Part 20 (1/2)

This drug really did give a horrible sensation. He couldn't move, but he knew what was going on. He would be aware of every moment before he died.

Then his super-sensitive hearing picked up another sound. The men were coming back.

31.

THE C CAVE.

The breeze brought a scent of salt. They must be very near the coast. Amber saw the lighted area of ground in front of her dip away. She weighed it up. The surface was rocky, but the quad's tyres could cope. She threw it down the slope and leaned back.

Alex lay back too. He bounced in the seat, his knuckles smas.h.i.+ng against the metal housing underneath it.

At last they levelled out. Amber braked and cut the engine. Far off they heard the beat of a helicopter.

Alex shone his torch on the ground. He was hoping to see tyre tracks, but the beach was pebbly. He checked the palmtop. They had come out almost to where the Kyle met the sea. He looked up and, in the distance, back towards the land, the bridge crossing the Kyle showed up like a dark bar against the moonlit clouds.

Alex's torch picked out a shape. He grabbed Amber's arm. 'They're still here.'

As Amber's eyes adjusted she recognized it. The Range Rover.

They hopped off the quad and hunkered down in the shadows. It wasn't much cover but it was better than nothing. Alex dialled the police, mentally thanking Hex for setting it up as a satellite phone.

The palmtop gave two bleeps and the screen light went out. Amber swore. 'It's out of batteries.'

'That's all we need,' sighed Alex. 'Of course, it would have been too convenient to be able to whistle up a heli.'

A sound made them catch their breath. Alex slipped the palmtop into his pocket and they listened, ready to flee.

But the noise wasn't someone approaching. It was blows.

Amber looked around wildly. 'Where's it coming from?'

'I don't know.' Alex's mind worked rapidly, trying to work out what it was. A brutal sound, again and again. It made him think of wood being chopped; films he'd seen of seals being bludgeoned. But where was it coming from?

Amber looked right and left and ran to the Range Rover. She crouched in its shadow and flashed her torch around. But the only thing she saw was the sea and the dark rock wall.

Alex ran over to join her. Still the sound continued dull thud after dull thud coming out of the darkness like a sinister machine. But where was it?

Then they saw a flash of light on the sh.o.r.e, a little way away from the vehicle. It flickered and then disappeared.

'They're in a cave,' said Amber.

The sickening noise came again. What were they doing to Hex?

Alex felt fury rise in his throat like bile. 'Right, we do the car,' he said. 'They can't get away if it doesn't have tyres.' He went to the front wheel.

Amber grabbed him. 'Then that leaves them stranded here with us.'

Alex pulled away from her and squatted down.

Amber went round in front of him and took him by the shoulders. 'Listen. I've seen those men, they've got guns, they're vicious. If we let them get away we can help Hex if we're not too late... If they're stuck here they'll turn on us. Our only hope of helping Hex is if we stay alive.'

The sound stopped and a torch flashed around the beach.

Amber and Alex shrank back into the shadows. The men were coming back to the Range Rover. The noise of the helicopter circled close and then moved away.

'We'll go without lights,' said one of the men. 'That way they won't find us.'

They climbed in and started the engine. The tyres spun on the pebbles, then found a grip. The four-wheel drive roared, then took them up onto the moor and away.

Alex and Amber wasted no time. Keeping low, they ran from their hiding place to the area where they had seen the men. Yes, it was a cave.

Amber flashed her torch in. 'Hex?' she called. 'Hex! Tiff!'

The sound echoed back at her.

'Hex!' called Alex.

Trembling, Amber stepped into the cave. There were rocks scattered all over the floor. 'Hex! Tiff!'

The only answer was dripping water. Were they too late? Would they find Hex and Tiff beaten to death?

Amber walked towards the back of the cave. The floor became sandy, swallowing her boots. She went slowly, s.h.i.+ning her torch in front of her feet. Then she found the shaft.

She shone her torch in. It glanced off something blue. A jumble of blue drums. 'Alex!' she called.

Alex picked his way over to her. The shaft was filled with chemical drums. A pair of eyes looked up from them, the nose barely above the water line.

'Tiff!' exclaimed Alex.

Tiff stared at him blankly. Was she alive?

Alex put his torch down on the edge of the shaft and reached for her. Tiff remained where she was, staring, silent, her expression unchanging.

'Amber, I think they're drugged. They can't move.'

Alex slipped into the water. It was full of drums. His feet touched them and they turned round like slippery b.a.l.l.s. He tried to push the surface ones aside but they hardly moved. They must have been weighed down with stones to stop them floating out if the shaft flooded to the top.

At least that explained what the noise was. It was the men throwing them in. They must have drugged Hex and Tiff, then dumped these barrels on top of them so that they would drown.

He reached Tiff and tilted her head back. She was breathing very shallowly. Right. Now he just had to get her out.

'Hex!' called Amber. She was searching every shadow between the drums, going over and over them, she still hadn't found him. Finally she spotted a pale patch.

Like Tiff, only his eyes and nose were poking out. He was nearly under the water.