Page 37 of Runner 13

Stella

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, his hand 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. From The 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 is supposed 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. ’

He lets the words sink in.

‘You think Jason saw Matthew … in the bivouac?’

‘I do,’ says Mac.

‘But why would he refer to him as a ghost?’

‘You know, someone who isn’t supposed to exist. I think Matthew confronted Jason in his tent.

He wanted him to tell him who killed his father, and when Jason didn’t give him the answers he wanted, he whacked him in the head and used the storm as cover.

It’s why I flew out to Morocco on the first plane I could get.

Just bloody annoying it still took me two days to get here. ’

‘Who did Jason think killed Glenn?’ I ask.

‘Well, this is the thing. Are you guys ready?’

‘This isn’t your podcast – get to the point,’ snaps Pete.

Mac can hardly sit still. ‘No idea how he did it, but it looks like Jason managed to get hold of CCTV from Glenn’s neighbour on the day of his death. And it shows Adrienne at Glenn’s house.’

‘What?’ Pete’s eyes flash, and he grabs the laptop so it faces him. ‘You didn’t tell me that in the car. Show me.’

Mac reaches over and scrolls to the image file. He clicks on it – even though it’s a grainy black-and-white image, it’s unmistakably Adrienne. The timestamp reads six a.m. ‘Pretty early to be going to his house,’ I say. I’m proud of how calm my voice sounds, despite my brain going into overdrive.

‘It was the morning of the Yorkshire 100. She must have stopped there before driving to the starting line,’ Pete says. I can almost hear the cogs turning in his mind. Piecing things together.

‘What do you think she was there to do? Apologize?’ Mac asks.

Pete hesitates before eventually shaking his head.

‘I don’t think so either,’ continues Mac. ‘All we know is Adrienne was probably the last person to see Glenn alive. And after what she accused him of, she might as well have killed him. Did Adrienne tell the police she’d been there?’

‘No,’ Pete says in a quiet voice.

‘Aha! If it was an innocent visit, she would have told them. But she hid it. Motive, opportunity. I think that was enough for Jason. So it might have been enough for Matthew too.’

‘It’s fucking absurd,’ Pete splutters.

I put my hand on his arm, squeezing it.

‘So you think Matthew’s here, right now, to avenge his dad? And do what to Adrienne – try to hurt her?’ I ask.

‘We have to warn her,’ says Pete, standing up. ‘Get her to safety.’

‘Wait a sec,’ I say. ‘Nabil. Before we go rushing to Adrienne, tell me what you found out at the hospital.’ My heart feels tight as a realization sinks in – Pete didn’t rush here because I asked. He came because he thinks his ex-wife is in danger.

Pete nods, his eyes dark. ‘Well, you were right to ask the question. There was something weird. Traces of sedative were found in his system.’

‘And that contributed to his death?’

‘Looks like it, combined with his pre-existing heart condition and the brutality of the course.’

Now it’s Mac’s turn to look shocked. ‘We were both keeping things from each other on that car ride then, huh?’

‘His family insist he would never take drugs like that,’ continues Pete.

‘So … someone did this to him,’ I say.

‘And that’s a terrifying thought,’ adds Pete.

‘Presumably Boones knows about the sedatives? I can’t believe the race is still on,’ Mac says, leaning back in his chair.

‘That’s Boones for you,’ I mutter.

‘Your dad, right?’ Mac says, making me grind my teeth. Whenever someone says “your dad” like that, it makes it sound like they think I’m somehow responsible for his actions. I’m about as responsible for him as I am of a grizzly bear in the woods.

‘Hang on, wait. Where was Adri when Nabil went down?’ Pete asks. ‘Weren’t she and Nabil running close together? I was following their GPS tags on the website.’

I pause. ‘She arrived before him at the checkpoint. I was there, taking pics. She – she gave him some of her water, then they left more or less at the same time.’

Pete’s eyes go wide. ‘Wait, her water was spiked?’

‘I know what you’re thinking,’ I interrupt him. ‘You think it was meant for Adri.’

‘It sure fucking looks like it.’

‘Or she was the one to give him the dose,’ says Mac. ‘Gotta admit, the woman has form.’

Pete’s on his feet so abruptly his chair hits the ground. It looks like he’s about to punch Mac in the face. But I can’t let him. We need to work together.

‘Guys, come on, we don’t know anything for certain yet,’ I say, using my arms to keep the two of them apart, and Pete exhales sharply. ‘Mac, this Matthew Knight – did Jason have a picture of him anywhere?’

Mac shakes his head. ‘There’s nothing in his files. I checked. I tried Google but Matthew doesn’t have any socials and it doesn’t look like the mainstream media followed his trial, so no photographs online.’

‘Shit.’ I pause. If Glenn’s son is here, then I bet my dad knew about it.

It couldn’t be a coincidence. I think about all the promises he’s made.

His meticulous planning, as evidenced by the mountains of paper in his trailer.

Then it strikes me – that’s what was familiar about that photograph I’d see pinned on his wall.

‘Wait, a second. What was the Knight Academy logo?’

‘A sword, I think.’

I snap my fingers. ‘We need to get to Boones’s trailer. I think we can figure out who Matthew is from there. Fuck Glenn, hiding the fact he had a son from all of us.’

‘Wait, you knew Glenn?’ Pete asks me.

‘Of course I did. I was with Yasmin and Adrienne in Ibiza. At that training camp –’

It’s like someone steals the air from the tent. Neither Pete nor Mac breathe – they only look at me. I never planned for that information to come out of my mouth. Not like this. But I also thought Pete had come back for me. Not for her.

‘You were there?’ Mac asks, his eyes wide. ‘I read all Jason’s notes and there was no mention of you.’

‘Yes, but not as a runner. I was supporting my sister,’ I say.

I don’t look away from Pete. I see the penny dropping in his mind, but there’s no time for long conversations, explanations.

I have to keep him focused. ‘We need to see that photo. There’s someone in the bivouac I suspect.

Presumably if this Matthew Knight is here, he’s using a different identity.

’ I dip my hand into my bag and pull out the ketamine.

‘I found this last night in one of the medic’s bags.

More than powerful enough to sedate someone – or kill them.

I took it to give to the authorities to see if it matched what was given to Nabil. ’

‘My God, Stella. Which medic?’

‘Dr Emilio. The one who took your blood test.’

‘Which got me kicked out of the race.’ Pete’s eye twitches, his fury evident. ‘He could be in on it?’

‘But if you got hold of these, someone else could have, right?’ says Mac.

‘I guess.’ I clamp my hand back round the drugs and drop them back in my bag. ‘The police can figure out if it’s connected.’

The door to the tent flies open, and three burly men walk in, wearing Hot & Sandy vests. Part of the security team.

They scan the tent, spotting us with the laptop open. It’s too late for us to hide.

Behind them, Henry emerges. ‘Over there,’ he says, pointing at us. ‘Get them out of here.’