The phone rang. And rang.
‘Hello?’ Parveen’s voice brought back a million sudden memories – of our training, of big, affable George, of Parveen’s wicked laugh, of Nat’s kiss.
‘Par, it’s me, Charlie,’ I whispered.
‘Charlie?’ She actually gasped. ‘Where—?’
‘Is that her?’ Nat’s voice sounded in the background. My stomach somersaulted. ‘Give me that.’
Parveen was complaining, but Nat clearly snatched the phone off her because the next thing I knew his voice was in my ear.
‘Charlie, are you okay?’
Tears sprang to my eyes. It was just so good to hear him. For a second I forgot where I was and everything that had happened since we parted.
‘I’m sorry I ran off,’ I whispered.
‘It’s okay.’ Nat lowered his voice. ‘Where are you?’
I tried to pull myself together. ‘London. Riley’s planning an attack at his own party – a drinks reception – it’s tonight.’
‘Tonight?’ Nat let his breath out in a hiss. ‘Any details of what’s involved?’
I told Nat what I’d seen in Uchi’s file. ‘It’s a bomb. Almeida Hotel basement – there’s an underwater route into the hotel. Spider – that’s Riley’s son – he and I are supposed to be bringing the bomb in through an underwater tunnel or pipes or something.’
‘Yeah, the resistance got hold of some footage of you swimming,’ Nat said. ‘Operation Neptune, right?’
‘Yes.’
‘Was that Spider you were swimming with?’ His voice tensed as he spoke.
‘Yes. Look, Nat, the bomb’s planned to go off at half-seven this evening. Can you get to the hotel, warn the staff? Get the party called off?’
‘I’ll talk to the others. But if Riley’s son is involved, this is a great opportunity to let the mission play out, then capture him with the bomb in the hotel. It will link Riley to the bomb like nothing else. He won’t be able to disown his own kid. Mayor Latimer – you know, Aaron’s dad – he’s coming here this afternoon in person and—’
‘The Mayor of London?’ I hissed. ‘But you can’t trust—’
‘Latimer’s sound,’ Nat interrupted. ‘Seriously, I didn’t believe it at first either but it’s true.’
I said nothing. No way was I trusting Latimer.
‘Anyway, we need him,’ Nat lowered his voice. ‘Everyone’s doing their best, but the people here are untrained.’ He paused.
‘There’s no one here as good as you.’
I felt myself glow with pride.
‘Charming,’ I could hear Parveen saying in the background.
I glanced at the door. Footsteps sounded in the corridor again. I didn’t have long. ‘I miss you.’ The whisper slid out of me unexpectedly.
‘Me too,’ Nat said. ‘Charlie get out of there, now. You’ve given us enough info to go on. I don’t like you being caught up in this. Let Spider – or whatever his stupid name is – take the bomb in by himself.’
‘No,’ I whispered. The footsteps were getting closer. ‘I’ve got to be part of it. It’ll look too suspicious if I run off at this point. Anyway, if I’m there, I can help you guys stop and capture Spider – he won’t be expecting me to turn on him.’
‘But you’re in danger, you could be—’
The door started to open. I switched off the call and shoved the phone behind my back as Spider slouched in. He went straight to the sink and reached for a glass. Heart racing, I pushed the phone back underneath Spider’s sweatshirt and went over to the window. There hadn’t been time to delete the call. I just had to hope that Spider wouldn’t check his call log.
‘Apparently we’re leaving in one hour for a venue nearer the location where the bomb’s got to be planted,’ Spider said, holding his glass under the tap and filling it with water.
‘Can you tell me anything more?’ I asked.
‘You’ll be carrying a bomb into a building underwater.’ That was Taylor. He was standing in the doorway. ‘That’s all you need to know right now.’
‘Yes, sir.’ I met his gaze, the desire for revenge surging through me again.
Taylor’s eyes were like lasers. There was no remorse and no doubt in his expression. ‘You need to focus on the mission, Charlie,’ he said. ‘This is a big deal with big consequences, a chance for you to show how committed to the cause you are. The EFA are counting on you both to deliver.’
Part three
Exuviation
n. act of shedding or casting off, as of a covering no longer needed
Nat
I sat in the kitchen of the resistance safe house and took the mug of milky tea that was handed to me. It was a long time since I’d been in a room and listened to so many people all talking at once, and the whole thing was starting to freak me out. Part of me wished I hadn’t come. But that, of course, was stupid. Working with the other resistance members was the only way to defeat Riley and, for the first time since I’d realised just how evil and powerful he was, that now seemed possible. This was mostly thanks to all the high-tech equipment Mayor Latimer had supplied, which ranged from computers to surveillance trackers and even a handful of electronic shock guns, or tasers.
The sight of all the hardware that the Mayor had smuggled into the resistance had finally convinced me that the man, as I’d said to Charlie, must genuinely be on our side. The others spoke about him enthusiastically too, especially those from Six and Ten who had actually met him.
‘He’s taking a big risk making out like he’s a Riley supporter and secretly helping us,’ one of the guys had pointed out. ‘Most people who know what Riley is really up to are going along with him in the hope that he’ll reward them if they do.
I’m not saying the Mayor isn’t ambitious, but at least he believes in democracy.’
Maybe this was true. Maybe it wasn’t. But I couldn’t see any reason why Latimer would pretend to support us for more than the time it took to kill every resistance member.
The other people in the resistance weren’t quite so impressive: mostly a bunch of misfits as unsuited to life on the run as Aaron and Jas. Although they were clever, thoughtful people, I felt far more experienced when it came to understanding the practicalities of dealing with Riley.
There was no one here who wanted to take charge and lead an organised campaign against him. No one, that is, except the League of Iron leader, Saxon66, whose presence I was doing my best to ignore.
Right now we were all eating sandwiches in the kitchen of the safe house – another shabby building with no hot water – and waiting for Latimer himself to arrive. I still hadn’t heard from Jas or Mum and Dad but, as I’d warned them not to call until they had new phones, that wasn’t surprising.
I was worried about them of course – and about the bomb – and about Charlie – but right now I was mostly preoccupied with the fact that of all the loud, angry voices in the room, by far the loudest and angriest was that of Saxon66.
‘Riley forced our hand, didn’t he?’ he said, turning to the woman with long black hair who sat beside him.
WhiteRaven nodded, her forehead screwed into a frown. She glanced around the table. I noticed, a hot fury building in my guts, that she avoided all eye contact with Parveen and her Resistance Pair in Two, a friendly black guy called Dwayne. I had seen for myself, at close hand, just how foul Saxon and WhiteRaven were. As far as they were concerned, England would be better off if everyone with a different-colour skin left the country. I couldn’t understand why the other resistance members had allowed them to join. I certainly wasn’t prepared to share what Charlie had told me while they were here. Parveen had just made a face when I’d pushed her to explain how it had happened, saying that she and a couple of others had objected but that they’d been overruled.
‘We need everyone to work together, whatever their respective views,’ Julius had argued when I’d gone to him in protest. ‘It was a majority decision. There’s strength in numbers, Nat, and we need to be
as strong as possible to deal with Riley.’
‘Riley manipulated us,’ Saxon66 was now saying. ‘He made us claim responsibility for the bombs, there wasn’t anything we could do.’
‘Rubbish,’ I said, speaking for the first time.
Twelve pairs of eyes turned to look at me. The vein in Saxon’s temple bulged as he glared at me.
‘Rubbish?’ he growled.
‘Yeah,’ I said, setting down my mug of tea. ‘At least it is as far as the House of Commons bomb was concerned. Riley was only able to manipulate you because he knew you’d been fiddling your accounts and you’d have been done for tax evasion if he’d shown the authorities the evidence.’
Saxon66 curled his lip. ‘And how do you know that?’
‘Because I stole the accounts for him,’ I said.
A collective gasp ran around the room. WhiteRaven swore under her breath. Saxon clenched his fists. ‘You’re wrong. You don’t know what you’re talking about.’
‘Are you seriously telling me Riley didn’t use those accounts?’ I interrupted. ‘Come on, he’s always managed to have something over you, to make you do what he says. And you’ve always let him get away with it instead of standing up and telling the world that he’s trying to blackmail you. Instead of doing the right thing.’
A tense silence fell in the room. Everyone was still staring at me. I caught Parveen’s eye. She gave me a swift nod.
‘I agree with Nat,’ she said.
‘Oh, you would, you Paki tart,’ WhiteRaven sneered.
A gasp of horror flew around the room. Parveen stood up. So did Dwayne and two other men, including Lennox. Fists clenched, they all started shouting at WhiteRaven and Saxon66.
I sat back. Across the table WhiteRaven had leaped to her feet and was shrieking that the resistance was full of bullies and cowards. Saxon66 sat, hunched and glowering, next to her.
‘Please, please, this isn’t helping.’ Julius stood up, wringing his hands.
The shouting continued. At least Saxon didn’t look like he wanted things to get physical. Much to my surprise, he was neither speaking himself, nor squaring up for a fight. A moment later, WhiteRaven slumped into her seat next to him. She looked furious but was no longer shrieking.
As a result, the shouting eventually died away.
I spoke into the lull.
‘I don’t think Saxon and WhiteRaven should be part of this group,’ I said, keeping my voice carefully calm and even. ‘Their views and what they’ve done in the past make them as bad as Riley.’
Parveen, Dwayne and Lennox nodded. Most of the other people around the table looked uncomfortable, as if they knew this was the truth, but didn’t want to face it.
‘We’re a small group,’ one girl said with a frown. ‘We need all the people we can get.’
‘But we can’t trust them. We don’t even know their proper names,’ Dwayne pointed out angrily.
Saxon66 cleared his throat. ‘My name is Gavin Shields and she’s Pam Gerritson,’ he said, glancing at WhiteRaven. And all that matters right now is stopping Riley.’
I stared at him, surprised both by the ordinariness of his name and his reasonable tone.
‘Exactly,’ Julius said with relief.
There was a low murmur of assent around the table. I shook my head. ‘This is wrong,’ I persisted. ‘If we join forces with people who are as bad as Riley, how can we justify trying to defeat him?’
‘Looks like you’ve been overruled on that,’ Saxon said. His voice was light but this time I could hear the threatening undertones. They sent a shiver down my spine. However reasonable Saxon appeared to be, it was an act. He was still a thug and I didn’t want to have anything to do with him.
‘Nat’s right.’
Every head turned. Jason Latimer stood, unsmiling, in the doorway of the kitchen’s safe house. The girl from Six who must have let him into the house hovered at his side. Two large, muscular men were visible over his shoulders. With his suit and tie – and his brisk, businesslike air, Latimer looked totally out of place. Yet he gazed around the room with complete confidence.
Saxon66 stood up. ‘You don’t even know what we’re talking about.’
‘Oh, I know exactly what you’re talking about.’ Latimer levelled his gaze at Saxon. ‘You let Riley use you, for the sake of avoiding a tax fine and in the hope of future rewards. Now you’ve realised Riley won’t touch you with a bargepole, you’re out to get him by any means necessary.’
‘We’re all out to get him,’ Julius said, his tone pacifying.
‘That’s not the point,’ Mayor Latimer went on, ‘Like Nat just said, if we don’t behave better than Riley then we’re just as bad as he is.
At this several people nodded. I stared around the table feeling incredulous, then glanced at Parveen. She rolled her eyes. We had made exactly the same arguments that the Mayor had made, and been ignored.
‘It’s very simple,’ Latimer said. ‘We can’t allow people whose methods are anti-democratic to help bring down Riley. We can’t kill people or torture them or operate outside the law for exactly the same reason.’
‘What about guns?’ Lennox asked, hopefully.
Latimer shook his head. ‘We have a few tasers, but using guns would be morally bankrupt. And think about the impact on the public. Even if we expose Riley, they won’t trust us unless we give them something better to believe in.’
‘Well, when you put it like that . . .’ Julius said.
Several of the women nodded. Parveen stuck her nose in the air.
‘You mean when a middle-aged white man puts it like that,’ she said, contemptuously.
I turned to Saxon66. ‘You need to leave,’ I said.
‘Absolutely,’ Dwayne added, his voice thick with fake politeness. ‘And I’m more than happy to show you to the door.’
Saxon looked around the room. ‘Fine,’ he said. ‘You don’t have the guts to do what’s needed anyway.’
‘Suits me.’ WhiteRaven stood up beside him.
Together, in silence, they walked out. As the front door shut behind them, the girl from Six gave a nervous cough.
‘Is it safe to let them go?’ she asked. ‘Won’t they go straight to Riley?’
‘I doubt that,’ Latimer said. ‘They don’t want him in power any more than we do.’
‘They don’t know that I know what he’s planning anyway,’ I said.
Every head swivelled to look at me. I kept my gaze on Latimer, who raised his eyebrows. ‘What do you know, Nat?’ he asked. ‘What is Riley planning?’
I quickly explained what Charlie had told me. Latimer and the others were surprised – but not shocked – that Riley was planning to set off a bomb at his own drinks reception. As I’d hoped, everyone agreed that catching Riley’s son in the act of planting the bomb was our best chance for exposing Riley himself.
Latimer himself was already invited to the party and was able to give us some useful details. He produced his invitation, which showed that the reception venue was the hotel’s Churchill Room and that it was due to take place between six-thirty and eight-thirty p.m.
‘It’s supposed to be this informal thing,’ he said, while the guy from Ten trawled the internet and found a floorplan of the hotel’s ground floor and basement. ‘A social occasion for partners and kids.’ He grimaced. ‘At least if I’m there I can keep an eye on Riley, make sure he’s occupied while you guys lie in wait for Spider and Charlie and the bomb.’
I nodded. A few moments later the guy from Ten printed out the hotel floorplan, on which both the Churchill Room and the basement underneath were clearly marked.
I pored over the plans. ‘We need two teams, each taking a different route to the basement,’ I said. ‘There are two ways down: one at the front, here.’ I moved my finger across the blueprints. ‘One at the back, there. As soon as the teams find the bomb, they let you know. You send the press down.’
‘Yes.’ Parveen’s eyes sparkled. ‘As soon as the press realise Spider
is Riley’s son, they’ll make the connection and Riley will be exposed.’
I looked around the room. Everyone was looking at me. ‘We have to make this work,’ I said. ‘If the public don’t see proof of what a murdering fraud Riley is, they will vote for him and his party at the election in a few days and he’ll end up having real political power. He won’t need bombs after that, he’ll say the country’s unstable and the government has to introduce emergency powers or something and he’ll be able to do what he likes.’
‘Agreed,’ the Mayor said.
‘What about the bomb?’ Julius asked. ‘We still have to stop that going off.’
‘Charlie said the bomb wouldn’t be primed until they were inside. Spider’s job is to set the timer,’ I explained. ‘I’m sure that’s right. Riley isn’t going to risk his son carrying a bomb that could go off any second.’
‘May I suggest each team includes one of my men?’ Latimer pointed to the two beefy bodyguards, still waiting by the door. ‘They’re not trained, but they are strong.’
‘Sounds good,’ Parveen said. ‘I’ll take one of them. Nat can take the other.’
I nodded. Latimer frowned. ‘ No,’ he said. ‘This isn’t a job for chil—’ He stopped himself. ‘What I mean is, it’s wrong to put so much responsibility on your shoulders.’
‘But we’re trained for this,’ Parveen argued.
‘And we know Charlie,’ I added. ‘She’ll react quicker if she sees us. If it’s a bunch of strangers she won’t know that she can trust them.’
‘Quite,’ Parveen said. ‘Plus Charlie’s trained like we are, so she’ll get what we’re trying to do straight away.’
‘Trained for what, exactly?’ Latimer asked, still looking sceptical.
‘Combat, stealth . . .’ Parveen said.
‘Exit strategies,’ I added.
Latimer raised his eyebrows.
‘That’s getting out of places,’ I explained. ‘Charlie was always the best at opening locked doors with a credit card and—’
Every Second Counts Page 14