The Last Enemy (17 page)

‘That’s why,’ said Gareth. ‘I have no need to go inside it. If I need anything, I send one of my staff.’ He shrugged. ‘You can check, if you like. You have my ID pass. See if you can run it through one of your software checks. You’ll find it’s never been used to gain access to the hangar.’

‘But you know the sort of things that are in there?’

‘I know some of the things,’ said Gareth carefully.

‘The Malichea Index?’ asked Guy.

‘I don’t know,’ replied Gareth.

‘But it could be?’ pressed Guy.

Gareth hesitated, then he admitted reluctantly, ‘Yes, it could be.’

Guy smiled.

‘That’s good enough for me.’ He turned to Patch and Midge and ordered, ‘Untie the girl and take them all back down to the dungeons.’

As they untied Lauren, Guy told Jake warningly, ‘I’m going to do some further checking on this Laker Heath place, Jake. If I think you’re lying, or trying to set me up, you will all suffer more than you can ever imagine.’

After they had been pushed back into the cell, Jake gently removed the tape from Lauren’s mouth and hugged her tightly.

‘I really thought he was going to cut my fingers off,’ she shuddered. ‘I thought I was going to end up just like Jasper Brigstocke.’

‘I wouldn’t let that happen to you,’ Jake reassured her.

‘You wouldn’t have had much choice,’ said Lauren, still trembling. ‘Not against that many. They’re armed, remember.’

‘What happened?’ asked Dan.

Quickly, they told Dan what had taken place upstairs: the threats, and Jake’s desperate attempt to put Guy off by suggesting The Index was hidden at Laker Heath.

‘What made you mention Laker Heath?’ asked Gareth, curious.

‘It was a hunch,’ said Jake. ‘I’m so glad you backed me up.’

‘I could tell you were up to something, but I couldn’t work out what,’ said Gareth. ‘I guessed it was to play for time.’

‘Right,’ said Jake. ‘I was thinking: if I can persuade Guy The Index is there, and I can get him away from here, hopefully going with me to Laker Heath, that might give you a chance to do something while we’re gone. Overpower his crew when they come down. Get out of here.’

‘That might be possible.’ Gareth nodded. ‘From what I can make out, Guy’s the only one with a gun.’

‘We saw Spider holding one when we saw them at de Courcey Hall,’ pointed out Lauren.

‘It could be the same gun,’ said Jake thoughtfully. ‘It was all part of a scam, anyway.’

‘I’m pretty sure they’ve just got the one gun,’ agreed Gareth. Then he added, ‘You realise you won’t be able to get into the hangar at Laker Heath, Jake. It needs Level Five security clearance at least, and there are lots of security precautions in place to stop unauthorised people getting access.’

‘I know about fingerprint ID,’ said Jake. ‘But I don’t need to get into the hangar. I don’t even need to actually go to Laker Heath. All I want to do is get Guy away from here, and try and overpower him in some way, and then call up help. If you’ve been able to get out of here in the meantime, great. But, if not, I’ll get reinforcements.’ He looked at Gareth. ‘Do you have a special number for me to call? And a code word?’

Gareth hesitated, and Jake could tell he was deliberating whether to reveal a top-secret code and contact.

‘It’s our only way out,’ Jake urged him.

Gareth nodded. He gave Jake a three-digit number.

Jake frowned.

‘Is that all? Just three digits?’

‘It’s an emergency number,’ said Gareth. ‘Like 999. In an emergency, there’s no time to start keying in a long sequence of numbers.’

‘OK.’ Jake nodded. ‘At least it’s easy to remember. And the code, to prove it’s not a hoax when I call.’

‘Pig seven,’ said Gareth.

‘Pig seven?’ queried Jake.

‘That’s the current codeword. It’s changed every month.’

‘OK,’ muttered Jake. He hugged Lauren tightly to him again as he said, ‘Let’s hope Guy takes the bait.’

It was another two hours before they heard footsteps on the stone steps, and Duke and Des appeared at the door of the cell. As before, Duke was carrying the machete, and he held it menacingly as Des unlocked the cell door.

‘Guy wants you,’ Des said to Jake. ‘The rest of you, back away from the door.’

Lauren, Dan and Gareth moved to the back of the cell as Jake stepped forward, through the doorway. Des locked the door, then Jake followed Des up the steps. Duke followed behind, prodding Jake painfully with the point of the machete to remind him what would happen if he tried any tricks.

Guy was sitting at a laptop. Gadge, Midge and Patch stood behind him, looking over his shoulder, studying the screen.

Spider was sprawled across two chairs, his eyes closed, as if he was grabbing a nap.

‘I’ve done some checking on this Laker Heath place you mentioned, Jake,’ Guy said, gesturing at the laptop. ‘The internet gossip, conspiracy websites, that sort of thing. I’ve also put in a few calls to some old school chums I haven’t seen in years who seem to back up what you’d said about weird stuff being kept at this place. They also mentioned this aircraft hangar at the base as the place where things like that are kept.’

‘Just like I said,’ said Jake, feeling the relief creep in.

That feeling vanished with Guy’s next words.

‘The problem, these old school chums tell me, is that security is very tight there. You can get into the base with Level Three security clearance, but to get into the hangar needs clearance at a much higher level. According to a pal of mine, that needs Level Five. Do you have your work ID card on you, Jake?’

Jake hesitated, wondering whether to deny it, but what was the point? They’d just take his wallet off him and find it inside.

‘Yes,’ he said. He took his ID card out of his wallet and handed it to Guy. Guy studied it. The photo of Jake on the front. The black magnetic strip on the back. The number 3 in silver lettering next to Jake’s photo.

‘Security Level Three,’ he said. ‘So, you can get into the base, but you can’t get into the hangar.’

‘No,’ said Jake.

‘Which is a pity,’ said Guy. ‘Because there’s only one way to find out if your theory is correct, Jake, and that’s for you and me to go to this place and check.’

Then he smiled, and from his pocket he took another ID card, virtually identical to Jake’s, except it had the number 5 in the same silver lettering on it.

‘Luckily for us, your friend Gareth Findlay-Weston was carrying his ID card on him when we picked him up. Look, Jake. Level Five. That means, with this card, I can get us into that hangar.’ He held it out towards Jake, and Jake could see that the photo of Gareth had been replaced with one of Guy.

‘Good, isn’t it,’ said Guy. ‘It’s wonderful what you can do these days with digital technology.’ Then he sighed. ‘However, this old pal of mine I spoke to told me there was an extra-tight piece of security about these ID passes, especially when getting into a high-level security area like this hangar at Laker Heath. Do you know what that is, Jake?’

Jake felt his throat go dry and felt a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach.

‘Yes,’ he said in a quiet voice that was almost a whisper.

‘And what is that extra piece of security?’ asked Guy, putting on a casual, relaxed air.

He knows, thought Jake. He’s playing with me.

‘I’ll tell you, shall I, Jake,’ said Guy. ‘It’s a fingerprint. Index finger, right hand. So, you can see the problem, Jake,’ said Guy. ‘The photo may be of me, but it won’t match with my fingerprint.’

‘I’ll go there,’ said Jake desperately. He had to keep Guy on track with the idea that The Index was at Laker Heath and give them time to work out how to get away. ‘I’ll go in.’

‘But you can’t get into the hangar,’ said Guy. ‘Not with a Level Three security pass. And I don’t really trust you to go there on your own, Jake. You might not come back. You might run to the police, and tell them where we are.’ He shook his head. ‘No no, Jake, we can’t have that. You and I shall go to this place together and see if The Index is there. This Level Five card will get me in, and once I’m in, I’ll sneak you in with me. So all I need to make it work is an index finger.’ He smiled. ‘One that matches the fingerprint they’ll have on file for your friend, Gareth Findlay-Weston.

‘Now I could take him with me. But the problem is he looks a bit battered and his appearance might raise some awkward questions. So I think it’s safer for us if he stays here.’ He picked up the machete and gently swung it in his hand. Then he turned to Spider and Duke. ‘Spider, will you and Duke go down and bring Mr Findlay-Weston up here. I think he’s got something that I need.’ And he grinned.

Chapter 23

Jake was still feeling sick as he, Guy and Des stepped outside the castle into the fresh air. Gareth had been brought up from the dungeons and tied to the same heavy wooden chair where Lauren had sat. And then Duke had cut off Gareth’s index finger with a savage blow from the machete. Jake could still hear Gareth’s scream as the blade slicked through his finger and bit into the wood of the chair. They hadn’t bothered to use tape over his mouth to silence Gareth, as they had with Lauren.

‘Ice and a plastic bag, please, Midge,’ Guy had said, picking up Gareth’s finger from the floor.

As Midge brought a paper cup and a plastic bag to Guy, Guy had grinned at Jake and said, ‘Isn’t it wonderful that these fast-food drive-throughs always give you too much ice with your drink!’

Then Guy had scooped the ice from the cup into the plastic bag, dropped Gareth’s finger into it, and put it in his pocket, while Gareth was untied and dragged out of the room and back down to the dungeons.

‘I think we’re ready to go now, Jake,’ said Guy.

Guy took the pistol from his pocket and showed it to Jake.

‘Just to remind you I’ve got this, Jake. Try anything and you’re dead. Remember, now I’ve got Mr Findlay-Weston’s finger and his ID card, I can still get into that hangar with or without you. At the moment I need you because you know what you’re looking for. But, at a pinch, I can try this without you. Just remember that.’

He slid the gun back into his coat pocket.

‘Des, you keep an eye on things here.’

Des looked concerned.

‘Don’t you want me to drive?’ he asked. ‘Say he tries anything?’

Guy smiled confidently.

‘He won’t,’ he assured Des. ‘Because we’re going to have an arrangement.’ He turned to Jake and said, ‘Just in case you’re thinking that while we’re away from here, it’s worth trying to overpower me, or crash the car or something, and then get away and warn the authorities, that’s not a good idea. You see, I’m leaving Des with specific instructions.’ He looked at his watch. ‘It’s three o’clock now. It’ll take us about an hour to get to Laker Heath. Let’s be generous, say an hour and a half. Then half an hour inside to find The Index.’ He grinned cockily. ‘Let’s be generous again. Forty-five minutes.’ He turned to Des. ‘So, Des, if you don’t get a call from me by a quarter past five, you kill Jake’s girlfriend and the other two.’ He turned back to Jake. ‘How does that sound to you, Jake? Think we’ll have The Index by quarter past five?’

Jake stared at Guy, shocked, his mind reeling. Yes, Guy was mad.

‘We don’t even know it’s there!’ he protested.

‘It was your guess, Jake,’ said Guy. ‘That’s what saved your girlfriend.’ He gave Jake a questioning look. ‘If you’re having second thoughts, we could always go back inside and . . .’

At the thought of Lauren tied to the chair, and the sound of the machete crunching through Gareth’s finger, Jake shook his head.

‘No,’ he said quickly, feeling sick. ‘I’m sure it’s there.’

‘Good,’ said Guy. ‘Right, Des. Expect a phone call from me by quarter past five. If you don’t get it, kill them. Right, Jake, let’s go and get the car. You first.’

‘Where is it?’ asked Jake. ‘I didn’t see any cars when we came.’

‘That’s because you came in the back way,’ said Guy. ‘The front entrance is this way.’ And he pointed towards where the overgrown pathway headed towards a gap in the trees. Then he stopped, and dropped his hand, a startled expression on his face. Jake looked at what had made him stop, and saw that the three Mexicans who’d grabbed him and Lauren had just walked through this same gap and were standing glaring grimly at Guy.

‘Manolo!’ exclaimed Guy. The startled surprise had gone and been replaced by a friendly, cheerful tone of welcome. Yes, thought Jake ruefully, Guy really can switch his charm on and off. ‘You found me!’ Then, curious, he asked, ‘How?’

‘That’s not important,’ growled Manolo. He reached into his pocket and pulled a knife from it, the same knife he’d threatened Jake and Lauren with.

‘Well, I disagree, old friend,’ said Guy. ‘It’s important to me.’

‘You cheat us!’ snarled Manolo. ‘You promise us money, but then you sell us out.’

‘I did nothing of the sort!’ protested Guy.

‘Then where is money you promise us?’ demanded the angry Mexican.

‘I’ve got it safe,’ said Guy. ‘It’s in a bank.’

Manolo scowled again.