Black Friday (CHERUB) - Robert Muchamore Page 0,17

your pockets and take a stroll. If they stop you, just say your guts are playing up. Your dad’s in the shower and you were looking for somewhere to take a shit.’

‘Right,’ Ryan said. ‘Shall I go now?’

Kazakov shook his head. ‘Give it half an hour. Rest up and give them a chance to let their guard down. Plus it’ll be nearly dark by then.’

As the sun set in Alabama, it was 4 a.m. on CHERUB campus. James Adams was sleeping in the third-floor quarters he was sharing with Bruce when he got woken by an unfamiliar ringtone.

‘Are you gonna answer that?’ James shouted, as he sat up.

Single staff quarters on campus were similar to the kids’ rooms on the upper floors, except there was a sliding partition between the bedroom and living area, plus a mini kitchen with oven and hob.

Bruce was on a sofa bed in the living-room and he yelled back. ‘It’s your phone.’

‘I know my own ringtone,’ James said irritably.

‘It’s coming out of your trousers.’

James huffed as he threw his duvet off, flicked on a bedside light and got up to investigate.

‘Told you,’ Bruce said, as James pulled the ringing iPhone from his jeans.

But not only did James not recognise the ringtone, he didn’t recognise the name Dr D flashing on the screen.

James pressed the answer button. ‘Hello?’

‘Amy, it’s Dr D. There’s a problem with Ryan and Kazakov. You’ll have to let Zara Asker know ASAP because this could turn bad.’

‘Hold your horses,’ James said. ‘Amy’s not here, but I can find her if it’s urgent.’

James had no idea that Dr D was Amy’s boss, but she sounded furious. ‘Why do you have her phone? Who are you?’

‘I know where she is,’ James said, ignoring Dr D’s question. ‘I’ll get her to call you right back.’

‘How’d you get Amy’s phone?’ Bruce asked, once James had hung up.

James started pulling on his jeans so that he could walk down the corridor to the room where Amy was staying.

‘After dinner me and Amy went skinny-dipping,’ James explained. ‘Amy said she fancied me, so we ended up bonking on a pile of swimming floats.’

Bruce tutted. ‘Right, James. In your dreams!’

James grinned to himself, because he’d told the truth knowing that Bruce wouldn’t believe it.

‘How can you be so certain?’ James asked.

‘First, Amy’s always gone for older guys,’ Bruce explained. ‘Second, Kerry’s got you on a tight leash, and third, you’ve always been a colossal bullshitter.’

‘Well argued,’ James said. But he’d lost his smile as he headed out of the door because Bruce had put Kerry’s name in his head and this was only the third time he’d cheated on her since retiring as a CHERUB agent.

Amy was four doors along the hallway and the door wasn’t locked.

‘You’ve got my iPhone,’ James said accusingly, as Amy rubbed her eyes. ‘Someone called Dr D rang for you.’

‘Shit, that’s my boss,’ Amy said, as she sprang up. ‘That must be your phone in the charger over there.’

James picked his phone out of the charging cradle as Amy called Dr D. As the call rang in her ear, Amy made a shoo gesture at James.

‘I’m sorry but it’s confidential,’ Amy said. ‘Do you mind?’

10. RANCH

A double-trailer truck pulled up at the ranch house as Ryan stood by the mobile home’s open doorway. He felt trapped, by their predicament and by the sweaty T-shirt glued to his back. He needed sleep badly, but he got a mental image of Tracy’s blood spattered on cockpit glass every time he closed his eyes.

Kazakov knelt on the sofa at the bay window, peeking between filthy net curtains into the twilight. He caught the reflection on an aluminium air-cargo box as it got wheeled from the truck’s rear trailer.

‘Explosives?’ Ryan asked, as he came close to see what Kazakov was looking at.

‘Can’t see what else it would be,’ Kazakov said. ‘The timing fits: half an hour behind us.’

They watched for a couple more minutes and Ryan thought he recognised some of the guys who’d been at the landing strip. Kazakov had put a TV on, but the signal was poor and Ryan took a couple of seconds to make out the news anchor on screen with a burning plane in the background.

‘Did you turn the sound off?’ Ryan asked.

It was an ancient set with a knob for the volume and Kazakov demonstrated by raising his beefy arm and twiddling it.

‘Speaker cuts in and out,’ he explained. ‘Loose wire or something. I’ve read a couple of on-screen banners. One