‘Enough is enough,’ Carter bellowed, slapping his hand down hard on the kitchen table. ‘How many more dead bodies is it going to take before you realize that we’re out of our depth here? Or do you even care?’
Harker was instantly fuming at the suggestion and he moved to within centimetres of Carter’s face and gritted his teeth. ‘Don’t you even lay that on me, you prick. I’m not responsible for that, and anyway, the only thing I do care about is getting Chloe back safely.’
Carter looked wholly repulsed by this response. ‘Well, I do care about losing my life in this tangled web of yours that I never asked to get dragged into.’
‘That’s not my fault.’
‘Yeah, well whose is it, then? Because if you hadn’t come to me in the first place, then I would be settling down to a nightcap and a spot of TV.’ Carter was practically screeching, his voice becoming noticeably strained. ‘Truth be known, Alex, the only real mistake I ever made was getting to know you in the first place.’
Harker stared back with venom in his eyes as Carter’s cheeks began to turn a rosy red.
‘It’s time you called the police to tell them everything, and let them sort it out.’
‘No,’ Harker shouted back, and he slapped the coffee mug off the kitchen table. It hurtled against the far wall, where it smashed into pieces.
‘Fine, if you won’t, then I will,’ Carter seethed, and he was already dialling the emergency services on his Samsung when Harker’s iPhone began to vibrate.
Both men froze and looked at each other apprehensively, before Harker reached over to pick it up, and then pressed the green answer button.
‘Hello?’
The mobile’s reception was terrible, but over its crackling came the familiar croaky voice of Jacob Winters. ‘Where the hell have you been? I’ve been calling you for over half an hour,’ he hissed.
‘We had some trouble,’ Harker replied, finding himself sounding riled.
‘There’s no surprise there. Getting into trouble seems to be your forte, Professor. How so?’ The question was asked with little trace of concern but rather a gleeful curiosity.
‘Vlad and his goons showed up at the vault and killed everyone. They must have been following us since we left Cervete cemetery.’
‘What!’ Winters yelled it so hard that he began to cough. ‘Did you get the page?’
‘No, they took it, and we barely escaped with our lives.’
Harker was tempted to mention the theft of the Illuminismo but he resisted, as Winters now flew into a rage.
‘Can’t you do anything right?’ the old man screamed. ‘Do you have any idea what you’ve just done?’
Harker was actually glad to hear the old monster so upset, but was it genuine? ‘No, I don’t, and that’s the point. You’ve been as vague as anyone could be throughout. Isn’t it about time you were upfront about a few things and told me who the hell you are and what’s going on?’
Because of the heavy interference on the phone, Harker could not be sure, but he could have sworn he heard a light chuckle at the other end.
‘I’ve already told you all you need to know, but I will be upfront about one thing,’ Winters rasped. ‘You have one chance and one chance only to redeem yourself. The remaining page. And if you get it for me, then you may consider our arrangement at an end. Do this and Dr Stanton will be returned to you as promised, but screw this up and you will never see her pretty face again. I will be in touch again regarding the precise location.’
There was a sincerity in the old man’s tone and Harker seized upon it immediately. ‘Not on this phone, you won’t.’
‘What does that mean?’
‘My mobile got half destroyed during our escape from the vault,’ Harker lied. ‘That’s why the reception is so bad. I’m amazed we’ve even managed to speak on it right now.’
At that moment the crackling became even louder and Winters had to shout just to be heard. ‘Does the messaging still work?’
‘Yes – but that’s about it.’
‘Then hold on to the phone and I will keep in contact via text messages,’ Winters hollered as the crackling in the reception became almost unbearable. ‘Do this last thing and both you and your girlfriend can go home and forget all this ever happened.’
Forget? That was a joke, Harker thought, as the line went dead. He looked over at Carter and raised a forefinger to his lips before placing the iPhone down on the table. With a nod from Carter, they made their way through the kitchen and into a small adjoining bedroom opposite, to find Shroder with his ear glued to the apartment’s telephone receiver while holding his own mobile out in front of him.
‘Did you manage to get a trace?’ Harker whispered, but he was met with a frustrated grimace.
‘The bastard’s bouncing the signal off every relay imaginable but at least we know he’s been listening in, and your little scene just proves it.’
Before turning Harker’s iPhone back on, they had made the decision to test out Shroder’s theory and engaged in an argument that concluded with Carter declaring he was going to call the police. The fact that Winters had called immediately and insisted that he wanted them to not replace the phone, despite it being almost wrecked, only confirmed what they suspected: that Winters had been listening in from the beginning. With a piece of black tape affixed over the camera, and Shroder’s specialized phone app creating the heavy distortion, they could now be sure that although Winters would be able track them via the mobile’s GPS, he could no longer hear or see what they were actually doing.
‘Good job, David,’ Harker said, whereupon Carter offered a polite stage bow with a wave of his hand.
‘I am a thespian at heart, Alex,’ he replied, clearly pleased with his own performance. ‘So what’s the next stage?’
Shroder hesitated before he raised his finger towards them and began to speak into the phone’s receiver. ‘Thanks for the trace, Bill, it was worth a shot. I’ll be in touch.’ He replaced the handset and stood up with his mobile still in hand, and aimed towards the kitchen. ‘Firstly I install the software on Alex’s iPhone which will stop the mics from working permanently, and then we have a decision to make. About who goes where. One of you needs to follow Winters’s instructions to collect the final pages whilst the other heads to Lucas’s billing address in Corsica.’ Shroder was looking perturbed by the idea and made a clicking noise with his tongue. ‘It could be a waste of time, but it could also lead us to Winters. There’s no way to be sure, though, without going there.’
‘How about you?’ Carter asked him, looking less than enthusiastic at them having to split up. ‘Where are you going?’
‘There’s a contact of mine with Interpol who’s been tracking Jacob Winters ever since he first appeared on the criminal scene. I’m hoping he can provide something that we can use to locate him.’
‘Can’t you do that over the phone?’ Harker asked, not particularly happy either at having to leave Shroder, having only just met up with him again.
‘No.’ Shroder shook his head firmly. ‘I need to do this face-to-face. Winters is currently at the centre of an ongoing investigation involving multiple agencies, which means I have to tread carefully.’
‘Christ, John, we’ve only just caught up with you.’ Harker sounded a bit desperate, which he sought to rectify immediately. ‘Will be fine, though.’
Shroder rested his hand on his shoulder. ‘I know it’s a shit deal, Alex, but if we’re going to find this man, and with little time to spare, we need to explore any lead we get. Chloe’s life as well as the Templars’ survival may depend on it.’
That was clearly the right call, for Harker found himself grudgingly nodding in agreement, even though he still didn’t like the idea of the three of them going solo.
‘I’ll track down the Codex pages,’ Carter offered, much to the surprise of both the others. ‘This Winters fellow will only be communicating by text, so he won’t have any idea it’s just me. And besides, if your Corsican lead can offer a clue to locating the men who kidnapped Chloe, then you need to get to it first.’
Considering his own previous encounters while retrieving Codex pages had been near-death experiences, this offer by Carter seemed nothing short of bloody heroic, and Harker was stunned. ‘Are you sure about this, David? For all we know, Winters could be throwing you right into the grinder again.’
But Carter was already nodding his head thoughtfully at the prospect. ‘Possibly, Alex, but if you do find something in Corsica, then you’re the best one to follow it up. Besides’ – Carter removed his glasses and began to clean the lenses with his shirt tail – ‘I’m sure I can find ways to slow down my journey.’
‘That’s not a bad idea,’ Shroder now interrupted as Carter popped the spectacles back onto the bridge of his nose. ‘With the Templars now looking for you both as well, we could pretend to be playing it cautious. Wherever Winters sends you next, you tell him that air travel is out of the question because any place with a high security presence could potentially alert the Templars to your whereabouts, and therefore you’ll need to take other, slower forms of travel.’
Carter looked pleased that his suggestion was being taken seriously. ‘And cars break down, and trains and boats often get delayed.’
‘Winters is not a very forgiving man,’ Harker reminded him, playing devil’s advocate.
‘It’s a gamble, yes, but we’ll need all the time we can get,’ Shroder replied.
‘It is called stalling,’ Carter stated confidently, and licking his lips enthusiastically at the challenge. ‘Trust me, I’ll give you as much time as is humanly possible without tipping the balance.’
Harker took a moment to think about it but the look of determination and assurance in Carter’s eyes finally convinced him. ‘OK, David, good man.’
All three of them shared a few seconds of calm as the encouraging feeling of gaining some control over the situation settled in the air.
‘Right,’ Shroder said, slipping into command mode, ‘David will wait here for Winters’s message regarding the location. Alex, you’re going straight to Corsica to learn whatever you can. You can use the Templars’ private jet I’ve already been using. In the meantime I’ll meet up with my Interpol contact and discover as much about Winters as possible, and also anything else about these super-wealthy types you photographed in Spreepark. There’s obviously a link between them all, and I need to find out what it is.’
So far, it sounded like a good plan, but there were still a few questions burning at the forefront of Harker’s mind. ‘Meanwhile, what about the Templars?’
Shroder looked unconcerned. ‘I’ll call Tristan and tell him I haven’t found you yet, but have reports that you’ve returned to the UK… That should send Havers on a wild goose chase if we’re lucky. And concerning the Illuminismo, well, I’ve got a feeling that Winters is definitely behind the theft, and so if we find him, we find that.’
‘OK,’ Harker agreed, ‘and how should we contact each other?’
Shroder grabbed a black zip-bag from the bed and pulled out a couple of scratched-up-looking iPhones which he then passed over to Harker and Carter. ‘We can use these, as they’re both unlisted, but don’t use them unless it’s absolutely necessary. We can’t be sure exactly what Winters’s capabilities are, so let’s play it safe and smart.’
With most everything settled, there was just one last thing that no one had mentioned thus far, and it was Harker who brought it up. ‘And how about the small question of Judgement Day?’
Shroder looked unfazed as he pursed his lips. ‘For the record, I believe what you say you witnessed, but don’t ask me to jump on board with that whole supernatural shtick, Alex. There’s nothing we can do about any of it right now and, from what you’ve told me, everything appears to revolve around Winters, so he’s our priority. Finding him will lead us to Dr Stanton.’
The mention of Chloe brought everything back down to earth for Harker and he found himself in complete agreement. The only loose end was Vlad, but that madman now had everything he wanted, including the Illuminismo, so it was unlikely he would waste further time in chasing them. Or so he hoped. ‘There are a lot of moving parts in this plan,’ he said with a dry smile, and Shroder smiled along with him and placed a hand on Harker’s shoulder.
‘In my world there always are.’