runway while the jet was refuelled turned into a snowball fight. By the time they touched down at another USAF base in Arizona three hours later, John and the kids were sick of being cooped up and desperate for some hot food.
The change in time zones meant it was 7:45 a.m., just twenty minutes after theyt set off from England. As they stepped off the plane, the sun was breaking and the air felt dry, on what looked like becoming a typical sunny day in the Arizona desert.
An Air Force man in a jumpsuit, mirrored sunglasses and ear protectors brusquely ordered them to follow the yellow line painted on the tarmac to the terminal ?though terminal was a grand description for a metal hut with a chipboard floor, five seats and a coffee machine. The only person inside was a stocky black man wearing a powder-blue suit and cowboy hat. He stood up and shook Johne hand.
Larvin Teller, FBI special ops.?
Lood finally to meet you in the flesh,?John replied.
Ind these three must be the undercover team.?
Marvin crushed Dave and James?hands as he shook them. James realised it was a test of character and didnt wince. When Marvin got to Lauren, he pulled his hand away and broke into a smile.
Now old is this little lady??Marvin asked. Coesnt look like shee been out of diapers more than a couple of months.?
it ten,?Lauren said defensively. Lhate a diaper??
James smirked. ite what the Yanks call nappies.?
To, you all hungry??Marvin asked. i know a diner a few miles down the way that?? fill you up with a gut-busting breakfast at four bucks a head.?
*
After stuffing themselves with steaks, hash brown, eggs and toast, Marvin took John and the kids on a sixty-mile journey along the interstate in a black saloon car. Everyone craned their necks around when they passed the exit marked Arizona Maximum Security Penitentiary, but the prison was set in a desert basin two miles from the turnoff, so there was nothing to see except the Arizona state flag and a few hundred metres of sand-swept tarmac.
They finished up at a lonely wooden house, at the end of a secluded dirt track, twenty miles from the prison. The sun had cracked the paint off the wooden slats covering the outside, while the inside suggested that the previous inhabitants had been elderly. There were extra handrails on the stairs and two high-backed chairs in the living-room, pointing towards an ancient TV that made you get off your butt and twiddle a knob to change the channel.
Lete found ourselves a friendly judge who?? hear James and Davee guilty plea early on Thursday morning,?Marvin explained. That gives you the rest of today and all of tomorrow to settle in and rest up. Theree food in the fridge and two cars in the garage, both with blacked-out windows like you asked for.?
Las that a problem??John asked.
Marvin shook his head. I lot of people have the windows darkened out here in the desert. It keeps the sun off.?
i want to get these kids some driving experience on American roads,?John explained. They?? need it during the escape and we dont want anyone seeing James or Lauren behind the wheel.?
ite got errands to run at my office over in Phoenix,?Marvin said. i?? be coming back to drive you to the courthouse Thursday morning. I?? also be sending our undercover officer inside Arizona Max up here to give the boys some pointers on keeping out of trouble on the inside.?
*
By noon, the temperature was up in the thirties and the antiquated air conditioning in the house seemed to be expending all its effort on making noise, rather than actually cooling anything down.
John was permanently on the phone, either to CHERUB campus or the FBI office in Phoenix, so James and Dave took it upon themselves to sweep out the bottom of the small outdoor swimming pool and try filling it up. They found pool chemicals in the garage, but the filter was blocked and all they got for their efforts was a little brown puddle and mucky fingers.
Lauren sat beside the pool on a plastic lounger, reading background material for the mission and watching the sweat patches on the boys?shirts growing bigger. Shet have liked a swim herself, but the campus doctor had told her to keep her foot dry until the wound on her sole healed up.
The boys eventually gave up and went inside to shower and change clothes. When they re-emerged, they stood on either side of Laurene