I hesitated, my heart pounding.
‘I don’t want to hurt you, Rachel. You know I can find you if I want to. I found you before, when you were hidden away. All I want is a month or so of your time, so I can continue my research into this protein.’ He paused. ‘I know Milo told you that this unique quality in your blood can save lives. Do you not want to be a part of such amazing research?’
‘How does it save lives?’
Elijah clicked his tongue impatiently again. ‘I can’t explain a complex chemical process like that over the telephone. Please, Rachel. I’ve called it the Eos protein. Eos is the goddess of the dawn. You know my protocols. You know I would not use such a name unless this was a truly miraculous discovery. Believe me, with this protein the lame will walk and the blind will see.’
What? I couldn’t believe any of this was true. I didn’t trust Elijah an inch.
But what did that matter?
He had Theo. Which meant I had no choice.
‘I’ll need to speak to Theo,’ I said.
‘Of course. He’ll phone you after his “escape”. You need to head for the Bressenden shopping centre right now. Get a taxi outside the hotel. Milo will pay when you get there. Theo will call you in about thirty minutes. Remember, it’s imperative he thinks you’re running away from your life and from him. Imperative that neither he nor Lewis nor your parents come after you. If they do, I will kill them.’
I swallowed.
‘Deal?’ Elijah said.
‘Deal,’ I whispered.
70
Theo
Elijah finished his phone call and strode across the car park. The guard, Paul, was watching me through the car window.
Cold air swept over me as the door opened and Elijah got into the back seat beside me.
‘Are you all right, Theo?’ He smiled. ‘I’m sorry we had to chloroform you. It’s a very old-fashioned method.’
I shivered. My head still felt horribly fuzzy. ‘Where am I? Why have you taken me?’
Elijah sat back, his expression thoughtful. Outside the car, Paul still hadn’t taken his eyes off me.
I shivered.
‘So many questions, Theo,’ Elijah said softly. ‘Let me reassure you, you’ve only been unconscious a few minutes. You’re just a mile or so away from the hotel we found you outside.’
I stared at him, my head clearing.
‘How did you know where we . . . I . . . was?’
‘I was guessing Rachel would call her parents and that they would tell her to meet them in the safest place they could think of. We phoned all the public areas, then all the local hotels, asking if you’d been seen. You’re quite a memorable trio . . . two young teenagers and a tiny newborn baby . . .’
‘So why take me?’ I said. Man, was Mum’s warning true? Was this whole business of coming after Rachel really a cover for getting hold of me?
‘I see your ego is as strong as ever.’ A smug smile curled round Elijah’s lips.
Fury roiled inside me.
Outside, Paul tapped on the window. As Elijah rolled it down, Paul’s gun was visible inside his jacket.
‘Yes?’ Elijah said, imperiously.
‘Transport will be ready in one hour, sir,’ the guard said.
Elijah nodded then closed the window. He checked his watch. He gave a sigh, eyes half closed as if he were deep in thought.
‘Shame you have to wait,’ I said, sarcastically. ‘Guess you’re missing your private jet, eh, Elijah?’
Elijah’s head jerked round, his eyebrows raised in shock. And then he laughed.
‘I forget how like me you are, Theo,’ he chuckled.
‘Don’t start that again,’ I said. Last year, in Washington, Elijah had often commented on the similarities between us – how we were both impatient and aloof . . . I knew there was some truth in what he said and I didn’t want to think about it. ‘Where are you going in one hour? Are you taking me with you?’
‘What do you think, Theo?’ Elijah said. ‘Now, please excuse me, I still have arrangements to make.’ He got out of the car.
I gritted my teeth. Why did that man always have to talk in riddles?
The car doors locked with a click. I peered through the window. Elijah and the guard were speaking in low voices. Elijah placed something on the roof of the car, then walked away. I strained my eyes to see what he was doing, but he had his back turned to me. More of his bloody arrangements, presumably.
A moment later and Paul reappeared. He leaned against the bonnet, casting occasional vicious glances in my direction.
Long minutes passed. I couldn’t work out what was going on. Why was Elijah holding me? Where was he planning on taking me?
At last Paul pulled a pack of sandwiches out of a small rucksack. My stomach rumbled and I suddenly realised how hungry I was.
The same thought seemed to have occurred to Paul.
He came round to the far door and unlocked the car. I glanced at his gun as he passed one of the sandwiches across the back seat towards me.
‘Any chance of a drink?’ I said.
Paul swore and slammed the door shut, relocking it with a sharp click.
I ate greedily. After another few minutes, Elijah appeared by the hut on the far side of the car park. ‘Paul!’ he shouted.
Paul straightened up from the car. ‘Sir?’ he yelled back.
‘Inside!’ Elijah shouted. ‘Now.’
Now what was happening? I strained to see beyond Elijah, to the interior of the building, but it was too far away. Muttering under his breath, Paul chucked the remains of his own sandwich onto the floor and jogged off. As he ran he reached behind him, pointing the car’s centralised locking device towards me. I heard the click.
I froze in mid-chew. Paul had already locked the car when he’d handed me my sandwich. Which meant that click had surely just unlocked it? I reached for the nearest door. Yes. It opened.
Swallowing the bread in my mouth, I got out, keeping low behind the car. Paul was already inside the brick building at the end of the car park. There was no sign of Elijah – or anyone else.
And the phone Elijah had been using earlier was still on the car roof. Unable to believe my luck I snatched it up and ran as fast as I could across the wasteland, towards the buildings in the distance.
I reached the edge of the wasteland, vaulted over the low fence that separated it from the pavement and sped along the street. I could see another road up ahead – cars racing along it. I didn’t know where I was or where I was going . . . I just wanted to get as far away as possible. I turned onto the busy street. There were shops at the end. Another street. I dashed along, my breath coming in rasping gasps.
I stopped at last in the shadowy gap between two buildings. At least there were people about now.
Think, Theo.
I needed to get further away, but where . . .?
I glanced down at Elijah’s phone. With a jolt I realised it was my phone. Which meant that Rachel’s number was programmed into it.
As I thought of her, my stomach flipped over.
And in an instant I knew that it didn’t matter if Rachel did things I didn’t understand, like obsessing over keeping Grace. She and I were bound together in a way that I could never have imagined before.
Whatever she did, I loved her.
I scrolled down to her number and pressed call.
71
Rachel
I wrote the note and left it by the bed, then slipped out of the room. I left the hotel via the fire escape then cut round to the front of the building where the taxi rank was situated.
‘Where to, hen?’ My driver had a thick Scottish accent and a friendly smile.
‘Bressenden shopping centre, please.’ I settled back into the taxi, realising as I did so that I’d left the hotel without a thing – no spare clothes, not even a toothbrush.
It didn’t matter.
Nothing mattered now. I’d lost Grace. And in a few minutes I was going to have to tell Theo t
hat I didn’t want to see him any more.
I couldn’t see how my life could get much worse.
The taxi reached the shopping centre. Milo was clearly visible out the front of the mall, wheeling back and forth in his wheelchair. Even from this distance he looked nervous.
As I directed the taxi driver to pull up beside him, Milo smiled with relief.
No, it was more than relief.
‘Hi, Rachel,’ he said, reaching out to open my door.
The cold air was like a slap in the face.
Milo didn’t take his eyes off me.
‘It’s so good to see you,’ he said.
My insides gave a sickening lurch.
‘Hi, Milo.’ I looked round. No sign of Elijah’s bodyguards at least.
Not that it made any difference.
Milo turned to pay the taxi driver, just as my phone started ringing.
I stared down at the screen where his name was flashing up at me: Theo.
I swallowed, taking a beat before answering.
I had to make this work.
72
Theo
Rachel answered on the third ring.
A wave of relief washed over me at the sound of her voice.
‘Rach? It’s me. Elijah took me but I got away.’
‘You’re kidding,’ she gasped. ‘God, are you all right?’
Something was wrong. I could hear it in her voice.
‘I’m fine,’ I said. ‘Are you still at the hotel?’
‘Yes, oh thank goodness you’re all right.’ Rachel stopped.
There was definitely something wrong.
‘Rachel—?’
‘Go back to the hotel. My mum and dad can pay for a cab if you can find one.’
There was a pause. My mind was careering about, desperately trying to work out what was going on.
‘What’s the matter, Rach?’ I said.
‘Noth—’
‘I can hear it in your voice. What’s going on?’
There was a long pause. Cars zoomed past me.
‘Mum and Dad sent Grace away,’ she said.
‘I’m sorry,’ I said.
‘And I’m going away, too,’ she said.
‘What d’you mean?’ My voice rose in alarm. ‘Going where? When will you be back?’
There was a long silence.
‘Rachel?’
‘I won’t be back,’ Rachel said, her voice carefully even. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘What are you talking about?’
I could hear Rachel take in a deep breath. Then she said it. ‘I’m going away . . . with Milo.’
For a second I couldn’t work out who she was talking about. Then I remembered.
‘Going with Milo?’ I said. ‘Why? Where?’
‘We’re running away from Elijah,’ Rachel went on, her voice strained.
‘You’re not making sense,’ I said. ‘You already have run away from Elijah. We both did. And Milo’s the one who tricked you into going to him . . . Man, he works for Elijah, he—’
‘Elijah made him trap me,’ Rachel said. ‘Milo only did it because he was scared. But since then we’ve got to know each other and Milo knows Elijah better than anyone. He knows all about his work . . . the way he thinks . . . he’s in the best position to keep me safe.’
I stood in the chill of the shadowy wall, sweat prickling at my neck.
‘Is someone there?’ I said. ‘Someone making you say this? Because I don’t get it, Rachel. Why would you go with Milo to be safe?’
‘You’re just saying that cos he’s in a wheelchair, aren’t you?’ Rachel said, accusingly. ‘God, Theo, you’re so immature sometimes. Milo might not be able to use his legs but he’s really kind – look at the way he looked after Grace. And he’s really smart too. He’s older than we are . . . he knows stuff . . .’
‘I didn’t mean that,’ I said, stung. ‘I just mean there are loads of people who can keep you safe. There’s your mum and dad and Lewis, when he’s better, and . . . and me.’
‘I hate Mum and Dad. They’ve stopped me being with Grace. They don’t care about me. And Lewis might not get better. Anyway, you don’t understand.’ Rachel’s voice grew even more tense. ‘I want to be with Milo.’
Want?
‘You mean you . . .?’ I couldn’t bring myself to finish the sentence. My stomach was twisting into sick knots.
‘I like him,’ she said at last.
In the distance, traffic roared past but all my focus was on what Rachel was saying.
‘I really like him,’ she went on. ‘More than anyone, ever.’
More than me?
‘I’m sorry, Theo. I’m really sorry, but I want to be with him. He . . . he told me how he felt at the lab, while you were outside. I’ve had a chance to think and . . . and I want to be with him.’
I couldn’t believe it. I mean, I’d seen with my own eyes how Milo felt about Rachel, but . . .
‘You hardly know him,’ I said.
‘You and I hardly knew each other either before we got separated nine months ago. It didn’t stop us staying in touch . . . wanting to stay in touch . . .’
That was true, but it still didn’t make sense. For the past nine months Rachel had been this constant presence in my mind – my secret girlfriend, the one person who knew me, who understood me . . .
And now she was saying none of that mattered. I couldn’t speak.
‘Like I said, I’m sorry. But you must have felt it yourself. I mean, I really care about you, Theo. But not like that. We don’t really know each other . . . us . . . being together . . . it was a mistake . . .’ Her voice was cold now. Hard.
‘What?’ I couldn’t believe it. Maybe we’d both felt a bit self-conscious for the first few minutes back on the RAGE boat, but after that we’d been fine. And at the hotel, just now, she’d smiled at me . . . kissed me . . .
‘I have to go. When you get to the hotel, please explain it to my parents. I left them a note but I know they’ll freak. Tell them I’ll be in touch when I can. And tell Lewis too.’
I stood there, my mouth open, the world turning circles in my head.
‘Theo?’
‘Yes.’
‘Thanks for everything. Goodbye.’
She rang off and I stood, staring out at the cars still zooming past, wondering how the world could still look exactly the same, when everything that mattered had just fallen out of it.
Part Three
Operation Eos
73
Rachel
The next few hours were the longest of my life. After saying goodbye to Theo, I was in a total daze. I ditched my phone so I couldn’t be traced – at Milo’s request – then took a cab with him to a heliport a few miles away. I didn’t notice where, exactly.
We’d taken off straight away – Elijah, his guard Paul, Milo and me.
I tortured myself for a while that Elijah had ordered Theo to be killed before we left. Paul certainly looked murderous enough – he was clearly still furious about Theo and me tying him up outside Lab Three.
But I knew that didn’t make sense. Elijah might be an egomaniac but he wasn’t stupid. He never acted without a reason. Mel died because she chose Lewis instead of him – that was revenge. Daniel died because Elijah wanted his heart, and there was no one to stop him taking it.
Elijah had no reason to kill Theo. In fact, murder would simply invite the authorities to come after him.
I was what Elijah wanted now.
And what Elijah wanted, he got.
As we banked over the buildings below, I thought about Mum and Dad in the hotel – and how Theo would tell them I had gone . . . how they would find my note . . . how Mum would get all hysterical and Dad would worry and then, later, Lewis in hospital would find out and turn it all over and over in his mind as he got better . . . If he got better . . .
And Theo. I’d heard the hollowness in his voice when I’d told him we were over. The misery. I couldn’t bear him to believe that . . . to
move on . . . to forget me . . .
And yet, I knew this was the only way to keep him from following me . . . to keep him safe.
Tears trickled down my face. I closed my eyes and turned my head further away from the others.
I couldn’t tell which direction we were heading in, but we were over water very quickly. After twenty minutes or so, Elijah shifted across the row of seats and positioned himself next to me.
‘You should sleep, Rachel. I want you well.’
I shook my head. No way was I going to be able to sleep. Not tonight.
Elijah sighed. ‘I must insist,’ he said, moving away again.
I found out what that meant a few minutes later when he reappeared with a syringe.
‘This will help you relax,’ he said.
‘No.’
Elijah ran his hand through his hair. ‘Please don’t make me get Paul over here to restrain you,’ he said.
Over his shoulder I could see Paul watching. God, he looked really pissed off.
‘It’s just to help you sleep, Rachel. I realise how traumatic today has been.’ He paused. ‘Please.’
What choice did I have? I nodded, and he injected me in the arm. I felt the stab of the needle, then the coldness of the liquid entering my vein. Moments later I sank back, reality obliterated.
It was morning when I woke. I was in a bright, sunny room. The central heating was gurgling as I blinked myself awake. I was in my clothes still, but in a proper bed. I sat up and looked around. Not a large room – or a fancy one – but clean and very white. White walls, a white duvet and white curtains.
I got out of bed and tiptoed across the wooden floor to the window.
Whoa. The view that met my eyes was the last one I expected to see at the beginning of July.
Snow. Snow everywhere. A beautiful landscape of fields and distant mountains. Snow-covered pine trees lined the area immediately below the house, which sloped down to a frozen lake. The sky was a clear, bright blue – the sun a fiery orange disc, well above the trees.
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