The Legacy by Unknown Read Free Book Online

Jude’s jaw dropped, and his hand moved towards his mouth, clamped over it, his eyes widening, his pulse quickening, a dark foreboding rising up within him.
    He looked up at Pip in alarm. ‘They’re not drugs,’ he said, watching bodies tumble out of the containers – dead bodies, black, shrivel ed-up bodies. The men were jumping back as they took in the horror that lay in front of them. Some were running away, others were prodding the bodies to see if they were alive.
    ‘No,’ Pip agreed, his gaze fixed to the screen, his clear blue eyes clouded suddenly. ‘No, they’re not.’
    ‘They’re like the woman,’ Jude gasped, fear gripping at his chest like strong, icy hands.
    ‘The woman? She looked like that?’ Pip asked, his voice urgent and low.
    Jude nodded. ‘Exactly the same,’ he said breathlessly.
    Pip didn’t say anything; he just kept looking right ahead at the screen.
    ‘Pip?’ Jude turned to him anxiously. ‘What does this mean? What happened to them?’
    ‘A very good question,’ Pip said gravely.
    ‘It’s Pincent Pharma, isn’t it?’ Jude said through grit ed teeth. ‘I’m going to upload this on to the Web. Tel the newsfeeds. People have to see this.’
    Pip turned to him, his eyes cloudy, and shook his head. ‘No, Jude. Now is not the time to act. Now is the time to wait.’
    ‘Wait? For what?’ Jude asked incredulously. ‘Stop pushing me away. I can help.
    We should be broadcasting this. We should be using this to let the world know that Pincent Pharma is corrupt, that it’s kil ing people! Let me be part of the fight, Pip.
    Please.’ He looked up hopeful y, desperately, his eyes passionate, his fists clenched. And for a moment, he thought Pip was going to say yes; for a moment, Pip looked like he was real y considering it.
    But then he felt himself crash down to earth as Pip shook his head. ‘A broadcast isn’t necessary or desirable, Jude. News of this wil get out eventual y, I assure you.’ He got up and started to walk away.
    ‘That’s it? That’s al you’re going to say?’ Jude asked desperately. ‘What do I say to the men? What do I do?’ He looked down miserably at his handheld device. ‘Do you even realise what I’ve got here? Are you even aware that I worked for months on this communications network? That it’s unrival ed as far as I know? Do you care that I don’t just film at acks; that because of me, you or I can speak directly to the leaders of the soldiers, send for back-up, give orders when dead bodies spil out of lorries instead of drugs? Do you?’
    He stared at Pip defiantly, angrily.
    Pip looked back at him, then nodded. ‘Of course I know, Jude,’ he said quietly.
    ‘Tens, maybe hundreds of lives have been saved because of what you have done.’
    Jude started in surprise. Pip had never so much as said thank you for the network, never seemed to show any interest in it. ‘So what do I tel them to do?’ he asked.
    ‘You tel them to go home,’ Pip said quietly. ‘And then you track the lorries back through their journeys. I want to know where they came from and where they stopped on their way. Can you do that, Jude?’
    ‘Track lorries? Sure, I can do that,’ Jude said heavily, turning back to the images and feeling his blood turn cold at the sight of them. ‘I can do whatever you want.’
    .

Chapter Four
    Richard stood at the window of his large office, looking at but barely seeing the panoramic view of London, the symbol of al his power and success. He felt il , felt tired, felt . . . scared.
    Power and success. Already it felt as if they were evaporating. He walked over to his desk and gripped it. Slowly he breathed, in, out, in, out. He would find an answer.
    He always found an answer.
    But even as he told himself everything would resolve itself, he found his mind flooded with doubt. For so long he had buried al thoughts of Albert Fern, of his protestations as Derek led him to his death. ‘ You don’t have anything, Richard . .