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.I’d go and firebomb it.That would stop the bastards.’A stunned moment, then Curtis, bless him, gave a whoop and cried, ‘Yeah! You got it, Josh.’ Then everyone started talking at once.I didn’t really mean it, I just wanted to call Marcus’s bluff, but somehow the preposterous notion connected with some mood of frustration in the camp and grew like a bushfire spreading.Even Damien and Anna were caught up in it, answering questions about how one might set about climbing the flank of a Japanese bulk carrier.I looked at Luce, wondering if I was in trouble, but her eyes were shining and she leaned close to my ear and whispered, ‘You naughty boy.’ We both knew what must have been going through Marcus’s head; he’d just been on TV with this mob, advocating stronger action.In the end he didn’t have to speak, as more sober members of the camp calmed things down.They mentioned the T word, terrorists, and people pulled themselves together.No one wanted to be called that.So now here I was, reluctantly agreeing to accompany Anna on her break-and-enter mission, if only because she had reminded me how exciting life had once seemed.After our bit of hardware shopping we went to a pub.She stuck to mineral water, but I felt I needed a couple of stiff drinks in order to go through with this.We had a meal in a very agreeable little restaurant, then watched a dire movie at the local cinema before driving out once more to Corcoran’s Farm Supplies.There were no headlights on the long straight road as we approached the place, and no signs of life within, although the yard around the building was ablaze with security lights.I parked on the shoulder just beyond the chain-link fence, manoeuvring the car into a stand of trees so that it wouldn’t be too obvious from the road.Then Anna loaded the tools into her belt and led the way to the fence, through which I cut an opening.I had been worried about dogs, and was relieved that there didn’t seem to be any.I thought Anna was going to have trouble breaking through the doors with the equipment we’d brought, but that wasn’t her plan.Instead she led the way to the rear of the sheds, keeping to the shadows of the yard perimeter.There was a large steel rack built against the back wall, holding fencing posts and other stuff, and forming a convenient platform to get halfway up the wall.She rang my mobile with hers, so that we could be in constant touch with each other, and told me to return to the front of the yard to watch the road.Then she hitched her heavy belt and reached for the frame.‘Hell.’‘What’s wrong?’ I hissed.‘Bloody jeans.I can’t climb in these.I didn’t come prepared for this.’ So she took off her jeans and handed them to me, and set off again.From the top of the racking she took hold of a square metal rainwater downpipe and began hauling herself up.I got a flash of frivolously polka-dotted panties disappearing over the eaves, then I jogged back to the front fence.From there I could see Anna’s dark shape move along the roof, and I guided her over the phone until she was directly above the office, with its window at which I’d caught that last glimpse of Corcoran’s face.‘What now?’ I whispered.‘There’s a skylight …’ She was panting, her breathing harsh in my ear.I heard a splintering crack, and watched her outline disappear into the dark shadow of the roof.At the same time a blue light started to flash at the front of the building and an alarm began to shriek.How long would it take? I supposed it would be a matter of luck—there could be a police car cruising on the highway nearby, or a security guard patrolling the industrial estate two minutes up the road.I bit my lip and clenched my fists as the minutes ticked by.What the hell was she doing?Then I saw headlights on the road, coming fast towards us.When I tried to warn Anna, the noise of the alarm coming through the phone obliterated my words.I shrank back behind a big plastic water tank as the headlights swept across the yard and came to a stop at the gates.Someone moved into the beam.Whoever it was had a key, because the gates swung open and the vehicle, a white ute, lurched forward to the main doors.When the driver got out again the lights caught him, and I recognised the lanky figure of Luce’s father.He transferred something to his left hand, a stick perhaps … no, a gun.I stopped breathing.He was carrying a rifle or a shotgun.He unlocked the big front door and rolled it partially open, then stepped inside.The alarm abruptly stopped.Ears ringing still, I spoke softly into the phone.‘Anna, can you hear me? Corcoran’s arrived.He’s in the building.He’s got a gun.’I didn’t know if she’d heard because she didn’t answer, but I did see the office window swing open, and the thin grey lines of a rope snake down the wall.Anna followed, giving me palpitations as she struggled through the tight opening, then slid down the rope.She tugged one end of it and it fell to her feet, where she scooped it up and started running towards me at the gap in the fence.A dog I hadn’t noticed before in the back of Corcoran’s ute began barking furiously, and Anna half turned her head towards it, and at the same time her belt with its load of tools slid down her hips and became tangled with her legs, and she crashed to the ground.Behind her I saw Corcoran reappear at the main door, and I raced over to Anna, grabbed her and the belt and hauled them both towards the fence.There was a shout as we tumbled through, and then a loud bang.Shredded leaves and twigs pattered down on us as we reached the car and hurtled off into the night.‘Wow,’ I finally said, as darkness enveloped us.‘You all right?’‘Yes.’ She was panting, vibrating like a plucked string.‘I couldn’t find it at first.He’d hidden it behind the filing cabinet.’‘But you got it?’‘Yes.’‘What else?’‘What do you mean?’‘What else did you take?’‘Nothing, I’m not a thief.’I took a deep breath.‘So somebody made a forced entry into his building and ran off with his daughter’s electronic notebook, and nothing else? The same notebook he’d refused to give to two visitors earlier in the day?’ She didn’t say anything.‘You left the wallet, with its photo of me, I suppose?’After a long silence she whispered, ‘Yes.’Earlier, Bonnie and Clyde had come to mind, but now Laurel and Hardy seemed more like it [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]