Full Speed

by Jacqueline Harvey

  ‘Max,’ she said, tugging on his sleeve. ‘It’s him.’ Kensy pointed.

  Enclosed by granite walls the cemetery was accessed via a staircase on the other side of the bridge.

  ‘Come on, we’ve got to get closer. I want to take some pictures and see who he’s with,’ Max said then grabbed his sister’s hand and pulled her along with him. They made their way into the grounds, keeping an eye on the man who was standing in front of a headstone towards the middle of the cemetery. The person opposite him was the same height and was wearing a black beanie and a dark jacket, but they couldn’t see his face.

  The twins were doing their best to keep low and out of sight, while getting as close as possible. As they dashed along a row of headstones two over from the man, they spied a young woman. She was kneeling by one of the graves, laying a bouquet of dark red roses. She genuflected then kissed a cross around her neck and pressed her palms together, all the while her eyes were closed.

  The twins hurried past, not wanting to interrupt the woman’s silent meditations. They skittered between the graves and crouched down behind one of the tallest stones.

  The men were speaking German, which wasn’t a problem for the twins. Along with French, it was their most fluent language after English due to years of being tutored by their mother and Fitz.

  Max leaned around and for the first time got a clear view of the man and the person he was speaking to.

  He pulled back, his heart racing.

  ‘There’s two of them – and they look exactly the same,’ he whispered to his sister.

  ‘So I was right. The fake firefighter has a twin, but what are they both doing here in Zermatt?’ she mouthed back. ‘Is he looking for you? And how would he know that we’re here?’

  Max shrugged and pulled out his phone to take some photographs. His stomach was churning.

  ‘Where is he?’ one of the men asked loudly.

  ‘I don’t know. He said that he’d meet us at four,’ the other man said. ‘I don’t know why it has to be here in the cemetery. This place gives me the creeps.’

  Max shivered. It wasn’t the cemetery that made him feel that way – it was those two and their evil eyes.

  One of them took a phone out of his pocket and typed something while the other kept watch, scanning the area. At one point he was staring right at the children, but thankfully they were shielded by a low shrub as well as the gravestone.

  Seconds later there was a ting.

  The man looked at the screen. ‘He’s in the chapel. Let’s go.’

  The pair turned and walked towards the little church on the edge of the grounds. Kensy and Max waited until the men were some distance away before they popped their heads up and went after them.

  The men slipped through the front doors and closed them again, which wasn’t ideal. The twins circled the building to see if there were any windows other than the tiny stained-glass ones, to no avail, but it looked like there was another access point. Max tried the handle. It wasn’t locked so he pushed the door open and peered inside. He soon realised they were in a small antechamber, probably where the priest did his preparations before a service.

  There was another internal door. Kensy knelt down and looked through the keyhole. She could see the men on the other side.

  Her eyes widened when she realised who it was they were meeting.

  ‘It’s Axel,’ she mouthed to her brother.

  Max frowned. What was he doing with the pair?

  Kensy pressed her ear to the hole, listening to their conversation.

  ‘Pick-up is tomorrow, late afternoon,’ she heard. ‘As long as the transporters can get through, but the shipment is not as big this time. I have the paperwork signed off – and we can do that anytime we like now, after my recent visit to Parliament. There should be no problem getting it into the United Kingdom.’

  ‘I think they’re talking about the guns,’ Kensy whispered to her brother, but she was shocked to hear that they were bound for England. She leaned in close again, eager to hear more.

  ‘Good,’ Axel said. She could tell it was him, having heard his husky voice at the coffee shop yesterday morning. ‘After this transaction I will be leaving.’

  ‘What!’ one of the other men exclaimed. ‘Why?’

  Max leaned his head against his sister’s, trying to hear them too.

  ‘You do not have to live with those two imbeciles,’ Axel said. ‘I cannot stand it a moment longer. The diets, the constant need to be told how great they look and how smart they are. But they are not that smart really. And you must make sure that if things go awry, you know where the fingers will point.’

  ‘This is news about you leaving,’ one of the other men said. ‘What exactly are your plans?’

  ‘None at the moment. I have made enough money to buy a place somewhere sunny and take time to consider what comes next. Perhaps you two should think about that before you are too old to enjoy your life,’ Axel explained.

  Kensy and Max looked at one another. So the twins worked with Axel and therefore with Fox and Heike too. Though it didn’t sound as if Axel was especially happy, hence he was leaving.

  ‘We should have been recording this,’ Max whispered, wishing he’d thought about that before now. Regardless the children had a huge amount of information. But they still had to find out what that fake firefighter had been doing in the Houses of Parliament at Westminster – and why he said that he could have paperwork signed off anytime now. They also needed to figure out his relationship with James Strawbridge – if there was one.

  ‘Let me know when it is done and the money has been transferred. It has been nice doing business with you,’ Axel said. ‘Oh, and tell your sister she needs to up her game. Heike mentioned her to me yesterday and said that she was worried her conversion rate was dropping off.’

  ‘I don’t think that’s true. She is about to sign a very big fish – today, I think,’ one of the men said.

  Max wondered what that was supposed to mean.

  ‘We still don’t have any names,’ Kensy hissed, far more loudly than she’d meant to.

  ‘Shush, what was that?’ Axel said.

  Max looked at his sister and pressed his finger to his lips.

  They could hear footsteps heading towards the door. The twins both held their breath. Suddenly the handle rattled but it didn’t turn.

  Max pressed his eye to the keyhole and for a second wondered why he couldn’t see anything. But then he realised. There was another eye staring back at him. An eye so dark and frightening he jumped into the air, clattering against a chair and creating much more noise than his sister had done.

  ‘Come on, we need to get out of here,’ Max pulled Kensy to her feet and they took off out the door. Running, they sped from the churchyard and crossed the bridge then turned onto the path beside the river. Without a word between them the twins raced home, their pounding hearts almost bursting out of their chests. At least they’d got away without being seen!

  ‘What is with those brats?’ Axel frowned, standing outside the chapel. ‘That boy – he smacked me in the head with his skis yesterday. Who is he?’

  ‘I think I saw him when I was in the supermarket last night,’ Damon Meyer said. ‘They were both there, but left in a hurry.’

  His twin Daniel glowered. ‘I know exactly who he is. His name is Max Grey and he’s the brat that took the photographs of me in the Houses of Parliament last week.’

  ‘What the heck is he doing here?’ Damon demanded.

  ‘That’s a very good question. I was asking about him at his school yesterday, but his friends are very loyal. It was fortunate I came upon a blabbermouth called Blair who was more than happy to tell me about him. His grandmother is Cordelia Spencer, the owner of the Beacon newspaper,’ Daniel said.

  ‘What?’ Axel’s jaw almost hit the ground.

  ‘He will not be a problem. Snow sports are dangerous at the best of times and so are the mountains by their very nature,’ Daniel sneered.
>
  The other two men grinned.

  ‘Do a good job then,’ Axel said. ‘We don’t need any slip-ups at this point in time.’

  The twins arrived home minutes after their father had returned from his business trip. Amid much puffing and panting they told their parents, Fitz and Song what they’d seen and heard about the arms deal, blurting everything they’d learned about the evil firefighter being a twin and that he and his brother, for whom they still didn’t have any names, were working with Axel and the Van Leers, though Axel was planning to leave as soon as this shipment was dispatched. They also filled their father in about what Kensy had ‘heard’ earlier from Heike about their grandmother via her new ‘listening device’.

  Meanwhile Song produced a calming brew, which quickly brought the children down from their feverish excitement. Fitz reported that he was feeling much improved, having had a decent sleep and some strong painkillers, though Anna warned him that there would still be some stiffness for a little while. Ed said that his and Rupert’s meeting in Bern had gone very well and they’d been impressed by what they’d seen, at least virtually, of the data storage facility at an unspecified location in the Alps – meaning it could be anywhere along the Swiss border for several thousand kilometres. Rupert had flown straight back to London as he was worried about Cordelia who was under more strain than usual.

  ‘We really need to identify those twins,’ Ed said. ‘And I’ll alert Mother. Given that one of them has links to Strawbridge, this mission has just become inherently more dangerous. The man is one of the most powerful in the UK and from what you heard those weapons are bound for England. We’d better get a tail on all known domestic terrorist organisations too.’

  ‘It was lucky Axel didn’t see us at the church,’ Kensy said.

  Max agreed. It was one less thing to worry about.

  Before the family headed off to get changed for their dinner at the Van Leers’, Song had produced a metal suitcase with the most extraordinary array of bugs, which he duly distributed to the twins, Anna and Ed, ready for placement around their hosts’ chalet. They each had a selection housed in small silver cases. Song would be attending the dinner too, but Fitz was staying home to do some research about possible transit routes from the bunker through the mountains.

  Ed rang the Van Leers’ doorbell at exactly six o’clock. Unsurprisingly it was Sylvie the housekeeper who greeted the family and attended to their coats and boots before they were ushered into a large lift and taken up four flights to the main floor, which boasted walls of windows and twinkling views of the village below. The chalet was huge – at least twice the size of the Spencers’ place.

  The startling decor included a sunken circular couch with built in coffee tables wrapped around a hanging fireplace that was the centrepiece of the room. Upholstered in cobalt blue velvet, it clashed horribly with the purple dining chairs and an orange shag pile rug.

  Sylvie disappeared, leaving the family on their own. They hovered near the lift at the end of the room, awaiting their hosts while doing a visual reconnaissance, noting the various knick-knacks and furniture where they might conceal their cameras and listening devices. The place was brimming with garish tat, as the twins’ grandmother would have called it. The artworks were interesting too, with an enormous painting of a zebra wearing a fedora and various modernist pieces.

  ‘Good evening, everyone.’ Fox swept into the room through a hallway off the far wall. Though it was his hair that seemed to enter first. ‘Dr Spencer, how wonderful to see you. I trust that you have had a good day – though the weather has been very unpleasant.’

  Anna bit down on her lip to stop herself from laughing. The man was wearing a lime green silk tracksuit, the long sleeved jacket zipped about halfway up his hairless chest.

  ‘Hello, Mr Van Leer. May I introduce my husband, Edward,’ the woman said. ‘And you’ve met Maxim and Kensington and dear Uncle Song.’

  Kensy giggled at the description and Song elbowed her much harder than he’d meant to, eliciting an ‘Ow!’ from the girl, which was silenced by a glare from her father.

  The group shook hands.

  ‘Ever since we met this morning your name has been tumbling around in my mind,’ Fox said. ‘Spencer, and now I have realised that you are Edward Spencer. Your mother is Cordelia, the media baroness. How extraordinary it is to meet you.’

  Ed was thinking the same thing, though for very different reasons. Given what Kensy had discovered earlier with Heike talking about his mother, he wondered what the pair was up to.

  ‘Heike, Soren!’ Fox shouted and clapped his hands together, summoning his wife and son. The woman appeared via the same route as her husband – a vision in citrus, clearly having taken Song’s comments that morning to heart. Heike’s long bleached hair had been curled and teased and was sitting almost as high on her head as Fox’s wiry coif.

  ‘Please, come and take a seat,’ Fox held out his arm towards the couch. ‘I am fascinated to hear about your business.’

  He then snapped his fingers and Sylvie appeared, scurrying to his side.

  ‘Where is Soren? Go and get him and tell him that our guests – hissss friends,’ he hissed, ‘have arrived and his absence will not be tolerated. Find Axel too. I would like him to join us.’

  At the mention of the man’s name Max’s blood ran cold and his sister shivered.

  The woman hurried away downstairs while Fox plastered the smile back on his face.

  ‘Soren is studying,’ Fox said. ‘Given that he is not nearly as clever as his mama and papa, it is important that he works hard.’

  Max wanted to kick the conceited piece of work in the shins. What sort of parent said that about their child? Even if it might be true, it wasn’t very kind.

  In the minutes since the family had arrived, Sylvie had delivered an extraordinary array of antipasto platters that had been placed on the coffee tables around the couch.

  There was a drinks trolley too containing bottles of expensive-looking wine and champagne and all manner of aperitifs as well as sparkling water and soft drinks.

  Fox seemed to be relishing his role as host – something of a surprise given Soren’s reluctance for the families to meet yesterday. Perhaps he was just embarrassed by his parents, which was completely understandable.

  Song asked if Fox would like some assistance with the drinks, but received a definitive no – which suited the man just fine. He fingered the tiny metal box inside his pocket and asked Heike where the nearest bathroom was. By the time Song had been there and back he’d managed to plant three cameras and two listening devices – one inside the top of the toilet cistern which was potentially unpleasant, but he’d known more than a few villains who liked to make calls while indisposed. He gave Ed and Anna a knowing nod.

  Max glanced over and realised that Soren had finally arrived. He and Kensy quickly jumped up to greet the lad who apologised for being late.

  ‘How long until dinner?’ the boy asked.

  ‘It will be served at seven,’ Heike replied. ‘On the dot.’

  ‘Papa, may I take Kensy and Max downstairs to the games room?’ the boy asked.

  Fox didn’t look terribly pleased by the idea, but it was obvious the man was doing his best to be charming and agreed.

  Kensy thought about the mind-reader in her pocket as well as the other bugging devices. This was a brilliant opportunity and they hadn’t even had to orchestrate it themselves.

  ‘Maybe you could give us a tour?’ Max asked. ‘It’s a gorgeous chalet.’

  ‘Okay, sure,’ Soren said. They started at the bottom, the boy pointing out a large garage, a fully equipped gymnasium, a laundry and drying room as well as a sauna and spa. There was also a beautiful indoor-outdoor swimming pool with a ceiling that had more stars than the clear night sky. Soren showed them that you could swim under a glass wall to the outside, where there was a stone terrace and spa as well.

  On the other side of the hallway was a room with a pool table, arcade gam
es, table tennis and a bowling alley. It reminded the twins of their grandmother’s basement at Alexandria.

  ‘Is there a toilet somewhere close by?’ Kensy asked. When Soren had opened the door of the drying room she was fairly certain she’d glimpsed Fox’s and Heike’s helmets – it was the obvious place they would be.

  The boy pointed down the hall and Kensy disappeared while Max kept him busy with a game of pool.

  Kensy looked around to make sure that she was alone and entered the room. Among the racks of ski gear and clothes were several helmets. She quickly checked to see if the patch she’d inserted that morning was still in place. It was almost impossible to detect and if she hadn’t put it there herself, she would never have found it. Within seconds she’d put the other device into Fox’s helmet and replaced it on the rack. As she opened the door to leave the girl froze. Axel was in the hallway.

  ‘What are you doing in here?’ he demanded, eyeballing the girl.

  ‘I got lost going to the toilet,’ she replied. ‘I mustn’t have listened properly to Soren’s directions.’

  ‘Why are you here anyway?’ he said, glancing past Kensy, a suspicious look on his face.

  ‘Mr Van Leer invited us,’ she replied.

  ‘No, I didn’t mean that. Why are you here in Zermatt? It’s not school holidays in England,’ the man said, arching his left brow.

  ‘Our parents decided to take some time off and it’s half-term soon but, really it’s none of your business,’ the girl sniffed and strode past him, eager to get away.

  When Kensy opened the door at the end of the hall, she glanced back only to see that he was still there, staring at her. She hurried inside away from his glare.

  ‘Are you okay?’ Max asked. His sister looked as if she’d seen a ghost.

  Kensy nodded but it was pretty obvious that something was up.

  ‘Do you want to see the rest of the house?’ Soren asked. While he was nothing like his parents in looks, he definitely shared some of their competitive edge and wasn’t enjoying being thrashed by Max at pool.