FORTY-THREE

8.50 P.M.

‘There are a few ways to get to them,’ Kim said, trying to figure out the quickest route to the Four Stones. She and Barney had spent many hours exploring the four-hundred-acre site but had very rarely hiked to the top as it was often busy with dog walkers, which didn’t please either her or Barney.

‘Turn left here,’ she said. Of the three car parks, the St Kenelm’s Pass Lane was the closest, but the hike was up a fairly steep hill, approximately one kilometre long.

‘Shit,’ Kim said as they pulled into the car park. Three other cars were there.

‘Bloody dog walkers,’ Bryant said to lighten the mood.

A bit strange given that it was almost nine and the pathways weren’t lit.

‘You ready?’ she asked as they got out of the car.

‘One sec,’ he said, taking out his phone.

He snapped a photo of each number plate. It was a sensible move that she should have thought of herself. Her own focus was on the time it was going to take them to get to the top.

They were eight minutes to the deadline. After that, it was fair game.

One kilometre up a steep hill to get to the box and the next clue.

There was no way in hell they were going to make it on time.