Hunted

by Sophie McKenzie

  No, I had to rely on myself – and maybe the rest of the Medusa team. Yes, the more I thought about it, the more it made sense to include them. I knew now that their families hadn’t had anything to do with my parents’ deaths. And their skills could all be useful. When the other scientists came for me, I wanted to be as ready as possible.

  Ready to take my revenge.

  I fell asleep about halfway home, and woke with a start as we reached my station. The sun was fully up now. As I scrambled off the train and into a taxi, I wondered if Harry had snuck back into his boarding school yet.

  I started picturing his face . . . those piercing eyes with the indigo rings.

  With a jolt, I realised the taxi had actually passed the closest point in the woods to the cottage. I stopped the taxi driver, paid and raced through the trees.

  It was nearly 9 a.m. now and as I approached the cottage, I could see Geri pacing about outside. Ketty stood beside her, in her usual uniform of grungy sweats and trainers.

  ‘Where is she?’ Geri demanded.

  ‘I told you,’ Ketty said, her mouth set in a determined line. ‘She’s gone for a walk.’

  Jeez, were they talking about me?

  I crept closer, smoothing out my hair. I dumped my bag behind a tree. I could come back for it later and my ‘walk’ would look more convincing if I didn’t have anything with me.

  ‘I asked you to tell me when Dylan was out of the shower,’ Geri snapped.

  ‘I told you, I didn’t see her come out of the shower,’ Ketty said. ‘She’d already left when I went upstairs.’

  ‘Ketty was with me.’ Nico appeared at the cottage front door. ‘What’s the problem, anyway, Geri? Dylan can’t get lost and the worst she’ll meet on a walk are a few squirrels.’

  ‘That’s if she is on a walk.’ Geri peered into the trees. ‘She’s the last person I’d expect to be communing with nature – especially this early in the day.’

  ‘Actually, I’m totally into going for walks in the morning,’ I said, sauntering out from behind my tree.

  Geri’s jaw dropped. Beside her, Ketty looked relieved, while Nico glared at me, clearly annoyed at all the covering up they’d had to do.

  Heart thumping, I brushed past them into the cottage. Never mind Geri and the others. I needed to focus on finding the Medusa code so the other scientists couldn’t get it.

  The only trouble was, I had no idea where to look.

  9: The mission

  Maybe the code was written in Mom’s diary.

  I pulled out the box of my parents’ things as soon as I got into my room. I scanned the diary, but all I could see were page after page of lunch dates and beauty appointments. My heart sank. I’d pored over these entries before and there was definitely nothing relevant to the Medusa gene among them.

  Unless this wasn’t Mum’s diary at all and my dad had written the code in cryptic references to blow-drys and bikini waxes, I couldn’t see how any kind of scientific information was held in here.

  A minute later, Ketty, Ed and Nico barged in.

  I looked up from the diary. The three of them were standing in a line in front of the shut door, arms folded. Nico dropped the bag I’d left in the woods on the floor.

  ‘Thought you might like this back,’ he said.

  Irritated at being interrupted, I looked up. ‘What do you want?’ I said.

  ‘How about a thank you?’ Nico snapped.

  ‘And an explanation about where you’ve been?’ Ketty added only slightly more gently.

  I rolled my eyes. ‘Give me a break,’ I said. ‘You sound like Geri.’

  ‘Don’t frigging speak to us like that,’ Nico said. ‘We help you and include you and lie for you and you treat us like garbage.’

  I stared at him. Of all the people I’d met since I came to England, I probably liked Nico the most. He was funny and street-smart and never acted all wimpy around me. In fact, we often made fun of each other. But recently, he’d been more distant. I’d put it down to him going out with Ketty. Suddenly I wondered if it was me . . . Harry’s words went through my head. You’re really rude. Normally, I just brushed stuff like that off. But here was Nico saying the same thing, more or less.

  Was it true? Did I treat people badly?

  I’d opened my mouth to snap at him . . . to tell them all to go away . . . but instead, I looked down at the bed I was sitting on. The cream quilt grew blurry.

  Jeez, what was happening to me?

  Ed’s thought-speak pushed its way into my head. Dylan, are you all right?

  Go away.

  ‘She’s upset,’ Ed announced to the room. ‘About a lot of things.’

  I looked up, sniffing back my tears.

  Nico and Ketty looked startled.

  I looked at Ketty. ‘Thanks for covering for me, Miss Grungy Sweats,’ I said, my voice low and sullen. ‘I really appreciate it.’

  Nico laughed. ‘Was that an apology?’

  I shrugged. In an instant, Ketty was sitting beside me, her hand over mine.

  ‘Please tell us what’s going on,’ she said. ‘Ed said he thought you were going to this “Hub” place in London, but he didn’t know why. And . . . and you know I can only see into a future that I’m going to be part of, so because I didn’t go to London myself, I couldn’t find out if you were going to be okay.’

  I glanced at her. Ketty isn’t like other girls. I mean, she’s not interested in clothes and accessories like I am. She’s real pretty, in a fresh, natural way – though she doesn’t wear make-up and her hair is often tied back with string or whatever’s closest to hand when she’s getting up. Right now it was held off her face with a thin strip of blue cotton that looked suspiciously like it had been ripped from one of the sheets on her bed.

  Ungroomed didn’t come close as a description and yet there was an honesty in Ketty’s eyes – and a determination – that you couldn’t help but admire.

  ‘Why would you want to see into the future to find out if I was going to be okay?’ I snarled, turning my face away.

  ‘Because . . .’ Ketty sighed. ‘Because I did . . . I do. And I’m not leaving until you talk to us.’

  ‘You can trust us,’ Ed urged from the door.

  ‘Stop making this all so difficult, Dylan,’ Nico added. ‘I bet whatever it is, we can help . . .’ He paused. ‘. . . Even if you hate the idea of letting us.’

  I looked up at him, then at the others.

  And then I told them. I spoke quietly, so that no one passing outside would overhear. It didn’t take long. As I finished, Nico let out a low whistle.

  ‘How can these other scientists – Milton and McWhatsit – know for sure that you’ve still got the code?’ he said.

  ‘I don’t know, but they do. They’ve been sending me threatening texts, as well, though I don’t know whether they’re trying to stop me investigating who killed my dad or warning me off looking for the code.’

  I showed Ketty. She shivered. ‘Should we tell Geri?’

  ‘No.’ Nico and Ed spoke together.

  I nodded. I’d thought about it more on the way home. Like I said before, I got along with Geri better than the others, but that didn’t make it okay to spill everything now.

  ‘If we tell Geri, she’ll be after the code herself,’ Nico said darkly. ‘You know what she’s like . . . does everything by the book. She’ll have to pass the damn thing up the line to the government agents she reports to . . . The more people who know about it, the less control we have over how it’s used.’

  ‘Exactly,’ I said.

  ‘Anyway, we can look after ourselves better than she can,’ Ed added.

  I shot a look at him. As usual, his sandy hair was tufty and tousled and he was wearing his usual polo shirt and geeky trousers. When did he get so strong-minded? Five minutes ago I’d been calling him Chino Boy and he wouldn’t stand up to anyone in authority.

  ‘Okay,’ Ketty said, hooking a stray strand of hair over her ears, ‘then we need to find this cod
e.’

  ‘Er, well, we can make a start,’ Ed said, ‘but we’ve got the rest of our new mission to focus on, too.’

  I stared at him. ‘What are you talking about? What new mission?’

  ‘The suspicious death of the boy at the care home,’ Ketty explained, getting up off my bed.

  I made a face. I’d forgotten all about that.

  ‘I thought we’d already worked out that was really a murder?’ I said. ‘Isn’t that why we went to the records office and looked at the report?’

  ‘Yes, but we think we know who the murderer is now,’ Ed said.

  ‘I had a vision of him last night,’ Ketty explained. ‘A security guard called Roger Henson. I’d seen his picture in the notes Ed made.’

  I stared at her. Ed had made notes?

  ‘Henson works part-time at the care home. We checked him out . . . He’s ex-army . . . with an interest in knives and explosives . . . in weapons generally . . . And not only did the boy at the care home die from a knife wound, but Henson’s, like, best mates with the police officer who was first on the scene and filed the accidental death report . . .’

  ‘Okay, but it sounds a bit vague,’ I said. ‘I mean, what did you see Henson actually doing in your vision? What makes you think he killed the care-home boy?’

  ‘I saw the murder weapon. At least, I’m pretty sure I did,’ Ketty said. ‘The vision was a bit patchy . . . you know, just snatches of what’s going to happen. I saw Henson asleep in bed . . . and this open box on the other side of the room. It was full of explosives – and a knife that totally meets the description of the murder weapon.’

  ‘My guess is that the boy who died found out that Henson was planning to blow up some specific target. If we can get hold of the knife,’ Ed said eagerly, ‘it will connect Henson to the murder and get the whole case reopened.’

  ‘As well as stop him blowing up whatever his target is,’ Ketty added.

  ‘So why not just get Geri to pass all that onto the police?’ I said. ‘I mean, why can’t the cops go there and get the knife? Why does it have to be us?’

  ‘It doesn’t exactly have to be us,’ Nico said. ‘But it has to be you.’

  ‘What d’you mean?’

  ‘The box that contains the knife is primed to explode if anyone touches it. That’s the other thing I saw,’ Ketty explained. ‘I described the way it’s rigged to Geri and she checked it out. Those explosives won’t blow up the whole house, but they would kill whoever’s standing in front of the box. You’re the only person who could possibly withstand the blast.’

  ‘Me?’ I stared at her. ‘So why can’t Nico just teleport the knife out of the box?’

  ‘Because the knife is tied down,’ Ketty explained. ‘Anyway, that’s not how it plays out.’

  I paused. ‘So you’ve already seen me there, tonight?’

  ‘Yes,’ Ketty said.

  ‘And does the box blow up?’

  Ketty frowned. ‘I just saw Henson in bed, then the box . . . then you looking at the box . . . then the knife in someone’s hand. They were just snatches of visions so . . . so the truth is, I don’t know . . .’

  ‘How reassuring,’ I said, inwardly cursing the flakiness of Ketty’s ability to see into the future. ‘So when do we set off?’

  ‘We have to leave this afternoon to make sure we’re in position in time,’ Ed said.

  I groaned. I’d wanted to spend the rest of the day trying to work out where the code was.

  ‘Look at it like this, Dylan,’ Nico said. ‘You scratch our backs on our mission, and we scratch your back on your mission.’

  ‘Awesome,’ I grunted. But as I looked at their faces, I knew that they were giving me a last chance . . . and I knew, also, that I didn’t want to let them down.

  ‘So will you help me look for the Medusa code? I’ve checked out my mom’s diary, but I’m sure there’s nothing in it that could possibly be a code.’

  ‘What about the inside cover?’ Ed suggested.

  ‘Yeah, maybe something’s hidden . . . like a tiny piece of film . . .?’ Nico said.

  ‘That is sooo genius,’ I said, pressing down on the inside cover of the diary. ‘I can’t feel anything.’

  ‘It could be really small,’ Ketty said.

  Nodding, I grabbed my art knife and positioned the tip under the inside cover. I hesitated. This diary was one of the few things of my mom’s I actually owned. And here I was, about to vandalise it.

  ‘D’you want me to do it?’ Ketty asked.

  ‘Nah.’ With a deep breath, I carefully sliced back the inside cover of the diary, making sure I made the tear as neat as I could.

  There was nothing hidden there. I tried the back inside cover. Again, nothing.

  Silence.

  ‘What other things did your mum and dad leave you?’ Nico said.

  ‘Not much.’ I indicated the box that I’d pulled out from my backpack. ‘Most of it’s my mom’s jewellery . . . There’s a few letters, too.’

  ‘Let’s have a look.’ Nico walked forwards.

  Ketty put a restraining hand on his arm. ‘Dylan might not want us looking at her private things.’

  I bit my lip. ‘I’ll check the letters,’ I said. ‘Maybe Ed could go through all the other papers and you and Nico see if there’s anything weird engraved on the jewellery.’

  We got to work, but discovered nothing. After half an hour or so, Alex called us out for our morning training session. It was really sunny now and despite all my anxieties, I found myself enjoying the exercises we did. Nico and I were paired up to practise our respective psychic skills and we had a blast.

  At the end of the session we had to go over the correct positions for mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Nico, of course, wanted to do this with Ketty, but Alex made him work with Ed. I don’t think either of them liked that much.

  Ketty and I just got on with it. Harry kept slipping into my mind, distracting me. If I was honest, I wanted to find the Medusa code not just so that I could keep it away from Milton and McKenna, but so that I had a reason to contact him again. I didn’t really understand why.

  Back in the States – and at Fox Academy – I’d met lots of boys and most of them acted way more interested in me than Harry had.

  ‘Dylan?’ Ketty’s voice brought me back to the present. She was lying on the ground, looking up at me, an irritated expression on her face. ‘I just said your name three times which, if I wasn’t breathing, wouldn’t actually be possible.’

  I bent over her again, trying to remember the mouth-to-mouth procedure Alex had just taught us. Pinch the nose, tilt the chin back to make sure the airway is clear, then make a seal with your lips over the person’s mouth.

  I made a half-hearted attempt to get into the right position for breathing life into Ketty’s lungs. As I sat back again, trying to remember how long we were supposed to count before giving the next breath, Alex came over.

  ‘How’re you getting on, ladies?’ she asked.

  ‘Great,’ Ketty said sarcastically. ‘Though I hope I’m never in this position in real life. Helping other people isn’t exactly Dylan’s strong point.’

  ‘Oh, bite me,’ I said.

  After lunch we discussed the mission to retrieve the knife Ketty was convinced Roger Henson had used in the care-home killing. Eventually, Geri was satisfied we all understood our respective roles, which left the four of us with just under an hour to continue looking for the code.

  We found nothing. As we set off for Roger Henson’s house, I was beginning to wonder if Harry had got it all wrong.

  Maybe I didn’t have the code after all.

  The others laughed and chatted with Jez and Alex as we drove. Like always, I sat with Ed between the front and back seats, Nico and Ketty behind us.

  As I twisted my mom’s wedding ring round on my finger, my thoughts kept turning to Harry. It was weird, but the more I tried to put him out of my head, the more he seemed to force his way back in.

  We reached Henso
n’s home in plenty of time, but waited until it was nearly midnight and all the lights were off before making our move. At first I’d been tired. I hadn’t got much sleep last night, but as we pulled on our latex gloves to ensure we left no fingerprints, the adrenaline took over. Now I was eager to get going, though Jez and Alex, as usual, were still chatting away. You could hear their anxiety – and that they were covering it up with jokes and encouraging pep talks.

  ‘Don’t forget to switch off your phones . . .’ Jez said.

  ‘. . . And never take unnecessary risks,’ Ed and Ketty chorused.

  The others seemed to enjoy this banter. Personally, it made me want to puke.

  At last we left the car. Henson’s house was semidetached and made of brick – it looked like a million other UK houses. We kept to the shadows as we approached the side door, the tension rising.

  A dog barked in the distance. All the earlier frivolity had totally dropped away now. I glanced at Ed. He was chewing on his lip. His anxiety set off my own nerves. I took a deep breath.

  At least we’d broken into places so often we didn’t need to speak. Nico looked over at Ketty, his raised eyebrows signalling that he wanted to know if the coast was going to be clear for the next few minutes. She nodded, not – to my eyes – entirely confidently, then Nico lifted his arm. He held his hand out towards the lock on the door and twisted his wrist.

  The lock clicked open at once.

  A bead of sweat trickled down my neck. I engaged my force field. We weren’t sure if there was an alarm in the home so, as usual, I crept in first. Was there any kind of movement monitor in here? I looked around for the familiar red dot, usually positioned in the corner of the room. Nothing.

  I took a quick look round. The inside of the house was as ordinary as the outside. A load of stripped pine furniture with plain grey curtains at the windows.

  Ed was already inside my head, waiting for my signal. I could feel him lying low in my mind, trying not to distract me. I never liked it when he was there – it was hard to trust that he wouldn’t sneak a peek at the rest of my thoughts and feelings.