Dark Tidings: Ancient Magic Meets the Internet Book 1 (23 page)

Buckingham finished outlining progress to date to the Council, oblivious to the fact that they were being watched by the very people they were trying to catch. The members were feeling increasingly anxious because progress had become a little tenuous since the three fugitives had left Michael’s flat. However, Buckingham had one piece of information which he knew would completely settle their nerves. He’d been holding back the most important and positive news until the end. He was just about to share it with the meeting when his phone rang.

He looked at the display, apologised to the meeting and pressed the answer button. He didn’t even say ‘hello’. He’d left strict instructions that he was not to be disturbed. Everyone knew he wouldn’t be taking any calls. This was different though, he knew who was calling and they wouldn’t disturb him unless there was something critical to report. He held the phone to his ear and waited to hear what was so important.

He listened carefully to the voice on the other end of the line. He knew that every word was carefully thought out, and true. His face drained of colour just before it reddened with anger. He hung up. He hadn’t uttered a single word.

“I have some bad news gentlemen,” he said addressing the meeting. “It appears that our secure teleconferencing system was not as secure as we were led to believe. The system was compromised, by Michael Phillips, so the fugitives have probably heard everything we’ve said up to this point. On the plus side, I’m told that the system is now totally safeguarded so we can talk candidly.”

Bedlam followed as the implications of the revelation sunk in. The fugitives knew every detail of how they planned to catch them. Disaster, they could clearly take evasive action. Worse still, these people now knew about the Occultus Populous and could identify the inner Council. Not only could they identify them, it was possible they’d recordings of the meetings which meant they had absolute proof of their existence. Would they leak it to the world? That was the question which each member was now contemplating. Individually they were horrified by the potential personal consequences, collectively they were totally incensed.

This was by far the most serious threat to the organisation’s anonymity since it was founded nearly a thousand years before. Their secret, which had been treasured and protected for a millennium, was now in jeopardy. To make matters even more galling, it wasn’t a major government or a popular global movement which threatened their very being. The threat came from a small band, three to be precise, of rogue thieves.

For at least ten minutes there was complete mayhem and not even Buckingham could intervene and bring order to the proceedings. However, when the commotion died down a little, he took his chance to restore some semblance of control. He knew he had one small, but significant, glimmer of hope to offer to the Council.

“Gentlemen, gentlemen, please let me speak. I have some very important news for you. I was about to tell you something extremely positive before we were so rudely interrupted. Please listen carefully because things may not be as bad as you think.”

There was a distinct calming of the tension as they turned their attention to Buckingham. Things were still edgy, but everyone seemed willing to listen to what Buckingham had to offer. Each member was praying for something to lift the gloom.

“Before we were given this dreadful disclosure, I was about to give you some good news,” he announced. “We have something which we’re convinced will help us capture our enemies very soon indeed. And once we have them we’ll ensure they talk to nobody… ever.”

Michael was absolutely determined to talk to Faith. He might already have blown any chance he had of having a future with her, but he needed to find out, one way or another. She was bound to feel he’d abandoned her, which effectively he had. Would she forgive him? He hadn’t seen her for what seemed like an eternity, but worse still, he hadn’t even spoken to her for more than forty-eight hours. He needed to make immediate contact. He just couldn’t shake the feeling that if he didn’t speak to her straight away, then all trust would be destroyed and their fledgling relationship would be over.

He spent the next hour carefully setting up an anonymous connection so he could make an untraceable call to her over the Internet. Total anonymity thanks to his friend, the Internet.

He took a deep breath and held it. Relax. He rang the mobile number he had in his secret little book and waited for an answer. He drummed his fingers on the table, trying to remember to breathe. His nerves jangled. His heart pounded. It was like asking someone for a first date, but a million times more gut-wrenching.

“Hello?”

“Hi Suzie, it’s Michael,” he said. “I really can’t explain why I’m calling you, but I need to talk to Faith on this phone. Is she there?”

Suzie was Faith’s flatmate and they’d been best friends for many years. They’d met in primary school and had hit it off straight away. He knew they shared everything from hairdryers to make-up to deep secrets, even the odd boyfriend apparently.

“Michael? Where on earth have you been? Faith’s been worried sick about you.”

“I really can’t explain. Is she there? Please, can I speak to her?”

“I don’t see why I should. You’ve really let her down.”

“Please Suzie. This is really important. I need to talk to her. I’ll explain everything to her.”

There was a long silence. Was she still there?

“OK, but you’d better not mess her around or I’ll have to kill you. I’m serious, do not hurt her or I really will kill you.”

There was another interminably long silence.

“Hold on, I’ll get her.”

He heard a few clinking sounds and a background conversation which he couldn’t make out… no matter how hard he strained his hearing muscles. Then he heard Faith say his name. The moment he heard her voice, his heart muscles tightened as an intense surge of emotion filled his chest, and all she’d said so far was ‘Michael’.

“Hi Faith, yeah it’s me. It’s lovely to hear your voice”

“Michael, I’ve been trying to get in touch for ages, but your mobile’s dead. Where have you been? What’s happened? Are you all right? Where are you?” she asked frantically. “I want to see you, I need to see you. I’ve missed you terribly. I’ve been so worried.”

“I know, I know. I’m so sorry. Things have been really hectic. I’ll tell you all about it when I see you.”

“OK, can we meet now? Can you come round here or can I come to you? Where the hell are you?”

“Listen Faith, we need to be extremely careful. I think I’m in big trouble. In fact, I know I’m in big, big trouble. I can’t explain much over the phone and I know this will all seem weird, but I need you to trust me.”

“You’ve got to give me something, Michael. You can’t just disappear off the face of the earth and not tell me anything. Give me something.”

“OK, but like I said, this will all seem pretty weird.”

“I’m listening.”

“First things first,” he said. “There are some very scary people after me and they’ve probably tapped your phone, that’s why I’ve called you on Suzie’s mobile. I’m not even sure we can talk freely on her phone because the bad guys may have hacked her phone as well. I need to talk to you privately… away from prying ears.”

“Is this some sort of joke, Michael, what the hell is going on?”

“Please, just trust me. I need you to go to the phone box outside the pub where we had our first drink. Don’t say the name,” he warned her. “Just tell me that you know where I mean.”

“Of course I know,” she said slightly peevishly. “Why all the mystery? You’re not James Bond you know. Are you sure you’re not just imagining all this intrigue?”

“I’m not imagining it. I’ll explain when we have some privacy.”

“Michael, you’re beginning to frighten me. What have you done?”

“Trust me,” he said. “Be beside the phone at 10.30… today. I’ll ring you. I’ll explain more then. Please, please be there. I miss you.”

He hung up and prayed she wouldn’t be too spooked to go to the phone box and wait for his call; a call between just the two of them. Even with their immense resources it would be impossible for these people to listen in. Of course, they could follow Faith to the box, but he’d have finished his private conversation with her by the time they got a line tap organised. He’d noted the number some time ago in preparation for just such an eventuality. He’d collected over fifty such numbers in the past eighteen months; he had prepared well. He breathed a deep sigh of relief, so far so good.

An hour later he called the phone box. It rang out without being answered. He waited a couple of minutes and called again; it rang out again. One more go, it had to be worth giving it one more go. He rang again and it was picked up on the second ring.

He heard a voice say ‘hello’, it was Faith.

“I’m so glad you came. I’ve called a few times. I thought I’d maybe scared you off.”

“I know I’m a few minutes late, but I got held up. And I think I’m being followed. I tried to shake them off, but I don’t think I did. There’s a man across the road who I’m sure is watching me. I’m scared Michael. What on earth is going on?”

“I know this seems crazy, but please trust me. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was someone on your tail. I know this is easy for me to say, but don’t worry about it. They’re only interested in you as a way to get to me. Turn your back on him, let’s give him as little to work with as possible.”

She turned away from the suspected watcher and held the phone tighter to her face. She cupped her hand over the mouthpiece to add to the secrecy.

“Now please listen really closely, I’m going to tell you some things which will sound unbelievable, but if you stick with me, this could be the start of our dreams coming true. So please, please bear with me.”

“Grrrrr aarrgh,” she said impersonating a bear. It was an old joke, but it eased the tension a little. He chuckled and echoed the impersonation.

Michael spoke for the next fifteen minutes or so; Faith merely added ‘uh-huh’ sounds at appropriate points. He didn’t tell her very much about Tung and Madrick, in particular he said nothing about time travel and magic… let’s keep the crazy stuff a secret for now. He did tell her about hacking the IIBE system and stealing the money.

“I’m doing it to destroy a monster, not to become rich myself. Okay, I’ve seeded away a couple of million for me, but a couple of mill is small beer compared to the billions of pounds involved here.”

“Michael, this is madness. They’ll just trace the money to your account.”

“No, the clever thing is the money’s mainly gone to random accounts,” he explained. “They’ll have literally tens of thousands of accounts to check and obviously I’m not using any accounts they’d recognise as mine. Oh, and before I forget, I popped twenty grand in your account. Go to your bank straight after this call and withdraw as much cash as they’ll let you have. It’ll help you to cover your expenses over the next few days.”

“What expenses? What are you talking about?”

“We need to meet up. I really need to see you.”

He hadn’t realised just how much he missed her until that very moment.

“Go and get as much money as you can. Then go to the public phone at the Ritz, the one just outside the restaurant. Be there at 3.30, I’ll call you then.”

“But…”

“Stay strong,” he added and then, for the very first time, he told her he loved her.

When Faith came off the phone to Michael she was literally shaking, she’d never been so nervous in her life. She walked around in little circles for five minutes to try and calm herself. As she did, she casually checked out all the people in her immediate vicinity. The man she thought was watching her had moved on, but there were a couple of others who looked a bit suspicious; she memorised their faces. She had to keep her wits about her if she was going to get through the next few days. She needed to be aware of everything that was going on around her. This whole situation could become very dangerous so caution was the watchword.

Relax girl, compose yourself. She took a couple of deep breaths. That helped her calm down, so she took a couple more. She felt better, ready for her next move. After making a few calls using the public phone, she headed for the bank. Would they really let her withdraw the money?

Her bank was about half an hour away. She thought about taking a taxi, but reckoned the walk would do her good; help to keep her calm. When she arrived at the bank she checked out the interior. She spotted an area where people were filling in forms. Perfect, she could position herself there for a while and watch the door to see who came in after her. She grabbed a pen and a couple of forms and, as casually as possible, pretended to fill them in. After about thirty seconds, a man she recognised entered the bank. He stopped just inside the door and did a sweep of the foyer with his eyes. As soon as he saw her he looked away, backed out of the door and was gone. Her heart thumped in her chest. Breathe.

She doodled on a couple more forms and kept watch. No one else came in, so she joined the short queue for the cashier windows. While she waited she mentally practised the words she would say when she reached the counter. Bile fluxed up her throat, its bitter taste forcing her to swallow repeatedly. Don’t be sick, please don’t be sick. Relax. Breathe. Her nerves were threatening her with a panic attack. She’d never asked for twenty thousand pounds in cash before. She’d never even seen twenty thousand pounds in cash before. Settle petal.

Her turn arrived. She took a deep breath and made her way to the cashier desk, hoping her legs wouldn’t fail her.

“Hi there, I’d like to close this account please,” she said, surprised that she sounded a lot more confident than she felt. She handed over her card and the girl tapped the details into the computer.

“Ahmmm. There’s a lot of money here. It’s way over the limit for withdrawals. I’ll have to check with the manager. Can you hold on please?”

The cashier disappeared through a door and left Faith standing at the counter. She shuffled her feet nervously and fiddled with the contents of her bag by way of distraction. Was everyone in the bank staring at her? Then she noticed one pair of eyes which she definitely recognised, a pair of eyes which were definitely staring at her. They belonged to the man who’d been watching her at the phone box; he’d come back into the bank. She was being followed. She’d been told she might be tailed, but the forewarning didn’t make it any the less disturbing. Before she had time to worry any more about it, the cashier returned and pointed to a door at the end of the cash windows.

“Please come on through, the manager would like to have a word with you.”

Faith crossed the floor, concentrating on one foot at a time. Don’t fall over, girl. The door was being held open. She was ushered through and into the manager’s office. Her nerves jingled and jangled. Was she going to be able to follow this through? Guilt and stress were a paralysing combination.

“Hello Miss Tamworth, please take a seat.”

Faith sat and held her breath, but maybe not in that order. Was this all some sort of extravagant ploy? Was he going to keep her there until a bunch of security guards arrived? She said nothing and waited to see how this was all going to pan out. She had no choice now.

“I’m sorry to hear that you want to close your account, you’ve been with us for a long time. Is there anything we can do for you which would make you change your mind?” he asked in a tone which started to put her more at ease.

“No, really, thank you. I just want to get my money out please. I’m moving and I want to have all my cash in my hand. I’ve got some debts which I want to sort out before I go. I need the cash to sort them.”

This was her practised speech, the one she’d been going over and over in her head. This was the first time she’d said it out loud and she was pleased with how good it sounded. It was plausible enough and it didn’t leave much scope for questioning or argument. The manager nodded his head.

“Fair enough, we’d never think of trying to pressurise anyone to stay with us, but I’m sure you appreciate why I had to ask. We hate losing customers like you.”

She tried to say ‘thank you’, but her mouth was too dry. Her tongue was actually sticking to the roof of her mouth. She smiled, mouth closed, and hoped it didn’t look weird.

“You’ll have to give us about half an hour to organise that amount of cash. Do you want to wait or come back? We’ll happily supply you with a briefcase for your cash. It’s a small gesture, but we want you to leave with a good impression of us. Maybe we’ll get you back as a customer sometime in the future.” He smiled as he rose from his chair and extended his hand.

After a brief handshake she was shown to a waiting area where she would spend the longest half hour of her life. It seemed to take an eternity. She listened nervously to the sounds of footsteps in the corridor and she froze every time anyone came into the room.

Eventually two uniformed men entered. Security had arrived. Her heart stopped.

“Miss Tamworth?” asked the larger man.

“Yes.”

“We have your money, all you need to do is sign a couple of forms and then you can be on your way.”

She took a cursory look at the documents which he held in front of her. She didn’t even try to read them. She just played the game and went through the pretence. Slowly, girl, you don’t want to be seen as over hasty. She took the offered pen and signed the forms on the line where the second man pointed.

“We’ll leave you here to count it,” said the first guard as he handed her a black leather briefcase. “Just call someone if there is a problem. Otherwise, thank you very much for your custom.”

The two men left the waiting room and Faith just stared at the case. She flicked the catches and literally gasped when she lifted the lid and saw the bundles of twenty and fifty pound notes. There was a printed A4 sheet on the top. It had her name, account details and a line which said ‘Total withdrawal £21,674.77’. There was also a white envelope which contained £4.77; the shrapnel.

She closed the briefcase and headed for the door. As she walked out of the bank she sensed the man who’d been following her was somewhere nearby. She forced herself not to look round, but she sensed him leaving the bank behind her.