CHERUB: Brigands M.C. - Robert Muchamore Page 0,18
even had special permission to keep it with him during school. The phone had been programmed so that pressing and holding down the zero key for three seconds dialled an emergency response number at the local police station.
As the phone rang in Dante’s ear, he heard Linda frantically telling the biker on the doorstep to sling his bloody hook. The biker’s accent was Dutch and Dante knew he’d heard it before.
‘What’s going on?’ an eleven-year-old called Ed asked, as he looked up the stairs. ‘What are you hiding for, Dante? That bloke’s got a birthday present for you.’
Dante didn’t reply because the police had answered his call. The police knew who he was from caller ID and he quickly explained the situation.
‘Stay out of sight,’ the female desk officer said. ‘We’ll dispatch the nearest car. It’ll be there in five to ten minutes.’
Dante considered escaping, but the biker was out front and the back garden had a high fence designed specifically to keep children in. He crept back down into the kitchen and joined Abby, Ed and two other kids who leaned out of the door into the hallway to watch the scene unfold.
The Dutchman had moved a couple of steps into the hallway and was trying to calm Linda down. He looked like a typical biker: boots, denim, greying beard and mirrored sunglasses.
‘I know it’s the boy’s birthday,’ he explained. ‘We’re not all animals, you know. I’m ashamed of the situation with Scotty and his family.’
Dante leaned out between the other kids and recognised the biker’s face. He went by the name of Doods, which was Dutch for death. Dante had met him at a summer bike festival in Britain and on the Brigands annual European run in Germany and Scotty had put on a big show of bear-hugging both times.
‘I have a gift for the boy,’ Doods explained. ‘Please don’t be frightened, lady. Scotty was a brother. We don’t all condone what has happened to the boy and his family. I came to pay my respects on his birthday. I don’t want to upset you or anyone. Take my gift and I’ll leave.’
Linda sounded worried. Dante’s location was supposed to be secret. He’d moved two hundred miles and even used a different surname at his new school so that people didn’t recognise him from the news.
‘Dante, get back,’ Linda growled, as he slipped between the other kids and into the hallway.
But Dante was calmer now. He’d seen plenty of fights in his short life. Doods was easily strong enough to shove Linda out of the way and would have already done so if that’s what he wanted.
‘Kid,’ Doods said, as he reached towards Dante with a big Toys R Us bag. ‘I wanted to wish you a happy birthday. You’re too young to remember, but I came off hard in a bend in Switzerland a few years back. Your dad pulled me out of the crash barrier. Gave me the kiss of life and made a tourniquet to stop my leg bleeding. I owe your dad, Dante. That’s the only reason I came here today.’
Doods put the carrier bag down and backed up on to the doorstep.
‘How did you know I was here?’ Dante asked, as a distant police siren sounded.
‘The Führer found out somehow,’ Doods explained, with a shrug. ‘They know you’re here. They’ve been trying to get a Brigand from a chapter in Mexico City to come over and kill you. You’re not safe here and I’d better go before I get hassled by cops.’
Doods dropped the toy bag at Linda’s feet and jogged back to his Harley Tourer. He pulled out of their street seconds before a police car turned in at the opposite end. As Linda ran out on to the driveway and waved her arms to attract the attention of the approaching police car, Dante peeked cautiously into the Toys R Us bag.
The gift wasn’t wrapped: a pair of radio-controlled Hummers with a giant bar of milk chocolate and a birthday card Sellotaped to the box.
‘Cool shit,’ Ed said. ‘Make sure you plug them in to charge before school and we’ll be able to race in the garden when we get home.’
7. MOVES
Two uniformed policemen stayed with Dante until Ross Johnson arrived. By this time Linda’s elderly husband Donald had completed three separate school runs, leaving Dante and Holly as the only kids in the house.
‘Will I have to move out?’ Dante asked, as he slumped on a beanbag in the living-room. Donald