November (14 page)
Authors: Gabrielle Lord
The last few days had been tough. With the new police initiative, cops were literally everywhere. Boges warned me to keep a low profile until my passport was ready. The thought of Rathbone in Ireland was a constant worry. What was he up to? What was he discovering?
Every day I called Nelson Sharkey with the same question: ‘Is my passport ready?’ And every day I got the same answer: ‘I told you, I’ll let you know when it is.’
Midnight on the 31st of December—when the Ormond Singularity ran out—came closer and closer, like
it
was chasing me too. I only had
a few weeks left
! I’d survived, so far, like I’d been told to do, but I hadn’t exposed the DMO. I hadn’t cleared my name. I hadn’t fulfilled my promise to Dad. I couldn’t bring myself to think
about failure. I wouldn’t fail. I couldn’t fail.
I was looking through my notes, drawings and photos, spread out on the cramped floor of the treehouse, when I heard her voice outside.
‘Cal? You there?’
Winter’s voice was urgent, scared.
I stopped what I was doing.
‘What is it?’
‘Quickly. Toss me the rope!’
I let it down and she climbed up, squirming through the back window, almost losing the
ribbon
that was tied around her hair in the process.
As soon as I saw her face I knew something was wrong.
‘It’s Boges,’ she said, almost in tears. ‘The cops have Boges.’
‘What? Have they arrested him?’
‘I don’t know, but they’ve taken him in for questioning. He slipped a split-second call through to me. He couldn’t get through to you. They’ve been questioning him for hours. I was at Sligo’s when he called, so I couldn’t come straight over. Cal, I’m really worried. I’m scared that Boges will say where you’re hiding!’
‘Boges would never do that,’ I said, checking my mobile for service. ‘He’d never give me up. He would never betray me.’
‘You don’t know how hard the cops could
pressure him. Even charge him with being an accessory to your crimes.’
‘They couldn’t do that!’
‘Can you imagine what that would do to his mum and gran? If Boges goes into juvenile detention? If they threaten to charge him with some criminal offence, he can kiss his future goodbye. They could make his life plan totally disappear. Everything he’s ever dreamed of down the toilet.’
I started pacing in the tight space. She was right. I recalled the conversation with Toecutter Durham, about how lives can be destroyed with just one mistake.
‘Cal, we have to do something!’
I had to think of a plan to get him out of trouble, while staying out of trouble myself. The only chance I had of discovering the truth about the Ormond Singularity waited for me in Ireland. I couldn’t be caught at this stage.
Overhead I heard the sound that I’d come to dread—the chopping reverberations of a helicopter.
Winter saw my fear. Without a word, she poked her head out of the window and peered through the leaves.
‘It’s the police,’ she said. ‘Let’s hope it’s just flying over.’
We waited and the moment passed, the chopper was moving away towards the city.
She turned back to me. ‘Sligo has been watching me like a hawk—it’s getting worse. He’s always wanting to know where I am—what I’m doing. It’s making it impossible for me to get back to the car yard. He thinks I’m at the flat right now but if he drops round and realises I’m not there, I’ll be grilled with questions. I’m convinced he’s suspicious of me. I’m scared he’ll notice his scram money is missing and know I had something to do with it.’
‘Why would he think that?’
‘I don’t know, but I’m freaking out. I have to go. I have to get back to the flat.’
‘What should we do about Boges?’
‘I don’t know! I’m too afraid to call him right now. You shouldn’t call him either—the cops might zero in on where you’re hiding if you try. I’ll find out what I can and call you back. OK?’
‘OK,’ I said, even though it wasn’t OK. I hated the thought of Boges being pushed around by the police simply because he was my friend. But I knew he would never betray me, even though Winter had a point—they might trick him or manipulate him in some way. They were experts in extracting information, even from the toughest
criminals. That didn’t worry me. Boges was smarter than all of them combined.
‘Cal, when all of this is over—’ Winter said, dismally looking around the treehouse before jumping to the ground. ‘I think we should—’
She stopped abruptly.
‘What?’ I asked.
‘Another time,’ she said. ‘I’d better go.’
I watched her through the gaps in the leaves as she snuck over the Lovetts’ back fence, wondering what it was she had wanted to say.
As Winter vanished, I suddenly felt very alone. I couldn’t do anything to help my friend, after he’d done nothing but help me throughout this whole year.
A message beeped on my mobile and I dived for it. For once I was disappointed it was Sharkey.
meet me at the gym in an hour.
I headed for the gym, striding fast, glad to have a distraction.
In less than an hour, I was almost there. I was just a couple of streets away when my mobile beeped again.
cal! been trying to call u! sligo had to go to a
council meeting so i went back to the car yard … i just found what i was looking for in my parents’ car! now i have proof it’s theirs! call me asap!
I was about to call her back when a deep uneasiness squirmed through me. I was becoming an expert at knowing when something was wrong.
I noticed a guy standing about a hundred metres from the gym, eyeing me. He quickly looked away as if he’d realised I’d spotted him staring. There was another guy looking at me suspiciously, from the other side of the street.
Was I under surveillance?
I started hurrying back the way I’d come when I thought I saw a woman talking into her collar. I swung back. The two men I’d seen before were no longer there.
Without warning, someone crash-tackled me to the ground. I fell heavily.
The side of my face and my right hand grated painfully along the ground. I tried rolling over but the heavy body on top of me pinned me to the ground.
‘Get off me! Who are you?’ I shouted. ‘What do you think you’re doing?’
‘Police! Stay right where you are! Stay on the ground! Don’t move!’
I strained my head up to see. Black police boots scuffed the footpath near my face.
My hands were wrenched behind my back and secured.
Eric’s warning about the airport security suddenly hit me. He’d said someone had started a rumour about me fleeing the country. I had no idea who that person could have been … until now.
Sharkey
had betrayed me! He’d set me up. I took a breath and tried not to throw up.
‘You sure this is the kid? He doesn’t look like this in the poster,’ said a voice behind me, as I was jerked to my feet.
‘It’s him, all right. They never look like the poster.’ Two plain-clothes police officers grasped me on both sides. I had no chance of escape.
‘Let me go! What have I done wrong?’
‘You’re Callum Ormond. We’ve been after you for nearly a year,’ said one cop. ‘Just wait till the boss hears
we’re
hauling him in!’ he said to his partner.
