Hikers - The Collection (Complete Box Set of 5 Books)

by Lauren Algeo

  She took a couple of deep breaths and sipped some more tea, clasping the cup tightly so it wouldn’t tremble. She checked the new answers Daniel had written and forced herself to concentrate. She had the answer sheet folded away in her bag and knew they were correct from memory.

  ‘That’s great, Daniel,’ she smiled through her taut facial muscles. ‘Shall we talk about your biology studies next?’

  Marie poked her head around the door before Daniel could reply. ‘I thought you might like some biscuits.’ She carried a plate of chocolate digestives to the table. ‘How’s it all going?’

  ‘Great.’ Daniel gazed up at his mother angelically. ‘I got the first science questions right.’

  ‘That’s fantastic,’ Marie beamed. ‘Well done.’

  ‘We’re just moving onto biology to assess Daniel’s current level,’ Ellen said.

  She hoped that Marie couldn’t see the glisten of sweat she was sure was on her brow.

  ‘I’ll let you get back to it.’ Marie gave her an approving nod as she turned to leave.

  Daniel picked up a biscuit and nibbled the edge before putting it down on the table. It was likely only habit from trying to appear normal, rather than him actually wanting to eat it.

  ‘Do you want one?’ He gestured to the plate.

  ‘No, thank you.’ She was terrified that she would throw up if she tried to eat anything.

  Her stomach was churning and she felt nauseous. There were still at least forty minutes of her trial lesson left and she couldn’t cut it short. She would have to suck it up and muddle through in order to get the job.

  Daniel searched her face with his intelligent eyes but didn’t probe into her mind. Ellen picked up another stapled pack of papers and tapped at a diagram at the top.

  ‘Had John taught you anything about plant and animal cells yet?’ she asked.

  The only way to survive it was to distract herself with the work and focus her thoughts on the questions at hand. If Daniel did take another trip into her mind, he would only see her dedication to the lesson.

  For the next half an hour she struggled through. She talked briskly about the notes she and Scott had prepared, and encouraged Daniel to complete the questions. He kept up his pretence of listening and ‘learning’, even though none of this work would be a challenge for him. They danced around each other in their own deceit.

  Eventually Marie came back into the room to wrap up the lesson and Ellen wanted to cry with relief. Her body was in agony with the effect of having Daniel so close by and her tense muscles ached. She’d long finished her tea and her throat was dry and her nerves were fried.

  Daniel’s fingers had touched her hand once, as she’d checked his answers, and her skin was still crawling with the sensation. She’d had to hold in the shudder of repulsion and been desperate to scrub her arm ever since. Soon she would be getting out of there; first she had to ensure that the job was hers.

  ‘How was it?’ Marie asked as she took a seat at the dining table, opposite Ellen.

  Ellen wasn’t sure if she was asking her or Daniel. ‘It was great,’ she answered anyway, with fake enthusiasm.

  ‘We covered loads,’ Daniel agreed. ‘Some was hard but I got most of it right.’

  He was playing it down to his mother. Ellen could tell that he’d deliberately put the wrong answers to some of the questions in order to appear normal. She’d seen him hesitate before writing some random answer that would require her to go through it with him. He was well practiced at the art of deception. John would have had no idea what Daniel was capable of… not until the end anyway.

  ‘That’s great,’ Marie smiled. ‘Daniel, would you mind if I had a catch up with Ellen before she goes.’

  ‘Nope.’ Daniel packed his pens neatly into a case then stood up. He held his hand out to Ellen. ‘It was nice to see you again, Ms MacIntosh. Thank you for the lesson.’

  Ellen stared at his outstretched hand for a moment then reluctantly extended her own. ‘Not at all,’ she said as her fingers encountered his cold skin. ‘It was lovely to see you again too.’

  She shook his hand briefly then pulled hers back as fast as she dared. The bile rose in her throat and she swallowed it back down. She would need a long soak in the bath and vigorous scrub with the loofah to feel clean again after that. She turned expectantly to Marie as Daniel left, ready to begin detailing how well the lesson had gone, but the other woman was still looking towards her son.

  Daniel had stopped in the doorway and he turned back to face the two women. ‘I want Ms MacIntosh to be my tutor,’ he told his mother. His lips were stretched into a smile although there was no emotion in his eyes. ‘I’d like that very much.’

  Ellen felt the cold fingers of fear snaking through her body as he left the room. His words would seem complimentary to Marie but to her, they sounded just like a threat.

  Ellen collapsed onto the bench outside the tube station and rummaged in her bag for her phone. She hadn’t smoked since she was a teenager but suddenly she longed to feel the comforting weight of a cigarette between her trembling fingers. She scrolled down her recent contacts to find Scott’s number then paused before pressing the ‘call’ button.

  He was out somewhere with Connors and the team but she needed to tell him about her afternoon. Hearing his voice would calm her down and help her to think rationally again. He would reassure her that she was overreacting about Daniel – the boy didn’t know anything about who she was.

  Still, there was that niggling feeling that she’d messed up. She’d almost given herself away and she couldn’t do that again, not now she was going to be spending a lot more time with him. Marie had said that she needed to double-check with Connors however Ellen all but had the job if she still wanted it. She suspected that the prompt acceptance without discussing it with her husband was mainly down to Daniel’s parting words. If her son was happy, and Ellen had all the relevant experience, then Marie was satisfied.

  Ellen still couldn’t work out why Daniel had said it. His words had echoed in her mind repeatedly as she’d left Downing Street and walked back towards the station. He would ‘like that very much’? What did that mean? Had he picked up on something in her mind and now he wanted her around so he could dig deeper? Was he intrigued by her? She most certainly didn’t want to be under scrutiny.

  She took a ragged breath and called Scott. He answered on the sixth ring, as her foot was beginning to tap on overdrive.

  ‘Sorry, I had to get away from the guys,’ Scott said breathlessly. ‘How did it go?’

  ‘Good and bad.’ His warm tone relaxed some of the tense worry in her shoulders.

  ‘What happened?’ he asked. ‘Are you ok?’

  ‘I’m fine… I think.’ She hesitated. ‘I’m pretty sure I’ve got the job. Marie said as much but she just wants to run it past Connors when he’s back. She’s going to call me to confirm later and sort out a contract.’

  ‘Well, that’s good news.’ There was a slight edge to Scott’s distant voice. ‘What’s the bad part?’

  Ellen wished that he was sitting on the bench beside her so she could snuggle into his side and feel his protective arms around her.

  ‘Daniel is awful,’ she admitted. ‘He got inside my head near the start and I almost panicked… well, I did a little… I feel as though I might have given something away.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ Scott asked sharply.

  She explained what had happened – how Daniel had started digging deeper and she’d pushed him from her mind, and his subsequent comment to Marie.

  ‘I forced him out,’ she said. ‘I couldn’t help it. The thought of him finding out about Lucy was too much to bear.’

  Scott exhaled loudly on the other end of the line. ‘I thought you were going to say something worse than that,’ he told her. ‘If Daniel didn’t actually see anything, you should be fine. There’s still nothing to peak his interest. Some sensitive people pick up on a hiker’s presence and kick them out.’

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nbsp; It was what Ellen had said to try and reassure herself yet it held more conviction coming from him. ‘You don’t think it was strange that he told Marie he wants me as his tutor?’ She chewed on her lip but some of the panic was dissolving.

  ‘That was strange but I think you’re reading too much into it with the stress of what happened,’ Scott said. ‘Maybe he just likes you better than he liked John.’

  ‘God, I hope so.’ Daniel hadn’t exactly been nice to John.

  ‘I have to get back to the team,’ Scott said. ‘I’ll talk to you properly tonight. Try not to worry about it too much.’

  ‘Ok, see you later.’ Ellen ended the call and watched the people bustling by.

  They were all hurrying to and from the station and didn’t pay attention to her sitting on the bench. She longed to have the ignorance that they did. These people thought their biggest worries were money, relationships and family drama. They didn’t know about the evil of hikers. That there was a monster of a boy so close to power. He could ruin their lives in a heartbeat.

  Perhaps Scott was right and she shouldn’t stress herself out over what had happened. She’d kept their secrets safe and hadn’t given Daniel anything to use against her. She’d done a good job in continuing the lesson as normal and had focussed on getting the role.

  There was no point in dwelling on something small that she was making out to be much larger in her head. She had to concentrate on the future now. If Marie and Connors gave her the job then she would be starting next week. There were a lot of tutorials and lessons to plan before then. She had to get her knowledge up to scratch to maintain her cover. She had so much to do.

  Ellen stood up from the bench and smoothed her jacket. When she got home, she would spend the afternoon researching… researching and trying not to think about Daniel and that marginally raised eyebrow.

  Chapter 29

  ‘So you liked her then?’ Connors asked.

  Daniel nodded and lifted a forkful of mashed potato to his lips.

  ‘She was very good,’ Marie said enthusiastically. ‘She used a few different subjects to gauge Daniel’s learning level and she seems like a very nice woman.’

  ‘Well she certainly has all the right credentials.’ Connors took a bite of his steak before continuing. ‘If you want to offer her the job then I’m happy with that.’

  Marie smiled broadly and squeezed her husband’s hand across the table. Daniel watched them with interest. He’d known his mother was sold on Ellen but he wasn’t sure if his father would go along with her decision without seeing her teaching style first-hand.

  Daniel didn’t care about the lessons she’d devised, he was more interested in the woman herself. Ellen MacIntosh had surprised him earlier and he wasn’t easily caught off guard. He’d been skimming over her thoughts, and was about to dig deeper into her home life, when she’d abruptly pushed him from her mind. It had been done to him once or twice over the years although never with that much force.

  Some sensitive people would pick up that something was wrong when he slipped through their thoughts but they often dismissed it as feeling ill or the start of a headache. He’d only been physically pushed from a couple of minds, when he hadn’t had a strong hold and they’d panicked at his presence.

  This woman had detected that he was on the surface and kicked him out before he could go any further. He hadn’t had a particularly strong grip yet he was surprised by the ease in which she’d done it. She either had a very sharp mind, or she’d had practice before… only that was impossible. It wasn’t really a technique that you could practice unless someone repeatedly went into your mind, and there was no one else who could do what he did.

  Daniel hadn’t wanted to go back into her head straightaway to check how for fear of scaring her off but he was interested to learn more about her when she officially became his tutor. There could be some juicy secrets buried in her mind and he was looking forward to finding out.

  ‘I’ll ask her to start next week,’ Marie said. ‘That way Daniel won’t have missed out on too much since…’

  Her voice trailed off as she realised she didn’t want to say, ‘since John died’. It was too morbid for the dinner table.

  ‘Sounds good,’ Connors nodded.

  ‘I guess I better make the most of having you all to myself before then,’ Marie smiled at Daniel.

  He bristled at her words and had to manipulate his face into a happy smile, rather than a frown of annoyance. He was sick of having her cling onto him when his father was at work. She would constantly follow him around the flat like a lost dog and repeatedly ask what he was doing. He needed peace from her so he could concentrate on the bigger picture.

  Daniel glanced across at his father and pushed a simple thought into his mind. It wasn’t something he normally did however his father didn’t seem to register where the single word had come from.

  ‘I’ve just had an idea,’ Connors said. ‘It’s going to be crazy once the summit starts so we should take a couple of days away together next weekend. We could go to Chequers.’

  Daniel nodded in approval. Chequers was in the countryside and far quieter than Downing Street. He could slip away for long walks on his own to plan. His mother had friends who lived closer to the house – she would be distracted by visits to them and leave him alone.

  ‘That’s a wonderful idea.’ Marie clapped her hands. ‘We can spend a few days away from all the stress and get some quality time together.’

  Daniel brushed over her thoughts to check that she meant more time with her husband, who she’d barely seen over the last few days. She could cling onto him instead and give Daniel free reign.

  ‘I’ll talk to the team tomorrow and see if two of the guys can cover a weekend of overtime,’ Connors said.

  Marie crinkled her nose. ‘Is that really necessary? Chequers is secluded and perfectly safe.’

  ‘I’m afraid it is. They’ll stay out of our way though,’ Connors said gently. ‘It’s better to be extra careful. Especially with the summit so close.’

  ‘I guess so.’ Marie still didn’t look happy about extra people invading their private time.

  Daniel knew there would be plenty of other people at the country house too – housekeepers, a chef, and a gardener – but his mother saw those as a necessity for a break away.

  ‘We could invite some people over for dinner on the Saturday evening too,’ Connors suggested. ‘Maybe the Delany family?’

  Marie brightened instantly at the idea of a dinner party with their friends. Daniel masked his disgust at the suggestion. The Delanys had an obnoxious teenage daughter who Daniel would get stuck next to at the table. Her name was Cara and she was fourteen years old. She was always tossing her long, brown hair and looking down her nose at people. In her eyes, she was pretty and popular and everyone should worship her. She reminded Daniel of a horse with her constant prancing around.

  Perhaps if he got a chance, he could bring her down a peg or two. Maybe after dinner she could take a pair of scissors to that glossy mane… Daniel hid his snigger with a cough.

  ‘Are you ok?’ Marie asked.

  ‘Fine thanks.’ He reached for the glass of water beside him and took a sip.

  ‘I’ll make all the arrangements after the weekend,’ Connors said.

  He and Marie began to talk about other people they could invite for dinner but Daniel zoned them out. Next weekend was suddenly far more appealing than it had been ten minutes ago. He would get the time he needed to cement plans for the summit and indulge in a little torture. Cara was a stupid girl who deserved everything she got.

  She was always trying to put him down in front of other people and he’d spent years holding back his anger. He hadn’t seen her since his father had taken over as Prime Minister; now could be the perfect time for a bit of payback. He might not be able to get away with releasing her with so many people around but there was plenty he could do to her mentally. No one would be able to see what he was up to.

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nbsp; Cara reminded him of the third person he’d released, who had been a young, cocky man called Ashley Jawara. He’d been running against Daniel’s father for his MPs seat in the general election and needed to be disposed of to help his father keep his seat and advance to Deputy Prime Minister under Davenport’s rule.

  Jawara was of African descent and constantly played on his race to help him advance. He saw it as his key to winning a seat. In his speeches, he frequently said that he wanted to be the voice of black people as the first black PM, and that he would put an end to racism – even though the country was so diverse that racism hardly existed anymore. Jawara pretended that he had come from humble beginnings although Daniel knew that he’d really spent his childhood in a large house with expensive toys and luxury holidays.

  Daniel had accompanied his father to a televised debate before the election and found out everything he could from Jawara’s mind. Using the live TV broadcast to begin the man’s humiliation had been satisfying. Daniel had sat at the edge of the audience and manipulated the minds around him. When it came to questions from the audience, Daniel had people jumping to their feet to fire his questions at Jawara.

  Was it true that he’d never lived on a council estate and instead grown up wealthy? Had he exaggerated the tales of racism against him, ones that he’d been so vocal about? Were the general public really high on his priority list or did he just want the power and celebrity that came with being a leader?

  Jawara got more and more flustered as Daniel countered his every comeback through the mouths of audience puppets. By the end of the debate, everyone agreed that it had been a triumph by Connors. The papers the next morning were full of stories about Jawara’s fabricated past and his popularity had slipped. Daniel wasn’t going to be satisfied by his father simply beating Jawara in the polls though, he wanted the man to suffer for daring to challenge their family.

  Daniel was nearly nine years old by then and had two successful releasings under his belt. Getting close to Jawara was tricky – his mother was always close by and his father wasn’t often at the same place as the man. About a week before the general election, an opportunity presented itself.