The Rescue (20 page)

Que? No entiendo.

She didn’t understand. I searched my scrambled brain for the Spanish I needed.
Er
. . .
salvamento pronto. Rescue, soon.

Luz’s mind flooded with relief and admiration.
You are good peoples, Eds, I believe you help.
She held back for a second, as if the next thought she wanted to consciously express was something significant. And then she thought-spoke it:
I likes you, Eds. Mucho.

I could feel myself blushing. Was she coming on to me?

For a second I imagined what Nico would say if he were here: ‘Of course she’s frigging coming on to you, man. How big a hint are you looking for?’

I broke the connection and took her hand, then was gripped with doubt. Suppose I’d misread that? Suppose Luz had just meant she wanted to be friends? I stared at the floor, as Luz moved a fraction closer to me.

‘Eds?’ she said, very softly. ‘Ven aqui.’
Come here.

Okay. I tried to speak, but my throat was too dry. Instead I did as she asked and shuffled closer. She tilted her head up to me and I bent my head down to hers and then I knew it was going to happen and I closed my eyes and we kissed.

It was amazing.

I’d kissed girls before, of course . . . well, one or two . . . but never anyone that looked quite like Luz. I suddenly realised what people mean when they say something good is ‘blinding’ because that’s what that kiss was – like it took everything else in the world away.

It went on for ages, too. In the end, Luz pulled away.

‘Talk me, Eds.’

With a glance at the camera, I grabbed my blanket off the bed and brought it over to the door. We sat against the wall, wrapped up together, chatting as the sky lightened into pearl-grey swirls.

I asked Luz why she’d been brought to see me. She said she’d asked if she could and the guard had said yes. I didn’t understand why, but I wasn’t complaining.

Luz asked me about ‘the other boy’ and his ability to move objects with his mind. I explained Nico had been born with a Gift, like me, then braced myself for the inevitable comments that most girls make about how gorgeous Nico looks. But Luz just smiled and changed the subject to why Carson had brought us here.

‘He wants to sell our abilities to men like Djounsou, who can use me to find out information from people.’ I paused, wanting to reassure her. ‘At least it’s just about the money. Carson isn’t interested in killing people – certainly not in hurting kids.’

Luz stared at me. ‘Eds, this is no true,’ she said earnestly. ‘Carson helps Djounsou make war, no?’

I nodded. ‘Yes, he does, but . . .’

‘And war causes children no parents . . . orphans . . . and refug . . . refug . . .’

‘Refugees,’ I finished for her.

‘Yes, so Carson makes children very poor and very sad and very without homes. Just like me.’

I sat back, thinking it through. It was true, though I’d never thought about it before. The war that Djounsou was waging and Carson was supporting
was
creating child victims – vulnerable enough to end up being trafficked in just the same way that Luz and the other street kids had been in Spain.

‘You’re right,’ I whispered. ‘But don’t be scared. I’ll make sure you’re safe, I promise.’

Luz smiled and, soon after that, we stopped talking altogether.

It was bliss. Eventually I felt Luz’s head grow heavy on my chest and her breathing even out. I closed my eyes as she slept. Maybe I should get a little sleep too. Then, in the morning, it would be time to try and contact Amy again – and Geri.

Wham!
The door slammed open with a huge bang. It hit the wall right next to where we were huddled. I jerked awake, out of a deep sleep, just in time to see Luz being hauled up by her hair and pulled away from me.

‘Stand up, you little bastard!’ Carson towered over me.

I struggled to my feet as he grabbed my arm.

‘What?’

‘Silence!’ Carson barked.

I looked over his shoulder at the guard holding Luz. He had a gun pointing into her side.

‘This way.’ Carson dragged me down the corridor. He unlocked the girls’ room, then threw me inside. Luz was hurled in after me.

A fist thumped against the switch and the naked overhead light glared on. Across the room, both Ketty and Dylan reared up out of their blankets.

I blinked in the sudden brightness, completely disorientated. What was going on?

Carson stomped over and grabbed my arm again, so tight it hurt. He was wearing sunglasses.

‘Hey!’ Ketty yelled.

‘Let go of him,’ Dylan added.

‘Shut up.’ Carson shook my arm, then prodded me in the chest.

‘You lied to me about what you saw in Tsonga’s mind.’

I shook my head.
Oh no, oh no, oh no.

Across the room, Luz backed away towards her own mattress, in the far corner. She looked petrified.

‘Speak!’ Carson ordered.

‘I am. I . . . I told you the truth.’

Over Carson’s shoulder I could see Djounsou, flanked by two guards, come into the room. Like Carson, all three were in sunglasses. On the other side of the doorway stood Tsonga, his hands tied behind his back. A fresh bruise made a dark red mark across his cheek. He looked exhausted.

‘No, Ed, you lied,’ Carson spat. ‘You told us that the weapons in Mahore were last seen in a hut with a blue wall and a red flag on the road west out of town.’

‘They move the weapons all the time,’ I said, desperately. ‘I said that too.’

‘Yes.’ Carson was breathing heavily, his face contorted with rage. ‘But the thing is, Ed, we know you made up the hut.’

‘What . . . how?’

‘There
is
no hut with a blue wall and a red flag on the road west out of town.’

A tense silence spread across the room. I glanced at Tsonga. Hadn’t he specifically told me to pretend that’s where the weapons were? His expression was a mix of defiance and guilt. And then he met my eyes and I dived into his mind.

Why did you tell me to say the weapons were in a hut that doesn’t exist?
I thought-spoke.

I was trying to protect my family – my village. I could not say the guns were in any place. Anyone found in whatever building I said would be killed. Ed, please, you must help my daughter. She is everything I have
. . .
my life.

I broke the connection, furious. I’d tried to give Tsonga a chance and he’d just made things worse for both of us. I glanced at the general. He was watching me, his expression behind his sunglasses impassive.

‘I warned you, Ed.’ Djounsou shook his head. ‘You already had your one and only chance.’

Carson raised his gun and held it against my head. ‘Tell us where the weapons are
really
being hidden.’

My stomach tightened into a tense knot. What should I do? Admit I knew all along that the weapons were in the church in Mahore – which was an admission of the guilt I’d just denied and likely to get me shot? Or carry on claiming I had no idea – and probably get shot anyway?

I forced myself to speak. ‘I’m sorry,’ I said, my voice barely more than a squeak, ‘I must have made a mistake. Let me mind-read Tsonga again and try to find out where they are.’

I knew I was taking a calculated risk in not coming clean, but it seemed the best option. At least this way I could pretend to see the information for the first time.

Unfortunately, my gamble didn’t pay off. Carson pushed the gun against my temple and roared. ‘There was no bloody mistake! You lied to us and now you’re lying about lying.’

I glanced round the room. Ketty and Dylan were huddled together on the floor, watching what was going on with wide, scared eyes. Luz was still sitting on her mattress, her body trembling. I reached out my hand instinctively towards her, trying to reassure her.

Big mistake.

Carson had followed my movement.

‘Yes,’ he said, slowly. ‘An excellent choice, kiddo. No one will care about
her.
Except you
.
’ He walked over and trained his gun on Luz.

Luz gasped and shrank away, pressing herself against the wall.

‘Stop!’ I rushed up to them, my heart like thunder in my ears. He couldn’t hurt her. He
couldn’t
. Luz had done nothing wrong.

The confession spewed out of me like vomit. ‘Don’t take it out on her. You’re right, I did see where the weapons are in Mahore. Tsonga’s brother is hiding them in the church basement – St Luke’s Church.’

Carson lowered his gun. Across the room Tsonga’s face contorted with grief.

‘My little Victoria,’ he wailed.

Suddenly I saw what an impossible position he was in. I met his eyes, consumed with guilt. If Tsonga and his brother were killed, then Victoria would become an orphan – perhaps even a refugee – without a home or anyone to protect her.

Just like Luz.

I’m so sorry
, I thought-spoke.
Please understand I had to tell them. He was going to kill my friend.

Please help Victoria.
Tsonga’s plea pierced through me.
Please save Victoria. She is just a child.

I will. I promise.
I broke the connection again and looked round the room.

Djounsou was in the doorway barking orders at his private soldiers, telling them to contact their comrades in Mahore.

‘They must find the weapons in the church, round up Tsonga’s brother and the rest of his family, then wait.’ Djounsou checked his watch. ‘I will be there in two hours.’

I gazed round. Ketty and Dylan were watching us, still huddled together across the room. Luz was shaking, pressed up against the wall. I knelt down and put my hand on her arm.

‘Do you still want this one?’ Carson said, indicating me.

Djounsou slowly nodded. ‘Yes. I do not think he is lying now. It seems as if he has
almost
learned his lesson.’

I held my breath. What did that mean?

‘You’re right.’ Carson said. ‘About both things. He is telling the truth now, but he still needs to be punished for lying to us before.’

He raised the gun and pointed it at Luz’s head again.

She shrank further away. My hand fell from her arm.

‘No!’ I said. ‘I told you what you wanted to know.’

‘But not in time,’ Carson said, not taking his eyes off Luz. ‘Remember, Ed. This is
your
punishment.
You
did this.’

I froze. This couldn’t be happening.

‘No,’ Luz sobbed, ‘no, por favor!’ She spun wildly to face me. ‘Eds, help—’

The gun exploded as I reached for her. Luz jerked back against the wall, then slumped to the mattress. Across the room, Ketty screamed.

I stared at Luz’s body. It was bent at an impossible angle, her hair fanned out over the mattress, her arm trailing onto the floor.

I couldn’t take it in.

And then the world came back into focus. And I knew that nothing in my life would ever be the same, because the girl I had kissed, and promised to help, with the silky hair and the beautiful sea-green eyes, was lying on the floor beside me, dead.

21: Decision

Ketty’s scream died away and a terrible silence filled the room.

Carson stood, panting, staring down at Luz’s body. Everyone else was frozen in the moment, which seemed to stretch inside my head, as if I’d been sitting, gazing at Luz’s lifeless body for days rather than seconds. Blood was seeping out from the back of her head. I watched it, mesmerised, unable to take in what I was seeing. A strand of hair had fallen across her face. I knelt to brush it away, then glanced up.

Ketty and Dylan were staring at me, their faces stricken. Across the room, Djounsou stood, apparently unmoved, but Tsonga was weeping, his body heaving in great sobs as he stared at Luz.

She’s dead
. The words went through my head, but didn’t seem to connect with the reality of what lay in front of me.

‘Stupid girl, getting in the way.’ Carson curled his lip in disgust.

‘NO!’ The yell tore out of me like a bullet. And somehow I was on my feet, hurling myself at him. Anger like I’d never known before – a red haze all around me – swallowed me up. I punched and shouted – totally off my head. The two guards started threatening and tugging at me, but I didn’t stop. Couldn’t.

Carson punched me in the gut. I doubled over, then lunged back at him.

In the background I was dimly aware of Ketty’s screams and Dylan’s yells and, above them both, Djounsou’s thunderous command: ‘Do not hurt him.’

I have no idea how long the struggle lasted. In the end, I felt someone grip my arm above the elbow, then the familiar ratchety noise of the stun gun. A searing pain in my shoulder and the world went black.

When I woke it was almost daylight – the dawn sky was a soft grey-blue and the dark pearly swirls from earlier had faded to pale pink. I was back in my cell, lying on the narrow camp bed. My head throbbed and my wrists and ankles felt sore. For a second I lay there, completely disoriented. I moved a little – but my hands and feet were tied up. Why?

And then I remembered. I struggled to sit up, my head filled with the image of Luz’s dead body. For a moment I thought I was going to be sick.

I sat on the edge of the bed, feet firmly planted on the floor, and took a few deep breaths. I couldn’t have been out for that long. From the look of the sky outside, no more than half an hour had passed since I went into the girls’ room.