‘Did my dad tell you to get rid of me?’ Bullet’s voice was barely above a whisper.
‘Of course not. But he will do,’ said Samantha. ‘At the moment, you’re a new experience for him. He’s never played at being a daddy before. He’ll soon get bored.’
Never before had Theo witnessed such a display of vindictive spite. This woman was a real piece of work. She reminded Theo of a swaying, spitting cobra, mesmerizingly dangerous. He longed to open his mouth to defend his friend but he was only too aware that it was none of his business.
‘Dad isn’t like that.’ Bullet tried to defend himself.
‘No?’ Mrs Marriott shrugged out of her coat and trailed it behind her on her way to the door. ‘I’ve known him for a lot longer than you. Allow me to know my own husband.’
‘Dad is kind and generous and he loves me,’ Bullet shouted at her.
Mrs Marriott laughed like a drain at that. ‘That’s what you think? Darius loves no one but himself. You’d do well to remember that – then you won’t be too disappointed.’
Bullet clamped his lips together, not trusting himself to say another word.
‘What are you three boys doing in here anyway?’ Mrs Marriott suddenly turned her gaze on Ricky and Theo. She looked slowly around the room, then down at the rug.
‘Ah! Have you been at Darius’s safe? I hope you broke in and tore up that ridiculous will. I know the combination number if you’re having trouble,’ Mrs Marriott smiled.
‘We don’t even know where Mr Marriott’s safe is,’ Theo tried.
‘Of course not,’ Mrs Marriott said in mock empathy.
‘What makes you think we were looking at Mr Marriott’s safe?’ Ricky asked carefully.
‘Darius insists that the biggest white peacock, there in the middle, always faces due north – which is that way.’ Mrs Marriott pointed towards the picture wall. ‘That peacock always has his beak directly facing the Degas in the middle of the wall.’
No one spoke.
‘I’d turn the rug around before the housekeeper or my husband comes home if I were you three.’ Samantha Marriott turned and headed out the door, calling back over her shoulder, ‘I’ll be seeing you.’
‘Not if I see you first,’ Bullet muttered under his breath.
Samantha turned immediately. ‘But that’s where you’re wrong, Toby. You and I will be seeing a great deal of each other. I’m back now. And don’t you forget it.’ And Samantha swept out of the room, quietly closing the door behind her.
‘Whew! I feel like I’ve just stepped out of a tumble dryer,’ said Ricky.
And Theo knew exactly what he meant. ‘Come on. Let’s change this rug around before anyone else notices that we’ve shifted it.’
As they all helped to turn it back to its correct position, Ricky put into words what everyone else was thinking, ‘Why did she warn us? I mean, what was in it for her?’
‘Maybe she’s going to tell Dad that I was investigating his safe?’ Bullet ventured.
‘But now she has no proof – unless of course she was lying about the way the rug lies,’ Theo said slowly.
‘I hate to say this, ’cos I didn’t like her at all, but I don’t think she was lying somehow,’ Ricky said slowly. ‘I think she hates your guts, Bullet, but I don’t think she was lying to you.’
Theo considered. ‘No, I don’t think so either.’
‘So what do we do now?’ Ricky asked.
‘Let’s get out of here.’ Bullet headed for the door. ‘Besides, there’s something else I wanted to show both of you.’
‘What?’
‘Dad’s suit of life as he calls it. His Lazarus suit.’ Bullet led the way out of the den and into another room off the main living room.
‘What’s this room?’ asked Ricky, pointing to the room Bullet indicated.
‘It’s my bedroom when I’m here,’ Bullet explained. ‘It’s one of the guest rooms.’
He led the way into his room and closed the door. The Lazarus suit lay on his bed.
‘Why did you want to show us this?’ asked Theo.
‘’Cos I want you two to be my witnesses,’ said Bullet. ‘I’ve tested it backwards, forwards and sideways and my lie detector doesn’t set it off.’
‘It’s not exactly the same conditions,’ Theo ventured. ‘No one was wearing it.’
‘I was,’ Bullet stated.
‘What?’ Ricky and Theo spoke in horrified unison.
‘You nutter! It might’ve killed you,’ Ricky ranted.
‘No way. I know Dad’s invention works. Besides, I tested it range-wise, height-wise, frequency-wise, amount of light-wise and every other wise I could think of. My lie detector doesn’t activate this suit. In fact the only thing my lie detector does is switch the suit off. It doesn’t do anything else.’
‘This thing has an on/off switch?’ Theo said, confused.
‘No, not really, but it has a number of electronic components. If any of those components are activated, then using my lie detector nearby stops them from working. In effect it switches all the electronic components off.’
‘Including the defib … defibrillation bit.’ Theo tried to remember the word.
‘Including that.’ Bullet nodded.
‘So how exactly does it work?’ Theo reached out a tentative hand towards the suit.
‘Just as Dad said. It’s designed to be ultra-thin so that it can be worn under a shirt and a proper suit. The high collar would be hidden by a shirt with a proper collar and it has a mechanism in it to take the pulse in your neck. There’s a cardiac massage unit, a defibrillation device – but that’s only ever used as a last resort – it can take your blood pressure and it can administer injections like insulin in times of emergency.’
Theo broke out his notepad.
‘What’re you doing?’ asked Bullet.
‘I’m taking notes. I want to draw this thing just so I don’t forget what all its bits and pieces do. It might be important.’
‘Just remember that the details of this suit are strictly confidential,’ Bullet said anxiously.
Theo nodded and carried on drawing.
‘Do you think your dad’s Lazarus suit will be successful?’ Ricky asked.
‘I don’t know,’ Bullet replied. ‘All the really successful inventions involve things that have mass-market appeal so that lots and lots of people will buy them. But apart from presidents and prime ministers and famous film stars and maybe royalty, I don’t really see who else would buy it. It’s going to be hideously expensive to buy and cost even more money to maintain, monitor and operate.’
‘If the price is really high, your dad’s company will still make a huge profit even if they only sell a few thousand worldwide, won’t it?’ asked Ricky.
Bullet shrugged doubtfully. ‘That’s the theory.’
‘I see you have better business sense than my husband.’ Samantha Marriott had appeared from nowhere to stand in the doorway. Bullet jumped and he wasn’t the only one. Where had she appeared from? How long had she been standing in the doorway? Theo could’ve sworn he’d shut the door behind him as he entered the room.
Samantha Marriott reminded him of a snake in more ways than one.
‘I only came in here to say don’t you three have school to go to or something?’ asked Mrs Marriott. ‘Not that it’s any skin off my nose if you go or not. I just don’t want to get blamed for not mentioning it.’
‘We were just leaving … Mrs Marriott.’ Bullet stumbled over her name.
A slight smile played over Samantha’s lips. ‘Toby, as you’re obviously uncomfortable saying my name, you can call me … Mrs Marriott.’
No doubt she thought she was being hilariously funny.
‘Enjoy yourselves, sprogs. I’m off for a hot bath and a cold glass of champagne.’ Mrs Marriott swept out of the room, leaving the door wide open.
‘What an old trout!’ Ricky breathed.
‘She was right about the time though,’ Theo said, glancing down at hi
s watch. ‘We’d better get a move on or we’re going to be late.’
‘Theo, you go on ahead. I want to talk to Ricky about something,’ said Bullet.
‘Then I’ll wait too,’ Theo began.
‘No, you go on ahead. We’ll meet you at school,’ Bullet said firmly.
Theo stared from Bullet to Ricky and back again. He tried – and failed – not to feel hurt by his exclusion. What had he done? Why were they shutting him out? Confused, he didn’t move.
‘I’ll show you to the door,’ said Bullet.
‘Don’t bother. I can find my own way out,’ Theo snapped.
Fine! If they didn’t want him, if he was getting in the way, then he would leave. Right now. Theo marched out of the room and headed for the front door. He could sense Ricky and Bullet watching him. He fully intended to keep going without a backward glance. He fully intended to take a leaf out of Mrs Marriott’s book and leave the front door wide open, but somehow it didn’t happen.
‘I’ll see you both at school then?’ Theo turned and asked uncertainly.
Relief broadened Bullet’s smile. Standing slightly behind Bullet, Ricky shrugged apologetically. He obviously had no idea why Bullet wanted him to stay behind. With a nod, Theo left the apartment, shutting the door quietly behind him.
Chapter Fourteen
No Doubt
THEO WATCHED THE classroom door like a circling hawk watching a rabbit. Where were Ricky and Bullet? What if something had happened to them? First Angela, then Ricky and Bullet. Theo felt like he was losing sight of all of them. The previous night, Theo had phoned Angela’s foster-mum and dad to find out how Angela was doing but there’d been no answer. In the end, Theo had phoned the hospital but all they would say was that Angela was comfortable.
‘Theo? Why has the door suddenly become so fascinating?’
‘Sorry, Mrs Daltry.’ Theo snapped back to the here and now.
‘You’ve been staring at that door for the last ten minutes. What am I missing?’ asked the teacher.
‘Nothing, Mrs Daltry. I … I was just thinking,’ Theo said quickly.
‘Could you think by staring at the whiteboard instead of the door, please?’
‘Sorry!’ Theo mumbled. He turned to the whiteboard, making a great show of reading every letter Mrs Daltry had written. She raised her eyebrows but didn’t say anything.
Where were they? If anything had happened to them … At that moment, the door opened slowly. Ricky and Bullet immediately entered the room and made a beeline for their chairs as if hoping the teacher wouldn’t notice them.
‘Excuse me! What time in the morning do you two call this?’ asked Mrs Daltry.
‘Sorry, Mrs Daltry,’ Ricky began.
‘We … we missed our bus,’ Bullet added.
‘Ricky, since when do you need a bus to get to school? You live two streets away.’
Ricky and Bullet exchanged a quick look. ‘I went to meet Bullet,’ Ricky tried to explain. ‘So I had to get a bus to his house and then a bus back here again.’
‘The next time, let Toby come to school on his own. Then you’ll both be on time,’ Mrs Daltry said, annoyed. ‘Now hurry up and sit down.’
Ricky quickly sat down next to Theo. Bullet sat at his table.
‘Everything OK?’ Theo whispered.
‘So-so,’ Ricky whispered back. ‘Ssh! I’ll tell you later.’
‘I’d appreciate that,’ Mrs Daltry drawled from the front of the classroom.
Theo bent his head over his work. The last thing any of them wanted or needed right now was to antagonize Mrs Daltry and her bat ears!
Theo turned in his seat the moment Mrs Daltry was out the door, her bag of liquorice allsorts in her hands already. Most of the others in the class were close behind. ‘OK, give! What’s going on?’
‘Bullet wanted to talk to me about something. But that’s not the important thing right now,’ Ricky dismissed with a wave of his hand. ‘Theo, the thing is, you were right. We are being followed. Someone followed us to school.’
Icy drips careened down Theo’s back. ‘Are you sure?’
‘No doubt about it,’ Bullet replied, joining them.
‘So what do we do?’ Theo asked.
‘I don’t know,’ Bullet admitted.
The three friends looked at each other. No one wanted to say out loud what each of them had in their minds.
‘What was this morning all about?’ asked Theo at last.
‘Pardon?’
‘Why did you want Ricky to stay behind at your dad’s flat?’ asked Theo.
‘This was one of the reasons.’ Bullet pulled a scrunched up, grubby envelope out of his duffel bag and passed it to Theo. Gingerly, Theo fished the letter from its envelope. Holding it by its corners, Theo regarded Bullet, who looked away. Theo unfolded the sheet of paper and began to read the two typed lines in the middle of the page.
Toby Barker,
Be careful you don’t get stung.
Theo turned to Bullet. ‘What is this supposed to mean?’
Bullet shrugged. ‘I think it’s meant to be a threat.’ At Theo’s puzzled frown, Bullet continued. ‘The person who sent it obviously knows that I’m allergic to wasp stings.’
Theo stared at the piece of paper before him, before turning back to Bullet. ‘D’you really think that’s what it means?’ he asked, aghast.
Bullet shrugged. ‘I can’t think what else it could be referring to.’
‘Who knows you’re allergic to wasp stings?’
‘Mum and you guys. Family and friends. It’s not a secret. I have to walk around with a hypo of adrenaline and wear a medic alert bracelet – you know that.’
‘So anyone could’ve found out,’ Theo mused. ‘What’re you going to do about this letter?’
‘See if I get any more.’
‘When did you get this one?’ Theo asked, reading it one more time before handing it back.
‘Yesterday,’ Bullet replied.
‘But yesterday was a Sunday. The postman doesn’t deliver on a Sunday,’ said Theo.
‘It was hand-delivered some time yesterday morning, apparently. It was waiting for me when I went home to get my school bag,’ Bullet explained.
‘Let me see the envelope again,’ said Theo.
Bullet handed it over. Theo scrutinized the back and the front of the envelope. It was a plain white, self-seal envelope with the words ‘Toby Barker’ typed on the front and underlined. There was no address and no stamp.
‘Why couldn’t you have mentioned this at your dad’s flat? Why did I have to leave?’
Theo didn’t miss the conspiratorial glance which flashed between Ricky and Bullet. ‘What’re you two not telling me?’ Theo hoped his voice didn’t sound as hurt at the exclusion as he felt.
Silence.
‘You’re not going to tell me, are you?’
‘It was nothing to do with you, Theo,’ said Bullet. ‘Not really. I just wanted Ricky’s advice on something.’
Theo had to bite back his retort that his advice was every bit as good as Ricky’s. If Bullet wanted to confide in Ricky about something and not him, then he’d just have to leave them to it.
‘I suppose I’d be wasting my breath asking you to go to the police?’
Theo had his answer from the expression on Bullet’s face.
‘Aren’t you frightened?’ Theo asked, more than a hint of exasperation in his voice. ‘First Angela’s accident and now this. If it was me I’d be camped on the doorstep of my local police station. You wouldn’t be able to get me out of there.’
‘It’s not that simple.’
‘It is from where I’m standing,’ Theo dismissed.
‘But you don’t have your dad to consider from where you’re standing,’ said Bullet.
‘Pass that by me again.’ Theo frowned in an effort to unravel Bullet’s sentence.
‘I mean, if someone’s after my dad, then I want to be there to help, not locked up under police protection somewhere. Dad do
esn’t know about this and I want to keep it that way,’ said Bullet. ‘And besides, if I’m out and about, then maybe whoever it is will concentrate on me and leave my dad alone.’
Stunned, Theo turned to see what Ricky’s reaction was to all this. Ricky was slowly shaking his head.
‘You’re not thinking or saying anything that I haven’t,’ Ricky sighed. ‘Bullet’s determined not to get the police involved – at least not yet.’
‘Bullet, I’m sure your dad can look after himself much better than you can.’ Theo couldn’t let it rest there. He had to try and make Bullet see sense.
‘He needs me.’
Not as much as you need him. The words almost fell out of Theo’s mouth but he managed to bite them back just in time.
‘Bullet, I’m sorry but I think this has gone far enough. If you won’t go to the police then I will.’ Theo made up his mind.
‘No!’ Bullet exploded. ‘I don’t want you to.’
‘It’s for your own good. I’d never forgive myself if something happened to you or any of us.’
‘It won’t.’
‘Oh, you can guarantee that, can you?’ Theo said with sarcasm.
‘It won’t,’ Bullet repeated.
‘And I’m going to make sure of that. As soon as school is over this afternoon I’m going straight to the police …’
‘And what’re you going to tell them?’ Bullet drew himself up. His eyes took on a steely glint.
‘I’ll tell them about that letter for a start.’ Theo was well aware that he was about to lose a friend – and maybe for good – but what choice did he have? If Bullet wouldn’t go to the police, then he would.
‘What letter?’ asked Bullet.
‘The letter in your hand.’ Theo pointed.
‘What letter?’ Bullet asked again.
‘That one …’ Theo’s voice trailed off as he realized what Bullet was up to.
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about. I never received any letter,’ Bullet stated as if to drive the point home.
Theo and Bullet glared at each other without even blinking. Suddenly Theo made a lunge for the letter in Bullet’s hand. Bullet pulled his hand away, jumping backwards at the same time. Theo only just missed – but miss he did.
The Deadly Dare Mysteries Page 31