Conspiracy Thriller 4 E-Book Bundle

‘That’s right. But I didn’t say where to.’

Jude’s brow furrowed. ‘Hold on a minute—’

‘Listen, I haven’t told you everything.’

‘So tell me.’

‘This isn’t easy for me either,’ Ben said.

‘What?’

Ben glanced away from the road and looked him in the eye. ‘Your parents’ death wasn’t an accident, Jude.’

‘But you just told me they died in a crash,’ Jude replied, aghast.

‘They did. But somebody else caused it. Deliberately.’

‘You’re saying they were murdered?’ Jude burst out. ‘But why?’

‘Because of your dad’s work.’

‘He was murdered because he was a vicar?’

‘No, something else he and some other people were working on. Some kind of secret project that got them into trouble with some bad people. People who obviously mean harm to your family.’

‘What secret project?’ Jude yelled. ‘What bad people? He was a vicar! This is total bullshit! What are you, some kind of fucking nutter?’

‘I wish I was,’ Ben said evenly. ‘I wish none of this were true. But whether you believe me or not, your dad would have wanted me to keep you safe. He knew he was in trouble, and he asked for my help.’

‘Why?’ Jude demanded.

‘Because helping people is what I do,’ Ben said. ‘And that’s why, until I figure out what’s happening and who these people are, we’re not going back.’

‘I have to go back! I have to see them.’

‘No, Jude.’

‘What about the funeral?’

‘I’m sorry,’ Ben said.

Jude’s eyes glistened in the darkness of the car. ‘You’re saying I can’t go to my own parents’ funeral?’

‘You can’t bring them back, whatever you do.’

‘Fuck you.’

‘Thanks.’

‘So where is it you think you’re taking me?’

‘To France,’ Ben said. ‘I have a place in Normandy. You’ll be safe there.’

Jude glowered at him with the deepest suspicion. After a moment of silence he muttered, ‘They never once mentioned anybody called Ben.’

‘We knew each other a long time ago, before you were born. We were all at college together.’

Jude kept glowering at him. ‘And I’m supposed to accept that, without any evidence, and let you take me off to some place in France, just like that? No way. And besides,’ he added, ‘I can’t go anywhere because I don’t have my passport with me.’

‘So you swam all the way back from New Zealand, did you?’ Ben asked him. In a softer tone he said, ‘Listen, Jude. This’ll go a lot easier if you let me help you, all right?’

‘I don’t need your help. I need to get back home. Stop the car.’

Ben said nothing. He kept on driving.

‘Didn’t you hear me?’ Jude yelled. ‘I said stop the fucking car. Now!’

When Ben still didn’t reply, Jude made a grab for the steering wheel. Ben slapped his hand away and shoved him back in his seat. The dog started barking wildly. Jude lashed out. His fist connected with Ben’s jaw.

It was a solid punch, and for a moment, Ben reeled. Jude lunged at the steering wheel again, and Ben didn’t react in time to stop him yanking the Mazda violently off course. The wheels ploughed into the slush and mud at the side of the road and lost traction. The car went into a slide that Ben only just managed to control before they went spinning off the road and smashed into a dry stone wall. The Mazda slithered to a halt in the ditch and the engine stalled.

‘Well done,’ Ben said, rubbing his jaw where Jude had punched him. ‘That was really mature.’

Jude didn’t speak. Before Ben could stop him, he shoved open his door and leaped out of the car.

‘Jude!’ Ben shouted.

But Jude was off, racing away into the darkness. The dog sprang out of the car and went belting after him, barking excitedly as if this were some fun new game the two-leggeds were playing for his benefit.

Ben swore furiously and flung open the driver’s door. ‘Jude!’ he yelled. ‘Jude!’ His voice sounded flat, muffled by the impenetrable mist.

‘Fuck it,’ he muttered. There was nothing for it but to go after him. Ben broke into a sprint. The mossy, rocky terrain sloped steeply upwards from the road. Jude was already lost in the smoky fog, and Ben was terrified of losing track of him. He ran faster. As an icy gust parted the mist for a moment, he caught sight of him up ahead, darting over the craggy landscape like a man demented. Ben called his name again. Jude didn’t look back, and then he was lost in another swirl of mist.

Ben kept running, scrambling up a rough sheep track that carried him steeply upward, stones and dirt sliding underfoot. Had Jude come this way? Ben paused, listening – then heard the dog bark from somewhere beneath him and to the left, and realised that Jude had taken a different path. Ben peered down the slope and spotted him twenty yards away, just visible through the mist. Jude had skidded to a halt, his progress blocked by thick brambles and a mound of enormous moss-covered rocks that must have come down in a landslide centuries earlier.

Jude hadn’t seen Ben standing above him. He hesitated, glanced back, then seemed to decide that he had to clamber over the rocks, as though convinced that there was a perfect escape route or a handy getaway car waiting for him on the other side.

Ben raced down the slope, and before Jude managed to scramble more than a few feet up the rocks, he’d grabbed him tightly by the arms and hauled him down to the ground. ‘Where the hell do you think you’re running off to?’

Jude wriggled violently in Ben’s grip, showering him with foul curses as he tried to throw him off. Ben held him down tightly. ‘You’re determined to make this difficult for both of us, aren’t you?’

‘Let me go. You’re a fucking weirdo.’

‘And you’re a stubborn little bastard.’

That was when the first shot cracked off the rock just a few inches from Ben’s head.

Chapter Twenty-Six