Double-Cross Read Free Page A

Geri’s done anything wrong. We might be better off just finding somewhere to live outside the UK. We can probably get work somewhere – and our parents will help support us.’
    ‘But even if our parents help, we won’t have enough money,’ Ed said, clearly aghast. ‘And we’re too young to get jobs. I mean, we should be at school right now. Anyway, I want to take my GCSEs next year . . . I want to do A levels and go to uni and—’
    ‘Jeez , I’m sorry us finding out that my parents were murdered is getting in the way of your education, Ed,’ Dylan drawled sarcastically.
    The atmosphere tensed.
    ‘Man, could you two calm down?’ I said. ‘We have our psychic abilities. We’re more powerful than we think. Anyway, we don’t have to decide everything tonight. We just need to find the place Laura booked for us.’
    Laura was Harry’s mum. She’d helped us get away from England earlier today.
    ‘I checked on my cellphone,’ Dylan said. ‘The hotel’s about a mile away.’
    ‘Good, we’ll get going as soon as I call Fergus,’ I said.
    I was certain Dylan wouldn’t have a problem with this. Fergus was her uncle after all – as well as my stepdad and the former head teacher of all of us. However, instead of nodding her agreement, Dylan folded her arms.
    ‘I’m fed up with adults controlling what we do,’ she snarled.
    ‘I’m just going to make sure he knows we’re okay,’ I protested. ‘It’s the right thing to do.’
    Dylan turned away, her face mutinous. Ed sighed again.
    ‘I think Nico’s right,’ Ketty said quickly. ‘We can’t let them all worry.’
    ‘Course you think Nico’s right,’ Dylan muttered. ‘You freakin’ worship him.’
    Ketty rolled her eyes, but said nothing. That’s another thing I like about her. Loads of girls would get all huffy or hysterical with Dylan over comments like that, but Ketty doesn’t let people get to her. And, even though I knew the past twenty-four hours had been as hard for her as the rest of us – harder, maybe, seeing as she’d been bitten by a guard dog on top of everything else – I also knew that she’d never get all hyper-emotional over stuff that wasn’t worth it.
    I swallowed the last of my burger. I wanted to make the call to Fergus, but get away from Dylan as well. ‘Let’s you and me go over there, babe,’ I said, pointing to the copse of trees. ‘I can call Fergus on my mobile.’
    Ketty nodded. We left the pier and crossed the road. There was a path into the trees and, as we strolled towards it, I gazed up at the sky. It was cloudy – the moon hidden behind clouds. And cold. The wind whipped round our heads. I hugged my jacket to me and looked sideways at Ketty. Any other time and I’d have been thinking about taking advantage of the fact that we were on our own. But right now all I really wanted to do was make the call to Fergus.
    Ketty was definitely still walking with a slight limp from where the dog had bitten her.
    ‘Does it hurt?’ I asked. ‘Your leg?’
    ‘Nah, not really.’ She paused. ‘So where’s your phone?’
    I grinned. Practical as ever.
    I took out my mobile. We’d bought new pay-as-you-go phones on the way to the ferry yesterday, so Geri couldn’t trace us. It already seemed like a lifetime ago.
    As we reached the little path, I called Fergus on his mobile phone. It went straight to voicemail, so I left a message saying I was fine, but needed to talk to him urgently. I felt better once I’d finished, and pulled Ketty into a huge hug. At least Fergus wouldn’t be worrying now. And surely he would call me back soon.
    ‘It’s going to be okay,’ I said with a grin.
    Ketty grinned back. As I bent to kiss her, I caught movement out of the corner of my eye.
    I straightened up, on my guard at once. A woman in a dark red suit was in the street just ahead of us. Her sharp blonde bob swished from side to side as she walked, her heels tapping along the pavement. She was looking around for something . .