Lone Wolf - Robert Muchamore Page 0,36

a few metres away. The apartment’s front window was boarded up and there was a CCTV camera pointing along the balcony.

‘Hello!’ Ryan shouted, as he pressed the doorbell and banged on the door. Then more desperately, ‘Can you open the door?’

But there was no sign of life inside the apartment. The man with enormous arms was coming around the balcony, and the other two had somehow got through the fire door Ryan hadn’t been able to move and were closing in from the other side.

‘Give us the bag,’ Giant Arms said.

‘Come and get it,’ Ryan said, feeling fairly confident that he was speedy enough to dodge the fat man’s blows. But a clicking noise came from behind and Ryan jolted when he saw a handgun out the corner of his eye.

‘Give us the bag, kid.’

The sight of the gun pushed Ryan into shock and he backed up to the apartment. One guy put a hand on the backpack and Ryan didn’t resist as he ran the strap down his arm. As soon as his opponent had the pack, the big dude swooped with a fist in the guts.

As Ryan doubled over, another guy punched him twice, and with the gun pointing at him he didn’t dare fight back. Next came a blow to the mouth, and a kick in the back of the legs that left Ryan sprawled across the ground in a daze.

As Ryan covered himself, fearing more blows, a hand went down the pocket of his shorts and extracted his mobile phone. Finally Ryan felt a kick to the head that knocked him cold.

*

Fay had sneaked back to her foster-home in Elstree to pick up more of her stuff, but she’d yet to attend her school there and spent most of her time in the Kentish Town area, finding out as much as she could about Hagar’s operations.

‘You wanna sneak into Nebraska House tonight?’ Ning asked, as she sat alongside Fay on a park bench, watching the dramatic sunset.

Fay nodded. ‘Nobody’s noticed me so far, and that airbed you found is quite comfy.’

But as Ning stood up, Fay felt her mobile vibrate in her pocket. The voice on the other end was familiar, but took her a few seconds to place.

‘Warren?’ Fay said.

‘You know what you said about information?’ Warren said. ‘What’s my cut?’

‘I can give you fifty quid for any decent info.’

Warren laughed. ‘I’m not gonna sell my crew out for fifty quid. I want a cut, a percentage.’

Fay paused for a minute. ‘A cut of what?’

Warren spoke softly, like he was afraid of being overheard. ‘Hagar’s got a house off Tufnell Park Road. It’s like a secret backup. Even if Hagar’s entire supply gets stolen, he can use what’s in the house to stay in business.’

Fay looked intrigued. ‘How come you know about this place?’

‘My cousin’s a carpenter, who does odd jobs for Hagar. He spent three days working in the house, putting in CCTV. I only know because it’s near my nan’s place and he kept coming round blagging sandwiches and cups of tea while he was on the job.’

‘So there’s a lot of security?’ Fay asked.

‘I guess there’s some. But there’s no guards. Just Hagar’s brother, Clay.’

Fay perked up when she sensed the opportunity to get at someone close to Hagar. ‘So where is it?’ she asked.

Warren laughed. ‘I want a third of whatever money you make.’

Fay tutted. ‘What risks are you taking? Finder’s fee is never more than ten per cent.’

‘Twenty-five,’ Warren said.

‘Twenty.’

Warren paused for a second. ‘All right, I’ll text you the address.’

Once Warren hung up, Fay explained the deal to Ning.

‘What if Warren didn’t like us invading his crib and this is his plan to get back at us?’

‘I suppose that’s possible,’ Fay said.

‘And surely anything valuable will be kept in a safe?’

‘Probably,’ Fay agreed. ‘Jobs like this always take planning, but it’s nothing I can’t handle.’

21. LIPS

‘Are you all right, son?’

Ryan opened one eye and saw a blurry female figure standing over him. His mouth was full of blood and his abs exploded with pain when he tried to get off the concrete. His instinct was to call James, but he found an empty pocket where his phone should have been.

The middle-aged woman offered Ryan an arm. He took it, and used it along with the balcony railing to haul himself up. His mouth was uncomfortably full of blood and he had no option but to spit it out. He felt around with his tongue, fearing he’d lost a tooth,