The Last Resort(82)

‘But . . . but . . . James? And Tiggy? And Giles and Lucy and Brenda and Scott . . . they didn’t deserve this. You can’t just make them disappear.’

Emily walks over to her, carrying a box. She holds it out to Amelia, gives her a smile. ‘Thank you,’ she whispers, then turns and walks away. She sits back on one of the sofas with the others, and none of them says any more.

Amelia looks down at the box. On top, written in beautiful calligraphic script, it says:

To My Friend, Anne. Always.



The small plane feels strange without the other seats occupied. She thinks back to what happened less than twenty-four hours before, seeing those people for the first time. Beautiful, fragile Tiggy and her pretty-boy boyfriend, Giles – the games designer, the one who could have helped them the most; he’d have been able to work it all out, Amelia is sure of it. Merryn probably knew that too, which is why he’d been removed from the action as early as possible. Brenda, with her powerful life lived at the expense of all others. Lucy, with her broken heart turned to stone. And Scott, desperately seeking a cure for his own loneliness. And then there was James . . . or Jago, as he once was. Broken by his childhood, then destroyed by his half-sister . . .

She’d had an intense day with these people, making and breaking bonds, every one of them having their lives laid bare. Now all of them are gone.

All because of that day, that summer, when she’d met George . . . Merryn. Damaged, abused and desperate for a friend. Amelia had shown her kindness, and Amelia had become the object of her misguided, desperate affections.

She opens the box.

Inside, there are a series of compartments containing small black cuboids, each with a name engraved on the top in white. She lifts out the first one, marked with her name – her real name, this time. It’s a memory stick. Of course it is. She runs a finger across all the others. Everyone from the plane, all the friends she made and lost today. Then there’s Harvey, and another five sticks with names she doesn’t recognise – clearly they are the staff, who’ve been trapped there on the island, hiding from whatever they’d done that was so bad they felt they had no choice.

In the middle of the box, in a separate compartment, is a small mobile phone. She lifts it out, and underneath finds a folded piece of paper. She unfolds it and starts to read.

My Dearest Anne,

I shall always call you this, as this is how I know you – in my heart. If you are reading this, then I’m deeply saddened to say that you’ve chosen Plan B. I’d so hoped you would choose me – Plan A. Plan ‘Anne’. But I suppose I can’t control your decisions. Not yet. Not ever, now – unless you allow the staff to continue with the programme.

I’m sure you’ve worked out what they are all doing there. If you care to know more about their memories, you can slot the sticks into the phone and it will project them for you. I warn you now, some of those memories are not pretty.

However, deep sins lead to deep loyalty – and in return for keeping them alive and out of prison, my staff were trained well and live in luxury – albeit on a small, isolated island. If you want to talk more, please call Harvey, and he will tell you everything that I can’t capture in this one short letter. There is one contact programmed into the phone. Call it and he will answer, whenever you are ready. Right now, he is soothing the staff, helping them through the shock. They are good people, despite their sins and flaws.

You can keep them. They will be loyal to you, as they have been to me. You can continue the research, and you can have everything you ever imagined, and more. But as you know, the only way for it to continue is secretly, as it is now.

Just as Father and the Fathers before him kept their own family to themselves, this is what you must do now.

But . . .

You probably didn’t expect a ‘but’, did you, my dear Anne?

There is another option.

Right now, the staff are busy dealing with what has happened today. They have their own instructions for this, and in time you will find out what these instructions are, and what the world will get to know about the tragedy of the ‘Lost Six’ and the host of the luxury party. Your name will never be mentioned. You are free to make your choice.

Your choice is simple. Take my place. Take my island. Continue my work.

Or . . . walk away. If you choose to walk away, you must do one last thing – for me, Anne. For my memory. Turn over the phone and press the red button on the back. As you guessed while on your way to the house, the caves lead to a network of tunnels. These were deliberately inaccessible to you and your group, due to the danger – but I wanted to show you just that one room. With a programme so secretive, it’s always nice to be able to show off just a little of what I can do. The trackers, the projections, the asking for what you want and getting it – I wanted you to feel like there was something worth knowing about, just out of reach.

If you press the red button, fifty tonnes of dynamite will blow the island sky high. It will cause a tsunami that will hit the other island – the one where we met, all those years ago. An unfortunate side effect, I’ll admit. I’d never want to cause such a tragedy. But once the water retreats, that island will be fine. Eventually. But Nirrik will be gone, and all of its secrets with it. Of course, it will still be up to you to destroy the memory sticks and the phone, but rest assured that once the hub is gone, the technology will no longer be accessible. I trust you to dispose of the contents of this box wisely.