downstairs and make that tea.’

Robyn wished he wouldn’t. She wanted to leave straight away. Never mind persuading David to stay there; she was going to help him pack if it meant she could leave the scene of the crime.

Robyn suddenly relaxed when she realised she didn’t remember setting foot in the place. ‘I did not steal anything,’ she mumbled to herself as she gulped down the water, trying not to think about the fact that her memory hadn’t returned – so how could she know for sure? But she had remembered the outside of the place. And the amount in the rucksack was exactly the amount that had been burgled. How could that be a coincidence?

Robyn heard voices downstairs and the dull thud of what she imagined was the sound of David walking into his house on crutches on the wooden floor. She wasn’t looking forward to an argument with him over the fact that she’d made the trip there with his father.

‘She’s upstairs,’ Robyn heard Duncan say.

Gayle came up the stairs first. ‘Hey! There you are.’ She lowered her voice, ‘Why did you take off like that in Mr Gillespie’s car? I thought you’d been kidnapped or something.’ Gayle was only half-joking. ‘Are you all right?’

Robyn risked standing up. Fortunately, the room didn’t spin around. She stood there, holding the empty glass. ‘I’m fine.’

Gayle might be her best friend, but she was not going to bring up the stolen money. Not until she’d found out what had really happened that night – not until her memory came back and she was sure why she’d been travelling alone on Christmas Day with a rucksack full of money.

Robyn knew she’d been lucky that the money was well hidden at the bottom of the bag beneath a lot of clothes. If the bag had been opened by the police, they hadn’t had a good rummage, otherwise they would have found the wads of cash.

‘So, what was that all about?’ Gayle asked.

Robyn looked at her. ‘What are you talking about?’ she said defensively.

‘You going in the car with Mr Gillespie instead of coming with us.’

‘Oh, right,’ Robyn said in relief. For a moment, she had irrationally thought that Gayle could read her mind.

Gayle lowered her voice. ‘David wasn’t happy.’ She glanced over her shoulder. ‘He is on his way up.’

Robyn frowned. ‘On crutches?’

‘No, he’s got to use a walking stick. He wasn’t happy about that either, when I reminded him. One hand on the rail, the other on the stick. The physio shows you how to do it. And so will I if he doesn’t do as he’s told.’

The thought occurred to Robyn that David might change his mind about going to stay at Lark Lodge if the thought that Gayle was going to boss him about the whole time.

Robyn smiled. She would be quite happy with that. Then she could leave even quicker. She looked at Gayle, and spoke her thoughts – well some of them. ‘I think we should leave.’

‘But we’ve only just got here, and David has some clothes and things to pack.’ Gayle looked at her askance. ‘What’s the rush? Did something happen before we arrived?’

Robyn laughed nervously. ‘No, not at all. Why do you ask such a silly question?’

‘I don’t know. You seem a bit …’

‘A bit what?’

‘Out of sorts.’

‘Robyn had a funny turn,’ said Duncan, appearing in the lounge with David’s crutches. ‘David’s preparing to climb Mount Everest.’

‘That’s not funny, Dad,’ David shouted up the stairs.

Duncan laughed at his own joke before he turned to Robyn. ‘Are you feeling better now you’ve had some water?’ He left the crutches propped up by the stairs and took Robyn’s empty glass.

‘It was nothing, really.’

‘Nothing? You looked as though you were going to pass out.’

‘Who was going to pass out?’ David asked, reaching the top of the stairs. He leaned heavily on the walking stick for a moment..

She looked from Gayle to David. ‘I said it was nothing.’

Gayle folded her arms. ‘Did you have a memory? Is that what it was?’

Robyn wished Gayle wasn’t so perceptive. ‘No. Why would I have one here?’

Gayle knitted her brow. ‘That’s true. You’ve never been here before.’

‘Exactly!’ Robyn tried to sound convincing.

Duncan butted into their conversation. ‘I’m sorry, but I’m a bit lost. Why did you ask Robyn if she had a memory? A memory of what?’

Robyn sighed heavily and rolled her eyes at Gayle, watching her mouth forming into a great big, Oh .

‘Oh, Gayle. Why did you have to go and say that!’ Robyn plopped down on the sofa behind her.

‘I’m sorry. I assumed they knew.’

‘Did I tell you that they knew?’

‘Well, no. But as you’re on really friendly terms with them, I thought … well … that you had … would.’

David slipped a crutch under one armpit, and stepped closer. ‘Knew what?’

‘Anything.’ Robyn closed her eyes, shook her head, and said, ‘I lost my memory in the car accident on Christmas Day and … and I’m still waiting for it to come back.’

David moved a bit closer. ‘What are you talking about? You told me your name, where you go to college, how old you are.’

‘Only because it was on the police report. They found my car reg on the DVLA and traced the registered address back to my university accommodation. There are letters from my mum that I found in my things. She’s travelling at the moment. She sends the letters to my university address. Dr Jamieson calls it selective amnesia. Obviously I can remember how to read, write, walk, talk, you know, I just can’t remember … me.’

The room fell silent.

David said, ‘So what were you doing on that road on Christmas Day?’

Robyn could feel the colour rising in her cheeks as she glanced around the room.

Duncan answered the question for her. ‘How do you expect her to know that? She just told you. She lost her memory.’

David ignored Duncan. ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’

Robyn didn’t know what to say. But she wasn’t the only one keeping secrets. She folded her arms, and looked at him askance, throwing the question back at him. ‘What were you doing on that road on Christmas Day?’

Duncan weighed in on the question too, surprising Robyn. ‘Yes, what were you doing all the way out there on Christmas Day? I know you said you were on your way to see Annie and Joe, but that’s going in the wrong direction.’

‘You know what? I’m not having this conversation,’ David growled at his father.

‘Well, you started it,’ Duncan replied.

‘No,’ David shook his head, ‘Robyn started it.’

Gayle shook her head. ‘Will everyone please stop behaving like children. Now, David, get some things together if you’re coming home with us,’ said Gayle, taking charge.

‘I need to go up another flight of stairs,’ he complained.

Robyn saw him walk to the end of the room, and look up a spiral staircase.

Gayle said, ‘You’re not going up those any time soon. Tell me what you need.’

David did as he was told.

Robyn noticed that Duncan wasn’t exactly trying to persuade him to stay. She sidled up to him as David was telling Gayle what he wanted to take with him and said, ‘I thought you didn’t want him to go?’

He whispered back, ‘Looking at that sour expression, I’m thinking perhaps he is better off with Gayle. I’m no nurse. I’ve been down that road before, after his first accident, and he gave me hell.’

Gayle came down the stairs carrying a bag. ‘Robyn, why don’t you go and wait in the car? I’ve just got a few more things to fetch, then we’ll be right on out.’

Robyn took one look at David, who was throwing her a black look, and blurted, ‘I’m not coming.’

Gayle had one foot on the stair, about to make her way up the spiral staircase again. ‘What do you mean, you’re not coming?’

‘There’s a spare bedroom,’ said Duncan.

David rounded on his father. ‘You are joking.’

‘No. I’m not. I don’t see what the problem is. She’s working in my shop. I could give her a lift to work in the morning. Then we’ll take it from there.’ He added, ‘Give you two lovebirds a chance to cool off.’

Robyn rolled her eyes at Duncan.

He caught the look and shrugged. ‘Sounds like a plan to me.’

David said, ‘Whatever. I’m too tired to argue.’

Gayle stood there for a moment. ‘Is that what you want, Robyn?’

Robyn stole another glance at David. She walked over to Duncan and stood beside him, arms folded defiantly. ‘Yes.’

Gayle sighed and returned to the top floor to collect a few more things.

As she watched Gayle reappear with another bag, she realised that it looked as though David was taking Gayle up on her offer to recuperate there properly; he was taking enough with him for a few weeks. Robyn realised she didn’t have an overnight bag – just some spare knickers, in case she got her period, but nothing to sleep in. But another look at David convinced her she was staying put – at least for the night.

Robyn watched David make his way down the stairs with the aid of his walking stick. Gayle followed, carrying two bags. Duncan brought up the rear, carrying the crutches.

Robyn hung back at the top of the stairs. She heard Gayle’s voice. ‘I’ll take your things out and wait for you in the car.’

‘Thanks, Gayle.’

A moment later, Robyn heard David’s voice again, speaking to Duncan. ‘You’re not going to convince me to stay then?’

‘Nope,’ Duncan replied.

‘I thought that was why you were rushing back here, to get the kettle on and try and make me see sense over a cup of tea?’

‘Yeah, that was the plan. I’ve changed my mind. I much prefer my new house guest.’

Robyn heard David’s grumpy voice. ‘It’s not your house.’

Duncan said, ‘Do you want me to carry the walking stick to the car?’

Robyn leaned over the banister and caught of glimpse of David leaning on his crutches. He reached out a hand. ‘Give me that!’ He shifted his attention to the stairs.

Robyn moved away from the banister, out of sight.

‘Well, I’ll be seeing you then.’ Duncan sounded in surprisingly high spirits. ‘Now, I’m going to make myself a nice cuppa.’ He paused. ‘Robyn would you like one?’

‘Um, yes – I guess so,’ she called down the stairs.

There was a moment’s silence. She knew David was still standing in the hall – alone. She hadn’t heard the tell-tale dull thud of his crutches on the wooden floor that she anticipated as he walked out the door.

She stood there, waiting for him to ask her, plead with her, to change her mind and return to Lark Lodge with them.

He did not.

The next thing Robyn heard was David shuffling out of the door.

She walked over to the window of the double-fronted room and watched David make it to the car. He didn’t look back.

Gayle turned the car around. Then they were gone.

Robyn stared out of the window. What just happened? she wondered.