‘We don’t have long,’ said Cate. They were all standing behind the shower blocks, away from the powerful searchlights that had now appeared at the far end of the beach. Cate could see small figures moving around, like ants between the cliffs and the shore. ‘If we don’t get help soon the beach will be blown to smithereens. Has anyone got a phone on them?’
‘They’re not working.’ Maria was almost sobbing with fear. ‘When Miles started to round us up I tried to use mine and there was no signal. It’s been down all day.’
‘What about the bike?’ Cate turned to Michel, who was staring at her, a strange expression on his face. ‘Michel, why don’t you take Maria and head for the road? Try and flag someone down. In the meantime, the rest of us will stay here and do what we can to hold up the Cotians.’
‘The bike went up in flames earlier this evening,’ said Michel grimly. He was holding Miles’s gun in his hand, gingerly, as if he didn’t quite know what to do with it. ‘We thought it was an electrical fault, but now I know differently. We have no jeep, no bike, no phones. We have no way of getting help.’
Another explosion rocked them, louder this time.
‘The turtles . . . the beach . . .’ Jacob was nearly in tears. ‘All that work, all that beauty destroyed forever.’ He pulled himself together. ‘We have to save ourselves now. We’ll go into the forest. It’ll be harder for them to track us there. And with any luck they’ll be more bothered about getting their precious treasure out to sea than hunting us down.’
Cate paused. There had to be some way of of stopping this carnage before the entire eco-system of Snapper Bay was lost forever. She remembered Arthur sitting in her bedroom on that last day before he went skiing and she went Australia.
‘The boosted dongle doesn’t just work for your laptop, you know,’ he had said handing her a small piece of rubber with a tiny lead sticking from it. ‘This is an adapater to allow you to use the dongle from your phone as well. I’ve downloaded you an app – see? Just plug it in like a charger, click on the app and your phone will bypass the usual network and link straight to the most powerful one available in a one hundred mile radius. It comes in handy if you’re in an area with dodgy reception – or if the usual networks have failed for any reason.’
‘Arthur, you’re a genius,’ Cate said to herself. She looked up. The four of them were staring at her. ‘You head into the forest,’ she said. ‘If you follow that track you’ll come to a clearing with a large rock. Wait there for me. I promise, I won’t be long.’
‘Not this time, Cate,’ said Michel. ‘This time we’re staying together. I’m not going to risk losing you again.’
She looked at him and nodded. The two of them jogged quietly back to her tepee. Michel stood guard outside whilst Cate searched for the adaptor in the side pocket of her laptop case.
She brought it out of the tent in triumph and, grabbing Michel’s hand, the two of them began to run back towards the forest. As they did, they heard shouts from the kitchen and her heart sank. Their escape had been discovered already.
Jacob, Noah and Maria were huddled together at the foot of the rock waiting for them. ‘OK. Here goes,’ said Cate, catching her breath. She slotted the dongle into the side of the phone and gazed down at the tiny screen as she activated the app. ‘Fingers crossed everyone.’
For a minute or so, there was nothing. Then there was a quiet bleep and the signal leapt up to maximum.
‘Yeess.’ The collective hiss of triumph ran through the group.
Cate punched in Marcus’s number, then Henri’s and then, her hands shaking, Arthur’s. No one answered.
Her eyes filled with tears of frustration. Marcus had said she was lucky. Well, just when she needed it, really needed it, her luck had run out.
‘Call the police,’ said Michel quietly. ‘The local police. Tell them we’re under attack.’
Cate shook her head. ‘We need helicopters, the navy, fire power. We need it now.’
Who else did she know? Who could she call who had that sort of influence? And then she remembered and dialled his personal number.
‘Cate, is that you?’ Lucas Black sounded alert. ‘I’ve been worried sick about you. You left so suddenly without saying goodbye and that maid, Marissa – she’s vanished! No one here has heard from her since you left the island. What’s going on, Cate?’
‘Lucas, I need your help. I need it now, urgently,’ said Cate. ‘Listen. Please just listen.’
The first deep thudding of a helicopter swooping in over the tops of the trees minutes later had them all on their feet, screaming in delight. It was followed by another and then another. Out at sea, a huge light was throwing a beam so powerful that the entire beach was lit up like day and, as the five of them ran out of the forest into the camp, they could see swarms of black-clad men disembarking from small dinghies, racing up over the shore.
There was a crackle of gunfire, a few small explosions and then silence. Michel picked Cate up and swung her round and round in delight and then Jacob was doing the same to Maria and Noah was jumping up and down as if he was on a trampoline.
Cate’s phone rang. Michel stopped his whirling and, smiling up at him, she reached into her pocket to answer it.
‘Cate,’ said Henri wearily. ‘I thought I told you to stay out of trouble. Why Lucas Black had to say quite those things to the Australian Prime Minister, I’ll never know. That young man really has no manners at all.’
EPILOGUE
‘I called Lucas because I couldn’t think of anyone else who had his influence,’ said Cate to Henri. They were sitting near the stage on Purbeck Island, watching as Black Noir tuned up for an impromptu gig in aid of Snapper Bay. Word had spread across the resort already and holidaymakers and staff were filing into the arena, happily making a donation as they came in. ‘He’s a popstar. He’s huge. As big as, well, the Rolling Stones were in your day. And you know he used to be in the army. So when I couldn’t get hold of you or Marcus I thought he’d be the next best person to get us the help we needed. Apart from my dad, of course. And I didn’t think you’d want him to know what we’d been up to.’
‘No indeed.’ He paused. ‘Cate, you were right. It was indium B that Miles had found and he took it straight to the Cotians. Rafe witnessed them collecting their own samples one night to confirm it. They must have been delighted. They knew that, if they got their hands on it, it would be enough to pretty much give them carte blanche to demand what they wanted from the rest of the world. In any case, they were happy enough to give him a down payment of several million dollars. We found it sitting in a bank account in the Caymen Islands.
‘But there was one flaw in their plans. The one thing the Cotians couldn’t know in advance was how much of it there was in Snapper Bay. They must have thought it was worth the gamble.’ He smiled. ‘Turns out they were wrong.’
‘Oh no,’ groaned Cate. ‘Don’t tell me all this was for nothing.’
‘Well, not quite nothing. There is enough indium B to power about a hundred computers. Enough for research purposes but hardly enough to warrant all that destruction. Still, the report will mean no one else will try the same thing here.’
Cate sighed. ‘Poor old Arthur will be horribly disappointed,’ she said. ‘He’s been getting very excited about the thought of a new era of technology just around the corner.’
On the other side of Cate, Marcus was gazing at Dave the drummer. ‘I’ve always fancied a go on the drums,’ he said to Cate quietly. ‘Do you think he’d mind?’
Cate looked over at Dave who was canoodling with Maria. ‘I don’t think he’d notice,’ she giggled.
In the seats behind them Noah and Jacob were vying for Nancy’s attention. As she saw Cate looking at her, Nancy waved with the air of one who was completely used to having men fight over her.
‘What will happen to Miles?’ Cate asked Henri.
‘You mean Michael O’Leary?’ Henri said. ‘Well, he’s managed to distance himself from the murder of th
e seaplane pilot Scott Foster – but Rafe has told us that he saw him on Razor Island. He’ll be charged as an accomplice to kidnap as well as a whole host of other crimes.’ He shook his head. ‘Actually, Cate, I don’t think he cared what we were going to do to him. He was so terrified that the Cotians would come after him to try to shut him up that he practically begged us to take him into custody there and then.’
‘Poor Josie,’ said Cate thoughtfully. ‘He drove her almost to madness.’
‘We think it was probably Miles who pushed her over the cliff but unless she or he admits to it there’s no proof,’ said Marcus, still eyeing the drums.
‘She was trying to warn me,’ said Cate sadly. ‘I’m pretty certain that Miles overheard her talking to me about mining. But how could he do that, to his own sister? How can people be so wicked?’
There was silence
Lucas put down his guitar and jumped off the stage and sat down next to Cate. ‘You OK?’ he said quietly, not taking his eyes off the roadies who were making last-minute sound checks. ‘You know for that hour between you calling me and hearing that you were OK. Well, it was a very long hour.’
Cate smiled at him. ‘Lucas, thanks, for everything. You saved us, really you did. Actually, more importantly, you saved Snapper Bay from utter destruction.’
‘How bad is it?’ Lucas asked.
‘Jacob doesn’t think it’s as bad as it looks,’ replied Cate. ‘Most of the explosions were at the far end of the beach away from the turtle sanctuary. They brought down a bit of the cliff but that’s about it.’
‘Good.’ Lucas put out his hand and gave hers a squeeze. ‘You’re a very brave kid, Cate Carlisle. If I’m ever in trouble I know who I’ll call first.’ He stood up and smiled over her head. ‘Hey, Michel? You ready, buddy?’
Cate turned around to see Michel stride proudly onto the stage, his saxophone in hand, and stand next to Lucas. A few quick sound checks later and he was actually playing live with Black Noir, his wailing tenor saxophone cutting through the band and rising high above their music.
As the crowd cheered and applauded, Cate was almost beside herself with pride. She beamed at Henri and then Marcus who gave her the thumbs up, and suddenly she was up on her feet dancing, waving up at her amazing boyfriend, happy just to be alive.
‘Hey Cate,’ Nancy was tapping on her shoulder. ‘I know it doesn’t feel like it but this time next week it’ll be Christmas Day. So Happy Christmas, babe.’
‘Happy Christmas, Nancy,’ said Cate. ‘Happy Christmas.’
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Another huge set of thank yous are due. To Brenda Gardner, Ruth Williams and Andrea Reece at Piccadilly for their encouragement and enthusiasm for The Cate Carlisle Files.
To all my friends and family who have so generously supported me, spread the word and bought the books. You have been incredible.
To my sons George, Conrad and Lucas, for all your brilliant suggestions and advice and to Graeme for his love, support and determination. I simply wouldn’t have done this without you.
And finally to all the readers, of all ages, who so enjoyed Trapped that they have come back for more. It means so much. Thank you.
ISLA WHITCROFT
School’s out and sixteen-year-old Cate Carlisle lands a job on board a gorgeous yacht, moored in the south of France.
She’s working for the glamorous supermodel, actress and pop star Nancy Kyle!
But mysterious, terrifying events keep happening around her. Soon Cate’s resourcefulness is the only thing keeping her, and the smuggled animals she discovers, from a terrifying fate.
An exciting, fast-paced thriller.
‘Combining a glamorous setting with a fast-paced plot involving endangered animals, this is a great teen read.’
The Guardian
ISLA WHITCROFT
Watch out for the exciting new installment of
The Cate Carlisle Files –
Viper’s Nest.
Coming 2012.
Sign up online to be the first to know when Viper’s Nest is released!
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