Blood Ties

by Sophie McKenzie

  67

  Theo

  What the hell was she doing?

  I backed away so that Elijah wouldn’t see me.

  ‘Rachel?’ I heard the triumph in his voice.

  I flattened myself against the wall. Jesus.

  ‘Don’t hurt Lewis,’ Rachel pleaded.

  ‘How did you get in here?’ Elijah sounded suspicious. He was going to work out I’d used the eye scanner any second. Then he was going to realise I was here too. My heart pounded. Think, Theo. Think. I ducked down behind the long couch where Daniel was lying.

  The bathroom door opened. Mel appeared, a small glass of water in her hand. She did a double take as she saw Elijah.

  ‘And how did you get in here?’ Elijah’s voice was icy. ‘And why is Daniel with you?’ No one spoke. ‘Get over here.’

  Mel disappeared from my sight.

  What the hell did I do now? Maybe if Elijah came out looking for me, I could jump him somehow. Get the gun off him.

  I could hear Mel explaining about Daniel breathing in smoke. Then Rachel appeared across the room. The tip of Elijah’s gun was pressed against her neck. Her eyes were wide with fear.

  My stomach heaved. For a second I thought I was going to be sick.

  Elijah’s walkie-talkie beeped. ‘Yes,’ he snapped.

  The man on the other end coughed. His voice was muffled, hoarse. From where I was hiding I could only make out a few disjointed words: doors . . . stock . . . destroyed.

  Elijah sagged back against the wall. ‘Everything?’ His voice was a whisper. For a moment he closed his eyes.

  Now. Rush him now. I hesitated. The moment passed. Elijah looked up, his eyes now desperate. He looked round the room.

  ‘Theo?’ He said it gently. ‘Theo? I know you’re in here and I don’t want to hurt you.’

  Yeah, right.

  He moved across the room. ‘Theo. If you don’t come out I will shoot Rachel.’

  He wouldn’t. He wouldn’t do it. He wanted to save Rachel – that’s why he’d arranged the whole relocation thing.

  Smoke was seeping in under the door. Elijah dragged Rachel over and peered out. A gust of black smoke billowed into the room.

  Elijah coughed. ‘Theo, I’m not joking. There isn’t much time. We have to go. Now.’ He cocked his gun.

  I could see Rachel’s face. Hear her ragged breathing. I clenched my fists.

  Oh shit. Oh shit.

  ‘Theo. I don’t want to kill Rachel. But I will. You are more important to me than she is. If you give me what I want, I will let her go.’

  He wasn’t coming any closer. Even if he did I didn’t see how I could get the gun off him and get Rachel away from him in one movement. Still. I could try.

  ‘Theo. I’m counting down from three. Three . . .’

  The only sound was Rachel’s breathing and my heart thundering in my ears. Why wouldn’t he walk over here? Just walk over here. Over here.

  ‘Two . . . If you give me what I need I will let her go.’

  Long pause.

  ‘One.’

  I jumped to my feet, holding my hands in the air. ‘Okay, okay,’ I shouted. ‘Okay, I’m here. Tell me what you need.’

  Elijah lowered the gun from Rachel’s neck. He narrowed his eyes and, again, I saw them harden and set, as if he were deciding something.

  ‘I need time, Theodore,’ he said simply. ‘I need you to come with me for just one more day. To give me time to . . . to think. After that, you and Rachel will be free. Free forever.’

  68

  Rachel

  Was Elijah serious? One more day and then he’d let us go? And what did he mean about needing time to think. Think about what?

  It was obvious from Theo’s expression that he had no more idea than I did.

  My whole body was shaking. Elijah brought the gun up again. It pressed cold and hard against my neck. He looked at Theo.

  ‘Stand by the wall,’ he ordered.

  Theo moved away from the couch.

  Elijah came closer to Daniel, still pressing the gun against my neck. Daniel’s eyes were closed but he was breathing steadily.

  ‘Mel, give Rachel the water,’ Elijah commanded.

  Mel stumbled towards me, the water slopping over her fingers. She handed me the glass, then backed away. I bent over Daniel, lifting his head a little. My hands shook as I tipped the glass against his mouth. My entire being was fixed on the metal of the gun, still pressed against the back of my neck.

  ‘You could at least take that gun off her,’ Theo said.

  Elijah pulled the gun back. I glanced gratefully up at Theo, but he wasn’t looking at me. He was staring at Elijah. I coughed. Acrid smoke fumes were starting to seep into the room.

  Daniel’s eyes stayed closed, but he sipped at the water, then spluttered some of it back up.

  ‘Not too much,’ Elijah barked.

  I set the glass down and laid Daniel’s head back on his cushion.

  Elijah flicked out his walkie-talkie.

  ‘Williams? Esposito?’ The machine crackled back at him. ‘Anyone?’

  ‘Sir.’ A faint voice could be heard above the static. ‘All the staff are out. Fire trucks on their way.’

  Daniel coughed. I stroked his hair and looked up at Theo. He was still staring at Elijah, an expression of complete confusion on his face

  I shivered.

  ‘And the labs?’ Elijah said. ‘Williams said they were . . .’

  ‘Destroyed,’ said the voice. ‘Totally destroyed. Where are you, sir? Are you all right?’

  Elijah snapped the walkie-talkie shut. His face was drawn – for one second he looked utterly defeated. Then he coughed and clenched his jaw.

  Daniel moaned and opened his eyes.

  ‘Theo,’ Elijah barked. ‘Pick Daniel up. Over your shoulder. Now.’

  He pulled me upright and pressed the gun so that the tip was right against my temple. He walked me over to the open hologram door. Lewis and Mel were standing together. Elijah stared at them contemptuously, then glanced back as Theo came up behind us, Daniel slung over his shoulder.

  ‘Go through the door opposite.’ Elijah pointed to the door that Theo had said led to a passageway to the front of the complex.

  Theo walked past us. Elijah inched after him, not taking his eyes off Lewis and Mel.

  ‘Move a muscle and I will kill Rachel,’ he said. ‘I don’t need her. I only need the boys.’

  My heart thudded so loudly the noise filled my head.

  I met Lewis’s eyes. He was watching us every step across the room.

  We reached the door. Theo and Daniel were already through. Elijah turned and faced Lewis and Mel.

  ‘I wish I had time to make this painful,’ he said viciously.

  I looked at Lewis. He caught my eye, then made a tiny motion with his hand so that his palm was held flat, parallel with the floor, fingers together.

  I shook my head. I wasn’t diving out of the way this time. I held my hand in the same position as his and moved it sideways.

  Lewis gave an imperceptible nod as Elijah pulled the gun away from my head and pointed it at Mel.

  ‘Now,’ I yelled. I shoved Elijah sideways as hard as I could. If he’d been expecting it I’d probably have bounced straight off him. As it was, I took him by surprise and he stumbled, the gun waving dangerously in the air.

  Lewis leaped like a panther. He drove his fist against Elijah’s arm, knocking the gun onto the floor.

  ‘Go!’ he yelled.

  I didn’t need to be told twice. I ran out of the room, almost colliding with Theo. Together we hurtled along a carpeted corridor. Open doors led off on both sides. Kitchen. Bathroom. Bedrooms.

  ‘Which is the way out?’ I gasped.

  ‘No idea,’ Theo panted. Daniel was bumping along over his shoulder, groaning more loudly now.

  We turned a corner and came to a fire door. The lock was completely blasted away. My heart leaped. That was the shot we’d heard before. Elijah must hav
e had to shoot the lock off to get inside. I pushed the door fully open. The remains of a large steel bolt lay on the concrete floor. The air smelled clearer and colder out here.

  ‘This has to be it,’ I said.

  We ran hard.

  Harder.

  The corridor behind us was silent.

  The air was much colder now. I guessed we were coming closer to the front of the building and further from the fire at its heart. Sirens nee-nawed in the distance.

  At last we reached a door marked Emergency Exit. Theo pressed down on the long metal bar and the door opened. Inside was a sort of garage. Dimly lit, with at least four huge cars lined against the far wall.

  I ran to where chinks of light were coming in under the rolldown door opposite. ‘This must be the way out.’

  Theo’s breathing was uneven. ‘I can’t see a switch or a button or anything that would—’

  ‘Maybe some light would help,’ said a male voice.

  I froze. Elijah was in the doorway, one hand flicking at a light switch by the door. The other gripping his gun.

  He pointed at the nearest car – big and black, like a taxi.

  ‘Get in,’ he said.

  ‘What have you done to Lewis and Mel?’ I said.

  ‘Locked them into the fire,’ Elijah said simply. ‘They can die together, since being together is what they wanted so much.’

  ‘No.’ My voice came out as a hoarse gasp.

  ‘Yes,’ Elijah snapped. ‘Now get in.’

  I stumbled over to the car, standing numbly by while Theo laid Daniel across the back seat

  I got in next to him and slid his little head onto my lap. Theo went round to the other side and got in next to his feet. Tears were streaming down my face. I saw Theo notice them, but I didn’t care. For once I didn’t care what he thought of me. I couldn’t see how Lewis and Mel could get out of the building any other way than we had. Guilt filled me, choking me.

  It was all wrong. Coming here had been the most stupid, destructive, wrong thing I’d ever done in my life. Lewis and Mel were going to die. Goodness knows how many innocent compound workers already had. And I would have to live with it for the rest of my life.

  Which probably wouldn’t be a very long time.

  Elijah revved up the engine. There was some kind of thick plastic barrier between us and the front seats – like you get in cabs.

  ‘We’ll be there in about fifteen minutes.’ Elijah was clearly shouting, but we could barely hear him through the plastic.

  I could feel Theo’s eyes on my face.

  I turned and looked out of the window.

  The doors in front of us opened. Brilliant light flooded into the room. How could it still be daytime? I felt as if it was about two in the morning.

  I put my head in my hands and wept.

  69

  Theo

  The sunshine almost blinded me. How long had it been since I’d been outside? A week? Two?

  It was weird seeing buildings and blue sky again. Real blue sky.

  I tried the window control and the door handle beside me. Both were locked.

  I sat back and looked at Rachel again. Her face was in her hands now. She was crying and trembling and I didn’t know what to say to her.

  I looked down at Daniel. He seemed to be breathing steadily. At least he was safe. And Mel and Lewis couldn’t be dead. They would find a way out through the fire. I was sure of it.

  I sat back and let my mind go over what Elijah had said about needing me for one more day, then letting me and Rachel go free. Was that just a way of getting us to go along with him while he escaped? Or did he mean it?

  I glanced at Rachel. She had stopped crying and was stroking Daniel’s hair, smoothing it softly off his face. She looked so sad. I guessed she must be thinking about Lewis.

  ‘Rachel?’ I said.

  She looked at me, her eyes a fierce blue against the raw red skin from her crying.

  ‘If anyone can survive a building on fire, it’s those two.’ I smiled.

  Rachel smiled weakly back at me. ‘I know,’ she said. ‘It’s just . . .’ She gulped. ‘All Lewis and I wanted to do was rescue you and Mel. And . . . and now so many people are . . . have been killed and you’re not even free and . . .’ Her lips trembled.

  ‘Listen,’ I said. ‘What you did was the bravest thing anyone’s ever done for me. And you don’t know if anyone’s actually been killed. I mean all the security guards wear bulletproof vests and that guy Elijah spoke to said all the staff got out. Didn’t he?’

  I stared into her eyes. She looked down.

  ‘Hey, how did you and Lewis sort out that dive thing you did?’

  She smiled sadly. Something twisted in my chest. She liked Lewis.

  A lot.

  ‘It was just this move he taught me.’ Rachel held her hand flat in front of her, then dipped it so the fingers pointed at the floor of the car. ‘Dive.’ She sighed.

  ‘Rachel?’ I had to ask her.

  She looked up.

  ‘D’you think Elijah will really let us go?’

  Rachel shook her head. ‘I don’t know.’ Her eyes filled with tears and she reached over and touched my arm. ‘I’m so sorry this has gone all wrong.’

  I squeezed her hand, wishing more than anything that I could make her feel better.

  ‘Theo?’ Daniel’s voice was barely a whisper. ‘What’s happening?’

  I tore my eyes away from Rachel and smiled at him. ‘Hey, how you doing, big guy?’ I said.

  ‘My throat hurts.’ Daniel stared down at my hand over Rachel’s. He looked back up at me and made his goofy face. ‘Why are you holding hands?’

  70

  Rachel

  ‘We’re not holding hands.’ Theo laughed and pulled his hand off mine.

  I let go of his arm and turned to look out of the window, hoping he couldn’t see me blushing.

  For a moment it had felt like Theo and I had been close again. Those things he said were so sweet and kind.

  But maybe that was just because he was sweet and kind. And it wasn’t about me at all.

  We appeared to be driving through central Washington. Wide, busy streets. Big office buildings and smart-looking shops on either side. Men and women strode purposefully past.

  In the distance I could see the tip of a pointed stone tower.

  ‘The Washington Monument,’ Elijah called from the driver’s seat.

  I remembered Lewis’s instruction to meet at the Jefferson Memorial. I wondered if it was anywhere nearby. Then the tears welled up again. Theo had sounded positive earlier and it was true that if anyone could escape a burning building it was Lewis. And yet . . .

  I looked down. Daniel was gazing at me, his brown eyes all big and round and serious.

  ‘Hi.’ I tried to smile. ‘I’m Rachel.’

  Daniel carried on staring. I turned and looked at Theo. The same eyes were gazing at me. Except they weren’t the same, I realised. Theo’s eyes were strained – like he’d seen too much. There was no innocence left in his eyes.

  ‘It’s so weird seeing you and Daniel together,’ I said. ‘You look so alike. And yet different too.’

  Theo nodded. ‘This whole thing’s weird.’

  ‘Where are we going?’ Daniel said.

  ‘We don’t know,’ I told him.

  The car swerved sharply left. I looked out again. We were driving down a wide, six-lane road. Shops on either side. A little shoe shop. A book store. A shop called Pottery Barn with brightly-coloured plates and glasses in the window.

  The people strolling by looked groomed and relaxed, enjoying their shopping. They were only a few metres away outside the car.

  It felt like they were on a different planet.

  ‘This is Georgetown,’ Elijah called out. ‘We’re nearly at the house.’

  I turned to Theo. ‘Why’s he telling us all this?’ I whispered.

  Theo held my gaze. ‘Maybe because it doesn’t matter what we know now. Maybe because
he’s not planning on ever letting us go again.’

  Oh God.

  A few minutes later Elijah pulled the car up at the back of a large brick house. It looked old compared to most of the houses we’d passed on the drive, though not much different to the houses round where Theo lived in London.

  Elijah ordered us out of the car. He patted his pocket. The metal tip of the gun handle was poking out. ‘Be careful,’ he said.

  I helped Daniel walk to the front door. He started coughing. Elijah stared at him anxiously.

  Inside, the house was simply furnished. Plain walls and polished wood furniture. Elijah led us through a large open-plan living room into an equally spacious kitchen with gleaming steel surfaces and glass French doors giving out onto a trim back lawn.

  Theo immediately strode over to the doors. ‘They’re locked,’ Elijah said wearily. ‘And the glass is reinforced. And before you look, there’s no phone in here.’

  He withdrew with Daniel, leaving us alone in the kitchen. I heard a key click in the door.

  Theo was still staring out onto the garden, his hands pressed against the glass.

  I wandered over to the huge double fridge. A pack of bright pink ham and a slab of plastic-wrapped cheese lay on the middle shelf. There was a loaf of bread on the counter, beside a notepad, pen and a thick leather address book.

  ‘D’you want something to eat?’ I said.

  ‘Please.’ Theo didn’t turn round.

  I made two large sandwiches. I couldn’t find a knife to cut the bread, so I had to tear off what I needed with my fingernails.

  ‘They look a bit rubbish,’ I said, ‘but . . .’

  ‘Thanks.’ Theo strode over and picked up one of the sandwich slabs. He turned away again, shoving it in his mouth.

  I tried desperately to think of something to say to him.

  ‘What was it like, in the compound with Elijah?’ I said.

  Silence.

  I sat down on one of the stools at the counter and took a small bite of my own sandwich. My hands were still shaking slightly and the bread tasted like cardboard in my mouth. I rested my elbows on the counter, suddenly overwhelmed with tiredness. The clock above the oven said it was two p.m. Which meant it was seven p.m. at home. Still really early for me to feel this tired.