The Last Enemy(4)

Because they didn’t know what was in the bag, thought Jake. Whoever did this thought the bag held some information to do with the Order of Malichea, possibly about The Index. I was right, I was followed.

‘I don’t know,’ said Jake. ‘All I know is that someone used that duplicate disc to steal my bag from your cloakroom.’

‘And we’ll certainly report it to the police and investigate it,’ said the security guard.

‘I’ll report it to the police as well,’ said Jake. But in his heart he knew it was a waste of time. Whoever had snatched his bag had planned this carefully. Someone was after him. Again.





Chapter 2




Jake and Lauren rode the Tube back to Finsbury Park in a kind of shock.

‘The meeting at Muswell Hill wasn’t a hoax,’ said Jake. ‘Someone else knew about it and thought I’d picked up some sort of information at that meeting, and they thought I’d put it in my bag for safe keeping.’

‘But if they’d been watching you, they’d have known that the person didn’t actually turn up. That you never actually met them,’ pointed out Lauren.

‘Maybe they couldn’t be sure,’ said Jake. ‘They see people pass me by while I’m standing there, and for all they know someone had slipped something to me. A book. A piece of paper.’

Lauren shook her head.

‘Who?’ she asked.

‘No idea,’ admitted Jake. ‘It could be any of the people we’ve come across since we started. Pierce Randall. MI5. The Watchers. Or maybe it’s somebody completely new.’ He sighed. ‘Anyway, for the moment we can forget about them. The only thing we know is they’ve got my bag.’

‘Yes, but when they find out it’s just got a bar of chocolate and a packet of nuts and a bottle of water, maybe they’ll come after you again,’ suggested Lauren.

‘Good point,’ muttered Jake. ‘Once we get into the flat, we’ll lock all the doors firmly and barricade ourselves in for the evening.’

‘Do I get to choose which DVD we watch?’ asked Lauren with a smile. ‘Nothing too scary, I promise.’

Jake grinned.

‘Sorry, I know I’m starting to get paranoid,’ he said.

‘It’s only a bag,’ stressed Lauren. ‘We’ve been in a lot worse situations and come out of them OK.’

As they neared their small block of flats they were still joking about some of the life-threatening situations they’d been in, when suddenly Jake stopped in his tracks and any smile on his face vanished.

‘What’s the matter?’ asked Lauren.

‘Two men waiting outside our block,’ he muttered.

Lauren followed his look, and gave a sharp intake of breath.

‘I think we’d better go,’ she murmured.

‘Good idea,’ said Jake.

He turned, and as he did so he found a large man standing in his way. A tall thin woman was beside the man. Both were holding out what appeared to be police warrant cards.

‘Mr Jacob Wells? I’m Inspector Bullen from the CID. This is Detective Sergeant Aziz.’

Automatically, Jake stepped back, prepared to run, but out of the corner of his eye he saw the two men from his block of flats hurrying towards them. Inspector Bullen was still speaking, and as his words registered, Jake felt his mouth open in shock.

‘I am arresting you on suspicion of being involved in the murder of Alexander Munro . . .’

‘Munro!’ Jake echoed. ‘What?’

‘You have the right to remain silent, but anything you say may be taken down and may be used as evidence,’ continued Bullen. With that, he turned to the two men, who had now arrived. ‘Handcuff Mr Wells and put him in the car.’

‘No!’ yelled Jake. ‘I didn’t do anything!’

As the two men took hold of Jake and handcuffed him, Lauren demanded, ‘Where are you taking him? I’m his girlfriend and I’ll be contacting his legal representative, so I insist on knowing where you are taking him.’

‘We’re not sure yet,’ said Bullen. ‘That depends.’

They’re not real policemen, thought Jake with alarm. If they were, they’d name the station they’re taking me to.

‘Phone Gareth,’ Jake said to Lauren. ‘Tell him what’s happened.’

‘I need to know where you are taking him,’ persisted Lauren doggedly.

‘We’re taking him to Holloway Road station,’ said Bullen, ‘but the chances are we’ll be moving him on for questioning. If you give me your phone number, we’ll contact you as soon as we know which station Mr Wells is being held at.’

‘Phone Gareth!’ repeated Jake urgently.