The Revelation Room (The Ben Whittle Investigation Series Book 1) by Mark Tilbury Page B

wanted to.’
    Ben wished it was that simple. ‘It’ll take more than that,
judging by the state of my old man.’
    Maddie tilted her chin up. ‘I know this cult isn’t a few
hippies sitting around a campfire smoking a peace pipe. I’m well aware that it
might be dangerous. I just want to help you, Ben.’
    Ben opened his mouth to protest, but arguing with Maddie was
like arguing with the wind about which way it was blowing.
    ‘Come on. Let’s go to the kitchen and thrash out a plan of
action,’ Tom said.
    Maddie agreed. ‘I’m up for that.’
    Tom poured fresh lemonade for the three of them. They sat
huddled around the small kitchen table like conspirators plotting the downfall
of a mighty adversary. Tom plonked his glass down and wiped his mouth. ‘Does
this cult have a name, son?’
    ‘The Sons and Daughters of Salvation. That’s what Emily Hunt
called them in the letter to her mother.’
    Tom whistled. ‘That’s quite a mouthful.’ He pulled out his
iPhone and googled the name. He scrolled through the search results. ‘Zilch.
Are you sure that’s the right name?’
    ‘I didn’t expect them to be famous,’ Maddie said.
    Tom put his phone back in his jacket pocket. ‘So what have
you told this Marcus guy?’
    ‘We said we were hiking across the country and someone stole
all our stuff,’ Maddie said.
    Tom nodded. ‘And he seemed okay with that?’
    ‘Why wouldn’t he be?’
    ‘Because liars are good at spotting liars, Madeline. They’re
experts at it.’
    ‘He seemed fine,’ Maddie assured her father. ‘I told him my
dad was a headmaster at a private school. I said I had posh parents who didn’t
understand me.’
    ‘What are you going to do if he tries to look up this
private school up on the internet?’
    Maddie opened her mouth to answer and then closed it.
    Tom took a sip of lemonade and wiped his mouth. ‘At the very
least, you’ll need the name of a real private school and the name of the
headmaster who runs it. And then you might be putting that person at risk.’
    Ben agreed. ‘Your dad’s right.’
    ‘I’ll tell them I don’t have a clue which school he works
at. I’ll say I’m not interested in what he does. As for his name, I’ll just
make one up.’
    Tom formed a steeple with his fingers. ‘ Be careful. From
what you’ve told me, it’s likely that they’ll try and extort money from your
fictional family.’
    Maddie didn’t seem too concerned. ‘We won’t be there long
enough to let them try.’
    Ben wished he shared Maddie’s optimism. ‘We hope.’
    Tom looked at Ben. ‘What about you? What did you tell
Marcus?’
    ‘I told him my dad was a bank manager. I sort of gave him my
uncle’s name and occupation.’
    Tom didn’t look very impressed. ‘Let’s hope they don’t dig
too deep.’
    ‘They won’t,’ Maddie said.  
    Ben wished he shared her optimism. Something was bound to go
wrong. Had to. It always did.
    ‘If you end up joining this cult, make sure you hide a phone
somewhere,’ Tom said. ‘That way you’ll have something to fall back on if things
get tricky and you need help.’
    Ben wondered if his father had any spare watch-phones
kicking about in the house.
    ‘When you hide it, put it outside if you can. Somewhere no
one else will look. You say you told Marcus that you had all your stuff
stolen?’ Tom asked.
    Maddie took a sip of lemonade. ‘As far as he’s concerned,
we’ve only got the clothes we stand up in.’
    ‘So if you take a phone, you’ll have to be smart about
hiding it.’
    Maddie grinned. ‘A smartphone.’
    Tom grinned back. ‘A smartphone for a smart alec.’
    ‘Hey, that’s a boy’s name.’
    Tom laughed. ‘If the cap fits.’
    ‘Much better than your trilby.’
    Tom’s smile slipped away. ‘Seriously, guys, first sign of
any trouble, and you get out of there. Run naked if you have to.’
    ‘Across hot coals,’ Maddie promised.
    Tom looked at them both in turn. ‘Be vigilant. Be careful.’
    ‘We don’t