‘Well, he can afford it.’ Theo still didn’t see what the problem was.
‘But can he?’ Ricky said. ‘I think that in their own twisted way, Ron and Jo were right. I think that Darius has been dipping into his own company’s funds in order to finance the R&D on his Lazarus suit. I reckon that’s why he wanted to drop the charges against Ron and Jo, because otherwise there might be external auditors and all sorts going through the company’s books to see just what’s been going on.’
‘But as company treasurer, wouldn’t Ron have known all about it?’
‘Not necessarily. I think he more than suspected,’ said Ricky. ‘That’s probably why he wanted to stop Darius – before Darius bankrupted the entire company.’
‘But what proof do you have of all this?’ Theo asked.
‘Yes, I’d be very interested to hear that, too.’
Theo’s and Ricky’s heads snapped around. Darius Marriott was standing right behind them. Theo looked around him but luckily Darius was alone.
‘Go on, Ricky. I’d like to hear how you intend to prove what you’ve just said,’ said Darius.
Ricky didn’t answer. Both he and Theo sat perfectly still, watching Darius Marriott with unblinking eyes. Darius looked around the ward before turning back to the two boys.
‘Because I’ll tell you now,’ said Darius. ‘It’s all perfectly true. I’ve been borrowing money from the DemTech pension fund and from my company’s staff saving scheme to invest in my new invention. But if you go to the police now, DemTech will go down the drain and Toby’s future will go right along with it. In a few months’ time, once my Lazarus suit is on the market, I’ll be able to replace every penny I’ve taken and no one will be any the wiser. So I’ll ask you again, what d’you intend to do about it?’
‘You deliberately changed your will knowing that the person or people after you would go after Bullet instead,’ Ricky said quietly. ‘You put your own son in the firing line, whilst you hid behind him.’
Darius’s lips tightened. ‘I hired private detectives to protect him – to protect all of you.’
‘But you wouldn’t have had to do any of that if you hadn’t changed your will in the first place,’ Ricky pointed out. ‘From the moment I heard you’d done that, I knew what kind of father you were. I knew what kind of man you were. I knew you had to be mixed up in something shady because you’re incapable of doing anything else. You don’t care about your son Toby any more than you care about the stranger in the next bed. Toby was just a convenient decoy. Someone you could use to get the people who’d tried to kill you out into the open.’
Theo sat frozen to the bed. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing and yet every word Ricky uttered clicked into place and made perfect sense.
‘Spare me the lecture please. I’ll ask you again. What d’you intend to do about it?’ Darius repeated icily.
Ricky looked at Theo, then back at Darius Marriott. ‘Nothing,’ he said, softly. ‘I’m not going to be the one to tell Toby what his dad really is. I’m not going to be the one to tell him that his dad doesn’t care a kidney bean about him.’
A slow smile spread across Darius’s face, as if he’d expected no other answer. Theo longed to yell at him, shout out to the whole ward and the whole world just what Darius Marriott had done. But he knew he wouldn’t.
‘Hello, Dad. Hi, Ricky, Theo,’ Bullet called out from a few beds away as he strode up the middle of the ward.
‘Hi, son.’ Darius gave Ricky and Theo a look of pure triumph before he turned to Bullet. ‘How’re you feeling?’
‘I’m fine. I’m more worried about Theo. He covered my body with his to stop me being stung. He saved my life.’
‘I think my Lazarus suit did that, Toby,’ Darius laughed.
‘That as well!’ Bullet agreed. ‘I owe my life to Angela, Theo and your Lazarus suit respectively! So Theo, are you OK?’
‘I’m fine.’ Was that really his voice? So distant?
‘You don’t sound it!’ Bullet said, concerned.
Theo forced himself to smile, and forced the smile into his voice. ‘Toby, I’m fine.’
‘Now I know you’re not. You’ve never called me Toby in your life!’ said Bullet.
Ricky and Theo looked at each other and grinned.
‘I’ll never be able to thank you for what you did for me,’ Bullet added, looking embarrassed. ‘You’re a good friend. Both of you, and Angela – and I won’t forget it.’
‘Bullet, if you’re going to get all mushy, I’ll turn my head, shall I?’ asked Ricky. ‘Then you can give Theo a kiss without my seeing it.’
‘Ricky, why don’t you …?’
‘Toby!’ Darius admonished.
‘… Go and play in the traffic!’ Bullet finished.
‘Bullet, just remember Ricky, Angela and I will always be your friends – OK?’ Theo couldn’t help saying.
‘OK.’ Bullet grinned happily.
Theo looked up at Darius. Something told him that with a father like Darius Marriott, Bullet was going to need all the friends he could get. But for now, it was over and Bullet was safe. And at that moment, that was all that mattered.
About the Author
Malorie Blackman is one of today’s most imaginative and convincing writers for young readers. She has won numerous awards for her books, including the Red House Children’s Book Award and the Fantastic Fiction Award, and has been shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal. Noughts & Crosses has been adapted for the stage by the Royal Shakespeare Company, and is soon to be a graphic novel.
In 2005 Malorie was honoured with the Eleanor Farjeon Award in recognition of her contribution to the world of children’s books, and in 2008 she received an OBE for her services to children’s literature. She has been described by The Times as ‘a national treasure’. Malorie Blackman is the Children’s Laureate 2013–2015.
Also by Malorie Blackman
The Noughts & Crosses sequence
Noughts & Crosses
Knife Edge
Checkmate
Double Cross
Boys Don’t Cry
The Stuff of Nightmares
A.N.T.I.D.O.T.E.
Dangerous Reality
Dead Gorgeous
Hacker
Pig-Heart Boy
The Deadly Dare Mysteries
Thief!
Unheard Voices
(An anthology of short stories and poems, collected by Malorie Blackman)
For junior readers, published by Corgi Yearling Books:
Cloud Busting
Operation Gadgetman!
Whizziwig and Whizziwig Returns
For beginner readers, published by Corgi Pups/Young Corgi Books:
Jack Sweettooth
Snow Dog
Space Race
The Monster Crisp-Guzzler
Audio editions available on CDs:
Noughts & Crosses
Knife Edge
Checkmate
Double Cross
THE DEADLY DARE MYSTERIES
AN RHCP DIGITAL EBOOK 978 1 407 04799 7
Published in Great Britain by RHCP Digital,
an imprint of Random House Children’s Publishers UK
A Random House Group Company
This ebook edition published 2012
Copyright © Malorie Blackman, 2008
DEADLY DARE
First published in Great Britain by Scholastic Ltd, 1995
Copyright © Oneta Malorie Blackman, 1995
COMPUTER GHOST
First published in Great Britain by Scholastic Ltd, 1997
Copyright © Oneta Malorie Blackman, 1997
LIE DETECTIVES
First published in Great Britain by Scholastic Ltd, 1998
Copyright © Oneta Malorie Blackman, 1998
Collection first published as THE DEADLY DARE MYSTERIES in Great Britain by Corgi, 2005
Collection copyright © Oneta Malorie Blackman, 2005
The right of Malorie Blackman to be
identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorized distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
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Malorie Blackman, The Deadly Dare Mysteries
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