Double-Cross by Sophie McKenzie Read Free Book Online Page A

in a green Mondeo.
    Slim, suited and with her highlighted blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail, she poked her head out through the open window and offered me a brief, anxious smile.
    ‘Get in.’
    ‘Where’s Harry?’ I asked, sliding into the passenger seat.
    ‘At school.’ Laura drove off, her lips pressed tightly together. ‘Which is where you guys should be, too.’
    I turned and looked out of the window. Bixbury was one of those typical English towns – all brick houses and roses in the front garden. I didn’t need Laura telling me what we should and shouldn’t be doing.
    ‘School isn’t exactly an option right now,’ I said curtly. ‘What with Fox Academy being blown up and the government agent supposed to be protecting us trying to frame us for murder.’
    ‘I know.’ Laura sighed. ‘I just can’t believe what that woman – Geri Paterson – is doing . . . making you fugitives . . .’
    ‘So where’s this plane?’ I said.
    ‘Couple of miles away,’ Laura explained, peering at a road sign through the windscreen. She nodded to a package on the dashboard. ‘There are all your passports and tickets. There’s a note from Fergus, too, plus contact details for my friend, Sam Hastings, who lives in Sydney. We emailed yesterday and he’s going to meet you off the plane in Sydney and look after you until Fergus can get out there.’
    Well, that was a relief. But I couldn’t help but wonder if we’d make it as far as Sydney.
    ‘This pilot who’s taking me to Helsinki in his private plane,’ I said. ‘Is he for real? I mean, he’s going to be breaking about ten laws just smuggling me out of the country.’
    ‘All your parents are covering his payment, Nico.’ Laura hesitated. ‘I wish I could come with you, but you’ll be safe once you get to Sydney and I can’t just walk out on work without raising suspicions. Fergus says he’s going to fly out to join you as soon as he can give Geri the slip.’
    I nodded, opening Fergus’s note. It was fairly emotional – at least for Fergus. He wrote about how much I meant to him and ended by urging me to think before I acted, keep my wits about me and look after myself.
    I sat back when I’d finished reading, my own feelings a mix of anxiety about what I was about to do and reassurance that at least Fergus and Laura were behind us.
    Laura gazed out at the open countryside ahead and smiled. ‘Harry’s quite taken with Dylan, you know.’
    I grinned, pleased to be lifted out of my own thoughts.
    ‘Yeah, I got the impression that it’s mutual,’ I said, remembering how flustered Dylan had seemed around Harry.
    ‘What’s she really like?’ Laura asked. ‘I don’t mean to pry, but her mother was one of my best friends . . . and I’ve only spent a few hours with her . . .’
    What did I say to that? ‘Well . . . Dylan’s moody . . . but she’s loyal . . .’ I started, then stopped, unable to think of anything else to say that didn’t have ‘pain in the ass’ at the end of the sentence. Laura shot me a quick glance, then moved on.
    ‘It’s funny, it seems like yesterday we were all together with our babies – Jack and me, and Dylan’s mum and dad.’ She smiled sadly at me. ‘I knew your mum, too, Nico. And Fergus. I mean, they were on the periphery of our group, but I met them several times.’
    I nodded, feeling awkward. I wasn’t used to meeting people who’d known my mum. A photo that Dylan had shown me recently popped into my head. It was of her and Harry, Laura’s son, as babies. My mum’s in the background of the picture, heavily pregnant. When I saw it, I thought how weird it was that I’d been inside her then. I had that same feeling now, being with someone who’d known her at that time.
    Laura turned her eyes back to the road. ‘Your mother was beautiful, Nico. Very young and very fragile-looking with big, brown eyes. Fergus used to pad around her like a protective bear or something.’ She laughed.
    I didn’t know