The Lethal Target (14 page)

Jake got out of bed and dressed. His head still ached, so he took a couple of painkillers, then went downstairs. Alec MacClain was in reception.

‘Mr Wells!’ he exclaimed when he saw Jake. ‘You didn’t need to get up! We’d have brought you up anything you wanted. All you had to do was phone down from your room.’

‘I’m fine,’ Jake assured him. ‘Well, fine-
ish
,’ he admitted. ‘Anyway, Dr Patel said he thought it would be better for me to get up.’ He looked around to make sure there was no one else within earshot, then asked, ‘Anything happened?’

Alec MacClain sighed. ‘There’s been no sign of your friend, I’m afraid. The police tell me they’re going to mount a major search tomorrow. They’re bringing in coastguard teams, search and rescue and volunteers, and they’ll be covering every square inch.’

They won’t find her, realised Jake. Whoever took Lauren is keeping her under lock and key. If she’s still alive, that is. Angrily, he tried to dismiss the possibility that she wasn’t from his mind. She’s alive! he told himself. She
must
be!

Alec MacClain leant towards Jake and muttered, ‘The two Russians are back. The ones who went to the mainland. They came back on the ferry this morning.’

‘Does anyone know where they’ve been?’

Alec shook his head.

‘No, but the best guess is Glasgow or Edinburgh.’

‘So, whatever they went to get, they’ve brought back,’ said Jake thoughtfully.

‘That’s what it looks like,’ agreed Alec.

The materials to create spontaneous human combustion. To make a human body burst into flames. And they’d only be doing that if they wanted to test them out. And, the fact that they’d come back to Mull meant they were planning to test them here, on the island. On someone. A human specimen.

Lauren.

I have to stop them, thought Jake. He had to get into the Russians’ cottage. He was sure that was where Lauren was being kept prisoner.

The two Russians were back with the necessary ingredients. The experiment would be taking place any time now.

I have to go in, thought Jake. I have to go in
now
.

Chapter 21

Jake returned to his room and put on his jacket, then slipped a small torch into his pocket. He would need it to make his way through the tunnel, away from any daylight. He looked out of the window. Not that there was much daylight left; the evening darkness was starting to descend. He hoped the darkness would give him the cover he needed.

He went carefully and quietly down the stairs. If he could, he hoped to get to the cave and the secret tunnel without anyone seeing him. He felt confident in the MacClain family, but bitter experience in the past had shown him that, as far as the Malichea books were concerned, no one was to be trusted.

He made it out of the guest house unseen, but as he set off down the cliffside path to the shore, he ran into Rona coming up.

‘Mr Wells!’ she said, alarmed. ‘Should you be out?’

‘Yes,’ Jake assured her. ‘But I’d rather you didn’t say anything to anyone apart from your parents.’

She looked troubled.

‘There’s still no sign of your friend,’ she said.

‘No,’ said Jake. ‘So I understand.’ He looked past her, down towards the shore. ‘Where’s Robbie?’

She let out a heartfelt sigh.

‘I don’t know,’ she said. ‘I’ve just been along to the boat shed, looking for him.’ She looked appealingly at Jake. ‘I’m worried that he’s going to do something stupid. If you see him, will you stop him?’

‘I’ll do what I can,’ said Jake. ‘But I don’t think what I say carries much weight with your brother. Anyway, I’d better be moving along.’

‘You’re going into the tunnel, aren’t you?’ she said. ‘Into the Russians’ cottage.’

Jake hesitated, then he nodded.

‘Yes,’ he said.

‘Let me come with you!’ Rona begged.

‘No,’ said Jake firmly. ‘We’ve seen what these people can do. If you went in and anything happened to you, it would kill your parents.’ And they’d kill me, thought Jake to himself.

It was the best argument he could have put to her. He saw her face fall as she thought about her parents. She nodded.

‘What shall I do if you’re not back?’ she asked.

Jake did his best to put on a confident smile.

‘Add me to the list of people the search and rescue team are looking for.’ He grinned.

It was a confidence he didn’t feel at all. He was going into the enemy’s den, alone and unarmed, with no plan as to what he was going to do once he was inside.

He gave Rona a wink, and then set off down the steep path to the shore.

He walked along the shingled beach, stumbling slightly on the uneven ground in the gathering darkness as he moved. Finally, he came to the narrow cave that led to the secret tunnel. He checked that no one seemed to be watching, and then he slipped into the cave.

The barnacle-encrusted wooden boards that hid the entrance seemed to be in the same place where he, Lauren and Rona had left them on their last visit. He hoped that meant that Robbie hadn’t come this way. But then Robbie had told Jake very firmly that he had no intention of using the tunnel. But that didn’t mean Robbie wouldn’t.

Jake switched on the torch and heaved the heavy boards aside. The effort it took made his head start to ache again. What was it the doctor had told him? Nothing strenuous. Yes, well, all that was out of the window. There was only one thing that mattered now, and that was getting Lauren back safely.

He found the steep steps carved into the rocks and began to climb them. At times they were so narrow he had to use his hands and knees, but finally he could hear voices above him, and knew he was getting to the top.

He switched off the torch and allowed his eyes to get used to the darkness. Then he climbed slowly up the last few steps. All the time the voices, though muffled, were getting louder. Finally he came to a wooden partition. This must be the back of the cupboard, he thought. There was a small hole in the wood, and Jake peered carefully through and saw an empty cupboard in front of him. Empty, that is, except for some dust-covered bottles on a shelf.

Good, he thought. No one should want to open this cupboard to get anything.

Jake looked for a latch or some kind of catch in the wooden partition; and found it at one side. As quietly as he could, he pulled on the catch, and the wooden partition opened like a door.

Jake crept in. He worked his way towards the actual door of the cupboard, which was just an arm’s length away. There was another hole in this piece of wood. He put his eye to the hole, and had to dig his fingernails into his palms to stop himself yelling out.

Lauren was there, tied to a chair. At the far back of the room, near to the door, were two tough-looking Russians, both with pistols in holsters strapped to their belts.

Jake twisted to try to get a better view of the room, and saw the tall figure of Professor Lemski come into focus. The professor was standing next to Lauren, drumming his fingers on a small wooden table next to her. On the small table Jake saw the familiar black-leather casing, embossed with the symbol of the Order of Malichea, which he recognised as the protective cover for the book. The book itself lay open on the table. Next to it were some racks of test tubes filled with different sorts of liquid, and in front of them was a hypodermic needle, with a yellowish liquid inside.

‘As I was saying, you’re presence here is very opportune, Ms Graham,’ said Lemski.

Jake saw Lauren glare at Lemski.

‘And as I’ve already told you, my name is Helen Cooper,’ she said. ‘I am from New Zealand . . .’

‘Please, spare us the cover story,’ said Lemski with a sigh. ‘We knew who you were soon after you arrived. Your fame precedes you.’

Lauren looked puzzled.

‘What do you mean ‘‘fame’’?’ she asked.

‘We are both interested in the same areas of science,’ said Lemski. ‘It is natural that someone like myself should check on what others in the same field are doing. I discovered your account of the history of the Order of Malichea, and the hidden library, some time ago, and followed your researches devoutly until they were terminated by British intelligence.’

Lauren still looked puzzled.

‘I didn’t publish anything,’ she said. ‘Not in print or on the net.’

‘You didn’t need to,’ said Lemski. ‘Once you had checked out a website about Malichea that we had set up, we had access to your computer. Our technical people are very advanced in their use of surveillance techniques. Better than your own MI5.’

‘So you hacked into my computer and you’ve been spying on me?’

Lemski nodded.

‘And not just during your time in England. Once we learnt that you had been exiled to New Zealand . . .’

‘How did you discover that?’ asked Lauren.

Lemski smiled.

‘Please. Every security service has agents inside those of other countries. You British have yours in ours; we have our people inside yours. It is the same whether it’s the Americans, the Chinese, the French . . . whoever.’ He smiled. ‘There are very few secrets in the world of secrets.’

‘Can we get on with it?’ growled another voice. An American. It was Muir!

The American came into view, a scowl on his face as he said, ‘Let’s see if this thing works! That’s what we’re here to do! Time is money!’

Lemski turned to the American and shook his head disapprovingly.

‘Patience, please, Mr Muir,’ he murmured. He tapped the open book. ‘This information has lain hidden for hundreds of years. It should be savoured, not rushed. Remember, that until Ms Graham arrived on the scene in this timely fashion, we might have had to wait until I returned to Russia before testing it out.’

‘Don’t give me that!’ snapped Muir. ‘We were always going to find someone local to test it out on.’

Lauren looked apprehensively at the book, and at the hypodermic syringe.

‘Test it out?’ she asked, and Jake could detect the note of fear in her voice.

‘Of course.’ Lemski nodded. ‘You know what this book is about, of course?’

Lauren shook her head. Lemski sighed.

‘Really, Ms Graham, I wonder why you bother with this pretence. It won’t help your situation. It concerns spontaneous human combustion. More precisely, the book contains the formula for an elixir to create it.’ He looked thoughtful. ‘It is based on observations Dioscorides made of the conditions under which it occurs in humans. We have tried to create the condition ourselves, but unfortunately — although they have succeeded — our formulae have had their limitations. In particular, they take too long to take effect.’

‘Just like you’re taking too long to get on with it!’ growled Muir. ‘What is it with you Ruskies! All this talk!’

Yes, please keep talking, Jake begged silently. With a sick feeling, he now knew what they were going to do. They were going to inject Lauren with the formula in the hypodermic, and hope to set off a reaction in which she would burst into flames. I have to stop them! thought Jake. But how?

As well as Lemski and Muir, there were the two other Russians in the room, both armed. They’d shoot him dead as soon as he burst out from his hiding place. His only hope was that Lemski would keep on talking long enough for Jake to come up with something. Some diversion. But even if he did, how would Lauren be able to get away? She was bound securely to the chair.

Suddenly there was shouting outside the door, an angry voice yelling and other raised voices talking in Russian. Then the door burst open and two Russians came in, dragging Robbie between them. Robbie’s hands had been cable-tied together behind his back, and there was a livid bruise over one eye, and blood around his nose and mouth.

One of the Russians said something to the professor, who nodded, and replied in Russian. At once, the two other Russians in the room pulled a chair over, sat Robbie in it and began to tie him up, ropes going around his legs and wrists, the same as Lauren’s bonds.

‘Well, well,’ said Lemski. ‘This is getting exciting, don’t you think, Mr Muir?’

‘You won’t get away with this!’ raged Robbie.

‘Oh, I think we will,’ said Lemski confidently. ‘After all, we got away with getting rid of your uncle when we caught him nosing around.’ He looked pointedly at Muir. ‘Although it was a very unsubtle way to dispose of him. Personally, I’d have preferred to have kept him for something like this.’

‘I didn’t have much choice,’ said Muir. ‘He came at me. I had to defend myself. And anyway, at that stage you didn’t have the book, and we weren’t sure you were going to find it.’

‘I was always sure we were going to find it,’ countered Lemski flatly. ‘The fact that Mr MacClain defended it so fiercely told me it was definitely hidden at this site.’

‘I’ll kill you for what you did to my uncle!’ Robbie spat furiously.

‘I doubt that,’ said Lemski calmly. He smiled. ‘In fact your arrival gives me a choice. Which one of you to use first for the experiment.’

Robbie looked at Lemski warily.

‘What experiment?’ he demanded.