Jimmy Coates (22 page)

Immediately Jimmy tossed the rifle away. He turned the shooter over on to his back, with no doubt that the precision blow to the nerves in the back of his enemy's neck had knocked him unconscious. Jimmy planted his knees on the man's shoulders and peeled the balaclava off his face.

The next strobe flash seemed to last forever. The image of the man's face struck Jimmy's eyes, but his brain refused to understand it.
I'm hallucinating
, Jimmy thought.
This can't be true.
But he kept looking and the face didn't change. The man was unconscious, his eyes open – big, brown discs that Jimmy was used to seeing full of kindness. The same silver stubble that Jimmy knew flecked the man's cheeks. His face was thinner than the last time Jimmy had seen it, but there was still the hint of bagginess around his jaw. Jimmy's brain screamed out with confusion:
why is Neil Muzbeke here? Why is Felix's father trying to kill Christopher Viggo?

Eva brought in a tray of tea, the shake in her hands causing the mugs to rattle against each other. Miss Bennett was issuing orders down the phone, recalling an NJ7 force to HQ and deploying others to strategic locations around the country, just in case the battle wasn't yet over. Ian Coates was slumped behind his desk, holding his head, while Mitchell was helping Olivia Muzbeke to an armchair. The pain in her ribs was obvious, but so was her genuine confusion.

“Get some answers out of her,” Miss Bennett said firmly to nobody in particular.

“What do you want us to do?” Ian Coates sighed. “She doesn't remember anything!”

“I'm not suggesting we beat it out of her,” Miss Bennett muttered, slamming the phone down. “She obviously knows nothing – consciously.”

“I don't… I d-don't…” Olivia Muzbeke's voice quivered and her hands were so unsteady that when Eva gave her the mug of tea, some of the hot brown liquid splashed over the sides. “I remember flashes…” Olivia muttered. “Just images, really… an old man…”

“What's the last thing you
do
remember?” Miss Bennett asked.

Olivia's eyes lit up. “Felix,” she announced. “I remember seeing Felix. We were in New York. Yes, that's right – I remember being in America.”

“The Americans,” growled Miss Bennett. “That much is obvious. I knew we couldn't trust them! They just couldn't let Britain run itself, could they?!”

“What about him?” asked Mitchell, nodding towards William Lee. “He hasn't been anywhere near America.”

“The CIA has tentacles everywhere,” Miss Bennett replied. “They must have reached him when they saw he had no more authority here. Or he went to them. Either way, it doesn't matter.”

“The satellite surveillance,” Eva gasped. “Mr Lee was meant to be fixing it, but…”

“But he was the one jamming it.” Miss Bennett nodded with a grim expression on her face. “He needed to create the surveillance blackouts so the CIA could send in their assassin.”

“Assassin?” gasped Olivia Muzbeke, obviously fighting back tears. “Did I…?”

“It's OK,” said Eva gently. She crouched down at Olivia's side and held her hands, clasping them round the warmth of the mug. Eva looked up into the woman's eyes and nearly burst into tears herself. She desperately wanted to tell her everything she knew about Felix.
He's OK
, Eva shouted in her head.
He's OK! He's out there with Jimmy and they miss you and they're OK!

“Try to bring him round again,” said Miss Bennett to Mitchell, indicating William Lee. “We need to know what he's done to the surveillance system so we can fix it.”

“And find out whether there's anybody else…” added Ian Coates. He jumped up and shifted from foot to foot, peeping through the curtains. “There could be any number of them lurking out there… stars and stripes on the brain…”

Mitchell knelt down by William Lee. Mitchell let his arms be guided by the force inside him. In the chaos of tonight's events, it was a relief to feel that control taking hold. His hands locked round William Lee's left ankle. Mitchell didn't question it. He felt his fingers digging into a point just above Lee's Achilles' tendon.
Pressure point
, he heard himself thinking.

Suddenly Lee gasped for air. His eyes shot open and his body bucked. In a flash, he was sitting up, looking around at Miss Bennett, Ian Coates and the others. He looked like a startled rat cornered by hounds but, thanks to Mitchell, at least he was fully alert.

“Right then,” said Miss Bennett with a sigh. “Anything you want to tell us?” She perched on the edge of Ian Coates' desk and smiled. William Lee said nothing, he just looked around, his terror obvious. “We know about the Americans already,” Miss Bennett added, watching Lee's reaction carefully.

“You know…?” Lee gasped.

Miss Bennett's lips stretched into a bright-red sneer. That moment, her mobile phone buzzed. She checked the message and turned to Mitchell.

“Get to the labs, Mitchell,” she ordered. “Some of the technicians are back. They're working on the satellites. As soon as they have anything, track Christopher Viggo from his last known location. Find out where he's hiding out now. Go after him. After this attack we'll have even more public support.”

“You'll blame Viggo for this?” asked Coates.

“Of course,” Miss Bennett explained. “It gives us the perfect justification for taking him out. Mitchell, go to it.”

Eva watched Mitchell's chest swell. He stood tall, his chin held high. She was amazed at how quickly his demeanour shifted from muddled boy to trained military expert. But then she saw him hesitate. Her heart leapt. Was he having second thoughts? His mouth opened and Eva felt a surge of anticipation. She was sure Mitchell was going to say something about his brother. Or maybe he was simply going to refuse to go. Or perhaps…

“Pass on anything you get out of him,” Mitchell announced in a gruff tone. He stuck out his chin in the direction of William Lee, then hurried from the room. Eva felt like a part of her spirit had disintegrated. Her eyes remained on the door long after Mitchell had passed through it. Even while Miss Bennett continued questioning William Lee, Eva couldn't help trying to puzzle out what was happening inside Mitchell's head. Her thoughts were only broken when Ian Coates' voice cut into Miss Bennett's interrogation.

“How did they do it!?” he roared.

“Calm down, Ian,” said Miss Bennett. “The question of the satellite surveillance is more urgent.”

“No!” Coates barked, running his hands frantically through his hair and gesticulating at Olivia. “I need to know! She was a friend!”

“Friends mean nothing,” said Miss Bennett, holding up a hand to try to stop him. She turned back to Lee. “Ignore him. Tell me exactly what the tech team needs to do to unlock the surveillance satellites, and precisely what data the Americans had access to.”

Lee's breathing was hard and fast. He was still on his knees, but Eva could see the panic growing through his body just in the way he held himself. There was nothing he could do. Miss Bennett didn't even have to threaten him. The knowledge of what she was capable of and what she had done to NJ7's enemies in the past – that fear was enough to drive any man over the edge.

Terror seemed to creep through Lee's entire body. He erupted into a flurry of words. Miss Bennett leaned back, smiling.
Was she even listening
, Eva wondered,
or was she merely enjoying the satisfaction of having won again, and so easily?
After a couple of seconds, Miss Bennett tapped a couple of keys on her phone and held the handset out to catch every word of William Lee's explanation.

Most of it Eva didn't understand, but she recognised enough of the technical language to know that in minutes NJ7 would have their full satellite surveillance capability back online, and the Americans would be locked out of the system. While Lee rattled on, Eva watched Ian Coates. The man was standing just behind the armchair where Olivia Muzbeke still sat, shaking, lost in her own thoughts.

“How is it possible?” Coates whispered, to nobody in particular. “A normal, healthy, kind human being transformed into… into…”

“It's brainwashing,” announced Miss Bennett suddenly. Lee had finished his explanation and Miss Bennett turned her attention to Olivia Muzbeke.

“Brainwashing?!” Coates shouted. “What do you mean?!”

“If I have to tell you to calm down one more time,” Miss Bennett said firmly, “I'll send you outside to sort yourself out.”

Eva shuddered, remembering that this woman had once been posted undercover as a school teacher.

“I'm calm,” said Coates. “I just need to know how many brainwashed zombie killers might be out there.” He gripped the curtain, pulling it in front of himself slightly, almost as if he could hide.

“It isn't a very advanced technique,” Miss Bennett explained, dismissively. “In fact it's quite old-fashioned. People have been trying it for over a century.”

“I know people have tried it,” Coates echoed. “It looks like they've succeeded!”

“
We
succeeded,” said Miss Bennett.

“What?”

“It's an NJ7 technique. A very old one. It was replaced by the genetically designed assassins. But before Dr Higgins developed that concept, he perfected the art of brainwashing civilians to become unknowing assassins.”

“It was Dr Higgins?” Coates asked.

“Yes, and it sounds like the Americans have got him now.” She turned to Olivia Muzbeke. “That old man you remember – that must have been him.”

Ian Coates stared at Miss Bennett in disbelief. “But if Dr Higgins developed this… technique… why can't
we
do this?”

Miss Bennett shrugged. “We can do it, we have done it and…” She paused. “…we are doing it.”

“We
are
doing it?!” Coates charged up to Miss Bennett and gripped her shoulders, pulling her towards him. Eva felt a chill tearing up her spine – a part of her knew what Miss Bennett was going to say – but she fought it back, refusing to acknowledge the idea. Then Miss Bennett confirmed it.

“Mitchell has a brother,” she smiled. Eva lost her breath. Her mug of tea tipped over in her hands and flooded on to the carpet. Nobody noticed. “If I give the word,” Miss Bennett went on, “we could have another assassin alongside Mitchell in five minutes. We just need to specify the target and beam it straight into Lenny Glenthorne's brain with a laser.”

“Send him!” Ian Coates begged, suddenly invigorated. “I want Viggo out of the way for good. He mustn't have the chance to gather support again. Send a whole NJ7 division!”

“Where do you want me to get a division from?” Miss Bennett asked. “Every agent was sent to who-knows-where by that CIA mole!” She jerked a finger at Lee without looking at him. “Even the security for this building is missing! Mitchell is enough. He's a precision weapon.”

“He's failed before.”

“Every time he fails, he learns, but I agree he needs support. I'll send—”

Suddenly William Lee dived across the room. Miss Bennett and Ian Coates had become too distracted to keep an eye on him. But he wasn't launching an attack. Instead, he made for the broken remains of the Prime Minister's stereo. Nobody was in a position to stop him. Before Eva could draw breath, there was a crackling sound, a flurry of sparks, and an explosion. Eva jumped up, screaming.

The smell of burning filled the room and when the smoke cleared, William Lee was lying on his back, bare wires sticking out of his mouth. His eyes were wide open and the skin around his lips was black. Miss Bennett and Ian Coates rushed to him. Miss Bennett yanked the power cord out of the wall and pulled the wires from Lee's mouth. The man's body jerked horribly.

Eva couldn't watch. She looked away, instinctively burying her head in Olivia Muzbeke's shoulder.

“It's OK,” Felix's mum whispered.

How is it OK?
Eva shouted in her head. She fought to hold back her tears, but she couldn't stop her horror. A man had just electrocuted himself in front of her. The smell attacked Eva's nostrils. And this was just after she'd discovered that her friend's brother was being brainwashed to become an assassin.
My friend?
Eva was shocked at her own thoughts.
Is Mitchell my friend now? He's an assassin! A killer!

She buried her head deeper into Olivia Muzbeke's coat and felt the woman's soothing hand on the back of her head.
It's no good,
Eva thought.
Once they've got everything they need from you they'll probably kill you too!
Suddenly she felt a realisation jolt through her. The security forces were missing, sent all over the place on false emergencies by William Lee. The satellite surveillance system was still down. It would only be down for a few more moments, but maybe that was enough.

“You have to get out of here,” Eva whispered, straight into Olivia's ear. She felt the woman's body tense up, but held her in a hug so that it wasn't noticeable. “Get out!” Eva insisted. “There's no security. No surveillance. Get out as quickly as you can and get as far away as you can.” And then she realised. “No, go to London Bridge. Be under the flyover in the morning.”

She could feel Olivia's breath quickening. “But… but…”

Eva glanced over her shoulder quickly. Miss Bennett and Ian Coates were crouched beside William Lee, trying to bring him round while shouting into their phones at the same time, trying to get hold of a medical team.

“Get out now!” Eva whispered. She released Felix's mother and threw herself across the room to the foot of Ian Coates' desk. Under the desk, glinting in the shadows, was the knife Olivia Muzbeke had tried to embed in the Prime Minister's throat. Eva seized it now and, without even thinking, slammed it into her upper arm.