The Lethal Target (9 page)

‘OK,’ said Lauren. ‘So we’re agreed, the first thing to do is get the book from the Russians. Which means finding out where they’ll be keeping it.’

‘We think they’ll take it to the cottage,’ said Jake. ‘They won’t leave it at the site. The problem is, the cottage is heavily guarded. And it’ll be even more so once the book’s there.’

Rona fell silent, thinking. Then she said, ‘There’s a secret way in.’

Jake and Lauren looked at her, intrigued.

‘Where?’ asked Jake.

‘There’s a tunnel that goes up from one of the caves on the shore, and comes out at the back of a cupboard in the kitchen. It was used by smugglers, getting stuff in and out of boats without being seen.

‘Robbie and I watched when Mrs Strange had the cottage done up by Glenmorie the builders, so we know they left that secret entrance intact.’

‘Maybe the Russians have discovered it?’ suggested Lauren.

Rona shook her head.

‘Unlikely,’ she told them. ‘You can only really find it from the tunnel side.’

‘So, that’s our way into the cottage,’ said Jake.

‘Unless Robbie goes in that way before us,’ mused Lauren.

‘Leave him to me,’ said Rona. ‘I’ll talk to him, get him to hold off.’

‘And if he doesn’t?’ asked Jake.

‘I think you’d better show us this cave, Rona,’ said Lauren. ‘The sooner we get in and grab the book, the better.’

Chapter 13

The cave with the entrance to the secret tunnel was a further two miles along the shore. At first sight, it just looked like any ordinary cave: a narrow crevice in the cliff face with rocks around the entrance. Inside, though, there was a tunnel that twisted and turned, and finally came to what seemed to be a dead end, a blank wall of rock encrusted with barnacles. As they got nearer, Jake realised that the lower section of this apparent ‘blank rock wall’ was actually made of wood: ships’ timbers fixed together. The rocks in the floor of the tunnel were wet and slippery, as had been the cave entrance.

‘You can only get to it at low tide,’ explained Rona. She indicated the barnacle-encrusted timber. ‘I’m going to need help,’ she said.

Jake and Lauren joined her, and the three of them working together pushed the timber to one side, and revealed a small opening. It was obvious that the piece of timber hadn’t been moved in a very long time.

Rona pulled a small torch from her pocket, switched it on, and crawled through the opening, which was a long low tunnel. Jake and Lauren followed her. At the end, they came out into a much bigger cave, one high enough for them to be able to stand up in.

‘There,’ said Rona, pointing the torch to one side of the cave.

Jake and Lauren looked, and saw that a series of steps had been cut into the rock, disappearing upwards into another tunnel.

‘It goes up and comes out at the back of a store cupboard in the kitchen,’ said Rona.

‘Right,’ said Jake. He looked at Lauren. ‘You up for this?’ he asked.

‘Of course,’ said Lauren.

‘I’ll help as well,’ said Rona.

Jake and Lauren exchanged doubtful looks.

‘These people are dangerous,’ said Jake. ‘Remember what happened to your uncle.’

‘I am a Watcher,’ Rona reminded them firmly. ‘It’s my job.’

Jake saw Lauren hesitate, then she said to Rona, ‘OK.’

Rona shone her torch on her watch.

‘We’d better be getting back,’ she said. ‘Have a word with Robbie before he starts doing anything silly.’

They crawled back through the low tunnel, pushed the timber cover back into place over the entrance to the inner cave, and then made their way out into the sunlight again.

‘It must have been hard work being a smuggler,’ commented Jake, wiping the rock dust and wet sand off his clothes.

The sound of Rona’s mobile ringing startled them. Rona checked the number. ‘It’s Mum,’ she said. She clicked on, and listened for a few moments, then said, ‘Yes, they’re with me. I’ll tell her. Thanks, Mum.’

She hung up, and Jake could tell it was bad news.

‘Robbie?’ he asked.

Rona shook her head.

‘Some people from the Department of Immigration have just arrived,’ she said. She turned to Lauren. ‘They’re looking for you.’

Jake and Lauren looked at one another, shocked.

‘They know!’ said Jake.

‘Know what?’ asked Rona.

Lauren hesitated, then she said, ‘I’m here illegally.’

Rona laughed.

‘You and half the workers in Glasgow and Edinburgh,’ she said.

‘No, I mean
really
illegally,’ said Lauren. ‘I was sent into exile in New Zealand.’

‘Why?’ asked Rona.

‘Because of the books,’ said Lauren. ‘The ones from the Order of Malichea.’

‘We found one,’ added Jake. ‘We lost it. The government took it off us, and they sent Laur . . . Helen away to stop us finding any more.’

Rona turned to Lauren.

‘He called you Laur,’ she said.

Lauren nodded.

‘My real name. Lauren.’

‘Lauren Cooper?’

Lauren shook her head.

‘No,’ she said. ‘But it won’t be fair to tell you more about me, otherwise you could be charged with being an accomplice. The less you know, the better for you.’

‘What will happen to you now? With the Immigration people?’

‘If I’m lucky, they’ll send me back to New Zealand,’ said Lauren.

‘If she’s not, she’ll go to jail on some false charge,’ said Jake with a groan.

‘You can’t go back,’ said Rona. ‘Not just yet. We need to work out how to get you off the island. Until then, you’re going to have to hide somewhere.’

‘In the cave?’ suggested Jake, pointing at the cave they’d just come out of.

‘No.’ Rona shook her head. ‘There’s always a chance you might be found. The best place would be Uncle Dougie’s boat shed. It’s got a lock on it and you’ll be comfortable there.’ She patted her pocket. ‘I’ve got a key. So has Robbie.’ She smiled. ‘Uncle Dougie let us use it as a hidey-hole.’

‘Is that the place near where Dougie was painting his boats?’ asked Jake.

‘That’s the one.’ Rona nodded. ‘No one ever goes in it. You should be safe there until we can get you away.’

‘Thank you,’ said Lauren.

Rona smiled.

‘It looks like we’re all in this together,’ she said. ‘So we’ve got to help one another.’

‘I’d better get back to the guest house and keep these people talking, while you two go off to the hut,’ said Jake. ‘We don’t want them roaming around the island looking for you until Rona’s got you safely hidden.’

Rona looked troubled.

‘So much happening,’ she said. ‘Uncle Dougie killed. Immigration looking for you. Are these books worth it?’

‘Oh yes,’ said Lauren firmly. ‘They really are.’

Chapter 14

A man and a woman were waiting in reception as Jake walked in through the main door of the guest house. They headed towards Jake as he made for the stairs.

‘Mr Jacob Wells?’ asked the man.

‘Yes,’ said Jake.

The man produced what looked like a warrant card.

‘Hector Manvers, Department of Immigration,’ he announced. ‘This is my colleague, Susan Webb.’

‘Nice to meet you,’ said Jake. He frowned. ‘Immigration? I can’t see how that affects me. I was born in the UK.’

‘We’re not here to see you, but your companion,’ said Webb. ‘The woman who calls herself Helen Cooper.’

Jake stared at them, doing his best to look incredulous.

‘Calls herself?’ he repeated, sounding bewildered. Then he laughed. ‘Yes, in the same way that you call yourself Susan Webb.’

‘Could you tell us where she is?’ asked Manvers.

‘Here, I hope,’ said Jake. ‘Upstairs, in our room.’

‘She isn’t,’ said Manvers.

Jake frowned.

‘That’s strange,’ he said. ‘She said she wanted to get back, so she left before I did. I wanted to stay and look at the view a little longer.’

‘Did she say why she wanted to come back before you did?’ asked Webb.

‘She said she wanted to write some postcards for friends back home,’ said Jake. ‘She’s from New Zealand.’

Manvers studied Jake, suspicion written all over his face.

‘Is that what she says?’ he asked.

‘That’s what she says, and that’s what her passport says,’ countered Jake.

‘Oh, you checked her passport, did you?’ asked Webb quickly.

Damn, thought Jake. Don’t give them too much information, he warned himself.

‘No,’ said Jake. ‘We showed each other our passports to have a laugh at our photographs. Have you ever seen a passport photograph that didn’t make anyone look a complete idiot?’ He studied the pair of them back. ‘Mind, in your job, I suppose you see a lot of passports.’

‘Where exactly did you leave the woman calling herself Helen Cooper?’ asked Webb.

‘Look, will you stop describing her as “the woman calling herself Helen Cooper”!’ snapped Jake irritably.

‘Where did you leave her?’ pressed Webb.

‘I didn’t leave her at all,’ said Jake. ‘I told you, she left first.’

‘Where from?’ demanded Manvers.

‘Out on the cliffs, near the loch,’ said Jake.

Manvers and Webb exchanged looks, then Manvers nodded and said, ‘We may need to talk to you again.’

‘Well, I’m not going anywhere,’ said Jake. ‘Anyway, what’s all this about? What do Immigration want with Helen?’

‘We’ll tell you that after we’ve discussed it with Miss Cooper,’ said Manvers.

‘Yes, well, right now I’m a bit worried about her,’ Jake told them. ‘She should have been back here by now.’ He headed for the main door. ‘I’m going to see if I can find out what’s happened to her.’

Manvers moved quickly, joining Jake as he reached the door.

‘It might be a good idea if I came with you,’ he said. ‘Just in case there’s been an accident.’

‘Yes.’ Jake nodded. ‘Good idea. What about your colleague?’

‘She’ll stay here, in case Miss Cooper returns while we’re away.’

‘Fine,’ said Jake. ‘Let’s go.’

Jake walked out of the guest house, followed by Manvers. He headed along the cliff path towards the dig, and the cottage where the Russians were staying, keeping away from the shore and the path down to the boat hut. After his slip about the passport, Jake decided his best course of action was to say nothing; just respond when Manvers asked a question. But Manvers turned out to be a dour and reticent type, giving nothing away. As a result, their walk along the cliff path was done in silence. Jake used the walk to scan around the area, pretending to be searching for any sign of Lauren. Manvers, for his part, kept his attention on Jake. He obviously didn’t believe that Lauren, or ‘Helen Cooper’, was going to be found anywhere on this walk.

He’s too clever by half, thought Jake warily.

As they neared the wire fence surrounding the dig, Jake gestured towards it.

‘I’m surprised you’re not taking a look at those Russians,’ said Jake. ‘I would have thought that was more valid than coming all this way just to check on Helen.’

‘All the people involved in the dig have Russian passports and valid visas,’ said Manvers curtly. ‘We’ve checked.’

They continued walking until they reached the far headland. Jake turned to look at Manvers, doing his best to put on a worried expression.

‘I don’t understand this,’ he said. ‘We should have seen her by now.’

‘Are you sure she was here?’ asked Manvers.

‘Of course I’m sure!’ said Jake. ‘There aren’t that many places around here!’ He went to the edge of the cliff and looked down. ‘This is where Dougie MacClain was found,’ he muttered.

‘I understand it was you and Miss Cooper who found the body,’ said Manvers.

‘Yes.’ Jake gestured down to the shore. ‘With that happening, you can understand why I’m worried about Helen.’

‘You think she might have fallen off the cliff?’ asked Manvers. ‘Couldn’t she have gone for a walk in some other direction?’

‘If that was the case, why did she head off back to the guest house first?’ demanded Jake.

Manvers’ face remained impassive.

‘I don’t know,’ he said coldly. ‘You tell me.’

‘I can’t!’ exploded Jake. He turned inland and looked at the expanse of heath and heather. ‘She could have fallen down a crag or something. She could be lying somewhere helpless!’

‘In that case I think it would be a good idea to call in search and rescue,’ said Manvers calmly. ‘Do a thorough search of the area.’

Which would mean looking in every small outbuilding, realised Jake. Including Dougie MacClain’s boat hut. But hopefully he’d be able to get a message to Lauren to give her time to get away from there and hide somewhere else. Perhaps in the secret tunnel up to the cottage where the Russians were staying.