Code Red Lipstick (18 page)

Jessica reached out and caught her mum's necklace. She held it tightly in her fist. She wished she'd grabbed the flamethrower or compact off Nathan and used them on him when she had a chance. Only he could have known how important the pendant was to her. Her mum wore it in the photo he kept in his wallet. He kept trophies too, just like Allegra.

“It's tragic when one loses their mother so young,” Allegra said suddenly. “We have more in common than you think.”

“I really don't think so,” Jessica spat back. “You're certifiable. I'm not.”

Allegra shook her head. “I lost my mother when I was four, just like you, and things were never the same again. My stepmother never understood me. She never wanted me to model. She never wanted me.”

Her eyes misted up as the guards rejoined her. She ignored Lyndon, who impatiently checked his watch.

“Think of your mother now,” Jessica said urgently. “She wouldn't want you to do any of this.”

“I tried to tell the voices but they wouldn't listen.” Allegra started to sob. “They're too strong.”

“What voices?”

“The voices in my head.”

Jessica walked towards her. Allegra had lost her mind, but Jessica had found a chink in her madness. If she could get her to talk more about her mum, she might have a chance of getting through to her.

“The voices are talking to me again,” Allegra said, a hint of a smile hovering on her glossy, scarlet lips.

“What do they say? Are they telling you to let us go?”

“No. They're saying they've had enough of your delaying tactics.”

Allegra hit a button on the wall and the door slid shut, sealing them into the room.

“Let us out!” Jessica screamed, banging on the glass. “Please!”

“It's no good,” her dad said weakly. He pushed himself up into a sitting position. “I'm so sorry you got caught up in all this. It's my fault.”

“No, it isn't. We can't give up, Dad. We have to think of something.”

“You've got two minutes.” Allegra appeared at the window, her voice taunting them over the intercom.

Lyndon's voice rang out. “For God's sake, Allegra, stop messing with them. They're trapped and we've got eight minutes until the whole building blows. We have to get out right now!”

Allegra put her hand on the glass and sighed.

“It genuinely pains me to say goodbye. I'd wanted to see the fear in your eyes, the look of horror on your deformed faces as you prayed for death to come quickly. I'll leave this for you both as a reminder of me.”

She propped up a digital timer on the ledge outside the room. It was counting down – one minute, thirty seconds.

“No!”

Jessica banged on the glass as Lyndon threw Sam over his shoulder and steered Allegra out of the room. The guards avoided making eye contact with her as they followed.

“Come back! Help us!”

She looked frantically about. The weak points had to be the glass partition and the doors going in and out of the clean room. She clawed desperately at one door, then the next, but it was no good. They were sealed tightly inside. If only Nathan hadn't tipped off Allegra about her laser ring. She could have used it to cut their way out. She looked up at the vents. Within seconds, they'd be blasted with Teenosity.

“Help me block the vents, Dad,” she said. “I need a leg up.”

“We don't have time to block them all. Here, use this to cover your mouth and nose.”

He tore strips off his shirt and handed them to her. She tied them around her face, knowing it was pointless. The nanoparticles would easily pass through the fabric. She bent over to help her dad tie his strip. Something sharp stabbed her in the stomach. She winced, feeling through her sweater. Her fingers touched something small and hard. It was her diamond belly-button stud. She'd forgotten she was wearing it. More importantly, Starfish had forgotten to tell Allegra she still had it.

“One minute and twenty seconds.”

Whipping off the stud, she rotated it until she heard a click. She drew on the glass, all the way around the frame, and waited. Nothing happened. It was supposed to disintegrate on impact, wasn't it? What had Nathan said? If only she'd paid more attention.

Sixty seconds. Fifty-nine, fifty-eight, fifty-seven, fifty-six, fifty-five.

Work, please work. She was about to try again when her dad caught her wrist and pulled her back sharply.

“Wait,” he said.

There was a loud crack and a faint line appeared across the glass.

“Is that all it does?” She couldn't believe it. She'd failed. It was over.

Thirty seconds.

The vents hissed ominously overhead.

There was a terrific bang. The glass exploded and shattered outwards. She grabbed her dad's hand and pulled him after her. He summoned up his last shred of strength to hurl himself through the gap as the vents opened and spluttered. She dragged him further away, terrified that nanoparticles would still blast out any second.

“Don't worry,” he said. “The room's depressurized so the vents won't work now, but we've got a bigger problem. The building's going to blow. We've probably got about six minutes if Lyndon's countdown was accurate. You have to get out of here now. You have to leave me. I'll hold you up.”

“I'm not going without you. You can do this, Dad, I know you can. We're both going to get out of here.”

She hauled him to his feet, her knees almost crumpling under his weight. She threw his arm over her good shoulder and pulled him to the door, glass crunching beneath her feet. Something green shone between the shards. She propped her dad up against the wall and reached down to grab her emerald ring. Allegra had left it on the counter and the blast must have knocked it off. Jessica slipped it on her finger. She might need it.

She pushed her dad through the door and they stumbled out into the main corridor. Minutes later the first explosion rocked the lab. She steadied herself against the wall, her ears ringing. Her dad's legs went from under him and he sank to the floor. They both coughed violently as they were engulfed in a cloud of dust.

“I can't do it,” he said. “Leave me, Jessica. I'm begging you. Get out.”

His voice sounded tinny and a long way away. Her eardrums must have ruptured.

“No!”

She looked up the corridor. Sam was sprawled face down. The guards must have messed up and detonated the explosives early. Lyndon and Allegra hadn't had time to get him out before the building exploded, so they'd abandoned him. They'd probably figured they didn't need him as long as they still had the canister. That was still worth fifty million pounds. Now Jessica and her dad
had even less chance to get out alive, but she couldn't give up. She put her arms beneath her dad's armpits and heaved, dragging him a few paces as another explosion hit. A jet of flame shot out of the lab. Acrid smoke billowed down the corridor, scorching her lungs and stinging her eyes. She was thrown to the floor, hitting her head. Her dad landed nearby. She could taste something hot and metallic in her mouth. She touched her lip. It was wet with blood. The floor rocked. She couldn't get up again, let alone move her dad
and
Sam.

Suddenly, she was pulled to her feet. She stared into a familiar face.

“Starfish!” She spat the word out like venom, punching Nathan square in the jaw.

“What?” He looked bewildered.

“You came back for Sam. It's the only way you could have known we were here.”

“You're wrong!” Nathan shouted. “Your friend Becky raised the alarm at MI6 HQ in London.”

“You're lying! You sent me here to die. You wanted to get rid of me and Dad. Mum was expendable to you too. You betrayed us all.”

He grabbed her arm roughly. “I don't have time for your conspiracy theories. We have to get out of here now before we all die.”

He pulled her down the corridor, towards her dad, as three armed men wearing breathing apparatuses appeared. One lifted up Sam and another hoisted her dad over his shoulders. She tried to break away as Nathan dragged her towards them.

“Let go of me! I hate you! You tried to kill me.”

“Come with us, you idiot,” he spat back, “or you'll get us all killed.”

The next explosion flung them all to the floor and more debris showered over them. Flames fanned down from the ceiling. She put her sleeve in front of her mouth. It felt as though the oxygen was being sucked out of her lungs. She couldn't breathe. The flames were scorching her clothes and hair.

“We're almost there,” Nathan said, panting. He pulled her up again. “Down here!”

They ran down the corridor and turned right. Now they were in the lobby. The men carrying Sam and her dad were the first to escape through the shattered doors, and Jessica and Nathan followed. The next explosion was even more powerful than all the others. Windows blew from the building and flames spurted out.

“Run!” one of the men shouted.

They dived for cover as shards of glass rained down. Jessica looked up and saw a large piece of burning debris hurtling towards them. She screamed. She felt Nathan's hand on her back. He shoved her. She hit the ground and rolled away in time to see him stumble. He was struck hard and fell, flames licking over his body. Firefighters sprang forward and dragged him to safety. They smothered him in foam before paramedics raced up and started pumping his chest and doing mouth-to-mouth.

She watched in horror. It should have been her. The debris had missed her by a fraction of an inch. He'd saved her life. He must have misjudged it as he pushed her towards the debris. In a split second she'd escaped injury while he was seriously hurt. She reeled backwards as firefighters aimed jets of water at the flames.

She spotted her dad and Sam being stretchered on to nearby ambulances wearing oxygen masks, and staggered towards them. Margaret Becker stood nearby, talking to a group of paramedics. She wore a bright red patterned Liberty scarf that made her face look pale and strained. She gave a curt nod in Jessica's direction and turned away to take a call on her mobile.

“Dad!” She jumped into the ambulance and placed her head on his chest.

He took off his oxygen mask. “Are you OK, jellybean?”

She couldn't stop shaking. “Nathan Hall just tried to kill me.”

Her dad attempted to speak but was gripped by a violent coughing fit. A paramedic replaced the mask on his face and checked his pulse. His breathing became more regular.

“I'm fine, Dad. It's you I'm worried about.”

She looked over her shoulder as Margaret climbed aboard.

“Thank God you're safe, Jack,” she said. “You too, Jessica. I saw what happened back there. You were lucky to survive Nathan's attempt on your life.”

Her dad mumbled as he tried to remove the mask again. “I have to—”

A paramedic batted his hand away.

“Your oxygen levels are dangerously low,” the man said. “Stop wasting your energy by talking. We need to get you to hospital.”

“Don't worry, Dad. We can speak later when you're up to it.” Jessica held his hand. She glanced up at Margaret. “You need to stop Allegra Knight. She's launching a cream that's going to maim thousands of teenagers.”

“Where is she now?” Margaret demanded.

“There's a press event at the top of the Eiffel Tower at nine a.m. She's doing a live television broadcast to launch Teenosity. I'm supposed to be there.”

“Well, we don't want to disappoint her, do we? Are you coming?”

Jessica was torn. She wanted to be with her dad but she had to help stop Allegra.

“We need to leave now,” Margaret said. “I can't wait.” She climbed out.

Jessica looked down at her dad. He squeezed her hand.

“Are you sure?” she asked.

He nodded.

She planted a quick kiss on his forehead and ran after Margaret. As she caught up, she could hear Margaret barking orders into her mobile, arranging for every bottle of Teenosity to be tracked down across Europe and confiscated. Margaret climbed into a black Merc and flung open the passenger door for Jessica. She stuck a siren on the top of the car, which blared loudly.

“Buckle up,” she said, reversing at speed.

Margaret nipped in and out of streets, avoiding traffic and hammering on her horn when motorists ignored her siren. Jessica glanced at the clock on the dashboard. They only had fifteen minutes to stop the launch.

“We're going to make it,” Margaret said. “I've sent advance teams already.”

Jessica clung on to the door handle as they screeched around a sharp corner. As they approached the Eiffel Tower, she spotted police cordons sealing off the area. A handful of tourists stood behind them, watching the flurry of activity with curiosity. The Merc screeched to a halt.

“Ready?” Margaret said.

She nodded. They jumped out and sprinted to the lifts at the base of the structure, which was guarded by eight gendarmes armed with machine guns. Another six armed officers followed them into the lift. She pressed herself against the side as they soared to the top. She closed her eyes and tried to concentrate on stopping Allegra instead of thinking about how high up they were. She couldn't let her fear of heights paralyse her now.

The lift doors opened with two minutes to spare. They piled out into a throng of photographers and journalists. Allegra stood at a microphone, next to a huge plasma screen at the front. She was immaculate as usual in a blue silk Diane von Furstenberg wrap dress and a long string of pearls. Her trademark sunglasses were firmly in place but her red lipstick was smeared.

“Thank you for joining me on such an important day for the beauty industry,” she said. “Today marks the turning point in the development of anti-ageing creams. I give you Teenosity!”

Sleek white bottles of face cream appeared on the plasma screen next to her as the crowd clapped politely.

“Never again will teenagers have to worry about ageing thanks to a breakthrough in nanotechnology. I'm here to tell you today that I, the world-famous Allegra Knight, have found a cure for ageing. Teenosity stops the deterioration of skin cells in its tracks.”

The journalists gasped. A few cheered and clapped.

“My face cream provides hope for the next generation, and I can think of no one better to represent Teenosity than the industry's hottest new model, Jessica Cole,” Allegra said.

Jessica's photograph flashed up, showing her soaring gracefully through the air in her sparkling Marc Jacobs gown. It was the shot from the warehouse before the attempt on her life.

“Unfortunately Jessica can't join us today due to her other modelling commitments, but I know she shares my excitement about Teenosity,” Allegra said. “This event is being screened in thousands of beauty and clothes stores across Europe. On my word, they will begin selling Teenosity for the first time ever.”