Read Online The Key by Simon Toyne - Free Book Online Page B

priest’s caused her distress. ‘How are you?’
    She wanted to blurt out everything that was going through her head, but instead her eyes flicked towards the priest listening in the corner of the room and she held back. She leaned in closer. ‘Why is he here?’
    ‘That’s a good question.’ Arkadian twisted round on the bed. ‘What’s your name, son?’
    ‘Ulvi,’ the priest said, looking like a schoolboy who’d just been caught smoking by the headmaster. He cleared his throat and straightened. ‘Father Ulvi Ş im ş ek.’
    ‘Pleased to meet you, Father. Lady wants to know why you’re here.’
    The priest looked at Liv then back to Arkadian. ‘It has been agreed that a member of the Church should be present at every interview.’
    ‘But this isn’t an interview. She’s already given a statement, which I’m sure you’ve either listened to or read a transcript of.’
    ‘I have to be here, as a representative of the Church.’
    ‘And why is that exactly?’
    The priest’s face flushed at the continued interrogation. It made Liv feel better, seeing his obvious discomfort, but she still wanted him out of the room. ‘The Church founded this hospital and still owns the land it stands on,’ he said. ‘It has been agreed that all persons who were brought from the Citadel will be monitored by a representative of the Church while they remain our guests.’
    ‘Well then, how about we come up with our own agreement? You give us five minutes to have a little friendly catch-up and we promise not to tell your boss about it. Who’s to know?’
    The priest stared at Arkadian. ‘God will know,’ he said, as if that put an end to the matter. ‘I have been instructed to be present at every interview.’
    ‘Yes, but you see – this isn’t … oh, never mind.’ He turned back to Liv. ‘We’re just going round in circles here. Why don’t we agree to ignore him, like he’s a butler or something?’ He held up the evidence bags. ‘I have something for you. They found it in the warehouse over at the airport. The tech guys have finished with it. Thought you might want it back.’
    He dropped one of the bags on the bed. The plastic crinkled in her hands as she loosened the string around its neck. Inside was her battered holdall, the only piece of luggage she’d brought with her on the journey here. ‘Thanks,’ she said, closing it up again. She would wait until she was alone before going through it. She didn’t want the priest’s eyes roaming all over her private stuff. Then it occurred to her that he’d probably already seen it outside in the corridor, before it was allowed into the room. The thought made her feel trapped and helpless. She looked up at Arkadian. ‘There’s a cop outside in the corridor,’ she said.
    Arkadian nodded.
    ‘Why?’
    ‘Keep an eye on you and the others. Keep the press out.’
    Liv smiled. ‘I am the press.’
    Arkadian smiled. ‘Then I guess he’s not doing a very good job. Fortunately for everyone concerned, you can’t remember anything.’
    ‘Yeah, lucky me.’
    ‘You’ve been through a lot. These things take time.’
    Liv glanced at the priest again, weighing up what he might know against what she might want to keep from him.
    ‘What exactly
have
I been through?’ Arkadian looked puzzled. ‘Seriously. My memory is so patchy I can’t work out what’s real and what’s not. It would really help if you could talk me through it.’
    ‘What do you want to know?’
    ‘Everything.’
    Arkadian placed the second evidence bag down on the bed, took her hand and started to talk. He started with her brother’s appearance on top of the Citadel, moved carefully through his death and what they found during the autopsy, and finished with the events at the airport where Oscar had died smothering a grenade meant for all of them, Arkadian had been shot and Liv had been knocked unconscious only to reappear a few hours later being carried out of the Citadel by Gabriel. When he