Ottercombe Bay – Part Four: Shaken and Stirred

Daisy squinted. ‘I think there’s two people.’

Max guided her back from the edge and let go of her arm. ‘I’m going to sit it out and see who they are. You go home and I’ll call you.’

Daisy laughed. ‘Why does everyone keep sending me home like I’m some sort of silly little girl? I’m staying put.’ She folded her arms defiantly.

Max shook his head. She hoped he wasn’t going to argue with her. He stepped away and for a moment she thought he was going to leave her there but instead he crouched down behind a nearby bush. Daisy joined him. ‘They don’t do this in James Bond,’ she said, with a smile.

Time stretched on and there was no sign of anyone coming up from the cove. Perhaps they’d been mistaken; it could have been shadows playing tricks. Eventually her thighs started to burn so she sat down on the cold ground. She could no longer feel her fingers despite them being in her coat pockets. There had been no update from Jason but then she wasn’t sure he would get a signal in the middle of the sea. The earlier excitement had waned and she was considering going home for a coffee; there wasn’t anything she could do here and Jason would let her know if Guillaume was okay soon enough.

Then Max tapped her arm making her look up. He pointed rapidly past the bush. Daisy peered around the spikey plant to see if she could see anything. The tide had come in further and the beach was no longer visible in the cove.

Daisy repositioned herself and had another look down to where the sea was swirling ominously in the tight confines of the cliffs. ‘There’s nobody down there. Those people must have been washed out to sea or there was nobody there in the first place.’ Daisy went to stand up but Max forcefully pulled her back down, making her land on her bum. She stifled the urge to yell because she could sense from Max all was not well.

Max put his hands up and mouthed ‘sorry’ and then pointed forwards and down. Daisy squinted in the darkness but could see nothing and could only hear the wind whipping around her chilled ears. But then she saw something move. Two silhouettes were moving along where the slope had once led down to the small secluded cove. Her heart started to race. She tried to get a good look at them but it was too dark. She wondered who they could be and what they were doing on an unsafe cliff on a night like this, but most of all she wondered if they had any connection to Guillaume. She was very glad she wasn’t on her own.

Chapter Two (#u63ad332a-4b95-5da1-931b-9a0bb47699ba)

Daisy and Max watched silently in the darkness as the two figures clambered over the barricade that was in place to stop people following the path down to the cove. They heard a yelp as one of them tripped.

‘It’s a woman,’ whispered Daisy, instantly feeling foolish for hiding behind a bush. ‘They aren’t criminals – they’ve been for a shag on the beach. And now we look like we’re dogging. Cocking hell, Max.’ She was immediately cross with Max for having stirred up her doubts about Guillaume and even angrier with herself for going along with it. This couple were clearly unconnected to whatever Guillaume was doing out at sea, which was most likely completely innocent.

Max put his finger to his lips and Daisy reluctantly fell silent. They watched the couple climb up the last few steps and stop to look out to sea. The man started speaking into a mobile phone and although they weren’t close enough to hear the conversation they could tell he was irate. It was oddly addictive spying on someone like this; she was fascinated by who this couple were and if nothing else it was taking her mind off the worry that she’d called the lifeboat out on a wild goose chase.

‘Now what?’ said Daisy, digging Max in the ribs.

‘Shh, I’m thinking.’

‘Then we could be here all night. I say we—’ But her sentence was cut off by the sound of music. The blast of a Crazy Frog ringtone bellowed from Daisy’s pocket as her mobile sprang into life.

‘Hello?’ she said, her voice hushed.

‘Daisy, it’s Jason. Guillaume is safe. Stay where you are. I can’t give you any details but this is now part of a criminal investigation.’

Daisy was listening but she was also looking at the two faces looming over the bushes watching her and Max carefully. This close their features were clearer. Neither of them was smiling. Her heart started to pick up its pace, her mind swirled and her muscles tensed as panic took hold.

‘Okay, thanks for your help. Bye.’ She very much hoped Jason would pick up on the emphasis on help: her pitiful attempt to tell him she felt in danger. Max slowly stood up. It was some comfort he was at least level with the stern man looming over them. Max reached for Daisy’s hand and pulled her upright, keeping tight hold of her, which caused something to zing in the pit of her stomach.

‘Hi Buddy,’ said Max sounding friendly. ‘Sorry if we startled you.’ He turned to Daisy. ‘Come on, babe, let’s go home.’ He guided Daisy from behind the bush, gave a cursory nod at the other couple and walked towards the town.

Max put his arm around her and pulled her in closer to him and whispered. ‘Just keep walking. Do what I do. Okay?’

His reaction was frightening her but the warmth of his body close to hers was reassuring. ‘Okay,’ she said swallowing hard and trying to keep her breathing steady. She wanted to ask him what the hell was going on. She wanted to run. She wasn’t entirely sure why but something in her psyche was saying ‘RUN’ and it was hard to ignore.

Her heart was racing and the blood was thrumming loudly in her ears. She noticed Max, who was nearer the edge, had guided her to walk on the grass and off the pathway. It was more uneven underfoot but definitely safer should anyone have plans to push you over the edge. A furtive glance over her shoulder and Daisy saw the couple were following them. A knot of anxiety clenched in the pit of her stomach and despite all logic her instincts kicked in and she bolted.

Max lurched forward but it was too late, Daisy was already sprinting away. He heard the footsteps behind him and turned as the man was throwing a punch. Max dodged and the punch caught him in the shoulder knocking him off balance. Max stumbled backwards as more punches came his way. As he landed with a thump he expected to get a kicking but could see his assailant was now under attack from someone else. He blinked through the darkness. He couldn’t believe his eyes.

‘Dad?’ asked Max from his prone position as Pasco landed a second right hook on his assailant. Max’s mouth dropped open.

‘Get to Daisy, Max. She needs you,’ said Pasco, as he dodged the retaliating blows. The man was far younger than Pasco but for the moment they seemed evenly matched.

Max rolled over. Daisy was still running but the woman was in pursuit and was gaining on her fast. Max scrambled to his feet and set off at speed, taking to the path in a bid to catch up. Daisy wasn’t looking back, she may not have known she was being chased. Why were they being chased at all? Who were these people and what the hell was that stupid French goon caught up in? Max pushed himself to run flat out in a bid to reach the woman before she reached Daisy.

Max was soon gaining on them. Daisy was nearly at the small car park and thankfully there were some streetlights but there was nobody else about. Ottercombe Bay at night was dead and there were no properties nearby. Max pulled his phone out of his pocket whilst still running but it was a difficult manoeuvre. He hit Jason’s number and put it to his ear – it was really awkward to run like this.

‘Answer the bloody phone, Jason.’ His breathing was heavy as he watched Daisy disappear off the path and onto the main pavement into town. He expected the woman chasing her to follow but instead she stopped at a parked Astra and got inside. Max slowed for a second; Daisy was out of immediate danger. He filled his lungs with air but continued to jog along. The woman was obviously doing a runner, it had just looked like she was chasing Daisy because she was running in the same direction. The relief he felt was overwhelming.

He slowed to a walk and was considering running back to help Pasco or continuing after Daisy when Jason answered his call. ‘Jason, I’m up on the headland with Daisy, we’ve been attacked by two people and … shit!’ Max shoved his phone back in his pocket and sprinted after the Astra now heading after Daisy and not out of town as he had expected it to. This running lark was tiring; he was fit but cars, even old Astras, went much faster.

The wind was gusting straight at him, which hindered his speed as he tried in vain to keep the car in his sights as it sped off, skidding slightly when it took a bend too fast, and disappeared from sight. He pushed himself to keep going but he simply couldn’t maintain this pace for much longer.

Max was considering stopping because he had no idea which way Daisy or the car had gone when he heard the sound of screeching tyres and scraping metal up ahead and it spurred him on. He turned the corner near the Mariner’s Arms and saw the car rammed up against the railings. He carried on running and the scene became clearer. The car had been stopped by a stinger, a belt of studs purposely thrown under the tyres to puncture them. Two police cars were in the pub car park. He turned his attention back to the road suddenly realising there were two armed officers shouting at him to get down. Max stopped, lay down and did exactly as he was told. His heart was thundering in his chest, and drawing in air was difficult when you were lying face down on tarmac.

‘Hang on, that’s Max,’ shouted Jason from nearby. ‘What are you doing?’ he added, approaching him. Max slowly rolled onto his side and looked up to see an automatic weapon pointing at him and Jason next to the armed officer with his hands on his hips.

‘Hiya, mate,’ said Max, breathlessly. ‘The bloke you’re looking for is up on the headland fighting with Pasco.’

Jason got on his radio but someone more senior was already directing officers into a car and they screeched away. Jason helped Max to his feet and he watched as the woman was removed from the Astra, handcuffed and escorted to the other police car.

‘Where’s Daisy?’ asked Jason.

Max closed his eyes. That was going to be his question. ‘I don’t know.’

‘I need to sort things out here. Can you find her?’

Max nodded and set off towards Locos taking in big gulps of air as he walked. His mind was awash with questions. He had no idea what he’d witnessed, who those people were or where the hell all the armed police had sprung from. His only comforting thought was that Daisy had avoided a confrontation, but where was she now?

He took out his phone and dialled her number. It went to voicemail. He took a deep breath and started jogging. When he reached Locos he could see there were no lights on, which wasn’t a good sign, but he would go and check inside anyway. He slowed to a walking pace and checked all around the building. ‘Daisy!’ He knocked on the door but there was no reply. He was standing on the platform thinking through his next move.

A click behind him got his attention and for a second he expected to see the stern-looking man from the headland with a cocked gun. As he turned around the door of the carriage opened and a frightened-looking Daisy emerged, glancing around her like a startled animal.

Max had a million things running through his head that he wanted to say to her but instead he opted for pulling her into a hug and holding her tightly. He could feel her trembling. After a bit Daisy gently pushed him away.

‘What the cocking hell is going on?’ she asked.

‘I wish I knew. Come on, I’ll walk you home and we’ll get Jason to fill in the blanks in the morning.’ He needed to track Pasco down too and check he was all right but getting Daisy home was his priority and she didn’t need anything else to worry about right now.

Daisy locked up the carriage and they walked slowly across the car park giving Max a chance to fill her in on what had happened to the woman who had chased her whilst Daisy explained how she’d cut down a side street to get away. As they reached the sea wall they could see more police cars had appeared and there was a flurry of activity around the pub, which was lit up like Christmas.

‘Poor Monty, he won’t be happy about all this,’ said Daisy, turning to walk home.

‘I dunno, he’ll be charging them top dollar for fancy coffees. He’ll be raking it in.’

They neared Daisy’s road and heard a car approaching behind them. As it went past they could see it was yet another police car. The car screeched to a halt, slammed into reverse and sped back towards them. Daisy and Max stopped walking and watched two officers leap from the vehicle.

‘Max Davey?’ said one of them.

‘Yeah,’ said Max, looking bewildered.