Hostage (21 page)

‘Now look at me,’ she said.
‘It’s important we stay in eye contact during the dance … and you need to
come much closer.’

Connor stared at her, feeling slightly
awkward at being
so
close to his Principal.

‘Don’t look so nervous,’
she smiled. ‘It’s just a dance.’

To you it might be
, thought Connor,
wondering what Colonel Black would make of all this.

Miss Ashworth restarted the music and the
Latin American track once more filled the hall. Alicia instinctively found the beat and
began moving to the rhythm. Connor
attempted to follow Alicia’s
fluid steps, but quickly ended up looking like a malfunctioning puppet.

Alicia laughed good-naturedly. ‘No,
like this,’ she said above the music, gently guiding him through the sequence.
‘You have to start on the third beat of the musical bar,’ she explained,
clicking her fingers to the track. ‘One … two … now break forward with your left
foot. Good! Rock back on your right. Step back left. Now shift your weight to that foot.
Step back right. Rock forward on to your left. Step forward right. Then shift your
weight on to your right foot – and repeat. It’s that simple.’

‘Simple!’ exclaimed Connor, his
mind whirling with the multiple directions as he stared down at his clumsy feet.

‘No, look at
me
,’
encouraged Alicia. ‘Just let your body feel the music.’

Connor continued to shuffle round, willing
his mind and feet to function as one. But he couldn’t quite get the two to meet.
He stepped on Alicia’s toes and she cried out.

‘Sorry,’ he said, moving away.
‘I think I must have two left feet.’

‘No, you haven’t,’ chided
Alicia kindly. ‘You just need a bit more practice, that’s all. Get the steps
right, then everything else will follow.’

If only it was that easy
, thought
Connor, mentally repeating the moves over and over in his head.

As the other students whirled effortlessly
round the gymnasium, Miss Ashworth noticed him struggling to master the steps and came
over.

‘Stay light on your feet,’ she
instructed.

Connor was struck by her words. Dan, his
kickboxing instructor, had often drilled the same phrase into him during training in the
ring. Connor decided to switch mindset. And as soon as he began to think of the salsa
moves as a martial arts
kata
he quickly latched on to the combination and found
the rhythm.

‘That’s more like it,’
said Alicia, stepping along with him to the music’s groove.

At last they began to
really
dance
and Alicia’s face lit up with delight. ‘See, I told you. You’re
actually not that bad.’

Connor smiled at her praise and was
beginning to get into the swing of things when his eye caught movement on the stage. The
theatre drapes were twitching. As he spun round with Alicia, he tried to focus on the
gap in the curtains. There appeared to be someone peeking through … and Connor got the
distinct feeling that he and Alicia were the ones being watched.

Suddenly Alicia switched direction in the
dance. Distracted by the suspicious observer, Connor mistimed his step and his feet got
mixed up with Alicia’s. They both stumbled and went crashing to the floor, landing
entangled in each other’s arms. The whole class stopped and giggled in amusement.
Miss Ashworth switched off the music.

‘Are you two all right?’ she
asked.

‘Yes,’ wheezed Alicia,
‘but only just!’

‘I’m so sorry,’ said
Connor, quickly getting up and helping her to her feet. ‘I hope I didn’t
hurt you.’

‘No, not at all,’ she replied,
brushing herself down and
now laughing at their fall. ‘But you
should come with a health warning!’

‘Young man, you need to concentrate
more on what you’re doing,’ scolded Miss Ashworth, turning back to the CD
player. ‘Now, let’s go from the top.’

As the music struck up again, Connor
snatched a glance towards the stage. The curtains were now still. The mysterious watcher
– if there ever was one – had gone.

The first week at Montarose School flew by.
Following further advice from Charley, Connor had begun performing “dynamic”
risk assessments – changing his level of alertness depending upon the situation. In
class, he could allow himself to relax more, knowing they were in a controlled
environment, overseen by a vetted teacher. During breaks and lesson changes, when the
situation was more unpredictable, he heightened his awareness – staying in
Alicia’s vicinity and scanning for potential threats. By doing this, he could
better manage his concentration levels and wasn’t so exhausted by the end of a
day.

In the evenings, he was allowed some
downtime, since the White House was deemed a safe zone. Each night, after an hour of
fitness and martial arts training in the gym, Connor delivered status updates to
Bodyguard HQ. He called in even when there was nothing new to report, simply enjoying
the chat with Charley and the chance to truly be himself. Afterwards, he would check his
emails, dutifully replying to his mother, who reassured him that all was well with her
and Gran back in England.

By the end of the week, Connor had become
accustomed to the routine and was actually enjoying his protective role. He liked Alicia
and felt he was becoming her friend. There had been no real incidents, he’d made
no apparent mistakes and he began to wonder if the assignment was going to be easier
than he’d first thought. With all the Secret Service protection in place, so far
the greatest threat to Alicia at school was dying from boredom in a history lesson.

Having survived the Friday morning period,
Alicia and her friends headed over to the edge of the school playing field to sunbathe
away the lunch break.

‘You mean to say, you still
haven’t said yes!’ gasped Paige.

‘Ethan hasn’t asked me properly
… yet,’ replied Alicia.

Connor sat behind them on a picnic bench,
pretending to read a book. From behind his sunglasses, he kept one eye on the open
playing fields, conscious Alicia was positioned in a highly exposed area.

‘But we’re only a week away from
the prom,’ reminded Paige.

‘You should think yourself
lucky,’ said Grace. ‘No one’s asked me yet.’

‘Or me,’ admitted Kalila.

‘Boys our age are always shy to come
forward,’ said Paige, pushing herself up on her elbows. ‘Why is that,
Connor?’

Connor glanced up from his book.
‘Sorry?’ he replied, pretending not to have heard.

‘Boys are scared to ask girls out.
Why?’

Connor thought about his own experiences.
‘Probably because they think the girl will say “no”.’

‘He’s got a point,’ agreed
Grace. ‘There’s only
one
boy I’d say yes to.’

‘Who’s that?’ Paige asked
eagerly.

‘Oh come on, we all know she’s
got the hots for Darryl,’ said Alicia.

‘Is it
that
obvious?’
cried Grace, mortified by the public declaration.

‘I thought it was Jacob,’ said
Kalila.

‘That was last month,’ laughed
Alicia, standing up and dusting the grass from her skirt as Paige began to interrogate
Grace. ‘Back in a minute. I need the restroom.’

‘I’ll join you,’ said
Kalila.

Connor stayed where he was. There were
some
places he couldn’t follow Alicia and, as they were on the school
campus, he considered the increase in risk was minimal. Still, as Alicia and Kalila
strolled off together, he checked his watch and made a mental note of the time. Then he
performed another subtle surveillance sweep of the playing field and surrounding
buildings.

As the two girls entered the side entrance
of the science block, Connor noticed a man emerge from behind a tree and head towards
the glass doors. He was wearing a green uniform and a baseball cap, its peak pulled low
to shade his eyes … or possibly to hide his face.

Connor subconsciously raised his alert level
from Code Yellow to Code Orange.

‘Who’s that?’ Connor asked,
nodding in the man’s direction.

Grace looked up from her phone and squinted.
‘Umm … must be one of the groundsmen. Why?’

The man followed Alicia and Kalila through
the doors.

‘Just wondering,’ Connor
replied, alarm bells ringing inside his head.
What business did a groundsman have
within the science building?

He excused himself and headed over to the
science block. Hurrying, but not quite running, he cursed himself for leaving such
distance between himself and his Principal. When he reached the doors, he quietly
slipped inside. The corridor leading to the girls’ toilets was deserted, apart
from the suspect man who was bent over near the toilet entrance.

With caution, he approached the man from
behind. Connor wanted to get close enough to identify him, to find out whether he might
be the same person as the one behind the kitchen door.

When Connor was a few feet away, the man
looked up, startled, water dripping from his stubbled chin. His face was grimy, rough
and lined by the sun. He had a large bent nose, as if it had once been broken in a
fight, and a pair of hound-dog eyes that were ringed with dark shadows, indicating lack
of sleep.
Was this the same face?
The eyes possessed a similar unsettling
intensity. But Connor couldn’t be certain. He did, however, vaguely recognize the
man from the ground-staff roster.

‘Sorry, I know I shouldn’t be
here, but I needed a drink,’ the groundsman said in a thick accent. ‘Please
don’t report me. I’ve been digging all morning and was very
thirsty.’

Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand,
he turned off the water fountain attached to the wall and quickly made his way out of
the science block. Connor watched him go. He realized now that he’d probably
overreacted to the man’s behaviour, but told himself it was better to be safe than
sorry.

‘Hanging around the girls’
toilets?’ sneered Ethan, approaching from behind. ‘Is that what English boys
do for a hobby?’

Jimbo stood beside his friend,
sniggering.

‘Not every day,’ replied Connor.
‘Otherwise I’d always bump into you.’

Ethan scowled at the comeback.
‘I’ve been watching you,’ he declared, stabbing a finger at Connor.
‘You follow Alicia around like some faithful puppy dog. Even attending her dance
classes! What’s going on between you two?’

‘Nothing,’ said Connor, now
realizing who the mysterious watcher might have been. ‘I’m just finding my
feet, that’s all.’

‘Well, find them somewhere
else.’

He pointed to a poster on the wall – a
silhouette of a couple dancing against a glittery purple background that announced the
forthcoming Summer Prom.

‘
I’m
taking the
President’s daughter,’ he stated, puffing out his chest, ‘and I
don’t want any dork getting in the way and spoiling my chances.
Understand?’

Connor shrugged off the insult. Ethan might be
the school’s sports star, but, considering how arrogant he was, he didn’t
deserve to be Alicia’s date.

‘I said, do you understand?’
repeated Ethan, taking a step closer. ‘Or do I have to get Jimbo here to beat it
into you?’

Connor suddenly found himself boxed in on
both sides. The two lads towered over him, the situation rapidly escalating towards a
fight.

‘Listen, I don’t want any
trouble,’ said Connor, holding up his hands in peace.

‘Who said anything about
trouble,’ sneered Ethan as Jimbo closed in.

Deciding it was time for a touch of Pain
Assisted Learning, Connor targeted the middle of the boy’s chest with his
fingertips.

‘Oww!’ cried Jimbo, stopping his
advance.

Ethan glared at his friend.
‘What’s the problem? You’re an offensive guard in the football team.
Steamroller him!’

Almost half his size, Connor judged the
massive American football player would flatten him if he didn’t put in first
strike. Snaking his arm with a hefty flick, Connor one-inch-pushed Jimbo in the chest.
It was like trying to shove an elephant, but the self-defence technique was still
powerful enough to send the boy staggering backwards. Jimbo struck the wall behind and
crumpled against it, gasping for breath.

‘What on
earth
did you
do?’ exclaimed Ethan, stunned by the ease with which Connor had downed his
friend.

‘I only pushed him,’ declared
Connor innocently.

Ethan wound up to let loose a punch. Connor
dropped into a fighting guard.

‘Hey! What’s going
on?’

Ethan stopped mid-swing as Alicia and Kalila
emerged from the restroom. His scowl transformed into a beaming smile and his punching
arm wrapped round Connor in a friendly hug.

‘Just … err … explaining to my friend
here how to throw long in football as a quarterback,’ he replied.

Alicia gave them both a doubtful look.
‘What’s the matter with Jimbo?’

‘I think … he’s suffering an
asthma attack,’ replied Connor breezily.