‘We’ve got a liaison with the head of the anti-gang taskforce, but he’s the only cop who knows about our mission,’ Michael said. ‘There’s going to be a full-scale murder investigation and I dropped my phone at the scene, so they’re bound to haul me in. But the gang members will want to sort their own business and it’s not the kind of neighbourhood where eyewitnesses are gonna pour out of the woodwork.’
‘Wall of silence,’ Kyle said.
‘Exactly.’
‘So have you seen Gabrielle?’
‘She was in a sterile room,’ Michael explained. ‘All I got was a two-second glimpse as they wheeled her into theatre. The doctor explained that your guts are a whole maze of organs and tubes. She could be in surgery all night and it all depends where she was stabbed. A couple of centimetres can make the difference between being OK and bleeding to death.’
‘Any news on who stabbed her?’
‘The cops are looking at CCTV from some of the buildings around there. Hopefully Gab can identify him when she comes round – if she comes round … Or at least give a description.’
‘Let’s hope, eh?’
‘So what’s going on back there, does everyone on campus know what went down?’
‘Yeah,’ Kyle said. ‘We’re all totally depressed. There’s a candlelit vigil in the chapel.’
Michael managed a dry laugh. ‘You know you’re in trouble when they put on a vigil. Anyhow, I gotta go. I’m heading into town to see if anyone knows what’s happening – but don’t tell any of the staff that. Zara gave me instructions to stay out of the way until she’d spoken to the ethics committee.’
‘Michael, you be careful out there.’
‘I can’t sit around here with my thoughts, Kyle. I’m going nuts.’
‘Well good luck,’ Kyle said uncertainly. ‘I’m gonna keep my phone on, so call us any time you feel like it.’
‘Will do,’ Michael said, as he ended the call.
Kyle looked around the graveyard and felt sad. He was at the end of his CHERUB career and everywhere on campus was suddenly full of memories.
In less solemn times, the graveyard around the chapel was used as a play area by red-shirts, and Kyle had spent many summer nights chasing around with torches and water pistols and wandering nervously amidst the headstones, looking for ghosts the older kids had warned them about.
‘Hey, Kyle,’ Lauren said, sounding a touch out of breath.
She’d crept up behind and made him jump.
‘Sorry,’ Lauren said. ‘Kerry told me you were out here and … I know you’re busy with Gabrielle and candles and everything, but James isn’t here and I really need to talk to someone.’
‘What about?’
Lauren explained that she was giving evidence at Mr Large’s disciplinary hearing and how he’d threatened to kill Meatball if she didn’t cover for him.
‘So what do you think?’ Lauren asked. ‘I suppose the right thing to do is report it straight to my handler, but Meryl might not believe me. And you know how gossip spreads around campus. Large might find out that I snitched and whack Meatball …’
Kyle thought for a second. ‘I’m sure you can trust Meryl, but all the senior staff are having an emergency meeting about Gabrielle at the moment. I don’t think they’d appreciate it if you knocked on the door because you’re worried about a dog.’
Lauren nodded. ‘I know my problem isn’t the biggest in the world right now, but I can’t ignore it.’
Kyle put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. ‘If the worst comes to the worst, we’ll walk down to Zara’s house and kidnap Meatball ourselves. But I’m sure it won’t come to that. We’ll speak to Meryl tomorrow and sort something out, so don’t go losing any sleep.’
‘Thanks, Kyle,’ Lauren smiled. ‘I’m gonna go inside and see if there’s any candles left. And let’s be honest: I can’t see anyone on campus sleeping too soundly tonight.’
11. AIR
James had to get up after less than five hours’ sleep so that a local fisherman could sail him to the mainland. When he arrived at the hospital all the kids on Jo’s ward were asleep and James had to throw a small stack of Malaysian notes at a porter to secure a pair of crutches.
It was supposed to be an hour’s taxi ride to the international airport, but it was morning rush hour and they eventually reached the business-class check-in less than forty minutes before take-off. After a row – and mainly because they were kids who didn’t have bags to check – the desk manager reluctantly reopened the flight to issue boarding passes and arranged for a beeping electric cart to speed them through a kilometre of airport corridors to the departure gate.
James had a set of clean clothes in his backpack and had hoped to shower in the lounge before boarding, but their late arrival forced him to board the aeroplane in a sweaty T-shirt and combat trousers stiffened by dirt. Still, he was too tired to care about the businessmen staring over their laptop screens as they boarded, or even Jo’s complaints that his feet stank when he pulled off his boots.
As soon as the seatbelt light went out, James pushed his seat back until it became a bed, slapped a hot towel over his face and indulged in twelve glorious hours of teenage idleness, interrupted only by meals and toilet breaks.
The time difference meant they reached London at two in the afternoon. James wanted to freshen up and get a free lunch in the Heathrow arrivals lounge, but Jo was all excited about returning to campus and seeing her friends and he was too chilled to argue with the exuberant ten-year-old.
He thought Jo would be more upset after coming so close to passing basic training, but like most kids who’d grown up on CHERUB campus from an early age, she had a sense of her own self-worth that bordered on cockiness. Jo wouldn’t recover in time for the next session of basic training in a month, but when she did restart she’d be close to her eleventh birthday and only another freak accident would keep her out of a grey shirt.
To speed things up, Jo sat on a luggage trolley with her crutches held aloft and James steered her through customs and the arrivals gate. They expected to see a member of CHERUB staff waiting for them, or a driver holding up a card with their names on, but there was no sign. James spent a few minutes wandering around to make sure someone wasn’t at waiting at another exit.
‘Not a soul,’ he said irritably.
‘You’d better call campus,’ Jo said. ‘I reckon they’ve forgotten us.’
James patted his pockets. His mobile battery was dead after a week in the jungle and he didn’t have any British money. ‘You haven’t got twenty pence for a payphone have you?’
Jo shook her head.
‘Great,’ James sighed.
Eventually they found a help desk and the attendant let them use a phone to call up the CHERUB emergency number. The assistant mission controller on the end of the line put James through to Meryl Spencer, who apologised and said that she’d forgotten all about them.
‘You can’t get shot of me that easily,’ James grinned.
Meryl usually had a good sense of humour and James was surprised when she just grunted. ‘I haven’t even been to bed yet. Everyone’s been up all night worrying about Gabrielle and—’
‘Eh?’ James gasped. ‘What’s happened to Gabrielle?’
‘Right, James I’m sorry,’ Meryl said. ‘My head is all mixed up. You haven’t heard, have you?’
*
Meryl Spencer had only grabbed two hours’ sleep, and at thirty-nine the former Olympic athlete was past the age where you can get away with that sort of thing. She was exhausted and had a thumping headache, but mainly she was scared for Gabrielle.
As a CHERUB handler, Meryl was a substitute parent to many of Gabrielle’s closest friends and she had to be strong for them. She’d cried in the washroom attached to her office, but had to put on a brave face when the kids were around.
‘Come in,’ Meryl said, as she looked up from her cluttered desk and recognised Lauren and Kyle through the frosted glass.
‘
Any news?’ Kyle said hopefully, as they stepped inside.
Meryl was sick of constantly being asked the same question and sounded narked. ‘If that’s all you’re here for, I don’t know anything that wasn’t pinned up on the noticeboard at eight this morning. Gabrielle was in surgery for eleven hours and came out of theatre just after 6 a.m… . She’s suffered severe internal haemorrhaging but there’s no sign of serious organ damage—’
‘I read the notice,’ Kyle said. ‘I’m sorry; I guess you’ve been asked a million times. But if you’re not too busy, we’re actually here to talk about a little problem that Lauren’s got.’
Meryl smiled. ‘You know, the odd thing is that I’m not part of the mission staff. I don’t actually have much to do except sit around waiting for news like everyone else. But I’ve got to be here if information comes through and I don’t think I’d sleep if I tried.’
Lauren and Kyle sat down.
‘Last night was so weird,’ Lauren said. ‘I didn’t get to bed until midnight, but I couldn’t sleep and four of us spent half the night cuddled up in Rat’s room watching MTV. People were just wandering the corridors in their night clothes and everyone was out of it in lessons this morning.’
‘I had a call from your brother, by the way,’ Meryl said. ‘He’s coming back early with an injured trainee; landed at Heathrow an hour ago and I forgot to send anyone to pick him up.’
Lauren smiled. ‘You won’t get rid of him that easily.’
Meryl wagged her finger. ‘That’s exactly what he said. So what’s your problem, anyway?’
Lauren explained what had happened on the Askers’ driveway the night before.
‘And I know I’ve had run-ins with Mr Large in the past,’ Lauren said. ‘But I’m not lying or exaggerating about this, I swear.’
Meryl nodded. ‘Of course I believe you. Norman Large is one of the most obnoxious people I’ve ever met. It’s rumoured that Zara doesn’t have a lot of time for him and wants him booted out for good.’
‘Really?’ Lauren grinned.
Meryl realised that she’d said more than she should and had to cover herself. ‘When Mac was chairman, he often gave Mr Large the benefit of the doubt. Zara’s thirty years younger and our generation has different opinions about how kids are treated. As far as she’s concerned, there’s fine line between tough training and child abuse and Mr Large has overstepped it. But I’ve only told you two that, so I don’t want it repeated outside this room.’
Kyle and Lauren both nodded.
‘I did have one idea,’ Kyle said. ‘What if Lauren put her evidence in writing, but Mr Large was shown a different version of what she’d said?’
Meryl shook her head. ‘It wouldn’t wash. It’s a formal misconduct hearing before the ethics committee. Mr Large has the right to see all the evidence against him and refute it.’
Kyle nodded.
‘I guess we could speak to Zara and tell her to move Meatball on to campus until this blows over,’ Meryl said.
‘We thought about that,’ Lauren said. ‘But Zara’s kids would get upset and I don’t want the red-shirts getting their mitts on him. I mean, most red-shirts are OK, but some of the boys are right sadists.’
‘It’s true,’ Kyle said. ‘Remember when they had to mount video surveillance to catch the little sod who kept shaving the guinea pigs?’
Meryl drummed her pointing finger on her cheek, ‘You know, I’d always understood that Large was quite fond of dogs. It might be an empty threat.’
‘Maybe,’ Lauren said anxiously, ‘but we can’t be sure.’
‘What about entrapment?’ Meryl said. ‘You could wear a microphone and try getting him to repeat the threat. If the evidence was incontrovertible, he’d be out on his arse for sure.’
‘Wouldn’t work,’ Kyle said. ‘First off, Large wouldn’t be stupid enough to repeat the threat. Second, even if we got the evidence, there’s nothing to stop him going after Meatball.’
Meryl rubbed her eyes as she thought. ‘You know, Lauren, the one thing I admire in all this is that you haven’t even mentioned the possibility of giving in to his blackmail.’
‘I’d never do that,’ Lauren said.
‘But our options are limited,’ Meryl said. ‘You don’t officially exist so you can hardly report the threat to the police, and if you make an official complaint here on campus, it’ll just boil down to your word against Large’s. The only sensible thing to do is speak to Ewart or Zara and suggest that Meatball be moved into safe-keeping here on campus. No red-shirt will dare to harm the chairwoman’s dog.’
‘But Joshua—’ Lauren interrupted.
‘He’s a three-year-old boy,’ Meryl shrugged. ‘He’ll get over it.’
‘Bloody Large,’ Lauren spluttered.
‘Right now Zara’s stressed out with all that’s going on around Gabrielle,’ Meryl said. ‘But I’ll speak to Ewart straight away and suggest that we move Meatball on to campus before next week’s hearing so that Mr Large can’t get hold of him.’
Neither Kyle nor Lauren were completely satisfied, but at least Lauren would be able to give her evidence and Meatball would be safe.
12. REVIVAL
Dr Shah was a slender Indian with a bald head. He stepped out of Gabrielle’s room and pulled down his surgical mask as Chloe, Zara and Michael crowded around him.
‘How’s it going?’ Michael asked. ‘Can we still go in to see her?’
The doctor nodded. ‘Fortunately she’s young and in excellent health. She’s responding well. We’ve reduced the level of sedation and she’s steadily regaining consciousness.’
‘Can she speak?’ Chloe asked.
‘A little,’ the doctor nodded. ‘She has eighty stitches in her stomach and thirty in her back. Those are very large wounds and if they become infected the complications will be serious.’
‘Is her condition still life-threatening?’ Michael asked.
‘The surgeon worked for more than five hours, repairing damage to her stomach and cauterising areas where the bleeding was most severe. Because Gabrielle is young and seems to have escaped serious organ damage, I’d say that her situation is now stable rather than critical. She’s maintaining blood pressure without transfusions, which indicates that the operation has stemmed most of the internal bleeding. Having said that, her injuries are grave and it’s too early to rule out complications.’
Dr Shah pointed Chloe, Michael and Zara towards a dressing room where a nurse made them wash their hands with alcohol gel and put on gowns and disposable gloves.
‘I know that you need to ask her about the attack,’ the nurse said, ‘but she’s just come around and you absolutely mustn’t excite her. If something upsets her, leave her be.’
‘We understand,’ Zara nodded, as they walked back into the corridor. The nurse entered a security code to open Gabrielle’s room.
Michael led the way and recoiled at what he saw. With stab wounds front and back and a badly swollen face, Gabrielle lay awkwardly on her side. Blood had seeped into the dressings and an oxygen tube ran under her nose. Electrodes stuck to her skin monitored blood pressure and heart rate.
Gabrielle found it hard to express emotion with pillows piled around her head, but she managed to smile and brought her arm forward for Michael to hold her hand.
‘We can’t touch,’ Michael said, shaking his head as a tear streaked down behind his mask. ‘But the doc says you’re doing great.’
Gabrielle rocked her head. ‘Doesn’t feel great,’ she said. Her voice was weak and slightly nasal because of the oxygen tube. ‘What’s the time?’
‘Just after three.’
Chloe spoke next. ‘Gabrielle, it’s me. I don’t know if you feel like talking, or even how much you can remember, but I’d like to ask you some questions.’
‘Are you recording?’
‘Yes,’ Chloe said. ‘If that’s OK?’
‘Who else?’ Gabrielle asked, as she struggled to recognise masked people with blurry eyes.
>
‘It’s me, Zara.’
‘The boys who killed Owen, we’re …’ Gabrielle’s throat was raw and she gagged every time she attempted more than half a sentence.
‘Take your time,’ Zara said.
‘We know you were chased from the football pitches,’ Michael said. ‘The police got witness statements from people in the street. They’ve identified some of the Runts and made arrests in connection with the murder of Owen Campbell-Moore.’
‘Listen,’ Gabrielle croaked impatiently, sensing that she might pass out at any second. ‘I was in the shed with Owen’s body. They didn’t know I was there.’
Gab seemed helpless as she paused to catch her breath. Michael badly wanted to hug her.
‘All talking, the Runts – and one goes: Sasha’s boy said … there’d be a lot more than f … than four kilos.’
‘What does that mean?’ Zara asked.
Chloe raised her palm to silence her boss and leaned in close to Gabrielle. ‘Are you completely sure?’
‘Sure,’ Gabrielle said, rocking her head on the pillow to nod.
‘What about the man who stabbed you?’ Chloe asked. ‘The police have a description from the lady who had her car stolen and a CCTV image from a car park where he abandoned it, but did you recognise him?’
‘Not seen before … Just one of the Runts.’
As Gabrielle said this, an alarm sounded from the monitoring unit beside her bed. By the time Michael had turned around to look at the display, Dr Shah was coming through the door.
‘Low oxygen,’ Shah explained. ‘Her lungs are fine, but she gets pain when she inhales and as a result she’s not breathing deeply enough. We’re going to have to increase her pain medication, but that will knock her out for another few hours.’
‘We’d better go,’ Chloe said, as she stepped away from the bed.
‘I love you Gabrielle,’ Michael said. ‘Everyone’s praying for you.’
As they backed out of the room, Dr Shah stripped the cellophane away from a needle pack and prepared to give Gabrielle her shot.