by her mean, tight face with the skin stretched weirdly round her
eyes.
‘Get out . . . get them out!’ she shrieked.
Lewis grabbed my arm. ‘Come on.’
We nodded goodbye to poor Mr Smith, then raced down the stairs and out of the house. We didn’t speak again for a while. Lewis drove fast and hard, hissing softly under his breath . . .
lost in his own thoughts.
I looked out of the window as we drove, watching the passing houses and trees and fields. Even though it was the height of summer here, everything seemed grey and lifeless.
‘At least we know who we’re looking for,’ Lewis said at last. ‘Even if finding him is going to take forever and max out our cash.’
Max out.
Max.
Of course . ‘I’ve just thought of someone who could help us do it faster,’ I said with a grin.
23
Rachel
I woke with a start. For a second I was completely disoriented. Then everything that had happened flooded back.
Trying to save Daniel. Milo’s betrayal. The suicide he’d faked . . . my suicide.
A chill raced through me, as the horror of my situation fully registered.
I looked around the room. No window. And my phone was totally out of power – I couldn’t even check to see what time it was.
Across the room, the door handle turned. I sat up as it opened and a tall man with dark hair and a designer suit walked in.
‘Hello, Rachel,’ he said smoothly. ‘What a great pleasure it is to see you again.’
A small part of the answer to the million questions in my head slid into place, as I registered who I was looking at – Elijah Lazio.
24
Theo
My amazing hacker friend Max was gobsmacked to hear from me. I found her mum’s number through the online directory, then called her that evening – Sunday. After
she’d stopped demanding to know where I’d been for the past nine months, she agreed to do a search on Dean McRae, though I refused to tell her why.
‘It’s for your own protection,’ I said.
‘Jesus, Theo.’ Max laughed. ‘You sound just like your mum back when she wouldn’t tell you why you had a bodyguard.’
The reminder of Mum made me feel guilty. I quickly changed the subject, asking Max about her own life. We’d known each other since we were babies – our mothers were friends. As she
spoke I found myself lost in thoughts of my old life at school in London, when Max and I were kids and this other guy, Jake, was my best friend.
‘D’you still see Jake?’ I said.
‘Yeah, he comes round all the time.’ Max laughed. ‘Mostly just to annoy me.’
‘Sounds like Jake,’ I said.
For a second I wished I was back in the safety and ignorance of the past, a place where I’d never even heard of RAGE or Elijah Lazio.
Then I pushed the thought away. There was no point in wishing anything different. Everything was as it was.
Anyway, without all those other things I would never have met Rachel.
True to her ace hacker reputation, Max found six Dean McRaes in the Glasgow area within half an hour. A couple of them had some kind of police record. Lewis discounted those
two straight away.
‘RAGE wouldn’t use anyone like that. Neither would Elijah. They’d want their witness to be completely credible.’
I nodded, checking through the details Max had sent through for the other four men.
‘It’s him,’ I said, pointing to the second on the list.
Lewis looked over my shoulder and read out loud:
‘Dean McRae, 22, engineering student . . . interests include war memorabilia and martial arts.’
Lewis raised his eyebrows. ‘Why him?’
‘It’s the martial arts,’ I said. ‘Remember all those books in Rachel’s room? Her dad said she’d been to some sort of martial arts show just before she
disappeared.’
‘It’s definitely a connection,’ Lewis said. ‘The witness who saw her on the beach said he recognised her from that same show.’ Lewis clicked through to the attached
pic of Dean McRae. It was from a student ID card and fairly blurry, but his hair was
eyes.
‘Get out . . . get them out!’ she shrieked.
Lewis grabbed my arm. ‘Come on.’
We nodded goodbye to poor Mr Smith, then raced down the stairs and out of the house. We didn’t speak again for a while. Lewis drove fast and hard, hissing softly under his breath . . .
lost in his own thoughts.
I looked out of the window as we drove, watching the passing houses and trees and fields. Even though it was the height of summer here, everything seemed grey and lifeless.
‘At least we know who we’re looking for,’ Lewis said at last. ‘Even if finding him is going to take forever and max out our cash.’
Max out.
Max.
Of course . ‘I’ve just thought of someone who could help us do it faster,’ I said with a grin.
23
Rachel
I woke with a start. For a second I was completely disoriented. Then everything that had happened flooded back.
Trying to save Daniel. Milo’s betrayal. The suicide he’d faked . . . my suicide.
A chill raced through me, as the horror of my situation fully registered.
I looked around the room. No window. And my phone was totally out of power – I couldn’t even check to see what time it was.
Across the room, the door handle turned. I sat up as it opened and a tall man with dark hair and a designer suit walked in.
‘Hello, Rachel,’ he said smoothly. ‘What a great pleasure it is to see you again.’
A small part of the answer to the million questions in my head slid into place, as I registered who I was looking at – Elijah Lazio.
24
Theo
My amazing hacker friend Max was gobsmacked to hear from me. I found her mum’s number through the online directory, then called her that evening – Sunday. After
she’d stopped demanding to know where I’d been for the past nine months, she agreed to do a search on Dean McRae, though I refused to tell her why.
‘It’s for your own protection,’ I said.
‘Jesus, Theo.’ Max laughed. ‘You sound just like your mum back when she wouldn’t tell you why you had a bodyguard.’
The reminder of Mum made me feel guilty. I quickly changed the subject, asking Max about her own life. We’d known each other since we were babies – our mothers were friends. As she
spoke I found myself lost in thoughts of my old life at school in London, when Max and I were kids and this other guy, Jake, was my best friend.
‘D’you still see Jake?’ I said.
‘Yeah, he comes round all the time.’ Max laughed. ‘Mostly just to annoy me.’
‘Sounds like Jake,’ I said.
For a second I wished I was back in the safety and ignorance of the past, a place where I’d never even heard of RAGE or Elijah Lazio.
Then I pushed the thought away. There was no point in wishing anything different. Everything was as it was.
Anyway, without all those other things I would never have met Rachel.
True to her ace hacker reputation, Max found six Dean McRaes in the Glasgow area within half an hour. A couple of them had some kind of police record. Lewis discounted those
two straight away.
‘RAGE wouldn’t use anyone like that. Neither would Elijah. They’d want their witness to be completely credible.’
I nodded, checking through the details Max had sent through for the other four men.
‘It’s him,’ I said, pointing to the second on the list.
Lewis looked over my shoulder and read out loud:
‘Dean McRae, 22, engineering student . . . interests include war memorabilia and martial arts.’
Lewis raised his eyebrows. ‘Why him?’
‘It’s the martial arts,’ I said. ‘Remember all those books in Rachel’s room? Her dad said she’d been to some sort of martial arts show just before she
disappeared.’
‘It’s definitely a connection,’ Lewis said. ‘The witness who saw her on the beach said he recognised her from that same show.’ Lewis clicked through to the attached
pic of Dean McRae. It was from a student ID card and fairly blurry, but his hair was
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