The Last Enemy(44)

‘The power?’

Guy nodded.

‘Something inside your brain works things out and comes to the right answer. Where do you think it is, Jake?’

‘I told you, I don’t know!’ said Jake firmly.

Guy sighed.

‘That’s a pity.’ He gestured to Patch and Midge. ‘Put her in the chair and tie her to it.’

‘What?’ demanded Jake, shocked.

As Patch grabbed hold of Lauren, Jake saw Midge hesitate.

‘Midge!’ barked Guy, his tone commanding, and the girl took Lauren’s other arm and the two began to drag her towards a heavy wooden armchair.

Jake shouted, ‘No!’ and leapt at them. There was a flash of metal and he felt a sickening crunch on the side of his head that knocked him to the floor.

He struggled to his hands and knees, dazed, his head hurting, the taste of blood in his mouth.

Duke was grinning nastily down at him, holding the machete.

‘He only used the handle that time, Jake,’ said Guy. ‘Next time it’ll be the blade.’ He turned to the watching kids and ordered, ‘Spider. Des. Take hold of Jake and keep him under control.’ To Jake, he added, ‘If you do try anything, Jake, it’ll be your girlfriend who gets it. Duke here will take a slice out of her.’

‘I won’t try anything,’ Jake promised fervently.

‘Good,’ said Guy, adding with a mock apologetic tone, ‘and, because I can’t bear to hear someone scream . . . Gadge, stick some tape over her mouth.’

Gadge came forward, holding a roll of duct tape in her hand. She held out the roll to Duke, and he cut off a length with his machete. Gadge stuck the thick tape over Lauren’s mouth, while Midge and Patch continued tying her to the chair.

‘Good,’ said Guy. ‘Duke. Let me have the blade.’

Duke hesitated.

‘The blade, Duke!’ snapped Guy, and there was no mistaking the authority in his voice.

Sullenly, Duke handed over the machete to Guy. He turned towards Jake, who now had Spider and Des standing very close on either side of him.

‘This is the way it’s going to be, Jake,’ said Guy. ‘I ask you a question. If I’m happy with the answer, we can all leave. If I’m not . . .’ He brandished the machete. ‘Your girlfriend loses a finger. You’ll have ten opportunities to tell me what I need to know. After that, I start cutting off other parts of her.’

Once again, the image of Jasper Brigstocke’s mutilated body filled Jake’s mind.

‘No!’ pleaded Jake. ‘Please, don’t hurt her.’

‘Give me a reason not to,’ said Guy calmly.

He’s mad, thought Jake, just as Gareth said. Absolutely insane. There’s no way of appealing to him.

‘You’re not talking, Jake,’ said Guy with a sigh. ‘You’re not telling me what I want to know.’ To Patch he said, ‘Stretch out her right hand.’ To Jake, he said, ‘I think we’ll start with the little finger. Midge, hold her tightly.’

Again, Midge hesitated, and Jake could see the reluctance on her face. He looked across at Gadge, and saw that she was also very unhappy about what was happening.

But both girls are in too deep, Jake realised. They wouldn’t betray Guy.

Midge tightened her grip on Lauren, while Patch took hold of Lauren’s right hand and forced her clenched fist open, separating her fingers. Guy raised the machete. Lauren struggled wildly, and Jake could tell she was trying to scream, but the thick tape over her mouth stifled her cries.

‘This will hurt,’ Guy told her.

‘No!’ screamed Jake. ‘OK, I’ll tell you!’

Guy hesitated, the machete still raised.

‘As easily as that?’ he queried, with a sardonic smile. ‘I think you’re trying to fool me, Jake, just to stop your girlfriend getting carved up.’

‘No,’ said Jake desperately. ‘I think I know where The Index is.’

There was a pause, and then Guy slowly lowered the weapon.

‘If you’re lying to me I’ll cut off all her fingers and her toes,’ he threatened.

‘I’m not lying,’ said Jake desperately. ‘And it’s just a guess, but it’s the same sort of guess that got me here to find the Journal.’

Guy walked over to Jake and stood studying him thoughtfully, the machete still poised in his hands.

‘Where is it?’

‘I think it’s at the place they call the British Area 51. It’s a Government base at Laker Heath.’

Guy frowned, trying to work out if Jake was really telling the truth, or if it was just a ploy to save Lauren.

‘What makes you think that?’ he asked.

‘Because the only other place it could have been was here, at the site of the old chapel,’ said Jake. ‘You said yourself, you found hollow places beneath some of the flagstones you lifted, and I’m guessing they were just like the one where we found the Journal.’