Chapter 22
22
ZAC
They came to a halt with a thud, and Zac was the first one to find his voice. ‘Alice? Val? Are you okay? ARE YOU OKAY?’
He wasn’t sure if the crushing feeling in his chest was down to panic, or the seatbelt, or a bit of both. What had he done? These two women wouldn’t even be here if it weren’t for him, so if anything happened to them… Fuck, why couldn’t he get this seatbelt off so he could get out or get up front to check on them?
‘Alice?’ he blurted again, still scrabbling with the seatbelt clip.
‘It’s okay. I’m fine, I’m fine,’ she repeated, then he heard her say, ‘Val?’
‘Just give me a wee minute until my heart stops racing,’ Val answered, and the blood coursing round Zac’s veins flooded with relief and gratitude. They were both okay. He’d never have been able to live with himself if they weren’t.
Val shook out her arms and shoulders. ‘Everything’s still attached and working. I think we’re fine.’
‘What happened?’ That came from Alice, who was now opening her door. ‘Did we hit something?’
Zac finally managed to get the seatbelt unclipped, and followed her out, leaving the door open.
‘You don’t have to tell me what it was, I already know,’ Val said, in a tight, furious voice that shocked him because he’d only heard her being funny, calm, supportive.
Thankfully, there were street lights on this part of the road so they could see in the darkness, but Val came right in with the correct answer at the same time as he and Alice spotted the problem. Even with the white coating on the ground, it was impossible to miss.
‘It’s a pothole the size of a fecking duck pond. I’ve reported it to the council twice in the last month and they haven’t done a bloody thing about it. My pal, Jessie McLean from the hairdressers, lives in that house just there and she lost her whole front end on Christmas Eve. And usually I’d have a joke about that last sentence, but I’m too bloody mad to think of one. I knew the damn thing was there, but I was too engrossed in our conversation and lost concentration for a second.’
He could see she was right. The bang had obviously been a result of the wheel hitting the pothole, and it had blown the tyre, causing them to spin on the snow-covered road. They’d been so lucky there wasn’t another car anywhere near them or they could be dealing with so much more than just a flat tyre right now.
‘Val, can you drive the car slowly into the side here, just to get it to a safer space?’
Still in the driver’s seat, Val switched the engine back on and slowly edged the Jeep around so that it was facing the right way, then switched it off again and climbed out.
He had a closer look at the wheel, but other than the shredded tyre it didn’t seem to be damaged. ‘Have you got a spare tyre?’
‘Aye, son – in the boot.’
‘Okay, let me have a go at changing it.’
‘I did a car mechanic course back in 2012 – I’m perfectly capable of doing that too,’ Val countered, and Zac didn’t doubt it for a second.
‘I’m sure you could, but, Val, it’s freezing and it’s snowing and I’ve got this huge jacket…’
‘True. And I did just get my hair done yesterday,’ she added. ‘It’ll get wrecked with this snow and I’m trying to make it last past our bingo night tomorrow.’
Zac never thought he’d see that day that he was grateful for high-maintenance hair.
Alice and Val were now sheltering under a very sparse tree a few feet away. ‘We could just go knock on Jessie’s door,’ Val suggested, nodding at the house, which had lights on in a couple of windows. ‘It looks like she’s in, so we could have a cuppa so we’re not in your way.’
‘That’s a really good idea,’ Zac agreed, already round at the boot, checking that he had everything he’d need. Spare. Jack. Locknuts. Yep, all there.
‘Are you sure, Zac?’ Alice asked and he immediately responded with a nod.
‘Absolutely. You can’t sit in the car while I’m doing this and that tree isn’t much of a shelter. It’ll only take me fifteen minutes or so, but at least you’ll be out of the snow.’
He could see Alice’s reluctance in her face, but she agreed after Val gave her a tug on the sleeve. ‘Come on, love, we’ll only be in the way. And I can get Jessie’s statement about this bloody pothole while we’re in there. I’ll be at that council office first thing tomorrow morning.’ Zac felt a pang of sympathy for the council official who was about to meet the wrath of Val, but he had no doubt the pothole would be repaired before the week was out.
‘We’ll watch out of the window, and when you’re done, we’ll be right back out,’ Alice assured him, before they both went off down the thirty yards or so to the house.
Zac got busy, jacking the car up, then removing the wheel. Practical stuff always gave him time to think. Whenever he had something on his mind, he’d go to the gym and work out, or go out into the back garden and chop wood for the log burner in his lounge.
Or change a tyre on a bright yellow Jeep on a dark, slushy road in the West of Scotland. What was he doing here? And why? He’d lived perfectly happily for almost three decades without the knowledge of any of the puzzles that had been raised about his origins today, so why did he have to stir this up when he could just walk away, go to the airport, meet up with the man he called Dad and get on with his life? That would be the most sensible solution.
But then… He’d never been good at ignoring questions. What happened if he needed medical treatment that only a blood relative could provide? A long shot, for sure. And given what he knew of Larry McLenn, he was fairly positive that a liver transplant was off the cards. But what about when he had kids? He wanted to know the genetic history he was passing on too. And… His legal brain ran dry on justification, and his heart took over. The truth was he wanted to know exactly what, if anything, had happened between this guy and his mum. He needed to understand if and how she’d been manipulated into acting so out of character. He wanted to know his origin story, because not knowing the truth would haunt him.
The snow had eased off by the time he had the new wheel on and released the jack, lowering the car back onto the ground. He’d just put the damaged wheel in the boot and cleaned his hands with some wet wipes that were in there, when he saw Val and Alice hugging another woman at the door of the house, then walking speedily back towards him.
Val held out two lidded cups. ‘Coffee or tea? We weren’t sure which one you’d prefer so Jessie made both. I’ll pop the cups back into her at the hairdressers tomorrow.’
‘Coffee please,’ he said, taking the one from her right hand. He wasn’t even so bothered about the beverage, it was more just that the heat from the cup would defrost his frozen fingers.
They all climbed back into the car, and only the rich smell of the coffee gave a clue that there had been an interruption to proceedings. At least, until Alice spoke…
‘Zac, are you still sure that you want to do this? You know, I’m not one for paranormal or spiritual theories…’
‘She’s not, but I am,’ Val interjected, but her tone was gentle, as if broaching a difficult subject. ‘And I’m thinking maybe your mum was using a wee bit of divine intervention there to tell us something?’
The thought had crossed Zac’s mind too. Would his mum want him to do this? Would she be horrified? Disappointed?
‘Maybe. Or maybe it was just the council’s roads policy.’ He managed a conciliatory smile. ‘Ladies, I honestly appreciate everything you’ve done for me, and I don’t want to put you out any more than I already have.’ He felt terrible for everything that had happened in the last hour and for any stress he’d caused Alice before then. If his mum really could do the divine intervention thing, then she’d find a way to give him a piece of her mind for troubling folk. ‘I promise it would be no bother at all for me to get a taxi the rest of the way.’
It was Alice who shook her head, and she seemed to have a new air of resolve. ‘Nope, if you go, we all go. Right, come on, Val, let’s get moving. We’ve only got an hour before we need to head to the airport, so let’s get this over with.’
They got back on the road, and Zac sipped his coffee as he looked out of the window. When the warm liquid hit his stomach, he realised that other than a biscuit at Val’s house, he hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast, but his appetite was gone, replaced by the knot of apprehension that he hadn’t been able to shake all day.
He watched as they turned off the country road and into what looked like the outskirts of a village, and then into a housing scheme that was very different from the streets of the surrounding areas. Many of the homes were well kept and pristine, but there were several that were clearly neglected, along with a couple of burnt-out cars on the communal grass area and every bus stop they passed had been smashed to bits.
Alice had told him that this was where she’d lived for the last year or so that she’d been married and he couldn’t help but compare it to where she lived now with Val. Both were council estates, but Val’s was clean and well maintained, very similar to where his mum and Aunt Audrey had grown up, whereas this one definitely looked like it had more challenges.
‘Left here, Val,’ Alice said, quietly but calmly, before pointing at a row of five or six terraced homes. ‘And then it’s the last house on the left there. You can turn into the side alley next to it or park out the front.’
‘I’ll stick to the front,’ Val said, pulling in behind a white transit work van and stopping. ‘Right, I’m going to stay here in case we need a quick getaway. I feel like an extra on an old episode of Taggart .’
He could see that Alice was peering out of the window at the house and he understood how difficult this must be for her.
‘Alice, please stay here with Val too. I’m fine to go in by myself. Like I said, I can get a taxi to the airport from here, so there’s no need to wait.’ He was just trying desperately to let them go, because he felt so awful about the trouble he’d caused. ‘And, Val, I’ll be in touch because I’m going to pay for that tyre.’
‘Och, don’t be daft. My pal, Bob, down at the garage in Weirbridge, will sort that for me in no time. And, anyway, I’ll make sure the council pays for it. That pothole was a disgrace.’
‘And it’s a “no” from me too,’ Alice added, taking off her seatbelt. He saw the steely determination on her face and then she inhaled like someone who was just about to jump off the ledge on a bungee rope. ‘Let’s go, Zac. And I apologise for whatever happens in here because there’s no civility in this man at all.’
The next thing he knew, she was out of the door, and he was racing to keep up with her. He reached the small front gate first, although it was hanging off one hinge, so he guessed it wasn’t there to prevent intruders.
The whole house looked neglected. Dilapidated even. One of the windows was smashed, with what looked like cardboard taped across the cracks. The door had splinters down the side, as if it had been kicked in at some point. The front garden was completely overgrown and full of junk – a sharp contrast to the immaculate lawn and flower beds next door.
To his surprise, it was Alice who took the lead, swerving and reaching the front door before him. He was seeing she had a core of inner strength just like his mum. It made so much sense that once upon a time they’d been best friends.
Alice raised her hand at the door, then paused, turned to him. ‘Ready?’
Was he? Absolutely not. The calm, capable guy who spent his working days helping other people sort out their lives, their problems, their finances and their futures, was now absolutely, to put it mildly, bricking it.
‘Ready,’ he nodded. His first lie of the day.
Alice banged on the door with a violence that was unexpected, then stood back and waited. And waited. And waited. Nothing. Not a sound. No answer.
He thought she’d turn and walk away at that point, but, instead, she stepped forward again and banged even harder. ‘He’ll be passed out,’ she said, with cool, calm, but utterly unmistakable scorn.
Another wait.
‘I don’t think anyone is home,’ he murmured, deflated, his mind already racing ahead. He was going to have to come back here. He had loads of holiday days carried over from last year, so maybe he could take a long weekend next week. He was just thinking through the logistics of that when he heard a noise from inside. He and Alice met each other’s gaze, eyes wide. Someone was there. A suspicion that was confirmed when they heard shuffling footsteps coming down the hall.
‘Brace yourself,’ Alice whispered, and he saw that her hands were balled into fists of tension.
He had no idea what to expect, but he could never have predicted the sight that was in front of him when the door was slowly opened.
A woman. It was hard to tell what age. She had long dark hair pulled back in a ponytail. She was wearing a dressing gown that reached the floor.
But her face. Holy shit, her face.
It looked like she was the one who had been in a car that had hit a pothole and then spun out on a deserted road. Only in her case, it seemed like the car only stopped when it hit a wall.