No Going Back by Lyndon Stacey Page A

don’t think the boss would be too pleased if I turned up late after today’s fiasco.’
    â€˜But when will we look for Elena?’ Katya wanted to know.
    â€˜If I can wangle an early finish tomorrow, we’ll try then, but I’m not making any promises.’
    Daniel got to his feet and immediately Taz was by his side, looking up expectantly.
    â€˜I’ll see you out,’ Hilary offered, pushing her chair back and following him to the kitchen door and down the long, narrow hallway.
    Moments later, they both stepped out into the night and Hilary closed the door behind them, saying quietly, ‘Don’t you believe her story?’
    â€˜Not completely.’
    â€˜But why would she lie?’
    â€˜She’s terrified and she wants my help. She thinks the truth might scare me off.’
    â€˜And do you know what the truth is?’
    â€˜I’ve got a good idea.’
    â€˜Are you going to share it with me?’
    â€˜Not just yet.’
    Hilary was looking at him a little oddly in the light from the porch. ‘You haven’t always been a delivery driver, have you, Daniel Whelan?’
    â€˜And what makes you say that, Mrs McEwen-Smith?’
    â€˜Oh, there’s more about you than that. A certain something I can’t put my finger on, but I’m pretty sure you’d be climbing the walls after a few months stuck in a cab.’
    â€˜Actually, you’d be surprised how exciting it can be. Only the other week the sat nav took me up a dead-end lane and I had to back the whole way out.’
    â€˜Keep taking the Valium,’ she said wryly.
    â€˜I’ve got a repeat prescription,’ he assured her. ‘By the way, I don’t think you need fret too much about Katya’s anxious mother.’
    â€˜You don’t think she’s worried?’
    â€˜I think it’s more than likely she’s still in Romania and knows nothing about all this. Look, thanks for letting Kat stay here. I don’t think you’ll have any trouble as long as she keeps a low profile, but if you’re worried about anything at all, just ring me. My phone’s always on.’
    â€˜You think her father is still looking for her?’
    â€˜I’d be very surprised if he wasn’t, but there’s no reason for him to come here.’ Daniel leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek. ‘You’re a trooper, you know? See you in a day or two.’
    He turned towards the car, and with a shake of her head and a slight smile, Hilary went back into the house.

FIVE
    D aniel and Kat found the house with the stone gateposts within a very few minutes of the start of their search. Two impressive stone pillars of 8 feet or more, mottled with lichen and each topped with a 12-inch sphere, formed a gateway that was flanked by laurel hedges half as tall again. Between them, a pair of elaborate wrought-iron gates stood open, their black paint peeling slightly. A brass nameplate identified the property as Moorside House.
    Daniel slowed the Mercedes just long enough for Kat to confirm that they were indeed the posts she’d seen from inside the house, and then drove on by.
    â€˜What are you doing?’ she exclaimed. ‘That is the house, I’m sure.’
    â€˜And what do you propose we do? Ring the doorbell and demand to see your sister?’ Daniel kept driving.
    â€˜But we must do something!’
    â€˜We will. We’ll find somewhere quiet to stop and sort out what we’re going to do next. Charging in at this stage would be disastrous.’
    Kat said no more, apparently accepting the sense in his words, and shortly afterwards, Daniel turned into a side lane, found a field gateway and stopped the Mercedes.
    Reaching into the back of the car, he retrieved a holdall from which he took a baseball cap, a pair of shades and his grey hoodie. He held them out towards Kat. ‘Here, put these on.’
    She made no move to take them, merely