Target (19 page)
Authors: Joe Craig
“I don’t know,” replied Jimmy.
In his head, he remembered Viggo’s expression as he’d driven off in the taxi.
There’s no chance that man is going to let Saffron die,
he thought. He knew Viggo would do anything before that happened.
But what if it does happen?
Now there were only the sounds of soft breathing in the room. Not enough to stop Jimmy’s spiralling thoughts. Viggo’s words still echoed in his mind. ‘I’ll get revenge for this,’ he had said. Jimmy couldn’t forget that.
As he fell asleep, his mind tormented him with the image of one face: the man he had thought was his father. At first, he tried to push it away, but then he focused on it until he could see nothing else. Inside, the killer stirred.
SNEAK PREVIEW…
Jimmy’s eyes opened before he even realised he was awake. His head was throbbing – another nightmare that vanished before he could grasp it. When he was asleep, his programming took over his brain completely. It grew like a vine, reaching into every part of his psyche. It spread dangerous knowledge and developed his amazing skills. Day by day Jimmy found himself becoming more lethal – and there was nothing he could do about it. Time was turning him into a killer.
What had woken him, he wondered. Judging by the eerie half-light, it was the early hours of the morning. Jimmy didn’t dare move his head from the pillow in case someone was watching him, but he listened, analysing every sound. He felt a familiar agitation in his chest – a paranoia he could never shake off. It was part of his nature now and he had learned to trust in it.
He scanned what he could see of the room, his eyes quickly enhancing every shape, enabling him to see in the semi-dark. Three beds stuck out into the middle of the room, their headboards against the wall. In the bed next to Jimmy’s, his friend, Felix Muzbeke, was fast asleep. A slow thread of drool trailed from his lips, glistening like a spider’s web in the rain.
Out of the corner of his eye, Jimmy could discern the end of the third bed. His sister’s feet made a reassuring bump in the duvet. OK, he thought,
so Felix and Georgie haven’t been abducted. That’s a good start.
Then Jimmy heard it. A sound so faint that Felix’s drooling almost drowned it out. Immediately, an image popped into Jimmy’s head that identified the noise – grease trickling down wood. It told him two things. One: the room had definitely been breached. Two: whoever had broken in was highly dangerous.
They’ve found me,
he thought.
TO BE CONTINUED…
Thank you to:
My HarperCollins team, particularly Stella Paskins.
Sarah Manson, Ann Tobias, Nicola Solomon
and Penelope Webber.
Sophie Craig, Miriam Craig, Mum & Dad,
Oli Pockberger, Polly and David Pockberger.
This, and everything, is for Mary-Ann Ochota.
Joe Craig studied Philosophy at Cambridge University, then became a songwriter. Within a year, however, his love of stories had taken over and he was writing the first novel in the
Jimmy Coates
series. It was published in 2005. He is now a full time author and likes to keep in touch with his readers through his website www.joecraig.co.uk.
When he’s not writing he’s visiting schools, playing the piano, inventing snacks, playing football, coaching cricket, reading or watching a movie.
He lives in London.
Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.
1. Jimmy Coates: Killer
2. Jimmy Coates: Target
3. Jimmy Coates: Revenge
4. Jimmy Coates: Sabotage
TEAM UP WITH
JIMMY COATES ON MYSPACE!
www.myspace.com/jimmycoates
First published in Great Britain by
HarperCollins
Children’s Books
2006
Harper Collins
Children’s Books
is a division of HarperCollins
Publishers
Ltd
77-85 Fulham Palace Road, Hammersmith, London, WB 8JB
www. harpercollinschildrensbooks.co.uk
www.jimmycoates.co.uk
FIRST EDITION
Copyright © Joseph Craig 2006
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub Edition © JUNE 2010 ISBN: 978-0-007-37824-1
Joseph Craig asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of the work.
Conditions of Sale
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior written consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
Kind out more about HarperCollins and the environment at
www.harpercollins.co.uk/green
Australia
HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd.
25 Ryde Road (PO Box 321)
Pymble, NSW 2073, Australia
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.com.au
Canada
HarperCollins Canada
2 Bloor Street East – 20th Floor
Toronto, ON, M4W 1A8, Canada
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.ca
New Zealand
HarperCollinsPublishers (New Zealand) Limited
P.O. Box 1
Auckland, New Zealand
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.co.nz
United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
77-85 Fulham Palace Road
London, W6 8JB, UK
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.co.uk
United States
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
10 East 53rd Street
New York, NY 10022
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.com
