“So here’s what we’re going to do,” Dad continued. “Tariq, you’re going back to St Mark’s. There’s a chance that Jane might tell them where the school is.”
“No fucking way,” I shouted. “She’d die first.”
“They might not let her, Lee.”
“She’d never talk.”
“We can’t take that chance.” He stared me down and after a long moment, I nodded. He was right. “Tariq, you go back to the school and put them on a war footing. We’ve rehearsed it often enough, so you know what to do. But be ready to mobilise, too. We might need you.”
“No worries, boss,” said Tariq.
“Lee, you’re going with our Ranger friends here. Meet up with Jack in Nottingham see if you can persuade the Hooded Man to lend us some troops. We’ll need all the help we can get.”
“He’ll want to talk to you about our dead men, too, I reckon,” said one of them, threateningly. Dad was instantly right in his face.
“If anything happens to my boy, there will be a very bloody reckoning in Nottingham. Do I make myself completely clear?”
The Ranger tried to stare him down, but failed. He looked away. “Whatever,” he said. But he looked away first. Message received.
“And what about you?” I asked.
“I’m going to Hammersmith,” he replied, stepping back. “If there really is an army of kids in there, they don’t know an attack is coming. I can warn them and either help get them to safety or, more likely, help them fight. It’s where my experience will be most useful. We need all the allies we can get if we’re going to pull this off.”
I WAS CHECKING the saddle on the spare horse the Rangers were letting me ride when Dad took me to one side.
“What now?” I asked tersely.
He looked at me hard, as father and commander fought it out. “It’s been two years since Iraq and Salisbury. You’ve not been in a fight since. You refuse to talk to anyone about anything that happened. And now, the first time we go into combat, you shoot six people — one potential ally and five irrelevances who didn’t need killing.”
“I disagree. They really, really needed killing. But I’m sorry about earlier. I wasn’t thinking straight.”
“I know. I’m sorry too. But I’m worried about you. You’re my son and I love you but to be totally honest you scare me a little bit right now. I think your judgement is off.”
“That why you’re sending me on the diplomatic mission?”
“No, you were the logical choice. But I can’t pretend I’m not glad of that.”
“Can I have my weapon back?”
He sighed and handed me the handgun. “Just don’t shoot Robin Hood, okay?”
We both sniggered in spite of ourselves. “Now there’s a sentence I never thought I’d have to say,” he said, smiling.
We both stepped forward and embraced, awkwardly. “Good luck in London,” I said. “I’ll be at the rendezvous, whether he sends help with me or not.”
He hugged me hard then let me go and stepped back.
“Be safe,” he said.
I put my foot in the stirrup, swing myself onto the horse and trotted over to join Hood’s men.
“We ride fast and we won’t be making any concessions. So keep up or get left behind,” said their leader.
“Don’t you worry about me,” I said.
“Oi!” It was Tariq, walking towards me, waving. I pulled the reins and steered my horse across to him.
“You off, then?” he said.
“Yup. See you at the rendezvous.”
He nodded then looked up at me, his face for once entirely serious. “She’ll be fine, Lee.”
“Let me worry about her,” I replied. “You just keep the school safe. No matter what.”
“Promise. Hey, you’d better hurry up, they’re going without you.”
I turned to see the Rangers galloping away down the road. I kicked my steed hard and took off after them, riding to beg assistance from a legend.
CHAPTER NINE
“HE WEARS THIS black robe with a big hood. He never takes it off.”
“So you never saw his face?”
“No, sorry.”
“And his voice?”
“He didn’t speak. He just nodded or shook his head when they asked him questions.”
I put my hand on the arm of the little boy with the missing ear and say: “Thank you.”
He nods and scampers off.
“I told you he wouldn’t be much help,” says Caroline. We’re sitting on one of the sofas, back in the office building she calls home, watching the sun set behind the Lyric Theatre.
“And he’s the only one here who’s met Spider?”
Caroline nods. “He doesn’t leave Parliament, and he doesn’t show his face. Why are you so interested, anyway? You’ll never get near him.”
“Someone said that to me once before, but I got close enough to ensure that he’ll remember me for the rest of his life.”
Caroline regards me curiously. “So you met this guy before The Cull?”
“I think so. No, I know so. It must be him. It all fits.”
“And is he the reason you changed your name and went into hiding?”
I look up, startled. “How…?
“I heard you and Sanders talking after I was shot. You thought I was asleep. He knows you from before, doesn’t he?”
“Yes. And it’s knew, I’m afraid. He’s dead too.”
“So…”
“Yes, Spider’s the reason I went into witness protection and ended up at St Mark’s. But it’s a long story and I don’t really want to talk about it, if that’s okay.”
“Whatever. So the school’s back up and running?”
“Yeah,” I reply, grateful that she isn’t pressing the point. “Sixteen staff now, seventy-three kids. It would be more if these bastards weren’t spiriting them away.”
Caroline stares intently at her hands. I can tell she wants to ask the obvious question but isn’t sure how to.
“Yes,” I say. “All of you. We’ve got plenty of room.”
She looks up and beams. “There are thirty-four of us. Plus kids we rescued today.”
“More the merrier,” I say, smiling.
“We’ll have to go out and around,” she says, excited for the first time today. “Coz south of the river is churchland.” She looks up at me and stops short, her smile fading. “There’s a ‘but’ isn’t there?”
I nod. “Spider. He and I have unfinished business.”
“But… but that’s mad. Even if you get in to see him, he’s surrounded by a fucking army!”
“Oh, he’ll see me, all right. And as for the army. Well, one thing at a time, eh?”
I take out my sidearm and chamber a round.
“You are fucking mental, Miss. If you go and get yourself killed, who’s going to get these kids to safety? You owe them… you owe me that.”
She’s right, of course. I do.
I know the sensible thing is to get these kids back to St Mark’s, meet up with Lee, try and recruit help from Nottingham and put together a properly formulated plan of action. I know this. But John and Tariq are lying dead in that school, and Lee is missing. For all I know, I could be the only one left of our team, and I’m closer to the heart of this mystery than anyone’s yet got.
I can’t turn back now.
I shake my head. “Sorry Caroline. I’ll give you directions to the school,” I say. “If I’m not back in three days, take these kids and go.”
I lean forward and hug her tightly but she doesn’t respond, shocked at my abandonment. “I’m so glad you’re safe, sweetheart,” I say. “I can’t tell you how glad.”