by Gina Blaxill
Reece gave me a squeeze. ‘Maybe Mr McIntyre will be on the case – assuming they were telling the truth and he isn’t in on this.’
‘On a scale of one to ten, how convinced do you think he was by your story?’
‘About a five?’ Reece pulled a face. ‘You know how I moan about Mum being clingy? Well, right now I’d be quite happy if she was the most paranoid mother under the sun, cos at least that would mean someone would be freaking about where I was!’
I ran my tongue over my lips. My throat felt dry – but somehow I didn’t think the men were going to bother with niceties like water. ‘We really are on our own.’
‘Bloody useless detectives, aren’t we? Hey – you’re shaking.’
I gave him a mirthless smile. ‘So are you.’
‘Guys!’ Kyle tapped on the window. ‘Less of that.’
‘Oh, sod off,’ Reece muttered, but we drew apart and I slid back to my seat. Reece reached for my hand and I let him take it. I didn’t see how they could complain about that. Kyle noticed as he got in, but he didn’t say anything, and the other man was too busy looking at his phone. As the engine fired up, I couldn’t help feeling that we could have used that time alone better – hatching a plan or something. But the moment was gone now.
We drove along the motorway for what seemed like ages. The road signs told me that we were heading west, away from London and everything I knew. After a while we turned off on to an A-road that seemed to be full of roundabouts, and I lost track of where we were. I’d read a book once where the main character had been abducted. She’d pretended the car journey was making her sick and got the kidnappers to pull over and let her out, and then she’d managed to get away. I doubted I could get that to work – these guys didn’t seem that gullible, and it wasn’t like there was anywhere to run to. The only good news was that they’d given us something to drink.
Eventually Kyle took us on to quieter roads and through a succession of villages. It was between two of these, in a particularly desolate area of countryside, that we stopped. Our destination seemed to be a little cottage painted a washed-out shade of pink, set away from the road down a bumpy track. I could tell from the state of the garden that it hadn’t been lived in recently. The word to describe this place was ‘desolate’.
The men bundled us out of the car. The one in charge kicked over a flower pot by the door. Underneath was a key. He opened the door to reveal a bare porch, empty coat hooks either side. Once we were inside he locked the door.
‘Keep an eye on them,’ he told Kyle, and disappeared through into a lounge area. I heard footsteps as he moved around, presumably checking the place out. I glanced through the door into the sitting room. There wasn’t a lot of furniture, just a couple of sofas that looked about twenty years old, an old-fashioned-looking television and some prints on the wall. Everything was coated with dust. There was no way this was someone’s house – perhaps it was a holiday cottage of some sort.
After about five minutes the man returned. ‘I’ve secured the pantry. Best room to stow these two. Nice heavy lock.’
‘What a wonderful selling point,’ Reece muttered. ‘Is that what the estate agents tell all the visitors?’
The man stared at him, clearly deciding whether or not that merited a reply. He probably thought Reece was just being mouthy. I knew better – this dark kind of humour was Reece’s way of facing reality when things got bad. He’d been like this when his dad died. In the end the guy just told him to shut it. We were marched through into the lounge and then along to the kitchen. There was a heavy wooden door leading to what looked like a large cupboard, shelves stacked with cans.
‘Help yourselves to the food,’ Kyle said. ‘We’ll bring some water. Wouldn’t want you dying of thirst.’
‘Hilarious,’ Reece murmured. He rubbed his arms. ‘Christ, it’s cold in here.’
‘I’ll see if I can find some blankets,’ Kyle said.
‘It’s not a freaking hotel,’ I heard the other man say as the door closed on us. ‘Quit being nice. What the hell are we going to do with them?’
‘Your decision, Patrick.’ The rest of Kyle’s reply was lost as they moved away. Patrick? Unless it was a big coincidence, we’d finally met Patrick from the email messages: Aiden’s former friend, who didn’t trust Aiden and Cherie – and had nasty associates . . .
I went to the door and rattled the handle, without much optimism. Patrick had been right when he’d said it was a heavy lock.
‘No getting out of this one,’ I said, watching Reece as he moved around pressing his hands against the stones. I couldn’t see him very well through the gloom; I’d tried the light switch by the door, but the bulb hanging above us had blown some time ago.
We sat down together and leaned against the wall facing the door.
‘So . . .’ Reece said. The word hung in the air for some seconds, hopeless, empty, summing up the situation we found ourselves in.
‘So nothing. We’re well and truly stuffed.’
The only thing in our favour – ironically – was that we didn’t have much evidence against them beyond Dani’s iPhone backup. That might make them decide to let us go. If they were going to kill us, surely they would have by now?
‘Soph?’ Reece asked. I realized I must have been silent a while. I shifted into a more comfortable position, drawing my knees up to my chest, already feeling the chill. For a moment I considered asking Reece if I could huddle up to him – and maybe not just for the heat – but instead I heard myself say, ‘I was just weighing up what they’re likely to do.’
He let out a hollow laugh. ‘Obvious, isn’t it? Look at what they tried to do to Aiden and Cherie. They’ve got the formula. Now they’re disposing of the evidence.’
After about half an hour we heard the click of the bolts on the door being pushed back, followed by the key turning. Kyle appeared with a couple of musty-smelling blankets and a big bottle of water. He tossed them on to the floor.
‘Either of you need to take a bathroom trip?’
Both of us nodded. Kyle took me out first.
‘Who owns this place?’ I asked as I climbed a narrow staircase. Kyle had positioned himself behind me so I couldn’t do a runner.
Kyle made a non-committal noise. ‘That’s the bathroom straight ahead. Don’t try anything clever.’
I glanced around the landing before going inside. It looked like there were only two other rooms, so the place couldn’t be very big. The bathroom was fairly clean, considering how dusty the rest of the house was. The window was tiny, but it was big enough to show that we were in the middle of nowhere. There was a road in the distance, probably further away than it looked. There were certainly no houses I could see and no sounds of life.
Kyle rapped on the door. Quickly I opened the bathroom cupboard, but there was just a toothbrush and a packet of aspirin – nothing that could be of any use.
As Kyle took me back downstairs, I said, ‘Our parents will notice we’re gone soon. They’ll call the police.’
Kyle said nothing, and I found myself back in the pantry as he took Reece upstairs. I shivered and settled down, pulling one of the blankets over me and trying to ignore the smell.
REECE
At about six o’clock I found a can opener and opened a tin of peach slices. I offered them to Sophie.
She shook her head. ‘Do you ever think of anything other than your stomach?’
‘I’ve not eaten since six this morning, and I can’t see how starving myself is in any way productive.’ I fished out a slice from the syrup and slid it into my mouth. It tasted of nothing and I swallowed quickly.
Although my earlier panic had dulled, I was still very, very afraid. I’d desperately tried to come up with escape ideas, but none of them seemed like they’d work. I thought about Neve and Mum. Neve would be at the kitchen table right now with her crayons. Mum would be preparing dinner, grumbling about me not letting her know if I was joining them. It was likely that she’d tried to ring m
y phone, but my not picking up wouldn’t cause much alarm. She’d assume I was playing cricket. My teammates would call when I didn’t turn up for the minibus, but again, that would be my mobile number, not home – and as we always took a reserve player, they probably wouldn’t be too bothered.
Christ, if I didn’t get out of this, what would that mean for Mum? She’d already lost Dad. I didn’t want to imagine what losing me might do to her. And would Neve even remember me as she got older? The thought that I might be forgotten was really terrifying. I felt horribly guilty. I’d chosen Sophie over my family. Now I was facing the consequences.
‘Sorry I got you into this.’
I glanced sideways. Sophie was slumped beside me, bundled in blankets up to her chin. I waved my hand in front of her.
‘OK?’
‘No. If it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t be here. Your mum was right when she said I was bad for you.’
I shrugged. I didn’t have it in me to be angry with her any more.
‘Why did you come to Heathrow?’ Sophie asked. She had a cobweb in her hair. I reached across to brush it off. ‘You didn’t have to.’
‘Because I wanted to prevent the sale of a dangerous formula, perhaps?’ That was only half the truth. I came because despite what I’ve said, and despite how you infuriate me, I still care about you, I thought. But I didn’t say so. She knew, anyway.
‘Sophie,’ I said, laying my hand on her arm. It wasn’t really the right moment, but it might be the only chance I was going to get. ‘I know what happened at Paloma’s party.’
When she didn’t respond I said, ‘Paloma told me. We had a gossip in Waitrose the other day – in the chutney aisle.’ If Sophie raised a smile at that, it was there and gone in an instant. ‘Why didn’t you tell me? I had no idea!’
‘Why weren’t you there? School was hell for me afterwards – everyone calling me a psycho for going after Zoe like that. Completely getting the wrong idea – I can’t even begin to describe it. And I look awful in that video, but I was trying to surprise you by showing I’d made an effort. I was really banking on you being there, Reece . . .’
Sophie had a helpless expression in her eyes. That told me exactly how deep this had gone. I bit my lip, trying not to get too hopeful about Sophie admitting she’d made an effort for me.
‘You were acting funny after the play. Then you ignored my texts. I thought you weren’t bothered about me any more.’
‘Of course I was bothered! That was why I never tried with your new mates – it felt like they were taking you away from me.’
‘You thought I’d let that happen?’
‘I’m not the easiest friend to have.’ Sophie looked away. ‘I know that, but seeing you having fun with other people made me think I was in the way. And I saw photos of you at the bar that night enjoying yourself.’
There was a creak from outside. We both tensed, but when nothing happened we relaxed.
‘Soph,’ I said, ‘I’m sorry I let you down. But you get why I didn’t come to the party, right?’ She nodded. ‘Everyone disappoints you once in a while. That doesn’t mean you can’t trust them any more.’
Sophie’s voice was almost inaudible. ‘I’ve been let down so many times, Reece. It’s so hard to trust anyone now. It’s easier to run away.’
‘At risk of sounding like a shrink . . . if you run away from everything, one day you’ll look round and there’ll be nothing left. Some things are worth sticking with, even if they aren’t perfect.’ I paused. ‘Hey, go me! That was pretty profound.’
She made a snorting sound; for a moment I wasn’t sure whether it was laughter or crying. ‘Are you saying you’re worth sticking with?’ she asked.
‘Right now you’ve not got much choice.’
Sophie paused. I got the impression she was weighing up whether to say something or not. ‘Those girls . . . You know, the posh ones that joined your mates sometimes. Was there ever anything going on with that blonde one? She liked you. I could tell.’
I wasn’t sure what she meant at first. Then I realized. ‘Were you jealous?’
It was ridiculous, but I couldn’t help being pleased. Perhaps she’d been lying when she said she didn’t fancy me.
‘Maybe.’
‘Nothing happened,’ I said. ‘Know why?’ I paused. ‘She wasn’t anywhere near as interesting as you.’
It was hard to tell, but I was pretty sure she blushed. Crazy hope surged inside me. But all she said was, ‘Can we agree that that’s in the past? Just . . . it seems unimportant now. I should have talked to you about the party . . . Sorry.’
I was too distracted to reply properly. Her face was really, really close to mine, so close that her hair was actually brushing my cheek. We’d been sitting next to each other so long that I could feel the heat from her body. It was totally the wrong moment, but I was so tempted to lean a few inches closer and kiss her . . . But then voices came from outside. Patrick and Kyle.
SOPHIE
I wasn’t sure exactly where Patrick and Kyle were at first. After a moment I realized they had to be on the other side of the wall, outside the house. Hearing my name, I froze, shushing Reece when he opened his mouth.
‘. . . said she had a young cousin,’ Patrick was saying. ‘Knew that girl reminded me of someone. Wonder if Danielle told her anything?’
‘No way of knowing for certain.’ Kyle spoke more softly; it was hard to make out every word. ‘She’ll deny everything.’
‘Whatever. It’s not like Danielle was important. Aiden and Cherie shouldn’t have got her involved if she couldn’t be trusted. Odd though. She sent me an email saying she needed to talk to me, the day before she died . . .’
Kyle murmured something I didn’t catch. Patrick continued, ‘Funny how it was Cherie’s idea to involve Danielle, considering how it backfired on her. Aiden wasn’t meant to end up actually liking Danielle.’
I sat up sharply. Kyle said, ‘And then she died. Funny, that.’
‘Hey!’ Patrick sounded annoyed. ‘I don’t know what happened and I don’t much care. She did her bit.’
Hearing them talking about Dani like this stung. But at least it confirmed what I already suspected – Cherie had to be responsible. I might never know the details but at least I had someone to blame. And Danielle had tried to contact Patrick to tell him that the drug had harmful side effects. It meant a lot to me to have that confirmed.
‘Did you ring São Paulo?’ Kyle was asking.
‘I’m waiting for a call back. Need advice on what to do with those kids.’
‘You’ve not got too many options, the way I see it.’
‘What’s all this “you” stuff? You’re in this too, Kyle.’
‘It’s gone too far. Out of control.’
There was a pause, then Patrick said, ‘If you’re talking about Cherie, she shouldn’t have asked for more money. As for Aiden, he’s lucky he got away – I’m not convinced he’s covered his tracks properly at V-B. If he’s found out, he’s not going to stay quiet.’
‘So what about the two inside?’ Kyle asked. ‘They’re kids, for God’s sake. They probably didn’t realize what they were getting into.’
‘They know too much. You see the choice I have here? At the end of the day you can give me this bleeding-heart trash, but I’ve gotta protect myself. It’s too late to backtrack – and we’ve got the formula, for God’s sake. We’re almost there. We’re going to make millions!’
Kyle’s response was inaudible; it sounded like the men had moved away. I let out my breath, realizing I’d been holding it. I could feel that I’d started to shake again – was it only a few minutes ago Reece and I had been talking about Paloma’s party, almost as though everything was normal? I wondered when they would make a decision about what to do with us – surely it had to be soon . . .
At 11 p.m. Kyle reappeared with another bottle of water, some cushions and a lantern. He asked if we needed another bathroom trip. When we were both back in the pantry, he told us
to sleep.
‘Sleep?’ Reece sounded incredulous. ‘You’re kidding.’
Patrick appeared in the doorway, unsmiling. ‘Do as he says.’
‘Why? You’re holding us here against our will.’ Reece took a step forward. ‘It might surprise you, but I’m not feeling very cooperative! I want you to tell me what you’re going to do with us.’ He paused. ‘Right now.’
He sounded way more assertive than I knew he felt.
Impressed but afraid for him, I opened my mouth, but Patrick spoke first.
‘No.’
‘Why not?’ Reece demanded. ‘Haven’t decided? Or d’you just enjoy being cruel? If it’s the first, then that’s just pathetic—’
Patrick’s hand shot out. I flinched even before I heard the smacking noise; when I looked up again Reece was staggering back, blood trickling from his nose. I rushed over and put my arm around him. ‘Is any drug worth killing us for?’ I cried. ‘It’s not even the real deal! Did Aiden tell you about the side effects? It failed the trial! It’s gone back for redevelopment.’
Kyle and Patrick froze. Then Patrick grabbed my collar, pulling me forward.
‘What?’ he demanded. ‘You mean to say they’ve given us a phoney formula? They’ve double-crossed us?’
Taken aback by the impact my words had had, I stared into his eyes. ‘I don’t know the details, but I know it’s not ready. You’re not going to be able to sell it as it is.’
Unless you don’t care about the side effects, I thought. If Cherie and Aiden had been ruthless enough to sell a bad formula, then maybe Patrick and his associates would produce the drug anyway. The thought of people taking the drug, full of hope and unaware of what it might do to them, made me feel sick.
Patrick made a growling noise and let go of me. Kyle followed him out, and I heard what sounded like the beginnings of an argument as the door slammed shut.
I looked at Reece. He was mopping up his nose with the end of his sleeve. ‘You all right?’
