March (18 page)

‘We’ve lost ’em,’ Lachlan said suddenly. ‘Kid, you must be in some
massive
trouble!’

I leaned back in the seat and realised I’d been holding my breath. With a bit of luck, the SUV wouldn’t find us again. I clutched onto my backpack. Inside was the most valuable document in the world. The text of the Ormond Riddle.

I unzipped my backpack and was just about
to take out the Riddle and start looking at it when I heard Lachlan swear.

‘What is it?’ I asked, but I already knew.

I turned and looked back, and sure enough there was the monster truck coming over a hill in the road some distance away.

Even while I watched, I could see it was gaining on us.

‘We’re calling the cops!’ said Lachlan, throwing his mobile to me as the truck moved into position behind the tray of his pick-up.

I nearly said, ‘We can’t!’ But how could I? I was responsible for what was happening. If we were both run off the road and killed, it would all be my fault.

I started dialling while Lachlan desperately tried to control the vehicle. He swore again as his utility was bashed from behind and all four wheels left the road! For a few seconds, we were flying! I dropped the mobile as we skidded, fishtailing wildly from side to side. I was thrown all over the cabin until my seat belt locked tight.

In a final effort to put distance between us and our attackers, Lachlan accelerated even more. By this stage, we were doing nearly 200 k’s! At this speed, we were being thrown around the cabin with every minor bump on
the road. But it was no use! The huge monster easily kept up with us—in fact it was going faster! The driver was playing with us. He’d let us get ahead a little way just to give himself the run-up he needed for a final vicious attack.

I leaned over trying to reach Lachlan’s phone on the floor at my feet when the pick-up was bashed forward, tipped up on its left-side wheels. Lachlan lost all control. With a sickening, gut-thumping lurch, we hit the slight embankment on the side of the road, hurtled over it, and continued crashing and bashing through the scrub. We both screamed as branches smashed the windscreen and the pick-up was spun around and tipped right over onto its side where it slid, rolling once completely over to land upside down on a steep angle.

I grabbed my backpack, remembering the explosive caps I had in there, fearing injuries from them … if the crash didn’t kill us.

I opened my eyes. I was hanging upside down in my seat and I could hear the sound of running water. I screamed again as the pick-up tipped and rolled once more, landing on its side in the shallow water of a creek, leaving me hanging sideways across the cabin.

The impact of the seat belt had winded me
so badly that it felt like my breastbone had been pushed right through my chest and was now stuck to my spine.

But I knew I had to move fast. I took a big breath. I seemed to be in one piece, although my heart was racing like a machine gun. Then I became alarmed. There was no sign of my companion. He must have been thrown out on impact. As I scrambled to free myself, the pick-up moved again, settling into the mud on the side of the creek.

Finally, I was able to undo my seat belt and climb out of the cabin and onto the upturned side of the pick-up. I stumbled around to the driver’s side, wading through the fast-running creek, to see what had happened to Lachlan.

He was pinned under the pick-up, partly lying on the bank but with his head down, his face in the water! I grabbed him and pulled his shoulders as hard as I could. I was able to move him a little but then I saw the problem. One of his arms was caught under the weight of the pick-up—he was pinned and there was no way I could lift the truck off him. I grabbed his head and turned it sideways so that his face, at least, was out of the water.

He was unconscious, but he was breathing. As long as I held his head away from the water,
he had a good chance of surviving. I couldn’t see any injuries on him apart from some small cuts on his face and neck. But already I thought I could hear the crashing sound of the monster SUV as it followed our trail of destruction down to the creek.

‘Wake up! Lachlan! Wake up!’ I cried, holding his head with one hand, slapping his cheek with the other. If I could bring him around, he could keep his head up out of the water and I could get away, promising to call the ambulance as I went. But he didn’t open his eyes. I slapped him harder: ‘Come on, Lachlan! Wake up please!’

I could even hear their voices now as they yelled. In just a few moments, the sumo wrestler and his sidekick would be here. They would capture me and retake the text of the Ormond Riddle that Repro and I had finally got hold of; they would find the drawings in my backpack. They would have everything. And I had no doubt that they would then dispose of me in a very permanent way.

I made another desperate attempt to bring Lachlan round, slapping his cheek hard, yelling his name.

I could hear them crashing through the bush, getting closer and closer. I knew I had two choices.

I could let go of Lachlan, grab my backpack with the precious Riddle and drawings and disappear into the bush. That way, I had a chance to save myself and the Ormond Riddle.

‘Lachlan! Please wake up!’

But his head remained limp and heavy in my hands.

I could escape but to do that I would have to let go of Lachlan’s head.

Without me holding his face away from the water, there was no question that Lachlan would drown.

Repro’s face flashed across my mind. I could see him waving me through Oriana’s window, telling me to go, telling me he’d be fine while he struggled with Kelvin.
But was he fine?

I wouldn’t leave anyone else behind.

I wouldn’t let this man drown.

It was an impossible situation but there really was only one choice. I had to stay and keep Lachlan alive.

Even if I used the capsicum spray again, it would only be a matter of time before they overwhelmed me, and finally rid themselves of Callum Ormond, Psycho Kid.

I’d lost everything. Oriana’s thugs were coming for me. They’d have the words to the Ormond Riddle again and they’d get my dad’s
drawings as well. They would discover the huge secret. Whatever the prize was, they would win it. The promise I’d made to Dad—that I’d continue his work until I cracked the secret—was broken now. I’d failed him and I’d failed myself. I’d failed all of my family.

I looked up and glimpsed a figure on the ridge above me, and then I heard someone crashing and sliding down the slope towards me.

All I could do was crouch there and wait for them to come and get me …