Page 13 of Edinburgh Escape
He didn’t feel comfortable closing his door, especially while they remained at the station. Anyone could board the train at any time. Not that he had any reason to be suspicious. They’d gone through the entire day without incident. Sadie McClain could be worrying for no reason. Maggie might be naïve and unworldly, but she was intelligent and observant.
Callum stretched out on the lower bunk, propped against the far wall, his gaze on the narrow gap he’d left by propping the door open.
A few minutes before midnight, the train started moving, easing slowly out of the station and eventually picking up speed. They were scheduled to arrive in Edinburgh at seven-thirty in the morning. If all went well, Maggie would get a good night’s sleep, swaying gently with the train’s movement. She hadn’t come back out since she’d waylaid the steward to fix her toilet. Considering she’d probably gone thirty-six hours without much sleep, she’d likely fallen asleep even before the train had departed the station.
Eventually, Callum’s eyes drooped, and he fell into a light slumber. While he dozed, he listened, alert enough to detect any unusual noise. The steady hum of the train lulled him deeper into sleep.
The nightmare returned, taking him back to Syria, the mission, the explosion and then the dark, foul-smelling cell. This time was different. When he woke in the interrogation room, it wasn’t Smudge tied to the chair across from him. Callum stared across at the bright copper hair and petite facial features of Maggie McKendrick. His gut clenched, and his pulse leaped into overdrive.
“No,” he said through gritted teeth, straining at the ties binding his wrists. Maggie wasn’t supposed to be there. How had they captured her?
When the guard grabbed a handful of her hair and yanked it back, exposing the pale, slender line of her throat, Callum surged forward, chair and all. He almost toppled over but managed to remain upright.
No, this wasn’t right. Maggie didn’t belong there. He hadn’t even met her.
It’s only a dream.
If it was only a dream, why did the knife the man holding Maggie’s hair look so damned real?
The only way out of that chair, the only way out of that dream, was to wake. If he didn’t wake up soon, he’d bear witness to yet another senseless death.
Wake up.
The man holding Maggie’s clump of hair placed his knife against her throat.
Wake up.
Callum jerked awake and sat up, crashing his head against the bunk above him.
Pain shot through him, causing him to lie back against the pillow and let his eyes adjust to the semi-darkness.
He wasn’t in that horrible place where Smudge had died. The bed beneath him and the bunk overhead reminded him that he was on a train back to his native Scotland, a long way from Syria.
He frowned. The train wasn’t moving. Had he slept long enough for them to arrive in Edinburgh? A quick glance at his watch made him shake his head. They’d only been moving for three hours. They had four more to go. The train wasn’t scheduled to stop anywhere along the west coast line until they reached their destination in Edinburgh.
The sound of a door creaking open in the corridor made Callum roll out of the lower bunk and rise to his feet.
Maggie passed his door, dressed in soft shorts that looked like pajama bottoms with a light jacket wrapped around her top. She’d pulled her riotous curls up into a loose, messy bun on top of her head, and she was makeup-free and even more beautiful than she’d been all day. She followed several others out onto a station platform.
Why had the train stopped?
If he followed her too closely, she’d eventually turn around and see him.
Callum waited until she turned the corner at the end of the railcar. As soon as she disappeared out of sight, he sprinted to the end of the corridor and peered around the corner.
She’d already passed through the exit doors and stepped out onto the platform among other passengers gathered around one of the stewards, filling them in about a delay.
A sign on the station’s wall identified the station location as Crewe.
Callum slipped up behind one of the taller men, needing to hear the steward speak.
“Unfortunately, a very large tree fell on the electric lines ahead, causing enough damage the entire west coast train route has been shut down further north. We’re to return to London as soon as we receive clearance. Please understand that many other trains are in similar situations, and they will also have to be redirected to London. It will take time. From London, you can show your ticket to other train lines. They’ll honor it to get you to Edinburgh at no cost and take you there on the east lines unaffected by the downed tree. Or you can get a full refund for your tickets for tonight’s passage on the website.”
“Do we have to go all the way back to London?” a man asked.
“You can choose to disembark here and take some of the smaller trains across to the eastern line. It won’t be as straightforward as taking the train from London to Edinburgh, but it can be done,” the steward said. “If that’s your plan, you’ll need to gather all your belongings and vacate your cabin in the next twenty minutes. We are not certain how long it will take until we receive clearance to start our journey back to London, but when we get it, we’ll be on our way.”
“We’ve already come three hours north; I’ll take my chances crossing over to the eastern line,” the man who’d asked about alternatives said, then spun and returned to the train.
