Jimmy Coates (7 page)

“Chris, calm down!” yelled Helen Coates. From behind her came Saffron Walden, making soothing noises. She tried to take Viggo by the shoulders, but he turned away and landed a sharp kick in the centre of the TV screen. The glass cracked and the whole set toppled over.

Jimmy heard a gasp and noticed that Felix and Georgie were lurking in the corridor, unable to stop themselves watching, but sensibly staying out of the way.

“Chris, stop this!” Helen shouted. Viggo stopped trying to destroy things, but Jimmy thought it was only because he'd run out of furniture to kick. “What did you expect?” Helen asked. “That you were invincible?”

Viggo turned away, resting with his hands against the window, breathing heavily.

“You've done a great thing,” said Saffron softly. “You should be proud. You established an opposition… you forced them to have an election in the first place… you—”

“I lost!” Viggo exploded with rage again. Jimmy had never seen him like this. All the man's power and charisma had fractured into a burning fury.

“So you'll keep fighting,” Helen suggested. “You have to. We'll find a way – somehow. We'll prove that the ballot was rigged.”

Everybody turned to look at her.

“Oh, come on,” said Helen. “You all know it must have been.”

“Those machines…” said Saffron, nodding. “It's obvious. NJ7 must have got to them, or to the central computer…”

“They didn't,” Viggo groaned, hardly audible. “Don't you think I expected that? Don't you think I had staff working to stop it happening? To gather proof if it
was
happening?”

“Your staff?” Helen asked, with acid in her voice. “Where are your loyal staff now? If they were so good at their job, and so loyal… where are they now?” There was no reply. Helen marched to the window and pulled back the blind. “Look!” she ordered.

Gradually, figures appeared in the grounds of the building. They were scurrying away, towards the gate. Viggo's campaign staff were abandoning him.

“It's a stampede!” said Helen, as they watched the trail of figures swell into a crowd, then a rush for the gate. Soon they would all be gone. “The building's empty, Chris,” Helen continued. “They couldn't have got out of here faster! Apart from us, there's nobody here!”

“That's not quite true.” The voice came from the shadows of the corridor behind Georgie and Felix. They both let out a startled gasp. It was a woman's voice, delicate but insistent. “You're not alone, Mr Viggo.”

“Who are you? How did you get in?” Saffron Walden fired out her questions. At the same time she jumped to one side so she was blocking the new woman's view of Viggo. Jimmy knew instinctively she was in the firing line.

Saffron pulled her mobile phone from her pocket and hit two keys.

“Stop,” said Viggo softly.

“I'm calling security,” Saffron replied, pressing her phone to her ear.

“It's too late,” said Viggo, guiding Saffron aside. “She's already here. That means security is already compromised.”

Finally the woman stepped through the doorway, into the light. Jimmy was surprised to see that she wasn't much taller than himself. Her small, round face was framed by hair so black it seemed to swallow all the light in the room, while her skin was a deep olive brown. It was a contrast to the bright white of her wool coat, which entirely enveloped her.

“He's right, Miss Walden,” the woman announced, cocking her head to one side. “Security is… compromised.” There was a twinkle in her eye that sent a shiver through Jimmy. It immediately reminded him of Miss Bennett, another woman full of smiling cruelty. But there were differences – this woman's voice was much harsher and couldn't hide her anger, or she chose not to. It was in the downward curve of her mouth and the tense lines round her eyes.

“What do you want?” asked Viggo. Something in his tone made Jimmy study his expression. Viggo was afraid, but trying to hide it.

“Do you have it?” The woman asked the question with a quiet intensity. She was staring directly up into Viggo's face, ignoring everybody else in the room, but the assassin in Jimmy noticed that she had positioned herself so that nobody could get behind her or leave the room without her being in the way.

“What?” A look of shock crossed Viggo's face.

The woman snorted. “Do you have it?”

“Let's talk alone,” Viggo said, almost pleading.

“We don't need to talk, Mr Viggo. I just need to know the answer: do you have it?”

Jimmy watched Viggo's eyes flick across the faces of everybody else. Why was this woman dangerous? She certainly seemed hostile, but Jimmy had confidence in his skills. He could already feel that buzz in his blood, his second soul putting every fibre on alert.
The side of her skull
, it seemed to whisper to him.
Two fingers. One jab.
He could see the exact spot, just above her ear. It may as well have had a target painted on it.
Take her down, but keep her conscious.

His programming was straining for action. Every second of delay was a second in which the potential danger increased. Still, Jimmy fought to hold himself steady.
Wait
, he begged himself. He was gripped by curiosity – about Viggo. In the seconds since this woman arrived, Viggo had revealed more about himself than he had in the last six months. Jimmy was desperate to find out more.

“You know I don't have it,” said Viggo, between gritted teeth.

He's trying to seem strong
, Jimmy thought, but even from a couple of metres away he could pick out the rapid movement of Viggo's pupils and the man's shallow, irregular breathing.

“What's going on?” asked Jimmy's mother, directing the question towards Viggo, but keeping her eyes on the new woman. “Who is this?”

The woman snorted again, but this time it sounded more agitated. She was getting angrier.

“You have a problem, don't you?” she said. Only now did Jimmy detect a slight accent in her English. Jimmy's mind reverberated with an instant playback of every vowel sound that had left the woman's mouth since she'd arrived. Was it Irish, or a hint of something Mediterranean?

“Who is this?” Saffron echoed Helen, more insistent. “Chris?”

Viggo ignored her and stepped closer to the woman, as if he hoped to speak without anybody else hearing.

“I said I'd give it to you when I won…” Viggo argued. His voice trailed away.

“And do you have it?” asked the woman.

“I… I didn't win,” Viggo stammered.

“You lost.” The woman smiled for the first time, but her eyes remained stern and her head was still cocked to one side. Jimmy felt a heat rising up in his chest. The urge towards violence was unbearable now. He couldn't contain it. It was infecting every thought.

“Chris!” Helen shouted. “Who is this? What's happening?” Now she grabbed Viggo by the collar, pushed him back and took his place directly in front of the new woman. “Who are you?”

“I work for a large company,” came the reply, straight away. “Your friend Mr Viggo spent a lot of our money in his election campaign and made certain promises about how that debt would be repaid. I have come to see that those promises are fulfilled.”

“I promised it to you when I won!” Viggo shouted. Jimmy was amazed to see such a strong man shrinking smaller and smaller. His face was crumpled in anguish and he was supporting himself on the back of the sofa. “I said I could never give it to you unless I won. That's what I promised!”

“As of now,” the woman sneered in response, “your promises have changed.”

“You can't do that!” came a voice from the corner of the room. It was Felix. “Whoever you are. You can't change someone's promise after they've…” He swallowed the end of his protest as the woman slowly spun to face him. “…you just can't,” he mumbled, shrinking back to his corner.

“Idiot!” Helen whispered to Viggo. “Is this why you wouldn't tell us where your money came from? You've been borrowing from crooks?”

“We're not crooks,” said the woman. “We're called the Capita.”

The truth bit into Jimmy's senses. He'd never forget the Capita. It was a huge organisation that had started by covering all of Europe, and had now spread out into every corner of the world. As far as Jimmy understood it, the Capita was a modern, streamlined version of old criminal networks like the mafia. They'd joined together and become more efficient, more ruthless… more businesslike.

“The Capita are worse than crooks,” he announced quietly. The woman turned to him. He ignored her face and noticed only the speed and balance with which she moved. This woman was strong.

“Hello, Mr Coates,” she announced. “I've heard everything about you.”

And I know more about the Capita than you'd like
, Jimmy thought to himself. His previous encounter with the Capita had started off as cooperation. They'd helped him escape the French Secret Service in West Africa and brought him through Europe, all the time keeping him safe from the French and the British. Jimmy remembered how impressed he'd been by their operations, but also the frightening way in which they secured and used their power. To the Capita, torture, deceit and murder were just business expenses. The organisation was made up of lifelong criminals, retired Secret Service agents and ex-soldiers from around the world who were all united in their love of money. Unfortunately, Jimmy had also found out how easy it was to be betrayed when money was the basis of an agreement with the Capita.

“We'll get you your money,” said Jimmy firmly. “Just tell us how much it is and give us time.”

To his shock, the woman let out another snort.

“Thank you for the offer,” she said. “But if we only wanted money, this is the last person we'd lend it to.” She flicked a hand in the direction of Viggo. “Don't pretend you don't know what we want.” She shuffled forward until she was eye to eye with Jimmy. He could smell the soapy flavour of her make-up. “I think you know what we want,” she whispered.

Jimmy shuddered. He couldn't stop himself glancing over at Viggo, whose face looked desperate.

“Do you have it?” the woman barked, swivelling abruptly and looming towards Viggo. Jimmy's head was spinning. What did she mean? What would the Capita have been after that Christopher Viggo could have promised them?

Viggo shook his head meekly.

“Fine,” said the woman. Suddenly she dipped a hand into the pocket of her coat.
A knife
. Jimmy's thoughts formed even before he knew what was happening and his reactions exploded. He dived towards her. The moment her hand emerged from her pocket, Jimmy was there to slam her wrist back against the wall, pinning the woman in place. But there was no blade. Instead, her fingers squeezed the button on a remote-control clicker.

Jimmy's head was rocked by a high-pitched squeal. He lost his grip on the woman and pressed his hands to his ears, but the noise was still unbearable. Around him, the others were dropping to the carpet, hands clasped around their heads. Then the glass of the window shattered. The frequency of the sound had been carefully calibrated. Finally the lights blew out.

That's when Jimmy's instincts shifted from attack to survival. He knew this was only the first wave of an imminent attack and with the window blown apart they were all exposed. Jimmy forced himself to withstand the pain of the noise and rolled for his friends. He pulled Felix and Georgie behind the sofa in one heave. Then he pushed the sofa towards the wall to create a more secure shelter. It took less than a second.

Finally the squeal stopped. In the darkness, Jimmy felt that intense tingle just behind his retinas. It was as if his whole head was humming. His natural night-vision kicked in and the room was cast in a rough blue haze, his eyes enhancing the available light. Shadows moved through shadows, every wall and every bit of floor shifted with the tiny fluctuations in the light level. This was one of Jimmy's body's amazing assassin skills, and it had saved his life many times.

Now one thing shone out – the Capita woman's white coat. She was locked in a brutish fight with Viggo. He'd managed to knock the clicker from her hand, and now Helen and Saffron both leapt to help him at the same time. The Capita woman ducked and kicked, and in the darkness her movements were fast enough to avoid every attempted strike.
I'll sort this out
, thought Jimmy. He took his first step towards the fight, but three vertical black lines dropped outside the hole where the window had been.

“Ropes!” Jimmy shouted. Nobody could hear him above the echo of the screech in their ears, the tinkling glass, and somebody screaming.
Was that Georgie
, Jimmy wondered,
or Felix?
At least I know they're alive.

As Jimmy scrambled towards the ropes, three masked soldiers with torches shining from their heads swung into the room. The swish of the nylon ropes sliced through Jimmy's heart.

“Watch out!” he shouted. He was in position to block the first soldier. He dug his heels into the carpet and slammed his elbow into the man's midriff. The grunt still in his ears, Jimmy moved on to the second intruder. He tripped him with a low, sweeping kick just as he landed – another
La Savate
combat move. But in the corner of his eye Jimmy could see what the Capita woman was doing. She wasn't trying to win her fight. She was simply inching towards the window, bringing her closer to her reinforcements – along with her unsuspecting opponents.

“Look out!” Jimmy roared, hurling himself across the room. The third soldier had already caught Viggo's shin. Jimmy cried out again and reached for his friend, but the soldier swooped away through the smashed glass. Viggo lurched through the darkness with him, out into the night, straining to fight back.

Jimmy was about to leap after them, but the first two soldiers were on their feet again, and they were shifting machine guns from their backs to their hands.

“Get down!” Jimmy roared, dropping to the carpet.

The two attackers spun for half a second, spraying machine-gun fire round the room. Jimmy heard the pounding of the bullets on the walls. A shower of concrete fragments exploded around him, but he couldn't stop moving. He rolled towards the soldiers. They were backing up to the window, about to escape the same way as their partner.

Jimmy felt his whole body pumping, every muscle responding in perfect synchrony. He rolled across the floor towards one of the ropes, just snatching a glimpse of one of the machine guns as the tip dipped, aiming for his head. Before the soldier could fire, Jimmy snatched the rope and flicked it up to catch the tip of the gun. Immediately he whipped his wrist over. The machine gun jerked out of the soldier's hands, but Jimmy wasn't finished. He kept rolling, all the time whipping the rope like he was conducting an orchestra.

In less than a second, the soldier's legs were tightly trussed up. He flailed his arms, trying to keep his balance, but with a final tug, Jimmy tripped him and jerked him towards the centre of the room for Saffron and Helen to finish tying him up.

The other soldier was about to disappear from view, but Jimmy never stopped moving. He flung himself out of the window and caught the man's rope. For a second he swung into the night, then straight away he was back, crashing into the room.

He landed on his feet and kept running, pulling the rope after him. He forced his whole body onwards, using his impetus to drag the soldier back through the window. Jimmy charged across the room, heaving on the rope. To pull the soldier far enough across the floor, Jimmy sprinted forward and took two steps up the wall in an athletic back flip. He landed with a crunch, his knee striking the soldier's chest.