beats per minute (21 page)

‘Yes.’

‘Well then it probably fell out somewhere! We’ll just
retrace your steps and see if we can find it.’ Jasper got to his feet. He
didn’t really fancy going out into the cold night and scratching about in the
dark, but he was a good friend: he would do it.
Anything to
shake Raegan out of her present mood.
He almost preferred the tears to
this weird, detached state.

‘No good.’ She shook her head slowly. ‘I would have
noticed.’

He didn’t like to point out that she hadn’t noticed the
necklace was missing from around her neck until very recently – despite the fact
that she had taken it off herself.

For the first time in nearly an hour, she looked directly at
him.

‘Jasper.’
The words were quietly
steady. ‘I know how it sounds. But you don’t know what the last month has been
like. There have been other… incidents.’

‘Incidents.’

‘Mostly before we were friends.
I
didn’t make a big deal out of it to anyone – played it down, like I did last
week, when I got locked in the storage cupboard by ‘the wind’. I thought I was
probably imagining it.’

Jasper met her eyes without reproach.
‘Better
late than never.
’

She cast her mind back. It had been a while but it wasn’t
hard to remember the uneasiness that used to live in the pit of her stomach;
the uncontrollable paranoia she felt when walking through the Unit grounds on
her own; the vulnerability her evenings in the Armoury had helped her forget.
She shuddered.

‘It was small things, at first. Like someone was having a
laugh. But after a while… I started to feel like it wasn’t just a joke. That
someone was really out to get me.’ She faltered. ‘I know it sounds crazy!’ She
whipped her head
up,
sure he would be laughing at her.
But there was only sympathy in his face. ‘It happened, Jasper. I’m not making
it up.’

‘I believe you.’ He wasn’t entirely sure if he did, but what
he did believe was that Raegan was frightened.

 ‘And then I had my accident,’ she whispered. ‘I wish I
could remember what happened then!’

 Jasper patted her hand. ‘The two, ah, might not be
related.’

‘I know.’

‘And...
do
you know
why
someone might want to steal your necklace, of all things?’

‘I don’t know!  It has special qualities – I thought
only my family knew about it, but maybe it can do more than I –we - thought! Or
maybe someone nicked at it just to get at me – because they knew how much it
meant to me?’

She gave a short cry of exasperation, and banged her fist on
the table. ‘I. Just. Don’t. Know!’

He didn’t respond; instead, he left his hand on hers,
sensing she had more to say.

‘Look.’ Raegan sucked the air in through her teeth
impatiently. ‘Just say I am imagining it all. That would be great. I’d prefer
that option! But I can’t get away from the fact that there is a person who has
hated me, for no reason, ever since I came here. One of the few people who
has
had constant access to me and could have done all this
stuff.
The same person that I sat next to tonight, with my
backpack between us.
The backpack with my necklace in
it.’

She was gripping his hand now, a silent plea in her eyes.

Jasper took a deep breath. ‘What’s the plan?’

Agent Eliot was not the average Skipper. Drafted into
Sentinel work directly from the civil service due to familial pressures and an
impressive Regency lineage, he had always found the ritual, pomp, and rigidity
of the institution mildly baffling. Military life simply did not come naturally
to him; but then, neither had the civil service. He felt as uncomfortable in
soldiers’ garb as he had in a suit and tie.

To say that his interest in Skipper duties was minimal would
be an understatement. This particularly applied to the Night Watch, which he
considered a completely pointless exercise - for nothing which had not been
programmed within an inch of its life ever happened at Unit Prime.
Period.

Most of the time.

And so he patrolled the corridors of Block IVB with only a
fragment of attention dedicated to his nightly duties. The quiet sound of
breathing completely passed him by; neither did he notice the suspiciously
large gap behind the statue of Kronos, usually snug against the wall. No-one of
an average build, possessing the average amount of strength, could move the
statue, of course. It was impressively large and made from solid, heavy marble;
indeed, its ornate grandeur was rather at odds with the military sterility of
the building. Yet Agent Eliot had been trained to expect the unexpected; for
Regents, too, did not conform to the law of averages.

His mind was on other things.

And this is why two figures were able to lurk in a corridor
– well after curfew – without detection. Their hiding place was not given the
most cursory of glances.

Caution was still practiced, however – these beings were not
foolish. Once Agent Eliot was well clear of the statue, a shadowy figure moved
seamlessly from behind it. Signalling carefully at her partner, still concealed
behind the statue, the figure waited until the Skipper had rounded the corner,
before darting after him.  Once the coast was clear, she flitted back. The
motion was noiseless and almost preternaturally fluid.

The effect of all this above average behaviour was rather
ruined, however, by the appearance of someone else, lumbering out from behind
the statue without warning. A collision was narrowly avoided.

Despite the broken quiet, Agent Eliot did not reappear.

‘Whoops,’ Jasper whispered in apology, as Raegan held out
her arms to steady him. ‘Sorry ‘bout that.’ Dressed all in black, she was
difficult to make out; the glint of her eyes was just about visible in the
gloom.

‘Are you okay?’ she hissed, not without concern. ‘We’ve got
to be quick, he’ll be back soon.’

‘Yeah.
Just not used to all this
sneaking around. Legs feel a bit wobbly.’

‘It’s the adrenaline,’ Raegan told him kindly. ‘Your body is
all fired up. Take some deep breaths.’

Sensing his embarrassment she turned her attention to their
hiding place, giving him some breathing space. Checking that the corridor was
still clear, she nudged the extremely heavy statue back against the wall with
one swift, easy stroke.

Brushing her hands off against her black combat wear, she
smiled at him encouragingly. ‘Okay?’ her voice was low and urgent. ‘Let’s do
this.
Now.’

Still recovering from this display of skill, Jasper clumsily
reached around for the strap on his back. From it, he unsheathed a strange, red
contraption; what looked like a long pair of augmented tongs made out of metal
and rubber. If observed closely, small metal protrusions at various angles
along the side of the jaws and top of the arms were just barely visible.

Grimly, they nodded at each other. Raegan walked a few paces
down the corridor, gesturing for Jasper to follow, all the while checking
around her.

‘Which one is it?’ Jasper asked, under his breath.

Each door looked the same: beige, non-descript, without a
number or any defining feature. Raegan stopped at the third from the end.
Finger to her lips, she cocked her head toward it.

A cold sweat broke out over Jasper’s forehead. The moment
had arrived and now it was time for him to play his part.

But he had never done anything like this in his life. Yes,
when safely in his workshop, the comforting smell of molten metal permeating
the air, the reassuring thickness of a chisel in his hand, he had lapsed into
daydreams: pretending that he would be the one using his weaponry and
inventions in service of the greater good. He pictured scaling castle walls, tearing
down darkened corridors just like this, axe whirling through the air, to rescue
his fair maiden (who usually looked a lot like Bree).

He had dreamed of breaking down doors like the one in front
of him. The reality of the situation had never crossed his mind, though:
breaking into a room on Unit Prime was a gross breach of his position and would
result in his instant dismissal plus a stay in one of the infamous Sentinel
prisons.

The fact that Jasper was acting purely in the service of
friendship would not be taken into account.

But then he looked down at Raegan’s curly, red head, the
exposed skin white and curiously vulnerable, and these doubts began to subside;
not erased, but overtaken by a greater compulsion. Warwick had let it slip that
he and Declan were planning to sneak off campus that night and go to a nearby
bar,
leaving Declan’s room empty for most of the evening,
and Raegan’s body was tensed and ready for the search.

Alerted by the weight of his stare, perhaps, her head tilted
up. There was no colour in the freckled cheeks, but her blue-green eyes were
full of trust. He could not let her down.

He nodded and hoisted the gadget in reply, before he lost
his nerve. Raegan braced the door as he had instructed her. Fitting the jaws
around the handle, lightly, the arms laid at a right angle against the join of
the door and frame, he fiddled with the dimensions carefully for a moment,
screwing and unscrewing, extending and recoiling, until he was satisfied that
all was in place as he intended. Finally, he pushed a button on the handle of
the device.

They had one chance to get this right.

They both held their breath as the metal protrusions
lengthened, spreading out like pincers from the arms of the device; perfectly,
these slotted into and around the lock of the door, before halting with a
click.

Raegan let out a sigh of a relief, eyes still fixed intently
on the door, as if even blinking would bring misfortune.

‘Ready?’ Jasper whispered. ‘With any luck, the lock will
pop. If not, we’ll have to take it off entirely, but it should still come away
without a scratch-‘

‘Having fun?’ A sing-song voice rang out mockingly behind
them.

Raegan whipped round. Her hand brushed Jasper’s arm; it was
already clenched in a fist.

There was a brief moment of pause, while Jasper, frozen with
panic, dithered about what to do. He could not avoid looking guilty - there was
no way to retract the implement quickly without destroying the door. In fact,
he couldn’t make the slightest movement with it without causing considerable damage.
He was, quite literally, stuck.

But he could still move his head; and gradually, as he
twisted this way and that, a small woman came into view. She was also dressed
in black, but more casually than them, in a black rollneck jumper and black
tracksuit bottoms. The diamante trim of the tracksuit sparkled almost as
brightly as her gleeful dark eyes.

From the way Raegan was glaring at her, Jasper thought it
was a safe bet to assume that this was the infamous Adriana. And even when his
heart was racing with shock, he was hormonal enough to register that she was
definitely
a looker.

‘What are you doing here?’ Raegan whispered, moving forward
to block Adriana’s view of the door. ‘Did you... follow us?’

‘I didn’t have to,’ Adriana replied silkily.
‘I overhead your conversation with Warwick.
You Brits do
have such loud, carrying voices.’

‘This was a spur of the moment thing. I didn’t even mention
it to Warwick!’

Adriana cocked her head. ‘No, but you did seem
awful
keen
to know what Declan was up to tonight. Pretty relieved to hear that he’d be
accompanying my brother, too. So when I saw you and Techno-boy scuttling along
the
via
decumana
earlier, I thought it was my
duty to check up on you. You really shouldn’t be wandering around at night,
anyhow.’

The conversation was growing louder by the second.

‘Well, well. You
do
get around.’

‘I was on my way back from
Bree’s
,’ Adriana sneered,
momentarily losing her cool. ‘Some of us have a social life.’

Raegan sighed. ‘Whoop dee freaking doo. So are you going to
be getting to any sort of point any time soon?’

Adriana regarded Raegan coldly for a moment, and then slid
her eyes slowly and deliberately over to the person standing on her left.

‘Hi, Jasper.’
The greeting sounded
less welcoming that it ever had. ‘My, isn’t that a lovely, useful little toy
you have there. Funny thing, I don’t recall seeing it listed within the armoury
inventory.’

Jasper’s complexion turned a peculiar greenish colour. He
opened his mouth to speak, but Raegan was too quick for him.

‘Don’t even think about it,’ she cautioned angrily, stepping
closer to Adriana. ‘He’s nothing to do with you.’

‘I think not,’ Adriana hissed. ‘I don’t give a rat’s ass
what you scabs are up to, but Declan will, and Max
certainly
will. Your
little friend here will be fired as
quick
as you can
say ‘Jiminy Cricket’.
Fired... or worse.’

The two girls squared up.

 ‘Don’t even think about threatening him.’

‘I think you’ll find I just did, honey. What, you think you
can take me?’

‘I don’t think. I know.’

‘Oh, please.’ Jasper wasn’t looking at her anymore, but he
could tell Adriana was rolling her eyes. ‘I would
love
to see you try.
But fortunately for you, I have a little errand I want you to run.’ She
sidestepped Raegan as casually as if she was swatting away an irritating fly,
falling into a lean against the adjacent wall.

‘An errand?’
Once she was convinced
that the moment for fighting had passed, Raegan relaxed back next to Jasper.
‘Right.’

‘You got it. And you better do
exactly
what I say, or
I’ll be tattling a few tales.’

She eyed Adriana warily. ‘Sure. And how do we know that you
won’t do that anyway?’

‘Why, I’ll give you my word.’ Adriana emphasised the last,
and then giggled nastily. ‘Face it, there’s nothing you can do, anyhow.’

‘I’m listening. Get to it, will you? Agent Eliot could be
back any minute, and my friend’s arms are getting tired.’

Adriana waved her hand impatiently. ‘Oh, put the silly thing
away. But hurry up about it, I haven’t got all night.’

‘Tell me about it,’ Raegan muttered under her breath,
turning to help Jasper.  She squeezed his arm. ‘You ok?’

‘Fine,’ he mumbled. Even with Adriana looking on, Raegan
couldn’t hide her disappointment as her chance of searching Declan’s room
disappeared. Nonetheless, she moved in beside him, accepting the weight of the
device while he worked on freeing it. Finally, after a few huffs and puffs from
their captor, the implement was folded up and ready to return to its sheath.
But as Jasper and Raegan were about to do so, a loud tutting noise interrupted
them.

‘I think not,’ Adriana said haughtily, pushing off from the
wall. ‘Hand it over.’

‘What?’ Raegan put her hands on her hips. ‘Why?’

‘Call it insurance.’

‘You’ve already got us by the nuts – you said so yourself.’

‘Save it.
Hand.
It
over.
Now.’

Raegan slapped the implement into Adriana’s palm with
unnecessary force, wishing it was her smug face. ‘There.’ She was sick and
tired of the games. ‘Now talk. What do we have to do?’

Adriana was looking at her palm, now red and smarting. She
shot Raegan a glare of loathing. ‘Not ‘we’.
Just you.’
She tossed her head. ‘Tomorrow night, Bree will leave her room at around eleven
thirty. I want you to follow her.’

Raegan wondered if she had heard correctly. ‘Beg your
pardon?
’

‘Bree will leave her room at around eleven thirty.  I
want-‘

‘Me to follow her, I get it. That’s it?’

‘Yes.’

‘That’s the master plan?
For me to tail
your girlfriend?’
Raegan wasn’t actually mocking Adriana: she was
genuinely taken aback. ‘But why on
earth
-‘

‘I want to know where the hell she goes every night! She
won’t tell me anything, pretends that it’s nothing – but I know she’s not in
her room, she just disappears! Under my nose, slipping off to God knows
where... with God knows who.’ Her lips pressed together in a thin, sour line.

A male voice piped up then, surprising both girls. ‘Except
you do know who she’s seeing, don’t you? That’s what you want Raegan to
confirm.’

Adriana’s agitation overwhelmed her need to posture. ‘I want
confirmation that she’s cheating on me, alright?’ Angry tears glimmered in her
eyes. ‘Want me to spell it out? It’s humiliating enough as it is. She and my
brother had a thing before... but she told me that was all over now!’

Bree and
Warwick?
How
much more surreal could the evening get? Raegan’s head was spinning.

‘I can’t follow her myself,’ Adriana admitted. ‘I was never
much good at tracking. She’ll be looking out for me, too, ‘
cause
she knows I’m suspicious. But you...’ She met Raegan’s eyes, grudgingly. ‘Bree
says you’re pretty good.’

Adriana really cared about Bree, Raegan realised. That
almost explained the weird behaviour. She actually felt sorry for her.