The Invisible Assassin(35)

‘We want the book,’ said the short man.

‘The one you took from Hadley Park,’ came the quiet voice from behind him.

The pressure in Jake’s back had eased, but Jake was still aware of the man standing very close behind him.

How did they know? Government black ops, thought Jake. They know everything. They must have caught me on camera, some secret CCTV system.

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ he said.

The short man obviously expected to get this answer. His face didn’t register annoyance. In fact, he didn’t seem to register emotion of any sort.

‘Shall I shoot him in the leg?’ asked the man behind him. ‘Just so he gets the message we mean business?’

‘The arm would be better,’ said the short man. ‘We need him to be able to walk.’

The way they spoke about shooting him was so casual, so matter-of-fact, it sent a wave of terror surging through Jake. They’re going to kill me, he thought. They’ll torture me to get what they want; and then they’ll kill me.

‘You can’t shoot me!’ he protested. ‘People will come running!’

The short man gave a weary sigh.

‘It’s fitted with a silencer, dummy,’ he said in exasperation. ‘We’ll just take you somewhere.’

‘We’ll have come to your rescue after you’ve injured your arm in the street,’ whispered the man behind him. ‘Two friends looking after another.’

‘Or you can save yourself a lot of pain and just hand over the book,’ said the short wiry man.

Jake thought quickly. ‘OK,’ he nodded, ‘it’s in my office.’ And he gestured along the street back towards the Department of Science building.

These men aren’t from Gareth, he thought. Unless Gareth was playing a double game and Adam’s job had been to frighten Jake into running out of the building and into the clutches of these two. But that didn’t make sense. Adam had Jake trapped inside the building. He had a car waiting to deliver Jake to Dr Endicote, where he would undoubtedly be questioned. The way they answer this will tell me whether the men are also working for Gareth. If they think I’m able to just walk back into that building, they’re not connected with Gareth. In which case, who are they working for?

The short wiry man hesitated.

He’s thinking about it, thought Jake. And if they do let me go back inside the building to get the book, I’ll find somewhere to hide and then get out another way. Providing Adam and Gareth aren’t waiting for me, of course.

‘OK,’ said the short man. ‘Phone your pal in the office and get him to bring it out.’

Jake stared back at him, dumb-struck.

‘What?’ he asked.

‘You heard,’ said the man. ‘Take out your phone and call him. Tell him to bring the book out.’

‘I don’t have a pal in the office,’ said Jake desperately.

‘Yes, you do,’ said the man. ‘His name’s Evans. Paul Evans.’

How do they know that? thought Jake. ‘I don’t know his number,’ he flailed.

The short man gave a snort of disbelief.

‘Oh, come on!’ he sneered.

‘I don’t!’ protested Jake. ‘I never call him on the phone! He sits next to me!’

‘He’s faking,’ said the man behind him. ‘Wasting our time. I’ll shoot him.’

‘No!’ blurted out Jake desperately. What could he do? He didn’t have the book. Parsons had the book. Or, he had had the book. He could have put it somewhere safe by now. He gulped. ‘I don’t have his extension number on my mobile,’ he said.

‘That’s no problem,’ said the short man. ‘Phone the main switchboard and give them his name. They’ll put you through.’

Jake hesitated, looking about him. He was trapped. Everything else was going on normally around him: people coming in and out of the sandwich bar; traffic passing by; people going about their daily business, and in the centre of it, Jake was trapped between two SAS black ops soldiers with a silenced gun aimed at him. These men would have no pity for him, no sympathy. They were here to do a job: get the book off him. And they’d get it, even if it meant tearing out his fingernails, breaking his arms and legs, electrocuting him and burning him. They wanted the book.

With trembling fingers, he pulled out his mobile. He looked at it, then gulped. ‘It’s low on charge.’

‘No problem,’ said the short man. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a mobile phone. ‘This one is fully charged.’ He handed it to Jake, his face set in a grim expression. ‘Dial,’ he said firmly.