The Deadly Dare Mysteries

by Malorie Blackman

‘Maybe she reckoned it was worth saving? Or maybe she just acted on the spur of the moment and didn’t realize what she was doing?’ Theo provided with a certain malicious relish.

  ‘If she dies …’

  ‘Don’t say that. Don’t even think that,’ Theo stormed. ‘Angela will get better – and soon. I just know it.’

  ‘You know more than me then.’

  ‘Bullet, I swear if you don’t shut up I’m going to chuck you out.’

  ‘Sorry.’

  ‘Anyway, why were you chasing after us?’ asked Theo.

  ‘Pardon?’

  ‘Before the accident. You were running after us. What was that all about?’

  ‘Oh yeah!’ Bullet turned away from Theo. ‘I … I wanted to catch all of you together. I wanted to apologize for all the things I’d said.’

  ‘And you reckoned an apology would make up for it,’ Theo said scornfully.

  ‘No. But it’s all I have,’ Bullet said quietly. He suddenly covered his face with his hands. ‘I’m so confused. Dad told me that I have to … to think and act like his son now, but …’ Bullet broke off, the look on his face expressing clearly that he felt he’d said too much. He looked at Theo defiantly, daring him to comment. Theo turned away, determined to keep his mouth shut.

  They sat in silence, apart from each other, not even facing in the same direction. The seconds turned into long, painful minutes and still no one spoke. Just when Theo thought he was going to explode with the silence, the door burst open, making both Bullet and Theo jump.

  ‘Ricky!’ Bullet leaped to his feet.

  ‘Your mum sent me straight up,’ Ricky told Theo.

  ‘How’s Angela? Is she OK? Is she badly hurt?’ Bullet asked anxiously.

  ‘She woke up as the ambulance arrived. She’s broken her leg and has a concussion but the paramedics will know more when they get her to hospital,’ Ricky told them.

  ‘I thought you were going with Angela to the hospital,’ Theo said.

  ‘I wanted to, but the ambulance woman told me that I couldn’t because I’m not a relative. She said I could visit Angela once she was comfortable in hospital,’ said Ricky.

  ‘Did Angela mention me at all?’ asked Bullet.

  Ricky nodded. ‘She asked if you were OK. I told her you didn’t have a scratch on you.’

  Ricky and Theo stood facing Bullet. The tension in the room was a tangible thing, charged like summer lightning.

  ‘Go on. Why don’t you just come right out and say it? It should’ve been me, not Angela, in hospital now.’

  ‘Don’t be ridiculous. Why would I wish it was you instead of her? The thought never even crossed my mind,’ Ricky said angrily.

  Theo hung his head. He knew he couldn’t say the same thing.

  ‘Don’t lie. I know you reckon this is all my fault.’

  ‘Look Bullet, when you’re ready to talk sense and stop feeling sorry for yourself, let us know.’ And with that, Ricky deliberately turned his back on Bullet.

  ‘Are you sure Angela’s going to be OK?’ Theo asked. ‘I’ve been sitting here worried sick.’

  ‘I can only tell you what I was told.’ Ricky shook his head.

  ‘I want to visit her as soon as possible,’ said Theo.

  Ricky nodded his head in agreement. ‘OK, we’ve got to find out who was driving the car that tried to knock down Bullet. It’s a shame we can’t see a copy of Darius Marriott’s wills – both new and old. That would give us a list of suspects to start from.’

  ‘Why do we need to see the old will?’ Theo frowned.

  ‘Because of what happened the Friday before half term,’ said Ricky. At Theo’s blank look, he continued. ‘I think Mr Marriott’s heart attack – if that’s what it was – was not as spontaneous as it looked.’

  ‘Why?’ asked Bullet.

  Ricky completely ignored him.

  ‘Why? Because of the bogus doctor?’ asked Theo.

  ‘Mainly that. But also this Lazarus suit. If it can be activated by remote control but only at a limited range, how do we know that there wasn’t someone nearby who set it off, hoping it would kill him? Then Mr Marriott’s own invention would’ve been blamed for his death. If I wanted to get rid of him, then that’s how I would do it.’

  ‘D’you think that’s what happened?’ asked Bullet.

  ‘Hhmm! Did you hear something?’ Ricky asked Theo lightly.

  Theo shrugged. It was hard work pretending Bullet wasn’t in the room, but this was where they found out once and for all where Bullet stood. If he left the room and left the house, then that would be that and Theo and Ricky would be on their own.

  ‘Did Mr Marriott come to our school with anyone else?’ Ricky asked. ‘That might be worth finding out. And we need to know exactly how close another person has to be to send remote messages to the Lazarus suit.’

  ‘But what about Bullet’s lie detector?’ said Theo.

  ‘What about it?’ asked Ricky.

  ‘I thought that had something to do with Mr Marriott’s Lazarus suit being activated,’ said Theo.

  ‘Certainly, we can’t rule it out. But in light of what happened at the hospital, it’d be one ginormous coincidence if Bullet’s lie detector made Mr Marriott’s suit malfunction and then someone used that opportunity to try and bump him off.’

  ‘But coincidences do happen,’ Theo pointed out.

  Ricky nodded in reluctant acknowledgement. ‘It’d be nice to know exactly how this lie detector works and how the Lazarus suit works, to see if one could have really set off the other.’

  ‘I can tell you that,’ said Bullet eagerly. ‘I can show you the lie detector and Dad’s Lazarus suit.’

  ‘But our first aim should be to find out exactly what’s in this new will,’ Ricky mused.

  ‘Stop ignoring me. I’m sorry – OK. I’m sorry.’ Bullet pulled Ricky around to face him. ‘And I can probably get you a copy of the will.’

  ‘So you’re with us now, are you?’ Ricky asked coolly.

  ‘Yes, I am.’ Bullet replied at once.

  ‘How can you get the will?’ Theo asked.

  ‘The lawyer brought it round for Dad to sign yesterday,’ said Bullet. ‘Dad keeps all his important papers and documents in the safe in his study, so I might be able to get hold of it for you to see. Or maybe I could just copy it on to Dad’s computer using his scanner and then print it out.’

  ‘How d’you know where your dad’s likely to keep the new will?’ asked Ricky.

  ‘Well, he kept the old will in his safe so I don’t see why he wouldn’t keep the new one there too,’ Bullet replied.

  ‘You learned all this in a couple of weeks?’ Theo asked, impressed.

  ‘Dad showed me his safe when he showed Mum and me around his flat two weeks ago,’ said Bullet.

  ‘He lives in a flat?’ Theo was surprised.

  ‘A penthouse flat. He has flats in New York, Paris, Rome and Sydney too.’

  Theo wasn’t surprised!

  ‘What about the safe combination?’ asked Ricky.

  ‘The safe’s digitally coded and on an electronic timer,’ said Bullet.

  ‘So?’

  ‘So I have a device at home that can handle that,’ Bullet smiled.

  ‘Don’t tell me. Let me guess. A device you made yourself?’ said Theo.

  ‘Natch!’ Bullet agreed with no attempt at modesty.

  ‘Pardon?’

  ‘Naturally. Natch,’ Bullet explained.

  Theo and Bullet regarded each other, slowly smiling. And the harsh words of the last couple of days were, if not forgotten, then on their way to being forgiven.

  ‘What’s our plan of action?’ asked Ricky.

  ‘Mum and I are going round to Dad’s for dinner tonight. I’ll see if I can get hold of a copy of Dad’s will then,’ said Bullet.

  ‘How is your mum with all this?’ Theo couldn’t help asking.

  ‘She … she wasn’t too happy, but she says she’s getting more used to the situation now,’
Bullet admitted. ‘When she first found out what I’d done, she hit the stratosphere. When she’d finally cooled off, we sat down and talked for four hours straight. She told me I should’ve told her what I was doing. But how could I? I didn’t want to hurt her feelings. I didn’t want her to think I was looking for something better.’

  ‘Is that what she thought?’ Ricky stared.

  ‘Until I put her straight,’ Bullet sighed. ‘She didn’t think she’d given me enough information to work it out and she reckons I should never have gone to Dad and told him who I was without speaking to her first.’

  ‘Well, it’s done now,’ said Theo.

  ‘Any chance that she and your dad …?’

  ‘No. None at all. Mum made that very clear,’ said Bullet. ‘Besides Dad’s married now, anyway.’

  They sat in a moment’s silence, contemplating just how complicated Bullet’s life had suddenly become. With all the weird things happening to him, it was no wonder he was acting very peculiarly!

  ‘OK then. You’re going to try and get hold of a copy of your dad’s will for us to see. Just don’t get into trouble over it,’ said Theo.

  ‘Don’t get caught, then you won’t get into trouble,’ Ricky said bluntly.

  Theo sighed deeply. ‘The trouble is, we have far more questions than answers at the moment.’

  ‘But not for long,’ Ricky replied without hesitation.

  ‘If someone is trying to get me out of the way, I hope we get the answer to all our questions before they succeed,’ said Bullet.

  Only the hiccupy catch in Bullet’s voice belied the evenness of his words. He wasn’t as collected about this as he was trying to make out. Theo didn’t expect him to be either.

  ‘Bullet, Ricky and I will come with you if you want to go to the police. In fact maybe that’s what we should do, before you get hurt.’

  ‘I’ve got no proof.’ Bullet shook his head.

  ‘We’re your proof,’ Theo insisted. ‘We’ll tell the police how that car came straight for you. And Angela’s your proof. She’s in hospital, isn’t she?’

  ‘Yes, but the driver might have been drunk or just not looking where he or she was going,’ Bullet argued.

  ‘Then why didn’t the driver stop?’ asked Theo.

  ‘I don’t know, all right? Some drivers just don’t stop when they’ve been in an accident. It happens,’ said Bullet.

  ‘Bullet, you need to think very seriously about this,’ Theo stated. ‘I’m not waiting for someone to put me, you or any of us in the hospital – or worse – to satisfy your need for concrete and absolute proof. You’re waiting to get proof over our dead bodies!’

  ‘Don’t you dare say that,’ Bullet shouted. ‘All I have to do is think about Angela and what happened to go icy-cold inside. It should’ve been me and it could’ve been a lot worse. Don’t you think I don’t know that? I’m not stupid.’

  ‘Calm down, Bullet. Theo never said you were,’ Ricky soothed.

  No, but there was no doubt about it. Hanging around Bullet was getting to be a dangerous occupation. The driver of the car hadn’t been after Angela. He or she had been after Bullet. And look what had happened. Theo sat up with a start. He’d just thought of something else. Something that was making his heart jump.

  ‘You … you don’t think the driver will try to get to Angela?’ Theo whispered.

  From the stunned look on Bullet’s and Ricky’s faces, it was obvious they hadn’t considered the possibility either.

  ‘You don’t think the driver will think that Angela looked into the car and can identify him or her?’ Theo continued.

  ‘No! No.’ Ricky’s protest at the idea burst out of him. ‘Angela was too busy pushing Bullet out of the way to see anything or anyone else.’

  ‘Yes, but does the driver know that?’ Theo persisted.

  ‘Of course. I’m sure Angela never took her eyes off Bullet,’ Ricky said firmly.

  Theo nodded slowly, clenching his fists. He had to get a grip! If he wasn’t careful he’d be jumping at shadows.

  ‘It’s just that, if there’s even a chance that the driver might try to get to Angela in the same way he or she tried to get to Mr Marriott, then we really should go straight to the police,’ said Theo.

  ‘It won’t happen,’ said Bullet.

  ‘You’re sure of that?’

  ‘Yes. The driver wanted … wants me. Angela has nothing to do with this. Besides, I won’t let anything else happen to Angela – or any of you.’

  ‘Like you can do anything about it,’ Theo dismissed.

  ‘I’m the one the driver wants. So can you just shut up about it, please?’ Bullet yelled.

  ‘No, we can’t,’ Ricky joined in. ‘If something were to happen to you too, we’d never forgive ourselves. If you go to the police, they’ll be able to protect you.’

  ‘I’m not going to the police and that’s all there is to it,’ Bullet said fiercely.

  ‘Why not?’

  ‘I have my reasons.’

  ‘Care to share them?’ Theo asked after a brief pause.

  ‘No.’

  ‘We could go without you?’ Ricky suggested, steel in his voice.

  ‘I’d deny everything,’ Bullet shot back at once. ‘I’d tell them you’re making it all up.’

  Theo opened his mouth to argue, only to snap it shut again. What was the point? Bullet had obviously made up his mind. What did he hope to achieve with his ostrich act? That wouldn’t make his dilemma go away. There were no two ways about it. Someone was after Bullet and if they didn’t find out who and stop them, Bullet didn’t stand a chance.

  Chapter Twelve

  Shadows And Shadows

  ‘THEO, RICKY’S ON the phone.’

  ‘Mmmm! Urgmmm!’ Theo pulled up the duvet further around his neck and allowed himself to drift off again.

  ‘Theo! Ricky said it was urgent.’

  Reluctantly, Theo opened his eyes. He glanced at the clock radio on the floor beside his bed. Then he groaned. ‘Mum, it’s six-thirty in the morning.’

  ‘Why don’t you tell Ricky that? He’s your friend, not mine.’ Mum stood in the doorway, wearing her dressing-gown. And she didn’t look too pleased either.

  Theo dragged himself out of bed and rubbed his eyes. So this was what half-past six on a Monday morning looked like! As far as he was concerned, if he never saw it again it would be too soon. Stumbling to his feet, Theo made his sleepy way downstairs.

  ‘You had better be at death’s door,’ Theo said the moment the phone receiver was to his ear.

  ‘Good morning to you too!’

  ‘It’s not the morning. It’s the middle of the night,’ Theo grumbled. ‘What d’you want?’

  ‘Charming! I need you to meet me at the corner opposite the newsagent’s at seven-fifteen,’ said Ricky.

  ‘You must be joking. I’m going back to bed.’

  ‘No, you can’t. Bullet’s at his dad’s flat. He wants us to meet him there before school.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘He wouldn’t say. He just said it was very important.’

  ‘But it’s so early,’ Theo protested.

  ‘You’re not saying anything that I haven’t already said to Bullet. But he said it was urgent so I said we’d be there.’

  ‘Couldn’t you go by yourself?’ Theo said hopefully. His bed was calling to him and Theo was finding it hard to resist.

  ‘Theo, don’t be so lazy,’ Ricky said impatiently. ‘Get out of bed and I’ll see you in forty-five minutes.’

  And with that Ricky put down the phone. Theo sighed, forcing his eyes to stay open. A shower would wake him up, but the problem was coming up with a plausible explanation for why he wanted to leave the house so early.

  ‘Mum, Dad!’ Theo called as he headed back up the stairs. ‘I’ve got to go round to Ricky’s. He’s panicking about our test today.’

  Theo’s mum appeared bleary-eyed from her bedroom. Behind her, Theo could hear his dad snoring.

  ‘Yo
u’re going round to Ricky’s before school?’ Theo’s mum couldn’t believe her ears. She pinched her arm. ‘I’m obviously still asleep. It takes a cannon to wake you up and an earthquake to get you out of bed.’

  ‘Well, I’m not happy about it, but Ricky needs my help.’ Theo yawned.

  ‘Helping Ricky revise is all very well, but make sure you’re not late for school.’ Theo’s mum wagged her finger.

  ‘Yes, Mum. I’m off for a shower.’

  ‘Would you like some bacon and eggs on toast?’ Theo’s mum asked.

  ‘Oh, yes please.’ Great! He was going to get breakfast before he left the house.

  ‘So would I!’ Theo’s mum nodded and headed straight back into her bedroom.

  ‘Very funny, Mum,’ Theo called after her, but her bedroom door was already closing. Calling himself all kinds of a fool for falling for his mum’s strange sense of humour yet again, Theo had his shower and got dressed. Grabbing a cold chicken drumstick and a carton of apple juice from the fridge, Theo set off to meet Ricky.

  ‘This had better be as important as Bullet thinks it is,’ Theo fumed.

  ‘Shush! Keep your voice down.’ Ricky nodded his head in the direction of the suited man who sat two seats in front of them.

  ‘Why would he be listening to our conversation?’ Theo whispered.

  ‘He got on at the same stop as us and the bus is practically empty, yet he chose to come and sit back here with us.’

  ‘So?’

  ‘So I’m just keeping my eye on him, that’s all,’ Ricky whispered tersely.

  Theo looked at the back of the man who sat before them. He had light brown hair and wore glasses but that was all Theo could make out.

  ‘It’s just a man on his way to work,’ said Theo.

  ‘Probably.’ Ricky shrugged. ‘But it doesn’t hurt to be … cautious. Anyway this is our stop.’

  ‘I still can’t believe I’m doing this,’ Theo grumbled as he and Ricky got off the bus. ‘I must need my head examined.’

  ‘Stop moaning,’ Ricky groaned. ‘You’re giving me a headache.’

  Ricky and Theo started walking past some of the cleanest, swishest-looking buildings Theo had ever seen in his life. He and Ricky exchanged a look.

  ‘How the other half do live!’ Theo said drily.

  ‘How the lucky five per cent do live!’ Ricky amended.