also bugged.
Anna looked suspiciously over her shoulder, then stepped off the ladder and pushed the door shut. ‘I don’t want the care workers to trace the call,’ she whispered. ‘I lived in a children’s home in Russia. It wasn’t nice like here, no good clothes, not even a warm place to wash, and they’ll beat me if I go back. But I want to call my friend and see if Georgy is OK.’
‘Well I guess you can use mine,’ Lauren said. ‘It’s in my desk drawer.’
‘You’re a good friend,’ Anna smiled. ‘My English is rotten, it’s so nice having another Russian to talk to.’
Anna pulled the phone out of the drawer and flipped it open, but then stood staring at the keys. Lauren jumped off her bed with the last triangle of chocolate bulging in her cheek.
‘Give us,’ Lauren said. ‘Tell me the number.’
‘Two, six, one, two, seven, one.’
Lauren shook her head. ‘That won’t work, that’s just the local number. You need the area code and the country code for Russia.’
‘Pardon?’
‘Extra numbers,’ Lauren explained.
‘Where from?’
‘I can get them from the operator, as long as you know where the place you’re dialling is.’
Anna smacked herself on the forehead. ‘I’m so stupid,’ she gasped. ‘I’ve tried before from the phone box near school; that’s why it didn’t work.’
It took Lauren a couple of minutes to call the operator and get the correct codes for Nizhniy Novgorod and dial the number.
‘It’s ringing.’ Lauren handed the phone across to Anna.
‘Hello,’ Anna said, putting on a deep voice.
*
John Jones sat in his bed and breakfast half a kilometre away. He listened to Anna’s conversation, with a laptop spread on the bed in front of him. The computer was doing a reverse search of the Russian telephone directory, via a secure link to CHERUB campus.
‘Who is this?’ a woman asked.
‘My name is Yasha,’ Anna said. ‘I’m a school friend of Polya’s. Can I speak with her?’
‘Polya isn’t here any more,’ the woman answered sourly.
‘Oh,’ Anna said, slipping into her normal voice for a moment. ‘I have a book she lent me. Can you tell me where she is?’
‘I don’t know,’ the woman snapped. ‘I’m not a secretary.’
An address flashed up in Cyrillic letters on John Jones’ laptop:
Underage Care Unit 7
The Municipal Building
Main Square
Nizhniy Novgorod
Russia
‘She lent me a book,’ Anna repeated. ‘I’d like to give it back to her.’
The woman made a sound like a door creaking and followed it with a knowing laugh. ‘Anna,’ she said slyly. ‘I thought I’d seen the last of you.’
The call abruptly went dead.
*
Anna turned ghostly white as she snapped the phone shut.
‘My friend is gone,’ she choked. ‘I hoped she’d tell me about Georgy, but I suppose they sent her away too.’
‘If it’s a children’s home, they’ll look after him, won’t they?’
‘Georgy is cute,’ Anna said, matter-of-factly. ‘Not many people want kids our age, but now I’m out of the way he’ll be adopted easily. I’ll never see him again.’
Lauren put her arm around Anna’s back as a tear ran down her face.
‘They mustn’t send me back there,’ Anna sobbed. ‘So keep quiet about this, OK?’
*
It was dark and bitterly cold as James headed out of his last lesson and towards the training compound. Bruce ran up behind and slapped him on the back.
‘How’s your gob?’ he asked.
‘Not bad,’ James told him. ‘Bit of a fat lip.’
‘Stuart Russell’s in my woodwork class,’ Bruce grinned. ‘I grabbed hold of a chisel, went up to him and said: You got a problem with me, sunshine? All the colour went out of his face. I swear, he looked like he was gonna shit his pants.’
‘Is Stuart hard?’ James asked. ‘He was acting pretty confident.’
Bruce shook his head. ‘Stuart’s all mouth. Lauren could probably take him.’
James laughed. ‘Lauren could probably take me. She might be little, but you just try getting hold of her.’
‘Anyway,’ Bruce said, ‘stop smiling. We’ve got a job to do.’
Kevin was waiting when they reached the wooden obstacle, dressed for the cold weather in a thick jacket, gloves and woolly hat.
‘Think you’re pretty smart, don’t you?’ Bruce said, as he grabbed Kevin by the scruff of his jacket and squeezed him against a wooden post. ‘Telling your cousin all about us. Trying to make trouble.’
‘I was just talking,’ Kevin squirmed. ‘I didn’t know he’d come after you …’
‘You pull another stunt like that and I’ll personally find the most disgusting toilet on campus and shove your head down it. Understand?’
‘Yes, sir,’ Kevin said meekly.
‘We saw progress last night,’ James said,