The Invisible Assassin(58)

‘And you think if you’d been nearer, they’d have given you less time to get there. Say, twenty minutes if you’d been at Euston?’

‘Exactly.’ Jake nodded. ‘They’re watching me.’ Then the realisation hit him as he remembered what Penny Johnson had said. ‘No, they’re tracking me!’ He pulled out his mobile phone. ‘Someone told me that both Lauren and I have been tracked by the signals from our mobile phones. Even when they’re switched off they give out a signal.’

‘This is someone with very powerful and sophisticated tracking equipment,’ grunted Robert.

‘It is,’ said Jake. ‘Which means, if they know about you, they’ll know you’re with me.’

Robert scowled.

‘Damn!’ he burst out. Then he leant forward and tapped on the glass between them and the driver. ‘Pull over!’ he ordered.

The cab driver immediately pulled over to the kerb.

‘Wait here,’ commanded Robert.

He got out of the cab and walked along the kerb until he came to a drain, where he dropped his mobile phone. Then he walked back to the cab, got in, and ordered the driver to carry on. Robert looked at Jake and gave a wry smile. ‘That was a good phone as well,’ he said.

‘Someone will find it,’ said Jake. ‘One of the sewer workers. You might end up with phone bills for calls to Australia.’

Robert shook his head. ‘It’s pay as you go,’ he said. ‘Anyway, from now on they’ll think I’ve left you and you’re on your own. So, what’s the plan?’

‘To be honest, I don’t have one,’ admitted Jake. ‘I just thought we’d have more chance of getting Lauren out of this alive if there was more than just me.’

Robert looked at him, his expression doubtful. ‘That’s not much of a plan!’

‘No, it isn’t,’ agreed Jake with a sigh.

‘And we don’t have anything to protect ourselves with,’ pointed out Robert. ‘No weapons or body armour of any sort. And these people are quite likely armed to the teeth, and there’ll be loads of them.’

‘Yes,’ sighed Jake gloomily. ‘You don’t have to come in with me, Robert. Like you say, it’s a loser. All we can hope is they’re true to their word. If they’re not, there’s not much the two of us can do about it.’

‘You give up easily,’ muttered Robert disapprovingly.

‘I’m not giving up,’ protested Jake. ‘I’m just saying there’s no need for both of us to . . .’ He hesitated.

‘Get killed?’ asked Robert.

‘Well, I wasn’t going to exactly say that,’ said Jake awkwardly.

‘No one kills me,’ stated Robert firmly. ‘I play rugby.’

‘But not against bullets.’

‘We don’t know they’ve got guns.’

‘They’re some sort of gangsters,’ countered Jake. ‘They’re bound to have guns.’

‘But they won’t use them,’ said Robert. ‘Not if we bluff them.’

‘Bluff them? How?’

‘I don’t know,’ admitted Robert. ‘But we’ll think of something.’

He looked at his watch, and then at the area they were entering. ‘And we’d better do it fast,’ he said. ‘We’re just coming to Paddington Station.’

As the taxi turned off the main road past Paddington Station, and then into Wharf Road North, Jake racked his brains for a scheme to bluff their unknown enemies with. Telling them the police were outside wouldn’t help – they’d said they’d kill Lauren if he brought the police in.

The taxi crawled along the Wharf Road. It appeared to be filled with warehouses and storage companies. They pulled up outside number forty-three, a warehouse which looked like it hadn’t been occupied for some time.

‘This is it,’ said Jake.

He felt a knot of nervousness in his stomach as he and Robert got out of the taxi and he paid the driver.

‘Any plan yet?’ asked Robert.

‘Yes and no,’ said Jake. ‘I think I go in alone. You see if you can creep in and hide somewhere and watch, and make a move if things look bad. After all, if that phone thing of yours worked, they won’t know you’re here.’ Jake took his mobile phone and handed it to Robert. ‘Just in case things do go bad, you can phone nine-nine-nine.’

Robert hesitated and seemed about to reject the phone. Then he took it from Jake and slipped it into his pocket.

‘Thanks,’ he said. He turned to Jake. ‘I was wrong about you,’ he said gruffly. ‘I thought you were no good and using Lauren. You really care for her, don’t you?’