The Deadly Game by Jim Eldridge Read Free Book Online Page A

see you then.’
    As he hung up, he thought: clever Robert. He’d worked out that whatever Jake wanted to talk to him about concerned Lauren, and they wouldn’t want their conversation overheard. So he’d chosen a nice but obvious location, a fairly noisy café, where any opposition would get there first to eavesdrop on them. And, once they’d met up, Jake and Robert would head elsewhere, to a place it would be difficult to have their conversation listened to. Not impossible — Jake had already discovered that conversations could be listened to any place anywhere, such was the power of modern surveillance technology. But at least he and Robert would make it difficult for any listeners.
    Robert was waiting at Pret a Manger when Jake arrived.
    ‘Coffees?’ asked Jake.
    ‘Later,’ said Robert. ‘There’s this fabulous jazz CD I want to get first. We can grab a coffee afterwards.’
    Jake followed Robert out of the coffee bar and they headed westwards along Oxford Street.
    ‘HMV,’ announced Robert. ‘We’ll try there first. If they haven’t got it, there’s a specialist shop I know in Soho we can try.’
    As they walked, they talked, just like two old friends catching up. Which, of course, they were, but in this case their mutual point of contact was Lauren, and the hidden library of Malichea. Like Jake, Robert had been in contact with Lauren in New Zealand, Skyping and emailing.
    ‘She seems to be settling in there all right,’ he said.
    ‘Yes,’ agreed Jake, not wholly enthusiastically.
    ‘She misses you, though,’ said Robert.
    ‘Does she?’ said Jake, cheering up.
    ‘It’s a pity you can’t go over there and see her,’ said Robert.
    Jake sighed.
    ‘The powers-that-be are determined that she and I will never be in the same country again,’ he said gloomily. ‘Not even on the same continent.’ Then he added in a whisper: ‘But I’ve got a plan to change that.’
    ‘I thought you might have,’ said Robert. ‘What is it?’
    ‘I’m going to find one of the books and go public with it. Once I’ve done that they won’t be able to keep the Order of Malichea secret, and they’ll let Lauren come back.’
    Robert didn’t look convinced.
    ‘Are you sure of that?’ he asked doubtfully.
    ‘Pretty sure.’ Jake nodded. ‘After all, why are they keeping her in New Zealand? To stop her finding any of the books and letting the world know about them. So I’m going to do it for her.’
    Robert thought it over as they walked, and finally he asked: ‘How?’
    ‘I’ve got a journalist on board who says she’ll run the story if we can find one of the books. And I’ve got a pretty strong idea I know where’s the best place to find one.’
    ‘Where?’
    ‘Glastonbury,’ said Jake.
    Robert shook his head.
    ‘They’ll stop you,’ he said. ‘That character, Gareth Whateverhisname is.’
    ‘Findlay-Weston,’ said Jake. ‘And no he won’t, because I’m going to pretend to be looking for stuff about King Arthur and the Holy Grail.’
    Robert still didn’t look convinced.
    ‘He won’t believe you,’ he said.
    ‘It’s worked so far,’ said Jake, and he told Robert how the connection didn’t go down when he mentioned King Arthur.
    Robert frowned as he thought it over. By now they’d reached HMV, and Jake followed Robert into the store. The place was as crowded as ever, which Jake hoped would make the job of anybody listening to them harder.
    ‘It might work,’ Robert said, still doubtful.
    ‘Have you got a better idea how to get her back?’ asked Jake.
    ‘No,’ admitted Robert. ‘So, you want me to come and help you find this book?’
    ‘Actually, I wanted your help about getting permission to dig for it,’ said Jake. ‘You know, who owns which bit of land, that sort of thing. So we can contact the landowners and get permission.’
    Jake looked around to make sure no one was paying too much attention to them, then passed Robert the short list with the names of the possible