CHERUB: The Fall - Robert Muchamore Page 0,53

MI5 officers killed. I don’t know why you’re even on campus, let alone training other kids.’

James was better at turning the other cheek than he’d been when he first joined CHERUB, but the comment about the suspension riled him.

‘What do you know?’ he snapped. ‘You’re talking out of your arse.’

‘I know enough,’ Stuart mocked. ‘I bet they kick your butt out of here when the investigation finishes.’

James’ temper snapped and he lunged towards Stuart. His first punch slammed against Stuart’s nose, but the second only glanced the top of the grey-shirt’s head as he ducked out of the way. Stuart charged forward, butting James in the stomach. Chairs and tables grated across the floor as Stuart pushed James backwards and pinned him to a tabletop.

James was terrified that Stuart was going to punch his partially healed nose and was actually quite relieved when the chunky fist smacked him on the lips. As James tasted blood in his mouth, he punched Stuart in the ribs with enough force to unbalance him.

‘Break it up,’ one of the dinner ladies yelled, as James brought his knee up and knocked Stuart on to the floor.

As Stuart scrambled to his feet, the overweight dinner lady placed herself between them and brandished a soup ladle.

‘Show’s over,’ she shouted. James realised that everyone else in the canteen was watching them. ‘Get to your lessons.’

Stuart and James were both muscular and could have easily shoved the dinner lady aside, but while they were both furious, neither lad was prepared to assault a member of staff.

As Stuart skulked off to collect his bag, James straightened up his clothes and realised that he’d been lucky: if a teacher or a member of the care staff had broken up the fight instead of a dinner lady, he’d probably be on his way to the chairman’s office instead of first lesson.

James turned back to the table he’d been working at and saw that his coffee mug had tipped over in the melee. His hastily scribbled homework was fine, but the top half of Kerry’s was soaked in a massive brown stain.

She was going to kill him.

*

Lauren phoned John as soon as Anna and all the other kids had cleared off to school.

‘I messed up,’ she confessed meekly.

‘What do you mean?’ John asked.

‘Anna wanted to use my phone and we could have logged her call, but I had to stop her ’cos I’ve got loads of personal messages and pictures on there.’

John tutted. ‘That’s the kind of mistake I’d expect from an agent on their first mission. You really ought to know better.’

‘Sorry.’

‘I guess it’s partly my fault: I should have set you up with a clean phone for the mission. These modern smart phones retain all kinds of data, even when you supposedly wipe the memory. Now let me think …’

John continued after a moment’s pause. ‘OK, we obviously want Anna to get access to your phone and have a record of everything she says. I’ll go into town and get you an identical replacement, then I’ll get the boffins on campus to tap into the cellular network and record all your calls. The only thing is, you’d better tone down the dirty talk with your boyfriend.’

‘Very funny,’ Lauren said dryly.

She liked working with John: some mission controllers would have gone on and on about not deleting the stuff from her phone, but John just accepted the apology and got on with it.

‘I’ll meet you in the baker’s at about two o’clock with the new phone, OK?’

‘Fine,’ Lauren said. ‘But there’s one other thing I was thinking about.’

‘What?’

‘Suppose we uncover this trafficking ring and put the baddies behind bars. Will they stick Anna back on the first plane to Russia?’

‘Anna’s future is down to the immigration authorities.’

‘Yeah,’ Lauren said, ‘but if I uncover who she is and she gets sent back home because of me, that’s … It’s like, I’m a cherub because I want to help people, but I won’t be helping Anna, will I?’

John sighed. ‘I see what you’re saying, but I’m not sure what I can do.’

‘Come on, John,’ Lauren said. ‘With all CHERUB’s resources, you’re telling me that you can’t swing it so that one little girl gets taken into care?’

John sighed. ‘I guess you’re right. I’m not promising anything but I’ll look into it.’

22. BREAK

‘It wasn’t deliberate,’ James yelled, as he barged two of his classmates out of the doorway and sprinted down the corridor with Kerry on his tail.

‘You’re dead, Adams,’ Kerry screamed, as two little