Death in the Black Wood, Oliver Davies [short story to read TXT] 📗

Eric McAndrew didn’t call us before I left the office that evening, or answer our buzzing when Caitlin and I popped round there again before I dropped her off at home.

“Maybe he’s having dinner at a friend’s house, or with that niece he mentioned? The one who was looking after his books for him,” Caitlin suggested.

It seemed likely. It was going up to seven by then.

“Let’s just hope he calls me later, or tomorrow. I don’t mind coming back in again to show him these photos. The sooner the better.”

As things turned out, neither of us saw Eric McAndrew alive again

Twenty-One

The Ally

This was all wrong, very, very wrong. Things had gone so well on Tuesday, even better than last time. I hadn’t felt as nervous, for one thing, and I’d remembered everything all by myself without needing to be reminded of any of it. The Companion had been delighted with me and made sure I knew it. It had been the best night of my life.

Then they’d shown that photograph on the news on Wednesday night. What? Where the hell had that come from? That was me! Me! I knew where too. That was my second car, on the edge of the shot in the foreground. I’d only left the head on that pole a couple of minutes before reaching there, just as I’d been told to. Who had taken that picture? And from where? There hadn’t been anyone around and I hadn’t seen any lighted windows either. Had they been hiding in a darkened room, or in a nearby car? How far away could you zoom in from to get a picture like that, anyway?

I had no idea.

Apart from wondering about that, what really concerned me was the question of why anyone would want to take that shot in the first place. Why photograph a random guy of no possible interest to anyone walking home late? Something wasn’t right.

‘Calm down. This isn’t your fault. I should have anticipated they’d try something like this.’ They? It took me a second to realise what it meant.

“Your enemies?”

‘Our enemies. What? You don’t think one of your own kind could have found us, do you?’

No, I really didn’t. I hadn’t shown my face anywhere for months, and the Companion had been super careful this time. We’d both known that the police were trying to find me, not that they possibly could. Did the aliens know where I was now? Were they watching the house?

‘No and no.’ It sounded almost amused, totally unconcerned. ‘They must have taken someone living nearby as soon as they located the head. They must have implanted a device that would only activate when their agent expired. Clever of them to think of that. Nobody followed us from there though. They lost you again as soon as we drove away… and they still haven’t seen your face.’

Reassuring as it was to hear that, I still didn’t like it.

“But if they’re putting devices like that into the people they’ve taken now, how can we keep going? They’ll be watching for us next time and there might be a lot more of them waiting to catch us by then.”

‘True, but they’ve been foolish, revealing their hand like this. They shouldn’t have given that picture to the human authorities. Now that we know what they’re up to, I can take steps to prevent it from happening again. Trust me. Have I ever failed you yet?’

No, it hadn’t, but it wasn’t the one in danger here. It could leave me whenever it wanted to, if the situation became too dangerous for it to stay. I wasn’t its first human agent, it had told me that.

‘I do not abandon my charges! Your predecessors expired naturally and were duly mourned.’ Now, I’d made it angry. I flinched, waiting for the first stab of pain to strike, but nothing happened. I heard a quiet sigh. ‘I am not angry with you, I am saddened, by my memories, and by your mistrust of me. You are afraid, but I need you to listen to me. Everything will be fine, do you understand? This changes nothing. We must complete our task.’

Eventually, I calmed down enough to see reason. It was right. All that had happened was that the hostiles had gained an advantage and then foolishly thrown it away again. I didn’t even have any of those clothes or that bag, any more. Those had been left in that empty house. It would probably be weeks before they were found, and they wouldn’t lead anyone to me, anyway.

I’d thought that the whole business of stealing the two cars to use and finding a ‘safe’ house had all been a bit elaborate until the Companion had told me about how much orbiting satellites could see of what went on down here. Then there were the police to worry about too. They couldn’t be everywhere but they might have got lucky, especially if we’d been less cautious. The Companion was right, I needed to trust its knowledge and experience. The work we were doing was too important to let my stupidity mess things up.

‘I’ve been analysing my records of everyone who saw you before I told you to start growing that beard three months ago, when we started watching our first target. There was a man, an old one. He saw you three times, at that place where destitute humans went for free food and clothing… and you were wearing the jacket we used yesterday too.’

“The old junkie? Eric?” The other bums asking me for cigs when I hung around there had told me about him. Cigarettes tasted foul, and it had taken me a while to be able to smoke one without coughing, but it had been a good way of striking up little conversations and picking up information. I’d kept track of him since then too. “The police went to talk to him last month. He wouldn’t have had anything