Doctor Who_ Warchild - Andrew Cartmel [134]
‘Good dog,’ said Jack. ‘Good boy.’
Chapter 37
They met at an empty picnic area designed for tourist traffic that wandered off the highway. It was located just off a small loop of country road in the middle of Gaines Woods.
Creed had been waiting there for ten minutes when she arrived in her little yellow Fiat and parked it beside his car, pulled up on the grass, concealed from the main road by a dense screen of trees.
He’d been wondering what he was going to say to her, how he would act towards her, but in the end he didn’t even think about it.
He just got out of the car as soon as he saw her; his body acting faster than thought, reaching for the door, stepping through and then across the pitted tarmac towards her.
He was reaching for Amy as she was reaching for him.
They clutched each other for a long minute, their mouths locked together in a bruising wet kiss. By common consent they said nothing to each other until, finally, they had to break the embrace.
Then they went and sat in his car and began to talk, as they knew they had to.
‘This is where you had a tree fall on your car,’ said Creed. ‘And you built your homemade skis.’
‘Near here, yes.’ Amy hesitated. ‘The Agency received a report from London, filed by someone called Norman Peverell. It seems you got caught up in something nasty over there.’ She looked at him and Creed saw dark circles of worry under her eyes.
‘It’s all over now,’ he said.
‘I’m glad I didn’t know about it when it was actually happening,’ said Amy. She touched the bandage on his face.
‘It was bad enough reading about it. I couldn’t stand to think of you being in danger.’
Creed took a deep breath. ‘Cut the crap,’ he said.
Amy took her hand from his face. She was staring at him in shock.
‘I left you looking after my family,’ he said.
‘Yes, and there’s something I have to tell you about Ricky-’
Creed interrupted her. ‘I thought you were looking after them, but it turns out you’ve merely been keeping them under surveillance.’
Amy stared at Creed in silence. He was very close to her in the car and now there was a fierceness in his dark eyes that almost frightened her.
‘What’s the matter?’ she said.
‘I have a friend called the Doctor.’
‘I know,’ said Amy. ‘He’s the one who sent the message.’
‘That’s right. He sent the message summoning me to England. Or did he?’ Creed’s eyes were strange as he looked at Amy.
‘What do you mean?’
‘Maybe the Doctor never sent a message, maybe someone else sent it. As a diversion. Maybe someone wanted me out of the country. Maybe they were willing to kill somebody to make it look good.’ Creed smiled, but it wasn’t a very pleasant smile. ‘Those are the kind of thoughts you have in a job like this. You begin to think that maybe the people you’re working with can’t be trusted. Maybe even the people closest to you. You begin to think that they’re manipulating you. Separating you from your family at a critical time. Do you have any idea what it’s like when you start thinking that way?
It’s like a classic case of paranoia. But it also might be true.
Suspicion. Fear. Everybody you trust might actually be out to get you. Nothing is what it seems. If you’re not crazy to start with you begin to get that way. It’s like a fire burning in your mind.’
Amy reached up and stroked his forehead, her face twisted with sadness and compassion. ‘Your family is all right,’ she said. ‘Eve was with that madman Stanmer but, thank God, someone apparently got there in time and rescued her.’
‘There we go again. Maybe Stanmer was a madman or maybe he was following orders. Maybe he was on my side or maybe he was on the other side.’
‘And whose side is that?’
Creed looked at her. ‘Yours,’ he said.
‘I thought I was on your side,’ she said. Her blue-green eyes were misted with sadness.
‘So did I,’ said Creed. ‘How long have you been working for them?’
‘There is no them,’ said Amy. ‘It’s just Vincent.’
‘Yeah. We know that now.’
‘It