Page 77

“Calum, if you wish to leave, then you know where the door is,” Kelvin replied.

“How the hell am I supposed to leave with this?” Calum gestured at his leg, which if anything looked worse than when Steph had last seen it.

“Well then, there we are,” Kelvin shrugged. He then continued his speech. “We must ensure our own safety, but we must also protect others. These two cannot be trusted with the animals. Nor should their bankroller get his hands on our hard work. God knows what they’d do with them.”

“Because you’ve done such a sterling job with them,” Calum muttered.

Kelvin ignored him.

“It’s simple. We need to get them where they have no choice but to leave the safety of their vehicle, and there we ambush them with superior numbers. Whoever came up with this whole operation clearly doesn’t believe that I have trained enough personnel to patrol and protect the land. They’re right. I am not a warlord; I’m a businessman. However, it means that the two out there will underestimate us. I also doubt that – despite their custom truck – coming in here was part of the initial plan, so I highly doubt they know what their next steps are. That being the case, we are the ones in control.”

Calum muttered under his breath. Once again, he was ignored.

“So we need to track them down if we’re going to lure them anywhere,” Davey said.

“Yes, but first we must agree on where to lure them to.”

“But what about the cave bear?” Steph asked.

Kelvin turned towards her; his eyes slightly narrowed.

“Well, what do you think? You’re the field biologist.”

Steph thought about it. There was no mucking about with the question. She supposed her response should be of a similar clarity.

“It’s clearly the top of the food chain here, which is why we all seem to forget that the animal is actually an omnivore. It has yet to show any desperate tendencies like those under it. The cave lion has been detained, so even he is not an issue. Based on how it reacted to you guys running into it…” She swept her hand over in the direction of Martina, Davey and Calum. “I suspect we won’t have any issue with it if we stay out of its way. It is the wolves that bother me the most.”

“And they are manageable,” Kelvin replied dismissively.

Steph suspected that, next to the cave lion, they were the least manageable aspect in a ten-mile radius, but she kept it to herself.

“Davey,” Kelvin said, “where’s the best place to lead them?”

Davey got up, still looking at the floor. He then walked slowly to the window accidentally catching Steph’s eye briefly as he passed – he looked away as soon as he realised that she was looking at him. From there he looked out. Steph guessed that looking outside better helped him picture trouble ahead.

Eventually he turned around chewing his lip. Once more he looked at Steph, looking away quickly as she looked him in the eye. What was that about?

“I have two suggestions,” he said. “Each with their ups and downs. I’m not completely sure which is best as there is danger with both of them. I suppose with those guys there is always therisk that…”

“Spit it out!” Martina snapped, tensing her hands into claws. “There is danger. We get it. Just tell us your ideas and let us assess!”

Davey looked momentarily to Kelvin who said nothing.

With his eyebrows furrowed, Davey said, “We could try and lead them just upstream from the beavers. The track deviates further away from the river at that point, and the beavers haven’t cleared that area of trees which are still thick, so it will be easy for us to ambush them as they won’t be able to use their truck.”

“And the other idea?” Steph pushed, her voice purposely softer than Martina’s.

“Well – and I know it is going to sound ridiculous – but I thought the cave that belongs to the cave bear might work.”

The others stared at him.

“You want to set an ambush for these guys whilst waiting at the mouth of a cave of a six-hundred-kilogram prehistoric monster?” Calum asked slowly.

“What do you care; you won’t be coming along, will you?” Martina said, gesturing at his leg.

“Why there?” Kelvin asked, chewing a knuckle.

“There’s a ledge plateau leading up to it and it’s surrounded by trees. They wouldn’t be able to get their truck near it, so they’d have to come out on foot. The fact the bear is there would be the added incentive to get them up there – just in case trying to kill one of us isn’t enough. More importantly, they’d be in the open and we would not be.”