“I’ll go check it out, boss,” Mo said quietly.
“I don’t know what we expected,” Josh muttered. “I told him it was all just theoretical. Maybe he’ll realise I don’t have a clue about this stuff and let us go.”
Harry had left them alone and they were poring over their stolen books. Mo had popped back in to tell them he’d checked out the racetrack and seen no army vehicles. He’d parked up on the overpass and watched them for a while. They were moving people into a big tent.
They’d been relieved at first, until Mo said Harry was still pissed off that things weren’t going to plan.
Pete nodded, unable to work up the energy to say anything. If Harry didn’t trust Josh that didn’t mean he was going to let him just walk away. There was no walking away from Harry.
Kenan popped his head in the door. “Mo,” he said. “Harry wants to see you.”
“Come on,” Mo said without looking up.
Kenan turned back. “He just wants you. Not them.”
“Did he say that?”
Kenan shook his head. “No, he said get Mo.”
“He told me to keep an eye on these two. So they’re coming.”
Resentment bubbled up in Pete. Mo had given Harry no more reason to trust him than Pete had, so why was he the supervisor all of a sudden? “We can stay,” he said coldly. “You go ahead. There’s no need to babysit us.”
Mo’s eyes had none of their earlier warmth. “You’re joking, right? I’m not going to go against an order from Harry. Let’s go.”
They trouped out into the yard. Josh grumbled all the way. He’d made a breakthrough and he resented being disturbed when he’d made his first bit of progress in more than a day. Pete shook his head. How naive could he be? This was about more than the radios.
They found Harry and Zane alone in the vast warehouse where they’d met the previous day.
“What are those two doing here?” Zane demanded, springing to his feet.
Harry remained seated on a pile of cement bags. He smiled and ran his tongue over his front teeth. “They come as a package. Mo is keeping an eye on them for me.” He turned his attention to Mo. “You’re doing well, son. Too well to be cooped up here. Zane needs you.”
Mo looked at him.
“Don’t worry, son. Like I just told you. You’re doing well. Unlike others. The mechanic’s not cooperating. We don’t know what to do about him. That’s why I’m sending you two to tear his place apart. Find something on him. Something we can use.”
Mo nodded. “Will do, boss.”
Pete watched helplessly as the two men marched out of the building. He couldn’t help but feel resentful. He’d done nothing to deserve this treatment. He’d been the one to tell Harry about the power outage. If anything, he should be the one going off with Zane. He shook his head. He didn’t want to think that way, but he couldn’t help it.
He looked up to find Harry watching him intently with a knowing smile on his face.
“Kenan,” he roared, leaning back on the cement bags. “Get back in here.”
Kenan came hurrying back from outside, cheeks flushed.
“Keep an eye on these two, will you?”
30. Si
Si hadn’t slept for three days. No, it was longer than that. She dug her fingernails into her tangled hair to scratch her head. There was only a toilet and tiny handbasin covered in engine grease in the garage, not that there was any water in either.
She opened the fridge, forgetting to hold her breath as she did. It was starting to stink now, even though there was nothing left except for a few energy bars and a quarter-full carton of now-stale milk.
She had assumed they’d be back by now. She hadn’t planned for this. She shut the fridge and the smell of stale milk was replaced by the overpowering stench of petrol. She’d always loved that smell, but now it was starting to wear on her—not to mention making her feel dizzy. She hadn’t thought about that when she’d come up with her plan. Where were they? And what would she do if they smelled the petrol before…
She closed her eyes. If she wasn’t careful she’d pass out from the fumes.
After they took Max, she’d stayed on the ground, curled up into a ball in the mud long after the roar of the V12 engine had died away. Her fear had slowly ebbed away in that time until she felt nothing but hungry and cold.
She’d gone back inside and rubbed her hair dry on a filthy rag. All night she’d wondered what they wanted with Max and when they’d bring him back. She hadn’t wanted to leave in case he came back.
So she’d waited. In the garage at first, before thinking better of it and waiting in an old wreck in the scrapyard. It was freezing, but at least they couldn’t sneak up on her there. And it wasn’t like she had anywhere else to go.
She’d spent the whole next morning in that car until her fingers were so cold to the bone that she couldn’t stand it anymore.
And she’d realised something. Max wasn’t coming back.
So she’d set to work. She’d fought her exhaustion and kept working all afternoon and evening before returning to the yard and falling into a restless sleep where she dreamt of chains and shackles.
Max wasn’t coming back, but those men would—she was sure of it. Max was right. There was value in that old yard. She’d decided then that she’d be waiting for them when they did.
She closed the fridge and wiped tears from her cheeks. She could have done something that day if she’d known what was happening. But she hadn’t understood at the time. It had all happened so quickly and she’d never seen those men before.
Now she’d had plenty of time to think about it. The Jaguar. There was no point in trying to find the owner when the men had admitted it wasn’t theirs. How would she find them anyway? The internet was down. So was her phone.
She frowned. No. She had to wait for them to come back into her territory. That was the only way this could work.
She sighed as she looked around the garage floor and checked off the tasks on the mental list she’d been compiling for days now. Was everything ready? She couldn’t tell anymore—she’d been obsessing about it too much.
This place would never be the same in her eyes. It had been her sanctuary for so long, but now she felt nothing for it.
She left the garage and carefully closed the door. There was no need to go back in there now. It wasn’t safe; not with all that fuel.
They’d come. And she was ready for them now. That big old Jaguar… Max had said it himself. It was a real car, not some glorified computer like the other cars and vans in the parking area outside. None of them worked. But then, the oldest of them was from the late nineties.
Her heart skipped a beat when she thought of the Renault. It was old—she didn’t know the exact year, but it was an eighties model. She hadn’t given it much thought since they took Max—she’d been too busy.
Her plan had seemed foolproof. Now, she couldn’t stop picking holes in it. What if they smelled the petrol and came looking for her? What was she going to do? There was four of them. She couldn’t hide out in the yard forever. They’d find her. She had planned to take off in the Jaguar, but what if things went wrong?
She started to run, slopping through the puddles in the yard. If she could get the old Renault working like Max had done the other day, then she’d have a backup option if the worst happened and they came after her before she could trap them.