The Demon Code by David Leadbeater

Author:David Leadbeater [Leadbeater, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollinsPublishers
Published: 2022-06-17T12:00:00+00:00

Chapter 27

Mason stayed three car lengths behind the black Mercedes, trying to remain inconspicuous. To most drivers he would be just another vehicle, but these were mercenaries. Admittedly, the divide between good and bad mercenaries was enormous – some were ex-US and British Army whilst others were largely untrained militia unworthy of their $100-a-day fee – but Mason was forced to assume they’d be more than competent.

Roxy’s phone rang. ‘Yeah?’

‘It’s me,’ Sally said. ‘They have the inscription.’

Mason cursed. Roxy tapped his shoulder. ‘Got a plan?’

‘Any idea what we’re looking for?’ Quaid asked.

‘Why do I always have to come up with the strategies?’ Mason moaned.

‘Nothing specific,’ Sally said. ‘A slab of stone perhaps. Before today, I’d have expected the inscription to be inscribed on the coffin itself, but since the Creed ’s been moved many times through the centuries, it seems each successive person has a different idea of what’s best.’

‘That actually sounds credible,’ Quaid said.

‘I don’t know why you have to come up with the plans,’ Roxy admitted to Mason with surprise in her voice. ‘You just do.’

‘Bollocks to that,’ Mason said. ‘I’m driving. You two discuss it.’

Roxy raised an eyebrow at Quaid. ‘Ram them?’

‘Sounds perfect. A good hard shunt up the backside.’

Mason sighed and gripped the wheel harder. ‘If you’re trying to be funny, don’t. Minimising collateral out here is what counts.’

Cars filled both sides of the road, progressing at a steady 20 miles per hour. The Mercedes paused at a set of traffic lights and then swung right. Mason inched forward, heart racing, willing the lights to stay green until he got through. An instant later they started their cycle to red. Mason floored the accelerator, and the engine roared, just beating the last change.

Now they were only one car behind their quarry.

The sunlit streets were filled with pedestrians. Two feathery white trails marred an otherwise blue sky, marking the passage of aeroplanes, their foamy tracks already dissolving high above. Random noises came from everywhere – the honk of a car horn, the shouting of pedestrians, the slamming of a door. And the sounds of music too as they drove past a small parade.

Mason stayed with the Mercedes through another set of lights and then found himself right behind the suspect car. ‘Options,’ he said.

No one answered because, just then, a head popped out of the Mercedes’s rear right window. Mason recognised Ravi, the merc leader who’d escaped in Alexandria, and Ravi recognised him.

‘Told you we shoulda shunted them,’ Roxy said.

Mason put his foot down as the Mercedes accelerated. Traffic clogged its path, but it started to take chances, overtaking on the wrong side of the road and ploughing through a pedestrian crossing. Mason let a gap develop.

‘Don’t lose it,’ Roxy urged.

‘I won’t.’ He swung the wheel as the Mercedes veered into a side street. Both cars accelerated between parked traffic. A woman shouted at them from the side of the road.

The next junction came up faster than Mason had anticipated and made him jam his foot hard on the brake pedal.

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