The Set Up (24 page)

My chest tightened. Fergus was here.
He’d
come for Ketty too. A mix of emotions swirled through me: relief that we weren’t on our own any more mingled with anxiety that Fergus was locked up.

‘Mr Fox?’ Ed said uncertainly. ‘Is that you?’

‘Ed?’ Fergus’s voice grew alarmed. ‘I told you to go back to school. What are you doing here?’

‘Rescuing you, apparently,’ I said.

‘Nico?’ Now Fergus sounded really panic-stricken. ‘Are you both all right?’

‘We’re fine. Have you seen Ketty?’

‘No, but she’s here somewhere.’ Fergus paused. ‘After I spoke to you I called the police. But they claimed no helicopter had left Raven Street Pier heliport at the time you said early this morning.’

‘We know,’ I said. ‘Geri Paterson got the heliport people to destroy all the info on the flight.’

‘I guessed something like that must have happened . . .’ Fergus tailed off.

‘So you came here by yourself?’ I said.

‘I called Ketty’s phone,’ he said. ‘Dylan answered. I realized it must be her straight away.’ He tailed off again.

‘So did she tell you where she and Jack and Ketty were?’

‘Yes, but I think it must have been a trap because Jack saw me as soon as I arrived and I didn’t see Dylan at all. God, I thought I could talk Jack out of selling the formula . . . that I could get him to let Ketty go. Anyway . . . listen, boys, you must get yourselves out of here. I can take care of myself . . . and Ketty.’

I looked round. ‘Maybe there’s some way we can get the door open.’

‘Not without this.’ Jack’s mocking voice came from behind us.

I spun round, ready to fight.

Jack held up some sort of key fob. His gun was in his other hand. ‘Talk about walking into the lion’s den,’ he said, shaking his head. ‘I’ve got to hand it to you two, you’re certainly brave. I thought I’d have to chase after you once I’d given Carson the formula.’ He walked over and swiped the key fob past the narrow row of lights on the wall. The door clicked open. ‘Inside.’

As he pushed Ed and me into the room, my mind raced, trying to work out if I could lift the gun from Jack’s hands. But he was holding it too tightly.

The room we’d walked into was a bedroom. Small and bare, with a single bed against one wall and a wooden wardrobe in the corner. Fergus was standing by the window, his face white and strained.

‘You can’t keep us here, Jack,’ he said. ‘Think it through.’

‘Shut up.’ Jack pointed the gun at Fergus. ‘Sit on the bed.’

Fergus sat. Jack turned to me and Ed. I noticed he avoided looking Ed directly in the eye, presumably to protect himself from any mind-reading. ‘You came here alone, I hope?’

I pressed my lips together, unwilling to give anything away.

‘Yes we did, but Mr Fox called the police,’ Ed squeaked.

I rolled my eyes. Jack just grinned. ‘Thanks for filling me in,’ he said. Keeping his gun trained on us, he backed out of the door.

As soon as he’d gone I turned on Ed. ‘Nice one, truth boy,’ I hissed. ‘Jack knows Geri Paterson controls the police. Now you’ve told him we came here alone, he knows we’ve got no back-up.’

‘What do you need back-up for?’ Ed snapped. ‘You’re the bloody Lone Ranger.’

‘Stop it, boys.’ Fergus sighed. ‘This is bad enough without you two squabbling.’

Irritation surged through me. ‘Don’t tell us what to do,’ I said. ‘If you’d told me the truth about the Medusa gene, we wouldn’t
be
here.’

‘If you’d
listened
to me, we wouldn’t be here,’ Fergus insisted. ‘Don’t you understand even now, Nico? Everything I’ve done has been about trying to protect you.’

I looked away, not wanting to admit to myself that he had a point.

‘So how are we going to get Ketty?’ I said.

Fergus walked across the room and stared out of the window. We were only a floor or so off the ground, facing out from the side of the house, and the view only reached as far as the trees, with just a hint of the rough, dark, choppy sea round the corner. ‘I don’t know.’ He sighed.

I went over to the door. There was no way on earth I could get through an electronic lock – with or without telekinesis. Lying, on the other hand, was simple.

‘I’ve got an idea.’ I banged on the door. ‘Jack! Help!’

‘What are you doing?’ Fergus looked up, bewildered.

‘Pretend you’ve collapsed or something,’ I said. ‘Help! Come here!’

‘
What?
’ Fergus glanced at Ed. ‘What’s he talking about?’

‘He does this.’ Ed rolled his eyes. ‘The Lone Ranger . . .’

Footsteps pounded down the corridor outside.

‘Sssh.’ I pointed to Fergus’ stomach. ‘Pretend you’ve got an ulcer or something.’

‘What’s up?’ It was Dylan.

‘Open the door,’ I said. ‘Fergus is ill.’

I glared at Fergus, who rolled his eyes, but gave a fairly convincing moan.

‘Dylan, please. He’s your uncle, for God’s sake.’

‘I can’t.’ Her voice was as guilty as it was suspicious. ‘Jack has the key fob.’

‘He has an ulcer,’ Ed shouted.

‘Yeah, he needs his medication,’ I added.

‘I’ll get Jack.’ Dylan’s light footsteps retreated along the corridor.

Damn.

‘Never mind, so long as they open the door that’s all we need.’ I glanced at Ed. ‘When Jack gets here you’ll have to do your weird-eye shit on him, find out why he’s keeping us here.’

‘It’s not
weird-eye
—’

‘Boys!’ Fergus hissed.

Ed turned sulkily away and slumped to the ground by the window.

I waited next to the door for Jack. If he came in alone, maybe Fergus could keep him talking while I took the gun. I wasn’t sure having the gun would do me much good, though. I mean, it wasn’t like I had any idea how to use it.

Which Jack undoubtedly did.

‘Jack’s coming.’ It was Dylan, outside the door again. ‘I have to go keep watch for Carson up at the gate. Listen, there’s something you—’

But before she could say any more, Jack was back, stomping and swearing down the corridor. He ordered her away. Dylan left.

Jack flung the door open. He stood in the doorway, holding his gun in front of him. His face was twisted with fury.

‘What?’ he said to Fergus.

‘I’m ill.’ Fergus doubled over. ‘It’s my ulcer.’

‘Does it hurt?’ Jack said.

‘A lot.’

Jack sucked in his breath. ‘Good.’ He turned to me. ‘Now, where is it?’

I stared at him. Any thoughts I’d had of taking the gun with telekinesis had gone. Jack was too alert.

‘Where’s what?’ I said.

Jack strode over to me and grabbed me round the throat. His fingers clutched roughly at my neck. There was a tiny fleck of spit in the corner of his mouth. I could see the fear, deep in his eyes. ‘The memory card, you little bastard.’

I stared up at him. What was he talking about?

‘
The memory card
. . .’ Jack repeated. ‘The one that I copied the Medusa gene formula onto. You took it out of my pocket as you snuck into the house, didn’t you?’

‘No.’ I tried to pull away from him, but Jack was too strong. His free hand reached into my pockets. Searching . . . finding nothing.

‘Leave him alone,’ Fergus shouted.

Jack backed away, the gun waving dangerously in his hand. His breath was heavy and ragged.

‘I’ll be right back.’ He left the room, slamming the door behind him.

I felt my bruised throat.

‘Are you okay?’ Fergus asked, anxiously.

‘Yes.’ I stared at Ed. ‘What’s he talking about, though? I didn’t even know the memory card was in his pocket when we passed him outside.’

Ed shook his head bewildered. ‘I don’t—’

And then the door slammed open again and Jack pushed Ketty in through the door.

She stumbled into the room, her curls falling over her face. My heart raced as she looked up. She saw me. She smiled.

‘Nico?’ she breathed.

My heart was thumping hard now. I’d almost forgotten Jack and the others were still in the room.

And then it all fell apart.

Jack seized her arm and pulled her towards him. He pointed his gun at her neck. ‘I know how much you like this girl, Nico.’ His face twisted into a cruel smile. ‘But I
really
need that formula. If the deal goes wrong a second time I’m not just broke . . . I’m dead.’

I was dimly aware of Fergus and Ed, standing horrified on either side of me, but all my focus was on Ketty. Her eyes were wide with fear, her chest heaving as she gasped for breath. Her gaze slid from me to Ed, then glazed slightly. I glanced at him. He was communicating with her, his eyes alive and intent.

‘Nico?’ Jack said.

‘I told you, I don’t know where the formula is.’ My voice was high and strained. My stomach twisted over.

‘Wrong answer.’ Jack shook his head. He cocked the gun and pressed it against Ketty’s neck. ‘Now tell me where you put the memory card. Or Ketty dies.’

Ketty gasped. Ed’s face went as white as the bright wall behind him.

My chest constricted. My mind went blank.

Do something.

Fergus clenched his fists. ‘Let the kids go, for God’s—’

‘Shut
up
.’ Jack glared at him. He turned back to me. ‘Nico, you have three seconds.’

I looked straight into his eyes. What on earth could I say to convince him I didn’t know where the formula was?

‘One.’

Jack’s bright blue eyes pierced into mine.

‘Two.’

I was going to have to make something up.

‘Three.’

‘Okay, I took it,’ I blurted.

Jack eased the gun off Ketty’s neck, though he still held her tightly by the arm. ‘Where is it now?’

‘Let Ketty and the others go, and I’ll tell you.’

Jack shook his head. ‘No deals, Nico. Talk.’

‘Nico doesn’t
know
,’ Fergus said, his voice stretched with tension. ‘It’s—’

‘Shut up.’

I thought fast. We’d have the best chance of escape if we left the house. ‘It’s outside,’ I said.

I could feel Ed shuffling beside me. I prayed Jack wasn’t going to look at him and see my lie in his face. But Jack kept his eyes fixed on me.

‘Outside?’ he said slowly. ‘Where?’

‘Yes.’ I tried to remember what the outside of the house had looked like. Only one distinctive feature came to mind. ‘I teleported it near that dead tree on the edge of the cliff.’

Jack backed away, through the open door and into the corridor, pulling a limping Ketty after him. I suddenly remembered that she’d twisted her ankle when we left the mews house. Had that really been only a few hours ago? I forced my mind to focus. At least if Jack was threatening to kill Ketty, he couldn’t know she had the Medusa gene – which meant she was safe from being part of his deal with Carson.

All I had to do was make him let her go.

Jack held up his gun. ‘Everyone . . .’ He pointed along the corridor. ‘Outside, and don’t think about running.’

I left the room, with Fergus and Ed beside me. As the five of us trooped down a series of corridors, Fergus drew Jack into a hushed conversation. I glanced round. Jack had his gun pressed against Fergus’s chest as they talked, but his eyes were darting from me to Ed to Ketty as we walked on ahead.

My stomach twisted over. What the hell was I going to do when we got outside?

As we reached the side door that led out to the helipad, Ketty drew close to me. ‘I don’t want you to tell him where you hid the formula, Nico,’ she whispered. ‘It doesn’t matter what happens to me. I don’t want that formula getting out to kill more people.’

I glanced at Jack. He was still deep in angry conversation with Fergus.

‘As it happens you’re in luck, babe,’ I whispered back. ‘I can’t tell him because I didn’t actually take the formula . . . I have no idea where it is.’

The look of horror on Ketty’s face deepened. ‘But then he’ll kill all of us!’

‘No. So long as he doesn’t know you’re Viper he’ll let you go—’

‘What?’ She frowned.

‘It doesn’t matter. You’re going to be all right.
That’s
all that matters.’ I tried to smile reassuringly, but my lips trembled. I looked away.

‘Open the door, Nico,’ Jack ordered.

I stepped out onto the helipad and walked towards the cliff edge at the front of the house. It formed a sheer drop to the sea, hundreds of feet below.

I stood beside the dead tree, looking down at where the dark water crashed against the rocks. The wind roared past my ears. I shivered.

What the hell was I going to do now?

I turned back to Ketty, hoping she was looking at me . . . hoping I’d see some kind of understanding of what I felt in her eyes.

But she was standing a few metres back, staring at the tree beside me and the sea beyond, her hands clapped over her mouth.

‘No.’A low whimper. ‘No.’

‘What is it?’ I said.

I looked round. Fergus and Jack were still deep in their argument, but Jack was watching us now. Ed walked up next to Ketty.

‘Ketts?’ I whispered. ‘What’s the matter?’

Ed touched her arm. ‘Ketty?’

‘I didn’t notice when we arrived, but this is from my nightmare,’ she said hoarsely. ‘That dead tree . . . its branches and the sea beyond. Oh, Ed, something really bad is about to happen – like someone’s going to die. I can
feel
it.’