Double Cross by Malorie Blackman Read Free Book Online Page A

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of money he must've spent on all those porcelain veneers,
I'd show them off too. 'Tobey, how would you like
to work for me? I could always use a smart boy like
you.'
    I'd rather have my toenails extracted one by one
without benefit of a general anaesthetic, but McAuley was
just the man to make that happen.
    'Well? I asked you a question, Tobias.' McAuley's
eyebrows began to knit together and, if anything, his voice
grew quieter.
    'I'm still at school, sir.'
    'I have little jobs that need doing over the odd weekend
and a couple of evenings a month – nothing onerous. And
I'm very generous, as you'll find out.'
    I'm a fish and he's the fisherman and he's got his hook in
my mouth. My silence will let him reel me in. Say something,
Tobey. Godsake! Speak.
    'I'd rather not, sir,' I replied quietly.
    Inside McAuley's car, his crew began to laugh.
    'You're very polite, aren't you? "I'm still at school, sir."
"I'd rather not, sir,"' McAuley mimicked. 'Three bags
full, sir.'
    A single line of sweat trickled down from my left
temple in front of my ear, but I didn't dare wipe it away.
My heart was a punching bag being viciously pummelled
over and over.
    'Tobey, you don't want to say no to me,' McAuley said
softly. 'I don't like that word. I mean, I really don't like
that word.'
    A children's book. A first reader. My photo, legs pumping,
terror on my face. See Tobey run. Run, Tobey, run.
    I stood still, my feet glued to my shoes, my shoes glued
to the pavement. My useless frickin' body. Adrenalin
coursed through me. Fight or flight? I couldn't do either.
Useless.
    'I'm a good man to work for, Tobey.'
    Why can't I just slide away on McAuley's oily
smile?
    'I'm a loyal friend and I look after my own. Ask anyone
who works for me. Ask your friend Dan. But I think
you'll find I'm also a—'
    'Tobey! How come you didn't wait for me?'
    Callie's voice reached me before she did. That girl had
the ability to go from mute to surround sound in less than
a second. She trotted up to me, to stand between me and
McAuley.
    'You were supposed to wait for me, toe-rag. Thanks for
making me run after you. Now I'm all sweaty.'
    I pulled at her arm and stepped in front of her.
    'What's wrong?' Callie frowned.
    My eyes were still on McAuley. His gaze swept over
Callie then back to me.
    'This your girlfriend then, Tobey?' he asked. 'She's very
pretty.'
    'No. We're just . . . we walk to school together, that's
all,' I replied.
    'And we'd better get going, Tobey. We're going to
be so late.' Callie grabbed my arm and pulled me after
her. I had to trot to keep up. I trailed in her wake,
forcing myself not to turn round and look into McAuley's
glacier-cold eyes. Half a minute later, his black limo
slid past us, the tinted windows now up. Callie and
I carried on jogging until the car turned the corner.
Callie let go of my arm and dropped her rucksack to the
pavement, trying to drag air back into her lungs in
rushed gasps.
    'Tobey, are you OK?'
    'Yeah.' I shrugged.
    'You left without me.' There was no mistaking the
accusation in her voice.
    'I thought you'd already gone to school, that's why.'
    'You can knock for me once in a while, you know. It
doesn't always have to be me running after you. Would it
have killed you to check?' Callie looked up and down the
road. 'What did Creepy McAuley want?'
    'He offered me a job.'
    'Hellfire!' Callie turned to stare at me. 'You didn't say
yes, did you?'
    'I'm not entirely stupid,' I replied. 'Although saying
no to that man might just be the stupidest thing I've
ever done.'
    'People who work for him usually end up in prison or
dead,' said Callie.
    Tell me something I didn't know.
    'Which is why I said no, Callie.'
    'D'you think he'll leave it at that?' Callie's teeth worried
at her bottom lip.
    I shrugged. 'Who knows? No point losing sleep over it.
We'd better get going.'
    I picked up Callie's rucksack and handed it to her. We
walked to school without saying another word. Callie kept
stealing glances at me, but I wasn't in the