‘The government thought Medusa would spread like any other virus,’ Jack finished. ‘They assumed everyone would become infected.’
Hector rubbed his hands together. ‘Just to prove you had the virus, we sent you into quarantine for a little while.’
‘We tested your blood when you were unconscious,’ the Shepherd added.
‘And once you’d shown the results to the right people, you deliberately let us escape,’ Jack said. ‘So we could be seen spreading the virus around London and also speed up the evacuation.’
Hector took a deep breath. ‘So, no virus, no antidote,’ he said. ‘Only you and your pathetic “Urban Outlaws” will die.’
‘Meantime, London is held to ransom,’ Jack said.
‘And we’re free to take whatever we want,’ Hector continued. ‘All the while, the government are left scratching their heads and thanking their lucky stars the virus didn’t spread.’
Jack glanced at the Shepherd then back to Hector, who was grinning from ear to ear, like an annoying clown.
And that’s exactly what Hector is – a clown, Jack thought. Just like his father.
‘Plan C,’ he breathed.
‘What did you say?’
Jack cleared his throat. ‘I said, it’s time for Plan C.’
The grin slipped from Hector’s face. He looked over at Connor. ‘Go outside,’ he said. ‘Round up the other Outlaws. They’ll be waiting for our hero.’
Connor went to leave.
‘No, they won’t,’ Jack called after him.
Connor stopped and turned back.
Jack rubbed his stinging eyes. He just needed to stay awake for a little while longer. ‘I told them to meet me far away from here,’ he said.
Hector frowned. ‘What do you mean?’
‘I lied.’ Jack looked at him. ‘I lied to them,’ he croaked. ‘They trust me and I said that I’d meet them at another location. I wanted them as far away from the palace as possible.’
Hector glanced at his father and back to Jack. ‘Why would you do that?’
‘It’s another trick,’ Del Sarto growled.
‘No more tricks,’ Jack said, slumping further in his chair and fighting to stay conscious. ‘I’m tired of them. They wear me out almost as much as this virus does.’ He looked at Hector. ‘I knew you’d be expecting more tricks.’ He nodded at the objects on the table. ‘That’s why I asked Charlie to make all of those. I wasn’t planning to use any of them. I just needed information from you before I decided which plan to use.’
Hector’s eyes narrowed.
Jack looked at the Shepherd next. ‘I also know you didn’t destroy the formula for the antidote.’
All eyes moved to the Shepherd, but he didn’t react.
‘What is he on about?’ Hector said.
‘He didn’t destroy the formula,’ Jack repeated, as if talking to a five-year-old. ‘Because that would be a very, very stupid thing to do. A mistake you’d make, Hector, but not him.’
Hector rose from his chair, his gaze locked on the Shepherd. ‘Is this true?’
The Shepherd hesitated, and then gave a single nod.
‘Why?’ Hector growled.
‘Hector.’ Jack raised a hand and clicked his fingers. ‘Focus.’
Hector spun back to face him.
‘Let’s see if you can follow this,’ Jack said, enjoying being the smug one for a change. ‘The Shepherd wanted insurance. He knew that if all this went wrong then he’d need leverage. If you were caught, he’d exchange the antidote, curing us for his freedom.’ Jack looked over at Del Sarto Senior and sighed. ‘You really shouldn’t have let Hector run the show.’ He coughed. ‘Your boy has messed up, big time.’
‘No, I haven’t.’ Hector waved a finger at the Shepherd. ‘So what if he has the antidote? I don’t care. It makes no difference to my plans.’
Jack’s vision tunnelled. He blinked, dragging his mind back to the present moment, and tried to sit up straight. ‘It’s over, Hector.’
‘It’s not over,’ Hector snapped. ‘I told you it makes no difference, and whatever you say next, I’m not falling for another one of your tricks. We carry on as planned.’
‘Yeah, I did say no more tricks, didn’t I?’ Jack said. ‘Well, I lied about that too.’ He put a hand under the wetsuit. ‘But this is definitely the last one. I promise.’ He pulled out Abdul’s mobile phone, which was wrapped in a clear waterproof bag and connected to a microphone. Jack tossed it on to the rug at their feet.
Hector stared down at it. The display showed that a call to Noble was in progress.
Thanks to Noble handing himself in to the authorities and explaining the situation to them, they would have heard everything Hector and the Shepherd had just said about their plans and still having the formula to the antidote.
Check.
Mate.
‘The boy sacrificed himself,’ the Shepherd said in barely a whisper.
Jack couldn’t tell if it was surprise or admiration in his voice.
‘I reckon you’ve got about ten minutes to get out of here,’ Jack said.
He slumped in the chair again, as exhaustion threatened to overwhelm him.
That was his final play – he had no more left.
Jack sat back and hoped that he stayed alive long enough to watch the events unfold, knowing his friends were saved.
Besides, he wanted to enjoy this.
For several seconds, everyone looked at each other.
Suddenly, Hector erupted, lunged forwards and grabbed Jack by the throat. ‘I’m going to kill you,’ he roared.
‘I’ll do it.’ Del Sarto stood, raising a gun. ‘Stand back.’
Hector let go of Jack and stepped aside.
Del Sarto pointed the gun at Jack’s head. ‘I should’ve done this when I had the chance.’
Jack closed his eyes.
There was a clicking sound.
‘I wouldn’t do that, if I were you.’
Jack opened his eyes to see the Shepherd was pressing his own gun against Del Sarto’s temple.
‘What are you doing?’ Hector screamed.
‘Protecting my leverage,’ the Shepherd said. ‘You kill the boy, you’ll ruin my chances at getting out of this.’
Connor drew his weapon and aimed it at the Shepherd.
The Shepherd glanced at Connor. ‘It’s time to choose a side.’
The remaining guard stepped forward, a finger pressed to his ear. ‘Sir, snipers report helicopters heading this way.’
‘Not much time left,’ the Shepherd said to Connor. ‘What’s your decision? Come with me and you might stand a chance.’
Connor hesitated, then swung his gun to face Del Sarto.
Hector’s eyes went wide. ‘What are you doing?’
‘I suggest you lower your weapon,’ the Shepherd said.
Del Sarto’s face twisted with rage and his finger tightened on the trigger.
Jack braced himself.
For a few seconds, no one moved, then Del Sarto roared and threw his gun across the room.
‘Dad,’ Hector shouted. ‘What are you doing?’
‘Shut up,’ he snarled.
Jack let out a breath.
‘Wise choice.’ The Shepherd pulled Jack from the chair and half-carried him towards the door.
Connor, his gun still raised, went with them.
‘You’re not going to get away with this,’ Hector growled.
The Shepherd gave a slight shrug. ‘We’ll see.’
They burst through the doors and hurried to the SUV.
The Shepherd flung open the rear door and threw Jack on to the back seat, while Connor climbed into the front.
‘Go,’ the Shepherd shouted.
Connor did a wheelspin across the forecourt, through the archway and towards the gates.
The guard at the gates turned to face them with a puzzled expression.
Connor wound down his window. ‘Open the gates and run.’ He pointed at three helicopters as
they approached.
The guard hesitated, then did as he was told.
Connor rammed his foot to the floor and they raced down the Mall.
Jack felt himself slipping away and he focused all his remaining energy to stay conscious.
‘Where are we going?’ Connor said over his shoulder to the Shepherd.
‘City Hall.’
A couple of minutes later, they were driving alongside the Thames.
Jack glanced over at the river and hoped that Charlie had got out safely. He also vaguely wondered if the Outlaws were still waiting for him at the rendezvous point. Surely they would have seen the helicopters moving in on the palace by now?
Suddenly, the rear window of the SUV exploded, showering Jack and the Shepherd in glass.
Jack glanced back to see the Rolls-Royce in pursuit, with Hector hanging out of the passenger window, aiming a gun at them.
Hector fired again and the bullets thudded into the ceiling above Jack’s head.
The Shepherd shoved him down on to the seat and returned fire.
The sound of his gun inside the confined space was deafening, sending a sharp pain through Jack’s eardrums.
The SUV wove violently from side to side then screeched around the corner.
Jack glanced up to see that they were speeding across Tower Bridge.
The next second, there was a loud bang. The SUV jolted to the left and was suddenly rolling over sideways.
Jack covered his head with his arms as his world tumbled end over end, slamming him into the seats and ceiling.
Finally, the SUV stopped spinning and Jack opened his eyes again. It was now on its roof and the Shepherd was hanging from his seat belt, unconscious, like a rag doll.
Connor groaned from the front seat and was trying in vain to release his legs from under the steering wheel.
Jack undid his own belt and dragged himself out through the side window, over broken glass and debris.
A bolt of pain shot through his leg and he looked down to see it was soaked in blood.
He rolled on to his back, breathing heavily, his vision tunnelling again.
A pair of car doors opened and closed.
Dazed, Jack craned his neck back and watched as two pairs of shoes strode towards him. Hector and his father.
Suddenly, a helicopter thundered overhead, making them stop dead in their tracks.
A loud voice boomed over a loudspeaker, ‘Drop your weapons on the ground and put your hands up.’
Jack’s body went limp and his world faded to black.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Light pierced through the darkness. Jack groaned, opened his eyes and was greeted by Charlie’s face staring down at him.
She was wearing a hospital gown under a bathrobe.
Jack blinked a few times and glanced around. He was lying in bed in a private hospital room. His leg was bandaged and there was an intravenous drip connected to his arm.
He looked back at Charlie. ‘I’m alive?’
She punched him.
‘Ow. What was that for?’
‘For lying to us.’ After a second, Charlie’s face softened and she bent down and hugged him. ‘We thought we’d lost you.’
It was then that Jack saw Obi, Slink and Wren standing by the door and, despite all being dressed in hospital gowns too, they looked fit and healthy.
Thank God they were all safe.
Charlie straightened up and wiped tears from her face.
‘How long have I been asleep?’ Jack asked her.
‘Three days.’
‘And I assume from the fact we’re all here that the Shepherd handed over the formula for the antidote?’
‘Yeah.’ Charlie smiled. ‘It was a very close call though.’
‘Are you going to explain what happened?’ Slink said. ‘Or have we gotta get Charlie to beat it out of ya?’
Jack winced as he tried to prop his head up with a pillow. His whole body was stiff and there wasn’t a part of him that didn’t hurt like crazy. ‘There’s not much to tell you.’
‘Yeah, right,’ Obi said.
‘You went rogue on us,’ Wren said. ‘And you told me off for doing that before.’
Jack grimaced. ‘You’re right. I’m sorry. I won’t do it again.’
‘Come on then,’ Obi said. ‘What happened?’
Jack sighed. ‘I was tired. I wasn’t really thinking straight and felt awful, like you all did. No matter what I tried to think of, I couldn’t come up with a plan to beat Hector. Plus I couldn’t be sure where the antidote was or –’
‘If he even had it,’ Charlie finished.
‘Yeah,’ Jack said. ‘I couldn’t be sure about anything. But when I really thought about it, some things fell into place. Like the fact that the Shepherd was in on it. And if the Shepherd was working with the Del Sartos, he was clever enough to have some kind of insurance. A way to protect himself should Hector’s plans not pan out.’
‘But how did you know he had the antidote?’ Slink asked.
‘Because he told me.’
‘Huh?’ Charlie said. ‘When?’
‘Not deliberately,’ Jack said. ‘At least, I don’t think so. He gave me my USB drive back, the one I’d left at the Repository, which told me he’d been there.’
‘To destroy the antidote records,’ Obi said.
Jack half-smiled. ‘If you’d been ordered to destroy those records, would you have done it?’
‘I would’ve made a copy,’ Slink said. ‘Just in case I needed –’
‘Leverage,’ Jack said. ‘Exactly.’
‘But you still couldn’t be totally sure the Shepherd had the antidote formula,’ said Wren.
‘No,’ Jack said, ‘I couldn’t. I needed proof.’
‘So, what did you do?’ Obi asked.
‘I needed a confession. But I also knew that Hector would be expecting all of our tricks. He’d be prepared for everything we threw at him. I decided to do exactly that – give him what he was expecting. I made it look like we were following a mission, when in fact –’
‘You were sacrificing yourself,’ Charlie said.
Jack shrugged. ‘It was a huge gamble, but the most important thing was for the government to know everything. Then, no matter what happened to me, you guys would get the antidote one way or another.’
‘I can’t believe you were giving up your own life for ours,’ Wren said in barely a whisper.
‘You make it sound noble,’ Jack said. ‘I was just protecting my family, that’s all. I know you guys would’ve done the same for me.’ He glanced around. ‘Speaking of Noble, is he OK?’
‘He’s perfectly fine.’ Noble strode into the room with a huge grin on his face.
Jack let out a breath, relieved he was all right.
‘What happened to Hector and his dad?’ Jack asked.
Noble pursed his lips. ‘Do you remember what the Facility was used for before it was turned into those laboratories and storage?’
Jack chuckled. ‘Yeah. A top-secret prison.’
Noble’s smile broadened. ‘It seems that the Del Sartos are going to be in a similar prison for a very long time.’
Jack let out a huge sigh, relieved it was finally over.
‘Well,’ Slink said, slapping his hands together and looking round at them all, ‘I can’t wait for our next mission. It’s gonna be –’
‘Relaxing,’ Jack said, slumping back on to the pillows. ‘Something really, really easy.’
Now all of them were grinning at him.
Two weeks later, Jack, Charlie, Obi and Wren were sitting on a wall overlooking the newly built skate and parkour park. It was in an empty lot between two buildings, and had been a joint RAKing venture between the Outlaws, Raze, Wilf and Domino.
In front of them was a granite block with a brass plaque that read, Dedicated to Scarlett. The bravest girl that ever lived.
Jack’s eyes roamed over the park. It seemed as though virtually every kid in London was there – some
were on skateboards, others on Rollerblades, while several kids were clambering up and over bars and jumping off walls.
Jack spotted Ryan at the other end of the park. He was on a bike, pulling wheelies and doing tricks, with a group of onlookers.
Jack couldn’t help but beam at it all.
Charlie looked at him. ‘What’s with you?’
‘It’s just . . . ’ He shrugged. ‘This is what we’re supposed to do, you know? This is what being an Urban Outlaw means to me – doing RAKing missions, helping other people. Making them happy. Putting smiles on faces.’
‘And making sure bad people get their comeuppance, while we’re at it,’ Wren said.
‘Yeah, that too. Speaking of which . . .’ Jack put a hand into his pocket and pulled out three sets of diamond-encrusted cufflinks and a gold watch.
They gaped at him.
‘Where did you get those?’ Wren asked.
‘They were Hector’s dad’s,’ Jack said. ‘Talya stole them from the hotel suite, so I took them from her.’ He looked at Charlie. ‘You’re not the only one who can pinch things from Talya’s warehouse when she’s not looking. Besides, you did say you wanted to donate to that clothes bank we stole from. Think this will make up for it?’
Charlie grinned.
‘Jack, what happens if we come across more bad guys?’ Obi said. ‘We won’t be able to do anything about them.’
Thanks to Hector, the Urban Outlaws were famous now. They couldn’t go anywhere without people recognising them. In fact, it had got so out of control that the day before, a bunch of kids had even asked for their autographs.
Ridiculous.
‘Obi’s right,’ Charlie said. ‘If we can’t do missions like we used to, what are we going to do from now on?’
Jack glanced between them all. ‘Actually, I’ve had a really good idea about that.’
‘Guys.’ Slink came running up, looking like he was about to burst with excitement.
‘What’s wrong with you?’ Charlie asked him.
Slink was practically hyperventilating. ‘You’re not gonna believe it.’
Jack frowned. ‘What? Spit it out.’
Slink took several breaths and said, ‘I’ve found the perfect new hideout for us.’
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
PETER JAY BLACK WOULD LIKE TO CONVEY A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO THE FOLLOWING PEOPLE
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