Louder Than Words (29 page)

Deef clapped Silas on the shoulder. ‘You stay away from there, you hear? Don’t go back for her. She’ll never leave Dillon. Not until she grows up one hell of a lot anyway. And keep your head down. You don’t want the people who’re after Dillon now coming after you.’

‘But they’ll be after her too,’ Silas mumbled, as though he knew none of us wanted to hear that from him, but he couldn’t help it anyway.

‘And her rich daddy will buy her a good lawyer and they’ll get her off . . . good girl led astray and all that. Don’t worry about her.’

‘So that part was true, the part about her family?’

‘Sort of, but she bailed on them when she met Dillon and she shacked up at his place. Been living with him for four years, all the time he was with Katrin. And when Katrin left him, she finally got what she wanted.’

‘I see,’ said Silas. ‘These people looking for Dillon – how do they know where to find him?’

Deef held his hands up with a laugh. ‘They were prepared to pay a lot for information. Not with money, but with a parole. He left me to rot in that prison. My own brother. I was his best man on the ground. Without me, there would have been no action on the streets. I trained Katrin up and I trained her well. But he never once came to see me. Just sent poor Ty to do his dirty work, and that’s Dillon all over. I needed to get out of there before it killed me. I’m not ashamed to say, kid, I couldn’t hack it, couldn’t stand being caged.’

‘What about the others though? You’ve grassed them up too?’

‘They’re not interested in the others. It’s Dillon they want. Without him, the others are just a bunch of amateur protesters. I didn’t give them much on the rest of the group and they didn’t ask. See – they don’t care. They asked about you though. You really managed to get them rattled with what you did.’

‘And what did you tell them?’ Silas’s face paled under the street lamps.

‘Nothing, kid, I told them nothing. Said I didn’t know who he’d got to do his hacking for him, but whoever it was wasn’t with them when I got arrested, so it was probably some poor sucker he’d hooked in with his lies. There’s no trail to you so keep your head down. If they do find you, play the innocent and you’ll get through it. That’s what I’ve come to tell you. Ty says you don’t deserve this and I don’t want to see my brother get away with screwing you over. But if they do find you, don’t hesitate to land him in it because believe me, he’d do it to you.’

‘OK, I hear you.’

‘My brother will never stop unless someone makes him. Never thought it would be me, but . . .’ Deef shrugged. ‘At two in the morning, he’s like me – wonders if he’s made the right choices. It’d be easier to live like all the others, content with the consumer conveyor belt, the capitalist dream, life on the inside. Instead, we chose this fringe existence, this half-life in the shadows. It worked for a while, but when we’re thirty, forty? What then? When Dillon went down this road, he thought they’d never get to
him
. He’d run in this direction until the day he died. Or he’d die trying. Me, I don’t have his ability to shit on my mates. And I guess I just don’t care as much as he does.’ He looked around us. ‘That’s not a bad thing – you can care too much and Dillon does.’

‘Yes,’ Silas said quietly.

Deef gave my brother a swift nod as another bus drew up. ‘Look after yourself,’ and with that he boarded the bus. It pulled away into the night and he was gone.

Every form of addiction is bad, no matter whether the narcotic be alcohol or morphine or idealism.

(Carl Jung)

CHAPTER 57

This time Silas did tell me he was going out to see Lara. He got a text from her – meet her at the bus station, she wanted to explain. I got a pad and paper straight away and told him he was all kinds of fool, especially after what that guy Deef had said.

‘Rafi, it’s OK. It’s not going to change anything. I just want to hear from her why she did it.’

But she’s a liar.

‘I know, but I still need to hear it from her, lying or not.’

Just please don’t believe her.

‘I won’t.’

They met in the café at the bus station. What they didn’t know was that I got there first and positioned myself in a booth at the back with high-sided seats. I wasn’t going to leave him alone with that witch to get her claws back in him. I thought she looked a little less composed than usual, but otherwise there was no change. She’d taken my brother apart, but it obviously hadn’t affected her too much.

I got lucky. They sat down a couple of booths away and there was no one else in there. I couldn’t see much without getting caught, but I could hear everything – a result I couldn’t have planned, but was very ready to take full advantage of.

‘So, you wanted to talk.’ Silas could sound calm even when his insides were a pit of writhing snakes. I always envied him that.

‘Tyler said you know.’

‘Yes.’

Strange now how her Ice Queen persona didn’t quite work, not after what we’d been told about her.

‘Dillon was looking for a hacker because Tyler didn’t have the skills to do what they had planned, so he sent you out to hook me in and you played your part, is that about it?’

Her voice was impassive, a frozen desert. ‘Yes.’

‘So your boyfriend used you like that and you let him.’

‘It was for the cause. That is more important than personal loyalties. Sacrifices have to be made.’

‘Yeah, you keep telling yourself that.’

‘I believe in what we are fighting for.’

‘I know you do. But I want to know about the girl you pretended to be, that girl who wouldn’t take any messing from anyone, that tough fighter. I don’t buy that she’d let herself be used like that. She believed, yes, but she’d have found another way. She’d have seen what a user Dillon is and not bought into that. Was none of her real? Or is she what you want to be when you grow up?’ He stood up to leave.

‘I need to know where you stand with the group!’

So that’s why she was really here. ‘I stand nowhere, Lara. It’s over. I don’t ever want to see any of you again.’

‘Dillon thinks you might betray us.’

‘I really couldn’t be bothered to.’

‘You never believed in it, did you?’

‘I believed in some of it. I just didn’t believe in Dillon’s way. But I believed in you.’ Then he turned on his heel and left.

She got her phone out as soon as he had gone. I stayed hidden and strained my ears to hear.

‘He says he can’t be bothered to inform on us . . . yeah, that’s pretty much all he said. I don’t think he’s a threat . . . Don’t you believe me? Don’t you think I can judge?’

There was a long pause.

‘So why can’t you tell me what you’ve got planned? Why am I always left out of the loop? . . . I bet Katrin knows, doesn’t she?

Another pause, shorter this time, then . . .

‘Oh go to hell!’

When I risked a peek round the seat, Lara was slumped across the table, her head in her arms, the phone lying beside her. I scooted back. What was going on?

When I risked another peek, she’d left.

I am but mad north-north-west: when the wind is southerly I know a hawk from a handsaw.

(William Shakespeare)

CHAPTER 58

Josie was cooking tea for her dad when his work mobile rang. He left the papers he was reading on the sofa and hurried to the table to grab it.

‘Yes?’

He paced up and down, listening intently.

‘That’s great news . . . which one? Dillon?’

Josie nearly dropped the saucepan in shock.

‘Oh right . . . never mind, this Tyler will lead us to him if we take this carefully . . . yes, I’m coming in now!’

He rang off. ‘Put mine in the fridge and I’ll heat it up when I get home. I’ve got to go back into work. The boys have just arrested an important suspect and I need to liaise with the Security Services.’

He was out of the house and driving through the gates within five minutes.

It could be coincidence, Josie told herself. And then she noticed the papers he’d left scattered on the sofa. She went to tidy them and caught sight of the name ActionX.

Josie sank down on to the sofa, her hand over her mouth, and began to read.

Meanwhile, round at my house, Silas was pulling on his coat with me grabbing at his sleeve to hold him back.

‘Rafi, pack it in! I’ll be fine. It’s OK.’

But it wasn’t OK. It wasn’t OK at all. I’d seen the text come through on his phone. It was from Lara, saying she wanted him to come and meet her, naming a place, saying she’d left Dillon for good. I had to stop him going. I tried pulling him back, but he was too strong and he prised my fingers from his arm.

‘Stop it! What is wrong with you? I need to see her. I need to know if she really has left him!’

All my fear for him, my hate for her, my frustration at not being able to tell him why this was so wrong all built as he wriggled free and ran to the door.

I screamed.

He spun round, mouth open.

I. Made. Noise.

It stopped him. He stared in shock.

‘It’s not a trap.’

I stood in front of the door.

He sighed. ‘OK, I’ll cover my back. Will that make you happy?’ He ran upstairs and came down with a piece of paper and a pen. He leaned on the wall and scribbled some instructions. ‘If the police are there, I’ll text you. And then you need to wipe my computer. The only way to destroy the evidence that I was doing any hacking is to run this program. It’ll clear everything. It’s in the middle of my desktop – it’s called Goodbye, picture of a skull and crossbones. I’ve had it there since I knew they were after me, just in case.’ He gave me the paper and grabbed my shoulders. ‘Now let me go.’ And he moved me away from the door. ‘The password is on the paper. Burn the paper afterwards.’

And then he was gone and I was left shaking in the hallway. As soon as I could pull myself together, I texted Josie.

She took longer than I expected to respond, but then and she was at my door in a couple of minutes.

‘What’s up?’

‘Something Lara-stupid?’

I nodded furiously.

‘He’s not gone to see her? Rafi, we’ve got to stop him. Dad’s just been called into work. He left some briefing papers by accident because he was in a rush. They’re using the info Deef gave them to bust ActionX at their new place today. He took a phone call and I overheard – they’ve got Tyler. They’re going to use him to get Dillon. If Silas is there . . .’

I texted her quickly to explain where he’d gone.

‘Rafi, that’s miles away. We’ll never catch up with him on a bus, and really we need to be there before him in case the police have already found them. We need to head him off!’

I pleaded with her silently to find a solution.

‘Do you know anyone with a car? No, stupid question. Me neither, not any more . . .’ And then the thought struck her and she looked at me in panic. ‘Oh God, oh God, oh God . . .’

What?

‘My dad will kill me for this if he ever finds out . . .’

What???

‘Come on!’

I followed her as she sprinted back to her house. By the time I’d caught up, she was emerging with a set of car keys. She opened the door of her dad’s old VW Golf – the one that was going to be hers. I gasped.

‘Get in.’

I climbed into the passenger seat. She could see the question on my face.

‘Lloyd taught me,’ she said. ‘Like I said, I was stupid when I was with him. And if it wasn’t for your brother, I would so not be doing this.’ Her hands were shaking on the wheel, but she pulled off without stalling and by the time we got out on to the main road, I thought it was possible that I might not die. We drove through the night in silence, following the directions on the satnav, Josie concentrating as hard as she could on the road ahead.

She cursed as she missed the junction on the roundabout and had to go all the way round again. ‘What time is it now? No, never mind . . . I can’t go any faster or I’ll lose control. I just hope we’re in time.’

It seemed like forever before we arrived at a deserted industrial estate. ‘So this is it,’ Josie said, ‘but where is he? He could be anywhere. Didn’t she give any more instructions?’

I shook my head.

‘Hmm, she probably sent him more while he was on the way,’ Josie said, getting out of the car. ‘Come on, let’s look around.’

We huddled close to the wall of one of the units and crept round the side.

Nothing. No sign of life. So we tried slinking across the car park to the next building, but there was still no one in sight.

‘Never mind,’ Josie said grimly, ‘we’ll find him if we have to check every one of these buildings.’

I looked around – there were loads. This could take ages and we didn’t have ages – the police could already be on their way. What if Tyler had spilled it all straight away? Deef said he was mad with Dillon.

Josie nudged me in the ribs and pointed. Over at the next unit, figures appeared, coming from across the car park: Dillon, Lara and two others – a man and a woman. We flattened ourselves against the building and edged around the corner out of sight.

‘OK, so Silas isn’t with them. Where is he? He must be here by now,’ Josie whispered.

I peeked out. They were carrying stuff, bags, a crowbar . . .

And then they stopped in the car park near the door of the unit we were hiding behind. Josie and I crept around the back and along the other side until we were close enough to hear what they were saying.

‘Is someone going to tell me now what the hell is going on?’ Lara demanded. ‘What were you guys doing in that warehouse? Why did I have to stand guard outside?’

‘We’ve been busted once today,’ Dillon snapped, putting a large canvas bag down on the ground. ‘You want us to get busted again? Isn’t it enough that the filth got Ty?’

‘But what were you doing in there?’

Dillon chuckled. ‘Getting back to basics, that’s what. OK, Jez, fill her in. This is your mission.’

‘Remember that charity sack scam?’ Jez asked, passing the crowbar to Dillon while he packed up his bag again. ‘This is their base, where they collect all the donations. And we’ve just set . . . well, a little bonfire.’ He grinned hugely. ‘In a few minutes, when Katrin presses the detonator switch, there’s going to be a tiny spark that is going to turn into a flame – we put some accelerant down to make sure of that – and then . . . yeah, Guy Fawkes will have nothing on this. That whole place is going up. And I can’t think of anyone who deserves it more!’