Every Second Counts Read Free Page B

been hoping that if the resistance could operate as a fighting unit, that there might be some alternative to my
going undercover – and that he would be able to talk me out of my plan. As the light completely faded outside, Lennox disappeared again, returning half an hour later with four bags of fish
and chips. Nat and I fell on the food. After we’d eaten Julius explained that he and Lennox would have to move on the day after tomorrow, that they never stayed anywhere more than a week so
as not to attract attention, and that Nat and I would need to find our own accommodation after that point.
    ‘Four is just too many, people notice a larger group,’ he said nervously.
    ‘Plus I don’t like you,’ Lennox added rudely. His remark was directed mainly at me, though he glanced in Nat’s direction too.
    I opened my mouth to tell him I hadn’t formed a great opinion of him either, but Nat laid his hand on mine.
    ‘That’s fine,’ he said. ‘We can sort out the details tomorrow.’
    I closed my mouth as Julius got up.
    ‘There’s only one bedroom here,’ he said. ‘I’ll bunk in with Lennox for tonight. You two can have the living room, though, er . . . we don’t have any spare
blankets.’
    ‘That’s okay.’ Nat explained that we carried everything we needed in our backpacks.
    An hour later we had washed and changed. I felt better than I had for days. It had been brilliant to take a shower, even though the only water in the house was freezing cold. And now we were
lying on the sofas in the living area. Tatty and lumpy, they weren’t exactly luxurious but after so many nights sleeping outside it felt good to be indoors away from the elements and on
something softer than the ground.
    Nat hadn’t mentioned my plan to infiltrate Riley’s group since I’d brought up the idea earlier, but now he said softly: ‘I don’t want you to go undercover. It will
be hard enough convincing Riley you want to join him, but even harder getting proof about his plans. You know how careful and how ruthless he is.’
    I lay back on the sofa. ‘I’ll tell him I need to know about my dad, you know, that I need to find out if he really is alive like Riley said,’ I whispered.
    There was a pause. Nat’s eyes gleamed in the streetlight that shone in through the gap in the curtains.
    ‘You know he isn’t alive, don’t you, Charlie?’ he said softly. ‘Riley was lying about that.’
    I turned away. Nat was probably right, but doubt still wriggled away inside me. After my mum died I’d gone to live with her sister, Karen, but that hadn’t worked out, so I’d
moved in with my dad’s brother, Uncle Brian, and his wife and my cousin, Rosa. I had tried to fit in with them but they’d never properly felt like family and I hadn’t been
surprised when they’d disowned me after I’d been conned into kidnapping Aaron. Apart from Nat, I was alone. Which made it utterly impossible to ignore the idea that my dad might be out
there somewhere. The thought of it twisted my stomach into a tight, painful knot. Not that I was going to admit that to Nat.
    ‘The point is that Riley will
believe
I need to know the truth,’ I whispered.
    ‘And then what?’
    ‘I’ll find some way of getting evidence about Riley’s next move,’ I said. ‘He wants me to join his inner circle, remember?’
    ‘He
says
he does, but it won’t be that straightforward,’ Nat insisted. ‘He won’t trust that you genuinely want to join them. And Riley’s not an easy
person to lie to.’
    I said nothing, just stared up at the ceiling.
    Nat yawned. ‘Look it’s late and I’m too tired to deal with you being fixated on this right now,’ he said. ‘Can we talk about it in the morning?’
    ‘Sure.’ I pressed my lips together. How dare Nat say I was ‘fixated’? I turned and glared at him, but he had already closed his eyes.
    I watched as he fell asleep. I knew Nat hadn’t meant to upset me but I had just as much right to make a plan to