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hard-looking man, Edward, who was still standing mutely just within grabbing distance of Jake, poised to pounce if necessary.
    ‘Come on, Jake,’ said Munro. ‘The buses are so unreliable and crowded these days.’
    Jake hesitated, then climbed into the back of the car. Edward shut the rear door behind him, and then got into the front, behind the steering wheel. There was a glass partition between Jake and Munro, and Edward.
    ‘Relax, Jake.’ Munro smiled. ‘I really am just going to give you a lift to your office.’ He indicated a small cupboard set into the front of the luxurious rear compartment. ‘Can I offer you anything? Tea? Coffee? Juice?’
    Jake shook his head.
    ‘No thank you,’ he said coldly.
    The car started up and moved off.
    ‘So,’ said Jake. ‘What’s so important that it brings the head of the most powerful law firm in Europe to my door?’
    ‘The most powerful law firm in the world ,’ Munro corrected him.
    And that was no exaggeration, reflected Jake. Pierce Randall had entered his life after he and Lauren had recovered one of the hidden books. Jake had never been sure how much of his troubles since had been because of Pierce Randall and the power they exerted.
    On the surface, they were one of the most respectable and prestigious law firms ever, with branches all over the world. Their clients included most of the top companies and the most powerful governments. But there was another side to their operation, a darker side. Their client list also included international organised crime, as well as dictators and tyrants from some of the worst and most dangerous countries in the world. And, when secret deals were done between the respectable multinational companies and governments, and organised crime or a dubious tyrant, Pierce Randall would be the intermediary, making sure the deals were done with no fuss and no publicity, and the huge financial rewards allocated discreetly, with no trace.
    Alex Munro was Head of Operations in Pierce Randall’s London office, which was why Jake was stunned to see him out here, making this visit in person. When Jake had first met Munro, Munro had persuaded Jake that Pierce Randall wanted to find the hidden books of the Order of Malichea for altruistic purposes; to get the scientific information they contained out into the general arena, to help people, to use the new discoveries to save lives. Munro had been very plausible. It was only later that Jake had discovered the real reason that Pierce Randall wanted the hidden books: in two words, power and money. As Jake had told Michelle, if one of the books contained a cure for a previously untreatable terminal illness, whoever found that information and patented it would have a licence to print money. And the weapons potential of some of the sciences that were rumoured to be hidden would give dictators and terrorists power that was too hideous to consider.
    Munro settled back into the luxurious leather seats and looked at Jake.
    ‘You’re suspicious of us, Jake, but you have no reason to be. We’re after the same thing: the secret library.’
    ‘But for different reasons,’ said Jake. ‘I want it to help the world. You want it to keep it hidden and make money from it.’
    Munro sighed and smiled.
    ‘You sound just like your friend, Ms Graham,’ he said. ‘How is she, by the way? I understand the government shipped her off somewhere, with a new identity. That must be very upsetting for you, to be parted from her in this way.’
    He knows, thought Jake. He knows where Lauren is. Pierce Randall know everything. Except where the hidden books are.
    Jake kept silent, just looked out through the darkened windows at the streets outside. Munro couldn’t be trusted. Whatever he was here to offer was suspect. But why was he here?
    As if reading Jake’s thoughts, Munro said: ‘We can help you get Ms Graham back.’
    Jake swung round towards him, suspicious, but alert.
    ‘She’s in exile,’ he said. ‘The