The Hostage

by Sophie McKenzie

  I swallowed. Was Nico jealous of Ed? That was crazy. Ed was like a brother to me, but it was Nico I liked. Surely Nico could see that?

  Ed took the scrap of paper and studied it.

  ‘Have you heard of him?’ I said. ‘It’s just we don’t have much time.’

  Ed frowned. ‘The name seems familiar,’ he said. ‘I can’t remember when or why, though.’

  ‘Well, that’s helpful.’

  ‘Stop it, Nico.’

  ‘I’ll check on my laptop.’ Ed drew a slim computer out of his bag and sat on the bed.

  Nico and I glanced at each other. He rolled his eyes, then turned away. He reached out his hand towards a dented pingpong ball in the corner of the room. It sped across the carpet then flew into his palm. Nico focused on the ball, mentally sending it zooming round the room. I knew he was calming himself down and left him to it.

  Seconds passed. Ed was still poring over his laptop.

  ‘Anything?’ I said eventually.

  ‘I’m just piggybacking on someone’s wifi,’ Ed explained. ‘There. Now I’m online. Give me a minute.’

  I wandered into Lex’s kitchen. How could my big brother be mixed up in some kind of criminal hacking activity? Lex had always been so honest. So insistent with me about being honest.

  My heart raced. Darkness. A strong, sweet scent. The edges of a vision . . . snatches of a vision.

  Lex standing in the rain. Cold stone against my hand. Ivy . . . a gun, glinting wet.

  It ebbed away. The kitchen was back.

  ‘Ketty?’ Ed was calling from the other room.

  I raced across the hallway. ‘What?’

  Ed looked up at me, a smile on his face. Nico stood, staring over his shoulder, the ping-pong ball lying forgotten on the bed.

  ‘What?’ I said again.

  ‘I knew I’d heard the name Rufus Stone before,’ Ed said triumphantly.

  ‘Who is he?’ I asked.

  ‘Not “who” but “where”,’ Ed explained. ‘Rufus Stone isn’t a person. It’s a place.’

  I scrambled to my feet. ‘A place?’ I walked over to the computer.

  ‘It’s a stone that shows where some king got killed.’ Ed pointed to the screen. A picture of a tall black stone covered with writing sat in the middle of some olde-worlde style website.

  The Rufus Stone is named after King William II and marks the place where he was shot and killed by an arrow – whether accidentally or purposefully is unknown.

  I stared at the stone. My heart skipped a beat. ‘I think this stone might be in my vision,’ I said, remembering the stone in the rain I’d seen before. ‘Except when I saw it there were lots of other stones nearby and some were covered in ivy.’

  ‘Maybe there are other stones near this Rufus Stone place,’ Nico suggested.

  Ed wrinkled his nose. ‘Maybe, or maybe Ketty’s vision was just of a different meeting.’

  ‘No.’ I paced across the room. ‘It must be the same place. It makes sense now. Lex is going to hand something over to Foster and Foster is going to kill him.’ Panic rose inside me again. ‘And it’s all going to happen this afternoon unless I stop it!’

  Silence. Nico frowned. ‘But Foster and your brother live in London – and they work in the same office,’ he said. ‘Why would they be meeting in the middle of the countryside?’

  ‘Maybe the whole point was to get out of the city – away from anyone who might recognise them.’ I sat beside Ed and peered intently at the information around the picture of the stone on the site he had found. ‘The Rufus Stone is in the New Forest,’ I said. ‘Lex and I used to go there on holiday, to this caravan park. Every year ‘til my nan died. Lex knows that area well. It’s the perfect place for him to arrange a meeting.’

  ‘But you can’t be certain . . .’ Ed started. ‘Er . . . I mean why would he write down the details of a meeting that he’s arranged?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ I sighed. ‘I don’t know anything for sure. I’m acting on hunches and visions but the general level of weirdness in my life at the moment is so huge that this is, like, my best shot for finding Lex.’

  ‘So how do we get to Rufus Stone?’ Nico rubbed his hands together.

  ‘The bus from Victoria coach station – that’s how Lex and me used to go down, then my nan would pick us up from Ringwood. I guess we’ll have to get a taxi from the coach stop out to this Stone.’ Crap. This was going to be expensive. I glanced at Nico.

  He shook his head. ‘Sorry, babe, I’ve only got a few quid.’

  ‘I’ve got plenty left over from my birthday last month.’ Ed shoved his hand in his pocket and drew out a wodge of notes.

  ‘Are you sure?’ I asked.

  ‘Course.’

  As it turned out, Ed didn’t come with us. Geri sent him a text as we were walking from Lex’s flat to the tube station.

  Am coming to school this afternoon. I need you for a special project. Meet in Mr Fox’s office after morning classes.

  ‘I have to head back to school,’ Ed sighed. ‘If Geri arrives and I’m not there, she’ll be furious. And if she finds out you two aren’t there either . . .’

  ‘It’s too late to worry about that now.’ I smiled at him. ‘Come with us. Nico and I have already skived.’

  Nico sent a stone skittering across the pavement using telekinesis. ‘Somehow I don’t think skiving off is Ed’s style,’ he muttered. ‘Plus he’s right, if Geri works out we’re not at school she’ll have the police looking for us in five minutes flat.’

  Ed grinned sheepishly. ‘If anyone asks, I’ll tell them I’ve seen you in the school grounds.’

  ‘Thanks.’ I smiled gratefully at him. I knew what a big deal lying and going against authority was for Ed.

  As he sloped off, Nico gave a snort. ‘Thank goodness he’s gone.’

  I rolled my eyes. ‘Get over yourself, Nico, he was only trying to help.’

  Nico stopped in his tracks. ‘Help himself to you, you mean.’

  We stood, staring at each other for a second. My stomach twisted into a knot. I hated it when Nico got angry like this.

  ‘He’s my friend,’ I said.

  Nico shook his head. ‘You sure that’s all? Because you promised you’d tell him we were going out together once we’d done our first mission, remember? But we’ve just spent most of an hour with him and you didn’t mention it.’

  I thought back to our conversation from a couple of weeks ago. It was true, I had promised to explain the situation to Ed, but since the mission yesterday I hadn’t given it a single thought. Anyway, surely Nico could understand that finding and warning Lex was more important?

  ‘Is that what this is about – you’re jealous because I haven’t told Ed we’re together?’

  ‘You haven’t told anyone,’ Nico said. ‘And, you know what, Ketty, I’m starting to wonder if that’s what’s really going on here – you not wanting anyone to know you’re going out with me. Not just Ed.’

  I shuffled uncomfortably. The sun came out and I lifted my hand to shade my eyes from its glare. Was that true? No. Of course, it wasn’t. I’d just felt guilty about upsetting Ed.

  ‘I’ll tell Ed and everyone as soon as we get back to school.’

  Nico pursed his lips. His eyes were hard. ‘Promise?’

  I put my arms round him. ‘Promise. Now let’s get down to Victoria.’

  Nico nodded, his eyes softening. We turned into the tube station.

  ‘You know who would be useful to have with us?’ he said.

  ‘I suppose you mean Dylan?’ I shoved my hands in my pockets. A few weeks ago I’d been convinced Nico really liked Dylan. He’d insisted he didn’t, but I still wasn’t completely sure. I mean, she was really fit – all the boys at school thought so.

  Nico prodded my arm. ‘Now who’s jealous?’

  ‘I’m not—’

  ‘Oh, yeah?’ Grinning, Nico grabbed me round the waist. I laughed and tried to push him away, but Nico pulled me closer, tugging me with him th
rough the barrier. The ticket checker strode towards us, but Nico teleported his clipboard onto the ground. As the ticket guy bent down to pick it up, Nico and I fled, giggling, for the escalators.

  ‘You shouldn’t do stuff like that,’ I laughed as we tumbled into a train.

  ‘Made you forget about your brother for a few seconds, didn’t it?’ Nico put his hands on my cheeks and lowered his face to mine. ‘It’s good to see you smiling, Ketts.’

  I looked into his deep brown eyes. Somewhere inside me I shivered. The feelings I had for Nico were just so big . . . so scary. Suppose he didn’t feel the same way back? I mean, he might be all pissed off because he was having to lie about going out with me, and maybe he didn’t like Dylan, but that didn’t mean he really cared about me. Part of me wanted to ask him for reassurance, but the idea of talking about my feelings was the scariest thing of all. So I just smiled.

  Three hours later and I wasn’t smiling any more. Neither was Nico. We’d found a coach to Ringwood easily enough, and then a taxi to the Rufus Stone from there. But as we drove through the New Forest countryside, the sky clouded over and we both fell silent.

  Clouds meant rain. And there had been rain in my vision. According to the note we’d found, Lex was meeting Foster in just over an hour. Which meant Foster was about to attempt to kill Lex. And Nico and I were the only ones who could stop that murder from happening.

  ‘Don’t worry, Ketts.’ Nico squeezed my hand. ‘We’ve got my telekinesis. Lex’ll be fine.’

  I bit my lip, remembering the gun I’d seen in my snatch of a vision earlier today. Would Nico’s telekinesis be enough against that gun? I glanced upwards. The clouds were definitely darkening. The sky felt low – like it was pressing down on us. Rain couldn’t be far away.

  The Rufus Stone was virtually deserted. Just an elderly couple wandering back to the car park.

  ‘Where’s the stone?’ I said.

  Nico pointed to a black pillar in the centre of a clearing, opposite the car park. It was just a little shorter than me – and inscribed on three sides. The writing was all old-fashioned – something about that king Ed had mentioned earlier. I was too anxious to pay much attention to the details but I was sure this wasn’t the stone from my vision.

  ‘We can hide behind that.’ Nico indicated an oak tree surrounded by brambles.

  I checked the time. Twenty minutes until Lex was due to meet Foster.

  We made our way over to the tree as the first drops of rain fell and the elderly couple hurried into their car and drove off.

  ‘So . . . does this place look familiar?’ Nico asked.

  I huddled under my jacket, trying to avoid snagging it on the brambles and holly that surrounded the oak tree. The ground by the tree was squelchy underfoot. ‘Not really,’ I said. ‘I mean there was a stone with writing on it, but not the same one, and there was rain too, but more of it and more leaves and stuff . . . then again, it’s hard to be sure . . . everything happened so fast in the vision.’

  ‘Look.’

  I followed Nico’s gaze towards the path that led back to the main road. A smart red sports car was zooming down towards us.

  ‘That must be Foster,’ I said.

  We shrank back behind the tree. The rain was still drizzling as the car screeched to a stop. I peered between the leaves, waiting.

  A girl got out of the car. She had cropped reddish hair and was wearing a smart, fitted suit and high heels that sank into the ground as she walked.

  I frowned. It was the girl from the photo on Lex’s desk. What was she doing here?

  ‘No way is that a man in disguise,’ Nico whispered, his eyes glued to the girl as she picked her way across the grass.

  ‘Ssssh.’ I prodded him.

  As the girl reached the stone, a motorbike roared along the path. Lex! He got off and raced over to the girl. My heart thudded. He was considerably taller than her – and much scruffier, in jeans and a faded jacket.

  They started talking. I strained – unsuccessfully – to hear what they were saying.

  ‘I’m moving closer,’ I whispered.

  ‘Wait.’ Nico tried to grab my arm, but I was already creeping away, using the massive holly bush in front of me as cover.

  The ground was soft, my feet silent against the leaves underfoot. I tucked myself in behind the leaves. I still wasn’t close enough. I peered through the leaves, pulling back one of the branches. The movement unbalanced me. I stumbled sideways, losing the cover of the holly bush for a second. I put out my hand to break my fall.

  A twig snapped.

  The girl and Lex spun round.

  Crap.

  Lex took a step forward, then faltered. ‘Ketty?’ he said, his eyes wide with astonishment. ‘Is that you?’

  6: Rainbow

  ‘What are you doing here?’ Lex sounded incredulous.

  I hesitated for a second, then, praying Nico would stay hidden, I walked towards the Rufus Stone. The girl standing beside Lex stared at me, her mouth open. She was pretty – far prettier than in her picture. She had to be Lex’s girlfriend, but why was he meeting her here? And where was Foster?

  As I reached the Rufus Stone, the rain stopped and the sun came out. I stood, letting this detail sink in. No rain. No Foster. And a different stone. This couldn’t be the meeting I’d seen in my vision. That, clearly, was yet to come.

  I smiled nervously at Lex.

  ‘Who’s this?’ said the girl.

  ‘My sister, Ketty.’ Lex turned to me. ‘How did you know where I was?’

  ‘Didn’t you get any of my messages?’ I said, my heart beating furiously. ‘Why didn’t you call me back?’

  Lex bit his lip. ‘I know I’ve been crap the past couple of weeks. I saw you’d called last night. To be honest, I haven’t even listened to your message yet . . . I’m sorry, but things have been really heavy . Stuff I can’t explain. But why are you here? How did you even know where I was?’

  I thought fast. Now was not the time to start explaining about the Medusa gene and my weird, uncontrollable visions.

  ‘Never mind that now.’ I reached up and whispered in his ear. ‘You’re in danger. Your boss – Foster – he’s going to . . . to hurt you. You have to get away. Right now.’

  ‘What?’ Lex drew back, frowning.

  ‘What the hell’s going on, Lex?’ The girl folded her arms and tutted impatiently. ‘I haven’t got all day.’

  Lex glanced at her, a look of longing in his eyes. ‘Please, Tessa, just give me a moment . . .’ He turned to me. ‘I don’t know what you think you know about Foster,’ he said. ‘But Tessa is a journalist. A reporter with the Hampshire Sun.’

  A journalist? What was Lex doing with a journalist? ‘I thought she was your girlfriend,’ I said.

  ‘She was . . .’ Lex blushed. ‘It’s hard to explain . . . the important thing is that I found something out at work and I wanted to tell Tessa, so—’

  ‘For God’s sake, Lex, what’s your sister doing here?’ Tessa’s face scrunched into a frown. ‘I agreed to meet you – I even chose this out-of-the-way place – because you said you had some major piece of information for me. I didn’t think I was going to witness a bloody family reunion on top.’

  ‘Ketty’s got nothing to do with why I’m here,’ Lex said, firmly.

  Tessa raised her eyebrows. ‘Of course she doesn’t, she’s a schoolgirl.’

  I clenched my fists. ‘I’m—’

  ‘Don’t, Ketts.’ There was a warning note in Lex’s voice.

  I shut up, fuming. If Tessa had been Lex’s girlfriend, then he was well shot of her. Rude cow. I looked round. Nico was still well hidden behind the oak tree. Apart from Tessa’s sports car, the car park was empty.

  ‘So tell me what you’ve got on Foster,’ Tessa said, suddenly brisk.

  ‘Okay.’ Lex threw me a glance, as if warning me to keep quiet while he spoke. ‘It was yesterday morning and I’d just got to the car park below the office. I saw Foster get out of his car. There’s
a hut right beside the motorbike area. He walked over to it and I was a bit late and didn’t want him to see me, so I hid round the back of the hut . . . Anyway, this other man was inside. I don’t know who, but I could just make out him and Foster talking . . . They were having a conversation about how Foster had hacked into the Ministry of Defence database and found something he wanted the other man to steal.’

  ‘Really?’ For the first time, Tessa looked interested.

  ‘I had my phone with me so, when I heard them talking about the MoD, I recorded the rest of their conversation.’ Lex held out his mobile. ‘It’s on here.’

  I stared at the phone. It was sleek and silver. With a jolt I realised it was the device I’d seen in my vision. The one I’d seen Lex handing to Foster. Except . . . my heart leaped. I’d got it wrong. Lex wasn’t the hacker. And he wasn’t in league with Foster either.

  He was trying to expose him.

  ‘I’ll Bluetooth the recording I made to you,’ Lex went on.

  Tessa nodded. She opened her bag and took out her own phone. She seemed to have forgotten I was there, all her attention fixed on Lex’s mobile as he sent the recording across.

  What did you record Foster saying?’ Tessa asked.

  ‘I don’t know exactly. I think he’s planning to steal something . . .’ Lex switched on the recording. ‘Listen.’

  ‘. . . the MoD location . . .’ It was Foster’s voice. I recognised it from the visions.

  ‘That’s where the Rainbow is?’ This was the other man. His voice was rougher and deeper than Foster’s. ‘Where do I take it when I’ve got it?’

  ‘I’ll leave the schematic in the usual place.’ Foster again. ‘Call me when you’re set.’

  ‘ Yes, sir.’

  The recording ended.

  ‘Is that it?’ Tessa sounded incredulous. ‘What’s “The Rainbow”?’

  ‘I don’t know.’ Lex bit his lip. He suddenly looked very vulnerable.

  ‘What’s a schematic?’ I asked.

  ‘You told me you had evidence,’ Tessa went on, as if I hadn’t spoken. ‘Something that would get me a lead story. Not just on the Hampshire Sun – but something that would get me noticed . . . that I could take to a national paper. That recording doesn’t even make sense. This Rainbow could be anything.’