Authors: Jim Eldridge
The Last Enemy (22 page)
‘Maybe now we’ll have time to get it fixed,’ said Lauren.
‘I was just thinking that there’s another thing we need to fix,’ said Jake. ‘Someone we need to thank.’
This time they drove to the caravan park on the outskirts of Sevenoaks. They’d phoned ahead to Dan to make sure that he and Gemma would be in for their visit. Gemma opened the door of the caravan to them. Dan was making coffee.
‘We wanted to come and say thank you,’ said Lauren to Gemma, as they walked in and sat down. ‘If it hadn’t been for you, we’d have been dead.’
‘I know.’ Gemma nodded.
‘We heard what you did, scraping the dirt off the bodies,’ said Jake. ‘That took massive courage.’
‘I had to find out if Dan had been killed,’ said Gemma.
‘I nearly was,’ said Dan ruefully, bringing a tray with coffees on it and putting it on the low table.
‘MI5 were really impressed,’ said Jake. ‘We hear they might be offering you a job.’ He grinned. ‘Though I guess that could be an official secret.’
Gemma shook her head.
‘I’m not taking it,’ she said. She smiled. ‘I’m going into private practice. There’s more money in it than working for the government.’
‘Private practice?’ queried Lauren.
‘Pierce Randall,’ said Gemma. ‘They’ve offered me an internship.’ She leant forward, an expression of triumph on her face. ‘Sue Clark told me I could earn a million a year working for them. A million a year!’
‘Yes,’ said Jake. ‘I expect you can.’
‘One day I’ll be able to buy Mum and Dan a proper home,’ added Gemma. She gestured around the interior of the caravan. ‘No more caravan park for them. And me, I’m moving into a flat in London, in the same block as Sue Clark. It’s a very expensive place. Very smart!’
‘Brilliant,’ said Lauren, throwing a worried look Jake’s way.
As Jake and Lauren drove away from the caravan park, Jake at the wheel, he said, ‘I think that Gemma will fit in very nicely at Pierce Randall.’
‘In fact, I bet in a few years she’ll be after Sue Clark’s job,’ added Lauren. ‘She’s very ambitious. Just the right person for Pierce Randall. What about us?’ asked Lauren.
Jake laughed.
‘I don’t think we’re Pierce Randall people at all,’ he said.
‘I mean, what happens next?’
‘About the Malichea books, you mean?’
‘Yes.’
‘That depends,’ said Jake. ‘You always said your aim was to get that scientific knowledge out into the public arena. Use it to save lives.’
‘But most people seem to want to use it as weapons, or to make money,’ sighed Lauren. ‘Maybe I was wrong and Gareth was right. Perhaps it’s better for the books to stay hidden.’
‘Who knows?’ Jake shrugged. ‘Maybe?’ Then he grinned. ‘Or maybe not,’ he added and gave a sly chuckle. ‘Maybe that’s up to us.’
The Malichea Quest Series
in reading order:
The Invisible Assassin
The Deadly Game
The Lethal Target
The Last Enemy
Bloomsbury Publishing, London, New Delhi, New York and Sydney
First published in Great Britain in September 2013 by
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
50 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3DP
This electronic edition published in September 2013 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Copyright © Jim Eldridge 2013
The moral right of the author has been asserted
All rights reserved
You may not copy, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise
make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means
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printing, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the
publisher. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication
may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 9781408826843
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