Of course I’ll do the mission, I had no idea it was such a big problem. I always thought prostitutes had sex because they made loads of money. I didn’t realise that they were forced into it.’
‘Sadly an awful lot of them are,’ John said. ‘It’s starting to get more publicity these days, but people still don’t care much about the women. I mean, you open up your Sunday paper and hear that some footballer slept with a prostitute and a lot of men just laugh and say good on yer, son. They don’t understand that many of these women are being drugged and terrorised.’
Lauren nodded. ‘I bet that’s exactly what James and his stupid mates would say. Speaking of which, I’ve gotta run downstairs. Can I give you a call on my mobile and we’ll sort this out later?’
‘Fair enough,’ John said, as Lauren scrambled towards the door. ‘I’ll be in my office for a few more hours and my mobile will be on all night – don’t you want your suitcase?’
‘Not right now,’ Lauren said, as she sprinted off down the corridor.
15. JUMPED
James was in a foul mood as he approached the conference room on the second floor. He still couldn’t think of anything he’d done that would explain why his handler, Meryl Spencer, had sounded so annoyed on the phone.
He’d only ever been to the conference room once before, to watch an extremely boring video on the safe use of stab-proof vests. He pushed the door open and was baffled to find that the windowless room was pitch black.
‘Meryl?’ James asked curiously.
Suddenly, all the light tubes started flickering and a great shout came up from under the conference table.
‘Surprise!’
After a brief jolt, James spun around and saw close to a dozen of his friends clambering from beneath the long table. A PowerPoint graphic appeared on the screen at the end of the room. It had a picture of a birthday cake with a fifteen at the bottom. Beneath it was written, P.S. Sorry it’s a bit late.
Kerry stepped up and gave him a kiss. ‘Happy birthday, James.’
Meryl emerged from behind the door, where she’d activated the light switches. ‘So, you got my message then?’
James turned and pointed at her with his mouth hanging open. ‘You …’ he spluttered.
‘I bet you were crapping yourself on the way down here,’ Bruce grinned.
‘I was,’ James nodded. ‘I was doing my head in trying to work out what I was in trouble for.’
Meryl gave James a quick kiss as Lauren burst into the room.
‘Aaaarghhh,’ she moaned, as she placed her hands on top of her head. ‘I can’t believe I missed it. What did he look like?’
‘It was good,’ Kerry’s best mate Gabrielle giggled. ‘He was totally stunned.’
‘Does he know what we’re doing yet?’ Lauren asked.
‘You mean this isn’t it?’ James said.
‘Oh no,’ Meryl smiled. ‘You’ve had a pretty rough time of it lately, what with getting beaten up, being suspended from missions and having Ewart and half of MI5 giving you the third degree. So Zara suggested that we use up some of CHERUB’s abundant supply of hotel points and take you on a magical mystery tour.’
‘Sweet, where are we off to?’
‘It wouldn’t be a magical mystery if we told you,’ Kerry said, as she glanced at her watch. ‘I’ve packed a bag for you and we’d better get on the road if we’re gonna make it on time.’
*
Luckily, the twins Callum and Connor were the only good mates of James’ who were away on a mission. Lauren, Rat, Kyle, Bruce, Kerry, Gabrielle, Shak, Mo and Gabrielle’s new boyfriend Michael all piled into the mini-bus with their overnight bags. Somehow Lauren had also managed to get Bethany invited, despite the fact that James hated her guts.
Kyle had made a compilation CD of James’ favourite music and they had it turned up loud as Meryl blasted down the motorway at over a hundred miles an hour, knowing she’d never get a speeding ticket in a vehicle registered to CHERUB.
‘Hood him,’ Meryl said, when she turned off the motorway.
Shak produced a woollen balaclava. Kerry and Lauren held James in his seat while it was pulled over his head, with the eye and mouth holes at the back.
‘It itches like hell,’ James complained, but Kerry just jabbed him in the ribs and told him to stop being a baby.
It was already starting to turn dark when they pulled up in a gravel car park. James couldn’t see, but could hear two-stroke engines buzzing