Olivia and the Great Escape (17 page)

Chapter Thirty-Nine

It was very early in the morning before school. The wind was vicious. Olivia and Tom were down at the river, watching Jack. The Great Marvello was crouched on the wire, gazing moodily into the dark water below.

“He won’t be broken,” said Pablo. “I’ve asked him again and again if he wants to call it a day, but he refuses to give up.”

“You don’t think he should, do you?” asked Olivia, sharply.

“Of course not,” said Pablo. “But I want to give him the choice. I don’t want him to feel that he has to go on when there’s no…” Pablo tailed off miserably.

“No point,” said Olivia, furiously.

“I didn’t mean that, Livy,” said Pablo. “But
the situation is pretty hopeless.” He waved a hand around. “Half the team has quit. There’s very little support. People just come and stand on the bridge and shout abuse. It must be awful for Jack to deal with it hour after hour, day after day. I worry about what it’s doing to him.”

“Any news from Viktor’s camp?” asked Tom.

“Only that Viktor is on his last legs. Still, he’s only got to last out another couple of days and he’ll have won. Even if Jack stays up there to the end, no one believes he hasn’t cheated.”

“It’s so unfair!” said Olivia, fiercely.

“You haven’t managed to find anything out?” asked Pablo.

Olivia shook her head. “But we’ve not given up. We won’t. Not ever.”

Tom and Pablo glanced at each other. They knew Olivia would never rest until she had cleared Jack’s name.

Alex was up on the roof of the Swan, talking on his phone.

“Please, Dad, don’t make me do this. I want out. I only said yes in the first place because I wanted to get my own back on Olivia Marvell,
and I thought it would help you get a job on that American tour that Ethan Rees is organising. I never realised I’d be involved in wrecking a man’s entire reputation. I feel like a complete rat.”

“Look, Alex,” wheedled his dad, “this is my one big chance. Don’t spoil it for me. Or your mum. You know how much it would mean to her.”

Alex’s heart contracted at the mention of his mum, so patient and uncomplaining despite the constant pain she was in.

“But things have changed, Dad. I feel differently now. I don’t bear Olivia Marvell any ill will. In fact, I rather admire her dad for sticking it out in the face of so much adversity. And I certainly don’t want to compromise Georgia in any way.”

“It’s a bit too late to get a conscience, Alex. What’s done is done.” His dad sighed. “Alex. Please. All I need is one more bit of info to put Ethan Rees forever in my debt and I’ll be a dead cert on his next US tour. Think of your mum.”

It was lunchtime, and Olivia, Aeysha and Tom were in the dining hall. Georgia was nowhere to
be seen. Aeysha looked around the room. Alex was missing, too. She guessed that they were both off somewhere together.

Tom was watching Olivia picking at her food. She’d hardly eaten a thing. “Liv, you’ve done everything you could to try to prove your dad’s innocence,” he said, quietly.

“I’ve done my best but my best hasn’t been good enough,” said Olivia, wanly. “I’ve failed him.”

“You’re not to blame,” said Aeysha. “Don’t beat yourself up about it.”

“That’s exactly what I said to Eel yesterday,” said Olivia. “She got it into her head that she was to blame for that
Comet
piece about Jack’s health that came out right at the start of the stunt. She was really letting it eat her up.”

“Why’d she think that?” asked Aeysha.

Olivia gave a mirthless little laugh. “Apparently she told Alex Parks about Dad not being in great shape. Even if she did, that leak could have come from anywhere, and she’s had nothing to do with him since. None of us have really had any contact with…” She broke off as she saw Aeysha and Tom staring at her in horror.

“What is it?” asked Olivia, urgently.

Her friends were looking at her as if the ceiling had just fallen in.

“Did you know?” said Aeysha, looking questioningly at Tom.

He nodded, embarrassed. “I just didn’t think it was my business.”

“What?” demanded Olivia. “What are you both talking about.”

“Georgia,” whispered Aeysha. “Oh poor, poor Georgia.”

Chapter Forty

“I’ve spoken to Pablo, and he’s game, so are we agreed?” asked Olivia. Tom and Aeysha nodded.

“But I feel rubbish about doing it,” said Tom.

“I know,” said Olivia. “It’s a horrible thing to do to a friend, but I can’t see any other way. Can you?” They shook their heads. “We haven’t got enough evidence to confront him, and it will be even worse for our future friendship with Georgia if we go round making accusations and it turns out that we’re completely wrong. Georgie would never forgive us.”

“I’m not sure she’s going to forgive us anyway,” said Aeysha, quietly. “I want it to be true for Jack’s sake because it will be one step
closer to clearing his name. But even though I don’t much like Alex Parks, the other part of me wants it all to be a horrible coincidence. I thought that he was using Georgia to get his own back on you, Olivia, but to think he was going out with her to pump her for information is creepy.”

“But if that’s the case and you were Georgia, wouldn’t you want to know?” asked Olivia.

“Yes,” said Aeysha, seriously, and tears flooded her eyes. “I would, but it wouldn’t make it hurt any less.”

“Of course there could be another possibility, an even worse one,” said Tom, but he looked really embarrassed. “What if Alex isn’t tricking her into giving him information? What if Georgia’s colluding with him?”

The others looked at him, horrified.

“I didn’t say I thought that was the case,” said Tom hastily, seeing their faces. “I’m just saying it is a possibility.”

“No,” said Olivia, fiercely. “Georgia might blurt things out sometimes without thinking, but I’m not going to believe that she’s in league with Alex any more than I’m prepared to believe that my dad is a cheat.”

The others nodded.

“Well,” said Aeysha. “I think Olivia’s plan is a good one. At least this way Georgie will see Alex Parks for what he really is, if it does turn out that he’s the source of the leaks.”

“Yes,” said Olivia. “But she might not thank us for opening her eyes.”

It was lunchtime the following day. Olivia and Tom had just sat down with their trays when they saw Georgia in the food queue.

“Over here,” waved Olivia, with a smile. Georgia came over and plonked herself down, Aeysha following not far behind. Olivia saw Georgia glance around the hall and take in the table where Alex was sitting talking to some Year Ten boys. He looked up as she looked his way, and for the briefest of moments it seemed to Olivia as if their eyes locked.

“How are things with Jack? Any better?” asked Georgia, chattily, as she put tomato ketchup on her fish fingers.

Olivia glanced at Aeysha. “Not good,” replied Olivia.

“Oh Livy, I’m so sorry,” said Georgia, putting her hand over Olivia’s. “I just wish we’d
been able to prove that he’s the victim of a dirty tricks campaign by Viktor.” She shook her head as if she couldn’t believe that anybody could behave so appallingly.

“Me, too,” said Olivia. She took a deep breath. It was now or never. “Actually, Georgie, Jack’s in quite bad shape. Pablo’s really worried about him. He’s arranged for a doctor to come down and see him at five o’clock this evening. Jack doesn’t know. We’re all going down to be there. I think he’s going to need all the support he can get because Pablo is certain that the doctor will call a halt on medical grounds. I want to be there when it’s all over.”

“I’ll come,” said Georgia. “I was supposed to meet someone, but I want to be there to show my support when Jack comes off the wire for the very last time.”

“Thanks, Georgia,” said Olivia. “That’s really nice of you.”

She felt like a complete rat. She just hoped that Georgia would be able to find it in her heart to forgive her.

“Hi, babe.”

“Alex, it’s Georgia.”

“I know,” Alex laughed. “Your name comes up on my screen. I don’t go round calling everyone who rings me ‘babe’.”

“Sorry!” said Georgia. “How silly.”

“It’s not silly, it’s sweet.”

“Alex, I can’t meet you at five. Sorry it’s such late notice but I haven’t had a chance to call before.”

“Oh. That’s a shame.”

Georgia could hear the disappointment in his voice. “I wouldn’t blow you out but it’s important. I’m going down to the river with Livy and the others. Pablo’s called a doctor in. They’re going to get Jack off the wire. It’s the end. I have to go. Livy will be in a terrible state and I want to be there for my friend.”

“I understand,” said Alex softly. Then he added: “You’re such a nice person, Georgia. I don’t deserve you.”

“You’re nice, too, Alex,” said Georgia. “One day my friends will realise that.”

Alex cringed. How he longed to tell her the truth! But he couldn’t. It would destroy her and it would destroy his dad. He couldn’t do it to either of them. How he wished he could turn back the clock to the day he’d said he’d
help to bring Jack Marvell down. He had been consumed with fury at Olivia and on the spur of the moment had done something that had already destroyed one person’s reputation, and might yet destroy others.

They said goodbye. Alex stood still for a moment. So Jack Marvell was going to be defeated. He felt sorry for the man. But he felt sorry for his dad, too. Ethan Rees had made so many promises. He’d said he would look after the family. He would get Alex’s mum the best treatment possible. He’d move them all to the States. Alex wasn’t at all sure that Rees could be believed, but his dad clung to every word. He begged Alex to help him and Alex couldn’t bear to see his desperate face.

Anyway, what did it matter now what he did? Nothing could hasten the end, that was a foregone conclusion. Passing this final snippet of information on would surely be enough to keep a struggling Viktor going and ensure that Alex’s dad earned Rees’ eternal devotion.

Alex pressed a number on his phone. He was doing this for the very last time. He felt terrible about it, but he comforted himself with the fact that it would have no impact on Jack
Marvell. He was already a beaten man.

Olivia and the others were huddled together by the edge of the river, stamping their feet to try and keep out the cold. They had all linked arms in an effort to stay warm, but Georgia had made a point of standing between Tom and Olivia. Things between her and Aeysha were still tense.

“We’re like penguins,” observed Tom, trying to lighten the mood. The wind was whipping their hair and it seemed to be trying to snow again. The area was deserted. The crowds had long given up baiting Jack and even the media had lost interest in its fallen hero.

It was a quarter to five. Olivia looked anxiously around. She didn’t know what she wanted. If the press and media came, it would prove that Alex Parks was the mole. But if they didn’t, it could mean one of two things: either Georgia hadn’t passed the information on, or Olivia and the others had been quite wrong to suspect that Alex was involved. For her friend’s sake, Olivia hoped that it was the latter. She saw Aeysha biting her lip and looking around with a frown on her face. It was increasingly beginning
to look as if they had been mistaken. Surely the press ought to be swarming all over the place by now?

Suddenly, from a distance, they heard the sound of a speedboat racing up the river, and at the same time there was a screech of tyres as a car stopped and behind it came the roar of a motor bike.

Within seconds, the riverbank was swarming with reporters and photographers. The speedboat they’d heard was circling under the wire so that the photographers aboard could get a better view. A TV crew arrived and a crowd of interested people was gathering on the bridge, drawn by all the activity. A few of them booed Jack, who simply ignored them. The reporters crowded around Pablo, who climbed on to a wooden box so that he could be seen better. Two TV reporters thrust microphones under his nose.

“So, when will the doctor be here to certify that it would be unsafe for Jack Marvell to continue?”

“Is it true that he is having both a mental and physical breakdown?”

“Will he be taken to hospital?”

“Is he a broken man?”

Pablo smiled. “I don’t know where you got your information from, but I’m afraid you’re quite mistaken. There’s no doctor coming and Jack Marvell is definitely not a broken man. Broken men don’t do things like that.”

He pointed behind them and all the reporters turned to see Jack flipping along the wire in a dizzying display of acrobatics so astonishing that some of the press broke into applause.

“What’s going on?” asked Georgia, confused. “Where’s the doctor? I don’t understand.”

“Georgie,” said Tom gently, “did you tell anyone about the doctor coming down to the river tonight and about Jack throwing in the towel?”

“Of course not,” said Georgia, furiously. “What do you think I am, some kind of spy…” She choked on the word “spy” and turned ghost-white.

“Georgia,” said Olivia. “This is really important. Who did you tell what was going to happen this afternoon?”

Georgia bowed her head. “Alex,” she whispered in a broken voice. “I told Alex Parks.”

“Oh, Georgie, I’m so sorry,” said Olivia. “It seems that Alex Parks can’t be trusted. I don’t know how or why, but he must have been feeding information about Jack to Viktor. We think he might even be involved in some way in the fake video.”

Georgia stared at her. “So,” she whispered. “This whole thing was a set-up to trick me.”

“No,” said Olivia, desperately. “Nobody wanted to trick you. Nobody suspected you of doing anything wrong. We just needed to know if our suspicions about Alex were right.”

Georgia glared at her and then at Aeysha. Her face was desperate. “What a horrible,
horrible
thing to do to a friend,” she said. “And it doesn’t prove anything. It could have been any one of you. It’s not Alex, I know it’s not, I’d swear on my life…”

A shout came from the towpath. It was Kasha. “Livy! I’ve found something out.” He raced towards the Swans.

The reporters who had been watching Jack suddenly realised who the newcomer was. They crowded round Kasha, who was so eager to give Olivia and the others his news that he ploughed on anyway, not noticing their stricken faces.

“I went back to the hotel and spoke to Tilda Soames again. Or Matty, as her family call her. I got her talking about her family, in fact. They’ve got showbiz connections. She’s the half-sister of a guy called Andy Parks, an impressionist. I had a poke around and discovered that he’s worked with Rees in the past, he toured America with him. Then I remembered Livy mentioning there was an Alex Parks at the Swan. I checked it out. He’s his son.”

Georgia gave a sob and buried her face in her hands.

“But there’s more,” said Kasha, oblivious to Georgia’s distress. “Look!” He held up his phone and showed them a small clip. “This is Andy Parks impersonating Jack during a show. It’s taken about the same time Jack had that plane crash in Idaho.”

“So,” said Olivia. “It could have been Andy Parks checking into the hotel in the videos, pretending to be Dad?”

Some of the reporters, who’d been listening to all this with great interest, were busy shouting into their phones, asking their researchers to find out whatever they could on Andy Parks, and the rest were crowding around Kasha, firing
questions at him. There was so much noise that it took a second or two for the others to realise that Georgia had detached herself from the group and was running along the towpath in the direction of the Swan.

“I’ll go after her,” said Aeysha. “You stay here and see how things develop.”

She set off at a sprint, but Georgia was flying like the wind.

Georgia raced into the Swan and halted. Some of the older students, who’d stayed late at school to start rehearsing their end-of-year showcase, were standing in a gaggle in the hall.

She heard one of them say: “Hey guys, look at this on Twitter. It seems Jack Marvell could be innocent after all. Apparently someone’s been playing dirty tricks.”

Another one whistled. “Shall we go down to the river and see what’s going on?”

Georgia slipped into the girls’ changing room and waited until they had left the building, laughing and joking as they went. Then she raced downstairs to one of the music rooms and slammed the door behind her.

Aeysha arrived at the Swan just a few
minutes later. She hadn’t known that Georgia could run so fast. Just as she started up the steps she heard wild footsteps behind her. She swung round. As soon as she saw Alex’s face, she knew that he knew.

“Where’s Georgia? I’ve got to talk to her,” he said desperately. “I’ve tried ringing and texting her but she’s not answering. I need to talk to her.”

“To do what?” asked Aeysha. “To explain that you betrayed her and Jack? What was your price, Alex? Thirty pieces of silver?”

Alex flinched as if she had physically hit him. “I don’t want to make excuses, Aeysha. There are no excuses for what I’ve done. I just want to see her one last time, to tell her how sorry I am.”

There was something about his abject misery that touched Aeysha. “OK,” she said. “I shouldn’t trust you, but I do. I expect you’ll find her in the music room. Number three. It’s where she often goes when she’s down. But I’ll be right outside, and if you do anything more to hurt her, Alex Parks, I’ll track you down to the very ends of the earth.”