Blood Ransom Read Free

was right next to him now.
    ‘Theo?’ I said, my voice trembling.
    The boy frowned, looking confused. He shook his head. ‘My name’s Milo,’ he said.
    An American accent – and the tone of his voice was different from Theo’s too. It was harsher, yet at the same time weaker.
    ‘Er . . . do we know each other?’ he said.
    I stared at him. Close up I could see signs of stubble on his chin and a fullness to his face that Theo didn’t – couldn’t – have.
    It wasn’t Theo. Just someone who looked extraordinarily like him. The disappointment was crushing.
    ‘I thought we knew each other,’ I said, trying to keep my voice steady. ‘I’m sorry.’
    I took a step back.
    ‘Wait.’ Milo looked up at me. ‘You just called me Theo, didn’t you?’
    ‘Er, yes, Theo’s a friend of mine.’ I blushed. ‘You look a lot like him. An awful lot.’
    A shocked smile crept over Milo’s face. ‘That wouldn’t be the Theo who was kidnapped and taken to Washington D.C. last year?’
    I could feel my eyes widening. How on earth did he know about that? I nodded, speechless.
    There was a long pause.
    ‘Well I guess I do look like him,’ Milo said at last, ‘seeing as we were cloned from the same person.’
     
    4
Theo
    My mood improved as soon as I walked inside the diner. Living in America does have some compensations, and the way every indoor space seems to be fully kitted out with
aircon is one of them.
    Cheri, one of the waitresses who knew me quite well, bustled over.
    ‘Hi, hon.’ She smiled. ‘How’re you doin’?’ I smiled back. ‘Good, thanks. Can I use the computer?’
    ‘Sure, when Jack’s done.’ Cheri nodded towards the counter, where the diner’s only terminal stood between a stack of magazines and a shelf of salt and pepper pots. She
let me use the internet for free when her boss wasn’t around, which was most mornings.
    The guy on the computer was middle-aged and huge. I’d seen him in the diner before, with his equally outsize wife and kids.
    ‘Jack’s having a bad time,’ Cheri said, lowering her voice to a whisper. ‘Wife’s left him and taken the kids. Taken everything . Jack’s emailing his
attorney, trying to get a handle on it all.’
    ‘Right.’ I glanced at the clock. Five minutes before Rachel would be expecting me online. ‘No worries,’ I said.
    ‘Strawberry Shake while you wait?’ Cheri asked.
    ‘Yeah, thanks.’ I settled into the leatherette booth closest to the computer terminal and waited.
     
    5
Rachel
    The rain was coming down even harder now. Milo wheeled himself across the street to shelter under a deserted doorway. I followed him in a daze.
    ‘Cloned from the same person?’ I said, unsure I’d heard him correctly before. ‘You and Theo?’
    ‘Yes, we were both cloned from Elijah Lazio.’ Milo nodded, his face serious. ‘I’m guessing that if you know about Theo, then you know about Elijah too. Which means you
must be Rachel, right?’
    My legs felt like they might give way. ‘How do you know about me?’ I gasped. I stared at Milo. Another clone of Elijah, this one older than Theo. How was that even
possible?
    ‘Elijah’s mentioned you,’ Milo said.
    ‘You’ve spoken to him?! Is he here . . .? Oh my God . . .’ I stopped, panic filling me. Was Elijah nearby? Did he know I was here?
    ‘Elijah cloned me three and a half years before he cloned Theo.’ Milo explained, seemingly unaware of the effect his words had had on me. His face clouded over – an expression
I knew well from Theo. In fact, the look he was giving me was such a powerful reminder of Theo that my heart actually skipped a beat.
    Milo’s eyes flickered to his wheelchair. ‘As you can see, I didn’t work out so well. I was born with a degenerative disease. My body’s wearing out too fast. It’s a
genetic weakness caused by the cloning process. Elijah worked out how to stop it happening before he cloned Theo, but I can’t walk and my heart and kidneys don’t operate