The Last Enemy(26)

‘Look!’ she said.

Jake followed her gaze, and let out a gasp himself. Guy was walking across the car park, and behind him was a teenage boy of about fifteen, wearing tracksuit bottoms and a hoodie. Even from this distance they could see he was pointing a gun at Guy’s back.

‘Let’s go!’ said Jake urgently.

He was just about to open the door and jump out, when Lauren stopped him.

‘Are you mad?’ she demanded. ‘He’s got a gun!’

‘But . . . It’s Guy! In trouble! Just like we said!’

‘He won’t shoot him,’ said Lauren. ‘Not here. Not unless you do something stupid.’

‘So what do you suggest?’

Guy and the kid reached the SUV. The rear door opened and Guy got inside. Then the kid with the gun got into the front passenger seat.

‘There are people already in it,’ said Lauren. ‘Two in the front, one in the back with Guy. And I bet you the one in the back’s also armed.’

‘Think I should ram their car?’ asked Jake. ‘Stop them getting away?’

‘And then they shoot us and take our car instead,’ said Lauren scornfully. ‘No, that’d be suicide. I don’t think they’ve spotted us, so we’ll follow them. And I’ll phone the police while we’re doing it.’

‘All right.’

The SUV reversed out of its parking space and headed for the exit. Jake set off after it.

‘Not too close,’ warned Lauren. ‘We don’t want to spook them.’

‘Yes, OK, I have been here before!’ Jake snapped back.

The SUV was a black Ford, and the number plate had been obscured with mud so it was impossible to read it. Jake kept a safe distance from them, while Lauren dialled 999 on her phone. As soon as the emergency services answered, she asked for the police, and told them what was happening.

‘What did they say?’ asked Jake as Lauren hung up.

‘They told me we shouldn’t get involved but should leave it to the police.’

‘Did they say what they were going to do? Put up roadblocks?’

‘No,’ said Lauren. She scowled. ‘I think she thought it was a hoax call.’

Ahead of them, the SUV had speeded up.

‘Let them go,’ urged Lauren. ‘Otherwise they’ll realise we’re following them.’

‘I don’t want to get too far behind,’ countered Jake. ‘It’s OK at the moment while we’re on this lane, but once we get to the main road, anything could happen.’

‘Hopefully, by then, the police will have turned up,’ said Lauren.

Suddenly something made Jake look into his rear-view mirror, and he was shocked to see a car speeding towards them from behind.

‘What the hell . . . !’ he exclaimed.

The car behind him pulled out, as if trying to overtake.

‘What’s that lunatic doing!’ shouted Jake.

The road was too narrow for two cars to pass, it was almost single track, but the car behind them was definitely trying to overtake. It shot forward, and the next second it was level with Jake and Lauren’s Mini. There was a terrible screeching sound as the side of the car scraped the metal of theirs. Then, the other driver swung towards Jake, smashing into his offside and pushing their Mini Cooper towards the nearside of the road.

Jake struggled to save their car, grimly trying to take control of the steering and keep the Mini on the road, but the smash had sent the wheels into a skid, and Jake felt the car slide, and plough through the thick bushes in the verge. As he slammed on the brakes, it stopped short just before it hit a tree.

The car that had forced them off the road had hurtled away at speed, and both it and the SUV were disappearing off round a bend in the road.

Their Mini had stalled. Jake restarted it, and tried to reverse, but the car had got caught up in the thick bushes.

Jake cursed and slammed his fist on to the dashboard.

‘That was deliberate,’ said Lauren. ‘The number plate was covered up with mud, the same as the SUV that had Guy in.’

‘But why force us off the road?’ demanded Jake.

‘They knew who we were. They recognised us.’

‘But we never got out of the car!’

‘So they knew who we were from our car registration.’

‘But who . . . ?’ began Jake. And then the obvious answer hit him, and both he and Lauren said it at the same time: ‘Pierce Randall.’

‘Anyway, with any luck the police will have stopped them,’ said Jake.

Lauren was already dialling 999 on her phone. Once again, she got through to the police emergency operator, and reported what had happened.

‘What did they say?’ asked Jake.

‘She said a patrol car was already on its way to de Courcey Hall,’ she said. ‘She told us to wait here for it.’