The Lethal Target(31)

But there was still a chance that the Russians were holding Lauren prisoner, despite Gordon’s doubts about that. He had to believe that Lauren was still alive, otherwise all of this would be for nothing.

‘OK,’ he said finally. ‘I’ll do it. But I want something in return.’

‘We’ll give you back-up, as much as we can without being seen to be involved,’ nodded Gordon.

‘I’m not talking about back-up,’ said Jake. ‘I want a deal. If I do this, then Gareth agrees to let Lauren back into the country, and any charges against her are dropped. Second, I want my old job back.’

Gordon laughed.

‘You’re mad!’ she said. ‘He’s not going to go for either of those.’

‘He will if he wants me to get the book back off the Russians,’ said Jake. ‘And I want his agreement in writing.’

Gordon fell silent. Then she said, ‘You’re serious, aren’t you?’

‘Deadly serious,’ said Jake. ‘I’m guessing that you’ve got one of those state-of-the-art phones that you can link to a printer.’

Gordon shrugged.

‘I may have,’ she said.

‘And it’ll have some kind of scrambler on it so you can send messages safely in code.’

Again, Gordon gave a small smile.

‘You’ve been watching too many James Bond films,’ she said.

‘No,’ he said. ‘I’ve been put under surveillance before, and by experts.’





Chapter 17



As the car pulled up in front of their guest house, Jake saw Manvers and Webb putting their luggage into their car.

‘Looks like someone’s called the dogs off,’ murmured Gordon.

‘Or they don’t think it’s worth staying here now that Lauren’s disappeared,’ suggested Jake.

Gordon sighed.

‘If you want my advice, you ought to carry on calling her Helen Cooper,’ she said. ‘When you get a cover story you have to stick to it.’

‘But I’m only talking to you, and you know who she really is,’ countered Jake.

‘Yes, but you always have to assume you can be overheard,’ said Gordon. ‘Spy School Basic.’

Jake nodded.

‘Point taken,’ he said.

They waited until Manvers and Webb had driven off before they got out of Gordon’s car, to avoid any awkward questions the Immigration inspectors might ask. But, from the grim expressions on the faces of Manvers and Webb, it didn’t look as if they were much inclined to start a conversation anyway.

‘I’ll get on to Lord Voldemort for you,’ said Gordon. ‘Let’s see what he says.’

They entered reception, and Gordon headed straight upstairs. Through the open door of the bar area, Jake saw Alec, Jeannie and Rona MacClain talking. Time to sort some things out and clear the air, he thought.

He walked into the bar. The three were so deeply engaged in their conversation, talking in low and urgent tones, that they weren’t aware of Jake’s presence at first, until Jeannie MacClain half turned and saw him.

‘Mr Wells!’ she said.

Immediately, Alec and Rona stopped talking and turned to look at him, startled.

‘I’m sorry for all the trouble you’ve had,’ said Jake apologetically, ‘but it wasn’t me who killed John Gordon.’

‘No, that was the impression we got from Mrs Gordon,’ said Alec. He frowned, puzzled. ‘Though how she knew . . .’ He shook his head. ‘Especially as it was her husband who died.’

‘I was framed,’ said Jake. ‘Someone wanted me out of the way. And John Gordon. And Helen. And Dougie.’

‘Why?’ asked Jeannie.

‘The book,’ said Rona.

‘It has to be,’ said Jake. ‘It’s the only thing that links us.’ Desperately hoping for good news, he asked, ‘Has there been any news of Helen?’

They shook their heads.

‘What happened?’ asked Jake.

‘I went to the boat hut to take her some food,’ said Rona. ‘The door had been broken open and she was gone.’

‘I went along when Rona called me,’ added Alec. ‘It looked like there’d been signs of a struggle. A chair was lying on its side, things had been pulled off the shelves.’

‘Any car tracks?’ asked Jake.

Alec shook his head.

‘No,’ he said.

‘It has to be the Russians,’ said Rona.

‘Really?’ queried Jake. ‘Now they’ve found the book I’d have thought they’d be packing up.’

‘It doesn’t look like it,’ said Alec. ‘We’ve been taking turns to keep an eye on them. Soon after the book was found, two of the Russians took the ferry to the mainland.’