Page 124 of The Black Trilogy

Instead, he followed the instructions and began transferring the ransom into the new bag. His hands shook so much he dropped a handful of bundles on the floor, and one burst open. He didn’t bother to hold back his curses as he wasted precious time retrieving the notes. When he got his hands on this guy, he’d…he’d… Okay, so he didn’t exactly know, but it wouldn’t be pretty. Worse even than making him sit through the Fifty Shades of Grey movie without the ability to mute or fast-forward.

Next, Luke needed to change. The kidnapper had left a pair of jogging bottoms, a T-shirt, and a red sweatshirt, plus cheap trainers. Should he take off his underwear and socks? He glanced at the camera again, its beady eye steady, then stripped to his skin. The scratchy sweatshirt was too small, and the shoes slopped around on his feet. How far would he have to walk in them?

As he tied the second lace, the phone on the floor vibrated, signalling the arrival of a message.

Unknown: Go back to the shopping centre and take the 180 bus. Use the travel card in the trouser pocket. Run - you have 2 minutes.

Luke took off down the stairs, reaching the bus just as the doors were closing. Nobody boarded after him. Had the following team kept up? He looked out the window, but all he could see was the glare of headlights and the occasional glow from homes on the tired street.

Was Nick in one of the vehicles nearby? Or the kidnapper?

The bus wound its way through South East London for forty minutes. Luke tried to memorise the route, but he wasn’t familiar with the area and soon lost track of where he was. Ten stops, twenty, and after the twenty-third, he received another message.

Unknown: Get off at next stop. Take the ferry.

Ferry? What ferry? Was he near the Thames?

He hopped off the bus at the twenty-fourth stop, clutching the bag as if his life depended on it. Or rather, Tia’s life. At the end of a nearby pier, a boat floated gently on the river, and he dashed in that direction. Please, don’t go without me. A sign told him the ferry was free to use, and he leapt on among the multitude of cars, lorries, and foot passengers.

Exhausted both by the wild run and a lack of sleep for the last few days, Luke sank into a seat beside a businessman in a rumpled suit.

“Can you tell me where this boat goes?”

The businessman raised an eyebrow but answered anyway, his voice weary. “It’s the Woolwich ferry. It’ll dock on the other side of the river in five minutes.”

“Thanks.”

Did Luke dare to call Nick? Was the kidnapper watching? He studied his fellow passengers, but none seemed to be paying the slightest attention, and this could be his only chance. He punched the number Nick had made him memorise into the cheap phone the kidnapper gave him.

No credit!

Feeling desperate, he turned to the businessman again. “Any chance I could borrow your phone?”

The guy just stared. Understandable, since even making eye contact with a stranger in London was frowned upon.

“Please. I’ve got a family emergency.”

“You’re not calling overseas, right?”

“No, just local.”

The man sighed and handed his phone over. “Make it quick, okay?”

The last of Luke’s hope leached away when Nick’s number went straight to voicemail. What was he playing at? How could he call himself a professional if he didn’t even answer his phone?

Luke left a garbled message telling Nick his whereabouts then got swept up in the exodus of passengers as the ferry reached the opposite bank. Thirty seconds after he stepped onto dry land, another message arrived. He was to travel on foot this time.

Unknown: Two miles, twenty minutes. Go down the road next to the hair salon then take the first left, second right, third left, fifth right, second right, fourth left. Don’t be late.

Luke set off at a sprint. He may have been fit, but the heavy bag banged against his legs and slowed him down. Running the ten-minute miles specified would be uncomfortable, especially in a pair of shoes that didn’t fit. Worse, he had no idea where he was or where he should be going, and he didn’t even have street names to confirm whether he was heading in the right direction. Was he alone now? He hadn’t seen a familiar face since he left the storage place.

Could things have gone any more wrong?

Luke had been running for eighteen minutes when a police car overtook him, blue lights flashing and siren wailing, closely followed by a second and then a third, all rushing in the same direction as him. What was going on up there?

A few seconds later, the phone rang.

Luke skidded to a halt, hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath and answer at the same time.

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