Read The Invisible Assassin Online
Authors: Jim Eldridge
‘No authorities,’ promised Jake.
‘And keep your lawyers out of this,’ added the voice. ‘If you contact them, she will die.’
‘No lawyers,’ Jake assured the man.
‘Good,’ said the voice. ‘We understand one another. We will phone you and tell you the location for the exchange.’
The phone went dead.
Who were they? thought Jake. One thing was for sure, it wasn’t Pierce Randall. The voice on the phone had made the point that Jake wasn’t to contact the lawyers. Unless it was a double bluff on Pierce Randall’s part: getting the book back, but keeping Jake on their side for the future.
Jake was certain it wasn’t the Watchers. He’d met Penny Johnson, and these sorts of death threats weren’t their style, despite Carl Parsons attacking Lauren. He also felt the phone call ruled Gareth out from being behind Lauren’s kidnapping. He’d been told not to go to the authorities. Well, Gareth
was
the authorities.
But he needed
someone
with him if he was to make sure Lauren, and himself, came out of this alive once the book had been handed over.
Robert looked out of his front door at Jake, and then past him into the street.
‘Where’s Lauren?’ he asked suspiciously.
‘She’s been kidnapped,’ said Jake.
Robert’s mouth dropped open, shocked. Then he clamped it shut again, his eyes searching Jake’s face.
‘What?! Who by?’
‘I don’t know, but they’ve threatened to kill her,’ said Jake.
Robert’s expression turned to the kind that must have struck terror into his opponents on the rugby field.
‘Over my dead body!’ he snarled.
‘I hoped you’d say that,’ said Jake.
Jake went in and Robert shut the door and followed him into the ultra-neat living room.
‘This is about the books?’ Robert asked.
Jake nodded, and then filled him in on what had been happening over the last few days, including the accidental stabbing of Parsons, and Lauren posting the book to him. Jake took the book out and showed it to him. Robert reached out tentatively and took the book from him, turning it over in his huge hands, studying it, the dark leather-like material that encased it, and the symbol of Malichea etched into it. He didn’t attempt to open it. Instead, he handed it back to Jake, who slipped it into his jacket pocket.
‘The trouble is, they know I’ve got it,’ Jake told Robert.
‘How?’
Jake sighed.
‘They may have forced Lauren to tell them what she did with it,’ he said unhappily.
Robert’s face darkened and he smashed a huge fist against the nearest wall at the thought of Lauren being tortured for the information.
‘Anyway, they said they’d hand her over if I give them the book,’ said Jake. ‘They’re going to phone me to tell me where the exchange is to take place.’
‘And you want me to go with you.’
It wasn’t a question, it was a statement. Robert was coming with Jake.
‘Yes,’ agreed Jake. ‘I don’t trust them. The trouble is, they said that if I bring along the authorities, or anyone else, they’ll kill her. So I don’t know how we’re going to play this. I don’t think two of us will be enough to handle them; but if we bring any more, it could blow the whole thing.’
Robert was silent, thinking it over.
‘You’ve no idea where the exchange is going to be?’
‘No.’
Just then, Jake’s mobile rang. He put his finger to his lips to urge Robert to keep quiet, then answered it.
‘Jake Wells,’ he said.
‘Forty-three Wharf Road North, Paddington,’ snapped a voice. ‘Fifty minutes.’
‘I can’t possibly get there in fifty minutes . . .’ Jake began. But he was speaking to empty air. The caller had hung up.
He looked at Robert.
‘Forty-three . . .’ he began.
‘I heard,’ said Robert. He’d grabbed a jacket and was already hurrying towards the front door.
Fifty minutes. Why fifty minutes? The specific time worried Jake. They must have known where I was, he thought. From Baron’s Court to Paddington. There was no way they’d be able to make the journey in fifty minutes in Robert’s battered old van, certainly not with congestion in central London as bad as it was. The underground was possible, but with delays happening constantly, and changes to be made, and then looking for Wharf Road North on foot, fifty minutes became very doubtful. So it had to be a taxi, the only other vehicle that could use bus lanes and hopefully get through the traffic, and be able to take them right to their destination.
Jake and Robert raced to the taxi rank at the High Road, and very shortly they were in the back of a cab heading towards central London.
In the cab, Jake expressed his concern that the kidnappers knew where he’d been when they phoned.
‘It’s that business of fifty minutes. This way, we can just do it in fifty minutes. If I’d been further out, we’d never make it there in time.’
‘And you think if you’d been nearer, they’d have given you less time to get there. Say, twenty minutes if you’d been at Euston?’
‘Exactly.’ Jake nodded. ‘They’re watching me.’ Then the realisation hit him as he remembered what Penny Johnson had said. ‘No, they’re
tracking
me!’ He pulled out his mobile phone. ‘Someone told me that both Lauren and I have been tracked by the signals from our mobile phones. Even when they’re switched off they give out a signal.’
‘This is someone with very powerful and sophisticated tracking equipment,’ grunted Robert.
‘It is,’ said Jake. ‘Which means, if they know about you, they’ll know you’re with me.’
Robert scowled.
‘Damn!’ he burst out. Then he leant forward and tapped on the glass between them and the driver. ‘Pull over!’ he ordered.
The cab driver immediately pulled over to the kerb.
‘Wait here,’ commanded Robert.
He got out of the cab and walked along the kerb until he came to a drain, where he dropped his mobile phone. Then he walked back to the cab, got in, and ordered the driver to carry on. Robert looked at Jake and gave a wry smile. ‘That was a good phone as well,’ he said.
‘Someone will find it,’ said Jake. ‘One of the sewer workers. You might end up with phone bills for calls to Australia.’
Robert shook his head. ‘It’s pay as you go,’ he said. ‘Anyway, from now on they’ll think I’ve left you and you’re on your own. So, what’s the plan?’
‘To be honest, I don’t have one,’ admitted Jake. ‘I just thought we’d have more chance of getting Lauren out of this alive if there was more than just me.’
Robert looked at him, his expression doubtful. ‘That’s not much of a plan!’
‘No, it isn’t,’ agreed Jake with a sigh.
‘And we don’t have anything to protect ourselves with,’ pointed out Robert. ‘No weapons or body armour of any sort. And these people are quite likely armed to the teeth, and there’ll be loads of them.’
‘Yes,’ sighed Jake gloomily. ‘You don’t have to come in with me, Robert. Like you say, it’s a loser. All we can hope is they’re true to their word. If they’re not, there’s not much the two of us can do about it.’
‘You give up easily,’ muttered Robert disapprovingly.
‘I’m not giving up,’ protested Jake. ‘I’m just saying there’s no need for both of us to . . .’ He hesitated.
‘Get killed?’ asked Robert.
‘Well, I wasn’t going to exactly say that,’ said Jake awkwardly.
‘No one kills me,’ stated Robert firmly. ‘I play rugby.’
‘But not against bullets.’
‘We don’t
know
they’ve got guns.’
‘They’re some sort of gangsters,’ countered Jake. ‘They’re bound to have guns.’
‘But they won’t use them,’ said Robert. ‘Not if we bluff them.’
‘Bluff them? How?’
‘I don’t know,’ admitted Robert. ‘But we’ll think of something.’
He looked at his watch, and then at the area they were entering. ‘And we’d better do it fast,’ he said. ‘We’re just coming to Paddington Station.’
As the taxi turned off the main road past Paddington Station, and then into Wharf Road North, Jake racked his brains for a scheme to bluff their unknown enemies with. Telling them the police were outside wouldn’t help – they’d said they’d kill Lauren if he brought the police in.
The taxi crawled along the Wharf Road. It appeared to be filled with warehouses and storage companies. They pulled up outside number forty-three, a warehouse which looked like it hadn’t been occupied for some time.
‘This is it,’ said Jake.
He felt a knot of nervousness in his stomach as he and Robert got out of the taxi and he paid the driver.
‘Any plan yet?’ asked Robert.
‘Yes and no,’ said Jake. ‘I think I go in alone. You see if you can creep in and hide somewhere and watch, and make a move if things look bad. After all, if that phone thing of yours worked, they won’t know you’re here.’ Jake took his mobile phone and handed it to Robert. ‘Just in case things do go bad, you can phone nine-nine-nine.’
Robert hesitated and seemed about to reject the phone. Then he took it from Jake and slipped it into his pocket.
‘Thanks,’ he said. He turned to Jake. ‘I was wrong about you,’ he said gruffly. ‘I thought you were no good and using Lauren. You really care for her, don’t you?’
‘Yes,’ said Jake. ‘I love her. I was stupid with the way I behaved at that wedding, and I’ve regretted it every day since. I want to make things right again.’
‘You already have done,’ said Robert. ‘Whatever happens.’ He looked towards the abandoned warehouse. ‘Ready?’
‘No,’ admitted Jake. ‘I feel sick, I feel scared.’ He took a deep breath. ‘But I’m as ready as I’ll ever be. So let’s do it.’
Jake walked across the patch of tarmac towards the warehouse. He guessed that once there would have been lorries and cars parked here. Now it seemed to be used as a dumping ground for rubbish. Broken wooden pallets lay around, where they had been dropped or thrown. Black bags filled with litter had just been dumped and had split, with paper and other rubbish spilling out.
There’ll be rats, thought Jake. He remembered reading somewhere that in London you were never more than three metres from a rat. That usually meant that the rat was underground, below you, but in cases like this he guessed the rats were living in the old warehouse, scavenging and breeding. He was sure he saw a movement among the piles of torn litter bins. Jake hated rats. The fact of them sent a shiver up his spine. They could get anywhere, through the most incredibly narrow gaps. And their teeth were so sharp they could gnaw through porcelain. He’d heard tales of them chewing their way through a toilet bowl to get into a flat to scavenge for food.
Most of the doors into the building were shut with metal bars locked down across them, but one door was slightly ajar. That’s the way they want me to go in, thought Jake.
He wondered where Robert was. Robert had gone off to the far side of the building, looking for a window or an opening so he could creep in unnoticed. Even if he did manage to get in unseen, it only gave them a force of two. Two unarmed amateurs against armed and fully prepared professionals.
Jake reached the door and pushed it gently. It swung open. From inside, there was a dim light glowing. He wondered where they’d be. Waiting for him just inside the door, ready to pounce on him? He reached down and picked up a nearby plastic bag filled with litter that had been left lying near the doorway, and then tossed it through the door opening.
Nothing happened. No one shot at the bag, or jumped on it. But then, these people were professionals. Jake guessed they knew what they were doing.
He hesitated, then took a deep breath, and walked in through the doorway, into the warehouse.
It wasn’t empty. It may have been disused, but it was still stacked with machinery and crates, all covered with dust and cobwebs. It had been a very long time since this place had been active.
‘Welcome, Mr Wells!’ boomed a voice. ‘We are glad you could join us! Come forward!’
‘I’m armed!’ called out Jake in warning.
There was a chuckle, then the voice said, ‘We think that unlikely, Mr Wells. I doubt if you’ve ever handled a gun, before or now.’
‘I don’t need a gun!’ called back Jake. He took a deep breath, then tried his bluff. ‘I’ve wired myself with explosives under my clothes. If you shoot me, I’ll blow up and we’ll all be killed.’ There, thought Jake. I’ve come up with a plan. Mad, perhaps, but it’s still a plan.
There was a pause, then the voice laughed again.
‘Really, Mr Wells . . .’
But Jake was sure this time the laugh wasn’t as confident.
‘Since this started I’ve met some dodgy people,’ called Jake. ‘Believe me, I’m wired to blow up.’
There was a pause, then the voice asked, ‘You have the book with you?’
‘Yes,’ called Jake. ‘And if you shoot me and I blow up, the book goes up in flames.’