kids. You know?’
Kazakov grunted. ‘I’ve seen a lot of men die, James. Some of them weren’t much older than you and a lot of them would still be around if they’d been trained by someone like me instead of someone like you.’
As Kazakov sat on the edge of his fold-up bed and began unlacing his boots, James realised that he needed to pee before going to bed and stepped back out of the tent.
He couldn’t bear to look at the moonlit silhouettes of Kevin and Ronan, with their arms struggling to hold the rifles in the air. He cut through the gap between the command tent and his own as Dana’s torch suddenly lit up his face.
‘All right big man?’ she sneered. ‘Proud of yourself?’
James tutted and shook his head. ‘You should have been there when they tied me up, Dana. It was basically high spirits with Kevin, but Ronan’s a nasty piece of work.’
‘Two wrongs never make a right,’ Dana said.
‘I hate helping out with training,’ James moaned. ‘I know why CHERUB does it, I know they have to, but I’m not cut out for it. Pushing little kids around is depressing. I’m starting to think about seeing Meryl and asking to take extra exams instead.’
‘At least you’re flying home in the morning.’
James looked surprised. ‘You what?’
‘I guess Pike didn’t get a chance to tell you. There are only seven trainees now and Jo’s got a broken ankle so she needs someone to fly back to Britain with her.’
‘Sweet,’ James grinned. ‘I could kill for a proper shower and a dossy night in front of the telly.’
Dana grinned back reluctantly. ‘Anyway, I’m shattered and we’ve all got to be up in five hours.’
‘Do I get a goodnight kiss?’
Dana was almost as tall as James and she gave him a gentle peck. ‘Not that you deserve it after you snitched on little Kev.’
‘I reckon he’ll survive,’ James shrugged. ‘Pike clearly doesn’t want another trainee to fail.’
James pecked Dana back then tried going for a full-on snog, but she wouldn’t have it.
‘I’m too tired.’
‘But we might not get another chance until we’re back on campus.’
‘Whatever,’ Dana shrugged. ‘All I want is sleep.’
‘Night then,’ James said, sounding a touch wounded.
As they backed away from each other, Dana whispered a warning. ‘And don’t go anywhere near the third bush on the left beside the big tree. I just did something that you wouldn’t want to put your boot in.’
9. WOOF
Meatball was an eleven-month-old beagle. Bred for experimentation, the little dog had been rescued by James Adams’ sister Lauren when they’d infiltrated an animal rights group the previous summer.
CHERUB agents aren’t allowed to keep pets, so when the mission was over Meatball ended up living with chairwoman Zara Asker and her family in their detached house half a kilometre from CHERUB campus.
Although Zara’s kids got rough at times, Meatball had settled into a comfortable routine, with a cosy dog basket beside the sofa, a big garden to run around and visitors from campus who made a fuss and took him for walks.
But on this particular Thursday, Meatball had worked out that something was wrong. Zara or Ewart always brought the kids home from nursery before it got dark. None of the house lights were on, his water bowl was dry and he ended up huddled under the telephone table, where he usually went to sulk after getting yelled at for chewing something.
Meatball sprang up when he heard a key in the front door and started barking when he recognised Lauren’s smell through the letterbox.
‘Hello, Meatball,’ Lauren said fondly, as she ran her hands through his bristly coat and felt his tongue lap at her bare ankle. ‘Is you a lonely doggykins? Did they all go out and leave you on your own?’
Meatball had reached adult size, but he was still a young dog and he liked to play. Lauren hadn’t visited for over a week and was pleased to see him, but she couldn’t get Gabrielle’s fight for life out of her mind. The whole of CHERUB campus was on tenterhooks.
Meatball scratched at the door, wanting a walk, then realised it was feeding time as Lauren headed for the kitchen. She flicked on the light and reached into the cupboard above the oven. Lauren was vegetarian, and it pleased her that the Askers had stuck to their promise to feed the animal she’d given them with vegetarian food.
After refilling the water bowl, Lauren snipped open the plastic food packet and smiled when she found