Authors: Peter Jay Black
‘Yes.’
‘And that’s when you found her?’
‘A couple of weeks later.’
‘
Weeks?
’ Jack said, surprised. ‘How did she survive?’
‘Begging. She’s a good pickpocket too.’
Jack pointed at the laptop. ‘So, what’s the missing kids site for?’
‘I was kinda thinking that Wren’s real dad might have heard what’s happened to her, maybe even tried to track down his lost daughter.’
Jack cocked an eyebrow at her. ‘That’s a long shot.’
Charlie glanced at the screen. ‘I know.’
‘He might be dead too.’
‘Maybe. Anyway, if he’s not looking for her, then social services will be. It’s a place to start.’ She spun to face the laptop and continued to scroll down the screen. After a few minutes she said, ‘Got it.’
Jack leant over to see the display clearly. In the middle of the screen was Wren’s real name:
Jennifer Jenkins
.
Charlie was right. Social services
were
looking for Wren. ‘Now what?’ he said.
‘I need to see if I can get a lead on where her dad is. Put out the word. See if anyone’s tried to find her. Get a name. An address. Anything.’ Charlie looked at the screen, then back to Jack. ‘Don’t tell her.’
Jack held up his hands. ‘I won’t say a thing.’
‘Hey, guys.’
Charlie slammed the laptop shut and spun round.
Slink stood in the doorway and he looked excited.
‘What’s up?’ Jack said.
‘Obi’s got something.’
• • •
Back in the main room, Jack and Charlie grabbed slices of cold pizza and gathered around Obi. He had the same CCTV image on the screen as before, but now there was movement, a lot of movement.
Several trucks and vans had backed into the alleyway and it was a hive of activity. The roller door was up and twenty or so men bustled about carrying boxes.
A forklift was unloading crates from the side of a truck.
Whatever those men were doing, Jack’s initial hunch had been correct. It was big.
‘What is all that stuff?’ Charlie said.
Jack said, ‘Prepping for World War Three?’
Slink’s eyes lit up. ‘You think it’s guns?’
‘Whatever they’ve got,’ Jack said, ‘I don’t think it’s office supplies.’ His attention rested on the corner of the image as a black SUV with tinted windows pulled up to the kerb at the end of the alleyway.
Two men and a woman stepped from the car. They were dressed in black suits and wore sunglasses. This was England – people hardly ever needed to wear sunglasses, especially at night.
‘Oh, no,’ Jack said, his stomach sinking.
Charlie looked at him. ‘What?’
‘Game over.’ He walked to the living area and flopped on to one of the sofas, defeated.
Charlie sat opposite. ‘What’s over?’
He waved a dismissive hand at the screen behind him. ‘They’re government agents.’
Slink laughed. ‘Only in films. They don’t dress like that in real life.’
‘Yes they do.’
‘That’s ridiculous.’
‘I’m telling you, they
are
,’ Jack said. ‘You know why they’re wearing sunglasses?’
Obi said, ‘Because they’re vampires.’
Jack pinched the bridge of his nose. ‘No. It’s because CCTV face recognition software doesn’t work if you’re wearing sunglasses. It recognises facial patterns. Sunglasses screw that up.’
Slink said, ‘Why would they care about being recognised?’
‘So they can move about unseen. Anyway, the software isn’t exclusive to the government. Anyone could be using it. Even bad guys use it to look out for agents or enemies.’
‘Why does it matter if these guys are agents?’ Obi said. ‘We can still –’
‘Forget it,’ Jack said. ‘No way we’re having anything to do with the government.’ Besides, he thought, none of them believed that Proteus was real anyway. Well, no one except Obi.
The game had changed. Whatever was in those crates and boxes, it wasn’t bad guys that had it. It was worse – the government.
Jack was just about to suggest they give up and think of another target when Obi called them over again.
The vans and trucks were still in the alleyway but all the people had gone.
‘Where are they?’ Charlie said.
Obi pointed at the roller door. Inside the building, shadows moved. The CCTV camera was at the wrong angle to see what was going on.
Charlie turned to Jack. ‘You can’t tell me you’re not a little bit curious?’
Jack shook his head.
‘Jack,’ Slink said in a tentative voice, ‘let me go see.’
‘No way.’
‘I’ll be careful.’
‘Not a chance.’
‘I’ve got an idea.’ Charlie hurried off down the corridor.
A few minutes later, she returned wearing her hoodie and black leather jacket. She had something strapped to her shoulder and was clipping a battery pack to her belt.
‘What’s that?’ Wren said.
‘A camera.’ Charlie called to Obi, ‘SIM seven.’ She looked at Jack. ‘I’ll be quick. In. Out. Gone.’
‘You’re not going.’
Charlie ignored him. ‘Obi?’
Obi typed a few commands and the main display sprang to life. It showed a view of the bunker from Charlie’s shoulder cam.
Jack grabbed her arm. ‘You’re
not
going.’
‘Jack,’ Charlie said in a strong tone, ‘if you have a better suggestion for a target . . .’ Her voice trailed off.
Jack hesitated, then let go. ‘Fine. Whatever.’ If she wanted to see, there was nothing he could do about it. He didn’t own her. They were a team. He sighed. ‘Just be careful, OK?’
Charlie winked. ‘Always.’ She looked at Obi. ‘Ready?’ Obi gave her a thumbs-up and Charlie ran to the door. It hissed open and she stepped through.
The rest of them watched the main display. It showed the image of Charlie’s shoulder camera as she sprinted along the tunnels, the beam of her torch bouncing off the walls.
Jack had a bad feeling about this.
• • •
Twenty minutes later, Charlie was climbing the metal ladder that led into the park. She slowly lifted the manhole cover and peered out. It was dark and deserted, so she slid on to the grass.
Another glance around the park and then she jogged along the main path to the entrance. She ran across the road and kept close to the buildings. A few blocks up, she slowed her pace, keeping her back to the wall, staying in the shadows.
They could hear her fast breaths coming through the speakers.
After a minute or so, Charlie peered around the corner into the alleyway. It was still filled with various vans and trucks, but there was no sign of anyone.
She hurried into the alley, keeping low and close to the vehicles.
Charlie appeared in the black-and-white CCTV image on Obi’s screen.
‘Can the government agents see Charlie on their monitors too?’ Jack asked Obi.
Obi shook his head. ‘They’re watching a recording from earlier. She’s safe.’
Charlie stopped behind a van to catch her breath.
Jack picked up the microphone. ‘Charlie?’
‘Yeah?’
‘Be careful.’ That bad feeling wouldn’t go away.
There was a short pause. ‘It’s fine,’ she said. ‘They must be inside.’ She peered around the edge of the van. Ahead was the roller door. Light spilled across the tarmac and shadows moved. ‘I still can’t see inside,’ Charlie whispered. ‘I’m gonna have to get closer.’
‘Charlie,’ Jack warned. Suddenly, the CCTV of the alleyway went dark and the monitor displayed static. ‘Charlie?’
‘What?’
‘Get out of there, they’re on to you.’
Charlie’s camera view moved from side to side. ‘There’s no one here,’ she whispered.
‘I’m telling you,’ Jack said urgently. ‘Get out.’
Charlie let out an annoyed breath. ‘Fine.’ Keeping low, she edged around the van, and froze. Walking towards her was the female agent. Charlie spun round and went to make a break for it but another agent had stepped behind her. He looked gigantic from Charlie’s point of view – over six foot five and built like a tank. Charlie tried to slip past his hulking frame but the agent grabbed hold of her. Charlie struggled in the man’s arms.
A third agent stood in front of them and peered over the top of his sunglasses with cold eyes. He frowned at the camera, then his hand reached out and tore it from Charlie’s shoulder.
The screen went blank.
Jack stared at the display and cursed his complacency. It was his fault. He should’ve stopped Charlie from going. She was only there to have a look and wasn’t supposed to be doing anything too risky.
He broke his gaze from the display in time to see Slink snatch his coat from the back of a chair and march to the door. Jack hurried after him and grabbed his arm. ‘What are you doing?’
‘What do you think I’m doing?’ Slink tried to break free but Jack wouldn’t let go. ‘Get off me.’
‘We have to think this through.’
‘Think what?’ Slink said, his face reddening. ‘We don’t have time for you to plan this out, Jack. Who knows what they’re doing to her.’
‘They won’t do anything.’
Slink frowned. ‘Why not?’
‘If I let go of you, will you let me explain?’
Slink continued to stare for a moment, then relaxed. ‘You’ve got five minutes, then I’m going after her.’
Jack released him and turned around. Wren and Obi were watching and they both looked pale.
Jack began to pace. ‘A few years ago, Charlie and I made a pact,’ he said. ‘We promised each other that if either one of us got caught doing this kind of stuff, we’d grass the other one up.’
Slink frowned. ‘How does that make any sense?’
‘It’s a way to spread the blame,’ Obi said.
Jack nodded. ‘Exactly.’
‘I don’t get it,’ Wren said.
‘Charlie’s been caught red-handed, right? They’ve seen the shoulder camera. They’ll know she’s not acting alone. She’ll tell them about me. Say we were trying to break in together.’
‘Do you think she’ll say anything about Proteus?’ Obi asked.
‘That’d make her seem stupid,’ Slink muttered.
Obi shot him a nasty look.
Jack continued to pace, trying to put himself in Charlie’s shoes. ‘She’ll come up with some other reason why we were looking at the place. Perhaps, to see if there was anything we could nick.’
Slink huffed. ‘We’re wasting time, Jack.’
Jack held up a hand and followed his thoughts. ‘She’ll tell them she wasn’t working alone. That means they’ll be waiting, expecting me to come rescue her.’
‘And they don’t know about the rest of us,’ Wren said.
Jack stopped pacing. He had to hand it to her – she was bright. He smiled. ‘Which means we have the edge.’
Slink looked at Obi and Wren, and huffed again. ‘Some edge.’
‘We can’t just burst in,’ Jack said. ‘We need a plan. Do you still have those drawings from the last mission?’
Slink walked to a filing cabinet in the games area, and opened the lower drawer. He rummaged inside and pulled out one of his sketchpads.
At the dining table, he flicked through the pages until he found the drawings of the buildings he’d made a couple of months back.
Jack began to study them.
‘Not cool, guys.’ Obi pointed at several of the darkened monitors. ‘They’ve blacked out the surrounding area now.
All
of the CCTV cameras are down.’
‘Recon?’ Slink asked Jack.
Jack nodded. They were out of time. Charlie needed them
now
.
Slink jumped to his feet and buttoned his jacket. ‘Let’s do this.’
• • •
When they arrived at the target building, Jack stopped short and gestured to the building next door. He and Slink hurried over to it. The ground floor had large glass doors and they peered inside. A guard sat behind the reception desk with his feet up on the work surface, his head bowed, his eyes closed.
Jack pulled back and nodded at the lock.
Slink slid the wallet of picks from his jacket pocket and set to work. He used one to rake back and forth and within a few seconds he’d turned the tension wrench and the lock clicked.
‘You’re getting better at that,’ Jack said.
Grinning, Slink opened the door and they sneaked through.
They tiptoed across the foyer, heading for the stairs, all the while keeping an eye on the snoring guard.
They were halfway to the door when the guard groaned. Jack and Slink froze, mid-stride, like a pair of comical statues. The guard shuffled in his chair, let out a huge fart and resumed snoring.