New Title 1 (43 page)

“How did you kill it?” Chase stared down at the dog.

“Luck,” Ratty replied.

Izzy
squeezed him tighter and Ratty gave a little cough, but she wouldn’t let go, and he was glad.

“Why didn’t Adam shoot it?” Jane asked.

Ratty shrugged. “He’s out of it. I don’t know whether he can understand what’s going on.”

Jane shook her head as she gave Adam a disdainful look.

“It’s not his fault,” Chase said.

“He’s a man isn’t he, then it’s his fault. It’s always men that create the problems, sugar. He’s a part of all this, and he can’t even help when we need him.”

“How’s Mandy?” Chase asked.

With all the excitement, Ratty had forgotten all about her and he followed Chase to where she lay.

Chase crouched down and frowned as she felt Mandy’s wrist, then she felt her neck before putting her ear next to her mouth, listening and feeling for an exhalation before she stood up and shook her head with tears in her eyes.

“She’s gone.”

Izzy
started crying and Ratty hugged her.

But before they had time to mourn, the sound of voices drifted through the trees.

“It must be the guards searching for us,”
Izzy
squealed.

“Right, let’s go,” Chase said, gritting her teeth.

“We can’t just leave her,” Jane cried.

“And we can’t take her with us.”

“But it doesn’t seem right.”

“I know ... I know.” Tears rolled down her cheeks. “Don’t you think I know? She helped save my life. All I can do for her now is make sure she didn’t die in vain. Come on, help me get Adam up and let’s get out of here.”

***

Chase didn’t like to leave Mandy’s body lying out in the open, but there was nothing she could do. If they were to have any chance of escaping, they had to go now. She looked at the compass, bit her lip and helped Jane escort Adam through the trees and back down into the fog.

It had been a welcome relief to get out of the fog, but now it wrapped its cold embrace round them as though welcoming back a long lost friend. Chase hoped never to see fog again in her life. She hated it. It was cold, wet and insidious. It was bloody everywhere, but it also seemed to be thinner. The rising wind also seemed to help scatter it.

“I think the fog’s disappearing,” Ratty said, voicing what Chase had thought. “Perhaps my sabotage is working at last.”

Behind them, Chase heard voices, barking out orders. They obviously didn’t think she and her companions were a real threat otherwise they would have been on silent manoeuvres. As it was they sounded like a bunch of kids on a fun day out. And perhaps they were having fun. Perhaps this was one big game to them.

Progress was slow, mainly due to Adam who hardly seemed capable of putting one foot in front of the other.

“Can’t we just leave him?” Jane said.

“No, we can’t.”

Jane
tutted
. “But we’d get out quicker without him. We could always send back help after we escape.”

Chase shook her head. “If we leave him, they’ll probably kill him and he knows more about what’s gone on here than we do. If we want people to believe us, we need him.”

Jane still didn’t seem to think leaving him was so bad, but Chase refused to listen to her. She didn’t want to feel responsible for anyone else’s death.

After a while they began to climb steadily uphill through long grass with the fog becoming less and less substantial, allowing Chase to easily spot a road. She led the others toward it and checked her compass when she heard an engine approaching and a vehicle sped out of the fog about five hundred feet away, heading straight for them, headlights blazing and cutting a swath through the night. It was closely followed by another vehicle.

“Quick, give me the gun.” She dropped Adam by the side of the road, took the gun from Jane and got them all to crouch down. “It’s too late to run as they’re bound to have spotted us. This is our last stand.” Chase stood her ground, levelling the barrel of the gun toward the lead vehicle. She held her breath as it skidded to a stop about fifty feet away. She could hear the engine ticking over, purring like a big cat before the driver floored the accelerator. With a squeal of tyres the vehicle headed straight at her and Chase pulled the trigger.

Nothing happened.

Forty feet away ...

She looked at the gun, flicked the switch to another position and pulled the trigger again.

Nothing.

Twenty-five feet ...

Gritting her teeth, she shook the gun, banged it but still nothing so she threw it at the vehicle before diving out of the way.

The gun clattered harmlessly off the bonnet and the vehicle skidded to a stop less than ten feet away. The headlights blazed, forcing her to shield her eyes from the glare and a door opened and an armed man stepped out, using the door as a shield. The other vehicle drew alongside him, the vehicles combined headlights pinning her to the spot and sending her long shadow running away behind her.

“Stand up so we can see you,” the soldier shouted as another guard stepped out of the other vehicle.

Apart from Adam, everyone stood up.

“And you,” the man said.

“He’s in shock.” Chase covered her eyes from the glare.

“He’ll be in more than shock if he doesn’t stand up. Now throw your weapons over there.” He indicated a spot away from them.

“We haven’t got any.” Chase felt dejected at having come this far for nothing.

“Then what’s that he’s got, a pea shooter. Hey, you, toss the weapon away.”

Adam didn’t move.

Another door on the lead vehicle opened and although the lights were stinging her eyes, she was surprised to make out the figure of Nigel Moon. He walked around the side of the vehicle, much to the guard’s annoyance. Moon shrugged aside the man’s protestations and stepped out into the open where she could see him better.

“Adam, I would suggest that you relinquish your weapon before you get shot. I’m only saying this because you have been a great help to me, so I owe you that much. This is your last chance.”

As though something had pricked him, Adam looked up. He had tears in his eyes as he caressed his wounded shoulder. Carefully, as though each movement caused him pain, he stood up and slowly
unslung
the gun and dropped it to the ground.

“Now that wasn’t too hard, was it?” Moon smiled. He turned to the guard and nodded. “Now shoot them.”

CHAPTER 33

A shot rang out and Chase flinched and closed her eyes. She didn’t feel any pain. She didn’t even feel the bullet hit. Opening her eyes, she realised with great relief that she hadn’t been hit because it wasn’t the guard who had fired the shot. He stood looking away from her, across the field toward the fog.

“Where did that shot come from?” Moon asked. He stood like a rock, unmoved.

The guard shook his head and peered from around the door of the vehicle he had dived behind. “I don’t know, but you should get back inside the vehicle, sir.”

Moon narrowed his eyes and looked around.

“Sir, it’s for your own safety.”

“I’ll be the judge of my own safety. Now find where that shot came from.”

The guard motioned to the other vehicle and a door opened. Another guard jumped out to join the one still crouched behind the door, and then all three of them spread out and disappeared into the long grass.

Chase didn’t know what was happening. She expected to be dead. Her confirmation that they were now expendable had been confirmed when Moon told the man to shoot them. Her heart hammered like a pneumatic drill and her fingers tingled; but if Moon’s man hadn’t fired the shot, then who had?

Across the field, she could vaguely see the long grass swaying as the guards crawled through it.

Looking back toward Moon, she noticed a movement in the grass close to where he was standing, but it couldn’t be one of the guards, because they were moving in the opposite direction. Confused, she watched the grass waving as though disturbed by a small breeze and she thought back to the snake. Intent on watching the progress of his men, Moon failed to notice the movement and a figure suddenly leaped out and grabbed him around the throat, holding a gun to his head.

Chase couldn’t believe it.
 

“Mat, is that you?”

At the sound of her voice, the three guards appeared from the grass and turned to look back, their guns pointed at Moon and Mat.

“You’ll never get away with this,” Moon spat.

“And neither will you,” Mat hissed. “Now tell your men to throw their guns into the grass as far as they can.”

Moon stood for a moment without saying or doing anything and then Mat prodded him in the head with the gun.

“Do it or die. I’m the magic man, and I can make you disappear if I want.” Mat laughed

“If you kill me, you’ve got no bargaining power. Without a hostage, you’re a dead man.”

“I’m already dead, now tell them to throw the guns away.”

Moon nodded. “Do as he says. But the first chance you get, kill him. Kill them all.”

Chase started running toward Mat, tears of joy in her eyes. “Mat, I ... I thought I’d lost you again.” She couldn’t believe he was here.

“All of you get in that vehicle and drive,” Mat said, indicating the Land Rover the two guards had exited.

Jane quickly led Ratty and
Izzy
toward the vehicle. The engine ticked over as they clambered inside. Chase made no move to join them and neither did Adam.

“I’m not going to lose you again,” Chase said with tears blurring her vision.

“I’m giving you a chance to get away. I wished you here, now I’m wishing you gone. I’ll hold them off until you get away. They won’t do anything while I’ve got their boss.” He frowned, as though fighting an internal dilemma. “Besides, I’m not safe to be around. I ... I remember the vicar. I ... I didn’t mean...”

“That doesn’t matter,” Chase said. “I’ll get you some help.”

“I think I killed him, but I can’t remember why.” He choked back tears. “I’m not safe to be around.”

“I can’t leave you here.” She took another step toward him. She wasn’t bothered what he had done, because she knew that it wasn’t Mat who had done it. Not the Mat that she knew anyway. She couldn’t run out on him. She loved him.

“Chase, come on, we’ve got to go.” Jane gunned the accelerator, sending a plume of smoke from the exhaust like a smoke signal.

“Not without Mat.” She turned back to Mat and Moon. “I’m not losing you again. We can take Moon with us.”

Mat shook his head. “They won’t let him go with you.” He indicated the guards. “This is my nightmare and he stays. Now go.”

“Well, they won’t do anything if he’s with us.”

“Your friend’s right.” Moon smiled. “The guards wouldn’t let you drive out of here with me.”