The Devil's Triangle (27 page)

The two raptors began making rapid clicking noises.

‘Are you laughing at us?’ Sam accused, anger flaring inside him like an exploding star.

Nipper nodded, flashing his teeth at Sam in a gesture that he interpreted as amusement.

‘Someone needs to introduce the designers of this crazy system to the idea of health and safety,’ Callum grumbled, gasping again as another car flashed past so close that the cab was rocked by its passage. ‘You could have a heart attack in one of these things.’

If Sam had been able to let go of his handholds for so much as a second, he would have thrown something at the raptors. He was so angry that even Callum’s attempt at humour glanced off him. Later, Sam realised that his mind had instinctively converted his panic into anger, perhaps in some kind of defence mechanism. Whatever the reason, his rage was irrational and dangerous; the raptors could kill him or Callum in an instant. Luckily, the journey was short.

Soon the car speared off on a branch rail that took them straight towards the sidewall of the great transport corridor. When it sped through another of the heart-stopping doors that didn’t open until the last second, Sam came close to vomiting.

The car came to an abrupt halt seconds later and he found he was physically shaking as Nipper opened the door and stepped outside, turning to gesture for the boys to follow.

‘Quick!’ Callum urged, grabbing Sam by the hand and pulling him out through the open door. ‘Before it decides to mash us into a pulp against a wall or another car.’

Sam’s legs felt weak as he staggered from the car. Nipper and Grunt again clicked with amusement. Sam wanted to hit them with something – anything – hard. Barely fifteen minutes had passed since the discovery of Brad’s body and the two raptors were laughing as if he had never existed. Keeping his fury under check was not easy. Had they felt nothing for him? When Sam had first seen the creatures talk to Brad, there had appeared to be mutual respect between them. Could raptors feel the pain of losing someone, or were they so insensitive to death that they could ignore it as an everyday event?

‘Cold-hearted, overgrown geckos!’ Sam muttered through gritted teeth.

‘What?’ Callum asked.

‘Nothing.’

The two boys followed the raptors up some steps and through another of the scary sliding doors. Inside was what appeared to be a reception area with a large central desk. A raptor in a white coat was standing behind it. He clicked a welcome to Nipper and Grunt, while eyeing the two boys with a cold gaze. Sam could see the raptor’s nostrils twitching as he and Callum approached. It looked as though the creature was testing their scent. After a moment, the raptor looked directly at Sam and his eyes narrowed.

‘He’s looking at you,’ Callum observed in a low voice.

‘Yeah,’ Sam said, a sudden chill cutting through the heat of his anger and shooting down his spine. ‘And I don’t like the way he’s doing it.’

White Jacket suddenly broke eye contact with Sam, turned his head to the right and let out an ear-splitting roar. To Sam’s surprise, both Nipper and Grunt began clicking and growling at once. It looked as if they were both gabbling at White Jacket simultaneously, but why?

‘Call me a pessimist, but I’d say that doesn’t look good,’ Sam muttered.

‘You a mind-reader now?’

From corridors to either side of the reception desk a stream of raptors appeared, all wearing white coats. Within seconds, they were surrounded.

‘What
is
this place?’ Sam asked aloud as a raptor grabbed his arm in a grip of iron. ‘Nipper! What’s going on?’

Nipper turned and looked at him. Although it was hard to read expressions on the raptor’s face, Sam was convinced he could see a look of hopeless resignation in Nipper’s eyes.

‘Sssssam . . . sssssorrrrreeee.’

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

‘Don’t be silly, Tess!’ Tony scoffed. ‘Why would I go an’ do somethin’ stupid like that? Get real! She’s a fugitive, for goodness’ sake!’

‘You tellin’ me she ain’t here then?’

Although her muscles were screaming at her in silent protest, Niamh couldn’t lie on the bed. She could just about hear what was being said, but if they lowered their voices even slightly she would start missing things and she had to know what was happening. Forcing herself back onto her feet, Niamh crept back to the door of Carrie’s room and, turning the handle with painful care, she cracked it open. The door opened the wrong way for her to be able to peep down the corridor towards the living area, but she held her breath to listen.

‘Ain’t no one here but me an’ Carrie right now,’ Tony was saying. ‘Ain’t that right, sis?’

Carrie strolled across the living area towards them.

‘What’s that, Tony?’ she asked ‘Hi, Tessa. Nice top,’ she added, eyeing the bright, low-cut top appreciatively.

‘Just us in at the moment,’ he repeated.

‘Yeah,’ Carrie drawled. ‘Mom’s gone to Key West shoppin’, an’ Dad’s at work. Why? Did you need to talk to ’em, Tessa?’

Tessa looked at Carrie with narrowed eyes as she searched for any hint of a lie, but Carrie was not giving anything away. She met Tessa’s gaze and then slowly drew her brows together into a frown as the girl stared her out.

‘What’s with the look?’ she asked. ‘What’s wrong?’

‘She thinks I’ve brought Niamh here,’ Tony explained.

‘What?’ Carrie asked, feigning shock. ‘Didn’t you see the
Citizen
this mornin’? Tony showed me the story earlier. Yeah, she seemed nice enough yesterday. An’ I thought she was just messin’ with us when she said about her dad and stealin’ the boat ’n’ everythin’, but the paper confirms she was actually tellin’ the truth. God, I feel such a fool!’

‘Who do you think told Tony about it?’ Tessa asked smugly.

‘Really?’ Carrie asked, giving a convincing performance of being surprised.

‘Yeah,’ Tony confirmed. ‘Forgot to mention that, sorry.’

‘Well, after I saw Tony this mornin’, I called the cops an’ told ’em where she is,’ Tessa bragged. ‘She won’t be on Monkey Island for much longer.’

Carrie sucked in a sharp intake of breath. ‘You didn’t give your name, did you? Or ours?’ she asked.

‘Nah!’ Tessa said, sticking her hands deep in her pockets. She looked so irritatingly smug that Carrie itched to smack her round the face. ‘I’m not stupid, Carrie. I rang and gave an anonymous tip-off. Didn’t want to admit to trespass. Still, we’d better not go fishin’ over there for a few days until the heat is off the place.’

‘Hmm! Sounds sensible,’ Tony agreed. ‘So what do you wanna do today instead?’

‘Dunno.’

‘I thought about catchin’ a bus into Key West and takin’ a wander down Duval Street. You wanna come?’

‘Sounds cool,’ Tessa agreed, looking up at him from under her long lashes. ‘Laughin’ at the tourists is better than nothin’. How about you, Carrie? Gonna join us?’

The offer sounded more of a challenge than an invitation, but Carrie ignored the tone and kept her response friendly.

‘Nah!’ she said, shaking her head. ‘Thanks, but I’ve got to make a start on my summer homework project today. Sandy Perretti’s comin’ round in a bit. We’ve arranged to kick each other into doin’ some work.’

‘Already?’ Tessa said, her voice conveying both disgust and horror. ‘But there’s weeks of holiday left yet.’

‘Yeah, but unlike you, I don’t leave stuff to the last second,’ Carrie said. ‘Average grades ain’t gonna be good enough for me to get into the college I want.’

‘Whatever you say, Carrie,’ Tessa said, shaking her head with apparent disdain. ‘Tony, let’s go.’

‘Sure thing, see you later, sis.’ Tony looked back at Carrie as he followed Tessa out of the front door. He gave her a small wink.

‘Later, Carrie,’ called Tessa.

Niamh sighed with relief as she heard the front door close. She stepped lightly back across to the bed and flopped onto it just as Carrie came back into the room.

‘You hear all that?’

‘Yes,’ Niamh confirmed. ‘Thanks again for covering for me.’

‘No problem. Tessa might be pretty, but she’s an idiot,’ Carrie said. ‘If her mum and dad weren’t such big pals with ours, Tony and I wouldn’t hang out with her at all.’

‘Really? I thought Tony and Tessa might be . . . you know . . . an item.’

Carrie instantly burst out laughing. ‘In her dreams!’ she exclaimed. ‘Don’t worry. Tony’s got more sense than that, Niamh,’ she added, lowering her voice to prevent her brother overhearing. ‘He’s only taking her into town to protect you. Believe me, he’s got no interest in her. He’s very selective about who he goes out with. I could learn a thing or two from him, but I just keep making the same mistakes over and over. Typical blonde, you could say.’

‘Don’t talk yourself down, Carrie,’ Niamh said. ‘You’re better than that.’ She paused. ‘Carrie?’

‘Yeah?’

‘I can’t help wondering . . . why are you helping me like this? When I think of the trouble you could get into . . .’

‘Well, don’t,’ Carrie said. She lowered her voice to little more than a whisper and glanced back at the door. ‘Truth is, Tony was pretty taken with you yesterday. Unlike me, he’s always been a good judge of character. I look out for him, he looks out for me. We banter a lot, but we’re close – you understand? If he likes you, you’re OK by me. Now, would you prefer a shower or a bath?’

‘Bath, please,’ Niamh said, trying to hide her flushed reaction to Carrie’s bombshell. Tony liked her! He really liked her! It was like a dream come true. She couldn’t wait to text Beth and tell her about him. There would be about a million questions of course . . .

Three-quarters of an hour later, having soaked, washed and dressed in a fresh set of Carrie’s clothes, Niamh felt worlds better. Her hands were still sore and the blisters had filled out fit to burst, but the aching in her muscles had dulled to little more than a niggling irritation.

‘If only I could clear my mind so easily,’ she murmured under her breath as Carrie led her through to the kitchen where she had laid out breakfast.

What should she do now? The article in the
Key West Citizen
had said her dad was being flown back to England today to be handed over to the British authorities. There didn’t seem to be anything she could do about that. The Mitchells’ boat was effectively lost, but Niamh was sure the boys were on land somewhere, so it was not a great loss. Her transport situation seemed limited to hitching a lift in a kayak or using public transport, which was dangerous at best. Worse – now she had an added complication. She couldn’t stop thinking about what Carrie had said about Tony being ‘taken with her’.

What did that mean anyway? Did he fancy her or did he just think she was nice in a platonic way? It shouldn’t make any difference, but it did. And this really wasn’t the time to have boy issues!

Maybe she could she stay here and work out her next steps? But what would Carrie’s parents do if they realised who she was? One way or another the local law enforcement agencies would find their way here eventually. Niamh would be a fool to think the FWC officer, or one of his colleagues, would not piece things together and follow her this far – especially with Tessa around. But how long had she got before they came knocking at the door?

‘So what’s the next step?’ Carrie asked, apparently reading her mind.

‘I don’t know,’ Niamh admitted. ‘I’ve been acting on instinct so far, but I’m feeling pretty lost right now. Knowing Tony likes me isn’t helping me concentrate either.’

Carrie smiled. ‘So you like him then?’

‘Yes, I suppose I do,’ Niamh admitted shyly. ‘But I’ve been going to an all-girls’ school for the last three years, so I don’t really know what to do around boys.’

‘You’ve not had
any
boyfriends?’ Carrie asked, her eyes narrowing as she studied Niamh’s face for any trace of a lie. ‘You seem so confident and outgoing.’

‘In some ways, maybe. But aside from my brother, I don’t get to mix with boys very often.’

‘Well, you seemed to do pretty well around Tony yesterday,’ Carrie observed. ‘You certainly got his attention. Look, in case I’m wrong about you, I should tell you that Tony’s a good brother and I don’t want you to go messin’ with his feelin’s, OK?’

‘I would never do that,’ Niamh replied quickly. ‘But, to be honest, I don’t know what to think about Tony. He seems nice and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate both of you helping me like this. If it helps, I promise I won’t do anything to deliberately hurt him, but I can’t hang around here to spend time with him either.’

Carrie looked at her for a moment and then nodded. ‘Good enough for me.’

‘Putting boy issues aside for a moment . . .’

‘As should be done as much as possible,’ Carrie interrupted.

Niamh smiled. ‘I have no idea what to do next.’

Carrie thought for a moment. ‘Well, my grandma always used to say that you should focus on the big picture. I can almost hear her voice telling me to do just that. So, what’s your end goal, Niamh?’

‘To find Sam and Callum and clear Dad’s name,’ Niamh replied, trying not to think about wanting to get to know Tony better; she had just too much other stuff to contend with. ‘But I don’t really know where to start. My heart tells me that my brother is still alive. I’ve always had a sort of invisible connection to him. And even though it feels different now – sort of thin and distant – the link is still there.’