Читать книгу Death Run - Jack Higgins, Justin Richards - Страница 5

2

Once inside the café, John Chance asked if there was a back way out. There was, out past the waste bins and down a tiny alleyway alongside a canal. He made his way rapidly, ignoring the smell from the bins, and emerged into a side street just off the back of the square.

It took him only a minute to double round and approach the square from a different direction. He hesitated at the edge of the square, looking for the young woman Rich had described. He had taken a moment to case her out from inside the café – and it was definitely the woman he had noticed at the casino. A coincidence? It was possible, but highly unlikely. So who was she and why was she following him?

But the table where the woman had been was empty. He would not get the answer to his questions just yet. Chance walked slowly round the square, looking along each of the streets leading off it in turn. There was no sign of the woman with auburn hair. Satisfied that, for now at least, he was not being watched, Chance returned to the table outside the café. He’d had enough coffee for today, so he ordered a carafe of white wine.

He was halfway through it when Rich and Jade returned.

“So?” Jade asked as she sat down. She glanced disapprovingly at the wine. It was barely lunchtime and he’d started already. Still, at least he wasn’t smoking.

“Yeah, what happened to your girlfriend?” Rich asked.

Dad took a packet of cigarettes out of his shirt pocket. “She didn’t wait for me to introduce myself. I wondered if she’d followed either of you?”

“Not so we noticed,” Jade said. “You’re not going to smoke that, are you?” She was glaring at the cigarette between Dad’s fingers.

“No, I’m going to juggle with it.”

“Funny man.”

Dad pushed the cigarette back into the packet. He was getting better, Jade had to admit. He did actually seem to listen to what she and Rich said. That was a distinct improvement.

“Talking of jugglers,” Dad was saying. “What’s with the fancy dress party?”

Rich gasped, and Jade turned quickly to see what he and Dad were looking at.

It was like the shop display had come to life and followed them. A small group of half a dozen men was walking slowly into the little square from one of the side streets. They were all wearing dark business suits, and all had their faces covered by masks. The man at the front was wearing a savagely-beaked grey face – just like in the display.

Behind him came two men in golden gargoyle masks, then a man whose face was completely white save for a single black teardrop on one cheek. Another of them was Harlequin – like the joker from a deck of cards, a black and red face with spikes springing from his head.

The last man wore the blank-eyed grinning face of a skull. Jade shuddered. If this was someone’s idea of fun, it was pretty bizarre. And why wear the heavy, dark clothes in this heat?

“Some sort of parade,” Dad said. “Wrong time of year for Carnival.”

Rich looked at Jade and she saw how pale he was. “I don’t like this.”

“Nor me,” she agreed. At first, she’d thought, like Dad, that it was a bit of fun. Some sort of parade. Now Jade was sure it wasn’t. There was something sinister about the figures – about the way they moved, the way they had paused just inside the square. They swung slowly round, as if looking for something. Or someone. They all stopped at the same point – staring directly at Jade, Rich and their father.

Dad’s chair scraped backwards on the flagstones as he stood up. “Wait for me back at the hotel.”

“What are you going to do?” Jade asked.

“I don’t know. Get moving.”

“We can’t leave you,” Rich said. The men were walking slowly across the square towards them. The beak of the grey mask was aimed directly at Dad.

“Move it!” Dad urged. “And don’t worry. I’ll probably overtake you.”

Jade grabbed Rich’s hand and together they ran from the square.

‘We can’t leave him with them,” Rich gasped as they ran.

“What do you suggest?”

“We have to see what’s happening.” Rich slowed to a jog and Jade eased up as well. “We should go back.”

“That’s probably what they want.”

“So what – do nothing?”

“No.” Jade pointed to a small alleyway between two buildings. “If we cut through there, we can get back to the square on a different street. They won’t expect that.”

“You hope.”

“All right, Einstein – let’s hear your idea.”

Rich sighed. “Let’s try the alley,” he conceded.

Dad was talking to the man in the grey, beaked mask. He was shaking his head, turning away. Then the masked man said something which Jade and Rich couldn’t hear, but they heard their father laugh. He waved a hand as if dismissing whatever the masked man had said. Then he held up a finger – a ‘back in a minute’ gesture – and walked into the café.

“He’s all right,” Jade realised. “He’ll leg it out the back, like before.”

“If they fall for it.”

It didn’t look like they had. The grey-masked man was gesturing to the two golden gargoyles, who ran after Dad into the café. Moments later there were shouts from inside and the other masked men followed in a hurry.

“I expect he’ll be all right,” Jade said.

“Course he will.” Rich sounded more confident than Jade felt. “Think we should help him?”

“How? Come on, let’s get back to the hotel like Dad said.”

“And hope he meets us there.”

It wasn’t far and walking briskly they were back in half an hour. It probably wasn’t the quickest route – Rich had led them back the same way as they had come that morning. At least they didn’t stop at every church this time.

“You wait here,” Rich told Jade as they walked through the little foyer into the small lounge bar. “I’ll check he’s not already back in his room. Anyone who knows the way could be here before us.”

Jade slumped down on a little sofa. It wasn’t as comfortable as it looked, but she settled into it and watched the door. A large black car bumped up the narrow cobbled street outside and stopped opposite the hotel. No one got out, and Jade frowned. She was about to run up the stairs after Rich when she heard his scream. Rich took the stairs two at a time. The door to their room was standing open, and he sighed with relief. He went straight in, not thinking it might be a trap.

As soon as he was through the door, everything went black. He had time to cry out in surprise and alarm – just once. Then he was fighting against the blanket that was tight over his face and shoulders. Rich was being dragged out of the room and back down the stairs. His feet caught on the threadbare carpet and knocked painfully against the wall of the stairwell as he was bundled away.

Soon he was on level ground again, the thin lounge carpet under his feet. Then he felt the bare stone floor of the lobby, followed by the warm breeze on his hands and a brightness even through the blanket. He was struggling to speak, but his throat was clogged with dust and whenever he tried, he ended up coughing and choking. There were uneven cobbles under his feet now. His head was pushed roughly down and he was shoved forward – landing on something soft. A chair? Where was he?

An engine revved. A door slammed. Rich was in a car and it was pulling away. Jade emerged from behind the sofa. She’d been ready to fight the men to get Rich free. But a glance from her hiding place at the four men in carnival masks had been enough to tell her it was no use. She’d end up being captured herself. It made her sick to her stomach, but the best option was to leave Rich to fend for himself.

At least he wouldn’t be on his own – Jade would follow. But then she saw Rich bundled into the car opposite the hotel and her heart sank still lower. She couldn’t follow a car.

But she’d try. She wouldn’t give up and abandon her brother. Jade was out of the hotel and running after the car as it started up the street. She kept to the shadowed side of the pavement, hoping they wouldn’t spot her. Mercifully, the dark limousine was going quite slowly up the uneven street. And Jade ran every day. If it kept to this speed she might – just might – keep it in sight.

The car reached the end of the street and turned right. Almost immediately it turned again – towards the main street. Jade hesitated. Should she follow, or should she take a risk? She’d lose the car if she just followed. She’d risk it, she decided – take a shortcut she’d discovered along an alley and over a little canal bridge. That would bring her to the same junction as the car was making for. Probably making for…

At the junction, Jade paused for breath. There was no sign of the car. It couldn’t have got here already. But, after almost a minute, Jade realised it wasn’t coming. It was too distinctive for her to have missed. She’d gambled and lost. The car had not been heading for the main road at all.

With a shout of frustration, Jade turned and kicked the wall behind her.

The car stopped abruptly and Rich was thrown forward in the seat. Someone laughed as he collided with the back of the seat in front. Then the door opened and he was hauled out. If they didn’t take the blanket off soon, he’d suffocate.

Indoors again. It sounded large – echoey. Even through the blanket the place smelled old.

Suddenly the blanket was pulled off his head and Rich spluttered and coughed as he rasped for breath. The room was dim and unlit, but he blinked at the relative brightness of it.

A golden gargoyle face was close in front of his own – so close his breath misted its cheek. Then it was pulled off, just as Rich’s blanket had been. A man with short black hair and a neat pencil moustache stared at Rich through disbelieving eyes, and let loose a tirade of rapid Italian.

Rich didn’t understand a word of it, but it didn’t sound polite.

Then, in English, “You are not Chance!”

“I am,” Rich retorted. “Richard Chance.” And he gave a short laugh as he realised what had happened. Despite everything, it was almost funny. The laugh made him cough and he gasped for breath again. “You were after Dad, weren’t you? You just assumed he’d come back to the hotel, and as soon as someone came in you stuffed a blanket over them and bundled them off. Sorry.” He paused for another cough and was pleased to find his throat was easing a little. “You took a chance and got the wrong Chance.”

The Italian stared back at Rich. He didn’t look at all happy. Maybe Rich shouldn’t have laughed at him, but it was too late now. The man stepped back and snarled something at the others. Two of them grabbed Rich roughly by the shoulders and dragged him deeper into the old building. Jade’s foot hurt. She had no one to blame but herself – for everything. She limped slowly along the pavement, walking back the way she had expected the car to come. It must have turned off somewhere between the junction and where she had last seen it.

Five minutes later, she turned a corner and saw the car parked at the kerb. The whole area was run down and dilapidated. The walls of the buildings were crumbling and cracked. The cobbles were split or missing. In the gap between the buildings Jade could see the sunlight reflecting off the water of a canal. The dark shape of a gondola drifted by, blotting out the sunlight for a moment.

The building that the car was parked outside had once been grand and impressive. Flaking remains of gold leaf clung to weathered stone ornamentation round the entrance. The door was a rotting apology of damp wood. It creaked and complained as Jade eased it open. She stood for a moment, half expecting shouts and running men to respond to the noise.

But there was nothing. Was this the right place? Or had they just abandoned the car and gone somewhere else?

Jade went inside, pausing to allow her eyes to adjust to the lack of light. She was in a large entrance lobby. There was a booth on one side, steps leading up to a raised area at the back and then doors off. It took Jade a moment to realise where she was.

She was in the lobby of a theatre. Slowly and quietly, Jade climbed the steps. The main doors were chained shut. She gave the chain a tug, feeling the rust rubbing away on her palm. But it was secure. A side door led to a flight of steps that swept round and up impressively. Except the carpet was worn through and the heavy rope handrails were rotten and frayed.

Jade emerged into the upper circle of the theatre. She made her way quietly down to the front seats to get the best view of what was happening on the stage. The theatre might be old and disused, neglected and in need of repair, but on the stage were four men. Three of them were in carnival masks. All of them were standing round a fifth figure tied to a chair. The chair was facing away from Jade, towards the decaying backdrop of the stage – a faded painting of mountains and a castle. But even so she knew who it was – she recognised the profile and the tousled blond hair.

“Oh, Rich,” she sighed.

The man dressed as Harlequin turned to look up at the circle – at Jade. She ducked down quickly. Had her words carried right to the front of the theatre? She risked a look over the low wall at the front of the circle. Harlequin had turned away again, but Jade knew she had better be very, very quiet.

But the sound carried both ways, she realised, as the man who had removed his mask spoke. “Don’t worry. It won’t be long now.”

“What won’t?” Jade could hear how nervous and frightened Rich was, though he was trying to hide it. “What are you going to do to me? Why don’t you just let me go – it’s not me you want.”

“But you may be useful.” The man’s English was perfect, only the slight accent gave away that he was Italian. “And anyway, it is not for me to decide.”

“Then who?”

“The boss is coming. The big man.” He laughed and the sound echoed round the damp walls of the old theatre. “Doctor Plague will decide what to do with you. I wonder, what will be the treatment? Kill or cure?”

The men all laughed at that. Jade gritted her teeth. Keeping low, kneeling on the floor in the aisle beside the front row of seats, Jade eased her mobile phone out of her pocket. She checked it was set to silent, and selected ‘Send Short Message’ from the main menu.

THE GOT RICH. DLD THEATER.

COME HELP.

She hoped Dad had his phone on. She hoped he knew what to do if he got a text message – Mum had never understood how her mobile worked apart from the phone bit. Jade wiped her eyes on the back of her sleeve as she waited. As she thought about Mum – and about Rich tied to a chair on the stage far below.

The phone trembled in her hand. It took her a moment to realise it wasn’t just her hand shaking with emotion. She had a text, thank God!

WHAT DLD THEATRE?

Jade stared at the message. Then she sent back:

DUNNO

A moment later she got:

OK. WHAT STREET?

She almost yelled at the phone. Instead she clenched her mouth tight shut, and sent back:

DUNNO

A pause, then:

SO WHATS NEAR IT?

Jade stared at the phone. She tried to think how she had got here, which turns and side streets she had taken from the junction with the main road, but she just couldn’t picture it. All she could think of was the light reflecting off the water glimpsed between the buildings outside.

ER – A CANAL

She could only guess how Dad would react to that. She sent another text; it wasn’t much, but it was the best she could do:

SIDE STREET BETWEEN MAIN ROAD AND HOTEL. BIG BLACK CAR OUTSIDE.

There was something happening on the stage below. The four men were stepping back as others arrived. Two people – both in masks. The skull-man and the man in the grey, beak-faced mask stepped up on to the stage.

The skull-man pulled off his mask and Jade was startled to see that underneath his face looked very much the same – white teeth between bloodless lips, and skin stretched tight and thin over a pale, bald head. The man’s cheekbones jutted out prominently.

“What have we here?” he asked in a voice that also sounded stretched and thin. “This is not John Chance,” he said angrily, turning to the grey-masked man. “Doctor Plague?!” he demanded.

Doctor Plague turned slowly towards Rich. There was a rumble of sound from behind the mask – exaggerated and distorted by the beaked shape of the mask. But the sound was unmistakable.

Doctor Plague was laughing.