Egress Point

Chapter 8

Decision time. The man on the phone -- James -- told her not to go to the police. She wanted to go back to the suite and lie down, but was that where the Russians were heading? Only one way to find out. She pushed the work phone under the dress in her bag, slipped her own phone into her pocket and followed the men out of the quad.

Rather than turning left, she crossed straight over the road first. The pavement on the far side was in shade and the air felt cool. Arebecca walked slowly toward the hotel. She could see the two Russians a few hundred yards ahead. When they drew level with the hotel entrance they turned and disappeared inside.

Arebecca picked her pace up. She walked past the hotel without turning to look at it, and up the steps into the Royal College of Music. She pushed through the heavy wood and glass doors. From just inside the entrance she could see over the road to the hotel. She was breathing hard and shaking, either with excitement or terror, she didn't know which.

After a few minutes of watching, nothing had happened, and she felt calmer. Calm enough to start to think about her options. Call the police, call her father, or call Sabby. That was about as much as she could come up with. None of them felt like the solution to her problem. What would she say to the police? Her father was thousands of miles away, and would be angry. And Sabby was probably still asleep.

There seemed little doubt that the Russians were looking for her, but they didn't know who she was or what she looked like. It must be linked to the work she'd done for Nick. She didn't have a good feeling about the work, or about the Russians. Especially the Russians.

In her mind she narrowed it down to two real choices: either speak to the Russians or contact the police. She thought about hiding at Sabby's too, for a short while at least. Right now she wanted to find out as much as she could about her situation. There were not many avenues for her to explore. Opening her email on her phone, she sent a reply to Em giving her phone number and pleading for Em to call her. Then she decided to call Hanger's End Consulting to see if there was someone there she could speak to.

Her thoughts were interrupted as the larger Russian burst through the hotel doors and sprinted down the road toward the student union. She pushed her head against the glass to see where he was going, and then quickly stepped back as the shorter Russian came out onto the pavement. He was on the phone talking fast, waving his free arm wildly and jogging in the direction of his running friend.

The phone buzzed and Arebecca almost dropped it in surprise. Unknown caller. She answered.

"Hello?"

"Is that Arebecca?" A female voice. It sounded young.

"Yes! Is that Em?"

"It is. You asked me to call urgently, and you're working with Nick Thomas. What's going on? Has he got you into trouble?" Her tone was flat and emotionless.

"No. Well, yes, maybe he has. I don't know. I was working with him. And now he's gone missing. And I think there's bad men after me. This sounds crazy now I'm saying it, I shouldn't be telling you this."

"Hold on. Nick's gone missing? Are you sure?" Em said.

"I think so. James said he was looking for him. And he told me not to go to the police. It's so stupid. I don't know what to do." Arebecca was almost crying now.

"James Patey? He told you not to go to the police. That's not surprising. How bad are the men?"

"Very bad. Russians. Maybe a hacker group. I don't really know. They tracked my work phone and found my hotel."

"If they can track your work phone, they can track this one. You'd better turn it off. Can I call you somewhere else on a landline?"

A safe place? Not the hotel. Sabby's place was a 30 minute walk at least.