Hit Squad (15 page)

‘He’s my son,’ Jack shouted. ‘You can’t lock him up.’

‘He can’t be trusted,’ Foster yelled back. ‘You’re lucky I didn’t kill him.’

I raised my eyebrows.

‘That’s you they’re talking about, Harry,’ Nico said from across the room.

Harry shrugged. ‘Yeah,’ he said, ultra-casually. But I could hear the fear behind the bravado.

After a few minutes, the yelling subsided. I half expected Jack to come storming through the door and drag Harry away. But of course Foster was never going to let him do that.

Harry himself grew very quiet as time passed. We talked for a bit about how he’d discovered Jack had hacked into his phone to find out whether we’d taken the bait to travel to
Lovistov. Jack had already set off by then, but Harry did some hacking of his own – Jack had taught him a lot about how to do that several years ago, when they had a much better father-son
relationship – and found out where Jack was staying. Harry traced him to this apartment where, until Foster’s arrival just now, Jack had managed to keep him hidden.

‘So Jack says Foster spends all his time at the castle?’ Nico asked.

Harry nodded. ‘Dad says he’s obsessed with developing the Medusix – that he’s convinced he can use it to build this huge army of kids with psychic powers.’

‘Why give the drug to children?’ Ed asked.

‘Because Medusix only works on kids,’ Harry explained. ‘It just makes adults unconscious for a few minutes.’

I nodded, remembering what Jack had told us earlier.

‘Maybe also because he reckons he can boss kids around more,’ Nico added with a snarl.

I caught his eye. ‘Well, he’s wrong about that, isn’t he?’

The door opened. Foster and a skinny boy a bit younger than us stood in the doorway. I recognised the boy immediately from Ed’s description of Foster’s nephew and tensed, on guard in
case he tried any telekinesis on me.

‘Hi, Bradley,’ Ed said.

Bradley scowled.

‘You two,’ Foster ordered, pointing at me and Harry. ‘Out here.’

I glanced around at Ed and Nico. I could see both of them were prepared to put up a fight but Foster still had his gun and his guards stood behind him.

There was no point in resisting right now.

Harry took my hand. Foster led us into the room next door. It might once have been a bedroom but now there was no sign of a bed or indeed any furniture apart from a small white wardrobe that
stood in the corner.

Harry and I stood together opposite Foster and Bradley. They didn’t look much like each other. Foster oozed fury and arrogance. Bradley’s eyes – though a similar grey to his
uncle’s – were shrouded in self-consciousness. He hadn’t looked at me properly yet.

‘Bradley’s telekinesis skills are developing well, though he’s still struggling with telepathic communication,’ Foster said.

Despite everything I had to bite back a giggle. Foster sounded like a teacher giving a report on a child – with me and Harry as the parents.

‘That means so much to me,’ I said drily.

Foster pursed his lips. ‘I want you to show him how to create a protective force field around himself, Dylan,’ he said.

‘I can’t,’ I said honestly. ‘It didn’t . . . doesn’t happen like that.’

Foster narrowed his eyes. ‘I’ve spoken with Jack Linden. He
told
me he gave you guidance when he met you.’

‘Sure,’ I said. ‘He got me to relax and focus on my breathing but that just helped bring what was already there to the surface. I mean, Bradley’s welcome to try doing the
same thing, but I don’t see how it will work unless he’s already got the ability.’

Foster looked at Bradley expectantly. Bradley chewed nervously on his lip. He closed his eyes and slowed his breathing.

A few seconds passed. Then he opened his eyes and shook his head. ‘What does it feel like?’

‘Like . . . like an energy coming from inside you, going out all around you,’ I said.

‘What about extending the protection to others?’ Foster snapped. ‘I know you learned to do that after the original ability developed.’

‘That’s true,’ I admitted. ‘But I couldn’t extend the force field until it existed in the first place.’

Bradley closed his eyes. Another few moments passed. He shook his head.

‘I don’t have that skill at all,’ he said, looking embarrassed.

Foster tutted. ‘Then Dylan will have to go on the job with you,’ he said.

I exchanged an alarmed glance with Harry.

‘What job?’ I said.

‘What are you going to make her do?’ Harry spoke at the same time.

Foster threw him a nasty smile. ‘Don’t worry, Harry, you’ll be with her. I’m sending you, Dylan and Bradley on the first hit squad mission.’

Foster explained his plan. We were to travel by helicopter to a nearby city where one of the politicians who had blocked the release of Foster’s brother, Rick, from
prison was attending an international conference.

‘I want you to get past the doors and guards, let yourself into the cloakroom where they leave coats and bags and laptops . . . and hack into his computer,’ Foster said.
‘Bradley will deal with the lock, but the security is down to you, Dylan. You’ll have to shield yourself and the others from the infra-red laser system that the conference building uses
to secure its private meeting rooms.’

‘And I suppose you want me to hack into this politician’s laptop and steal information off his computer?’ Harry said angrily.

‘Not at all,’ Foster said. ‘I want you to
plant
information. False information that will make everyone think the man has taken bribes to reveal state secrets.’

I opened my mouth but before I could speak, Foster had anticipated what I was going to say.

‘Ed and Nico stay here,’ he said. ‘So long as you do what you’re told, nothing will happen to them.’

And that was that.

We took off a couple of hours later. We were blindfolded for most of the journey – and it was impossible to talk properly over the sound of the helicopter engine, so I spent most of the
ride wondering if there would be any chance to contact Fergus or Avery once we arrived . . . after all, a private room in a conference building would surely have a phone . . .

We were bundled into a car straight after landing. About fifteen minutes later our car stopped and our blindfolds were removed. We were in a side road. There was some passing traffic, but it
wasn’t busy. Foster was no longer with us, but Knife Man and another guard I hadn’t seen before were. Knife Man indicated the fire door to the building on our left.

‘In through there,’ he said. ‘Then you know what to do.’

Harry nodded. He looked nervous. As for Bradley, he was shaking. I suddenly realised that of the three of us I was the only one with any kind of mission experience.

‘We’ll be fine,’ I snapped.

We stood outside the door. I’m used to Nico unlocking stuff real fast now, but Bradley was taking ages. Harry drew me to one side. He glanced over at the men in the car. They were watching
us intently, clearly under orders to make sure we got inside.

Harry stood real close to me. ‘I was just thinking we should give Bradley a little space,’ he said softly.

I gazed into his eyes. They’re a bright blue – like I said – and they really sparkle, which sounds like a crazy cliché but happens to be true.

‘I see you got a piercing since I saw you,’ Harry said, staring at the stud in my nose.

My hand flew up to my face. Personally I think the tiny stud is gorgeous. I’ve had a few compliments on it – and a bit of teasing from Nico and Cal. Up until that moment I
didn’t care what anyone thought. Suddenly I very much wanted Harry to like it.

He raised his eyebrows. ‘It looks cool,’ he said.

‘Like I’m bothered what you think,’ I said. But I couldn’t help myself smiling.

And I could tell Harry knew I was pleased because he smiled too.

I glanced over at Bradley. He was still trying to open the fire door.

‘Any time this century, kiddo,’ I muttered.

With a pop, the door opened. Bradley looked around at us triumphantly. ‘We’re in,’ he said.

‘Here goes.’ Harry blew out his breath.

Suddenly I felt nervous too. Bradley’s telekinesis was not going to work under any kind of real pressure, I could see. And though Harry was an IT genius as far as I was concerned, he
didn’t have any kind of special powers himself.

Which meant the mission – and the fate of Nico and Ed back in Lovistov – was basically down to me.

The inside of the building was cool and dark and empty. We were standing at one end of a corridor. I glanced at Bradley. He was trying to look composed but his hands were still
trembling.

I shook my head. This was a freakin’ babysitting mission.

Harry pointed towards the stairs at the other end of the corridor. ‘Up there,’ he whispered.

‘I know,’ I said. ‘Stay behind me.’

We crept along the corridor. I kept my arms extended and my force field engaged, protecting all three of us as we walked. We came to a red laser security beam.

‘Slowly, no sudden moves,’ I ordered.

Harry and Bradley edged after me as I led them through the beam. My force field prevented the beam from sensing our presence. No problem. We reached the stairs. Voices and footsteps sounded from
high above our heads. Bradley froze.

‘Shouldn’t we go back?’ he whispered. ‘Those people will see us.’

‘We’re only going up one storey, remember?’ I hissed. ‘Those voices are coming from further up the building.’

‘Okay,’ Bradley muttered.

I glanced at Harry. He gave me a swift, determined nod. If he was scared, he wasn’t showing it.

‘Let’s go.’ Harry grinned. ‘This is cool.’

I shook my head. Harry being overexcited was potentially as dangerous as Bradley being ultra-anxious.

Up the stairs to the first-floor landing and through the second door on the left. So far so good. We hadn’t seen anyone and clearly no one suspected we were here.

We were in another empty corridor. The door to the private set of rooms where we were headed was just a couple of metres away. It was marked Leindorf Suite. I took a deep breath. This was where
Foster had directed us.

‘I don’t feel very well,’ Bradley said.

I rolled my eyes. ‘Just stay close,’ I whispered.

‘Take a few deep breaths,’ Harry advised.

I reached the door to the Leindorf Suite and tried the handle. It was locked.

I stood back and gestured to Bradley. ‘Open it,’ I said. ‘Fast.’

Bradley hesitated, then focused on the door. I watched him carefully. His forehead was pale and clammy-looking. It struck me that maybe the problem wasn’t nerves after all. Maybe he
genuinely wasn’t well.

Bradley twisted his hand to the side in a gesture that reminded me of those I’d seen Nico make so often. To my surprise the door clicked open at the first attempt. Bradley turned to face
me and Harry, a huge smile on his face.

‘Good job,’ I whispered. ‘Now stay behind me.’

I pushed the door open very slowly and peered round it, into the empty room beyond. A table laden with cups and saucers and pots of coffee stood beside the wall. No sign of a phone. The room
bent round at right angles. A man in a dark uniform was just visible walking into the other part of the room. His black shoes squeaked as he paced out of sight.

‘There’s a security guard,’ I whispered, turning to Bradley. ‘You’ll have to distract him while Harry and I go past.’

‘What?’ Bradley’s eyes filled with horror. ‘Wait, I’m not read—’

But I was already through the door. I crept over to where the room angled round. The security guard was halfway to the door at the far end. There were two doors leading off on either side. It
all looked exactly as Foster had outlined.

I glanced over my shoulder. Harry and a very alarmed Bradley were right behind me. As we stood, waiting, the guard’s footsteps stopped. His shoes squeaked as he turned and then his slow
pacing steps headed back towards us. He would come into view any second. A line of sweat trickled down my back.

I nudged Bradley. ‘Ready?’ I mouthed.

He shook his head. ‘I’m not—’

‘Go!’ I pushed him out in front of me.

The security guard’s footsteps stopped again. ‘Who are you?’ he barked. ‘How did you get in here?’

I held my breath. Bradley said nothing. I peered round the corner. Bradley was staring into the guard’s eyes, ‘holding’ his mind telepathically. The guard was staring back, a
look of shock on his face. Knowing how uncertain Bradley had seemed, I was guessing we didn’t have all that much time.

‘Come on.’ I tugged at Harry’s arm.

We raced up to the guard. I drew his hands behind his back and tied them and his ankles with the handcuffs Foster had given me. Harry wound some tape across the guard’s mouth. Sorted.

‘Okay, Bradley, you can release him,’ I said.

Bradley turned to me, his eyes glittering with feverish excitement. The guard tried to yell out, but he couldn’t make a sound, thanks to his gag.

‘That was amazing,’ Bradley said. ‘I didn’t know I could do that.’

‘I’m real happy for you,’ I drawled, ‘but right now we need to find a laptop.’