‘Actually, Michelle,’ he said, ‘I think I may have a story for you.’
‘And is what’s happened here part of it?’
Jake nodded.
‘Oh yes,’ he said. ‘This is definitely part of it.’
Chapter 5
On the promise that Jake would tell her everything that would provide her with a major story, Michelle agreed to drive Jake back to his flat. As it turned out, it wasn’t far, the timber storehouse was in an alley off the Holloway Road. Whoever had kidnapped Jake had known the area well enough to know that the timber store was no longer in use, and hadn’t been for some time.
Michelle did most of the talking as she drove, and Jake learnt that she was just starting out on her career as a journalist on a magazine called Qo.
‘It covers everything,’ she said. ‘News. Fashion. TV. Politics.’
Jake vaguely remembered seeing it on news-stands. Glossy, and usually with a glamorous celebrity on the cover.
‘So how does this kidnapping fit in with that?’ he asked.
‘It’s news,’ she said.
‘Not for a weekly, I’d have thought,’ said Jake, still puzzled.
She shrugged as she drove.
‘Yes, well, everybody knows it’s just a stepping stone for me,’ she said. ‘What I want to do is get into hard news. Investigative journalism.’
‘When you say “everybody” . . . ?’
‘Well, not everybody, obviously,’ said Michelle. ‘Most of the people I work with. Though I’ve told the editor I see my career as being part of the Qo family. No sense in telling him I’d be off like a rocket if the opportunity came up.’
‘And you thought discovering a kidnap victim was that opportunity?’ asked Jake.
‘I didn’t know what I’d be discovering,’ Michelle reminded him. ‘All they said was: “If you go to Patterson Timber Store, you’ll find something worthwhile to further your career.” That was it.’
‘And you went, not knowing what you were going into,’ said Jake. ‘It could have been anything. A trap. Anything might have happened to you.’
Michelle grinned and patted her pocket.
‘I always carry a can of mace with me,’ she said. ‘For protection. Anyone tries anything, they’ll get a faceful. This way, I level the playing field.’
As Michelle parked outside Jake’s flat, Jake was worrying about the book cover. His whole story depended on it. He hoped it was still in his flat. Or had the two men taken it? His kidnapping was definitely connected to the hidden books, of that he was sure. But who’d done it? And why?
But when they got into his flat, Jake was relieved to see the book cover was still where he’d left it, on the kitchen table.
‘This is what it’s about,’ said Jake, picking it up and giving it to Michelle.
Michelle looked at the piece of ancient black leather, puzzled. She turned it over in her hands, examining it briefly, then put it back on the table and turned to Jake, her expression as puzzled as before.
‘I don’t understand,’ she said. ‘What is it? And what’s that symbol on it?’
‘That’s the symbol of the Order of Malichea,’ explained Jake. ‘And that thing is the protective cover of a book that was hidden over five hundred years ago.’
Michelle looked at the piece of leather with new interest.
‘Wow,’ she said. Then she frowned. ‘Why was it hidden?’
‘OK,’ said Jake. ‘What I’m going to tell you is going to sound weird, but it’s all true. And I can back it up.’
Michelle studied Jake warily.
‘Is this going to be one of those “I was abducted by aliens” things?’ she asked. ‘Because we get a lot of those, and my editor says they’re a No-no.’
‘No, it’s nothing like that,’ said Jake. ‘It’s very practical, but it is a government secret.’
Michelle still looked suspicious.
‘We also get a lot of people coming to us with conspiracy stuff,’ she said. ‘You know, the government’s using radio waves to control our minds. That sort of thing. This isn’t one of those, is it?’
‘No,’ said Jake. ‘It’s about a secret scientific library that was hidden five hundred years ago, and why the government doesn’t want it found.’
Michelle still didn’t look convinced.
‘This doesn’t sound like a major-interest story,’ she sighed. ‘For one thing, five hundred years means it’s all in the past.’
‘No,’ Jake corrected her. ‘The books were hidden then. What’s happening because of them is happening now.’ He looked rueful. ‘Me being kidnapped, for one thing.’