Chapter 65
TWO MONTHS LATER
The top of Helm Crag was covered in mist. It had taken her longer than usual to climb to the top because Kelly had done the whole horseshoe of Steel Fell, Calf Crag and Gibson Knott, finishing with the Lion and Lamb.
The view from there was stunning when the mist lifted, as it did for a few minutes when she most needed it to.
She sat down under the Howitzer, the prominent rock tower that marked the true summit.
From here, she thought the ancient boulders which looked like a lion and lamb from Grasmere in fact looked like a piano, with a maestro playing Chopin, she imagined.
The art world had celebrated the life of one of their best too and Kelly had read magazine spreads on what a terrible loss Angelina was to humanity. No mention had been made about her baby, and only a small nod to her brother, who’d ‘been troubled by grief’.
She knew they’d never see Sandy Cooper again this side of the Atlantic.
However, they had their patsies, at least nominally. Melvin Stone had been admitted under indefinite licence to a psychiatric hospital and Kevin Streeting was being held on remand until his trial date. He’d been attacked twice inside already. His DNA matched that found on Angelina’s body.
Lee Lovett had recovered from his car accident to give valuable testimony too.
From the grave, Joe Folly also helped them after Ted – frustrated at being single handed for six weeks – had aided in the autopsy which discovered a USB in Joe’s gut.
It contained everything he had on Hampton-Dent; all that was missing was the valuable insider knowledge that fitted everything together.
That’s what he had missed. It’s what the mother of his child would never give him.
His paternity had been established and the thought of a whole family being wiped out for the sake of a secret weapon haunted her every time she closed her eyes.
Together, what they’d found inside Rydal Caves and what Joe Folly had swallowed as he was beaten to death, they had their evidence that Hampton-Dent was indeed producing a chemical primer able to awaken nanotechnology planted inside somebody’s skull when programmed with 5G. But it wouldn’t see the light of day.
Johnny’s pal at the MOD had refused to talk again over the phone but had been happy to meet Kelly for a pint and he’d told her the Americans were now trialling the same concept using AI.
But nobody at the CPS had been interested in any of that, and counter terrorism had taken over the case, due to the sensitive nature of biohazards being involved.
Kelly hadn’t heard from them since. And she knew she never would.
The Nirvana Project bought Heron Hall, as well as nine other Lake District hotels, all devalued in price, and she was keeping a close eye on them, from afar, and she and Ted discussed it late at night, when they talked of conspiracy theories over a new Netflix show.
She’d been denied all contact with Paul and her gut regularly turned over when she thought of him and if he made it out of witness protection alive. Johnny had called in favours with counter protection mates but nobody was talking.
She looked across the valley and towards the town of Grasmere. This morning, she’d been on the Wendy, Johnny’s boat which was moored permanently now at Derwent Water in the marina at Portinscale.
She felt most connected to her heritage when she sat inside the tiny cabin and gazed across the water.
‘You win some, you lose some,’ she said.
Johnny came up behind her and put his arms around her waist.
He grinned and he kissed her neck.
‘I’m sweaty,’ she complained.
‘And we’re childless for an afternoon,’ he reminded her.
‘Johnny, no, not here.’
‘Why?’ He smiled at her, and they glanced over at the Howitzer rock. A thrill of excitement travelled up her spine and hit her stomach. He kissed her and the sun peeked from behind a cloud and remained fixed on them, as if giving them a blessing.
‘You’re supposed to be recuperating!’ she said.
As if on cue, a black and white collie ran over to them and panted, begging for attention, and Kelly petted her.
They greeted the owner, a hiker on his own, and Kelly busied herself with finding a blanket in her bag and setting out a few bites to eat that she’d brought.
Johnny nuzzled in close as they sat huddled together staring over the valley.
‘Close call,’ he chuckled.
She grinned at him and ripped open a nut bar.
‘You’ll have to wait,’ she said.
‘Pass me a meat slice,’ he said.
‘Anytime, soldier.’