The Last Enemy(48)

‘Des, you keep an eye on things here.’

Des looked concerned.

‘Don’t you want me to drive?’ he asked. ‘Say he tries anything?’

Guy smiled confidently.

‘He won’t,’ he assured Des. ‘Because we’re going to have an arrangement.’ He turned to Jake and said, ‘Just in case you’re thinking that while we’re away from here, it’s worth trying to overpower me, or crash the car or something, and then get away and warn the authorities, that’s not a good idea. You see, I’m leaving Des with specific instructions.’ He looked at his watch. ‘It’s three o’clock now. It’ll take us about an hour to get to Laker Heath. Let’s be generous, say an hour and a half. Then half an hour inside to find The Index.’ He grinned cockily. ‘Let’s be generous again. Forty-five minutes.’ He turned to Des. ‘So, Des, if you don’t get a call from me by a quarter past five, you kill Jake’s girlfriend and the other two.’ He turned back to Jake. ‘How does that sound to you, Jake? Think we’ll have The Index by quarter past five?’

Jake stared at Guy, shocked, his mind reeling. Yes, Guy was mad.

‘We don’t even know it’s there!’ he protested.

‘It was your guess, Jake,’ said Guy. ‘That’s what saved your girlfriend.’ He gave Jake a questioning look. ‘If you’re having second thoughts, we could always go back inside and . . .’

At the thought of Lauren tied to the chair, and the sound of the machete crunching through Gareth’s finger, Jake shook his head.

‘No,’ he said quickly, feeling sick. ‘I’m sure it’s there.’

‘Good,’ said Guy. ‘Right, Des. Expect a phone call from me by quarter past five. If you don’t get it, kill them. Right, Jake, let’s go and get the car. You first.’

‘Where is it?’ asked Jake. ‘I didn’t see any cars when we came.’

‘That’s because you came in the back way,’ said Guy. ‘The front entrance is this way.’ And he pointed towards where the overgrown pathway headed towards a gap in the trees. Then he stopped, and dropped his hand, a startled expression on his face. Jake looked at what had made him stop, and saw that the three Mexicans who’d grabbed him and Lauren had just walked through this same gap and were standing glaring grimly at Guy.

‘Manolo!’ exclaimed Guy. The startled surprise had gone and been replaced by a friendly, cheerful tone of welcome. Yes, thought Jake ruefully, Guy really can switch his charm on and off. ‘You found me!’ Then, curious, he asked, ‘How?’

‘That’s not important,’ growled Manolo. He reached into his pocket and pulled a knife from it, the same knife he’d threatened Jake and Lauren with.

‘Well, I disagree, old friend,’ said Guy. ‘It’s important to me.’

‘You cheat us!’ snarled Manolo. ‘You promise us money, but then you sell us out.’

‘I did nothing of the sort!’ protested Guy.

‘Then where is money you promise us?’ demanded the angry Mexican.

‘I’ve got it safe,’ said Guy. ‘It’s in a bank.’

Manolo scowled again.

‘Money in a bank no good to us,’ he grunted, and his two companions nodded. ‘You promise us cash.’

‘And you shall have cash,’ Guy assured them, his voice sincere and earnest.

‘When?’ demanded the Mexican harshly.

‘I can let you have some right now,’ said Guy. ‘Let’s call it a down payment.’

‘Let’s see this money!’ demanded Manolo suspiciously.

Guy nodded, put his hand into his coat pocket, and pulled out the gun. Before the Mexicans could react or take a cover, he pressed the trigger and a stream of bullets poured out, with Guy spraying the gunfire back and forth, left and right. It was over in seconds. Jake stared in horror at the bodies of the three dead Mexicans sprawled on the ground.

Guy took a fresh clip of ammunition from his pocket and replaced the empty clip in the gun, then put the weapon back in his pocket. He turned to Jake with a broad smile on his face.

‘See, Jake!’ he said. ‘What did I tell you! The Hechler and Koch MP5K! A fantastic piece of kit!’

The sound of gunfire had brought the others out of the ruins. They stared at the bodies of the dead Mexicans.

‘Nosy people,’ explained Guy airily. ‘They could have got us into trouble. You’d better get rid of them while Jake and I are away. Bury them somewhere. Oh, and you’d better go and find their car. Take it and set fire to it, but do it somewhere away from here. We don’t want any more people sniffing around.’