Free Untouchable by Chris Ryan

her? The cave with the noise?’
    ‘Yeah.’
    ‘Well, the more I thought about it, the more I was convinced it sounded like a generator. When we got back I got out the map of the pothole and matched it up with the Ordnance Survey map. I really was thinking there might be a machine buried in a hidden cave there, doing something clandestine. But it was just open moor.’
    Alex shrugged. ‘Maybe what you heard was somebody driving nearby. Or an underground water course.’
    ‘No, it didn’t sound like that. It was constant, but it didn’t really sound like water. Paulo came in while I was looking and asked what I was doing. I pretended I was looking at the map for another reason. Anyway, just as a matter of interest, it was right here. And now here’s the Mary Celeste ATV.’
    Alex chuckled and linked his arm through hers. ‘Glad I’m not the only one going mad. Come on, let’s get back. Thanks for coming out with me.’

10
    W HALE
    A grey seal swam alongside Paulo’s kayak, its dark eyes looking at him curiously, its long snout ending in two narrow nostrils. It had been following them since they pushed off from the stony shore.
    A road bridge crossed high above them, making a dark shadow across the choppy water. Six yellow Day-Glo kayaks paddled out of the V-shaped inlet, on their way to the sea – Amber and Hex at the front, Alex and Tiff in the middle and, bringing up the rear, Li and Paulo. Plus one seal.
    Paulo grinned at it, gliding with the current, not wanting to put his paddle in the water in case he hurt it. His hair had gone especially wild in the sea spray, wiry like the seal’s whiskers, thought Li. What was it with him? Animals always seemed to like him.
    Beyond the bridge the shores opened out and the water merged with the sea. Far behind, the village looked like a small collection of white dolls’ houses, the ruined castle that stood on the bluff a tiny double prong of brickwork. Gulls and cormorants soared in the thermals, calling to each other.
    The only other sound was the splash of oars. The kayaks were perfect for seeing the wildlife in the open water – they made hardly any wake, unlike a motorized vessel, and were safer than swimming.
    Suddenly the sound of the birds multiplied by a thousand. The clear blue sky was full of black shapes, swooping towards a point on the rocky coastline. Alex was reminded of his grandmother in Sunderland: she used to put out chicken scraps on the patio, and what seemed like a hundred birds appeared from nowhere and dived onto the little garden. There must be a freshly dead animal over there, he thought – perhaps a sheep had fallen from the cliff. His gaze drifted that way.
    It was a boat, being loaded by a couple of figures. Fishermen? They were swinging a heavy load into the boat. At first Alex thought it was a tarpaulin full of fish. Then he caught a glimpse of a delicate head, fine legs. Deer carcasses.
    He watched them go in. One. Then another. Three altogether. There was another man in the boat; he pulled a big tarpaulin over the carcasses.
    Li had seen it too. She tried to alert Paulo but he was still teasing the seal as the boat pulled away. The birds followed a little way, but gradually dispersed. The two men walked back inland and disappeared behind a rock. The boat put on a burst of speed: even Paulo looked up at the sound of it. It speed out round the coast to the east.
    Suddenly a louder noise claimed Li’s attention. A rumble underneath her, like water coming to the boil. One moment she was up in the air, the next she was falling face first into dark blue water. The cold closed around her head like an iron vice.
    But her reactions were well honed: she twisted and the kayak rolled right over. As she came up and shook her head, blinking salt water out of her eyes, she saw Paulo treading water beside his kayak, his arms around it like a big drum, his lifejacket like two orange pillows at his ears. The seal was still beside him, a snout and eyes