Double-Cross

by Sophie McKenzie

  ‘What about McMurdo?’ I said.

  ‘Cal distracted his PA while Ed and I followed him back into his office,’ Dylan went on.

  ‘Then I kept watch,’ Cal added, ‘while Ed mind-read McMurdo to find out where the film of Geri’s confession is.’

  ‘And?’ I demanded. ‘What went wrong?’

  ‘It was when we left the office,’ Dylan said, twisting her hair round her hand. ‘Cal was outside, waiting for us. He said police were coming up the stairs and we had to jump out of the first-storey window. I was cool with that, but Ed totally freaked. Refused to jump with Cal. I have no idea why. He jumped from much higher up from that church tower with you back in Africa.’

  ‘So you just left him there?’ I turned accusingly from Dylan to Cal.

  Cal shrugged. He didn’t look any less sulky than when we’d entered the art gallery twenty minutes ago. ‘We didn’t have a choice. Ed ran away. He won’t be able to leave the building, not with all the security downstairs. If Dylan and I hadn’t jumped, we’d be stuck there, too.’

  ‘I’ll get him,’ Avery said, locking the jeep.

  ‘No. If McMurdo sees you, it’ll give everything away,’ I said. ‘I should go. Ed knows exactly what I can do. Maybe he’ll even try contacting me telepathically. I can get him out of wherever they’re holding him.’

  ‘Why would they hold him?’ Ketty asked.

  ‘They’re holding everybody,’ Dylan explained. ‘Trying to work out what happened to their stupid painting.’

  I broke into a run.

  ‘Wait for me.’ Ketty was pounding along beside me.

  Seconds later we reached the art gallery.

  ‘Where on earth is he?’ I said, looking along the front of the building. A crowd had gathered now. The alarm was still sounding.

  Ketty was silent. I turned to her. Her eyes were glazed over. Was she having a vision or receiving telepathic communication from Ed?

  As I watched, she snapped out of it.

  ‘Ed just made contact . . . says he panicked,’ she reported. ‘He’s in the gallery with the other visitors, waiting to be interviewed by the police. Apparently, McMurdo’s down there, too, and Ed’s all freaked out in case he recognises him from the mind-reading.’

  ‘Man . . .’

  ‘Oh, Nico, suppose he can’t handle it.’ Ketty clasped her hands together. ‘Suppose he blurts everything out to the security guards?’

  ‘We won’t let that happen,’ I reassured her.

  I thought through the plans of the art gallery we’d pored over that morning. There was a disabled toilet at the end of the corridor, to the right of the main gallery.

  As I worked this through, Ed appeared in my head.

  Ketty says you’re outside, he thought-spoke.

  I told him to get to the disabled loo – and to stay telepathically connected – then raced round the corner to where its window was visible from the street. People were crowding nearby, but all of them were watching the gallery entrance.

  ‘I’m going to get him out through there,’ I explained to Ketty, pointing to the window of the disabled toilet. ‘Stay here and shout if anyone comes.’

  Ketty nodded. I raced along to the toilet. The window was just above my head, about two metres off the floor.

  Ed? I thought-spoke. Are you there?

  I’m in the cubicle. Nico, I’m sorry, but I couldn’t jump out of that window upstairs. It was Cal . . . I didn’t . . . I just don’t know him well enough to—

  Never mind that now. Can you reach the toilet window?

  Yes, but it’s locked.

  I looked up at the outer wall of the toilet, focusing hard on the frame above my head. I raised my hands. I couldn’t see the whole of the outer part of the lock from this angle, but I’d opened locks like this a million times.

  I gave my wrist a flick and heard the satisfying click of the window opening. A second later Ed’s hand appeared on the sill. I focused on helping him up telekinetically, trying to move him as smoothly as I could.

  He rose, his face screwed up in concentration.

  Okay? I thought-spoke.

  Yeah, this is weird, though.

  Ed pushed at the glass, opening the window further. A moment later he was scrabbling his way through. I caught his eye and, in that moment, felt a surge of pride. Ed might not have trusted Cal, but he was willing to put himself in my hands as he had done before, in that jump from the church tower in Africa.

  ‘Turn around,’ I ordered.

  Ed twisted round so that he faced the wall.

  ‘Okay, now let go, I’ve got you,’ I said, focusing on holding him in the air.

  I felt my telekinesis taking his weight, as Ed stopped clinging onto the window frame. I took a quick moment to balance him, then gently teleported him to the ground.

  As he landed, I glanced up to where Ketty was still keeping lookout at the end of the street.

  ‘Go with Ketty,’ I said.

  Ed nodded. ‘Er, thanks . . .’

  ‘No sweat.’

  Ed set off. I looked up at the toilet window again. Two flicks of my wrist and it was shut and locked. As I stepped back, about to run to the others, something made me look up.

  A man with cropped, grey hair and dark brown eyes was peering out of the open first-floor window immediately above the toilets. I recognised him straight away from the photos we’d studied earlier. Rod McMurdo.

  I froze.

  As our eyes met, McMurdo’s mouth fell open. ‘Nico?’

  Heart pounding, I turned and ran, tugging my cap down over my face as I tore out of the alley towards Avery and the waiting car.

  McMurdo hadn’t lived in the UK for fifteen years.

  How on earth had he known who I was?

  12: Test Results

  I reached Avery’s car just behind Ed and Ketty. Seconds later we were zooming down the road.

  The others chattered away, full of that combination of excitement and relief that comes after a mission nearly goes wrong, then works out at the last minute. I sat in silence, going over what had just happened. How could I have been so careless? We’d kept our faces away from all the security staff and indoor cameras. Why hadn’t I thought there might be someone watching us outside?

  Ed was eager to report that he’d seen exactly where McMurdo was keeping Geri’s filmed confession.

  ‘It’s in his bank, in a safety deposit box,’ he said. ‘I know the name and the branch, and the number of the box, though it won’t be easy to access once we’re inside.’

  Dylan snorted. ‘Don’t be so lame. We’ll do it.’

  ‘Are you sure McMurdo won’t remember your face from the mind-reading?’ I said. It had occurred to me that maybe McMurdo knew more about all of us than we’d realised.

  ‘No,’ Ed said firmly. ‘I did the full memory-erasing technique on him.’

  I nodded. Ed had recently developed the ability to hypnotise people while mind-reading them so that they would never remember his presence.

  ‘When you were inside his head, did you see if he knew you?’ I said. ‘Or if he knew the rest of us?’

  ‘No.’ Ed frowned. ‘I wasn’t looking for that information though, so—’

  ‘There’s no way McMurdo could know what any of you look like,’ Avery said. ‘Geri kept you all well hidden away. We just knew your code names . . . Cobra, Mamba, Sidewinder and Viper.’

  ‘But you found us,’ I said.

  ‘That’s because I had a reason to look,’ Avery persisted. ‘I only found out your real names recently. What possible reason could McMurdo have for bothering? He’s owned the Medusa gene for over fourteen years – he could have used it a hundred times for all we know.’

  ‘Did you see if there are other people with the Medusa gene, Ed?’ Ketty asked eagerly.

  ‘No.’ Ed’s voice rose defensively. ‘I keep telling you, I wasn’t looking for anything except where McMurdo is hiding Geri’s confession.’

  ‘There could be millions of us,’ Dy
lan said, wide-eyed.

  ‘Never mind millions,’ I snapped. ‘I’m only interested in the four of us and how much McMurdo knows about us. Why can’t the rest of you stay focused on what’s really important?’

  There was a tense pause.

  ‘Why are you so worried about this, Nico?’ Cal said.

  ‘Yeah, Nico,’ Dylan sneered. ‘What’s with the neurosis? It’s like you’ve morphed into Ed.’

  They all laughed. Even Ed.

  I shrugged. I wanted to tell the others that McMurdo had seen my face . . . more, that he’d recognised me . . . but that would mean acknowledging I’d slipped up and I couldn’t bear the humiliation, especially not in front of Cal.

  An hour or so later we were back at Avery’s ranch. Ketty and Dylan ran straight off to the swimming pool. I could hear them splashing around with Cal – and shrieking with laughter. Ed was using the Clusterchaos program that Harry had left us to access the layout of the bank we were going to have to break into.

  I’d sat with him for a while, watching to see how Clusterchaos worked. A hacker’s software program, it basically latched onto whatever search terms you directed it to, slicing through all the encryptions and firewalls put up to protect the information.

  It took a while to find the bank data and after thirty minutes or so I left Ed to it and wandered into the Snug. It was empty. I could hear Ketty and Cal, still laughing their heads off.

  Why did Ketty like him? I didn’t get it. Worse – why was she choosing to be out at the pool with Cal, instead of in here with me?

  I tried not to think about it. I was still worried about McMurdo recognising me. What did that mean? And what would McMurdo do now he knew that I was here in Sydney?

  I sat in the Snug, lying at full stretch on one of the white leather sofas with my head resting in my hands. After a while, Philly came past to let me know she was going out to pick up the younger kids from some play date they’d been on, but that Avery was in his study if I needed anything.

  I lay quietly for a bit longer. The girls were still in the pool. From the violent splashing noises I could hear, it sounded like Cal was using his Medusa skill to dive-bomb into the water from a great height. Ed was still hunched over the computer in the next room.

  My mind kept going back to McMurdo and how on earth he knew who I was. Avery had said that until he’d started searching a few days ago, he hadn’t even known our proper names – let alone what we looked like. Why should McMurdo know?

  I sat up. I couldn’t bear going over it any more. I had to tell Avery what had happened . . . see if he could shed any light on McMurdo’s recognition of me.

  I set off for Avery’s study, which, Philly had explained, was on the first floor at the opposite end of the house from our bedrooms.

  I could hear Avery speaking on the phone as I approached. Not wanting to disturb him, I walked quietly to the door and peered into the room. It was large and airy and white-walled – as simple and expensive as everywhere else in the house, with a row of bookshelves and a large leather desk in the corner. Avery was sitting in the swivel chair at the desk, turned to face out of the open window. Though this room was on the opposite side of the house from the pool, the shrieks and yells of the others filled the air. It sounded like an army of people were in the pool.

  ‘It’s the kids . . . they’re all swimming,’ Avery said into the phone. His voice was low and intense. ‘Listen, I’ve got the DNA results on Nico. It’s confirmed.’ There was a pause while the person on the other end of the phone presumably said something. ‘Yes,’ Avery went on. ‘Father and son.’

  I froze, ducking back behind the door. What was he talking about? There was another pause. Avery’s back stiffened.

  ‘Right now? Nico doesn’t suspect a thing.’

  My heart pounded as Avery put down the phone. I could hear his heavy sigh from my position just outside the door.

  I tried to process what I’d just heard. Something about a DNA test . . . about a father and son . . . about me. Avery had said my name specifically.

  Why?

  Head spinning, I turned and crept away down the corridor.

  13: Going Alone

  I stumbled downstairs, careful to make no noise. I could hear Avery pacing about his study as I reached the Snug and sank, head in hands, into a sofa.

  He had no idea I’d overheard him.

  And I had no idea exactly what I’d overheard.

  One thing was certain, though. There was no way now that I could talk to Avery about McMurdo recognising me earlier. In fact, that terrifying moment had been virtually pushed out of my head by Avery’s conversation on the phone.

  The more I thought about it, the clearer it became . . . Avery had done a DNA test to find out about a father and a son. And he’d referred to me directly, immediately afterwards. I knew about DNA tests – you didn’t need much of a person to do the test . . . a strand of hair, a swipe of saliva. With a jolt, I remembered Avery’s gaze fixed on my lemonade glass yesterday.

  It seemed only logical that I was the son in Avery’s test.

  But who was the father?

  Outside the girls and Cal were still shrieking and splashing away.

  ‘What’s up?’

  I looked up to see Ed standing over me. He held an open laptop in his arms and had a worried frown on his face.

  I shook my head, emotion overwhelming me. There was a huge lump in my throat. I couldn’t speak. I looked down at my lap.

  Ed sat beside me. ‘I’ve downloaded the floor plans of the bank. It’s not going to be easy breaking in – but I’ve found the best route, I think.’ He hesitated. ‘Nico, what’s the matter?’

  I bit hard on my lip. Given the choice, I’d rather have told Ketty first. She always makes me feel better when anything heavy comes up . . . sort of calming and understanding . . . But Ketty was outside with some other boy. And Ed had trusted me earlier. Plus, I knew that, irritating though he could be, Ed was actually the kind of guy who wouldn’t take the mickey if you told him something emotional.

  I quickly explained what I’d overheard Avery say. As I spoke, I couldn’t help but tell Ed that I’d only been going to speak to Avery because of McMurdo recognising me earlier. I felt slightly better to have offloaded the information and, having finished, sat back with a sigh.

  Ed thought for a second. ‘I didn’t see anything about a DNA test when I mind-read Avery, though I wasn’t looking for it.’

  ‘Maybe he was hiding it,’ I said. ‘You said you thought he was capable of creating “mental walls”.’

  Ed nodded. ‘That’s true.’ He paused. ‘Er . . . do you think maybe McMurdo’s your dad?’

  I stared at him. ‘What makes you say that?’

  ‘Well, for a start, it’s really odd that McMurdo – who supposedly only knows you by your Medusa name – was able to recognise you, isn’t it?’

  ‘Of course it’s odd, but still . . .’ A shiver slithered down my spine.

  Ed shrugged. ‘It makes sense for other reasons, too. We know McMurdo worked in London until he came over here. He’s a scientist who knew Geri Paterson . . . he certainly knew of William Fox, even if they’d never met . . .’

  ‘But my mum was pregnant before she met the Foxes,’ I insisted. ‘Fergus introduced her to William.’

  ‘Are you sure?’ Ed said. ‘Is that what Fergus said? Or just what you assumed? And didn’t you tell me once that your mum always refused to talk about who your dad was?’

  I nodded. Ed was right. From the little I knew of my mum’s life before she had me, it fitted. McMurdo could be my father.

  ‘But why would Avery do a DNA test on me and McMurdo and not tell me about it unless . . .’

  ‘Unless he’s somehow double-crossing us over McMurdo?’ Ed said. ‘Maybe even in league with McMurdo? If I didn’t see that he was planning on doing a DNA test on you, he could have hidden anything from me.’

  Another shiver snaked down my spine. What was the phrase Avery had used? Nic
o doesn’t suspect a thing.

  Avery’s feet sounded above our heads, walking along the landing towards the stairs. As he descended, he saw us sitting on the sofa.

  ‘Ah, good, there you are,’ he said. ‘I wanted to tell you that I’ve just spoken to your stepdad, Nico.’

  ‘Right.’ I looked at him suspiciously. If Fergus had really been on the phone, he’d surely have insisted on speaking to me. ‘Didn’t Fergus want to talk to us?’

  ‘Of course he did, but it wasn’t a good line and I thought you were out by the pool.’ Avery’s face was guarded as usual. I couldn’t tell what he was really thinking. ‘To be honest, Fergus was a bit shocked to hear from me. We’ve never spoken before and . . . anyway, he’s going to call back later, in an hour or so. We’ll be able to contact the other parents then as well.’

  ‘Great,’ I said, attempting a smile.

  Avery threw me a curious glance. ‘Everything okay?’

  ‘Fine,’ I said.

  ‘By the way, McMurdo’s art gallery has found the painting you teleported behind the radiator. There are a lot of red faces, but the whole thing’s being dealt with as a massive mistake. So that’s worked out well.’ Avery chuckled. ‘Right, I’ll tell the girls that they should be able to speak to their folks later tonight.’ Avery turned to Ed. ‘Any luck hacking into the bank floor plans?’

  ‘Yes,’ Ed said.

  I nudged his leg, trying to shut him up.

  ‘Er . . . that is, I’m getting there,’ Ed went on, his face colouring. ‘I just need a bit more time.’

  Avery nodded. ‘Well, we’ll need a couple of days to plan the attack on the bank. Going in on a Sunday is probably the best bet. Obviously, I’ll come with you as far as I can.’ He went outside.

  As he disappeared from view, heading for the pool area, I turned to Ed.

  ‘No way was he talking to Fergus just now,’ I said.

  Ed gulped. ‘I know. He was definitely hiding something.’

  ‘Well, whatever he’s really doing it’s about a lot more than getting the evidence on Geri from McMurdo’s safety deposit box.’

  ‘So what do we do now?’ Ed asked anxiously.

  I met his gaze, my own thoughts firming as I spoke them.