CHERUB: The Killing - Robert Muchamore Page 0,76

the engine management system. This consisted of a small blue circuit board with a row of microchips on it. John rocked the board loose from its socket and replaced it with an identical one that had been shorted out.

John got back into the driver’s seat and turned the ignition key. Instead of the engine starting, he got crazy beeping sounds and the indicator lights on the dashboard flickering like Christmas decorations. Satisfied that the car wouldn’t run, he locked it up and walked towards the house.

The front door was on the latch. After replacing the car keys in Michael’s jacket, John found Dave sitting on the living-room couch using a Palm Pilot handheld computer.

‘All set?’ John asked.

Dave nodded. ‘I’m running a diagnostic on the bugs. I’ve put in five altogether, which should cover the entire house. Chloe’s getting a strong signal back at the hotel. Did everything go OK with the car?’

‘Pretty much. You need to be a pro-wrestler to steer that thing though.’

Dave grinned. ‘Hardly surprising under the circumstances.’

‘You can head back to Palm Hill if you’re done here,’ John said. ‘I know you’ve got to be in work early tomorrow.’

‘What about Kerry?’

‘Oh, I forgot she’s still up there,’ John grinned. ‘Do you mind dropping her off at the hotel on your way home? I’ll have to sit it out here for at least another couple of hours. We can’t have Charlotte waking up and roaming the house while her parents are unconscious.’

‘No worries,’ Dave said.

John reached into his trousers and pulled out a set of car keys. ‘I’ll take the van, because we’ll need it back here tomorrow morning. These are for a little yellow Mitsubishi; it’s parked up the top of the road, about a hundred metres on the left.’

‘Cheers, John,’ Dave said, as he swiped the keys and stood up. ‘So far so good eh?’

‘Touch wood,’ John replied, as he leaned forward and tapped his fingers on the top of the coffee table. ‘Have a safe drive home and good luck with Leon at the car lot tomorrow.’

31. DISHARMONY

07:59

Kerry woke up with bits of popcorn stuck to her legs. They’d tidied up, but she was still finding it everywhere, including between her bedclothes. She’d had less than five hours’ sleep, but she wanted to know how the mission was progressing.

She looked across to the next bed and realised Lauren was already up, then slipped into the grubby jeans and T-shirt she’d worn the night before and scooted across to the bathroom. After a pee and a quick gargle of mouthwash, she found Lauren, Chloe and John gathered around the surveillance equipment in the adjoining room. All three wore headsets.

‘What did I miss?’

‘Morning, Kerry,’ John smiled. ‘Nothing huge. We’re just ear-wigging on some domestic disharmony.’

Lauren pulled a headphone out of one ear and held it out for Kerry. ‘It’s hilarious actually,’ she explained. ‘Michael and Patricia are having a row over who takes Charlotte to nursery. Charlotte chucked a fit. She hurled her cereal bowl and called her daddy a bum head.’

‘Mike has mentioned Millie ringing about the complaint,’ Chloe added. ‘He hasn’t admitted anything, but it’s definitely playing on his mind.’

Kerry squeezed on to the edge of Lauren’s chair and plugged the foam-covered loudspeaker into her ear. The sound from the bug Dave had fitted into the kitchen light was excellent: she could hear all the little details, like Charlotte murmuring to herself and the washing machine going around.

08:25

Over at Palm Hill, James and Dave sat at their dining table eating bacon sandwiches. James was finishing a long explanation about what had happened with Kerry the night before. Dave didn’t exactly look fascinated.

‘It was wild, Dave,’ James enthused. ‘I don’t know where I found the guts to do it, but it was the best kiss ever. Like a million volts of electricity, or something. But now she’s back to not talking to me again. Except she is, kind of, when she feels like it … What do you reckon I should do?’

Dave leaned back in his chair and scratched beneath the logo on his greasy Tarasov Prestige Motors polo shirt. ‘Tricky,’ Dave said. ‘I mean, she kissed you, which means she obviously still fancies you.’

James nodded. ‘That’s what I thought.’

‘And there’s definitely no other boyfriend in the equation?’

‘Not that I know of.’

‘And she dumped you and threw your boots at your head, then went really nuts when you battered poor little Andy?’

James nodded again.

‘Sounds like more trouble than it’s worth to me. What’s wrong with Hannah