Under Cover (Agent 21) (25 page)

‘Who’s “they”?’

Ricky didn’t answer.

‘What now?’ Izzy said.

‘You could go home. Your dad won’t be there.’

Izzy felt like hissing. Of all people, she thought that Ricky understood. She could never go back to that house, even if it was just her mum there. She took a step backwards, glancing left and right, preparing to run.

‘It’s up to you, of course,’ Ricky said. ‘I’m not going to make you do anything.’

‘I’m never going home again,’ Izzy said. ‘Even if I have to live with Hunter and the others—’

‘You won’t have to,’ Ricky interrupted her. He put one hand in his pocket and pulled out a brown envelope, which he handed to Izzy.

She looked inside, then gasped. It was full of banknotes.

‘How much . . .?’ she whispered.

‘Ten thousand,’ he said. ‘It’s all yours. Find somewhere safe to stay. A room, or a B and B. If you’re careful, that should be enough to live on till you turn sixteen. Then maybe you can go be a student or something, start a new life.’

She clutched the envelope hard. ‘Where did you get this from?’ she breathed.

Ricky sniffed, but for the second time he didn’t answer. ‘I’m going to go now,’ he said. ‘But if you ever get into trouble, you can find me here.’ He handed Izzy a slip of paper on which he had written the address of the apartment in Docklands.

He held out his hand and Izzy shook it. Then she flung her arms around his neck. ‘Thank you,’ she whispered. ‘For everything.’

Ricky said nothing. Once the hug unfolded he gave her a quick nod. Then he turned and walked away. Seconds later he had melted into the crowd.

Izzy Cole wondered if she would ever see him again.

An hour later, a small, lonely figure stood in the plaza outside a tall apartment block in the Docklands, looking up towards the top floor, his rucksack slung over one shoulder. The snow had started falling again, so heavily this time that all other pedestrians had taken cover inside.

Ricky opened his rucksack and pulled out the letter from his sister. As the blizzard continued to swirl around him, he unfolded the letter and read it:

The wet snow was smudging the ink on the page. Ricky folded up the letter and put it back in his rucksack. Then he looked up to the penthouse again.

A light was on. Someone was home.

Ricky hitched the rucksack over his shoulder again.

– Are you sure about this?

– I’m sure.

He crossed the plaza, walked into the foyer and called the lift.

It seemed to take an age to carry Ricky to the top floor. As the doors pinged open and he stepped out into the corridor, he saw that the door was open. He stepped towards it, took a deep breath and entered.

Felix was there. He was standing in the main room, looking out of the window across a snow-covered London, his back to Ricky.

‘I was only going to give you another couple of hours,’ Felix said, still staring out of the window.

Ricky dropped his rucksack on the floor. ‘I had a few things to sort out,’ he said.

‘Obviously.’ Felix turned round and took a step towards Ricky. He winced slightly as he put pressure on his prosthetic leg. ‘Well?’ he asked.

‘I want in,’ said Ricky. ‘Teach me everything.’

The trace of a smile crossed Felix’s lips. He turned his back on Ricky and looked back out over London.

‘Welcome on board, Agent 22,’ he said.

In a CODE RED situation, what would you do . . .?

READ
THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY
, CHRIS RYAN’S
FAMOUS, REAL-LIFE STORY OF COURAGE AND
SURVIVAL, NOW RETOLD FOR A NEW GENERATION.

‘It was a tough decision. My last friend had
disappeared . . . I checked my compass and
started walking north. Alone . . .’

UNDER COVER
AN RHCP DIGITAL EBOOK 978 1 409 02677 8

Published in Great Britain by RHCP Digital,
an imprint of Random House Children’s Publishers UK
A Penguin Random House Company

This ebook edition published 2015

Copyright © Chris Ryan, 2015
Cover artwork © Stephen Mulcahey
Photography © Jonny Ring

First Published in Great Britain

Red Fox 9781849410113 2015

The right of Chris Ryan to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

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