The Invisible Assassin (24 page)

He listened some more, then hung up. He turned to Boxer. ‘He says forget about him. He’s got another job for us.’

Boxer gestured towards the lifeless body. ‘What about him?’ he asked.

The short man gave an evil grin.

‘One for the pigs,’ he said.

Chapter 1

Jake Wells sat in front of his computer and smiled into his webcam, beaming at the face looking back at him from his screen. Lauren Graham. Fugitive, exile, killer; his girlfriend.

He looked at the clock. 11 p.m. here in the UK. 11 a.m. in Wellington, New Zealand. In the old days people had to content themselves with intercontinental phone calls and echoing time delays. But now, with Skype, they could see one another, even though they were on opposite sides of the globe.

It was three months ago that Lauren had boarded a plane for New Zealand to start a new life with a new identity. Samantha Adams. That was what it said on her passport, her birth certificate and all the other documents MI5 had provided for her. But to Jake, she would always be Lauren.

‘I went on a trip to South Island the other week,’ she said. ‘We went to the Franz Josef Glacier. It’s amazing. It runs down to rainforest – two totally contrasting climates right next to each other . . .’

‘We?’ Jake said, his heart sinking. Had she met someone else?

Lauren laughed.

‘Me and a girl from work,’ she reassured him, sensing his discomfort. ‘She’s really nice. Her name’s Anna. She works with me at the research centre.’

The Antarctic Survey Research Centre, where Lauren – or rather, Sam Adams – had found a job studying environmental information from the base stations all over Antarctica.

Jake smiled.

‘I’ve been doing some exploring, too,’ he told her. ‘Last week I went for a stroll at a place called Firle Beacon . . .’

There was a pinging sound from the screen, and suddenly the image of Lauren vanished. In its place a message appeared:
An error has occurred. This programme will close.

And then, as Jake watched, one by one the logos on the screen disappeared and finally the screen went blank. His computer had shut down.

He pressed the keys to reboot it. While it was starting up, he picked up his landline phone and dialled Lauren’s mobile number. He got an automated message telling him: ‘The mobile you are calling is unavailable. Please try later.’

He cursed. Lauren’s mobile wasn’t switched off. They’d been cut off, deliberately. It had happened a lot when she had first been in New Zealand, but they’d learned that it was always when they started talking about Malichea and the hidden books. So they’d been more careful, and for quite a while they’d only discussed day-to-day things, where they’d been, what movies they’d seen.

Sometimes he’d be silly and romantic, holding up a single red rose towards the camera and then feeling happiness pour through him as she told him how much she wished they could be together again.

‘We will be,’ he promised her.

He didn’t know how, there were so many obstacles to overcome, but he knew they were destined to be together. He needed her properly in his life – not just a moving image of her on a computer screen.

He tried phoning her again, but the connection was still broken.

He sighed and sent her an email, and hoped they’d at least allow this through to her . . .

Bloomsbury Publishing, London, Berlin, New York and Sydney

First published in Great Britain in April 2012 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

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This electronic edition published in April 2012 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Copyright © Jim Eldridge 2012

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ISBN 9781408826720

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