Colm & the Lazarus Key Read online

  ‘Actually, Lauryn, I won’t. We don’t have time for ex-planations,’ Drake replied.

  ‘What’s going on?’ Colm asked.

  ‘Colm, I know you don’t know me, but I’m going to ask you to go out on a limb and trust me,’ Drake said.

  In Colm’s experience when someone asked you to trust them it usually meant you shouldn’t. The Brute was always saying things like that: ‘Trust me, this won’t hurt a bit.’ But it did. It always hurt.

  ‘Can you come with me, please,’ Drake said. It was more of a demand than a question. It wasn’t the words he used, it was the way he said it.

  ‘Where?’ he asked.

  ‘Somewhere safe.’

  ‘I’m fine here,’ Colm said. He looked around. No exits other than the door and Drake was blocking that. He wasn’t making a big deal of it, he was acting all casual, but Colm knew by the way the man shifted the weight from his left foot to his right that he was preparing himself in case Colm made a run for it. What did they want with him?

  His mouth went dry. He would have killed for a glass of water.

  Lauryn sensed his discomfort.

  ‘It’s all right, Colm. Just do as he says.’

  She said it like she was on his side. If she really was then why had she told him that lie about The Book of Dread? Why had she slipped the note under the door? Why had she let The Brute go into the woods?

  In the past he would have just done what he was told, but if he’d learned one thing from The Brute, it was to act on his instincts. No point waiting. Go now.

  ‘OK, I’ll go with you,’ he said.

  The man had heard what he’d wanted to hear. His shoulders relaxed. Just for a split second. But it was enough time for Colm to make his move.

  He sprinted to the man’s left. Drake’s jaw dropped and the cigarette fell from his lips. Colm had caught him off guard. But the tall, thin man was quick, quicker than he looked. His long arm snaked out.

  Not far enough.

  Colm dodged to man’s right. Sold him a dummy. The man lurched in the wrong direction. Too late to catch him.

  The door was only three yards away. Already he was thinking ahead. Grab the key on the way out. Lock them in the room. He’d have to be fast.

  The blur of movement came from his right. He saw it out of the corner of his eye.

  Lauryn diving through the air.

  Her shoulder hit him in the fleshy part of his stomach. Colm heard a soft sound.

  Oomph.

  Then he felt the pain surge through his body and realised he was the one who’d made the noise.

  They crashed to the floor in a heap of arms and legs. Before Colm had the chance to untangle himself from the mess Drake had grabbed him by the collar. He picked him up as if he weighed nothing at all and flung him onto the armchair.

  ‘We tried to be nice about this,’ Drake snarled.

  ‘What are you doing? Are you crazy?’ Colm shouted.

  ‘It’s not what it looks like,’ Lauryn said. She seemed sad. Almost ashamed.

  ‘It looks like you’re trying to take me prisoner,’ Colm said. ‘Can I leave?’

  She shook her head.

  ‘Then it’s exactly what it looks like,’ he said.

  ‘We’ll put him with the others,’ Drake said. He took a length of blue rope from his pocket.

  ‘What others?’ Colm asked, but he knew the answer before he’d even finished the question. His mam and dad. ‘You two are nuts.’

  ‘Your opinion on this matter is entirely redundant,’ Drake said. ‘Put your hands out. Like this.’

  Drake held his arms out in front of him and pressed his wrists together.

  ‘What if I say no?’ Colm asked.

  ‘Then it’ll hurt more when I tie you up.’

  How did he know Drake was going to say that?

  Colm wasn’t sure what to do. He thought of making a break for it again, but they’d be expecting it this time. The element of surprise was gone. Reluctantly, he put his hands out.

  Drake tied the knot tightly, then triple checked it wasn’t going to loosen. Typical professor. Leaving nothing to chance. The rope was rough and scratchy and it tore at Colm’s wrists. Not much hope of getting out of this, he thought.

  ‘Stand up,’ Drake said.

  Colm got to his feet. It wasn’t easy with his hands tied up. He shuffled about in the chair until Drake lost his patience, grabbed the rope and hauled him up.

  ‘Where are you taking me?’ he asked. Great question Colm, he thought.

  ‘Somewhere safe,’ Drake replied giving him a shove in the back.

  Colm took a few steps forward. It was weird walking with his hands tied up. It was weird just being tied up. He caught Lauryn’s eye, but she quickly looked away. Definitely feeling guilty, he decided.

  As she held the door open twin beams of light swept through the room. Headlights outside. They heard the crunch of tyres on gravel as the car turned in the courtyard.

  ‘Stay here with the boy. Don’t let him out of your sight,’ said Drake hurrying towards the front door of the hotel.

  Lauryn shut the library door and switched off the light. Moonlight streamed through the only window without curtains, the one at the opposite end of the room to the door. The light cast strange shadows on the walls like monsters from a nightmare. At any other time in his life this would have unnerved him, but shadows were the least of his worries now.

  ‘Lauryn, can I tell you something?’

  ‘No. Not now.’

  Colm ignored her. He wanted to say something smart. Something cutting. Something witty like James Bond would say if he was in the same situation.

  ‘You’re not going to get away with this,’ he said.

  Good one Colm, he thought, that was worth the wait.

  Drake peered through the door viewer as the car came to a stop in front of the hotel. Two people got out. A man and a woman. Cedric Murphy and Kate Finkle.

  ·•·

  A grey mist shrouded the hotel in a ghostly gloom. Kate shivered. And not just because it was cold. At least the rain has stopped, she thought. She was sitting on the bonnet of the Ford Focus puffing on a cigar when Cedric returned.

  ‘There’s a car parked round the back of the hotel. A navy BMW. The registration matches the one Mark gave us,’ he said with a smile.

  ‘Great. Can we go now?’ Kate said. ‘This place is giving me the creeps.’

  ‘It’s a hotel, Kate. How can a hotel give you the creeps?’

  ‘I dunno, all this mist and trees and stuff. Something’s not right. I can feel it in my waters.’

  ‘There’s a pleasant thought,’ he said.

  ‘Believe me, Ced, humans aren’t meant to live in the countryside. Not any more. Give me the city and crowds of people any day. So, can we go?’

  ‘Not yet. I’m not ringing our client until I’ve made a positive ID. If I send him on a wild goose chase who knows what he might do to me.’

  ‘You want to meet the man in the photo?’

  ‘You got it in one.’

  They crossed the courtyard. Somewhere in the woods an owl hooted. Kate almost leaped into Cedric’s arms.

  ‘What was that?’ she asked in a tiny voice.

  ‘Only the most terrifying creature ever known to man,’ Cedric said.

  Kate’s eyes opened wide.

  ‘It’s an owl, Kate. Just an owl. I thought you liked animals.’

  ‘Owls are birds, not animals. I like cats and goldfish, Ced. Things you can keep indoors. You can’t keep an owl indoors.’

  ‘You could try.’ Cedric turned the brass door knob. Nothing happened. ‘That’s strange,’ he said. ‘It’s locked. Why would a hotel be locked up at night?’

  He banged on the door three times with the heel of his fist.

  ‘Maybe the hotel staff are worried that strange creatures will sneak in and savage them. You know, I saw this film once – The Birds – where all the birds turned evil and started attacking …’

 
The door opened a little and Peter Drake poked his head out.

  ‘Can I help you?’ he asked coldly.

  Cedric pushed past him into the lobby, much to Drake’s annoyance. ‘No point in chatting out on the steps. It’s freezing out there,’ Cedric said.

  ‘The hotel’s closed,’ Drake said. ‘For renovations.’

  ‘That’s a shame. We were looking for a room for the night.’

  Drake looked at his watch. ‘It’s gone midnight.’

  ‘Well, we were looking for a room for the morning then. We’ve been travelling for hours.’

  ‘As I said – we’re closed. I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you to leave,’ Drake said.

  ‘No problem. Could you recommend somewhere else to stay?’

  Kate looked around the lobby. Seemed like a nice hotel. If you liked old places. She half heard Cedric ask the man for a phone book to look up numbers for bed and breakfasts. What was he playing at? The tall man was the one they were looking for, wasn’t he? She glanced at the paintings on the wall. Wow, some ugly old geezers up there. Wouldn’t have liked to have hung around with them. One-way ticket to boredom city and … whoa, who was that guy with the red eyes? Kate was glad she wasn’t around in his time. He looked mad and dangerous. She walked up a few steps to get a closer look at the painting. Yup, definite bad guy.

  ‘Excuse me. Where do you think you’re going?’

  Kate turned around. Drake and Cedric were looking up at her.

  ‘Yes, I’m talking to you. This is a private dwelling and you’re trespassing. Please leave immediately,’ Drake snar-led.

  ‘Sorry. Just looking at the paintings,’ Kate said. ‘They’re beautiful. They take my breath away,’ she lied.

  ‘You take my breath away, darling,’ Cedric said with a smirk. ‘Why don’t you wait for me in the car while I get the telephone numbers from Mr …’

  ‘Smith,’ said Drake.

  ‘Smith. Very popular name,’ Cedric replied.

  ·•·

  Colm could hear the voices outside and wondered if he should shout for help. Lauryn seemed to read his mind.

  ‘Don’t say a word, Colm,’ she warned him.

  He took a step towards the door. Lauryn immediately stood in front of it, blocking him.

  When he heard the front door slam he ran towards her. She put her hands out to stop him, but he turned on his heel – not easy with his hands tied up – and ran in the opposite direction. He looked like a toddler taking his first steps.

  ‘You can’t get out that way,’ Lauryn said.

  But he wasn’t looking for a way out.

  He darted towards the window. She saw what he was going to do.

  ‘Don’t,’ she said.

  He tried to push through the heavy velvet curtains, but got caught up in them. They wrapped themselves around his head and for a moment he thought he was going to suffocate. Lauryn pulled at his shirt.

  ‘Get away from there,’ she whispered, not daring to speak out loud in case she was heard in the lobby.

  He let her think he’d given up. She dragged him back, but when he didn’t put up any resistance her grip on him slackened. He took the chance and lunged forward at the window. His face slapped against the glass.

  The large woman outside by the car must have got a fright because she nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard whack of his cheekbone on the window pane. He only had a second. He mouthed a single word. Help.

  He didn’t know if the woman had seen him or not. He didn’t have the time to check. Lauryn grabbed him by the waist and spun him around. Her eyes blazed with anger.

  ‘That was a stupid thing to do,’ she said in a furious whisper.

  ‘What? Trying to escape? Yeah, I don’t know what I was thinking,’ Colm replied.

  ‘This isn’t the time for sarcasm. This is serious.’

  He held up his hands to show her the rope that bound them.

  ‘You think I don’t know that,’ he said.

  ·•·

  ‘OK, I’d better head off. Still got a bit of travelling to do,’ said Cedric making his way to the door. ‘Thanks for your help, Mr Sm …’

  Drake slammed the door shut in his face.

  ‘Ced?’

  ‘Not now, Kate. We’ll talk in the car. Just act like we’re a normal couple. He’s watching us through the door viewer,’ Cedric whispered, taking her hand.

  They got into the car and Cedric started it up. He revved the engine.

  ‘Ced. Did you see …’

  ‘Wait until we’re out of here. Caution is our watch-word.’

  They headed out the long driveway and the car turned on to the main road.

  ‘Cedric?’

  ‘A few more seconds, Kate.’

  When they were about half a mile away from the hotel Cedric banged the steering wheel with his fist. He beeped the car horn joyfully. He may even have shouted ‘Yeehaw’. A huge smile spread across his pudgy features.

  ‘That was him all right. The man we’re looking for. I can’t believe it. We did it. You know, I was feeling sorry for the tall guy and whatever trouble he was in until I met him. Now I feel nothing. He’s a nasty piece of work. He deserves whatever’s coming to him. I feel relieved. The last few hours have been so stressful.’

  ‘There was a boy in there,’ Kate said.

  ‘What?’

  ‘A boy. At the window. I saw him when I was waiting for you by the car. I think he’s in trouble. He asked me to help him.’

  ‘I didn’t hear anyone shout for help. I would have heard it if I was only in the next room,’ Cedric said.

  ‘He didn’t say it out loud. He mouthed it to me.’

  ‘Well, in all fairness, Kate, you’re not a trained lip reader. Maybe he was saying something else. Like “whelp”.’

  ‘Whelp?’

  ‘It’s a word. Look it up in the dictionary.’

  ‘Don’t play me for a fool, Cedric Murphy.’

  ‘He was probably just playing a stupid game. You know how children are, especially these days – nasty, spiteful little gits.’

  ‘We have to go back and help that boy. We can’t just leave him there. You know that.’

  Cedric sighed. ‘I wish we could, Kate. But we can’t. If we interfere with The Ghost’s work, then you know what’ll happen to us.’

  As if on cue, Cedric’s mobile phone rang.

  ‘Hand me that, Kate.’

  She slapped the phone into his hand.

  ‘You know it’s illegal to talk on the phone while driving.’

  ‘We’ve already done plenty of illegal things today. One more won’t make a difference,’ Cedric said, but he still in-dicated and pulled the car over to the side of the road before he answered the call.

  ‘Hello. Yes, I’m aware that my time is now up, but I have good news for you. I have found the man you were looking for.’

  He gave the rat-faced little man instructions on how to get to the Red House Hotel.

  ‘Before you go, I just want to clarify one thing – my work is finished now, right? Thank you sir.’

  He hung up.

  ‘Sir? You called him sir,’ Kate mocked.

  ‘If you’d met him you’d call him sir too,’ Cedric said. ‘Anyway, the money will be in my bank account in the morning and he said that we’re in the clear. As far as he’s concerned our work is done and we never have to worry about him again.’

  ‘And what about the boy? Are you worried about him?’

  ‘Kate, you’re beginning to annoy me.’

  ‘And you’ve been annoying me for years, but I’ve put up with it, so surely you can give me a minute of your precious time.’

  Cedric nodded. ‘Go on.’

  ‘Couldn’t we just go back and get the boy out of there before Mr Smith arrives?’

  ‘Too risky. And for all we know our client may want to talk to the boy.’

  ‘OK, let’s just ring the Gardaí then. Anonymously. They could take care of it and no one would ever know that
we were involved.’

  ‘He would. Come on, Kate, do you really think he got to where he is by being stupid? If the Gardaí turned up he’d know it was us who tipped them off and then he’d come after us. I’m sorry. You know in any other circumstances I’d love to help, but I can’t do that now. That’s my final word on the matter. The boy is on his own.’

  Thirteen

  Lauryn led Colm up the stairs, Drake just behind her. It was difficult to climb the steps with his hands bound and he stumbled once or twice, but Lauryn was there to steady him.

  ‘It’ll be OK,’ she said.

  ‘It will be OK if you let us all go,’ Colm replied.

  ‘We can’t do that,’ Drake said. ‘It’s for your own good.’

  Colm doubted that.

  They arrived at number thirteen. Drake took a bunch of keys from his pocket. Colm knew the door was unlocked, but he wasn’t going to tell them that. He was being petty and he liked it.

  He decided to take a chance. Call their bluff. ‘Do you really think you’ll find it?’ he asked.

  Drake seemed surprised. ‘Find what?’

  ‘The Lazarus Key. That’s what you’re looking for, isn’t it?’

  ‘He must have read the book,’ Lauryn said to Drake.

  ‘I thought I told you to hide it.’ Drake sounded more weary than angry.

  ‘I didn’t think we needed to when the hotel was closed. Anyway, I told him it was cursed. I didn’t think he’d be brave enough to look at it if he thought bad things would happen,’ Lauryn said.

  She’d underestimated him.

  ‘Maybe he’s not afraid of curses,’ Drake said, opening the door. ‘Lauryn, take off the rope.’

  ‘Are you sure it’s safe?’ she asked.

  ‘If he doesn’t go quietly into the room there’ll be con-sequences. You don’t want there to be consequences, do you?’

  Colm didn’t bother to reply. That’d show him. Unless it was a rhetorical question.

  The knot was tied very tightly and it took Lauryn a few minutes to loosen the rope. Drake kept making impatient noises and urging her to hurry up. Her cheeks reddened and Colm saw that she was on the verge of losing her temper. He wondered if there was a way he could use that against them, but she finished untying the knot before he’d even begun to think of a plan.

  Drake shoved him into the room.