Every Second Counts (3 page)

‘I think it’s obvious,’ she said. ‘I should join Riley’s inner circle, like he wanted me to when we last saw him.’

There was a shocked silence.

‘You mean pretend to switch sides?’ I shook my head.

‘Exactly,’ Charlie said. ‘I can get close, get evidence of what he’s planning, the next bomb or whatever.’

‘No way.’ My heart rate quickened. It was true that Riley had claimed to want to bring Charlie into his inner circle, but to me that was obviously a lie, a barefaced attempt to try
and stop her running away. Anyway, I couldn’t begin to imagine the danger Charlie would put herself in if she voluntarily turned up on Riley’s doorstep. ‘Riley’s not going
to believe you joining him now,’ I went on. ‘It’s too risky.’

‘I can make him believe it. Anyway, it’s not up to you, Nat.’ Her fierce dark eyes met mine at last. ‘It’s
my
decision.’

Nat stared at me. I could see the emotions parading across his face: he was annoyed with me for being impatient with Julius and Lennox, and angry that I wanted to put myself at
risk by going undercover with Riley.

Was that because he was scared I would get hurt? On our first night on the run we’d admitted how much we really liked each other, but since then we had barely spoken about our feelings.
There had been so many other things to deal with; life in the past few weeks had been unbelievably stressful: finding food, sleeping rough, always worried that if Riley’s English Freedom Army
soldiers didn’t find us, some random tramp would attack us in our makeshift beds.

The tension in the room grew. Nat and I were still looking at each other. And then Julius coughed. ‘Erm, why does Riley want you to join him?’

‘That’s my business,’ I snapped.

I shot Nat a look that meant I seriously wanted him to keep his mouth shut. The truth of it was that Riley had told me my dad – who I thought had died when I was a baby – was in fact
alive and a leading figure in the English Freedom Army. I was sure it was a total lie. Well, almost sure. Either way, it was not information I wanted spread about.

Nat gave me a swift nod, then turned to Julius.

‘We can talk about this later. Right now we’re kind of tired. And very hungry,’ he said. ‘Do you have any food?’

‘Of course.’ Julius led us out of the little bedroom and into a small kitchen. He bustled about fetching us bread and warming some soup while Nat and I retrieved our backpacks from
their hiding place and brought them into the house. Lennox sat at the table with us while we ate our soup and the four of us swapped all the details we knew about Riley. Julius hadn’t been
exaggerating his lack of knowledge about the other resistance members, but he told us what he could about the people in Resistance Four, Six and Eight. All of them were either wanted by the police
or else had been made scapegoats by Riley.

I could see Nat getting more and more dispirited as we talked. I was sure he had been hoping that if the resistance could operate as a fighting unit, that there might be some alternative to my
going undercover – and that he would be able to talk me out of my plan. As the light completely faded outside, Lennox disappeared again, returning half an hour later with four bags of fish
and chips. Nat and I fell on the food. After we’d eaten Julius explained that he and Lennox would have to move on the day after tomorrow, that they never stayed anywhere more than a week so
as not to attract attention, and that Nat and I would need to find our own accommodation after that point.

‘Four is just too many, people notice a larger group,’ he said nervously.

‘Plus I don’t like you,’ Lennox added rudely. His remark was directed mainly at me, though he glanced in Nat’s direction too.

I opened my mouth to tell him I hadn’t formed a great opinion of him either, but Nat laid his hand on mine.

‘That’s fine,’ he said. ‘We can sort out the details tomorrow.’

I closed my mouth as Julius got up.

‘There’s only one bedroom here,’ he said. ‘I’ll bunk in with Lennox for tonight. You two can have the living room, though, er . . . we don’t have any spare
blankets.’

‘That’s okay.’ Nat explained that we carried everything we needed in our backpacks.

An hour later we had washed and changed. I felt better than I had for days. It had been brilliant to take a shower, even though the only water in the house was freezing cold. And now we were
lying on the sofas in the living area. Tatty and lumpy, they weren’t exactly luxurious but after so many nights sleeping outside it felt good to be indoors away from the elements and on
something softer than the ground.

Nat hadn’t mentioned my plan to infiltrate Riley’s group since I’d brought up the idea earlier, but now he said softly: ‘I don’t want you to go undercover. It will
be hard enough convincing Riley you want to join him, but even harder getting proof about his plans. You know how careful and how ruthless he is.’

I lay back on the sofa. ‘I’ll tell him I need to know about my dad, you know, that I need to find out if he really is alive like Riley said,’ I whispered.

There was a pause. Nat’s eyes gleamed in the streetlight that shone in through the gap in the curtains.

‘You know he isn’t alive, don’t you, Charlie?’ he said softly. ‘Riley was lying about that.’

I turned away. Nat was probably right, but doubt still wriggled away inside me. After my mum died I’d gone to live with her sister, Karen, but that hadn’t worked out, so I’d
moved in with my dad’s brother, Uncle Brian, and his wife and my cousin, Rosa. I had tried to fit in with them but they’d never properly felt like family and I hadn’t been
surprised when they’d disowned me after I’d been conned into kidnapping Aaron. Apart from Nat, I was alone. Which made it utterly impossible to ignore the idea that my dad might be out
there somewhere. The thought of it twisted my stomach into a tight, painful knot. Not that I was going to admit that to Nat.

‘The point is that Riley will
believe
I need to know the truth,’ I whispered.

‘And then what?’

‘I’ll find some way of getting evidence about Riley’s next move,’ I said. ‘He wants me to join his inner circle, remember?’

‘He
says
he does, but it won’t be that straightforward,’ Nat insisted. ‘He won’t trust that you genuinely want to join them. And Riley’s not an easy
person to lie to.’

I said nothing, just stared up at the ceiling.

Nat yawned. ‘Look it’s late and I’m too tired to deal with you being fixated on this right now,’ he said. ‘Can we talk about it in the morning?’

‘Sure.’ I pressed my lips together. How dare Nat say I was ‘fixated’? I turned and glared at him, but he had already closed his eyes.

I watched as he fell asleep. I knew Nat hadn’t meant to upset me but I had just as much right to make a plan to expose Riley as he did. And my plan was certainly a lot better and stronger
than anything the so-called resistance had come up with so far.

I sat up, my heart thumping.

I was going to leave now.

No way was I hanging around until morning to have Nat telling me my idea was stupid, or Julius muttering nervously that I’d be killed carrying it out, or Lennox saying that he didn’t
care if I was.

I wriggled out of my sleeping bag and picked up my shoes. I didn’t need much, just my share of our money and a few basics.

It was late, but I knew from our experiences over the past few weeks that night-time offered the best cover for travel. And, anyway, once I’ve made up my mind about anything I hate
waiting. I glanced at Nat again. His breath was deep and even. I slid my phone into my pocket. I’d send him a text when I was properly on my way.

A minute later I had slipped out of the front door and closed it silently behind me. I was going to find Roman Riley and get the proof we needed to bring him down, once and for all.

I woke with a start, my eyes springing open. I blinked into the glare of the bright sunlight streaming in through the narrow gap between the curtains. Too harsh. I shut my eyes
again. In the distance I could hear the chink of mugs and plates being set down on a table, a kettle boiling. For a few moments I was back at home with Mum and Dad and Jas and Lucas – back in
a time long before I’d ever heard of the English Freedom Army, before the bomb blast that had killed Charlie’s mum and left Lucas in a coma, when we were a proper family full of banter
and backchat and all the normal work and school routines of family life.

A second later reality flooded back. Family life didn’t exist any more. I was an outlaw, unable to return home. Right now, instead of revising for my exams I was on the run, sleeping
rough, hoping to find some way of bringing down Roman Riley through contact with Julius and Lennox, the oddball pairing of Resistance Nine. I had no plan and limited resources.

But I had Charlie. At the thought of her I turned my head and, shielding my eyes from the sharp sunlight, peered across at the sofa opposite. There was no sign of her, though her sleeping bag
was lying, ruckled, on the sofa. Presumably she was in the kitchen with Julius and Lennox or, possibly, taking a shower. The water here was cold and she had only showered last night but I knew from
our four weeks together on the road that Charlie tended to prioritise washing – whatever the circumstances – in a way that reminded me forcefully of Jas. Was that a girl thing, wanting
so badly to be clean all the time? Or was it just the two of them?

I ran my fingers through my hair, smoothing it back, then scrambled out of my sleeping bag. It was a beautiful day outside – a clear blue sky. I checked the time. Nine a.m. Wow, I
hadn’t slept that late in ages. As I stumbled sleepily towards the kitchen I could hear Julius and Lennox talking in low voices. The smell of toast wafted towards me. My stomach rumbled; I
was starving.

As I walked into the kitchen, Julius turned towards me, a worried frown on his face.

‘Morning,’ he said.

‘Yeah.’ I rubbed my forehead. ‘Any chance of some toast?’

‘Help yourself,’ Lennox grunted, indicating the toaster.

I wandered over to the counter. The kitchen was pretty basic but after eating in parks and under bus shelters for much of the past month it felt luxurious to take a slice of bread and pop it
into a toaster.

‘Where’s Charlie?’ I asked, stifling a yawn.

Julius looked up. ‘Isn’t she with you?’ he said, a tense edge to his voice.

I spun around, all thoughts of toast forgotten. ‘What do you mean?’

‘She’s not in the rest of the flat.’ Julius frowned. ‘I hope she hasn’t gone outside. It’s risky to wander—’

I didn’t hear any more, I was already back in the living room, feeling in my jacket pocket for my phone. I’d switched it to silent last night. My fingers trembled as I pulled it out.
If Charlie had gone to the shops or something she would surely have left a message, wouldn’t she?

Yes
. Relief swamped me as I opened her text. And then my mouth fell open as I read what it said.

I stood by the side of the road, waiting for the next car to pass. I had decided to hitch a ride to the nearest city, Manchester, in order to save as much of my money as I
could. Despite the dust and the debris from an abandoned roadworks programme which scattered the tarmac, it felt good to be outside in the sunshine. Good, also, to be travelling light, with just a
single change of clothes, my money and a few toiletries. I was glad not to be weighed down with jumpers and a sleeping bag – and, if I was honest, glad to be free of Nat’s attempts to
protect me. I knew he only wanted me to be safe, but what I was doing now was the right move.

I was heading for Riley’s home in London. I had been there last year when Taylor, our EFA cell leader, had made Nat and me break into the house as a test of our abilities. He had told us
the place was owned by a leading League of Iron member and that our mission was to download information from his computer about the League’s next planned attack. I still burned with shame and
fury when I thought of how we’d been conned into thinking the League were behind all the bombings that Riley had in fact organised himself.

My phone rang.
Nat calling.

I rejected the call. Nat just wanted to try and talk me out of my plan to approach Riley and infiltrate his inner circle, and I didn’t want to hear it. I needed all my energy to focus on
my mission. Anyway, the less Nat knew about what I was planning, the safer he would be. After manipulating us into carrying out his terrorist activities, Riley had tried to kill Nat.

I shivered, thinking how close he had come to losing his life, how close I had come to losing him.

A moment later Nat rang again. I shook my head as I rejected this second call. I had been totally right to go off on my own. If Nat couldn’t have talked me out of going to find Riley, he
would have insisted on coming with me – and Riley would have had no hesitation, I was sure, in trying to murder him again.

My phone beeped. Now Nat had sent a text. It was brief and to the point.

This is mad, Charlie. Come back.

I switched off my mobile. There was no point talking. Now was the time for action.

As the next half-hour wore on, I went through every emotion from terror to fury and back again. How could Charlie be so stupid as to race off to Riley without at least talking
it through first?

Her text had been sent in the middle of the night, so there was no way I could catch her, even if I’d known what route she was taking to Riley’s house in London. She was probably
halfway there already. I spent at least fifteen minutes ranting at Julius, explaining what Riley had said about Charlie’s father. I knew that was breaking my promise to her, but after not
returning my calls and switching off her phone, I didn’t feel she deserved me keeping my word on that. Julius looked thoughtful as I explained everything.

‘What Charlie has been told about her father puts what she’s doing in a different light,’ he said slowly.

‘How?’

‘Well, it’s understandable she’d want to know about her dad. Riley will believe that.’