The Yacht Party (Lara Stone)

Lara silenced her as she adjusted the rear-view mirror to watch an approaching figure. A young woman with blonde hair pulled back into a pony tail.

‘Is that her?’ said Stella, but Lara was already out of the car.

‘Rebecca Robertson?’ she called, crossing the road to cut her off before she could reach the house. Fear crossed the girl’s face. ‘Who are you?’

‘My name is Lara Stone. This is Stella Harris, we’re journalists. Ian Groves suggested we speak to you.’

‘About what?’ she said, her body language guarded.

‘About your friend Helen and what happened in Haiti.’

Rebecca shook her head and dodged around Lara.

‘I don’t want to talk about it,’ she said. ‘You shouldn’t have come.’

‘Rebecca, please. This is important.’

The young woman flashed her a look of anger.

‘Who for? You?’

In her rush, the girl dropped her keys trying to get them in the door, swearing under her breath.

‘Listen, Becky,’ said Lara quickly. ‘My friend was killed too and I’m pretty sure her death is linked to Helen’s.’

Rebecca straightened up and looked at Lara, then across to Stella, who nodded.

‘Let’s walk,’ she said, skirting around the house and along the backs of narrow gardens, then down a grassy bank towards the loch.

She walked briskly, leaving the house behind them. ‘I bet this feels very different to Haiti,’ said Lara, matching her pace.

‘Sometimes the real world can feel very far away in this part of the Highlands. Haiti is busy, chaotic sometimes, but it can still feel alien. So I guess the two places aren’t so different.’

‘Down here,’ she said, passing through a gap in the breakwater and down onto the stony beach. Rebecca sat down on a rock in the shelter of a beached sailing boat, its pea-green paint peeling like shavings of bark.

‘So?’ said Rebecca, finally looking directly at Lara. ‘What do you want?’

‘We don’t want you to feel frightened, that’s the first thing,’ said Lara.

‘It’s a little late for that,’ she said, curling her lip. ‘Jumping out at me in the middle of the bloody road. I can’t believe Helen’s dad told you to come.’

‘You’re hiding, aren’t you?’

Rebecca gave a sarcastic laugh. ‘You think I’d come to live up here out of choice?’

‘What happened in Haiti, Becky?’

Rebecca glared at Lara. ‘Nothing good.’

Then she seemed to lose all her fight and her shoulders slumped.

‘Actually we were having a good time, at the start anyway. Helen loved it, she was so taken with the whole thing.’

‘Just Helen? Not you?’

‘I just wanted to travel. I’d never been out of Scotland, so I was up for the experience, meeting new people, eating weird food. I wanted a buzz, you know? I knew Haiti would be gritty, but honestly, it was too gritty for me. Helen loved it though. She was really into the cause, she was properly passionate about helping people.’

Rebecca threw another stone. ‘I guess that’s what got her in trouble.’