Every Second Counts (11 page)

I shook my head, not wanting to speak out loud my belief that the only possible reason Riley could have for keeping me here was to kill me. Jas too, now she’d become involved.

‘Maybe he’s going to try and use Nat to run another mission for him,’ Aaron suggested.

‘I don’t think so,’ I muttered.

Jas gasped. ‘Suppose Aaron’s right? Suppose he wants to use
all
of us for a mission?’

‘He won’t,’ I said. Again, I didn’t want to say it, but the idea that Riley would want to use either untrained Aaron or anxious Jas on any kind of mission was
ridiculous.

‘You don’t know that for sure,’ Aaron said, sitting forward. ‘He might want us to set off a bomb like he got you to do before.’

‘I didn’t
know
it was a bomb,’ I snapped, irritation rising inside me. ‘He won’t use us if he can’t completely trust us and as he
can’t—’

‘He might force you somehow,’ Aaron interrupted.

‘I’m telling you there’s no way I’d do anything for Riley, not even if he says he’ll kill me.’ I stopped at the sight of Jas’s horrified expression.

‘
Kill
you?’ she gasped. ‘For not doing what he says? Oh, Nat,
no
.’

I stared at her helplessly.

‘Hey, hey . . . shh . . .’ Aaron hugged Jas to him. ‘I won’t let
anyone
hurt Nat.’

‘Is that right?’ I said, feeling riled. How on earth did Aaron think he was in any position to protect me? Jas sniffed back her tears, then gazed up at him adoringly. Aaron grinned
back at her and a dimple appeared in his cheek.

I rolled my eyes. That smile of his was just about the most annoying thing I’d ever seen. Still, at least Jas had stopped crying. I stood up, walked over to the window and gazed out
through the bars. With both door and window locked, there was no way out of this room. No way to escape what I was more and more sure Riley had planned: our murders.

‘I think Nat’s a little uncomfortable with us going out together,’ Aaron said lightly from across the room.

I said nothing.

‘No, Aaron, Nat likes you,’ Jas insisted. She looked up at me. ‘Don’t you, Nat?’

‘Mmm . . .’ I stared out at the fields below.

An uneasy silence fell. Aaron came over and stood beside me at the window. He took a deep breath.

‘Is there a problem?’

I turned to face him. ‘Jas says you’re sound, but I don’t know if I can trust you. I think maybe you were in on this whole thing.’

‘No, Nat,’ Jas insisted. She was hunched on her mattress, hugging her knees and looking up at us with big eyes.

Aaron spread his hands. ‘I’m locked up, same as you,’ he said. ‘Doesn’t that count for anything?’

‘Not really.’ I looked away.

Aaron moved closer, lowering his voice, so Jas couldn’t hear. ‘Are you sure this isn’t mostly about me being with your sister?’ he asked.

‘No,’ I muttered, also keeping my voice low. ‘But now you mention it, I’m not sure you two seeing each other is a good thing, your dad being who he is.’

Aaron’s face darkened.

‘What are you two saying?’ Jas asked.

‘Nat’s just asking about my dad,’ Aaron said. He turned to me and lowered his voice to a whisper again. ‘And I’m telling him that my dad is trying to expose Riley
exactly like he is, none of which has
anything
to do with me and your sister.’ His cheeks flushed a bright red.

I said nothing, just stared out of the window. A few moments passed; the room filled with tension.

Then Aaron folded his arms and leaned over, his mouth by my ear.

‘I’m dating your sister, Nat,’ he hissed. ‘Get over it.’

I shook my head. ‘Fine,’ I muttered. ‘But I have no idea what she sees in you.’

Another pause. I kept my gaze on the woods outside, but I could feel my face burning. That had been rude. And stupid. Regardless of whether or not Aaron was a Riley spy, there was no point
antagonising him. And it wasn’t fair on Jas either. I turned to him, ready to apologise but, much to my surprise, Aaron was smiling.

‘I have no idea what she sees in me either,’ he chuckled. ‘She’s way out of my league, but there you go.’

I grinned in spite of myself as the tension eased and Aaron moved away, back to Jas. He was still an idiot – and possibly worse. But I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. For
now.

Outside, the sun was getting lower on the horizon, the sky dotted with clouds. Suddenly I missed Charlie with a physical pain.

‘Nat?’ Jas said, her voice timid.

I turned around.

‘We need to find a way out of here,’ she said.

I nodded. ‘I know, but the doors and windows are locked, the guards are armed . . .’ I looked at her, helplessly. ‘I don’t know what to do.’

‘Then let us help you
work out
what to do,’ Aaron said earnestly. ‘You’re the one with the training. Go through the options. Jas and I will help you make a plan. I
can run fast and I can fight too . . .’

I opened my mouth to tell him that fighting would be of no help whatsoever – and then it struck me that, if we were smart about it, fighting our way out of here was, in fact, our best
option.

I frowned, as an idea bubbled into my head.

‘What?’ Aaron asked. ‘What are you thinking?’

I went over and crouched down beside them. ‘Listen,’ I said. ‘Then I drew them close and whispered my plan.

I followed Uchi into the cottage. In spite of all my anxieties I was intrigued to meet Riley’s son. I was expecting a little boy – after all, Riley was only in his
early thirties – so I was taken by complete surprise when a tall, black-haired teenager in black jeans and a grey jumper slouched out of the kitchen, a shorter, dark-skinned woman at his
side.

‘Gracie and her son, Spider,’ Uchi said, introducing us.

I shook hands with Gracie. She seemed nice – a lot warmer than Martina and very beautiful, with long glossy dark hair and clear tawny skin. Her son looked up. I stared, struck by how
good-looking he was: olive-skinned and square-jawed, just like Riley, but with high cheekbones and dark, intense eyes.

He shrugged by way of a greeting. Well that was fine with me. I wasn’t here to make friends. Uchi said he would see me after I’d eaten and asked Spider to show me around.

Spider looked neither pleased nor annoyed by this request. If anything, he seemed bored. He obeyed Uchi in long-suffering silence, showing me firstly around the ground floor – a series of
rather flouncy, flowery rooms with contrasting patterns on the sofas, curtains and rugs – then upstairs to the four bedrooms. I was given a small room on the right of the main landing. It was
nowhere near as smart as my room in Riley’s house, but it looked comfortable enough. A tunic, a fleece and two pairs of leggings had been laid out on the bed. I picked up the tunic. It
wasn’t my sort of thing at all, but it would be easy to move in which, I was guessing, was the point. I wondered how soon my training for the mission Uchi had mentioned would start.

I kept my eyes open for anything I could use to communicate with Nat but there were no landlines in the house and I was guessing the only computers were kept in the one locked room – off
the hall on the ground floor – that Spider had merely pointed to in passing, saying it was ‘Uchi’s office’. He had a really upper-class accent, very different from both
Riley’s and Uchi’s. That, together with his sneering attitude, was starting to make me think he was a total snob.

After I’d been shown around indoors, Uchi took me outside, saying if I didn’t need a rest he was eager to explain a little more about his philosophy to me. It was chilly but
beautiful in the back garden. We sat on the patio, looking out at the sea just a hundred metres or so away beyond the grass which sloped sharply down to where the waves crashed against the rocks.
Uchi tucked a blanket over his legs as he spoke. I pulled on my fleece and tried to follow what he was saying, but it was all just so complicated.

‘Were you really a soldier?’ I asked after ten minutes or so. Apart from anything else, It was hard imagining someone so old and slow and deliberate in their way of speaking ever
having leaped about firing a gun.

‘I was,’ Uchi said. ‘Though I don’t think I was a very good one: too thoughtful, too independent, too clever.’

‘And yet you must have killed people,’ I persisted.

Uchi’s dark eyes pierced through me. ‘Sometimes the means justify the ends,’ he said.

‘And what are “the ends”?’ I asked, determined to make him explain his stupid ideas in language that made sense to me. ‘What is it exactly you’re aiming for?
Because I can see that a lot of democratic governments might be a bit useless, but what’s the alternative that’s so much better?’

Uchi leaned forward. ‘Let’s start with what you just said: “a bit useless”,’ he said. ‘The truth is that democracy is
extremely
useless. It’s
entirely half-arsed. It doesn’t get enough done. It’s always a compromise. No country can become truly great as a democracy.’

I frowned. ‘What about America? That’s a world power.’

‘Riddled with corruption,’ Uchi said, waving his hand dismissively. ‘At any one time at least half the city mayors are taking bribes. Ditto the state governors. And don’t
get me started on Congress or any of the post-war presidents.’

‘But—’

‘A great country needs a great leader. He – or she – will give the nation hope and prosperity. In return, all the citizens have to give up is the
illusion
of democratic
freedom.’

‘
Illusion?
What do you mean?’

‘Well in a democracy the majority always wins. So lots of people – sometimes the most vulnerable – end up ignored. They’re not “free” at all. Meanwhile
politicians put all their efforts into winning votes and gaining power, rather than doing what’s best for the country. And most of the time it leads to chaos. Look at the UK right now.
Coalition after coalition government, each reversing the previous government’s policies. How can a system like that ever get anything done?’

I stared at him.

‘What Uchi’s saying is that you think you’re free because you have a vote, but actually that vote is bought and sold at levels you’re not even aware of,’ Gracie
said softly from the door that led back into the cottage.

I started; I hadn’t heard her come outside. Gracie walked over and placed a plate of pasties in front of us.

‘Ah, my favourite.’ Uchi’s eyes twinkled as he took one. ‘Help yourself, Charlie.’

I shook my head, unwilling to be deflected from the conversation.

‘Well, personally speaking I don’t have a vote yet,’ I said. ‘But when I do, what both of you are saying is that I should – everyone should – give my vote to
just one person?’

Gracie nodded. ‘Roman.’ Her cheeks flushed as she said his name. Was she still in love with him? That would explain why she and Martina didn’t get on.

‘Yes,’ Uchi said, apparently oblivious to Gracie’s self-consciousness. ‘Roman offers real hope,’ he went on, his voice tinged with pride. ‘That’s why
the public will elect him and his party in greater numbers than ever next week.’

‘I see,’ I said. ‘And what about once he’s elected?’

‘Then he and the Future Party will bring in emergency powers and gradually set about dismantling the corrupt democratic system that we currently endure.’

I sat back. If the country had any idea what Riley was really like, there was no way they would vote for him. Then he would lose his seat in Parliament and, with it, all hope of gaining real
political power.

I
had
to get proof. And before the election next week.

‘So Riley’s . . .’ I paused, searching for the right word. ‘He’s the figurehead for everything.’

‘Exactly.’ Uchi looked pleased. ‘The people wouldn’t accept a leader like me, all crippled and scarred. But Riley is young and attractive. He builds up trust among the
public with his charm and his emphasis on support for ordinary people, but he is also working secretly through the English Freedom Army.’

With its emphasis on bombs and murder.

‘I suppose you might say,’ Uchi mused, clearly unaware of what I was thinking, ‘that I am the brains behind Riley’s charisma.’

And behind the bomb that killed Mum.

I took a deep breath. ‘So what are you planning?’

Uchi chuckled. ‘Let’s not run before we can walk. You might be my daughter, but you know the EFA insists on a cell-based structure in which no single individual knows too much about
the overall plan. And Riley will need to be convinced that I have genuinely persuaded you to join us. Anyway, right now I just want to get to know you. We have a lifetime to catch up on.’ He
smiled, then tucked his blanket under his legs and took a large bite out of his pasty.

I stared out to sea, my emotions churning inside me. I was trying hard to tell myself that coming here had been entirely about getting evidence to expose Riley, but it wasn’t true. I had
thought earlier that Uchi really did care about me. But I was starting to realise that, although he said he wanted to get to know me, he hadn’t actually asked me a single question about
myself. He didn’t seem curious in the slightest about my life with either Mum or Aunt Karen or, more recently with Brian, Gail and Rosa. He didn’t even want to know the superficial kind
of things that adults always asked, like whether I had hobbies and which subjects I most liked at school. He hadn’t asked me about Nat, or our time on the run, or if I had friends or a
boyfriend.

If anyone had asked I would have said I didn’t care, but the truth was that, after so long without a dad and so many years wondering about him, it was hard to come face to face with the
reality of an actual father and find that he was so wrapped up in himself – not to mention so blinded by his own beliefs that he justified killing innocent people to achieve them. Uchi
wasn’t a man I could see myself liking or respecting. And that hurt.

‘Did you ever get married?’ I asked, wondering suddenly if I had a series of half-brothers and -sisters somewhere.

‘No.’ Uchi sighed. ‘No wife. No kids. ‘You’re my only blood relative, Charlie. Just as I am yours.’