Ryan tried to keep Ash in sight, but he’d bolted when the fire alarm sounded. He saw Ash’s head bobbing out of the fire doors, but by the time Ryan got out into sunlight himself Ash had disappeared in a melee, with most of the lower-school kids heading obediently for the Astroturf, and the older ones going straight for the school gates.
‘Young man,’ the PE teacher said, grabbing Ryan’s shoulder as he desperately tried to spot Ash. ‘I haven’t finished talking with you.’
Ryan was pissed about getting taunted and losing Ash. He came within a quarter second of chinning the burly teacher, but thought better of it. He might need to come back to this school if the mission dragged on for six more weeks, and while fighting a teacher would probably make him a legend amongst the friends he’d made on this mission, it was much less likely to impress the senior staff back on CHERUB campus.
‘Wait outside the headmaster’s office, now!’ the PE teacher yelled.
Ryan reluctantly let the teacher take his arm and begin marching him towards the head’s office. Kids walking past on either size stoked Ryan’s anger by making hissing noises and chanting stuff like you’re in trouble or you’re getting excluded.
And while all that was going on, Ash and his fake package of drugs had completely vanished.
34. REJECTION
Ning got hassled by a social worker when she got back to Nebraska House, because she’d been AWOL for two days. Getting grounded would have been a pain, but luckily she was just docked a week’s pocket money and banned from a seaside trip that she had no plans to go on anyway.
Smuggling Fay into Nebraska House was easier than explaining her presence in the shower room to a nosy ten-year-old. Both girls felt better for a shower, clean clothes and a shared box of Maltesers. They watched trash on E4 and for the first time in two days, Fay relaxed enough to stop checking her phone for messages every two minutes.
Good cheer lasted until 4 p.m., when Shawn finally returned Fay’s call. The two girls shuffled up close on the bed so that Ning could hear both ends of the conversation.
‘Sorry it took so long to get back,’ Shawn said. ‘I’ve been having a lot of conversations with the boss about this. We’ve got plenty of supply right now.’
Fay and Ning both suspected that this was a ploy to bring down the price.
‘I’m not asking for fortunes,’ Fay said. ‘There must be a price you’re willing to pay.’
‘Afraid not,’ Shawn said firmly. ‘We just paid you girls a lot of money for cocaine and cash flow ain’t great since Hagar moved in on our business. You’re smart girls. If I were you, I’d ditch this gear, or ship it to your pals up north, if they’re for real. Keep your noses clean, and live it up with the cash you made already.’
Fay’s voice became tense. ‘Shawn, this is top-notch, hydroponic, high-THC weed. The quality of this stuff is the reason Hagar took all your best customers. This is your chance for a role reversal. Your crew could be selling the best gear in town, while Hagar’s got nothing but a grow house full of rotting plants.’
Shawn laughed uneasily. ‘What do you think’s gonna happen when we start putting this stuff on the street? One sniff will tell Hagar that it’s his own shit we’re selling. He’s already pissed off about the stash house. If we start selling his weed to his own customers, it’s gonna be all-out war.’
Fay snorted. ‘I didn’t realise Eli was scared. Hagar’s a wolf. If you don’t stand and fight, he’ll keep biting chunks out of your business until you’ve got nothing left.’
Shawn made a more relaxed sigh, and Fay was starting to feel like he was talking down to her. ‘Hagar and Eli are businessmen. They’ll tweak each other’s noses, but all-out war costs lives, money and brings the law down on your backs. Hagar and Eli have been known to parlay. I’ve sat in as a bodyguard and you know what they talk about? Not street hustles and gangster wars. They talk about villas in Ibiza, diamond watches and whether my boss’s new Porsche is faster than Hagar’s new Ferrari.’
‘But Hagar’s taken a big chunk out of Eli’s business.’
Shawn tutted with contempt. ‘Fay, you’re a kid. You think you’re smart because you listen to some street talk. But your sources know dick about how shit works at the top level. You’ve got as much chance of making Eli go to war with Hagar as I have of making Canada go to war with the United States.’
Fay wanted to lash out, but she was just a fifteen-year-old girl and Shawn was sowing doubts in her head.
‘Is there anyone you can put me in touch with who might buy the gear?’ Fay asked weakly.
‘I’d help if I could,’ Shawn said. ‘But Eli’s mind is set. He wants nothing more to do with you girls. I like how you girls roll, but Eli was even talking about setting up a buy, then tipping off Hagar’s crew so that they got to you first.’
‘Jesus,’ Fay said, moving the phone away from her face because she hated what she was hearing.
‘Listen to what I’m saying and stay out of trouble,’ Shawn said, before hanging up abruptly.
‘Shit,’ Fay hissed.
She pulled her arm back to lob the phone, but Ning snatched her wrist.
Fay spent the next few minutes staring silently into her lap, while Ning tried to find soothing words. Ning’s mission brief was to keep Fay involved with Hagar so that she could gather intelligence. But Fay could be reckless to the point where she endangered both of their lives, and Ning had a lot of empathy with a girl who’d lost her entire family, just like she had.
‘Maybe Shawn’s right,’ Ning said softly.
After a pause, Fay began shaking her head. ‘Shawn probably understands Eli, but he doesn’t know Hagar.’
‘You’ve never actually met either of them,’ Ning pointed out.
‘No,’ Fay said, nodding. ‘But there’s just too many stories out there. When Hagar’s rattled he gets crazy. And that’s when I’ll get my chance to nail him.’
‘Maybe we could find someone else who’ll buy the gear in the van,’ Ning suggested. ‘You can keep my share and you’ll easily have enough to live on for a few years.’
Fay’s expression had changed from meek to determined. ‘I’m not giving up on this just because Eli’s got no balls.’
‘There’s not much we can do without his muscle,’ Ning said.
Fay nodded in agreement. ‘But we don’t actually need Eli to start a war with Hagar, do we? We just need Hagar to think Eli’s starting a war with him.’
Ning smiled. ‘And how the hell do we do that?’
*
James walked through the main entrance of Ryan’s school and caught a whiff that reminded him of every other school he’d ever been to. The place was deserted. Reception was unmanned, but he eventually found a cleaner running a floor polisher.
‘I had a call,’ James explained. ‘I’ve got to see the head about my little brother.’
The cleaner gave directions and James ended up in a waiting area outside the head’s office. Ryan sat on a foam-backed armchair, along with a couple of other kids who’d played major roles in disrupting the assembly that never happened. One of the kids had an anxious mum waiting alongside him.
‘What happened?’ James asked.
Ryan couldn’t mention the mission with two other kids earwigging. ‘I thumped this kid who kept kicking my chair and it kinda started a mini-riot.’
‘Impressive,’ James said, smiling but then regretting it.
James was now CHERUB staff, but he was only twenty-two and he often found himself sympathising with CHERUB kids and feeling an impostor in the role of a responsible adult. He was quite surprised that Ryan had lost his temper, but it was exactly the kind of thing James would have got in trouble for when he was an agent.
‘Is anyone in the office?’ he asked, pointing to the door with Headteacher written on it.
The m
um sitting with her son spoke quietly. ‘The headmaster’s in there. But he said he had to make some phone calls before he could deal with us.’
‘Did he?’ James said knowingly. Senior teachers don’t actually have many powers to punish kids, but they always like to make them sit around, nervously awaiting their fate.
The mum gasped as James knocked on the head’s door and stepped in without waiting for a reply. The head was on his laptop, looking at second-hand car listings.
‘I’ll call you in when I’m ready,’ the head said.
James cast a deliberate glance at Autotrader.com and tutted. ‘I’m a self-employed mechanic. Time is money.’
‘You must be Ryan’s brother,’ the head said, with a slight air of disapproval. ‘And his legal guardian?’
James nodded. Ryan got called in. Nervous Mum looked angry because she’d been waiting over half an hour. The head gave a long spiel about what had happened. Ryan said he was provoked, but accepted that he should have told a teacher or moved away, rather than losing his temper and starting a brawl. So far, the police hadn’t been involved, but they might be if one of the parents made a complaint. The head wanted Ryan to have a fresh start after the holidays, so his only punishment was to write a 1,000-word essay on Gandhi and other historical figures who’d achieved their goals through non-violent protest.
‘Sorry we barged in,’ James told the mum, as they headed out.
‘Sorry,’ Ryan said, as James led him out of the school, straddling splattered yolks and flour lobbed by Year Thirteens earlier in the day. ‘Is this gonna go on my mission report?’
James was conflicted. He sympathised with Ryan and wanted him to feel upbeat about the mission. On the other hand, this was one of James’ first jobs as a mission controller and he wanted to do things by the book.
‘I guess it depends,’ James said, letting the sentence hang until Ryan responded.
‘On what?’
‘Well, I’m finding laundry a chore. And emptying the dishwasher, vacuuming. I might be prepared to be lenient if those things got taken care of.’
Ryan smiled and nodded. ‘I’m on school holidays now, anyway.’
‘Maybe the odd foot massage,’ James added, but it was such an obvious joke that Ryan didn’t bother to respond.
‘Thanks,’ Ryan said.
‘What about Ash’s package?’ James asked. ‘When’s he due to deliver it?’
‘Monday morning.’
‘What’s your plan?’
Ryan shrugged. ‘I don’t have one yet. But they’ve given me his home address, and it’s a safe bet that Ash will keep it in his house until he goes out to deliver it.’
35. GEARS
The girls watched Warm Bodies on Ning’s MacBook and switched out the light just after eleven. An hour later, Fay lay on a floor softened with cushions and beanbags. It wasn’t particularly comfortable, but at least she couldn’t hear rats scuttling about like on the allotment.
Ning had a foot dangling over the side of her bed, and made a gentle whistle with each breath. Fay kept one eye on Ning as she sat up and began feeling for her things in near darkness. She slid on a T-shirt and jeans, but could only find one balled-up sock so she gave up and pulled her All Stars over bare feet.
After checking that her wallet and keys were in her pockets, Fay unplugged her phone from its charger and began creeping out. It was warm, so the door was ajar, but the hinge still squealed and Fay was relieved when she glanced back and heard Ning’s familiar whistle.
At this time in the morning, Nebraska House’s main door was locked and could only be opened by a button in the staff room. Fay crossed a hallway, entered a room that she knew was unoccupied and unlatched the window.
They were on the ground floor, but this side of the building was raised up, so Fay jumped off the window ledge and dropped a metre and a half on to woodchips. There were CCTV cameras, but Fay knew nobody watched them full time. She made a dash, before stepping on to a low wall and swinging her legs over a mesh fence.
Fay mixed doubt, excitement and the odd yawn as she walked briskly towards Kentish Town underground. She arrived twelve minutes later, finding metal grilles over the station entrance and a sign inside saying that the last train had now departed.
Feeling slightly dumb, Fay headed to a bus stop to work out which night bus would take her to Totteridge. The map at the stop only showed the local area, so she resorted to her phone and worked out a two-bus combo that would take her north to the allotment.
*
Ryan had spent his Friday night belly down on the flat roof of a day-care centre. The spot gave him a view over the ground-floor apartment where Ash lived with his mum and brother. Ash had been visited by a hot Year Eleven girl, and Ryan felt jealous as the pair spent an hour behind closed curtains.
The girl left just after 9 p.m. Twenty minutes later an elderly BMW coupé came by and blasted its horn. Ash and his ten-year-old brother got in the back carrying overnight bags, and Ryan figured that the man had to be their dad.
Once the boys had left, Ryan looked into the living-room. Their mum sat in a big armchair, surfing with an iPad and watching TV, with the window wide open and curtains billowing on a night breeze. Ryan willed her to go out or go to bed, but three hours ticked by, during which the scratchy roof felt dimpled his skin and he twice had to crawl behind an air conditioner and take a piss.
It was half midnight when Ash’s mum closed the window and switched off the TV. Ryan couldn’t see the windows out back, but he gave it forty minutes, by which time he felt fairly certain she’d be asleep.
Ryan would have preferred an empty house, but all things considered Ash and his brother spending the night with their dad wasn’t a bad result. He stifled a yawn as he crossed the street. There were two drunk couples walking arm in arm, so Ryan diverted around the block and headed back to Ash’s flat when the street looked empty.
His aim had been to get in through the front door, but Ryan was disappointed to find a good-quality mortise lock, and grilles that would stop him getting in if he broke the glass. A frosted bathroom window had been left open, but he’d have had to be a lot skinnier to crawl in through there.
This left the large living-room window as his best option. Ryan put on a pair of gardening gloves and gave the white plastic frame a shove, but a sturdy catch stopped it moving. He tapped delicately on the pane and the tinny sound left Ryan reasonably confident that the glass wasn’t toughened.
After a furtive glance up and down the street, Ryan took a roll of sticky-backed film from his backpack. It was a fiddle getting the backing off in the dark. The adhesive was really strong and he would have had a fight if he’d needed to reposition it. Once the square was in place, Ryan grabbed a strange-looking device which comprised a suction cup about the diameter of a coffee mug, attached by tube to a miniature version of a bicycle pump.
Placing the sucker against the glass, he worked the pump. The sucker was actually split into two parts, with suction on one side and pressure on the other. When the difference between pressure and suction grew high enough, the glass would crack in a straight line between the two halves.
There was a satisfying click as the pane cracked. Ryan turned a valve to release some of the suction, then he pushed the suction disk upwards, drawing a neat line of cracked glass behind it. He made a rectangle just inside the edge of the plastic film, then moved the suction cup to its centre.
The film was too strong to simply pull away, so Ryan sliced around the cracked glass with a craft knife, while keeping his left hand on the suction cup. When he’d cut three sides of the plastic, the glass swung outwards like an uneven door, with the strong plastic acting as a hinge and stopping it from hitting the ground.
‘Not too shabby,’ Ryan muttered to himself.
The sucker was an expensive piece of kit, so Ryan retur
ned it to his backpack before reaching through the glass and releasing the catch. After he’d pushed up the window, his Nike got in a tangle with the curtains before he landed on the living-room floor with his leading leg slotted awkwardly between a mirror-topped table and an overstuffed magazine rack.
Ryan moved towards the living-room door, then leaned into a hallway. The door and hallway were wider than you’d expect and Ryan figured that the place had originally been built for someone with a disability.
The flat’s layout was confusing, but there were reassuring snores coming through an open bedroom door. There were three other doors off the hallway, but Ryan’s nose guided him through another door into a space whose smell reminded him of some of the grungier kids’ rooms on CHERUB campus.
There were bunk beds, and judging by the superhero posters behind the top bunk and FHM pin-ups below, Ash slept on the lower bunk. Ryan took a torch out of his pocket. The first thing it lit was a line of Lego sets built along one wall. Ryan recognised Ash’s school blazer, and his PE kit balled and stinking in a carrier bag.
Ash had celebrated the end of term by lobbing a bunch of tatty pens and school books in the bin, but there was no sign of his backpack. Ryan knelt down and started shining the torch about. There was nothing on the desk or chairs, so he knelt down and started looking under the furniture.
Ash’s school bag was under the bed, amidst shoes and sweet wrappers. But it felt light when Ryan pulled it out and the only things inside were two textbooks and a geometry set. Ryan knocked a few shoes out of the way and smiled when he saw what he was looking for.
Ash had pushed the clingfilm-wrapped package deep under his bed. Ryan crawled in until his shoulder got wedged between carpet and bed frame, but even at full stretch he could only get his fingertips to the edge of the package.