Christmas Countdown (4 page)

The footsteps were getting louder and now that they were closer EJ could hear that there were two people approaching.

‘Step back, IJ,' whispered EJ, swiping the card again.

The glass walls shot back up to the roof, there was a beep and the red lasers switched on. The security was now reset.

‘Where are we going to hide?' whispered IJ desperately.

EJ grabbed her spy buddy's hand and rushed for the door that was built into the side wall of the vault. She had spotted it even though it was hard to see, being the same colour and material as the wall. She tried the handle. The door opened to reveal a cupboard that was large but, rather oddly, empty. EJ didn't think about that. She only saw that the cupboard was just large enough for the both of them to fit.

‘Quick,' she said to IJ. ‘In here. Don't make a noise.'

The girls squeezed in and EJ shut the door behind them. As she did, the door to the vault opened. Silently, EJ took out her spy-pad charm and activated it. The pad was like a digital notebook and had an X-ray vision app; EJ wanted to see who had entered the vault. She held the pad to the door of the cupboard and pressed the X-ray button. The app also cast a dull glow so EJ and IJ could just see each other's faces. EJ held her finger to her lips. It was critical that they were completely silent. They looked out through the spy pad and could now see two women, one tall and one short, standing with their backs towards the cupboard, facing the diamond display. Or was it a woman and a girl? The tall woman had long, wavy red hair and was wearing a white coat with a black skirt and black stiletto shoes. The other person was much shorter and had black hair in a ponytail. She was wearing red stockings with pointy black shoes with a little bell on each toe, green shorts and a red and gold tunic. On her head was a Santa hat with a gold bell on the end—she seemed to be dressed as a Christmas elf. EJ also noticed that the girl flicked her fringe back a lot while the taller woman talked.

‘Aha, you see,' cried the taller woman. ‘My inspired plan has worked perfectly. This is the last diamond to be replaced. Oh, I am sorry—I mean cleaned.'

EJ and IJ exchanged glances as the tall woman held a single, large glittering diamond up and out in front of her. It was exactly like the last real one on top of the diamond collection. EJ could also now see that she was wearing a ring with an enormous cluster of diamonds set into it.

‘I am,' the woman continued, ‘I think it is fair to say, a genius. Yes, Tiffany Glass, Diamond Polisher and Genius. I may get a business card with that on it. Now, Agent N, deactivate the security alarm.'

EJ and IJ watched as the elf-girl took a swipe card, just like the one EJ had, from a little pouch on her belt and swiped it in the slot under the display box. Again, the lasers turned off and the glass case retracted.

‘Display case deactivated, Ms Glass,' said the elf girl.

EJ and IJ looked at each other again. The voice seemed very familiar. EJ was sure now it was a girl as her voice was much higher but EJ was also positive that she knew that voice. She wished the girl would turn around so she could see her face.

‘Excellent,' said Tiffany. ‘You're new aren't you, Agent N?'

‘Yes, I'm still in training,' said the girl.

‘Well keep going and you just might make a fine agent like me. Now let's make the final swap.'

The girls watched as Tiffany took the diamond from the top of the display and replaced it with the diamond in her hand.

‘There,' she said, ‘no one will ever know.'

‘Will I be using the tunnel to deliver it?' asked Agent N.

‘No, this one I will take myself,' said Tiffany. ‘In fact I may even have it added to my ring. I have been thinking it is a little on the small side. Now reactivate the security alarm while I lock the cupboard—we won't be needing it anymore.' Tiffany then took out a remote from her pocket and clicked it.

EJ and IJ heard a lock click in the cupboard door in front of them. Ms Glass clicked again and EJ and IJ heard the same click but this time
behind
them.

‘Right,' said Tiffany. ‘Let's get back to work. We have a lot to do to be ready for the parade. We're nearly done—and not a sign of
SHINE
. Those idiots! They can't even see what's in front of them—it's like taking candy from a baby!'

And with that, Tiffany burst into a cackle of a laugh as she and Agent N walked to the door. She was still laughing as she opened the door and they both left, all without turning around once. EJ and IJ still didn't know who they were. But they did know one thing: they were trapped, locked inside the cupboard.

EJ waited until they could no longer hear the footsteps and then tried to push the cupboard door open but it didn't budge.

‘What do we do now?' asked IJ.

‘We need to get out somehow,' said EJ. ‘Tiffany has been replacing the real diamonds with fake ones and we need to find where she's keeping them. I should be able to use my skeleton key charm but I can't see a lock on this door.'

‘That's because it's a not a key lock,' said IJ glumly. ‘The remote Tiffany used released small bar-locks all along the door. A key won't open it.'

‘But hold on,' said EJ. ‘What was it they said? When she locked the cupboards?'

‘“We won't be needing that anymore”?' remembered IJ.

‘Well what did they use this cupboard for?' Asked EJ. ‘Look, there's nothing in it.'

‘A tunnel?' suggested IJ. ‘Remember, Agent N talked about a tunnel.'

‘She did!' said EJ excitedly. ‘And then Tiffany talked about locking the cupboard. There has to be a link. And, we heard a click at the front and the back, so what's behind us?'

EJ took the X-ray app and this time held it up against the back of the cupboard. Sure enough, they could see a corridor.

‘Good work, EJ,' cried IJ, impressed. ‘But how do we get through? This wall is made of metal.'

‘I have just the CHARM for that,' said EJ taking the diamond charm. She twisted it and a sparkling ring with a pointy, sharp tip appeared. EJ twisted the diamond and a sparkling blade appeared.

‘Of course,' said IJ. ‘A diamond ring, a diamond-cutter ring. Diamonds can cut through anything and that point will make it super-sharp.'

EJ put on the ring and pushed it hard against the wall of the cupboard and pulled down. As she dragged the ring down the metal back, there was a ripping sound as the diamond cut through.

‘It's working,' said IJ.

And it was. EJ worked the ring around in a big circle and then pushed in the centre of the cupboard. The circle she had cut fell out on to the other side into the corridor.

‘Let's get out of here, IJ,' said EJ.

‘But where does the tunnel lead?' asked IJ.

‘We're about to find out but it's somewhere someone didn't want us to find. Turn on your torch,' said EJ, smiling as she climbed over the edge of the hole and out into the narrow corridor.

EJ and IJ crawled out into the corridor and found they could stand up. They also noticed there were small lights along the wall.

‘This is easy,' said IJ. ‘We don't even need our torches.'

‘Yes,' said EJ. ‘Someone has made it very easy.'

The two girls began to walk quickly, almost running down the corridor. They were going so fast that they didn't notice that there was another small door in the wall on the right or that in a corner of the ceiling was a micro security camera, its little red light flashing.

After a few minutes, IJ stopped and took out her phone. She pressed the GPS app. ‘Look, EJ,' she said showing her screen to EJ. ‘We're under the main street, right in front of Delia Stones. The cupboard in the vault room must have been made to hide an escape tunnel to—'

‘To steal the diamonds,' cut in EJ. She knew exactly what her friend was thinking. ‘Tiffany got a job as the diamond cleaner but has slowly been replacing the real diamonds with fake diamonds and using this tunnel to escape.'

‘But why was Agent N in an elf costume?' wondered IJ.

Their thoughts were interrupted by a noise above, a lovely noise. It was singing.

‘Can you hear that?' said EJ. ‘People are singing Christmas carols. Maybe there are carollers outside the Christmas windows? The store must have opened.'

‘Maybe. Let's keep going,' said IJ. ‘This corridor can't go on forever.'

‘You're right,' said EJ. ‘In fact, it's not going on at all. Look, it seems we've come to a dead end.'

And, as the voices above sung ‘We Wish You A Merry Christmas', IJ sat down, not looking very merry at all.

‘Cheer up,' said EJ. ‘I only said it seems like a dead end. I learnt a few things in Egypt on my last mission; one was that doors are not always doors and dead ends are not always dead ends. I think there'll be a secret latch somewhere here. We just have to find it.'

EJ felt around the wall, running her hands along the edges. She felt a little bump.
I wonder
, she thought as she pushed down on the bump. The wall slid back and the girls stepped out into a forest, a snow-covered forest of Christmas trees with birds chirping from the branches. They looked down at their feet in the white snow. Surprisingly, they didn't feel cold. It was weird.

‘Snow?' said IJ. ‘Here? In the middle of December?'

EJ scooped up some snow from the ground. ‘It's fake snow.'

‘And look over there,' said IJ, pointing through the trees. ‘There are people ice-skating in shorts and t-shirts!'

‘I know where we are,' said EJ. ‘We're in Christmas Wonderland—and that means the Aurora diamonds are too!'

EJ and IJ walked through the ‘forest' until they came to the ice-skating rink. There were people skating along holding hands, falling over and laughing, falling over and not laughing and people trying to do tricks. Everyone was having fun but EJ and IJ had work to do.

‘See the giant Christmas tree on the other side of the rink,' said EJ. ‘I bet that's the centre of the park. We'll be able to get our bearings from there.'

‘The rink's huge,' said IJ. ‘It'll take ages.'

‘Not with
our
shoes,' said EJ, smiling at her buddy. ‘See that little dial on the side of your shoe? Spin it until you see the ice-skate symbol, then press the button.' EJ leant down and demonstrated on her own shoe. An ice-skate shot out from under the trainer. EJ did the other shoe while IJ changed her shoes too. In seconds they were skating across the ice to the other side. Once off the ice, they simply spun the dial back to start and their trainers became trainers again. They were walking towards the giant Christmas tree when EJ received a text.

‘Who's CC12?' asked IJ.

‘Another spy-buddy,' answered EJ. ‘She's in the surveillance division and is excellent at finding hiding places from which to observe
SHADOW
agents. She is sometimes a little too excellent at hiding so A1 has given us a clue.'

‘Okay,' said IJ. ‘Let's look for that statue.'

They came up to the enormous Christmas tree surrounded by a white fence decorated with candy canes. EJ and IJ stood there looking around. There were people everywhere. People laughing and shouting, people carrying Santa balloons and eating fairy floss as they moved around the park, going from one attraction to the next. That made the girls hungry and EJ remembered she hadn't had breakfast and now it was nearly lunchtime. They bought a toasted sandwich and went looking for a bin to put their wrappers in.

‘There,' said IJ. ‘Next to the statue.'

‘The statue!'

And there, to the left a bit, off the path, was a rubbish bin and a stone statue of a Christmas elf on a plinth holding a Christmas stocking. But EJ and IJ couldn't see CC.

‘Where could she be?' wondered EJ. ‘This is the only statue here.'

‘Knock, knock.'

EJ looked at IJ. ‘IJ, we don't say the password until we find CC!'

IJ looked puzzled. ‘I know. I didn't say anything. I thought it was you.'

‘Knock, knock.'

There it was again, a little more impatient-sounding this time. EJ and IJ looked around, a bit bewildered. No one had stopped nearby.

‘Knock, knock.' The voice was almost grumpy now.

EJ said, ‘Who's there?' not really knowing who she was saying it to.

‘Mary.'

‘Mary who?'

‘Mary Christmas! Guys, I'm up here!'

EJ and IJ looked up to the sky-painted ceiling.

‘Not that high, the statue!'

EJ looked at the elf statue but jumped back in shock when its eyes blinked. EJ stepped forward again, standing right up close to the statue. ‘CC, is that really you? You're … you're stone!'

‘It's stone-coloured paint,' whispered CC. ‘It's really hard standing so still all the time!'

‘Wow, CC, this has to be your best disguise yet,' said EJ, impressed. ‘You guys in the surveillance division rock!'

‘Don't look at me,' CC warned her. ‘Just act as if you two are talking to each other so people don't realise you're talking to me.'

‘Uh, okay,' said EJ. ‘Oh, meet IJ12, CC. She's in the science and invention division and,' she added, smiling at IJ, ‘one of my best friends. This is her first time OM.'

‘Welcome to
SHINE
,' said CC. ‘You've certainly picked a big mission for your first. What do you know so far?'

‘Well,' began IJ, ‘we know that
SHADOW
agent Tiffany Glass has stolen the Aurora Diamond Collection. The ones in the Delia Stones' Christmas windows are fakes.'

‘Fakes?' said CC.

‘Yep. Tiffany, pretending to be a diamond polisher, has been slowly taking the real ones and replacing them with glass fakes.'

‘Her last name is Glass? That's appropriate,' CC commented.

‘And a little funny,' said IJ, stifling a giggle.

‘And there's more,' said EJ. ‘They have built an escape corridor from the vault room that leads to Christmas Wonderland. We've just come from there. They must have used the corridor to carry out the diamonds but why would it lead here?'

‘I'm not sure,' said CC but I can tell you that there are
SHADOW
agents all over Christmas Wonderland and there is something else.'

‘What is it, CC?' asked EJ.

‘Well, all the agents I've seen are in elf costumes.'

‘Elves?' said EJ. ‘The girl with Tiffany Glass in the vault room was in an elf costume!'

‘I've been taking photos using my stone stocking-cam and relaying them back to
SHINE
. They've confirmed that the elves are under-twelve division
SHADOW
agents.'

‘All the elves?' asked IJ.

‘We're not sure,' replied CC. ‘Some don't match with the
SHINE
database but that might just mean they're new. What did the elf with Tiffany Glass look like?' she asked.

‘We only saw her from the back,' said EJ. ‘But her voice was so familiar.'

‘CC,' asked IJ, ‘what are the elves doing?'

‘They just seem to walk around the park carrying toys and waving at little children.'

‘What does it all mean?' wondered EJ.

 

Piinngg!

 

EJ checked her phone. ‘It's
SHINE
. They've intercepted another cracker code and sent through the riddle.' EJ looked at the riddle on screen, reading it silently.

‘Okay,' said EJ. ‘It's the same kind of riddle as the first cracker code but a little different. Let's see. IJ, will you write down the letters as I call them. The first can only be P, the second could be C or A but the third letter has to be R.'

‘So far it is either PAR or PCA,' said IJ.

‘The fourth is easy, it's the same as the second but we don't know if it's C or A yet but I am going to say that they are As.'

‘So that would be PARA,' said IJ.

‘That seems more likely,' said EJ. ‘The fifth is D and the last is either B or E but very few words end in B so I'm going with E. What do we have now, IJ?'

‘PARADE,' said IJ. ‘It spells parade and Tiffany Glass talked about getting ready for the parade!'

‘And there's something more,' said EJ. ‘All the things in the clues are toys. Is it a toy parade?'

‘I can help with that,' said CC. ‘This evening is Christmas Eve and Christmas Wonderland closes at 5pm with a toy parade that leaves Wonderland with Santa on his sleigh.'

‘But what does that have to do with the diamonds?' wondered IJ.

‘I'm not sure,' said EJ, looking at the time on her phone. ‘But we only have five hours to find out.'