CHERUB: Divine Madness - Robert Muchamore Page 0,7
steamed up with condensation.
They wanted to give Clyde a few moments to settle into the restaurant. John and Kerry crossed the road at a sedate pace, then made themselves look busy at a newsstand. Kerry bought a Hong Kong Times and some sweets, while John called Kyle on his mobile phone.
‘Kyle, where are you?’
‘Me and Bruce saw you crossing the road,’ Kyle answered. ‘Don’t sweat it.’
‘OK,’ John said. ‘Stay close to the restaurant, but don’t let Clyde see you and don’t make any moves before I give you the all clear, you understand?’
‘You’re the boss,’ Kyle answered.
John snapped his phone shut and looked at Kerry as she slid a tube of mints into her jeans. ‘Ready?’
Kerry handed John the newspaper and nodded. ‘As I’ll ever be.’
‘OK, go and win yourself an Oscar. I’ll follow you inside in three minutes.’
Because of the condensation, Kerry wasn’t sure what she’d find as she pushed open the glass door. The kitchen was at the front of the restaurant, with a muggy soy-sauce smell rising from steaming tubs of noodle and rice dishes.
A sweaty face popped up from behind the counter. ‘Hi, do you want a table, or take-away?’
‘Table,’ Kerry said tightly. ‘I think my friend is already here.’
The man waved his hand towards the rows of plastic tables at the back of the restaurant. Kerry felt queasy as she passed a short line of customers waiting for take-out. The restaurant was seventy per cent full and the decibel level was pretty high. She spotted Clyde at a table and was relieved to see that the person he was meeting hadn’t arrived. He looked tetchy, jiggling his ankle up and down and fanning himself with a laminated menu.
‘Hi,’ Kerry said, as she sat opposite.
Clyde’s chin dropped so fast it practically hit the tabletop. ‘What …? What are you doing here?’
‘I followed you,’ Kerry confessed.
‘Par-don me?’
Kerry started to babble. ‘Clyde, I know this probably sounds dumb, but I really wanted to talk to you. I’ve been meaning to for ages, but I kept chickening out. You see, I can’t stop thinking about you. All the time. I just need to know if you like me. You know, not like a friend. Like a girlfriend.’
‘Well, um … Kerry, I’m flattered.’
‘Oh … This feels so dumb now,’ Kerry said, screwing up her face like she was about to cry. As she did, she reached into the pocket of her jacket and pulled the sticky backing away from a small listening device.
‘Are you even allowed out this late on your own?’
‘Not really,’ Kerry sniffed. ‘I should have realised you didn’t like me.’
‘Kerry, there’s nothing wrong with you. I bet we’d get on really well if we were the same age. But I’m sixteen and you’re thirteen. Be sensible, that’s never gonna work, is it?’
‘I’m nearly fourteen,’ Kerry said, as she stuck the bug to the underside of the table.
Now the initial shock of Kerry’s presence had worn off, Clyde put some thought into how embarrassing it was going to be if the person he was meeting found a girl sobbing at his table.
‘And I’m nearly seventeen,’ Clyde said, snatching Kerry’s wrist and squeezing it hard.
‘You’re meeting another girl here, aren’t you?’
‘Now you listen, Kerry,’ Clyde snapped, pointing a finger. ‘I’m here for a meeting. We can talk about this some other time. But right now, you have to get out of my face.’
Kerry had no reason to stick around now she’d planted the bug. She snatched her arm away from Clyde and sobbed dramatically as she stood up. A group of women with lots of shopping bags sitting a couple of tables away craned their necks around, slightly concerned.
‘I’m sorry, Clyde.’
Clyde raised a hand in front of his face, as if to say he couldn’t listen to any more. ‘Just get out of here.’
As Kerry strode out of the restaurant, pretending to be in tears, she swept past John heading in the opposite direction.
John passed between the rows of tables and settled in a few rows behind Clyde Xu. He pulled open his newspaper, placed a wireless headset over his ear that looked exactly like the kind that get supplied with upmarket mobile phones and switched on the receiver unit. He heard the sound of Clyde anxiously jiggling his menu.
*
It was nearly quarter past eight when a heavily built Australian man carrying a large sports bag slid into the plastic bench facing Clyde Xu. He reached across the table, shook hands with Clyde and spoke in English.