CHERUB: Class A - Robert Muchamore Page 0,44

said, ‘if you’ve just ripped off KMG for three hundred grand, you won’t be hanging around here for long.’
‘I know,’ Kerry said. ‘But he doesn’t think KMG will know what’s happened until we get into town. He’ll be off his guard for the next hour or so.’
‘You’re serious, aren’t you?’ James smiled. ‘I’m really gonna go chasing after some gun-toting drug dealer in my socks?’
‘I think it’s worth the risk, but I’m not forcing you. If you’re not up for it, we’ll head home.’
James thought for a second as he dabbed his bloody lip on the bottom of his T-shirt. He didn’t fancy their chances. If it had been anyone but Kerry, he would have said no.
‘Let’s go and get shot,’ he said, climbing to his feet and taking his first painful steps since the beating.
They cut around the back of the shops, dodging the snooker club in case anyone inside spotted them. They found a couple of skinny women at the bottom of a staircase and got blank stares when they described the hairball. They got lucky on their second attempt, when Kerry described him to a group of teenagers.
‘Was it some kind of heavy metal T-shirt?’
‘Yeah,’ Kerry said. ‘Do you know where we could find him? He dropped his keys outside the snooker club and we picked them up.’
‘Sounds like Crazy Joe,’ one kid said. ‘He lives in Alhambra House. You want to be careful, he’s a serious lunatic and he’s drugged-up half the time.’
‘You know where exactly?’ James asked.
‘What do I look like?’ the kid laughed. ‘Directory enquiries? Try the second or third floor.’
‘Cheers,’ James said.
‘Nice socks,’ the kid replied.
Alhambra House was the furthermost block. There were twenty flats on each floor, but finding the right one was easier than they expected. Loads were boarded up and most of the others didn’t look the part: old-person-style wallpaper in the hallways, or ethnic names written under the doorbells. Joe’s flat turned out to be a giveaway: the front door was painted black with a devil’s-head knocker and underneath the word Joe’s was written in Tippex. They peered through the glass. There was an Aerosmith poster pinned to the kitchen wall and all the lights were on.
James and Kerry didn’t have their lock guns or anything with them. They couldn’t get in, so they had to lure Crazy Joe out.
‘Check he’s at home first,’ Kerry said. ‘Ring the bell and run.’
James pressed the buzzer and they sprinted to the end of the balcony and hid in the stairwell. Crazy Joe waddled on to his doorstep in his T-shirt and boxers and looked down the balcony. He swore about bloody kids and went back inside.
‘So now what?’ James asked. ‘If he’s half undressed, he’s probably home alone.’
‘There might be a girlfriend in there as well.’
‘I don’t reckon any woman lives in that house,’ James said.
‘Based on what?’ Kerry asked.
‘Did you see the filthy sink and cutlery piled up on the draining board?’ James asked. ‘That’s a single man’s kitchen if ever I saw one.’
‘There’s something messed-up about this,’ Kerry said. ‘You’d think he’d be running or driving some place in a hurry, not sitting around in his underwear.’
‘None of this makes any sense,’ James said. ‘Everything else I’ve done for KMG has run like clockwork.’
‘Joe might have friends nearby,’ Kerry said. ‘We need to take him down quickly and without making a noise.’
Five minutes later, Crazy Joe emerged from his flat a second time to find James grinning at him.
‘I warned you,’ Joe sneered.
As Joe lunged for James, Kerry landed her hardest punch into the side of his head. It hit the sweet spot above the eye socket where the skull is thinnest, giving Joe’s brain a good rattling. All his muscles went limp and James had to dodge out of the way as he slumped across the balcony.
‘Get moving,’ Kerry said anxiously, looking at James. ‘He’ll start coming around in no time and I don’t want to have to knock him out twice.’
James stepped over Joe and ran into the flat, checking inside every room to make sure nobody else was home. There were pizza boxes and rubbish everywhere. The smell of stale cigarette smoke made his eyes water. Once he knew the flat was empty, he helped Kerry drag the semi-conscious Joe through to the living-room.
‘Find something to tie him up with,’ Kerry shouted.
James ripped the electric cables out of the back of the video and the satellite box. Joe struggled a bit, but they managed to knot