Free The Grotto's Secret: A Historical Conspiracy Mystery Thriller by Paula Wynne

hammered inside her head.
    ‘Maybe he found out about them and wanted to report them so they had to quieten him too.’
    Kelby gasped, her hand clutching her mouth. Gary murdered! ‘I couldn’t believe it at the time.’
    ‘He was doing loads of stuff for Help For Heroes to show other soldiers being back in civvy street with a serious injury wasn’t so bad after all. He had even been training to cycle from Land’s End to John o’ Groats.’
    Roy explained to Marina, ‘That’s the whole length of Great Britain from south to north.’
    ‘ ¡Dios mío! That’s a long way.’
    ‘Yes, he was going to cycle for about two weeks to raise money. Why would he commit to that and then … then …’ Kelby choked up. She pulled herself together. ‘Mata said he had consulted their in-house counsellor. They said he’d been terribly depressed about his injured leg and the issues with his prosthesis.’
    Roy frowned. ‘It doesn’t sound as if he was suffering from depression.’
    ‘He wasn’t!’
    ‘Did you see any signs?’
    ‘No, and neither did his wife. In fact, we saw the opposite.’ She jumped up and marched to a picture frame hanging on the wall. She unhooked it and stepped back to the table. ‘Gary gave me this when my first business failed. I was gutted and thought I wasn’t capable of managing a company.’
    Inside the picture frame a quote by Winston Churchill read: Never, never, never give up.
    Roy frowned at the message and stared up at Kelby, his eyes a mixture of emotion.
    For a moment they looked at the frame. Then Kelby said in a soft voice, ‘Is that the kind of man who would give up?’
    Roy patted Kelby’s arm. ‘You were obviously very close.’
    ‘We were orphaned in our early teens so I had to look after Gary.’
    Marina said, ‘I’m sorry to hear that.’
    ‘It was a long time ago.’
    ‘But it never leaves.’ Roy’s eyes held Kelby’s for a moment.
    Kelby nodded, knowing Roy understood the gaping hole that losing a parent left. Then an abrupt thought shot into her mind. ‘The envelope! How did you know?’ Kelby’s gaze drilled into the doctor’s, silently demanding an answer.
    ‘I didn’t.’
    Marina said, ‘Roy lives by that motto.’
    ‘So did Gary.’ Kelby whispered.
    A warmth crept into Roy’s cheeks. He cleared his throat, tapped the images laid out on the table and asked, ‘Can you see the connections here, Kelby?’
    The pictures of the dead men stared at her. She didn’t answer, but looked into Roy’s eyes.
    ‘Marina realised the deadly value of her find, and when she showed me this, I wanted you to see it.’
    Kelby swallowed the lump in her throat. She couldn’t decide whether to be relieved Gary hadn’t committed suicide or scared about the deadly implications. A sudden coldness clenched the core of her being. ‘Do you know if Mata Gordo did it?’
    ‘We have no idea.’
    ‘So you don’t know who is responsible for Gary’s and these … these deaths?’
    Roy shook his head. ‘No. But they’re linked to rizado. Whoever is doing this is powerful and they’ll do anything to keep their secrets hidden.’
    ‘That sounds a bit paranoid.’
    ‘I know, but we’re in danger.’
    His words hung in the air for a breath-taking moment, then he softened his tone, ‘They’ll stop at nothing to find rizado.’

25
    A light knock on the door brought Kelby back into the moment. She waved her hand to her office assistant holding a tray of coffee. ‘Come in, Zelda.’
    In a flash, Marina had wrapped the book and hidden it inside her folder. Kelby’s stomach dropped. She wanted to keep the book, but it was their find, not hers.
    Zelda entered and flounced to the boardroom guests. She placed the coffee cups on the table.
    Marina wove a strand of hair around her finger and, glancing nervously at Zelda, she said in a low voice, ‘Ana-María wouldn’t have known what gave rizado such incredible healing power.’ Marina let the strand of hair go. It sprung up into a