Endgame

by C. J. Daugherty

  ‘We’ve been monitoring your communication for some time,’ she said.

  If this revelation surprised him he didn’t let on – his expression was steady as she continued.

  ‘I listened to all of you. I know Gabe Porthus was called Number One. You’re Number Nine.’ She paused. Raj had given her specific lines to say now, but she decided not to use them. Instead, she said it in her own words. ‘You seemed sane to me. The best of them all.’

  He barked a humourless laugh. ‘If I seemed sane to you, you’ve got a problem, sister.’

  She didn’t smile. ‘The other night, you warned me. When Nathaniel was about to grab me.’

  His smile faded. ‘I’d have done that for anyone.’ His tone was brusque.

  ‘It was my choice to come here today. My idea to talk to you. To ask for your help. To offer to help you.’ She leaned forward. ‘The people from my school don’t think we can trust you. But I do.’

  For an endless moment he held her gaze.

  When he finally spoke he picked up on one part of what she’d said. ‘How the hell can you help me?’

  His eyes flickered across her face. It was a diminishing look. As loudly as if it he’d shouted it, the look said, ‘You are just a kid.’

  ‘I can help you,’ she said evenly, ‘by getting you away from Nathaniel. And I have already helped you by getting rid of Gabe.’

  ‘Getting rid of…’ He stared. ‘What does that mean, exactly?’

  Allie brushed back her hair to reveal the bandage on her throat.

  ‘Last night Gabe attacked me,’ she said. ‘He tried to kill me and another girl. A good friend of mine. I…’ Killed him. ‘He didn’t survive.’

  Moran had been stretched back in his chair. Now, slowly, he straightened.

  ‘You’re trying to tell me you killed Gabe Porthus? You?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘So that’s why the bugger disappeared.’ Moran ran his hand across his jaw. His whiskers rasping against his fingers. ‘No loss to society, I have to say. But…’ He met her gaze again, his eyes narrow. ‘Do you really expect me to believe someone your size – some posh kid like you – killed someone like Gabe? I’m not sure I buy it. The guy was a tosser, but he could fight.’

  ‘I can fight, too,’ Allie said. It wasn’t a boast.

  Her two minutes must have been up by now but neither of them cared. The news about Gabe had clearly thrown him.

  Whatever he’d expected from her when she walked up, it hadn’t been this.

  ‘What’d he do to you?’ he gestured at her bandage.

  ‘Stabbed.’

  He didn’t look surprised.

  ‘There was something wrong with that guy,’ he muttered mostly to himself. ‘Something fundamentally wrong.’

  Allie couldn’t argue with that.

  ‘How did you kill him?’ His gaze was piercing.

  Allie swallowed hard, her throat suddenly dry. She hadn’t said it aloud to anyone yet.

  ‘I pushed him off the roof.’

  His eyebrows shot up.

  But all he said was, ‘Creative.’

  The big man from the kitchen bustled towards them, a plate in his towel-draped hand.

  ‘’Ere you go, mate.’ He set the plate piled high with pie and mash in front of Moran and glanced at Allie. ‘What can I get you, luv?’

  She didn’t want to ask for anything, but nerves had dried her throat. ‘Could I just get a glass of water for now, please?’

  ‘’Course you can, luv.’

  They both waited as he walked away. When he was out of earshot, Moran took a bite of his potatoes, watching her speculatively as he chewed.

  ‘So what are you asking for, tough girl? And what do you have to offer?’

  ‘Please call me Allie,’ she said. ‘I’d like to offer you your freedom.’

  He choked. Sputtering, he grabbed his mug and took a swallow of tea.

  He wiped his mouth with his napkin, studying her with bemusement.

  ‘My freedom? Last time I checked I was already free.’

  The big man was coming back with a glass of water in his hand. Allie didn’t respond until he’d set it down and gone again. Then she leaned towards Moran.

  ‘I believe Nathaniel has control over you through your finances. I know you had a hard time after you came back from the war. I know you’ve struggled and got into trouble. I know you want to do what’s best for your little girl. And I suspect you think the best thing you could do is take Nathaniel’s money and give it to her. I think you think this job is your only option after everything you’ve been through. That Nathaniel is the only person who will hire you.’

  Moran’s fork hung suspended in the air, halfway between his plate and his mouth. He’d stopped eating. Stopped everything. She couldn’t see him breathe.

  She continued with increasing confidence. ‘I want you to know that you’re wrong. There are other people who would hire you, pay you very well, and do whatever they could to help you. My people would do that. They can and they will. They won’t make you compromise on your principles, or give up on mankind, or whatever it is you have to do to get up every single day and go work for Nathaniel St John. Who wants to ruin the world.’

  His expression was too complicated to read but she was sure she had him.

  She was wrong.

  ‘How the hell do you know so much about me?’ His expression was pure, cold resentment.

  ‘Wait… I don’t…’ Allie stuttered. It was hard to talk when he was looking at her with loathing. ‘We’re good at what we do,’ she said, after a second. ‘We did our research.’

  ‘You people. You’re as bad as him, you know that?’ His voice was low and threatening. ‘You’ve got money so you think you’ve got the right to do whatever you want. Say whatever you want. You may just be a kid but what the hell are they teaching you at that school? That it’s just fine to go through someone’s bins? Where do you get off invading my privacy? Where do you get off trying to buy me?’

  She kept trying to speak but he slammed his hand on the table.

  ‘I think you need to leave. You’re not safe with me right now.’

  29

  ‘Wait.’ Allie held up her hands, panic rising in her chest. ‘We just had to know who you were before we came to you. It wasn’t like that. What if you were a murderer or… something?’

  ‘From the sounds of it, you’re the murderer, kitten,’ he growled. ‘And if you’ve looked at my records you know I’ve killed a fair few people myself.’

  Every muscle in his body was tense. She kept looking at his hands, which rested flat on the table. They looked strong – dangerous.

  From the corner of her eye, Allie saw Raj had set his newspaper down and was watching them closely. Until that moment she’d almost forgotten he and the others were there.

  She let out a breath.

  ‘That was war,’ she said quietly. ‘Not murder.’

  She didn’t specify which of them she was talking about.

  Nine was unmoved. ‘Call it whatever you want, kitten. Killing’s killing.’

  ‘Then we’re both murderers,’ she said.

  It felt strangely liberating to say that. How odd that it was so easy to confess her crime to the only person who really understood – somebody else who’d done the same thing.

  ‘Just… please don’t think I’m as bad as Nathaniel,’ she said. ‘I’m not. I want to do good things with my life. I want to help people. I don’t want to spend my life making my money. I want to spend my life doing good work. Being useful. Changing things.’

  They were completely off-script now. She was winging it. Which was exactly what Raj had warned her not to do. None the less, her instincts told her Moran would see right through their carefully prepared lines. He seemed to have an instinct for honesty.

  So honesty was what she’d give him.

  ‘I want you on my side,’ she continued. ‘But if you don’t want to be on my side, if you want to keep working for
Nathaniel, that’s fine, too. You don’t owe me anything. I just don’t understand it. Because I know you hate him.’

  He studied her for a long minute, as if making up his mind about her.

  ‘How do you know I hate him?’

  He picked up his fork again. Allie took a long, relieved breath. And hoped he wouldn’t stab her with it.

  ‘Look, don’t freak out at me, but I’ve spent hours listening to you talk about him,’ she said. ‘I think you hate him as much as I do.’

  He chewed his food thoughtfully, swallowing before he answered.

  ‘He’s as mad as a box of badgers, that much I’ll allow you.’

  Allie’s lips twitched. ‘That’s a nice way of putting it.’

  Moran turned his attention to his plate – he didn’t speak again for a few minutes. Allie suspected this was a tactic to throw her off, but she didn’t try to interrupt his meal.

  He ate with mechanical thoroughness. Fast. Not messy, just efficient. Like a soldier.

  When he’d finished, he pushed his plate away and picked up his mug of tea.

  ‘I didn’t know what he was on about that night,’ he said. ‘Some papers he wanted you to sign. Something crazy like that. I think he might have killed you if he got his hands on you.’ He took a sip of tea. ‘Just didn’t want to have to clean up the mess.’

  ‘He was asking me to sign away my rights to him,’ Allie explained. ‘My legacy from my family. From my grandmother. She left it to me. He wants it. I don’t want it, but I won’t give it to him.’

  It was a miscalculation.

  ‘Family money.’ He spit the words out. ‘You rich people, squabbling over who gets how many millions. Living in your mansions. You don’t have a clue. You’re just a kid and look at you.’ He thrust a finger in her direction. ‘Already fighting over money. Clawing each other’s eyes out. Using working people like we’re not humans, too.’

  Allie flinched. She was beginning to worry this wouldn’t work at all. His rage always seemed to be simmering, just beneath the surface. She had to do something to win his trust.

  ‘It’s not the money I want,’ she insisted. ‘I’ve never been rich. Don’t you see? This isn’t about money. It’s about power.’

  He watched her narrowly. ‘Explain.’

  ‘There is a group of people who run things. The government, the courts. Not directly – you couldn’t find them if you wanted to. But they’re there. My grandmother was one of them until she died. Nathaniel is too, now. He wants the power she had. If he gets it…’ She shook her head. ‘I don’t even know what he could do. You know he’s crazy. I know he’s crazy. I just…’ She exhaled slowly. ‘I want to stop him. Then I want to get away from him. I want…’ She picked up her water. ‘I want to live a little while longer.’

  He didn’t speak immediately. Seconds ticked by. Everyone in the restaurant seemed to have gone quiet. The big cook had disappeared, presumably into the kitchen. It was as if the whole building held its breath.

  A complex array of emotions crossed Moran’s face. Resignation. Worry.

  At last he sighed. ‘What do you want me to do? Tell me that, then I’ll tell you my decision.’

  It was what she’d been waiting for. Allie leaned forward eagerly.

  ‘Nathaniel’s holding a friend of mine. A boy. His name is Carter West. He’s locked up somewhere in that farmhouse right now.’

  Moran’s unsurprised expression told her he knew all about it.

  ‘I need you to unchain him,’ she said. ‘And get him out of the building. Tonight.’

  ‘Oh,’ he said. ‘Is that all? I thought it might be hard or something.’ His tone was sardonic. ‘Jesus Christ, kid. You don’t ask much, do you?’ He raked his fingers through his hair. ‘Even if I wanted to do that, I’m not sure I could. Nathaniel has guards watching that kid. Constantly.’

  ‘One of those guards is you,’ Allie said reasonably. ‘And you know the others. How many watch him overnight?’

  He held up two fingers.

  ‘Can you get a shift tonight so that you’re one of them?’

  ‘Maybe,’ he said. ‘Probably. I don’t know.’

  He was close. Allie could tell. She nearly had him. He didn’t want to – the job was dangerous. But he would do it. If she didn’t blow it.

  ‘You know what Nathaniel’s doing is wrong,’ she said. ‘I can tell you do. And I think you’re a good person. You don’t want to work for him anymore. I think you’re trapped.’ She leaned towards him. ‘We will help you. Get Carter out of that room tonight at 1 a.m. Take him to the side door – the one leading to the stables. We will have people there waiting for you. They will get you and Carter to safety. For this, my people will pay you one million pounds. Cash.’

  His jaw dropped.

  ‘That is the deal we’re offering you, Mr Moran,’ she said quietly. ‘We will change your life.’

  If she’d punched him in the stomach he couldn’t have looked more stunned. Perspiration broke out on his brow.

  It took him a second to reply.

  ‘How do I know I can trust you?’

  It was a loaded question. But Allie didn’t blink. ‘I think you’re a pretty good judge of character, Mr Moran. Do you think you can trust me?’

  For a long moment they stared at each other across the table. Then he pushed back his chair and stood up. She couldn’t read his expression.

  ‘One o’clock,’ he said. ‘I’ll get the kid out. I can’t promise any more than that.’

  It was well after seven o’clock by the time they got back to the school.

  Raj rode back to the school in the car with Allie and Zelazny so they could go over everything Nine had said. By the time they reached the front gates, they’d formulated a plan.

  They had no choice but to work fast. They had less than four hours.

  When the SUV stopped at the front door, they leaped out, jogging together up the front steps. Isabelle met them in the entrance hall – Raj had filled her in by phone along the way.

  They ran upstairs to Dom’s office, planning as they went.

  Allie could never remember them working like this before – with such urgency. As if all their own lives depended on it. Not just Carter’s.

  When they arrived, Dom already had the maps up on the wall.

  ‘Update?’ Raj snapped as they stormed into the room.

  ‘Nine is back at work,’ Dom said. She glanced at Allie. ‘He appears completely normal.’

  ‘Any news on Carter?’ Allie asked.

  The American shook her head. ‘Not a word from anyone.’

  In a way, it was good news. If Nathaniel was suspicious of what they were planning – if he had any inkling – he’d be moving Carter, or protecting him.

  ‘What’s the plan, Raj?’ Isabelle asked.

  They gathered around a map. The boundaries of Nathaniel’s farm had been carefully measured and marked on it.

  ‘We leave here at midnight,’ he said. ‘Arriving at St John’s Fields, we have thirty minutes to set up. My teams will be here, here, here and here.’ Raj pointed at four locations widely spaced around the farmhouse.

  ‘Ten vehicles will wait on this road.’ He pointed to a slim white line that ran past the front of the complex.

  Allie, who had seen it on the satellite feed many times, could visualise the narrow country road.

  ‘Isabelle and Allie will wait here.’ He pointed to a location about a quarter of a mile from the farmhouse. ‘They’ll coordinate communication and provide backup assistance.’

  Allie’s heart gave a flutter of excitement. This had been decided in the car on the way over. With her injury, she couldn’t run well enough to be out on the ground, but they’d agreed she could be close.

  That had to be enough, this time.

  ‘Presuming Moran does as he’s said,’ Raj continued, ‘once Carter is secured, we separate, travelling on foot to the vehicles in multiple teams. Each team acts as a decoy for the others, in case the security syst
em is alerted.’ He glanced up. ‘We need to keep them divided and confused.’

  All the instructors were arriving now as word spread of their return, along with senior Night School students and a few of Raj’s guards.

  Raj, still dressed in jeans and the casual grey top he’d worn to the Chequers, was in his element. Confident and focused, but relaxed. Next to him, Isabelle was tense, her forehead creased with worry.

  ‘How many guards will you take?’

  ‘Thirty.’ Raj’s jaw was set. ‘If we’re going in, we’re going in mob-handed.’

  ‘Good.’ The headmistress gave a terse nod. ‘The rest will remain here, guarding the grounds.’

  The plan was solid. Everything had been carefully thought out on their side, at least.

  But Allie was increasingly worried about how Nine could pull this off. He was alone against all of Nathaniel’s well-trained guards.

  If he failed, Carter was dead.

  Raj called for questions.

  ‘This plan relies heavily on the cooperation of one of Nathaniel’s guards.’ Zelazny’s sharp voice cut through the low murmur of conversation in the room. ‘What’s your plan if this Moran sells you out? What if it’s not Carter who comes to the door but thirty of Nathaniel’s guards?’

  It was a question he’d asked more than once in the car on the way back from the Chequers, and Raj was ready for it.

  ‘Then we fight.’ His voice was cool. ‘I’m bringing ten guards into the grounds. Twenty will remain hidden just outside the fence line. If I call for backup they are to move at speed to our location.’ He glanced at Isabelle. ‘I estimate we could have everyone on the grounds in less than twenty seconds. I’ve been watching the grounds for days. There are never more than fifteen security personnel on site. We will outnumber them two to one.’

  Isabelle glanced at the history teacher. ‘Does that satisfy your concerns, August?’

  ‘It will have to do,’ the history teacher replied, but he didn’t sound mollified. Allie knew he was worried, and she couldn’t blame him.