her mattress. ‘It’s really cool having my big brother back. We can do everything together when we get to the summer hostel.’
Dante flipped out his main light and lay across his bed watching Holly going to sleep. Every so often she’d open one eye and then giggle naughtily when Dante poked his tongue out at her. The photo lay on the bed and Dante couldn’t not look at the Führer. His mind drifted back to the night before and he tried figuring out why he hadn’t pulled the trigger.
Seeing the Führer’s flabby body through the crosshairs had transformed him from the figure of doom who chased Dante through his nightmares into a middle-aged man who was only breathing because Dante had spared his life.
The mission had gone wrong and the Führer wasn’t behind bars. Maybe people like Chloe Blake and Ross Johnson would find a way to bring the Führer to justice. Maybe he’d rot in jail, maybe he’d meet a violent end at the hands of another biker, or maybe the Führer would die blissfully happy at the age of a hundred and five.
Dante thought about this and was shocked to realise that he no longer cared. As he watched Holly sleep, Dante understood that revenge wouldn’t have brought his family back. He hadn’t gone to the Führer’s house to kill him, he’d gone to say goodbye to his past.
EPILOGUE
The 2008 Rebel Tea Party marked the beginning of a major war, both within the Brigands and with rival gangs such as the Bitch Slappers, Satan’s Prodigy and Vengeful Bastards.
One of the first casualties was London chapter president SEALCLUBBER, who was found murdered in his London home. RALPH DONNINGTON (AKA THE FÜHRER) was questioned in connection with the killing and later replaced Sealclubber as the Brigands’ National President.
The Dutch Brigand and explosives expert JONAS HAARDEN (AKA DOODS) is still thought to be at large, possibly within the United Kingdom.
Ex-Brigand PAUL WOODHEAD was sentenced to fifteen years in prison for his role in weapons smuggling operations. Trawler captain JOHNNY RIGGS was sentenced to seven years. NIGEL CONNOR was sentenced to thirty months in a young offenders’ institution.
JULIAN HARGREAVES pleaded guilty to all weapons smuggling charges but was released unconditionally and praised by the trial judge for his bravery in coming forward to give evidence. Following a series of instances of vandalism and harassment against his family, Julian now attends a fee-paying school in London, while his father JONTY HARGREAVES has sold his apartment in Marina Heights.
Devon police say that these sentences and the seizure of the trawler Brixton Riots have had a significant effect on the Brigands’ ability to smuggle weapons into the United Kingdom.
MARTIN DONNINGTON continues to manage the Marina Heights crêpe stand. He has booked a round-theworld air ticket and hopes to have saved enough money to spend the whole of 2009 travelling the world.
His younger brother JOE DONNINGTON paired off with ANNA CONNOR after Dante and Lauren returned to campus.
In an internal police report, Chief Inspector ROSS JOHNSON was criticised for continuing the weapons purchase operation after the undercover role of Sergeant NEIL GAUCHE was unearthed and for the consequent loss of £316,000.
The role of CHERUB agents in the latter stages of the operation could not be revealed to the team that wrote the report. Johnson was saved from demotion following the personal intervention of CHERUB chairwoman Zara Asker.
Johnson continues to work with CHERUB mission controller CHLOE BLAKE with a view to staging another anti biker mission.
Neil Gauche’s attachment to the National Police Biker Task Force has now ended and he has returned to work as a detective in his native Leicestershire.
Ex-CHERUB agent and child psychologist JENNIFER MITCHUM is partially retired, but works part time on CHERUB campus studying the background of potential recruits and counselling agents who have returned from difficult missions.
CHERUB chairwoman ZARA ASKER gave birth to her third child, a boy, JONAH EWART ASKER.
In its report on the biker mission, the CHERUB Ethics Committee criticised JAKE McEWEN for his assault on the police officer, and his excessively violent interrogation of Julian Hargreaves. McEwen is slowly archiving five thousand files in the basement of the main building on CHERUB campus. Zara Asker has also sent him for anger management training.
JAMES ADAMS, LAUREN ADAMS and DANTE WELSH all flew off to the CHERUB summer hostel the week after they returned from their mission. James Adams and his Kawasaki ER5 remain on standby for a possible reprisal in the role of biker James Raven.
CHERUB: Shadow Wave
After a tsunami