The Lethal Target(46)

‘He’s alive,’ said Lauren. ‘But he needs a doctor.’

‘He’s been shot,’ said Jake. ‘We need to phone Dr Patel.’

‘I can’t,’ said Jeannie. ‘None of the phones are working.’

‘None?’ queried Lauren.

‘None. And they’ve taken Rona and Alec!’

Jake and Lauren stared at her, shocked. She was obviously doing her best to keep control of her emotions, but the fear of everything that was happening showed clearly on her face.

‘Let’s get Robbie to Dr Patel,’ said Jake.

‘Don’t move him! I’ll bring the Land Rover over!’ said Jeannie, and she broke into a run. Jake picked up the shotgun she’d dropped and turned around to check the path up from the shore.

‘I bet it’s not loaded,’ said Lauren. ‘She fired it at us, remember.’

‘The Russians won’t know that,’ replied Jake.

‘The Russians coming up that path will be armed,’ Lauren pointed out.

Before Jake could come up with an answer, Jeannie returned over the bumpy ground at the wheel of the Land Rover. Gently, they loaded Robbie’s unconscious body into the back, then Lauren climbed in beside him, while Jake joined Jeannie in the cab. As she drove, Jeannie filled them in on what had happened.

‘It was less than an hour ago,’ she said. ‘The Russians came to the guest house. Professor Lemski with four others, all heavily armed. They took Alec and Rona with them. It happened just after the phones went down. I drove to the police station and told Constable Frierson what had happened, then I came back here. I loaded up the shotgun. I’d decided I was going to go to the cottage where the Russians are and demand they hand Alec and the bairns over. They had my whole family! I wasn’t going to let them do that to us!’

With one of her fists she thumped the steering wheel hard, expressing her anger.

‘When I saw you coming up at the top of the path, at first I thought it was the Russians coming back; this time to take me! So I slipped out and hid behind the wall.’

‘Luckily you only fired a warning shot,’ said Jake.

‘Professor Lemski left a message for you.’

‘For me?’ asked Jake.

‘For you and Helen Cooper. Although he called her Ms Graham.’

Jake sighed.

‘I’ll explain later,’ he said. ‘What was the message?’

‘He said you were to take the book to them at the cottage, or Alec and Rona will die. By fire, he said.’

Spontaneous human combustion, thought Jake. He’ll inject them and they’ll burst into flames.

‘Did he give a deadline for us delivering the book to him?’ asked Jake.

‘Eleven o’clock this morning,’ said Jeannie.

Jake looked at his watch. It was 9.30 a.m.

‘An hour and a half!’ he said.

Dmitri must have radioed Lemski and told him that Jake and Lauren had managed to escape from the island. Immediately, Lemski had hurried to the guest house and taken Alec and Rona hostage. That was why there had been no further chasing from Dmitri or from any of the other Russians.

‘Lemski said he wants both of you to deliver the book personally,’ added Jeannie. Suddenly the vehicle slowed. ‘Here we are,’ said Jeannie.

As they pulled up outside Dr Patel’s house, Jake saw a police car parked there. Good, he thought. That saves us having to go and find them.

Jake leapt out of the Land Rover and was about to run to the doctor’s house, when the door opened and Dr Patel hurried out, accompanied by Detective Sergeant Stewart and Constable Frierson.

‘What’s happened?’ demanded Stewart. ‘How did you get away?’

‘Later!’ said Jake. ‘Robbie’s in the back, and he’s been shot.’

Carefully, they took Robbie from the back of the Land Rover and carried him into the doctor’s house, and to the consulting room. They laid him on the medical couch.

Dr Patel examined the unconscious Robbie, then turned to them, his expression grim.

‘He needs to be treated in an A&E unit,’ he said. ‘The best I can do is stabilise him until we can get him to the mainland.’ He looked at Jeannie MacClain. ‘Will you act as my nurse, Mrs MacClain? I’m afraid Donna isn’t with me today, with all that’s going on.’

‘Of course,’ said Jeannie.

‘We’ll leave you to it,’ said Stewart. He looked pointedly at Jake and Lauren. ‘We need to talk,’ he said.

Jake and Lauren followed Stewart and Constable Frierson out of the house.

As they stood in front of the house, Jake reflected on how bizarre their situation was. Everything seemed so peaceful, so tranquil. The sounds of seagulls as they wheeled overhead, the quietness of the island, the vast expanse of blue sky above them, the varying shades of green of the heathlands stretching out from this small rural hamlet; and yet there was more man-made malevolent evil and danger here right at this moment than in some of the most dangerous inner cities.