The Invisible Assassin (11 page)

Lauren was already sliding further in and upwards through the narrow drain, hauling herself along with her clawed gloved fingers and her knees. Jake followed close behind her, his face almost touching the backs of her legs. Every now and then he was aware of the torch beam being aimed at the top of the drain-tunnel, and then Lauren moved on again. Finally, she stopped. She gestured upwards.

Jake looked at where the beam of torchlight was pointing at a manhole cover. Lauren rolled on to her back and reached up, and began pushing at the metal cover. For a second Jake thought it was stuck fast, but then he saw it move slightly, and suddenly it was clear. Heavy rain began to pour down over them, and on down the tunnel past them.

Lauren pushed herself up, and then out of the drain. Jake followed her, wriggling himself into a position from where he could stand, and then he used the sides of the open manhole to lever himself up.

The rain was certainly heavier now. He slid the manhole cover almost back into place, taking care to leave an edge sticking up. The last thing they’d need would be to be running from fast-closing pursuers and finding the manhole cover stuck.

They’d come up just behind a wooden hut. Lauren sidled carefully towards the edge of the hut, and peered round. She gave Jake a thumbs-up again, and then headed across a patch of open ground towards a single-storey concrete building. As Jake hurried after her, he could see the words ‘Block C’ in huge letters painted on the building’s wall. He slipped on the wet grass as he ran and nearly lost his balance, but managed to recover himself. Thank heaven for this rain, he thought. It would reduce visibility, help them avoid being spotted.

He joined Lauren at the door to the building. Fortunately, it was in shadow, away from the harsh lights of the fence. Here we go, he thought.

Lauren reached for the door handle and looked at Jake, questioningly. Was he ready?

He nodded and gave her a thumbs-up. Let’s do it.

Lauren tried to push the handle down, but nothing happened. The handle stayed locked straight in the same position. Lauren tried again, but once more the door handle stayed firmly locked.

‘She said she’d have it open!’ burst out Jake, horrified.

Lauren checked her watch.

‘It’s eleven twenty-nine,’ she said. ‘Jo said eleven thirty.’

But Jake could hear the anxiety in her voice, and knew that she was as scared as he was.

They both kept their eyes on the time, watching as the seconds passed. Then, at precisely 11.30, they heard a click from the door. Lauren tried pushing the handle down again. This time it swung down.

‘Let’s hope she’s cut off the alarms as well,’ said Lauren nervously.

‘We’re about to find out,’ whispered Jake. He felt a panic in him so bad he could barely breathe. He pulled at the door. It opened. No alarm went off.

‘Maybe it’s a silent alarm,’ he said. ‘It goes off at their control room.’

‘If that’s the case, it’s too late now to change it,’ said Lauren. ‘Jo said she’d give us twenty minutes. Let’s get going.’

They slipped into the building, and then pulled the door closed after them. Let’s hope we can get out, prayed Jake.

Ahead of them was a corridor, lit by banks of fluorescent lights. The building was quiet, except for the hum of electricity. Possibly a generator. As they moved carefully along the hallway, the electric hum seemed to get louder. Maybe it was a machine of some sorts. A series of doors ran along both walls, with windows in the doors so that every room could be observed from this main corridor. Low-level lighting shone through the window in every door, suggesting that no one was actually working in the building at this moment, but that stand-by lighting was in operation.

Jake checked his watch. 11.35. He tapped Lauren on the shoulder, and when she turned, he gestured at his watch. They had just fifteen minutes before the locks shut down again.

Lauren nodded and moved on, Jake close behind her. Where would the book be kept? Would it be on open show? Would it be locked away? In which case, they’d never find it in fifteen minutes.

Suddenly, a movement through one of the glass windows caught Jake’s eye, and his heart almost stopped. He turned, and then froze. Inside the room something was lying on a table, and as he watched it moved slightly. He strained to see into the gloom, and became aware that the thing, whatever it was, was strapped to a table. And then he realised with horror it was a man. Not just any man, but the builder who’d been turned into a mass of vegetation at the building site. Now Jake could see the medical equipment around the table, drips and monitors, tubes and cables going into the mass of vegetation; broad leather straps holding the thing down. The thing moved again, and – as Jake’s gaze travelled along the shape – the top of it turned and a pair of eyes looked directly at him, making him stumble back.

He’s alive! thought Jake. And he’s seen me!

A touch on his arm nearly made him collapse with fright. It was Lauren, gesturing along the corridor. He hurried after her, his nerves jangling, his throat dry. What other monstrosities were there in this building?

He caught up with Lauren as she opened a door and hurried in. She pointed, and Jake saw that on an aluminium table in the centre of the room was a glass case, and inside the glass case was a book-sized object covered in what looked like leather or oilskin. With growing excitement, Jake realised that they’d found it! They’d found the book!

Lauren was already trying to lift the glass case from its base, but it was shut tight. The lock on the glass case wasn’t part of the central security system, but an old-fashioned metal lock set into the glass, with a keyhole in it.

Lauren tried to force the glass cover up, but it wouldn’t budge. Jake tried with her, but even with their combined efforts the glass case remained firmly closed.

So near and yet so far, thought Jake. We’ve come this far, we can’t go without it. He looked at his watch. 11.46. Four minutes before the place went into lock-down. It would take them two minutes to get back to the exit door. If they didn’t leave here soon, they’d be trapped.

Jake cast his eye around the room, and saw a large stone with ornate carvings on it. They looked as if they were Celtic. It was possibly some other ancient artefact that had been brought in for examination. Jake picked up the stone and felt its heaviness. Lauren was still trying to heave the glass cover off. Jake lifted the heavy stone, and then swung it hard at the glass.

The glass shattered, and as it did the ear-splitting sound of an alarm blared out. Lauren swung round, shocked, but Jake was already reaching into the shattered glass cabinet and snatching up the book.

Let’s hope that alarm hasn’t brought the security system back in! he prayed urgently. He ran to the door and tugged at it, and it opened. So far so good; but the alarm was still sounding out, the noise filling their heads.

They ran down the corridor and reached the exit door. As they pushed it open, they ran straight into a security guard standing just outside, and heard the vicious warning growl of a guard dog on a lead right beside him. The security guard seemed as shocked as they were, but he reached out and grabbed Lauren’s balaclava and tore it off her head. Acting instinctively, Jake leapt out and swung his fist at the guard’s face, connecting with his chin. The security guard stumbled back with a cry of pain, and the dog leapt at Jake. Jake felt the dog’s teeth rip at his sleeve.

Acting out of survival instinct rather than with skill, Jake shoved the dazed guard into the building. The guard still had the dog’s lead wrapped round his wrist, and the dog was pulled after his master; but he dragged Jake with him. Desperately, Jake slipped out of his jacket and pushed both the dog and the guard inside, then leapt back, slamming the door shut. There was a click, and Jake tried the handle again. It was locked once more!

Jake and Lauren ran back towards the manhole cover. The rain was much heavier now, the grass slippery, but they skidded to a halt beside the cover, and then slid down into the drain. The base was alive with activity now: lights coming on all over the place; sirens blaring; people shouting; dogs barking.

Jake followed Lauren into the drain and pulled the manhole cover into place. The heavy rain cascading down had turned the drain into a waterslide and they half slid, half scrambled along the narrow tunnel towards the culvert.

They forced their way through the bent wire grille, then out to the culvert, and along the ditch. Now the ditch was deep in water, and getting fuller, but they made it to where Parsons was waiting with the car.

‘What happened?’ he asked as they reached the Mini. ‘What went wrong?’

‘We’ll talk as you drive,’ said Lauren.

Jake and Lauren tumbled into the car, their clothes and faces soaking wet. Parsons slid behind the wheel, started the car up, and drove out of the small clearing into the narrow road. Jake noticed he was heading away from the main Aylesbury road.

‘I’m using a different route, off the main road,’ said Parsons, as if reading Jake’s thoughts. ‘We don’t want to get stopped.’

Parsons waited until they’d driven for about half a mile before he switched on the car’s lights.

‘So, what happened?’ he asked.

‘We got the book,’ said Lauren triumphantly.

‘You did?’ said Parsons, and for the first time the usually cool and calm tone in his voice broke to show excitement. ‘Incredible! Fantastic!!’

‘The alarm went off,’ said Jake. ‘The one protecting the glass case where the book was. Jo said she’d deal with the alarms.’

‘Maybe it was on a different circuit,’ said Parsons defensively. ‘She handled the rest of the security system OK.’

‘True,’ acknowledged Jake. Then he told them: ‘The man who turned into that vegetation is in there.’

‘What?!’ exclaimed Lauren.

‘In a room along from where the book was. And he’s alive.’

‘My God,’ said Parsons, awed.

‘We have to hide the book,’ said Lauren. ‘Somewhere safe, where no one will find it.’

‘I’ll do that,’ offered Parsons.

The professional action man again, thought Jake sourly.

‘After all, we know they know about you two, but so far I don’t think they know about me,’ Parsons added.

‘Yes, makes sense.’ Lauren nodded. She turned to Jake and held out her hand for the book. Jake looked down at the leather-bound package he was still gripping tightly. The book. Don’t open it, he told himself, or you’ll end up like that heaving mass of barely alive vegetation inside the base.

‘Jake,’ prompted Lauren, still holding out her hand.

I want to find out what this is, thought Jake. All this trouble, all this secrecy, and I have the answer in my hand. I want to see it. At least, the cover! See what it looks like.

Instead, he passed the book forward to Lauren, who took it and slipped it into her bag.

‘At last!’ she said exultantly. ‘The proof!’

Chapter 14

Parsons pulled up outside Jake’s flat, and Jake went in, after they’d all promised to be in touch the next day. No,
today
, Jake corrected himself. It was 2 a.m. as he entered his flat, soaked to the skin, aching in every muscle, and with a feeling of loss. He’d held the book in his hand, and now it was gone. He’d been close to Lauren tonight, so close, tied together by the bond of fear and adrenalin during the mission, and now she was gone, too. Gone with Parsons.

Next morning, Jake made his way to work. A few hours earlier, he thought he’d never be able to sleep: the adrenalin still pumping. But he had calmed down by the time he got in, and he’d slept, only to be dragged back into the waking world by his alarm clock at seven thirty.

He’d thought about phoning Lauren, then thought better of it. What could they say over the phone, especially if their lines were bugged?

Today, no one tried to kill him. No one tried to push him under a tube train. His journey was uneventful. He walked into the large open-plan office and found Paul already there, engaged in an animated phone conversation.

‘Yes, we are obviously sympathetic to the sincerity of their views, but at the same time we absolutely condemn the way this was done, not just the vicious attack on the security-guard staff, but putting everyone else at the establishment at risk and in fear of their lives, as well as the animals.’

‘What animals?’ asked Jake as Paul hung up the phone.

‘Rabbits,’ answered Paul.

‘Rabbits?’ echoed Jake, puzzled.

‘You know, those cute furry things with long ears.’

‘Ha ha, very funny,’ said Jake sarcastically. ‘I meant, in what way were they at risk? And the staff of . . . wherever.’

‘Actually, it’s that place in Aylesbury I was telling you about.’

‘Aylesbury?’

Paul gave a weary groan.

‘For heaven’s sake, Jake, do I have to repeat
everything
?’

‘I’ve just walked in,’ pointed out Jake in his defence, ‘and you start talking about rabbits as if I know what’s going on.’

‘OK.’ Paul nodded. ‘Well, you know that place I told you they’d taken that canister of stuff?’

Jake was about to respond with a nod and the words ‘the Hadley Park Research Establishment’, but he stopped himself just in time. All Paul had told him was the place was in Aylesbury. He didn’t want awkward questions being asked if he told Paul he’d looked up the file.