‘What’s that?’ Slink said.
‘Acid.’ Charlie fixed the cup over the lock. ‘Stand back. Serene said this stuff is seriously corrosive.’ She twisted the end and the plunger started to depress.
The three of them backed away as the lock hissed.
After several seconds, the plunger stopped and there was a cracking sound.
Charlie carefully stepped up to the door and opened it. ‘OK, it’s safe.’ She looked at Jack. ‘See you at the rendezvous point, and good luck.’
Luck, Jack thought, was something they definitely would need from here on in.
‘Come on,’ he whispered to Slink, and they crept into the building.
They were now standing in a hallway. Ahead, at the far end, Jack could see the door that led to the lobby.
To the left of the door were mailboxes built into the wall, with a padded bench under them. To the right was a flight of stairs leading up.
Jack glanced at Slink, put a finger to his lips, and nodded. They moved silently along the hallway.
The only sound came from a TV playing somewhere.
They reached the bottom of the stairs and crept up them.
As they reached the third floor, a noise made them freeze – it was muffled shouting.
Ahead, a door opened and a man appeared. He turned back, shouted several swear words, then slammed the door shut behind him.
Red-faced and sweating, he marched towards Jack and Slink.
They didn’t move.
The man snarled at them, ‘What are you looking at?’
‘Nothing,’ Jack said.
The man leant into Jack’s face. ‘That’s what I thought.’ His breath stank. He glanced back at the door, then looked at Jack and Slink again. ‘Get out of my way.’ He shoved past and muttered, ‘Damn gutter punk kids.’ He almost stumbled down the stairs, then disappeared.
‘What’s a gutter punk?’ Slink whispered into Jack’s ear.
Jack shrugged. ‘No idea.’
‘I like it,’ Slink said, as he followed Jack up to the next floor. ‘Gutter punk. The Urban Gutter Punks.’
After climbing several more flights of stairs, Jack and Slink pushed open the door to the roof and cool air greeted them.
They looked across Central Park. Now they were up there, Jack was surprised how high it was – the trees looked so small.
He stayed by the door.
Slink glanced at him. ‘The height thing again?’
Jack nodded.
Slink smiled. ‘With all the stuff you’ve had to do, I would’ve thought you’d be way over that by now.’
‘Me too.’ Jack took a breath and followed Slink across the rooftop.
‘There’s nothing to worry about.’ Slink winked and dropped over the edge of the building.
Jack fell to his knees, his heart hammering so hard it threatened to burst through his chest, and peered down.
Just a couple of metres below was a balcony.
Slink stood on it, looking up and grinning.
‘Really not funny, Slink,’ Jack hissed.
Slink moved to the French windows and peered through a gap in the curtains. After a minute, he crept along the balcony, sprang up on to the handrail and crossed the narrow gap to the next.
Above, Jack mirrored him.
Slink peered through another set of glass doors for a moment, then stepped back. ‘OK,’ he whispered. ‘You were right – it’s two balconies per apartment. This one is the bedroom. There’s no one in there.’
‘What about the other one?’ Jack whispered.
‘There’s an old bloke in a chair, reading a book. Behind him was a old woman sitting at a desk, writing something.’
‘OK,’ Jack said. ‘Move on.’
The gap to the next balcony was at least a couple of metres away. Jack was about to help Slink up to the roof, but he took a few steps back and leapt the gap.
Jack sighed. ‘Do you always have to do it the dangerous way?’
Slink shrugged. ‘Yeah, mostly.’ He peered through the next set of doors, spending a lot longer looking through them than before, shifting his weight from side to side. Without a word, he vaulted across to the last balcony and repeated the process. Finally he pulled back and looked up. ‘I think it’s empty.’
‘Are you sure?’ Jack said.
‘Pretty sure. The rooms look clean. No glasses or cups on the side. No bags or clothes. The bed’s been made.’
Jack hesitated. The first apartment had an old couple in it. The second was empty. Had his hunch been right? Maybe Hector wasn’t here at all. But he had to be, Jack knew it.
‘Hey,’ Slink hissed. ‘What do we do?’
‘I need to see for myself.’ Jack sat on the edge of the roof and looked down. His stomach lurched.
‘Want some dubstep?’ Slink said.
‘Not even a little bit.’
Slink hopped up on to the handrail and guided Jack down.
When he was safe on the balcony, Jack peered through the door to the sitting room. Slink was right – the apartment looked clean and tidy, like no one was there.
Bracing himself, Jack stepped over the railing to the other balcony and peered through that door. It was the same story here – everything in the bedroom looked pristine, as if no one was staying there. Surely even the tidiest people would leave some sign of their presence?
Jack was about to pull back when he noticed something under one of the bedside tables – it was a chewing gum wrapper folded neatly into the shape of a bird. It looked like a crow or a raven of some kind.
A rush of adrenalin coursed through Jack. ‘This is it. Hector’s been here.’ He pressed a finger to his ear and said, ‘Wren, you’re up.’
CHAPTER SIX
At first nothing happened. Then there was a distant popping sound and the lights in the apartment went out.
‘Hope she didn’t just blow herself up,’ Slink said.
‘I’m OK,’ came a breathless reply. Wren was obviously running.
She’d planted a device that sent a powerful pulse through the apartment’s electrical system. It wasn’t enough to do any lasting damage, just trip a few switches and temporarily disable the alarm.
Jack and Slink had a few minutes before someone turned the electricity supply back on.
Slink took out a set of lock picks and quickly opened the doors from the balcony. Once inside, they stood there for a moment, surveying their surroundings.
‘What are we looking for?’ Slink asked.
‘Clues.’
Jack’s eyes moved from one object to the next: the bed, wardrobe, bathroom door, carpet . . . They finally rested on the origami chewing gum wrapper under the bedside table. It was the only sign that Hector had been in the room.
‘Can you check the bathroom?’ Jack tiptoed over to the bedside table and silently opened the drawers.
Both were empty.
He shut the drawers and stepped over to the wardrobe. It was empty too, apart from a few coat hangers.
‘Nothing in here,’ Slink said, coming back from the bathroom.
Jack hurried to the sitting room.
It was spacious with a crystal chandelier, hand-carved furniture and real oil paintings on the walls.
The apartment reminded him of Hector’s hotel suite in London – the one where Hector and the fake agents that worked for him had held Jack hostage.
It was tidy, with no sign anyone had been there recently. Jack walked across to a desk on the far wall and opened the drawer, but it was empty too.
‘So,’ Slink said, ‘what’s the verdict?’
‘Hector’s been here, but they were careful to clean up. I have no idea if they left ten minutes ago or last week.’
‘You think that receptionist tipped them off about you?’
‘I’m not sure.’
‘Guys?’ Charlie said in their ears. ‘Are you OK?’
‘We’re fine,’ Slink said.
Jack noticed a utility cupboard by the door and
opened it.
The top shelf was empty and there was a pile of towels at the bottom.
Jack lifted the towels aside. ‘What’s all this?’
Underneath were several batteries, reels of wire, a bag of computer components, a police radio and a large homemade circuit board.
‘Can you hold that up?’ Jack said.
Slink picked up the circuit board and Jack took several pictures with one of Serene’s phones Charlie had given him. ‘OK. Put it back as it was.’
They heard voices coming from the hallway.
Jack took the circuit board from Slink, returned it to the bottom of the cupboard and covered it with the towels again.
As he closed the door, the voices grew louder.
Jack and Slink hurried through the bedroom and back out on to the balcony.
‘Get us out of here,’ Jack whispered.
Slink nodded and climbed up the front of the building.
Suddenly the lights inside the apartment came on.
Jack clambered over the railing to the apartment’s other balcony. He slipped off his backpack, pulled out a camera with a suction cup attached and stuck it to the glass, right in the corner of the doors, facing into the room.
‘Obi?’ he whispered.
‘Yeah?’
‘Have you got the feed from this camera?’
‘Hold on.’
A rope dropped in front of Jack’s face. He grabbed the end and tied it to his harness.
‘Yeah, I’ve got it,’ Obi said. ‘Coming through clean.’
‘Hey,’ Slink hissed.
Jack held up a hand. ‘Obi, can you see the front door?’
‘Yes.’
‘OK.’ Jack gave a thumbs-up and Slink supported him as he climbed clumsily on to the roof, careful not to look down.
They jogged to the other side, where Slink looped the climbing rope around an air vent and checked it would hold their weight.
When he was done, he turned to Jack. ‘You wanna go first?’
Jack shook his head.
Slink smiled, stood on the lip of the roof, then dropped backwards and started to abseil down the rear of the building.
As Jack watched Slink descend, he wondered if Hector was miles away or whether he’d seen any of this – if he had, the entire mission would’ve been for nothing.
• • •
Back at Serene’s loft, Slink told Lux, Drake and the others what they’d found in the apartment.
Wren looked thoughtful. ‘So you think Hector will come back for that circuit board and radio?’
Jack shrugged. ‘Probably not him, but someone might.’
At least he hoped so.
‘Monday,’ Slink said, obviously remembering Hector’s giant henchman. ‘I bet he goes back for it.’
‘Or Connor and Cloud,’ Wren said with obvious disgust. ‘They’ll be with Hector too.’
The Outlaws had been chased by Connor many times before. Jack could picture his snarling, twisted face all too easily.
Charlie stood and held out her hand. ‘Can I have a peek at those pictures of the circuit board you took?’
Jack passed her the phone.
Charlie scrolled through the pictures and frowned at them for a long while, turning the phone left and right and muttering under her breath. Finally she handed the phone back to him.
‘What is it then?’ he said.
‘I’m not completely sure,’ Charlie said, ‘but if I was to bet on it – I reckon it’s a circuit they’ve made to extract, decode and decompile the virus.’
Drake crossed his arms. ‘Come again?’
‘It’s a custom piece of hardware they used to take apart the virus’s program.’
Jack sighed. ‘God knows what Hector’s up to now. But I’m sure that he won’t want anyone getting their hands on it.’
Charlie pointed at the screen in Serene’s office – it displayed the CCTV image of the apartment. ‘As soon as someone goes back there, Jack, we’ve got them. It’s not over yet.’
‘I’ve set the computer to let off an alarm as soon as it detects any movement,’ Obi said.
Jack nodded. ‘Good thinking.’
‘Well,’ Drake said, yawning and standing up, ‘I need some sleep.’ He moved towards the spiral staircase. ‘Let me know when you need me again.’
‘Thanks for helping us,’ Jack said.
‘No problem.’ He waved and disappeared.
Now it was Lux who was yawning. ‘You mind if I crash here the night?’
‘No,’ Obi said, a little too quickly.
Lux smiled. ‘I’ll use Serene’s room. Night.’ She strode through the office and into Serene’s bedroom, closing the door behind her.
‘I think it’s time we got some sleep too,’ Charlie said.
Charlie, Obi and Wren got busy unrolling beds and sleeping bags while Slink called to check on his mum again.
Jack didn’t move. He just stared at the screen in the office. He felt so helpless – catching up with Hector all rested on someone going back to the apartment to retrieve the parts they’d left behind.
‘Awesome,’ he muttered.
• • •
The next day passed painfully slowly. And the next. By the third day, Jack had practically given up all hope of finding Hector.
Every news channel was filled with stories about hackers attacking New York and it was getting worse – spreading out from the city. It seemed as if there was another police raid and an arrest every hour. The reporters thought it was some kind of coordinated attack, by tens, if not hundreds, of hackers.
Truth was, it was all one kid: Quentin Del Sarto – aka Hector – and his new hacking tool, causing disruption wherever he went. By the time afternoon had come on the third day, Jack and the others were going stir crazy. Everyone was snapping at each other and bickering over petty things, like whether to watch cartoons or conspiracy theories.
When Slink hit Obi over the back of the head with the remote control, Jack stepped in. ‘OK,’ he said, snatching it from him and switching off the TV. ‘I think it’s time we planned some extra missions.’
‘What missions?’ Obi said.
‘RAKing.’
This got everyone’s attention.
‘When you say RAKing,’ Lux said. ‘Do you mean Random Acts of Kindness?’
‘You know what it is?’ Obi said.
Lux nodded. ‘Of course.’
‘It’s the best thing ever,’ Wren said.
Jack glanced out of the window. ‘Only problem is, we need to come up with some ideas.’
Lux smiled. ‘I have a few thoughts.’
Slink and Wren jumped to their feet, and for the first time in days, they looked excited.
‘I need time to prepare.’ Lux hurried over to the spiral staircase. She stopped and turned back to Charlie. ‘Everyone is going to need a cell phone.’
‘I can cover that,’ Charlie said. ‘Serene has plenty.’
‘Good. I’ll call Drake and ask him to come get you.’
‘Where are we going?’ Wren said.
‘You’ll see.’ Lux disappeared down the stairs.
• • •
An hour later, Jack, Charlie, Slink, Wren, Obi and Drake were standing on a balcony overlooking the main concourse in Grand Central Station.
The interior of the building was gigantic – with massive square columns, tall arched windows and a polished marble floor. It even had a green ceiling with star constellations.
Wren stared up at it, open-mouthed. ‘This place is amazing.’
‘I know.’ Slink looked like he was itching to climb up there.
Lux appeared from the crowd and jogged up the stairs. She reached into her backpack and handed Obi a stack of yellow cards in clear plastic envelopes. ‘Hold these a minute, please.’
Obi turned them over. On the back of each one was a strip of double-sided tape.
‘What are these?’ he said.
‘Prepaid Metrocards.’
‘L
ike the Underground?’ Wren said.
‘Exactly like that, yeah.’
‘What are we doing with them?’ Slink asked.
‘Geocaching, or my version of it anyway.’
Wren blinked. ‘Huh?’
Lux took her mobile phone from her pocket. ‘I do this every few months. Makes me happy again if I’ve been having a tough time.’ She looked between them all. ‘Everyone got their phones?’
They nodded and held them up.
‘Great,’ Lux said. ‘Open the map application. In the top corner you’ll see GPS coordinates.’
They all did as she asked.
‘OK!’ Jack said, catching on to what Lux had in mind. ‘Can I have a couple of those envelopes?’ he asked Obi.
Obi handed him two.
Charlie frowned at Jack. ‘You know what this is about?’
‘Yep.’ Jack gestured around the station. ‘Go hide them. Each time you do, make a note of the GPS co-ordinates on the phone.’
Charlie stared a moment, then her eyes widened. ‘Oh, I get it.’
‘I don’t,’ Wren said. ‘What’s going on?’
Lux winked. ‘You’ll see.’
Everyone hurried off in different directions.
Jack strode over to the information desk. He glanced around to make sure no one was watching him, then stuck the envelope to the underside of the counter.
He copied the GPS coordinates to a note file and headed towards the stairs at the far end of the station.
Jack leant against them a moment and tried to look casual as he stuck a second envelope to the side of the stone steps.
After making sure it was secure, and taking a note of the coordinates again, he hurried up the stairs and stood on the balcony, overlooking the entire station.
Lux joined him. ‘You didn’t hide them too well, did you?’ she asked.
‘I don’t think so.’
A few minutes later, everyone was standing on the balcony.
Lux took each of their phones and copied the different sets of GPS coordinates to her own.
‘Now what?’ Obi asked her.
‘Now we wait.’
As they stood there, for the first time in a long while, Jack felt at peace. The sun cut through the windows, bathing the interior in an orange hue. People hurried to catch trains, while others waited to be reunited with loved ones. All the while, Jack and the others watched from above.
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