Every Second Counts (12 page)

I thought of Uncle Brian and how, if his brother wasn’t really my dad, then he wasn’t really my uncle and Rosa not really my cousin. But there was still Mum’s family.

‘I have my Aunt Karen,’ I said, ‘Mum’s sister. She’s a blood relative.’

‘Mmm,’ Uchi murmured, as if Karen didn’t really count. ‘Ah yes, of course, I forgot about her.’

I gritted my teeth. I was starting to see how Uchi could justify all the deaths he and his stupid theories had caused, including Mum’s. It was as if he just saw people like chess pieces on
a board, there to be moved around for his convenience. Not real.

‘What about Spider?’ I asked. ‘Are you close to him?’

‘I hardly know the boy,’ Uchi said. ‘I’ve only been here myself for a short while and Spider was at his school until a week ago. He’s been training hard for your
mission though.’

‘Training?’ I gulped. Was Uchi suggesting that this operation he wanted me to be part of would involve the arrogant boy who had shown me round earlier too? ‘Doesn’t Riley
mind putting his son in danger?’

‘Oh, I think Roman believes that if Spider is to become a man – a soldier – some risks are inevitable, but he’s made sure the boy has been well trained.’

‘By you?’ I asked.

‘No.’ Uchi chuckled. ‘I’m past all that physical stuff now. You know his trainer, I believe. A man called Taylor?’

I froze. Taylor had been the leader of our cell when Nat and I joined the EFA. He had trained us both and, until he betrayed us, I had liked and trusted him. I hadn’t seen him since that
terrible day, just over a month ago, when he had tricked me into kidnapping Aaron and sent Nat to die in the House of Commons bomb blast. I knew that Riley was ultimately responsible for what the
EFA did, but there was no one I hated more on earth than Taylor.

‘Is he here?’ I asked.

But Uchi was clearly lost in his own thoughts again.

‘You know,’ he mused. ‘Considering how young he was when he became a father, Roman has always made a huge effort to support both Gracie and the boy. I admire him for
that.’

‘What about Taylor?’ I persisted.

‘He comes every few days. I’m not sure when he’s arriving next,’ Uchi said vaguely. ‘Not my side of things.’

‘He’ll be here tomorrow,’ Spider said, loping out on to the patio. With his long, lean arms and legs, his dark, fitted clothes and his slightly awkward way of moving he
actually looked rather like a spider. ‘He just contacted me, in fact, said I needed to get started on your training, Charlie.’

I stared at him. ‘
You’re
training
me
?’

‘Luckily for you, yes.’ For the first time since I met him, Spider smiled, revealing a set of perfectly even, white teeth. The smile transformed his face, bringing his good looks to
life. For a second I caught a glimpse of his father’s charm. Then the sullen expression came back, like a mask. ‘Come on, then, we’ve only got a couple of hours now until it gets
dark.’

As Uchi limped inside, Spider grabbed a pasty and led me down the grass to the sea. The wind whipped up as we walked and I tugged the fleece more tightly around me. We reached the rocks that led
directly to the sea and there I saw what hadn’t been visible from the patio: a large rock pool, roughly thirty metres square, half full with water.

‘It comes in from the sea,’ Spider explained, pointing to the pool. When the tide comes in, the water level rises.

‘Wow.’ I was genuinely amazed. I’d never seen such a thing before. ‘It’s like your own, natural swimming pool.’

‘Yeah.’ Spider looked down his long, elegant nose at me. His voice oozed contempt. ‘That’s what I just said.’

What a prat
.

‘So where did you get your nickname?’ I snapped. ‘From someone who thought you looked spiky and poisonous?’

‘It happened at primary school,’ Spider said, again sounding as if the question bored him. ‘Years ago.’

‘Where d’you go to school now?’

‘Boarding school in the Midlands. When I’m there, no one knows I’m dad’s son. It’s like this cool secret. They think my dad’s dead – just like you
thought yours was.’

‘You know about Uchi being my dad?’

‘Course,’ Spider sneered. ‘You’re the only one around here who didn’t.’

‘Right.’ I said. Did he have a GSCE in rudeness?

Spider held up the pasty he had brought from the patio. ‘I’m going to eat this,’ he said, ‘while you get changed so we can start training in the pool.’

‘The pool?’

‘That’s what I said.’ He pointed to a pile of black rubber on the far side of a rock I hadn’t noticed before. ‘It’s a wet suit.’

‘Yes I can see that.’ I grabbed the suit and went back into the house to change. As I dragged the rubber over my limbs, it occurred to me that being trained so soon after arriving
must mean the operation Uchi had talked about was going to happen in the very near future. A shiver crept down my spine as I wondered what it would involve. I couldn’t bear the thought of
having to go along with a plot in which innocent people might die. I would just have to find out exactly what was planned as fast as possible, then get proof that would show the world how evil
Riley and everyone associated with him really were.

By the time I got outside again, the rock pool was full of water and Spider had changed into his own wet suit. It made him look more than ever like a spider – a dark, malevolent one. I
walked down to the rock pool, feeling uncomfortable and self-conscious. Spider’s eyes widened as I approached. He stared at me, clearly transfixed and I felt the heat rise in my cheeks.

A moment later the scowl was back on his face. ‘Suits you,’ he sneered.

Sarcastic git. ‘Why are we wearing these anyway?’ I asked. I’d expected the mission Uchi and Riley were planning to involve guns and bombs – that maybe I was going to be
shown how to arm and set an actual explosive device. I couldn’t imagine why I needed a wet suit for anything like that.

Spider glanced at the pool. ‘What do you think?’

I peered through the water. A row of metal hoops I hadn’t spotted before were fastened to the bottom of the rock. ‘Are we going to have to swim through those?’

‘Yes,’ Spider said contemptuously. ‘Why? Can’t you swim underwater?’

‘I can swim fine.’ Irritation rose inside me. ‘Why d’you have to sound so snotty about everything?’

Spider rolled his eyes. ‘Don’t be so emotional. I didn’t ask to babysit you.’

‘
Babysit?
’ I glared at him.

Spider pointed to the metal hoops. ‘There are ten of those, okay? By the end of the session you need to be able to swim through them and back again in one breath. Understand?’

‘What are we training for, sports day?’ I snapped.

Spider ignored this. He crouched down at the poolside, where two sets of flippers and masks sat in the sun. He handed one set to me. ‘Put these on.’

It wasn’t as easy as it looked either to walk in the flippers or adjust the mask properly over my face so that no water seeped in around the sides, but at last I was in the pool and ready.
The water was cold but the rubber suit kept me surprisingly warm. The flippers, so cumbersome on dry land, made propelling myself through the water light and easy. I swam up and down a few times,
enjoying the sense of gliding through the soft waves, then I dived down and pulled myself through the first hoop. It was too narrow to swim properly through using my arms, but I did a sort of
wriggle which seemed to work. Using a cramped doggy paddle I made it to the end of the row, then burst back through the water’s surface again. I was already out of breath, but I tried to hide
it, not wanting Spider to see.

‘You need to go faster to do it there and back,’ Spider said. ‘Look.’

He ducked under the water and swam fast: down and through all ten hoops and back again, far quicker than I had. His movements were relatively uncoordinated on dry land, but underwater he moved
like an eel – sleek and smooth. It was mesmerising to watch.

He knew it too.

‘That’s how it’s done,’ he said as he re-emerged, shaking the water out of his hair.

I stared at him, feeling really annoyed. ‘Fine.’ I submerged and swam – faster this time – through the hoops.

We kept going for ages, until the sun had almost set and lights glowed from inside the house. Spider showed me how to move my body in a kind of ripple to avoid knocking against the sides of the
hoops which were too narrow to allow for a proper arm stroke. It was a tricky technique to master, but after a few goes I got it. Spider acknowledged my progress with a curt ‘well
done’, though he still refused to tell me what we were training for.

‘Will we need to swim through a tunnel or something?’ Despite the improvements I’d made so far, the thought of having to hold my breath while swimming through such a narrow
space was really daunting. Not that I had any intention of letting Spider see I was in any way intimidated.

Spider acted as if he hadn’t heard me. With his curls dampened and slicked back off his face, his cheekbones were even more noticeable, as were the long dark lashes that framed his eyes. I
hated to admit it, but he looked like a model. He took a breath and dived again. This time he swam through the hoops and back in record time, then turned underwater and swam through each one a
third time, before breaking the surface.

‘Did you see that?’ he asked, suddenly sounding much younger and nicer than he had before.

‘Cool,’ I acknowledged grudgingly.

Spider’s face split with another huge grin.

‘You should smile more often,’ I said, drily, before diving under the water and attempting the hoops again.

This time as I emerged into the air, I caught a glimpse of Uchi watching me from the locked downstairs room that Spider had said was his office.

I adjusted my mask and dived, a new plan resolving itself in my head. Apart from Spider, Gracie and Uchi, I’d only seen two young EFA soldiers since I arrived. But Spider had said Taylor
was coming tomorrow – and Taylor was both ruthless and very experienced. That meant my best chance for finding out the details of whatever underwater operation Spider and I were being sent
on, was tonight.

Later, when everyone had gone to bed, I would sneak into Uchi’s office and get proof about the mission for myself.

I paced across the room. Hours had passed since we’d seen Riley, and our only visitor had been a guard who’d brought us water and sandwiches which we’d eaten
long ago. It was already dark. I couldn’t see Riley keeping us here much longer. To be honest, I had no idea why Jas and I weren’t already dead. Whatever the reason, we were going to
have to make our move soon.

Out of the corner of my eye I could see Jas and Aaron watching me from one of the thin mattresses on the floor. I was going to need both of them to play their parts if my plan was to
succeed.

‘Could we go over it again, Nat?’ Jas said, her anxious voice quiet in case the room was bugged.

I stopped pacing and turned to look at her. My sister’s face was pale and strained. For a moment I had a powerful wish that she was more like Charlie, properly trained to fight and always
ready to kick ass. Then I pushed the thought away. People were who they were. Jas was gentle and soft. And my job was to protect her.

Play to your strengths. Guard your weaknesses.

This was one of Taylor’s maxims from our months of training for the EFA and I hoped I had followed it in making my plan for our escape. I crouched down beside Jas and Aaron and went over
what they had to do again. Aaron seemed confident about his role, though Jas was still terribly nervous. I had just finished when footsteps sounded outside.

Jas clutched at me arm. ‘Now?’ she whispered.

‘Now.’ I gave her what I hoped was a reassuring nod. We were only going to get one chance at this.

Jas lay back on the mattress. Aaron knelt beside her. I hurried over to the door. As the key turned in the lock, I flattened myself against the wall behind the door so that when it opened,
I’d be hidden from view.

Jas let out a tentative groan as the door opened. I chewed on my lip. She was going to need to sound a lot more convincing than that.

‘What’s the matter?’ Aaron bent over her. He, at least, sounded genuinely concerned.

‘Aaaah.’ Jas groaned again, this time with more conviction.

The door opened fully, blocking my view of the others.

‘What is it?’ The speaker was one of the guards.

I held my breath. Any second he was going to notice I wasn’t in view and look around for me. I just needed him to take another step into the room.

‘She’s in pain.’ Aaron’s voice rose with what sounded like real worry. ‘I think it’s her stomach, but—’

‘Where’s—?’ The guard stepped forward.

Before he could finish his sentence, I rushed him from behind. My fists drove into his back, one after the other:
punch, jab, punch
. The guard staggered sideways. I punched him again,
this time locking my foot around his ankles, bringing him to the end of Jas’s mattress with a dull thud. He lay there, winded, his face screwed up in pain.

Jas scrabbled away across the floor, hands over her mouth. I hurled myself on top of the guard, pinning him down. His legs thrashed on the floor behind him. I knelt on his arms and pressed my
hand over his mouth as Aaron sat on the man’s legs.

‘Cloth,’ I ordered.

With a shaking hand, Jas passed me one of the strips of torn-off sheet we had tied together earlier. I shoved it into the guard’s mouth.

‘Again,’ I ordered.

Jas handed me another strip. Behind me, Aaron was grunting with the effort of tying the guard’s ankles together.

‘Help me with his arms,’ I demanded.

Jas crawled over. Aaron, having finishing binding the guard’s legs, turned towards me. As soon as he got off the man’s legs, the guard banged them on the floor.

‘Sit on his legs, Jas,’ I ordered.

She vanished behind me. I felt her back against mine as she sat. The banging stopped. I glanced at the open doorway. Had anyone heard us? All I could see out on the landing were the three
bottles of water the guard had been bringing us.