‘Oh God.’ Raven’s blood ran like iced water through her veins.
Joe pulled over and they leapt out, running to the edge. Further down the embankment, having torn up the undergrowth and crashed through saplings until it met with a big tree, was the SUV. It lay on its roof, one headlight still shining crazily back towards them. But far worse for Raven was the sight just below their spot. There was the minibus, nose planted in the brambles.
‘He rammed them off the road.’ Joe’s voice sounded very distant.
You can’t pass out now. That’s just not happening, Raven told herself.
She slid down the bank and yanked open the driver’s door of the minibus. The airbag had engaged. ‘Kieran, Kieran?’ She was frantic—he wasn’t there. She looked around, wondering if somehow he had been thrown clear. ‘Kieran?’ she shouted. ‘Joe, I can’t find him. Oh God, oh God.’ Tears streaming down her cheeks, she began tearing at the bag in case he was trapped under it somewhere.
‘Raven, stop!’ Joe pulled her away and turned her shoulders towards the SUV. ‘Look!’
She came out of her panic long enough to see someone climbing up the slope towards them—a lanky, familiar shape silhouetted in the headlight. ‘Kieran! Oh my God, Kieran—you’re alive!’
He waved at her. ‘Raven, it’s OK. I’m OK.’
She plunged down the slope to collide with him. ‘Don’t you ever do that to me again!’ She hit him in furious relief.
He embraced her, squeezing her tightly, partly to stop her making further attacks on his chest but also to remind them both that they had survived. ‘I’m unhurt. I was just checking on the guys in the car.’
She buried her head in his shirt. ‘Dead?’
‘No, but pretty bashed up. They’re hanging upside down in their seat belts so I didn’t want to touch them in case it made their injuries worse. I got a phone from Mrs Bain—concussion doesn’t make her any more polite—and I’ve called for an ambulance. Joe, I threw their guns out of reach. Can you get them? I chucked them near the bonnet.’
‘Sure. Good driving, pal.’ Joe slapped Kieran on the back as he jogged past.
Kieran rubbed the tears off Raven’s cheeks. ‘I got the calculation a little wrong. Ended up potting myself, like the white ball following the black into a pocket in snooker. Fortunately, most of my momentum had been lost in the collision so I just dropped over the edge. Touch of whiplash though.’ He massaged the back of his neck.
Raven wanted to hit him some more—the idiot had played the angles and almost killed himself. ‘You are not allowed in the driving seat ever again, Kieran Storm.’
He nuzzled the top of her head. ‘And what about you? You must have done some pretty impressive moves to keep the car on the road.’
‘She was great,’ said Siobhan. She was standing with Johnny’s arms around her. All of them were cold in the pre-dawn chill, but mostly they just wanted comfort.
‘Yeah, it was me who added too much brake. Sorry, Raven,’ said Johnny.
Raven waved the apology away. ‘It worked, didn’t it? Whatever we both did. Don’t beat yourself up.’
Joe came back with the guns and dumped them in the minibus. ‘What now?’
Raven held out a hand to invite him to get a hug too. ‘Come here, Joe.’
With a grin, he threw his arms around both of them. ‘Man, I can’t tell you how pleased I am to see you alive and well. When I came out of my drugged-up haze it was like plunging right into a nightmare.’
‘What happened to Isaac?’ Raven asked.
‘Kolnikov has him. Last I heard, he was taking him to the other trustees to decide what to do with him.’
‘So they left the manor?’
‘I think so. They wanted to give their men a clear field to get rid of us and look for you.’
Kieran cursed. ‘I called in the team after I dialled for the ambulance. They are searching the building now but it sounds like they’re looking in the wrong place.’
‘Where would Kolnikov go if he left there?’ Joe wondered aloud. ‘Does he have a plane or helicopter nearby?’
‘Kolnikov has properties in London,’ recalled Kieran, ‘but I doubt he’d want to drag Isaac all the way there—it would tie him directly to whatever they do if harm comes to Isaac in his private residence.’
‘The other trustees?’
‘Same argument.’
A siren sounded in the distance.
‘I really don’t want to be caught up in explanations just now,’ muttered Joe, ‘not with Isaac still in danger.’
Johnny put his jumper around Siobhan’s shoulders. ‘Look, you’ve obviously still got stuff to do for this Isaac guy you’re talking about. Take the car. Siobhan and I will stay here and talk to the authorities.’
They clambered back up the slope and on to the road, Kieran pulling Raven up the final steep bit, Johnny helping Siobhan.
‘OK and thanks. You both are stars, doing that for us.’ Joe got in his car, Raven and Kieran in the back. ‘You take care. When the police arrive, tell them to contact Scotland Yard and mention Isaac Hampton’s name. We’ll talk to them as soon as we can.’
Johnny glanced down the road. They could all see the flicker of blue lights approaching from the bottom of the hill. ‘Fine. You go.’
‘Thanks guys—for the rest of our lives,’ said Siobhan, linking her arm to Johnny’s.
‘No problem.’ Joe accelerated away.
‘Where exactly are we heading?’ asked Kieran as they left their new friends on the roadside.
‘My first idea is to get away from the police.’ Joe drove with care down the hill so that the squad car would find no reason to stop them. Two police vehicles screamed by, closely followed by an ambulance. ‘But I’m thinking that we should try Westron first. If they want to question him somewhere they control, then the school’s the nearest place.’
‘And Mrs Bain had clearly come from there, as she was so kind as to provide us with your car. How did they know it was yours?’ asked Kieran.
‘Keys. They took everything, including my phone and keys, when they tied me up.’
‘I should’ve guessed. Yours is still on its original tag, providing them with the make. After that it was just a question of looking in the car park.’
‘Yeah, I’m gonna change that as soon as we get out of here. Phone the team, Key.’
Kieran got out Mrs Bain’s mobile and waited for a response.
‘Rivers here. Who is this?’
Kieran never saw eye to eye with the mentor of the Wolves, but he wasn’t a bad choice to have at your back in this situation. ‘Sir, it’s Kieran again. I’m with Joe. Any sign of the commander?’
‘Not yet. We got pinned down in a fire-fight with some of the goons, then had to deal with a bunch of hysterical teens who didn’t have the sense to stay undercover. It’s taking us too long to search the building but I don’t think he’s here.’
‘Joe thinks Isaac might have been taken back to the school. We’re heading that way now.’
‘Storm, you are not equipped to take on these people. You will ascertain if he is there but nothing more, understood? We’ll be following as quickly as we can.’
‘Yes, sir.’ Kieran ended the call. ‘My orders are to “ascertain” if Isaac is at Westron.’ Like that was going to stop him.
‘And mine?’ asked Joe, turning into the school driveway.
‘That’s up to you, isn’t it?’
They left Joe’s car at Raven’s cottage and hurried towards the school buildings. It was four in the morning. Light was bleaching the eastern horizon but it was too early for anyone to be up and around, particularly after the late night of the prom.
‘Do you think they’re here?’ Joe asked.
Raven pointed to the front of the school. A Bentley was parked outside, a chauffeur having a quiet smoke leaning against the bonnet. ‘There’s someone.’
‘That vehicle belongs to Tony Burnham. He’s the only one who lives close enough to come and h
elp Kolnikov deal with the crisis.’ Kieran frowned. ‘So where’s the man himself? Mrs Bain’s office?’
‘I know head teachers’ offices are the traditional location for punishment,’ said Joe wryly, ‘but I’m thinking they wouldn’t take this into a building with three hundred witnesses sleeping around them.’
‘We can’t waste time searching the grounds,’ said Kieran.
‘We don’t have to.’ Raven had spotted the lights. ‘Look, the orangery.’
‘Unless someone is taking an early morning dip, I think we’ve found our bad guys. Well done, Raven.’ Joe took the phone from Kieran and began texting their position. ‘Come on—we can see what’s going on if we go the far side of the yew walk.’
Leaving tracks in the dew, the three ran through the gardens to take up new vantage points looking into the swimming pool enclosure. With the lights on inside, it was like gazing into an aquarium. Instead of pretty fish floating about, they saw Isaac held up between two men, another standing in front of him flexing his fist and the two trustees, Kolnikov and Burnham, against the wall, heads close together as they talked on the phone. From the slump in Isaac’s shoulder blades, he didn’t look in very good shape.
‘We can’t hear anything from here,’ whispered Joe. ‘Let’s get closer.’
They crept up to the door at the deep end of the pool, as close as they could get to the men who had taken up positions in the centre of the building. Raven quietly lifted the latch and opened it a crack, holding on to the bottom so it didn’t creak or bang.
‘Yes, yes, I agree,’ rumbled Kolnikov, ‘we must get out of England. Too much interest in our activities here.’
Burnham scowled. ‘We mustn’t make knee-jerk reactions to this man. He has little on us. With his informers dead—or soon to be so—what does that leave?’
Isaac hung his head. Raven could sense the waves of misery from him—he believed his boys were eliminated.
‘Good point. He’s the only witness left, and from what little he has told us, his case against us is pure supposition. If we get rid of him, then who is going to come after us?’
‘I could relocate for a while—I have businesses in the Seychelles that need my attention,’ mused Burnham.
‘And I’m due back in Moscow tomorrow in any case. So it is agreed?’ Kolnikov waited for the verbal confirmation on the phone. ‘Unanimous. Leaving him alive was never an option.’
‘You’re right, because I’d rip you apart with my bare hands given the chance.’ Isaac’s voice was low, pained, every word costing him. ‘You’ve killed two of mine. My people won’t rest until you pay. Dead or alive, I’m coming back for you to take you to hell.’
‘Good luck with that. It’ll be your ghost doing that job, I’m afraid.’ Burnham gestured to the men holding Isaac’s arms. ‘A simple drowning I think. The colonel here, on a visit to see his wards, has had too much to drink, got into a fight in the bar and then wandered into the pool. Hold him down.’
They had run out of time. Observing was no longer an option. Kieran moved first. He snapped the whip from his belt loops, jumped up and kicked the doors open, surprising everyone inside. Raven guessed he didn’t have a plan—he was doing this her way: on gut feeling. He lashed out at the man who had started for him, catching him across the face. He howled and clutched his eyes. One down. ‘I suggest you change your plans, Burnham. There’s going to be nothing simple about this.’
Kolnikov drew a gun, putting Kieran in his sights. Kieran swept his arm back, pushing Raven behind him. Joe stood resolutely at his shoulder while she spluttered a protest.
‘I hope you’ve still got that can,’ he said in a low voice. ‘I can see three attack dogs in front of me.’ Her hand groped in her jacket—still there thankfully. Kieran spoke up. ‘It wouldn’t be very clever of you to start shooting.’
‘I can think of nothing better,’ countered Kolnikov.
‘Were you thinking of making an easy getaway from the UK?’ mocked Kieran. Raven saw Joe getting ready with the phone. What were the boys planning? ‘Yeah, putting a bullet in a teenager is a great idea. Do that and all airports and borders will be closed to you and your face on all the news channels.’ Joe held up the phone and captured Burnham’s image, sending it to the team on the outside.
‘Thank God,’ murmured Isaac, a smile on his battered face. ‘I thought you three were dead.’
‘Too damn stubborn for that, I’m pleased to report, sir,’ said Joe. ‘And now everyone knows who’s here.’
Burnham pushed Kolnikov’s gun down. ‘Don’t shoot.’ He gestured to the men. ‘What are you waiting for—get them! We’ll take them with us and get rid of them later. No bodies, no story.’
Two of the three enforcers ran towards them, not having yet learnt their lesson that small packages could hold big surprises.
‘Dogs!’ warned Kieran.
Raven darted out from behind him and sprayed the can right in their eyes. Blinded by the starch, they were unprepared for Joe and Kieran’s strike—one perfectly timed kick to the stomach, one lash of the whip taking the guy’s legs out from under him. Both men ended up in the pool with a huge splash. Raven grabbed the net used to clean the pool and poked them back in each time they tried for the side. One tried to grab it, almost pulling her in. Joe took over and shoved hard, sending the guy back under. The man gave up and swam for the far side.
‘I think we have what they call a stand-off,’ said Burnham as Kieran stood in front of Raven, rippling the whip, every inch the protector. Burnham spoke into his phone. ‘Come to the pool. Bring everyone.’
‘We shoot them?’ growled Kolnikov.
Raven cringed as guns appeared in the hands of the guys who had taken a dip. They were rubbing their eyes, hardly able to see their targets, but they had every intention of firing when ordered.
Burnham scowled. ‘I fear so. Messy, but they leave us little option. You’ll have to provide me my alibi thanks to that boy’s stunt with the photo.’
‘We’ll get away before anyone works out we were here.’ Kolnikov walked up to Isaac and levelled the gun at his forehead. ‘Easy to deny as it won’t be you pulling the trigger.’
The brief hesitation was almost over as the necessary action became clear to the two trustees. ‘Exactly. And there are no witnesses if we take them out.’
That gave Raven an idea—mad, but a last throw of the dice as Isaac’s team still had not shown up. She moved to the wall, to the little red box with instructions to break glass in an emergency.
‘Hey, before you morons do that, I think I should point something obvious out to you.’
‘Careful, Raven,’ murmured Kieran, seeing the guns now following her.
‘Hush up, Kieran, I know what I’m doing. So, mister, you want to murder us without witnesses? Well, unfortunately for you, this is a school.’ She picked up metal watering can and used the spout to stab the glass. The fire alarm began ringing in the pool enclosure, and would also now be ringing on every corridor of the castle thanks to the interlinked system.
‘Stupid girl, the fire service can’t help you!’ scoffed Burnham.
‘Not the fire service.’
‘Do we shoot?’ He looked to Kolnikov, whose finger was on the trigger.
‘I’d think very carefully before doing that, because in about a minute the first of three hundred children will be gathering just out there.’ She pointed to the lawn in front of the orangery. ‘If our fastest fire practice is anything to go by, the rest will turn up within the five minutes after that. Even if you’ve killed us, we will still rather unhelpfully be here—our blood on your hands. Even you couldn’t clean the mess up quickly enough, and three hundred witnesses are far too many for you to get rid of in time to get clear.’
‘You know what,’ said Isaac, standing up straighter. ‘I think your plans to do this without witnesses have just gone up in smoke.’
The murmur of students could now be heard outside.
Kolnikov swore fluently in his n
ative tongue.
Burnham’s instinct for self-preservation clicked in. ‘Forget this—forget them.’ He spoke into his phone once more. ‘We’re going.’ His men were already heading for the exit. Kolnikov looked as if he would very much rather shoot Raven but, after of string of Russian curses, hurried after his colleague.
Isaac swayed and crumpled to his knees, only sheer grit having kept him upright until this point thanks to the beating he had taken.
Kieran rushed to his side. ‘Don’t worry, sir: I’ve told your team to pick them up. They won’t get out of the drive.’
Isaac panted. ‘I’d give my firstborn to be out of these cuffs.’
‘In that case, you can name him Kieran after me—or Raven if it’s a girl.’ Kieran produced the key he had taken earlier. ‘I think this works on all the sets they have.’ He released Isaac’s wrists.
Isaac fell against him. ‘I might just do that. You were all magnificent. Everyone OK?’
‘Yes, the other two students are fine. We left them with the police.’
‘Great. I’m gonna pass out right about now so I’ll leave the rest to you.’
‘We’ve got you, sir,’ said Joe, catching him as he slid sideways.
Raven stood by the side of the pool, feeling excess to requirements as Kieran got into the ambulance with Isaac and everyone else buzzed around, fully occupied with the crisis.
‘I’ll see you later, OK?’ Kieran said before the doors closed on him. He gave a brief smile but she could tell he was consumed with worry for his mentor. The ambulance pulled away from the pool leaving tyre tracks on the lawn.
Joe was busy debriefing a huge man in military fatigues and the police officer in charge of the operation. As Joe had predicted, Burnham and Kolnikov had not got out of the school grounds. They were now under armed guard and on their way to the nearest police station. The most immediate problem left for the police was that they had arrested all the resident teachers, leaving three hundred children of various ages unchaperoned, not to mention that some of the young people had been victims of the manor treatment and had to be assessed for the damage done to their minds. The officers were currently shepherding them back to their beds, telling them that everything would be explained in the morning.