Every Second Counts (16 page)

‘And you’re just as bad,’ I said, turning on him. ‘Spending all your time at work so you don’t have to deal with the mess this family has become.’

Dad’s jaw dropped. I took a step back, away from both of them. ‘Okay, now listen. You have to leave.
Now.
Take Jas and go. It doesn’t matter where, but it needs to be
somewhere Riley won’t find you.’

‘Nat, please . . .’ Tears streamed down Mum’s face.

‘There’s no time to talk any more,’ I said, steeling myself. I looked from her to Dad. ‘This nonsense over Lucas ends here. Start doing your freakin’ job as parents
and look after your daughter.’

And with that I turned on my heel and walked out.

I sped along the corridor and down the stairs, all the way to the ground floor. I broke into a run as I turned on to the pavement. I hated how harsh I had been. I just hoped I’d said
enough to make Mum and Dad act. My nose and throat tingled, tears pricked at my eyes. I forced them back. My job now was to carry on finding a way to help Charlie expose Riley. It was the only way
to keep my family safe.

I pulled the phone Latimer had given me out of my pocket, determined to try and call her again. The screen swam, blurrily in front of my eyes. I wiped my face angrily. This was no time for
tears.

Charlie’s number was now out of service. I didn’t know who else to try, so I rang Julius to see if Resistance Nine had heard from her. As the phone rang, I wondered uneasily if
Riley’s men were still trying to find us.

The mobile rang a second time. And a third. But Julius didn’t answer. I didn’t want to leave a proper message, so when the call went to voicemail I just said, ‘Call me,’
and switched off.

A few moments later, as I rounded the next corner, my phone rang. An unknown number showed on the screen. Could that be Charlie? If she’d lost her own mobile, she might have had to borrow
– or even steal – another to contact me.

It was a risk, but one I was prepared to take. Glancing around, I lifted the mobile to my ear.

‘Hello?’

‘Nat?’ It was a girl. Was it
her
?

‘Charlie?’ I could hear the desperation in my own voice.

‘Nah – and charming message you left for Julius just now, by the way.’

I gasped. ‘Parveen? Are you okay?’

‘Never better.’ There was a dry chuckle on the other end of the line. ‘But you sound like crap.’

The entire day and another whole night had passed and I still hadn’t managed to get hold of a phone – or a computer – in order to warn Nat and the resistance
about Operation Neptune. If Gracie and Spider had mobiles, they must keep them well hidden. As for computers or other gadgets, the only ones I had seen were the password-protected machines in
Uchi’s locked office.

Anyway, since he’d caught me outside Uchi’s office Taylor had barely let me out of his sight. He had come up to me the very next morning and in a low, menacing voice, said:
‘Your father might have bought into your sudden conversion to our cause, but not me. And not Riley.’

I looked up into his mean green eyes. Once I had thought Taylor was a hero. Now I loathed him for betraying us. I couldn’t hide how I felt. Taylor would see through any attempt at pretence
anyway. No, my best bet was to admit my feelings towards him.

In any deception, use as much of the truth as you can.

This was one of Taylor’s own maxims – and it would surely help me now.

‘Just because I hate you, doesn’t mean I don’t believe in what Uchi is trying to achieve. I understand that sometimes people’s lives have to be sacrificed – and
I’m up for this mission we’re training for,’ I said, keeping my gaze level. ‘I just think you should have trusted me and the others, not used us. You should have cared
whether we lived or died.’

A shadow passed across Taylor’s face. For a moment he looked taken aback, then his expression hardened again.

‘I
did
care, Charlie. I care about what we’re trying to achieve. Just remember
that’s
what’s important here. Not you. Not me. Not any individual.’

‘I know that,’ I said.

Taylor drew himself up. I could see he didn’t believe me. ‘I know that,
what
?
’

I took a deep breath. One day I would get my revenge on Taylor. But now was not the time.

‘I know that,
sir
,’ I said.

Taylor kept Spider and me busy with our underwater training for the rest of the day. As ever his training was clear, focused and effective. Each time we swam we tried to extend
the length of time we could stay underwater and the number of hoops we were able to swim through. By the end of the afternoon we were both able to do the full circuit – there and back –
three times without taking a breath. And Spider himself was growing on me. I could see that his arrogant airs and graces were really just a defence mechanism, that under the surface he was actually
a bit lonely. I caught him looking at me several times and, though he made a face on each occasion, asking haughtily what I wanted, I sensed he would have liked to get to know me better, that all
he was really waiting for was a little encouragement.

It was flattering that someone so good-looking was interested, but Nat still filled my mind: Nat and me together, the way that felt – not just the touch of his fingers on my skin, but how
I felt whole when he was with me. Spider might have model-style good looks, but the way I felt about Nat went far beyond superficial stuff like cheekbones and curly hair. Still, if Spider liked me,
maybe I should use the fact to get him chatting. Perhaps I could even talk him out of the bomb plot. Spider was still young and, though Riley and his mum had clearly completely indoctrinated him,
maybe with a bit more time I’d be able to show him that blowing people up could never be justified, especially if the aim behind killing them was to help put Roman Riley in charge of the
country.

It was a different story with Uchi. There was no way he was ever going to change his mind about what the EFA were doing. And though I could see he liked the idea that he’d found his
long-lost daughter, he didn’t quite know what to do with the reality of an actual person. He’d seemed surprised when I’d asked why, if he was so delighted to have me in his life,
he was prepared to let me take on such a risky mission. ‘Because you’re an elite soldier, Charlie,’ he’d said, as if this was obvious. ‘You’re trained,
you’re smart and you’re naturally cool under pressure. It’s your destiny to be involved.’ I wasn’t sure how to take any of that, though I couldn’t deny that I
had liked hearing his praise.

Not wanting to think about Uchi – or the fact that my own father was behind Riley’s evil – I focused on our training. At least I was able to keep up with Spider now when we
swam and I clung to the slim chance that I’d be able to find some way of disabling the bomb before it went off. Or, maybe more realistically, at least an opportunity to warn the people at the
party. I was also determined to get my revenge on Taylor. Riley and Uchi might have masterminded the blast that killed Mum, but it was Taylor who had actually sent the bomb into the
marketplace.

These thoughts and emotions crowded my head throughout my second day and I slept fitfully that night, finally falling asleep just before dawn, then waking late.

I splashed some water on my face and hurried downstairs, determined today to find a way of contacting Nat, whatever it took.

But as I reached the bottom of the stairs, Gracie was bustling about, the front door was open and, from the look of the large car being loaded up outside, the entire household was on the
move.

‘Ah, good, you’re up,’ Gracie said.

‘What’s going on?’

‘Everyone’s leaving,’ she said breathlessly. ‘You and Spider. The mission is tonight.’ She disappeared into the kitchen.

Tonight?

My heart skipped a beat. So it was starting already. Now I really was running out of time. Perhaps I’d be able to sneak a go on someone’s phone while they were distracted with the
mission.

I ventured outside. Uchi and Spider were already out there, standing in a patch of bright sunlight.

‘Please get your things together, Charlie,’ Uchi said as I appeared. ‘We are heading out in fifteen minutes.’

Spider raised his eyebrows, his eyes sparkling with excitement. I went inside, packed up my few changes of clothes and the small items I’d brought with me and hurried back outside. We got
into the car straight away: Uchi and Taylor up front where the windows were darkened; Spider and me in the back.

Spider was quiet for most of the journey. I imagined he was worrying about our mission. Well, let him. I barely thought about the underwater swim that lay ahead. I was totally preoccupied with
how on earth I was going to get a warning to Nat.

After about an hour and a half, the van stopped round the back of a disused service station on a busy road. The brick wall where we parked was crumbling and stained, the windows all boarded up.
Both the back and side doors were hanging off their hinges. The side door was sprayed with graffiti and labelled
toilets.
The air was hot and humid. Even from here I could smell the stench
of rot and drains.

‘Where are we?’ I asked.

No one replied.

‘Over there! That’s got to be Dad.’ Spider pointed to a black car turning into the back of the service station.

‘Good,’ Uchi said. He hobbled towards the car, which had slowed to a stop.

I watched as Roman Riley got out.

‘Uchi.’ He threw his arms around the older man, ruffled Spider’s hair, then turned to me with a smile. ‘Charlie, how are you?’

I shrugged. I knew that I should try and make more effort to make Riley think I was under his spell, but it was hard. I suddenly remembered the moment months ago when he’d stood in front
of me, unarmed, and I’d held a gun in my hands. I hadn’t shot him. If I had, Riley would be dead now and none of this would be happening.

I still didn’t know if that had been the right choice or not. Nat had said that it was good I wasn’t capable of killing anyone. But surely Riley deserved to die. I shook myself,
unable to work it out, as Riley turned back to Uchi.

‘Come on,’ he said, pointing to the service station. ‘We can talk in there. I can give you ten minutes.’

‘Alright, Mr Important,’ Uchi grunted. ‘Just remember I knew you when you were a question without an answer.’

Riley chuckled. ‘Hurry up, old man,’ he said. ‘I’ve got a rally to get to.’

As they disappeared inside the shabby building, Martina emerged from the car. She was wearing a fitted green suit and looked as pretty and elegant as ever. She waved at me, nodded at Spider,
then went over to Taylor. The two of them bent their heads over a smartphone, discussing what they were looking at in a low mumble.

I fantasised for a second about wrenching the phone off them and using it to call Nat, then forced myself back to reality.

I wandered along the side of the service station towards the toilets. The air was still and heavy. Behind me, Martina and Taylor were deep in conversation; Spider was lounging against the side
of the car, gazing up at the clear blue sky.

No one was watching me. Maybe there would be a door through from the toilets into the station and, maybe inside, there would be a payphone. I called out to Taylor. ‘I need a pee,
sir,’ I said.

He waved his permission and I headed for the toilet door. Inside, I went straight across to the interior door which must lead through to the service station on the other side.

It was locked. I was just about to try to prise the catch open, when I heard Riley and Uchi talking just metres away on the other side.

I froze, then eased myself closer to the door.

‘In the car, all on schedule.’ That was Riley.

Uchi said something I couldn’t make out. I pressed my ear against the door, its wood warm on my skin, straining to hear.

‘That’s not realistic, Uchi.’ Riley sighed. ‘Not in that time-frame, but Charlie will be fine. Just like Spider. And the casualties will be extreme.’

My stomach screwed into a tight knot.
Extreme?
What kind of bomb were we planting?

Uchi said something I couldn’t catch. And then the door to outside opened. Taylor appeared behind me.

‘I thought you were using the bathroom?’ He raised his eyebrows.

‘Keep your hair on,
sir
.’ I followed him back to the car, still feeling shaken. Up until this point, I’d only thought in terms of trying to protect the people at the
party – but suppose the bomb Spider and I were carrying was more powerful than the one that had exploded at the market. Even the four deaths inflicted there were four too many, of course, but
what if London itself was the target?

How many people was Riley planning to kill this time?

I stopped in my tracks. Above me, the sun burned high in the sky. Around me, traffic hummed and late commuters hurried past to the tube station. My phone, pressed to my ear,
felt hot against my skin.

‘Parveen?’ Her voice had shocked the tears right out of my eyes. ‘Where are you? Are you alright?’

‘Never better,’ she said breezily. ‘If you don’t count being pursued by Roman Riley, just about getting away with my life, and spending the past three weeks lying low in
the middle of nowhere with no access to the internet.’

‘Riley came after you?’ I asked, my head spinning. ‘How did he know where you were?’

‘It was a mess,’ Parveen said crisply. ‘I was with the guy from Resistance Two. His girlfriend was killed in one of Riley’s bombs – an early bomb, before the one
that left your brother in a coma. The guy from Two has been working against Riley for nearly a year. Anyway, you know how the League of Iron said
they
did the House of Commons bombing but
only ’cause Riley made them?’

‘Yes,’ I said. ‘What’s that got—?’

‘Listen. I’m telling you. The guy from Two thought he knew where the League of Iron leader – you know, Saxon66 – was hiding out. The resistance had heard Saxon wanted to
join us, so they went to make contact and I got caught up in—’