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After everyone has gone to bed, Ali and I sneak off to the part of camp where the drivers and local volunteers hang out. Some of them are smoking round a fire, the camels laying close by, basking in the heat. The rich smell of spices rises from pots on the flames, no crappy rehydrated bag meals here.
There’s a small table set up in the corner – it looks like it’s normally used to stack supplies, water bottles and boxes of permanent markers littering the surface. We push them to the side, so there’s space to put down the glass of strong, sweet Moroccan tea I’ve been offered, spearmint mixed with buds of gunpowder green and a load of sugar. I sip it gratefully, my eyes not leaving the entrance to the tent. Ali tries to engage me in a card game but I can’t concentrate on anything right now.
As soon as Pete arrives, I run up and throw my arms round him.
He holds me tight. ‘I got here as fast as I could.’
I pull back, my eyes searching his face. ‘What did you find out?’
He swallows, glancing behind him.
He’s not alone. Another guy enters the tent, wearing a black-and-white-striped shirt and a beanie.
The guy takes one look at me, then steps forward, hishand extended. ‘Stella, isn’t it?’ He has a strong accent – somewhere from the north of England – a voice I’m sure I’ve heard before.
‘Yeah …’
‘Stellz, this is Mac. FromThe Ultra Bros Podcast,’ explains Pete.
‘I flew out here as soon as Jason got injured and when I ran into Pete and he told me he was on his way to the bivouac – well, I had to come with.’
‘He’s got information you’ll want to hear,’ Pete adds.
‘How is Jason?’ I ask, directing them over to the table I’ve set up, away from listening ears. Most people are heading for bed anyway, the tent emptying out.
Mac chews his lip before answering. ‘He’s in a bad way. He took a clobbering. In fact, I’d say it doesn’t look much like an accident.’
‘You think someone did that to him?’
‘It’s not something I’d say on the podcast but, yes, I do,’ says Mac. ‘I was telling Pete in the car – Jason didn’t only come out here to run. He was chasing a story. The continuation of “The Glenn Affair”.’
My throat tightens, my breath shallow. ‘And? What does that have to do with Boones?’
‘Not Boones. It’s who he invited to run. Adrienne … she’s in danger.’
I breathe a little easier, but my head is still swirling. ‘What’re you talking about?’
‘Look at this.’ Mac pulls out a laptop, booting it up on the plastic table.
The electronic glow is overly bright in the dim atmosphere of the tent, and heads swivel to look at us. No one issupposed to have a device in the bivouac. Shit. I reach out and snap the lid shut. ‘Not here,’ I hiss.
The tent door flings open and someone leaves; I wonder if they’ve gone to rat us out. I flick the screen back open again, knowing we likely only have minutes before it’s going to get taken from us.
‘Show me quickly,’ I say.
Mac seems to get my urgency. He navigates to a cloud-based storage folder, speaking rapidly. ‘Jason’s been investigating this case for years. He’s got thousands of pages of documents – video clips, interview notes, timelines. More than the police have, I guarantee it. He’s convinced Glenn’s death wasn’t natural.’
I scan the document names as he scrolls through. He’s right; there’s so much research gathered in one place. A few of them catch my eye, but Mac keeps talking. ‘So, it looks like Jason has been visiting some guy in prison. Multiple times over the past seven years.’ He double-clicks on a file. It’s a prison record for a Matthew Knight.
My blood turns cold. ‘Who is that …?’
‘Glenn’s son. He’s been in prison for manslaughter. Got fourteen years for beating someone to death.’
‘I didn’t even know Glenn had a son!’ I wrack my brains, trying to think if he mentioned it at the Ibiza camp. I’m certain Yasmin would have said something if she knew.
‘Me either,’ says Pete. ‘But it gets worse.’
Mac nods. ‘It does. Two nights ago, Jason and I spoke on the phone. He said something that didn’t make any sense. That he’d seen a ghost. Then the line went dead. Next thing I hear, he’s been nearly brained to death and is in hospital. So I did my own research. Matthew Knight?He only served half his sentence. He was released from prison a few months ago.’