“I saw it!” Alex said. “I went to your cell. I found it under the bed.”
“I would have written more but I didn’t have time. The door opened again and two of the guards came in. They handcuffed me and dragged me outside. There was an SUV parked in the courtyard. They bundled me in and off we went.
“So that was how I met the Brothers Grimm. Eduardo was driving and Giovanni was in the front seat – or maybe it was the other way round. I don’t know. The two of them drove off and as it turned out, we were going to be together for the next seven hours which, I can tell you, felt like a very long time indeed. We drove all the way to Alexandria … through the desert to a place called Mersa Matruh and then along the coast. In a way, they were as horrible as Razim and Julius. If you ask me, they’re completely mad. They’re like one complete nutcase in two bodies.
“At least they didn’t hurt me. In fact they were quite polite. They told me they had been sent by Scorpia to check up on Razim and to see how things were going. They didn’t much like him, by the way. They thought they should have been put in charge. But at the same time, they were planning an operation of their own, something they called…”
“Steel Claw,” Alex said.
“Right. They didn’t tell me what it was while we were in the car but they did say that Razim had been planning to kill me – simply to hurt you – and he would have gone ahead with it if the two of them hadn’t turned up at just the right time. You see, they needed someone to keep control of a bunch of children … a nurse or a matron, I suppose. Somehow they found out that I’d been a nanny once and that was enough for them. They told Razim they wanted to take me away and I don’t think he was too happy about it. But they must have persuaded him because off I went and here I am.”
She smiled. “I can’t tell you how happy I am to see you again, Alex.”
“Me too.” Alex tore open a packet of biscuits. He had eaten four of the sandwiches. “Go on!”
“They took me to a boat which they had moored at Alexandria. It was called Quicksilver. I have to admit that actually it was quite beautiful … well, not the part of it where I was locked up. That was in the hold. There were two men who looked after me. One of them was Mr Stallone and the other was called Skunk. They weren’t very nice.”
“I’ve met them too,” Alex said.
“Where are they?
“One of them is here. I saw him at the train. I don’t know about the other.”
“They were both pretty mean.” Jack sighed. “I’m amazed how many really evil people there are in the world. How did they get to be that way?”
“I’ve often wondered about that,” Alex said.
“They kept me in a tiny cabin and for the next few days we didn’t move at all. We just stayed there in Alexandria. Then the twins came to see me again. They told me that Razim had been killed and that you had escaped from Egypt. In a way, they were quite amused about it. I told you – they didn’t like him. I begged them to send a message to you, to tell you that I was still alive, but they weren’t interested. The next day we left and as we slipped out to sea I had this awful feeling that I’d never see you again. I thought I was leaving my whole life behind.
“I had no idea where we were going but after a while I could tell we were heading north because it was getting cooler. Finally, we arrived off the coast of France, near Marseille, and we stayed there for ages. Giovanni and Eduardo went ashore and that was the last I saw of them until I arrived here – but I was still kept prisoner on the boat. They told me they were taking me to England and they also told me about Steel Claw. They were so proud of themselves. They were going to make millions … even if it meant terrorizing a bunch of ten-year-olds.
“About a week later, we moved up the coast to Saint-Tropez and moored in the harbour. A woman came on board. I think she was Russian or Serbian, but I never saw her because she was in the luxury cabin while I was down below. I was still tearing my hair out, locked up on my own. But one evening the younger one, Skunk, made a mistake. I wasn’t let out on the deck in case I shouted for help. But they allowed me to have a shower twice a week and he had to take me there. Anyway, he got distracted and somehow he managed to forget about me for a couple of minutes. I couldn’t believe it when I came out of the shower room and saw that there was nobody waiting for me. My first thought was to get off the ship but that wasn’t going to be as easy as it sounds. All the main doors were kept locked and there was always someone out on the deck.
“I sneaked down the corridor and the first thing I saw was an open door and a cabin with a laptop on a table. That was all I needed. If I got a message to you, you could contact Mrs Jones or someone and that would be the end of this whole horrible business. So I slipped inside and sat down at the laptop. It was connected to a local wireless network. I began to type.
“I’d only written three words when the door crashed open and suddenly Skunk was there. He slammed down the lid of the laptop. He almost smashed my fingers. He was furious. Then he hit me.” She pointed to the bruise on her face. “It was a scary moment. I really thought he was going to kill me, and he might have done if the brothers hadn’t needed me. As it was, I don’t think he ever told them what had happened. He was too afraid of them. I was taken back to my cabin and I’ve been wondering ever since if you’d got the message and what you made of it.”
“I knew it was from you,” Alex said. “It led me to you.” He shrugged. “It just took me a little longer than I thought…”
“I was so cross with myself. If I could have told you the name of the boat, it would have made everything so much easier. But I never got the chance. I was locked up all the time after that and then one day – actually, it was the middle of the night – they dragged me off Quicksilver and transferred me to a huge truck carrying olive oil into England. That’s how they smuggled me into the country … tied up and gagged in the back. They must have driven me up to one of the Channel ports and brought me over in a ferry.
“And that’s about it, really.” Jack had been talking for a while. She looked tired but she was still smiling. “You wanted to know what I was doing here. The children from Linton Hall arrived this afternoon. I had to get all their names and addresses plus their parents’ names and phone numbers. I had to give them rooms. Then I got them something to eat. A lot of the younger ones are very upset and I’ve tried to look after them. That’s what the Grimaldis wanted me for.”
She stopped.
“And now it’s your turn. What about you? I want to know where you’ve been and how you got here and why you’re on your own…”
Alex was about to reply when he heard footsteps walking down the corridor, approaching the room. They stopped outside. Alex and Jack exchanged a quick look, then moved at the same time. Alex slipped into the bathroom while Jack snatched the chair away from the door. As an afterthought, she gathered up Alex’s sandwich and biscuit wrappers too. She had just thrown them under the bed when the door opened and Frankie Stallone walked in. She hadn’t seen him since he had kept her prisoner on board Quicksilver and she winced at the sight of his face with its multiple burns.
“Miss Starbright,” he muttered.
“What do you want?” Jack stood in front of him, purposefully barring his way.
Stallone looked past her suspiciously. “Did I hear you talking just now?” he demanded.
“I was saying my prayers before bed.”
The room seemed empty. Stallone nodded. “We need you to get one of the kids up at seven o’clock tomorrow morning,” he said. He handed her a slip of paper. “This one.”
Jack took the piece of paper. “Why?”
“It seems that some of the parents are having second thoughts about paying for their little darlings. So we’re going to shoot one of them to make an example. And we’re going to film it. That should encourage them all to think again.”
“You’re sick!”
“You should be careful how you talk to me, Miss Starbright.” Stallone glared at h
er. The red smears where his eyebrows had been twitched slightly. “All we want is the money. If they’re going to argue about it, that’s their look-out. Get the kid out of bed. Get him dressed. Bring him outside. And if you’re very good, we won’t make you watch.”
He left, closing the door behind him.
Jack waited until his footsteps had disappeared down the corridor. When she turned round, Alex was back in the room. “Did you hear?” she asked.
“Every word.”
“Seven o’clock.” She looked at her watch. “That’s twelve hours from now.”
Alex nodded, his mind already racing ahead. “I don’t suppose there are any phones anywhere?” he said.
“All the kids were searched. They had their phones taken off them. Anyway, there’s no mobile signal here. They have Internet, I think, but I don’t have the access code.”
“There was a security man travelling with them on the coach. Do you know where he is?”
“Yes. There’s another accommodation block over on the other side. I can show you. It’s where the Grimaldis hang out. The security guy is called Ted Philby and he’s locked in a sort of outhouse just behind. Sector Five – that’s what they call it. There’s a teacher with him – and also the coach driver. But you need to watch out for her, Alex. She’s part of it.”
“I know,” Alex said. “I met her husband.” He thought for a moment but he already knew what he had to do. “We have to get the children out of here. Maybe we can get out by train. If not, there’s the coach.”
“There’s no road.”
“Then we’ll drive along the tracks.”
“In the dark?”
Alex remembered what he had just heard. Sitting here with Jack, he had thought he had time to work out a plan, but in an instant everything had changed. “We have no choice, Jack,” he said. “We’re leaving here tonight.”
BREAK-OUT
Almost at once they had a problem.
The guard had walked away when Alex first arrived at the accommodation block and he had been able to slip in easily. But now as he crept back to the corner and peered round to the main door, Alex saw that his luck had run out. Frankie Stallone had taken his place. He was sitting there reading the magazine that the other man had left behind. His hand was curled loosely round the cover and Alex could clearly see the flame tattoo stretching out over the back. He had a gun, lying inches away.
He was smoking a cigarette, holding it in his left hand. There was a walkie-talkie strapped to his chest. There was no question that he was fully alert. Even seeing him made Alex’s skin crawl, reminding him of what had happened at Needle Point. There was a fresh bandage on his neck where Alex had stabbed him with the nail. Hearing his voice in Jack’s room was one thing. But seeing him in the flesh was quite another. How could Alex get past?
There seemed to be no way that he could approach the front door. The passageway was wide and well lit and it would be impossible to cover the area that separated them without being seen. The moment Alex turned the corner, he would be in full sight and the man would gun him down before he had taken two paces. Somehow, he and Jack would have to distract him so that they could get close enough to take action. They still had the chisel with its heavy wooden handle. But they were up against a professional gangster, a man who wouldn’t hesitate to kill.
Alex signalled, and he and Jack made their way back until they were out of earshot. Even so, they still whispered to each other. Alex was aware of the line of closed doors that ran along the corridor behind them and the children tucked away in their cells. He wondered which one of them had been chosen by the Grimaldis for execution. It wasn’t a question he wanted to consider. He was going to save them – all of them. There was going to be no compromise.
“Are you sure there’s no other way out of the building?” he asked.
Jack shook her head. “I’ve already looked. All the windows have got bars on and there are no other doors. This is the only way.” She thought for a moment. “Give me the chisel!”
“Why?”
“I can take him out. I’ll whack him with it.” She thought for a moment. “Or stab him.”
“No.” Alex shook his head. Jack might be fast but he remembered what had happened at Needle Point and knew that Stallone would be faster – and he wasn’t going to put her in danger, not having found her at last. “I’ll do it,” he said.
“You can’t, Alex. The passageway’s too long. If he sees you, you won’t have a chance and this time he’ll kill you for real. But I can take him a cup of tea. That will allow me to get close. And I can hide the chisel under the tray…”
Kill you for real. Of course, Stallone thought Alex was dead. He had actually seen him drown. Suddenly Alex had an idea. All he had to do was neutralize Stallone for two or three seconds and that would allow Jack the time to strike out. He remembered the bathroom with the five-litre bottles of water. He looked at the corridor with its freshly whitewashed walls. He smiled to himself. Would it work? Yes. He was sure of it.
Ten minutes later, Frankie Stallone looked up as the woman, Miss Starbright, approached, holding a tray with a cup of tea and a few biscuits. She was smiling but he was suspicious at once. In fact, he was always suspicious. It went with his line of work and over the years it had helped keep him alive. The woman was a prisoner. His bosses had already told him that he was to kill her the moment the ransom had been paid. The two of them had barely spoken up until now, so why was she being nice to him?
She stopped next to the table, the tray still in her hands. “I brought you some tea.”
“I don’t want tea,” Stallone said. His hand with the tattoo was stretched out on the table in a way that looked completely casual but he knew that he could snatch up the gun, aim and fire in less than a second. “I thought you said you were going to bed.”
“There’s something I want to ask you first,” Jack said.
“What’s that?”
“I have a lot of money in my bank account. Over two thousand pounds. If I paid you, would you help me? I just want to leave. If you let me go, I’ll give you everything I have.”
So that was what it was all about! She was scared. He could see that now. And she wanted to bribe him to let her go. Stallone sneered at her. Who did she think he was? She said she had a lot of money but two thousand pounds was nothing to him! It was pathetic…
He was about to tell her to get lost when he saw it. A movement in the shadows. He looked past her and for a moment he forgot everything. Even the gun went out of his mind. It was impossible. And yet it was there, standing at the end of the corridor. He had to believe it. It was in front of his eyes.
It was the ghost of the boy he had killed.
Frankie Stallone didn’t believe in ghosts. It was true that he sometimes saw the faces of the people he had killed: in moments of idleness, in his sleep. There were plenty of them. Some of them had died pleading with him. Some of them had looked shocked. But he was able to get rid of them easily enough. He just had to remind himself that they were figments of his imagination and they would disappear.
This was different. The boy was standing quite still, half naked and with no shoes, at the end of the corridor. Frankie knew he was dead. He had seen him plunge into the Mediterranean, dragged down by the weight attached to his foot. There was no possible way he could have survived. But now the boy was staring at him with empty eyes. He was completely white – the colour of the drowned. And there was water dripping from his hair, down his face, off his shoulders and arms. Frankie was gripped by something he had never felt before. It was sheer terror. It paralysed him.
It might have taken him three seconds to work out how he had been tricked. First of all, Alex had stripped off his shirt, shoes and socks. Then he had rubbed his body against the newly whitewashed walls, transferring the paint onto his own skin. Finally, as Jack had turned the corner, carrying the tray, he had poured water over his head. He had waited until she had started speaking and then he had stepped fo
rward, making no sound. It felt odd. He was the target. He could be shot dead in an instant. But his best protection was not to move.
It had worked. Three seconds was all Jack needed. The bald man was sitting in front of her, his eyes wide. She saw that he had forgotten her and, dropping the tray, she swung her fist with all her strength. Her fingers were curled round the chisel and she lashed out. After what he had done to Alex, she had been very tempted to use the metal blade. She was quite sure the world would be a much better place without him. But it was the wooden handle that slammed into his skull, and with a grunt he fell to one side. Jack lifted the chisel, still prepared to stab him if she had to. There was no need. He was out cold.
Alex had run forward, ready to help Jack if necessary. He saw from her smile that it had worked as he had hoped. The side of the gangster’s head was starting to swell – another injury to go with the others. Jack reached into her pockets and took out several strips of torn sheet. Quickly, the two of them tied up his hands and feet, also forcing a gag into his mouth. Alex knew it would be a while before he woke up. He briefly remembered Needle Point, the camera turning. He didn’t really care if Stallone never woke up at all.
They were about to drag the body away when Alex noticed the gun on the table. He swept it up and slipped it into the waistband of his trousers.
“Are you sure you want that?” Jack whispered.
“Why not?”
“I don’t think you should have a gun, Alex. It doesn’t feel right.”
“I promise I won’t use it, Jack,” Alex said, adding under his breath, “until I have to.”
They dragged Stallone over to the storage cupboard where the two of them had met. They both knew what they had to do. Jack was going to wake the children and prepare them for what lay ahead. Alex had the more dangerous task. He had to free the security man and the drama teacher. He would need their help if he was to have any hope of starting the coach. Jack and Alex gave each other a quick high five.
“Good luck.”