Blood Ransom by Sophie McKenzie Read Free Book Online

myself,’ I said stubbornly.
    ‘I’m only helping you because it might just help Rachel,’ Lewis said. ‘Maybe you should start putting her first too.’
    There was a bitter note to his voice I didn’t remember ever hearing before, but I knew he was right. Accepting Lewis’s help was the fastest way to get to Rachel.
    ‘Do we have a deal, Theo?’
    ‘Yes,’ I said. ‘Er, thanks.’
    ‘Good,’ Lewis said. ‘I’ll be in touch within the hour.’
     
    17
Rachel
    Milo led me along the stony path for about two hundred metres. He had a hard time steering his chair around the larger pebbles.
    I looked round, my heart thudding. I could see more of the island now. It wasn’t big. From the higher ground, most of the coastline was visible. The sea beyond stretched for miles. I
shivered at how isolated it was. Suppose we couldn’t get back to the boat with Daniel? Or suppose Milo couldn’t start the engine and get us away from here?
    ‘Don’t worry,’ Milo said. ‘The guard is down by the trees on the west of the island. He won’t see us from there.’ He pointed towards the single building up
ahead. It was still some way off, but from here it looked like a traditional farmhouse – made of stone with a tiled roof.
    ‘Aren’t you worried about Elijah seeing us?’ I asked, wondering why we weren’t taking more trouble to keep ourselves out of view.
    ‘Everyone’s in the basement getting ready for the operation,’ Milo said. ‘There’s a camera over the front door of the house, but I’ll be able to disable that.
Daniel’s still in his room. Once we’re inside, we’ll grab him, then get straight back to the jetty. I’ve already stolen the boat keys. If you can help me on deck I can steer
us out of here and back to the mainland.’
    It sounded suspiciously easy. I nodded, my mouth dry.
    We reached the house. It was fairly bleak-looking, built on two storeys and ringed by a high wire-mesh fence. I took a deep breath as we walked through the gate in the fence and headed for the
door. The camera on the wall above was pointing directly at the entrance. It was too high for me to reach. I couldn’t see how on earth Milo was planning to disable it.
    And then a twig snapped somewhere behind me.
    I froze, then looked round, my skin prickling. I still couldn’t see anyone, but they were there, I was sure. And we were trapped between the fence and the door.
    ‘Someone’s following us,’ I whispered.
     
    18
Theo
    I’d waited for what felt like ages for Lewis to contact me again. Maybe I should have felt guilty insisting on going to Scotland, but I didn’t. I was determined to
save Rachel. And being with Lewis, actively trying to find her, seemed like the best way to do that.
    Eventually Lewis texted me, and told me to send a picture of myself to some dodgy-looking email address. I did what he asked, then waited again. It was a while before I heard from him, but when
I did he told me to go to Rittenhouse Square in the centre of Philadelphia, and wait for someone to bring me my fake passport.
    I took a small bag with me. It wasn’t that I particularly cared about having a change of clothes, but it occurred to me that I’d look highly suspicious if I turned up at an airport
with no luggage at all.
    Mum asked me what I was doing, of course. She was well annoyed at me for not waiting to speak to her earlier. She’d wanted to ask if I minded her and Jeff (her boss) popping out to
dinner.
    I told her it was fine, and that I was planning to go out myself, to see some friends. Before Mum could even mention my curfew, I promised I’d be back by 10.15. Hours away.
    She bought the whole thing, which should have made me feel bad but didn’t.
    Anyway, I got to Rittenhouse Square and sat on a bench. A couple of minutes later a man in a baseball cap walked past me and dropped an envelope in my lap.
    I opened it eagerly, to find a US passport with a fake name and two years added to my age, plus an e-ticket in the