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.