The Invisible Assassin(33)

With that she stood up, and gave him a smile.

‘Call me,’ she said. ‘And soon.’





Chapter 15




Jake’s mind was a whirl as he headed back to the office. Johnson hadn’t acted like a reporter keen for a story. She’d acted like . . . like someone who already knew what was going on. The book needs to go back to its rightful owners. How did she know about the book? And who were the rightful owners? The Order of Malichea? But the Order had died out hundreds of years ago.

As he walked through the door of the large office, he stopped. Gareth was standing with Paul at Paul’s desk and they were looking at something on the screen of Paul’s computer. To his horror, Jake realised what it was: CCTV images from a security camera just outside Block C at Hadley Park. Even through the rain he could see the words ‘Block C’ clearly. And two figures standing by the closed door: one of them with no jacket on, but still wearing a balaclava helmet hiding his face, and the other with no helmet and her face showing clearly on the screen. Lauren. The CCTV must have started up again as the security system and the locks were turned back on by Jo, and they’d caught Jake and Lauren. But only Lauren was in full view and recognisable.

I have to warn her, thought Jake. He took out his mobile and turned to head for the corridor, when Gareth’s voice called out, ‘Jake!’

Jake turned and put on a casual smile to match Gareth’s beam of welcome. ‘Gareth,’ he responded.

‘We’re just watching the CCTV footage from last night’s raid at Hadley Park,’ said Gareth, gesturing towards the frozen image of Lauren on the screen.

‘The rabbit people,’ added Paul.

Jake looked at the screen.

‘Do we know who it is?’ he asked.

‘Not yet,’ said Gareth. ‘We’ll run her through the systems, see if anything comes up.’ He turned to Jake, his face questioning. ‘You don’t recognise her, do you, Jake?’

He knows! thought Jake. Frantically, Jake tried to remember if he’d ever introduced Lauren to Gareth. Maybe at some departmental do. Or had Lauren ever called at the office to meet Jake, and been spotted by Gareth?

He shook his head. ‘No,’ he said. He wondered if Gareth could tell he was sweating and his stomach was churning with panic. He looked at Gareth and forced a smile. Gareth’s concerned expression was fixed on his face, his eyes boring into Jake’s. ‘Do you feel all right, Jake?’

‘I’m fine, thanks,’ said Jake.

Gareth shook his head.

‘You say you’re fine, but are you?’ he asked. He sighed. ‘You never went to the medico yesterday, so I hear.’

‘Er . . . er,’ stammered Jake.

‘Remember, my instructions were to go home for a day, and then get yourself checked when you came back.’

‘Er, yes,’ nodded Jake. ‘Sorry about that, Gareth. I’ll go and see them this afternoon.’

‘No, you won’t,’ said Gareth. ‘You’ll get yourself checked now, Jake. Don’t forget, we have a duty of care for you. You think you’re fine, but who’s to say there mightn’t be some vestiges of the gas still hanging around in your system.’

‘OK, I’ll go down and see the medicos now,’ said Jake.

Gareth smiled.

‘We’re going to do better for you than that, Jake,’ he said. ‘We value you. You have a future here. And we need to invest in that future.’

Jake looked at him, baffled. What was he going on about? Gareth’s next words sent a shock wave through him, even more than Penny Johnson’s had done.

‘I’ve fixed up for you to see one of our top men,’ continued Gareth smoothly, his face expressing deep concern. ‘After all, the medico here said he couldn’t find anything wrong with you the other day.’ Gareth shook his head disapprovingly. ‘That’s not good enough. You suffered harm while doing your duty, Jake. We need to get to the bottom of it, in case there could be after-effects. I’ve arranged for you to go and see the department’s top man in Harley Street.’

He knows! thought Jake, his heart racing. He definitely knows! In some way Gareth had recognised Lauren and connected her to Jake. That, along with finding Jake earlier in the week in archives, asking about ‘Sigma’ and ‘Malichea’ . . .

Gareth was behind this. He was behind everything. He’s the government man protecting the secret of Malichea, Jake told himself in a panic, and he knows it was me who took the book! Now they’re going to take me to this doctor in Harley Street and shoot me up with Pentothal or some other truth drug, so I tell them where the book is. I have to get away!