The Secret Path by Karen Swan (summer beach reads TXT) 📕

voice clear and authoritative. ‘You’re telling me the ransom demand is a . . . clause?’

She looked at William, sitting cross-legged in the circle, whittling his stick – and winked at him. He gave her a gap-toothed smile in return.

‘Dad, it’s not a ransom. William wanted to bring me here so that I could see for myself what is at stake. Once you hand the park over, it’ll be too late. Their rights need to be protected and written into the contract that no area of the park will ever be flooded or developed in any way to allow for a hydro-electric dam. There can’t be any loopholes. It has to be completely watertight.’

‘No pun intended, of course,’ he said, but neither of them laughed. Tensions were running high and they were all stretched thin by the events of the past twenty-four hours. ‘Tara, it has taken years for those contracts to be drawn up and agreed. Even if I agreed to putting the clause in, it couldn’t be done in time today. You are aware the handover ceremony was supposed to be in three hours?’

‘Of course I am! But there’s still time. Zac’s a lawyer. He draws up contracts all the time. Get him to do it. It’s one clause.’

‘Tara—’

‘Or delay the handover. If it’s a deal-breaker for the government – who, let’s not forget, are being gifted all this land – then perhaps you should be asking yourself whether the handover is even a good idea?’

She heard him sigh. ‘It’s not that simple.’

‘Dad, I know it’s not. Nothing at your level ever is. But if you could be here and see this too, you would understand why I am asking this. Your vision is going to make a tangible difference to the health of this entire planet because you are a great man. But you’re an even better father, and you, me and Miles know you’ve also created this legacy because it will protect a place we all love. Please trust me. I’m asking you to do this – for me.’

‘Piglet . . .’ Her father’s voice was pained. There was a long pause and she could imagine him rubbing his temples, as he always did when he was troubled. The silence extended. ‘. . . Okay,’ he sighed finally. ‘I’ll get Zac onto it right away and see what can be done. Tell your friend William we’ve got a deal.’

‘Yes!’ She looked over to William and gave him the thumbs up. ‘Fantastic! Thank you.’

‘But we’ll still have to delay the handover.’

‘Really? For just one clause?’

‘It’s not just the paperwork. I want you to be here, beside your mother and me, when we do it. This is a legacy from our family, not just me.’

‘. . . Okay.’ It meant seeing Alex again, assuming he had made it back. Part of her had hoped that it could happen without her there. Things would be simpler that way if they could just never see each other again.

‘Are you sure you’re all right?’

‘I’m honestly fine. My feet are sore but . . . they’ll heal soon enough.’

‘Most things do, Piglet.’ His tone had changed and she had a feeling he wasn’t talking about her feet anymore; she wondered again what conversations he’d had with his technical director over the years, the casual updates he’d given about the family back home and specifically, how she was doing. ‘So now that the conditions have been met, tell me where you are. Where can we send help to come and get you? Your mother’s beside herself and Miles isn’t much better.’

‘William says we’re about two hours from the nearest place you could land a helicopter. But I’ll call when we get there, I promise.’

Her father gave a sound that wasn’t entirely happy.

‘Honestly, I’m perfectly safe. There’s no one better equipped than William to bring me back again.’

‘Well, you’d better. We’ll be running the clocks down. Bailey’s getting the co-ordinates from this call and if we don’t hear from you in two hours, they’ll disperse a land search and rescue team across the radius area. You know that.’

She did know that. Simon Bailey had headed her father’s personal protection team for fifteen years now. ‘Really, Dad, I’m fine. I’ll be back soon.’

‘You sound tired.’

‘More than you could know,’ she sighed.

‘Well, just hang in there . . . Oh wait, your brother wants to talk to you. I’ll hand him over. We’ll see you shortly . . . Bye, Piglet.’

‘Bye, Dad. Love you.’

‘. . . Make it quick,’ she heard her father say, his voice more distant. ‘She needs to get going.’

Miles came onto the line. ‘Twig?’

‘Hey,’ she smiled.

She could hear him exhale with relief. ‘Are you really okay?’

‘I’m honestly fine. Just completely knackered.’

‘We’ve been freaking out here.’

‘I know. I’m sorry.’

‘When that son-of-a-bitch Alex Carter pitched up here without you, all hell broke loose.’

It was her turn to go quiet. She closed her eyes, not wanting to think about how Rory had reacted to meeting her ex, a guy he’d never heard about. ‘So Alex is there, then?’

‘Well, he was. But he’s gone again.’

‘Gone?’ Her eyes flew open and she felt her heart quake at the thought of him slipping from her life once more. ‘Gone where?’

‘Who cares? He went off to find you. He said he knows where you are, but that’s bollocks.’

She frowned. ‘He can’t possibly know. I don’t know where I am! And I’m here!’

‘I know, it didn’t make sense to anyone but him, but we couldn’t stop him. He thinks you’re at some sacred site.’

Tara went very still. Her gaze swept over the stone circle again. ‘But . . . how could he possibly know that?’

Miles sighed. ‘Don’t laugh, but Jed said there’s a curse on you.’

‘A curse? On me?’ She gave a shocked laugh. She didn’t know which part of that statement was the more ridiculous. ‘But . . . who? . . . I mean, wh-why?’

‘Some voodoo spirit man trying to stop the handover, I don’t know,’ he muttered.

She looked slowly across at William again. He was still whittling away at his stick, quiet and still. Almost serene. Was it possible he was the architect of so much chaos? ‘That makes no sense, Miles,’ she said in a quiet