‘But why lock us in here? They can’t keep us here for ever. We’ll just shout until someone lets us out.’
‘Everyone’s away at the summer party, so we won’t be found until tomorrow. And I think Jo and Ron have got more than an overnight stay locked in this lab lined up for us.’
‘Oh, great! I am in BIG trouble. Mum’s going to do her nut if I come home late again.’
‘Your mum! What about my mum and dad? Dad gave me strict instructions to be home early tonight. And Ricky’s going to come round and I’m not going to be there.’
Theo and Bullet looked around the empty lab. He looked up. Directly above them was the roof – but there was no way out to it from here. The vent high up on the wall was too high to reach and much too small to crawl through.
‘What now?’ Bullet asked.
‘I guess we sit tight and wait for someone to let us out,’ Theo replied.
‘But why on earth would she lock us in here in the first place?’
Theo walked around the lab looking for something, anything that would help him to prise open the door. Four computer terminals sat on the large table against the far wall and on the middle table were various electronic components, most of which Theo had never seen before and none of which could be used on the door.
‘It’s getting hot.’ Theo tugged at the neck of his sweatshirt. What had Jo done? Turned off the air conditioning? She must’ve done. The temperature in the room seemed to be leaping up. ‘Aren’t you going to pull off your jumper?’
Bullet shook his head. ‘I’m cold.’
‘You’re kidding! I’m sweltering.’
‘Yes, but … Oh-oh! I think the heat is the least of our problems. Look!’ Bullet pointed up at the ventilation grille high above their heads. Theo looked up and saw a wasp crawl out of the grille and sit on it for a moment. Then out came another one. Then another. And another. Soon the grille was heaving with wasps, sitting on the grille, buzzing angrily. Theo turned to look at Bullet, who edged backwards away from the wasps until his back was against the opposite wall and he had nowhere else to go. Theo started edging backwards, too. More and more wasps were coming out of the grille now, buzzing in shared fury.
Theo ran for the door. He rattled the handle frantically. ‘LET US OUT! SOMEONE, PLEASE! LET US OUT!’
‘Theo, no. Don’t shout or jump up and down,’ Bullet called out to him.
The wasps were on the move now. In twos and threes and fours they left the grille to begin flying around the room. Theo ran back to Bullet.
‘Bullet, where’s your hypo of adrenaline?’
‘It’s in my bag,’ Bullet said slowly.
‘Where’s your bag?’ Theo desperately looked around the lab. ‘Bullet, where’s your bag?’ he repeated when Bullet didn’t answer.
‘It’s under Jo’s desk. She said I should leave it there for safe-keeping,’ Bullet whispered.
Theo stared at his friend, horror-stricken. ‘I never should’ve come up here with Jo. I knew it was her and Ron – so why did I do it? How could I have been so stupid?’
‘You weren’t to know,’ Bullet dismissed quickly.
‘But I did know. Jo was the only one in the school hall with Darius when he visited our school. We knew that if the Lazarus suit malfunction was triggered by remote control using a computer, the computer would still have to be quite close. Jo Fleming is the only one who could’ve possibly done it. She must’ve had a laptop or one of those PDAs. Faith was too far away in a car outside the school grounds. I had all the pieces, I just didn’t put them together.’
‘Never mind Jo. What about us?’ Bullet’s voice was stiff with fear.
More and more wasps emerged from the grille and took flight.
Theo pulled off his sweatshirt. ‘Quick! Wrap this around your head and stuff your hands in your pockets.’
‘No, Theo.’ Bullet shook his head. ‘If you get stung by this many wasps it could kill you, too.’
‘But just one sting could kill you. I’ll take my chances.’
‘I can’t let you do …’
‘Bullet, we haven’t got time for this,’ Theo protested impatiently. ‘Put this around your head. Come on.’
Reluctantly, Bullet wrapped the sweatshirt around his head, leaving only a very little of his face exposed. Theo glanced down at his shirt and trousers. Suddenly they seemed as flimsy as tissue paper.
‘I’ll try and break one of the windows.’ Theo picked up a stool.
‘But Dad said …’
‘Any better ideas?’
Bullet shut up. Theo ran over to the window by the door and holding the stool with two hands, he heaved it at the glass. The stool bounced off the window, sending a shooting pain straight up Theo’s arms. Ignoring the pain dancing around his shoulders, Theo tried again. And a third time. It was futile. The stool was coming off worse than the window. Theo dropped the stool in disgust.
‘We’d both better get under that table,’ he announced.
‘Wasps can fly under tables as well as over them, you know.’
‘It’s better than nothing,’ Theo replied, pulling Bullet after him. ‘Come on. Hurry!’ Theo was having to shout over the noise of the wasps in the lab now. And still they kept coming. Theo and Bullet kneeled down under the computer table, both watching the grille. The wasps in the lab had to number at least one hundred and probably a lot more. Theo felt numb with fright. He’d never felt anything like it before, even when confronted with Angela’s brother Tom and his so-called friends at the Irving Museum. Goodness knows he’d been scared enough then but this was much, much worse. Because Bullet was with him and Bullet was allergic to wasp stings and his adrenaline hypodermic syringe was outside the lab. It was only four floors below them but it might as well have been on the moon. Every time Theo had been in trouble before, it was down to him to find some way out. He could run or hide or call the police and although he’d been in some dangerous situations, there’d always been some way out. But not now. They were stuck in a lab full of wasps and the glass was toughened and the door was locked. There was no way out. What would happen if Bullet got stung? Theo knew the answer to that one and that was the trouble.
A wasp buzzed near his face. Theo swatted out with his hand to push it away.
‘Don’t do that. You’ll just antagonize them more,’ Bullet whispered.
Theo dropped his hand at once. ‘Cover your face, Bullet. Quick, before – OW!’ Theo snatched his hand off the floor and cradled it against his body. Already a lump was forming on his forearm around the wasp’s sting.
Bullet pulled the sweatshirt off his face. ‘Theo, are you OK?’
‘BULLET, SHUT UP AND COVER YOUR FACE,’ Theo yelled. ‘OWW! OUCH!’
The air was thick with wasps now. Theo couldn’t see across the room and for all his big talk he wasn’t sure how many more stings he could take.
‘Theo, Jo’s not going to open this door until I’m out of the way.’ Bullet pulled the sweatshirt off his face and spoke behind his hand. ‘With me out of the way, you stand a chance of escaping.’
Bullet crawled out from under the table and took Theo’s sweatshirt off completely. Theo sprang after him.
‘Bullet, are you out of your mind? Get back under …’
But Theo was too late. Wasps surrounded them like shrouds. Theo could feel stings like red hot pinches up and down his body. It was swelteringly hot in the room and getting hotter all the time and his skin felt like fires were breaking out all over it. But that wasn’t the worst of it. Bullet was in trouble. He was surrounded by wasps.
‘Can’t … breathe …’ Bullet choked out, pulling at the neck of his jumper and the shirt underneath.
Theo rugby-tackled Bullet to the floor and half pushed, half dragged him back under the table. He swatted out in every direction, trying to keep the wasps away from Bullet, oblivious to the stings they gave him in his desperation to help his friend.
‘Bullet? Toby, speak to me. Are you all right?’
What a stupid question. Bullet’s face and hands were puffed up like balloons and his lips and eyelids were horribly swollen. Theo grabbed hold of Bullet’s wrist, searching for a pulse – and not finding one. His fingers darted back and forth over the inside of Bullet’s wrist. Nothing. Theo felt for a pulse in Bullet’s neck but he wasn’t sure exactly where to press his fingers. He knocked the wasps off Bullet’s jumper and put his ear down to Bullet’s chest. Nothing. And that’s when Theo knew. Bullet’s heart had stopped beating.
Theo’s whole body was on fire now. He was pain personified. And the buzzing … If only the buzzing would stop. Theo closed his eyes, his head still resting on Bullet’s chest. He had to do something to escape from the intense, white-hot pain lancing up and down his body. He’d close his eyes. That’s what he’d do. He’d close his eyes and allow himself to sleep, to move outside and beyond his body where the pain couldn’t reach him.
A small part of Theo’s mind told him not to sleep. To stay awake. To fight. But he couldn’t. He was in agony and it was driving him crazy. If he didn’t escape and soon, he wouldn’t escape at all. Just to close his eyes, to allow his mind to drift away from his body … Theo did just that. And his last conscious thought was that Bullet was dead and he was dying.
Chapter Twenty
Live Saver
IT WAS THE smell that hit Theo first. An antiseptic, disinfectant smell which instantly told Theo that he was in hospital. But he couldn’t remember why. He struggled to open his eyes and the instant they were open he saw them. Hundreds and hundreds of them. Thousands and thousands of them. Wasps. Theo cried out. And they were instantly gone.
‘Theo? It’s all right, darling. Mum and Dad are here. You’re OK now.’
Theo looked over at the anguished faces of his parents. ‘I’m in hospital.’ It was a statement, not a question.
‘That’s right.’ Theo’s dad tried to smile, his eyes shimmering.
As Theo became more awake, he was aware of his head pounding like a woodpecker’s beak. He tried to raise his hand to his head but, startled, he saw that it was swathed in bandages. Only then did he remember everything.
‘Bullet. Where’s Bullet? We have to help him. He …’
‘Theo, calm down. Toby’s fine. In fact he’s in better shape than you are. He was only stung a couple of times on his hands and once on his face. The rest of his body was very well padded and protected.’
‘But he’s allergic. One sting alone can kill him,’ Theo said, anguished.
‘Yes, but he was well wrapped up to disguise the fact that he was wearing one of his dad’s prototype Lazarus suits. He’d added his adrenaline syringe to the suit and it saved his life. Apparently he’s been wearing it for the last couple of days – just in case.’
‘The Lazarus suit? Why didn’t he say?’
‘You’ll have to take that up with him,’ Theo’s mum said, an edge to her voice. ‘Ricky and Toby told me what’s been happening from their point of view but now I want to hear it from you. I want to know exactly what you’ve been up to – from the beginning.’
Theo kept his explanation as short as he could, but at the end of it he was still exhausted. But not too exhausted to catch the look exchanged between his parents.
‘Theo, this must stop. If you get involved in something like this again, I want you to give me your word that you’ll come to me or your mother and you’ll tell us what’s going on.’
‘But I was never in any real danger – not until we were locked in the lab with the wasps, at any rate,’ Theo argued.
‘Yes, but look what happened then,’ said Theo’s dad at once. ‘You were stung more than ten times and if Mr Marriott’s detective hadn’t been on the spot, it might’ve been a lot, lot worse.’
‘Mr Marriott’s what? His detective?’ asked Theo.
‘Apparently Mr Marriott appointed detectives to protect you, Ricky and Toby after Angela had her accident. He was worried that something else might happen.’
Theo digested this piece of news. So he’d been right. There had been someone following him – but the man had been on his side.
‘The man looking after you managed to drag you and Toby out of that lab just in time.’
‘What about the detective hired to look after Bullet? He should’ve been able to let us out of the lab almost immediately.’ Theo frowned. ‘Where was he?’
‘He was hiding out in the gents’ toilets,’ said Dad. ‘He didn’t realize Jo and Ron would make their move so quickly.’
‘He was a fat lot of use then,’ Theo sighed, closing his eyes at the waves of fatigue washing over him. ‘So Toby’s OK? You’re sure?’
‘Positive.’
‘What about Jo Fleming and Ron Westall?’ Theo struggled not to succumb to his exhaustion. He wanted to know what had happened to the ones who’d done this to him.
‘They’ve both been arrested and charged. And it’s only a matter of time before the police get the man they hired to get rid of Darius.’
‘So they didn’t try to do that bit themselves?’
‘No. Jo has confessed to everything. Apparently, they needed someone who could pretend to be a doctor and give Darius Marriott his fatal injection. Darius would’ve recognized both of them at once. Besides …’
Theo didn’t hear any more. His eyes, already as heavy as lead weights, closed of their own accord and he was out of it.
‘Hello. How’re you feeling?’
Theo forced himself to focus on Ricky’s voice. ‘I’m OK. How do I look?’
‘D’you really want me to answer that?’
Theo sighed and sat up. ‘That bad, huh?’
‘That bad and worse,’ Ricky stated. ‘Can I sit on your bed?’
‘Yeah! No problem.’
Ricky perched at the edge of the bed, pushing with his feet against the floor to steady himself.
‘Where’re my mum and dad?’
‘They’ve gone to get something to eat. They’ve barely left your side in over twenty-four hours.’
‘Twenty-four hours?’ Theo asked, aghast. ‘Have I really been out that long?’
Ricky nodded.
‘So is it true? Have Jo Fleming and Ron Westall been arrested? Are they really the ones responsible for all this?’
‘That’s right. Of course I knew it was Jo when she said she’d been standing at the back of the assembly hall when Darius came to visit our school. She was the only one close enough to set off the Lazarus suit by remote control.’
‘What made you suspect that Jo wasn’t working alone, though?’
‘You didn’t see her face when she introduced us to Ron at the DemTech offices. She was looking at him the way your mum and dad look at each other and he was looking back in exactly the same way. And then she started rubbing the ring finger of her left hand – even though she didn’t have on a wedding ring.’
‘You’re joking!’
‘No, I’m not. She wasn’t aware that she was doing it, but I noticed. And it made me wonder. And once I knew they were married then we had a motive right there. Their combined shares would give them control of the company once Darius was out of the way,’ said Ricky. ‘And Bullet told me that Ron had been dead set against Darius’s Lazarus suit idea from the beginning. Ron thought it was a waste of money.’
‘It saved Bullet’s life,’ Theo pointed out.
‘Yes, it did,’ Ricky said thoughtfully. ‘He snaffled one from an empty lab that day he left his duffel bag behind.’
‘So he left his bag behind on purpose,’ Theo realized.
Ricky nodded.
‘Where’s Bullet now?’
‘In the ward across the corridor. He’s going to visit you a little later.’
Theo raised his eyebrows. ‘Is he up and about already?’
‘Yep! The doctors reckon he can go home tomorrow at the latest.’
Theo leaned back against the pillows. He felt strangely … flat. The whole world had moved off and up and on without him. Jo and Ron had been arr
ested and he hadn’t seen it. Bullet was going to be all right and he hadn’t witnessed it. He was out of things. It wasn’t a very comforting feeling.
‘At least you’re doing well, Ricky. You’re the only one of our group who isn’t in hospital,’ Theo laughed.
Ricky didn’t join in.
‘What’s the matter?’ Theo asked, his smile fading.
‘I should’ve been there,’ Ricky exploded. ‘I knew what might happen. I should’ve been there. That’s why I told you not to leave the house without me, but you went anyway. You … you could’ve been killed.’
Theo stared at Ricky, who was more distraught than Theo had ever seen him. ‘Ricky, look at me. I’m OK. I could’ve been killed but I wasn’t.’
‘Yes, but you …’
‘Ricky, I’m fine. I promise,’ Theo insisted. Ricky’s mouth snapped shut. He didn’t look very happy, nor particularly convinced but he stopped arguing. ‘So what will happen to Ron and Jo now?’
Ricky shrugged. ‘Bullet told me that his dad wanted the police to drop the charges but nothing doing.’
‘Drop the charges?’ Theo stared at Ricky. ‘Has Mr Marriott lost his mind?’
‘No. Mr Marriott has lost something a great deal more precious to him,’ said Ricky.
‘What d’you mean?’
‘I think Mr Marriott has been dipping into his company’s reserves to finance his Lazarus suit. I think DemTech isn’t worth as much as everyone thinks it is.’
‘What makes you think that? And since when were you interested in financial goings-on?’
‘Since we became involved in this whole business,’ Ricky replied. ‘D’you remember when Mr Marriott told us that the Lazarus suit cost over thirty million in development last year alone?’
‘Yes. So?’
‘Last year DemTech reported profits of just over twelve million. That’s what I went to the library to check,’ said Ricky.
‘And if he hadn’t spent the thirty million on the suit it would’ve been forty-two million instead.’ Theo frowned. ‘What’s your point?’
‘In the official accounts and the shareholders’ reports, DemTech is down as having spent only seven million on R&D throughout the whole company in the last year,’ said Ricky. ‘I think Mr Marriott accidentally let slip to us what the real cost was.’