Double-Cross

by Sophie McKenzie

  ‘I love you,’ I whispered. ‘And I won’t let anyone hurt you.’

  Tears welled in her eyes. I looked away, staring out of the window, my cheeks burning. I’d only said those words once before – just before Fox Academy got blown up. It felt like years had passed since then.

  Half an hour later, McMurdo turned the car onto a dirt track. Brown dust swirled in the air behind us. Another few minutes and I recognised the approach to Avery’s ranch.

  McMurdo stopped at the end of the drive. The swimming pool glittered in the distance, the low sun glancing off its glassy surface.

  Geri ordered us out of the car.

  I stood next to Ketty, watching for any movement. Would Philly or Caro or any of the little kids be there? Part of me wanted someone to see us and raise the alarm. Another part of me hoped that they were all safely out of the house. As I thought this, it struck me that all those little kids were my brothers and sisters, too, just like Cal. I had this enormous family I didn’t even know.

  ‘Avery’s on his way here,’ Geri said. ‘I’ve told him if he turns up with any kind of outside support, I’ll kill you.’ She narrowed her eyes and tilted her head to one side. ‘He seems most concerned about you, Nico. But then that’s to be expected, I suppose, given what he’s just found out about your relationship.’

  I stared back at her. ‘How long have you known?’

  ‘That Avery was your father? He just told me.’ Geri laughed that tinkly little laugh of hers. ‘Goodness, I had no idea before. Your mother told no one. Anyway, it’s all working to my advantage. Avery’s absolutely frantic about you.’

  ‘Why are you doing this?’ I said. ‘Why don’t you just accept that it’s time the truth came out . . . that you have to pay for killing Dylan’s parents and that agent, Bookman?’

  Geri shook her head. ‘There’s no need to keep raking up all that. I already told Dylan. Her father was impossible to deal with and her mother just knew too much . . . Bookman deserved to die, manipulative old blackmailer . . .’

  I glanced at McMurdo. He was standing, watching us. Again, I got the strong sense he was waiting for Geri to miss a step so he could go for her gun. I shivered. I wasn’t sure I’d be any safer if he was in control of what happened next than Geri.

  ‘You let me down, Nico,’ McMurdo said slowly. ‘I sent you to kill Diamond. You’re going to pay for failing.’

  ‘And how are you going to make me?’ I snapped. ‘You’re just as much Geri’s prisoner as me and Ketty.’

  ‘Ketty?’ McMurdo sneered. ‘I don’t—’

  ‘Shut up.’ Geri turned on him.

  She held out the gun. McMurdo reluctantly put his hands in the air.

  ‘This is what’s going to happen,’ Geri said. ‘Avery will be here soon with the evidence against me. I’m going to take the evidence and drive away. End of story. I won’t come after you. You won’t come after me.’

  I shook my head. ‘But that won’t clear our names,’ I argued. ‘The police in England will still think we killed Bookman. We won’t be able to go home.’

  ‘Then stay here with Avery Jones,’ Geri snapped. ‘He’s your father, after all.’

  ‘What about Fergus?’ I said. ‘He’s my dad, too. And England’s my home . . . not just for me, but for Ed and Ketty, too.’

  ‘You’ll just have to move on,’ Geri said briskly. ‘Let go.’

  I opened my mouth to say that I’d never let go when it came to bringing Geri to justice. But before I could speak, McMurdo lunged for Geri’s gun.

  I jumped as the shot rang out, loud and echoey across the fields. I stared, my eyeballs feeling like they would burst out of my head, as McMurdo flew backwards, clutching his stomach.

  He slumped to the dusty ground. A trickle of blood seeped out from under his body. The world seemed to stand still.

  Ketty shuffled closer to me. I leaned my shoulder against hers. It was the only way I could think of to show her I was here for her.

  McMurdo’s face was pressed against the ground. He wasn’t moving.

  Geri marched over to him, briskly feeling for his pulse. I realised I was holding my breath and took in a lungful of crisp, dawn air.

  ‘He’s not going to make it,’ she said, straightening up.

  I shivered. I’d known she was a murderer, but it was completely different to see someone killed. I looked away from McMurdo’s body, sick to my stomach.

  In the distance I could just make out a car turning off the main road. That had to be Avery. Geri had seen it, too. ‘We’re going inside,’ she said, grabbing Ketty by the arm. ‘Avery will meet us there.’

  As I stumbled beside them towards the house, Geri spoke again.

  ‘My gun is pointing at Ketty’s head, Nico,’ she said coldly. ‘If you do anything against me, I will kill her. Understand?’

  I had no choice but to agree.

  24: Upload

  We walked around the ranch in silence. Geri had untied Ketty’s feet, but her hands and mouth were still bound. I couldn’t put my arm round her because my own wrists were tied, but I walked as close to her as possible.

  Ketty glanced at me as we reached the swimming pool. Geri was already at the side door to the ranch house. To my surprise it was open.

  ‘Avery’s called his wife,’ Geri said. ‘Told her to leave the door unlocked for us before she and the maid left with the kids. He says you’re to take us somewhere called the Snug – where’s that?’

  ‘Down here.’ I led the way along the corridor and into the open-plan living area. At least now I knew that Philly and Caro and the little kids would be safe.

  Geri settled herself down on the couch where Avery had sat during our first meeting. I turned to look out of the window. The sun was getting higher in the sky. As I watched, Avery’s car reached Geri’s and slowed down. I could just make out Avery’s face turned to the open window beside him. He must be able to see McMurdo’s body from there.

  All of a sudden the car sped up again. Avery drove rapidly up the drive, then raced out of the car, a briefcase in his hand. He ran past the porch and out of sight. I peered at the car. The closed windows were dark. Was Ed in there? What about Dylan or Cal?

  I was sure they would have had plenty of time to reach Avery, but had Avery brought them here?

  I turned around. Geri was pushing Ketty into one of the Snug’s many chairs. She drew out a pair of handcuffs and fastened Ketty to the arm of the chair, then bent over and whispered something in her ear.

  ‘What are you saying?’ I demanded.

  ‘Quiet,’ Geri snapped, straightening up and taking out her gun.

  Footsteps in the corridor outside. Geri and I turned towards the door as Avery burst through it. He stared around the room, speedily taking in the whole scene. His eyes widened as he caught sight of Ketty.

  ‘How did you get hold of her?’ he said.

  I gulped. Clearly, Avery hadn’t known that Geri had kidnapped Ketty. Did that mean he’d lost track of Ed, Cal and Dylan, too?

  Geri said nothing in response, simply cocked her gun and held it against Ketty’s head.

  I met Ketty’s gaze, trying to communicate that everything was going to be all right. Ketty looked back at me, her expression above the gag around her mouth calmer than it had been earlier. She gave me a quick nod and my heart skipped a beat. What did that nod mean? Maybe she’d had a positive vision of the near future. It seemed unlikely – after all, Ketty tended to lose her Medusa ability when she was stressed. Still, I felt better believing that maybe she’d seen into the next few minutes and that her calm, confident nod was meant to reassure me.

  ‘Are you all right, Nico?’ Avery asked anxiously.

  ‘I’m fine,’ I said.

  Avery turned to Geri and held up his briefcase. ‘Here’s the computer. Cal and Dylan brought it to me directly from McMurdo’s house. The CD is still inside it. Now let Nico and Ketty go.’

  ‘Not until I’ve seen the film on the CD,’ Geri snapped.

  A
very frowned. His hand shook as he laid the briefcase on the coffee table and drew out the Mac. He set it down. Keeping her gun trained on me, Geri strode towards him.

  ‘Play the CD.’

  Avery did as he was told. We watched the film I’d seen earlier. It was an absolute confession.

  As Geri watched, a look of horror crept into her eyes.

  ‘Did you make a copy of this?’ she demanded. ‘Has anyone else seen it?’

  ‘Of course not,’ Avery protested. ‘Cal gave the laptop to me less than an hour ago and I’ve spent the entire time since bringing it here. Anyway, the CD is stuck. We can’t get it out, so there’s no way we could have copied it onto another CD or given it to someone else.’

  ‘You could have stored it in a flash drive or emailed it somewhere,’ Geri pointed out.

  ‘Yes, but we haven’t.’ Avery’s voice was strained. ‘Geri, I don’t want to do anything to upset this situation further. You have Ketty and . . . and my son.’ He looked at me as he said the words. ‘I don’t care about anything except their safety.’

  Geri stared at him, clearly trying to decide whether he was telling the truth. I tore my eyes away from Avery’s anxious face and focused on a cushion on the sofa behind her. The effects of Medutox wore off after about thirty minutes. It had surely been that long since McMurdo had last sprayed me. I concentrated on trying to make the cushion move. A flicker of telekinetic energy pulsed through me, then disappeared. The edge of the cushion shifted a millimetre. It was something . . . but nowhere near enough.

  Geri was now prodding at the keyboard, trying to eject the disk. After a moment, she stood back with an exasperated sigh.

  ‘I’ll take the computer,’ she said. ‘It’s not as if McMurdo is going to need it again.’

  ‘I saw what you did to him,’ Avery said. He glanced at me. ‘You can’t possibly hope to get away with his murder.’

  ‘It wasn’t murder, it was self-defence,’ Geri snapped. ‘Just remember I’m letting you off lightly here, Avery. You get to keep your family safe. All I ask in return is that you don’t attempt to pursue me.’

  I looked at the screen behind her. The video showing her confession was over. I focused on the mouse pad on the computer, putting all my effort into depressing it telekinetically. With a jerk, the cursor sped across the screen.

  Yes. An idea flickered into my head. I glanced back at Geri. She was still looking at Avery.

  ‘Why didn’t you tell me Nico was my son,’ Avery said bitterly. ‘You’d met me in London. You knew where to find me.’

  Keeping one ear on the conversation, I turned back to the screen.

  ‘Goodness, your ego is bigger than William Fox’s,’ Geri said tartly. ‘I didn’t know until McMurdo told me earlier.’

  I focused on the screen. Using my telekinesis, I moved the cursor to save the file containing the film of Geri’s confession to the desktop, then looked for the internet browser on the machine.

  ‘You must have known,’ Avery insisted. ‘William would have wanted to know the identity of the father before he implanted Lucia with the gene.’

  It gave me a start to hear Avery say my mum’s name. It suddenly occurred to me that if Avery was my dad, he must have had some sort of relationship with my mum. But there was no time to think about that now.

  I shook myself and focused on the screen again. The internet browser was open now. I used telekinesis on the letter keys so that they spelled out the name of the site I was looking for . . . the site that was going to help us get our revenge on Geri, whether she took the computer or not.

  I focused on the last letter of the URL I wanted and pressed ‘go’.

  The site flashed up.

  www.youtube.com

  I set to work.

  25: Exposure

  I entered my YouTube user name. I could feel my telekinesis getting stronger . . . I could manipulate all the computer keys and the mouse pad with only the lightest of efforts.

  I glanced at Geri. She was still talking.

  I just had to enter the title of my post: UK govt agent Geri Paterson admits to murd—

  ‘What are you doing?’ Geri roared.

  She raced towards the computer, her eyes wide.

  Telekinetic energy surged through me. With a focused effort, I released the rope that bound my wrists and leaped forwards. But Avery had already moved, He reached Geri as she turned.

  The shot rang out – the scene a virtual repeat of McMurdo’s shooting. Avery flew backwards, clutching his arm. Geri advanced on him, her gun gripped tightly in her hand.

  Avery slumped to the ground, his eyes shut. I stared in horror, my mind tumbling over and over itself with the shock.

  And then a muffled yell from Ketty brought me back to my senses.

  I swivelled back to the computer. I could still upload the file at least.

  ‘Stop!’ Geri cried. ‘Stop or I shoot her.’

  I froze, then looked around. Geri was pacing towards Ketty, her gun tightly gripped in her hand. As she passed the computer, she slammed the lid down.

  I swallowed. Geri’s face was screwed up with an intense fury. I glanced back at Avery. He was lying, clearly unconscious, on the floor. A trail of blood was seeping out from underneath his arm.

  ‘I warned you, Nico!’ Geri shrieked. She reached Ketty and shoved the gun against her temple.

  ‘No!’ I cried.

  I reached out, determined to wrench the gun telekinetically out of Geri’s hands. But she was holding it too tightly.

  ‘Get back!’ Geri shouted. ‘Stop!’ She pressed the gun harder against Ketty’s skin.

  I stopped, the blood pounding in my ears.

  Ketty stared back at me, her eyes huge and round and full of fear.

  ‘Please.’ The voice that came out of me was not one I recognised. I dropped to my knees. ‘Please, Geri, don’t hurt her.’

  Geri’s whole face tightened. ‘You’ve blown it, Nico,’ she said. ‘I realise that there’s no alternative. And I can see how to play it, too . . . There was a showdown between Avery and McMurdo. You and Ketty got caught in the crossfire. I tried to stop the shooting, but the two men were beside themselves . . . wouldn’t listen to reason . . .’

  I listened to her words, but I couldn’t take them in. My mind raced. There had to be a way of stopping Geri.

  ‘No,’ I said.

  As I spoke, Ketty lunged forward in her chair, clearly aiming to knock Geri off balance. I leaped forwards, but before I could reach them, Geri had pushed Ketty away with such force that Ketty’s chair toppled over backwards, Ketty still strapped inside it.

  I gasped as the chair and Ketty crashed to the floor behind the low table.

  Geri pointed her gun downwards, at where Ketty was lying. She kept her eyes on me. ‘I won’t make you watch me kill her,’ she said coolly. ‘That’s something, isn’t it?’

  ‘Please, Geri?’

  ‘Three,’ she said.

  No. I summoned all my focus. I was going to have to try teleporting the gun again.

  ‘Two,’ she said.

  I put every atom of energy I could muster into the effort, but Geri was gripping it too tightly. The gun wouldn’t budge.

  ‘Please,’ I sobbed.

  Geri threw me a thin, cruel smile.

  ‘One.’

  ‘NO!’ As I cried out, I heard the same word being yelled by other voices behind me.

  Suddenly I felt a hand round my arm, lifting me off the ground. A quick flash of Geri’s shocked face, and my arms and legs were flung out. Geri vanished into a blur as something . . . someone . . . hurled me round like a machete. I flexed my feet. A split second later my heels rammed into Geri’s shoulder.

  She flew backwards. Her gun fired into the ceiling. She landed on her back on the floor.

  The hand holding me let me go. I fell to the ground, narrowly missing the edge of the couch by the door. I lay for a second feeling dizzy, gasping for breath, then scrambled to my feet.

  Cal was
standing next to me. It was he who’d flown into the room and, using the momentum created by that movement, hurled me across the room and into Geri. Dylan was here, too . . . and Ed by the door.

  All three of them had their eyes fixed on Geri. She was on her feet again. Her hair, normally a sleek blonde helmet, was ruffled with flecks of powder from the ceiling plaster and her smart jacket was torn along the sleeve, but she held her gun steadily as she pointed to the computer on the table.

  ‘Give me the Mac,’ Geri ordered.

  ‘No.’ Dylan stepped right in front of her. ‘Give me the gun.’

  I turned. Across the room, Avery lay slumped, the blood still seeping out of him. Further away, behind the low table, Ketty was still on the ground. I could just see her foot peeking out from behind the table.

  A shot fired. I spun round. Geri had fired into Dylan, but Dylan was still standing.

  A smile spread over Dylan’s face. ‘It’s over, Geri.’

  She reached out and grabbed Geri’s gun, then turned it on Geri herself.

  Geri blinked, her eyes suddenly sharper and wilder.

  ‘You don’t know how to use that,’ she snapped.

  ‘Actually, I do,’ said Dylan.

  For a second, I was torn in so many directions I stood paralysed. What I wanted to do most was rush over to Ketty, but Avery needed my help more.

  I tugged at Cal’s arm. ‘Avery was shot in the arm,’ I said. ‘Call an ambulance.’

  Cal followed my pointing finger to where Avery lay on the ground. He gasped, his hand flying to his mouth. I realised Cal must have rushed into the room so fast and acted so quickly that he hadn’t even noticed his father, unconscious, on the floor.

  In a flash, he crossed the room. He knelt down and touched Avery’s cheek.

  ‘Dad?’ His voice cracked. ‘Dad?’

  I turned back to Dylan. She was still holding Geri’s gun, her eyes narrowed with determination.

  ‘What are you doing?’ I said.

  ‘I’m going to kill Geri,’ Dylan said steadily.