Lone Wolf - Robert Muchamore Page 0,33

shook her head. ‘It’s never worth robbing a street crew. They’re always on high alert for cops and even if you got close you’d be lucky to get two hundred in drugs and cash. You’ve got to go for big quantities to make robbing worth the risk.’

‘So why are we looking at street dealers?’

‘Rupert gave us an idea where to find dealers, now we need one of ’em to work for us.’

‘An informant on the inside?’ Ning asked.

Fay nodded. ‘It’s the hardest part of any operation, but my aunt taught me a few tricks.’

‘Pretend you fancy them?’ Ning asked.

‘Only as a last resort,’ Fay said, as she gave a little shudder.

After making a detailed tour of the estate, the two girls settled on a bench with a decent view over The Hangout. The youth club wasn’t officially open but there was a group of teenaged boys hanging around near the entrance and every so often one of them went inside.

‘What are we looking for?’ Ning asked.

Fay shrugged. ‘I’ll know when I see it.’

‘You reckon all these boys are working for Hagar?’

‘Lookouts, runners and wannabes,’ Fay said.

Ning was bored after half an hour on the bench, but Fay seemed fascinated. Ning was momentarily interested when she saw Ryan and Youssef roll up carrying heavily laden backpacks.

‘Could be drugs,’ Ning said.

Fay laughed. ‘What, in broad daylight in the centre of the estate? You’ve got a lot to learn.’

‘So who are they?’

‘Well, if they come out with those backpacks empty, we’ll know they’ve delivered something.’

‘Like what?’

‘Anything drug dealers need,’ Fay explained. ‘Milk powder for cutting drugs, plastic bags, mobile phones.’

Sure enough, Ryan and Youssef emerged a few minutes later minus their backpacks and looking pleased with themselves. Ryan briefly stood around with the mini-crew outside The Hangout, before taking the two hundred-metre stroll back home.

A few minutes after Ryan left, another kid appeared. He was nothing special to look at but Fay’s eyes were wide open.

‘Check out Mr Frizzy Hair,’ she said.

Ning was mystified. ‘What about him?’

‘The body language,’ Fay said. ‘All the other kids want to bump fists with him. And he’s a little better dressed, like he’s someone with some money in his pocket.’

CHERUB had trained Ning to pick up signs like this and she felt stupid for missing them. ‘He could just have wealthy parents,’ she said.

‘If he did it’s unlikely he’d be hanging around here.’

‘So what do we do?’

‘We’ll follow him,’ Fay said. ‘I want to know where he lives.’

19. WARREN

Fay and Ning followed their target across the Pemberton estate and on a short bus ride to a shabby housing block close to Hampstead Heath. Shortly before 7 p.m. he left his house on a bike and they had no way to follow him.

When it got dark just before ten, Fay moved in close and looked through the ground-floor apartment’s front windows.

‘Looks like it’s just his mum at home,’ Fay said. ‘No sign of a father or siblings as far as I can see.’

‘I’m tired,’ Ning moaned. ‘Someone’s gonna spot us if we keep hanging around.’

Fay sounded irritated. ‘Just go if you want to.’

‘You can’t stay here all night,’ Ning said. ‘You’ve got to sleep some time.’

It was a quarter to midnight when their target returned and wheeled his bike into a hallway. He turned on a light in a first-floor bedroom, and threw the window wide open to catch a breeze.

‘I reckon he’s in for the night now,’ Fay said, as she glanced at her watch.

‘The last train to Totteridge will have gone,’ Ning said. ‘But I reckon I can smuggle you into my room at Nebraska House.’

Ning earned a mild rebuke from the night supervisor for staying out after curfew and smuggled Fay into her room via a door at the back of the kitchens. The slender bed wasn’t big enough to share, so Fay wound up on the floor with bundled clothes for a pillow. Both girls slept well and nobody raised an eyebrow as Fay showered and ate breakfast with the other residents of Nebraska House.

‘What’s today’s plan?’ Ning asked.

‘Back to our target’s apartment,’ Fay said.

‘For how long?’ Ning asked wearily.

‘However long it takes,’ Fay answered. ‘This is my battle, if you’re not interested I’ll handle it on my own.’

As a CHERUB agent Ning knew she had to stick with Fay, but as a human being she didn’t relish the prospect of another hot, boring day following people around. After sneaking off and making a quick call to update James, Ning followed Fay back to