CHERUB: The Fall - Robert Muchamore Page 0,54

red-shirts jumped out of her way.

James sprinted around a corner, but dropped to a brisk walk when he saw two teachers stepping out of a classroom. He didn’t want to get yelled at for running. Kerry slowed down too and the chase continued at walking pace until James reached the staircase that led up to their rooms.

‘Come on Kerry!’ James said, as he leapt up the stairs two at a time. ‘Give us a break.’

Speed had always been James’ weakness and Kerry cornered him on the fourth-floor landing.

‘Dickhead,’ she snarled as she gave him two powerful beats to the upper arm. ‘I’ve got enough to do without getting a stupid detention because of you.’

‘It’s not my fault,’ James whined, as he rolled out his bottom lip to show where it had scabbed over. ‘Stuart Russell is a total moron.’

‘It’s nothing to do with that,’ Kerry snapped. ‘You copied it word for word.’

‘It wasn’t exactly the same.’

‘It took Mr Norwood all of two seconds to figure out. That’s the last time you ever copy my homework, James. I don’t care how much you beg.’

James anxiously ran his hand through his hair, which needed cutting. ‘How about we go back to my room and patch things up?’

‘Don’t push your luck,’ Kerry snarled. ‘I’ve got another lesson and you’ve got History coursework to do.’

‘Nah,’ James grinned. ‘Mr Pike’s getting me out of that, as long as Kevin Sumner makes it across the obstacle.’

‘That’s your problem, James,’ said Kerry. ‘You’re always trying to wing it. I bet that’s why your mission went tits up as well.’

James was stunned. ‘Pardon me?’

Kerry knew James was sensitive about being under investigation and realised she’d overstepped the mark. ‘Just ignore me, James. That was a stupid thing to say.’

‘Stuart said something about that as well. Is that what everyone’s saying about me?’

Kerry turned to head back downstairs, but James grabbed her arm. ‘Don’t walk away from me.’

‘James, I’ve got a lesson to go to.’

‘I want to know, Kerry.’

Kerry looked down at the floor. ‘There’s a rumour going around that you were filmed planting the bugs and that that’s why the two MI5 agents got killed.’

‘Who told you that?’

‘I don’t know,’ Kerry shrugged. ‘It’s just campus gossip, everyone’s talking about it.’

‘Do you believe it?’

‘Of course I don’t.’

‘But you just said I bet that’s why your mission went tits up. It’s hardly a ringing endorsement.’

Kerry squirmed. ‘I didn’t mean it like that.’

James felt like he’d been stabbed through the heart. ‘Then what did you mean?’

‘It was … James, I’m gonna be late for my lesson.’

Kerry backed away and started down the stairs. When she was out of sight, James bunched his fists and considered punching the wall, but he’d tried it once before and discovered that it hurt a lot more in real life than when people did it in the movies.

He started heading up towards his room, but changed his mind before he reached the next landing. He’d not heard from Ewart since his answering machine messages on Saturday morning and he wanted to know what was going on with the investigation.

*

The mission preparation building was one of the most modern on CHERUB campus. Ewart Asker’s office had a smart maple desk with framed photos of his family hidden behind teetering stacks of paperwork.

‘Take a seat,’ Ewart said, pointing James towards the two suede sofas by the window. ‘Have you come up with any new information?’

‘Afraid not,’ James said, as he sat down. ‘I haven’t heard from you in a few days and I was wondering what was going on.’

Ewart shrugged. ‘We’re going nowhere fast.’

‘Wasn’t I supposed to be going down to MI5 in London to answer some more questions?’

‘I knocked that on the head,’ Ewart said. ‘To be honest I had a blazing row with them. They’re asking you to go back to London and go through the same testimony for a third time. As far as I can tell, the only reason for them to do that is if they’re trying to trip you up and discredit your evidence.

‘Meanwhile, MI5 are stalling and refusing to send me a large amount of information that I requested on Boris and Isla. So I’ve told them, they’re not getting another interview with you until they start full cooperation with me.’

‘How did that go down?’

‘Like a hungry Rottweiler in a chicken coop,’ Ewart said. ‘The head of MI5 has been on the phone to Zara complaining about my conduct. The intelligence minister doesn’t like the fact that CHERUB and MI5 are