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yesterday, all we knew was that he was going to sell the diary to the business-man and we weren' t even going to meet. But then, yesterday, he telephoned us again. I happened to take the call." Ashwood turned to Matt. "And I mentioned you."
    "Me?" Matt didn't know what to say. "He's never met me. ..."
    "No. But he knows about the five. Don't you see? He must have read about them in the diary. The fact that you're one of them, Matt... he couldn't believe it when we told him. But we managed to intrigue him, and he agreed, at last, to meet us. He made one condition."
    "He wants me to be there," Matt said.
    Ashwood nodded. "He wants to meet with you first, alone. He's given us a place and time. On Thursday, three days from now."
    "We're just asking you for one day of your time," Fabian said. "If Morton sees you and believes you are who we say you are, maybe then he'll sell us the diary. Maybe he'll give it away. I honestly believe that he wishes now that he had never found it. He wants to be rid of it. We just have to give him an excuse, a good reason to hand the diary to us." He gestured at Matt. " You are the reason. All you have to do is meet him. Nothing more."
    There was a long silence. At last, Matt spoke.
    "You keep on saying that I'm one of the five. And maybe you're right. I don't really understand any of it, but I know what happened at Raven's Gate." For a moment it all came back to him, and he knew he was saying the right thing. "I don't want to get involved. I had enough the first time. Right now I just want to get on with my life, and I want to be left alone. You say it's just one meeting in London, but I know it won't happen that way. Once I get started, I Horowitz, Anthony - [Gatekeepers 02] - Evil Star won't be able to stop. Something else will happen and then something after that. I'm sorry. You can find Morton without me. Why don't you just offer him more money? That seems to be all he wants."
    "Matt —" Susan Ashwood began.
    "I'm sorry, Miss Ashwood. You can manage without me. You're going to have to. Because I don't want to know."
    Richard stood up. "I'm afraid that's it," he said.
    "You're only here because of the Nexus," Fabian snapped — and suddenly he was angry. His eyes were darker than ever. "We pay for your school. We have made it possible for you to stay here. Maybe we should think again."
    "We can manage without you —" Now Richard was get-ting angry, too.
    "It doesn't matter!" Susan Ashwood got stiffly to her feet. "Fabian is wrong to threaten you. We came here with a request, and you have given us your answer. As you say, we must manage without you."
    She reached out and Fabian gave her his arm. "But there is one thing I will add." She turned her empty eyes on Matt and for a moment she sounded genuinely sad. "You have made a decision . . . but you may have less choice than you think. You can try to ignore who you are, but you may not be able to for much longer. You are central to what is happening, Matt. You and four others. I think it will find you before too long."
    She nudged Fabian, and the two of them left together. Richard waited until he heard the front door close, then he sank back into a chair.
    "Well, I'm glad they've gone," he said. "And I think you're absolutely right, by the way. What nerve! Trying to drag you back Horowitz, Anthony - [Gatekeepers 02] - Evil Star into all that. Well, it's not going to happen. They can get lost."
    Matt said nothing.
    “You must be hungry," Richard went on. "I managed to look into a supermarket on the way over. There are three bags of food in the kitchen. What do you fancy for dinner?"
    It took Matt a few moments to absorb what he had just heard.
    Richard had been shopping? It had to be a first. Now he remembered his surprise when he had arrived at the flat, seeing Richard there at all. "What's happened?" he asked. "How come you're home so early?"
    Richard shrugged. "Well, I was thinking about what you said this morning. About you and me. And I