Split Second (21 page)

‘Good,’ Taylor breathed in my ear. ‘Now shut up and let her decide.’

At the end of the alley, Parveen was limping away out of sight. George was watching her, but I kept my gaze on WhiteRaven’s face.

‘Okay, you can come in with me,’ she said.

‘Really?’ Again, George’s enthusiasm sounded a little overdone to my ears.

‘Yeah, really,’ WhiteRaven sneered. ‘We only use user names inside. You got yours?’

‘Sure,’ I said. ‘I’m AngelOfFire.’ I indicated George. ‘This is Rioter.’

‘Right, I’m WhiteRaven.’ She offered us a thin-lipped smile. ‘Come on, then, if you’re coming. We’ll see what Saxon66 has to say about you. Decide if
you’ll make it as League members.’

‘That’s brilliant, thank you,’ George said.

Again, I winced at the fake enthusiasm in his voice. I hoped George wasn’t making WhiteRaven wary. She didn’t look like she suspected us of trying to infiltrate the League, but there
was no way I could know for sure.

Aaron chatted away as we left the tube and walked along Park Street to the Nutmeg Café. It was almost six and I found my thoughts straying again to Nat. Parveen had been
right that Nat and George’s mission – to fake a racist attack on her and convince the League of Iron to let them join a meeting – was far harder than mine.

Was Nat okay? Had he and George got into the League? Did anyone there suspect them? I knew that the meeting was to start at six so presumably their pretend beating of poor Par had either
succeeded by now or it hadn’t.

‘Hey, Charlie?’ Aaron’s voice drew me back to the present moment. ‘Before we go inside, I just want to say I’m sorry about your mum.’

‘Oh.’ I felt awkward. Back at the memorial service Aaron clearly hadn’t known who I was which meant someone must have told him since. ‘How did you find out?’

‘I checked the press cuttings in Dad’s home office afterwards,’ Aaron said, matter-of-factly. ‘Why didn’t you tell me at the service?’

I shrugged. ‘You didn’t ask. You seemed more interested in impressing me than anything else.’

‘Ouch.’ Aaron made a face. ‘I’m sorry if I was rude or . . . or thoughtless or whatever.’ He paused. ‘I asked about you afterwards too. You live with your
aunt and uncle, don’t you?’

I nodded.

We were almost at the Nutmeg Café. Several of the small cafés and shops on this road had shut down in the past year and most doorways were filled with tramps. We passed an old
woman with straggly hair, asleep under a bit of old blanket. Was Par writhing on the ground right now, still pretending to be hurt? Or had all three of them been exposed as frauds? Was Nat okay, or
was he lying, beaten, somewhere?

‘So who are you meeting at this café?’ Aaron asked.

‘I don’t know exactly who’ll be here,’ I said, feeling distracted. ‘Jas, I guess. Her brother’s in a coma from the same bomb that killed my mum.’ I
threw him a sharp look. ‘Just in case you feel like being less rude and thoughtless today.’

‘Right, okay, sorry.’ Aaron shrank into himself a little, hunching over and folding his arms.

I inwardly cursed myself. What was I doing? I was supposed to be flirting, getting Aaron to invite me to his stupid party. I braced myself, ready for Taylor to mutter something about my attitude
in my ear. But Taylor didn’t speak. It suddenly occurred to me he was almost certainly listening in to whatever Nat, George and Parveen were doing. He was leaving me to my own devices,
trusting I would bring back the invitation we needed. And I shouldn’t let him down. Not because I particularly cared about the League’s plot to assassinate Aaron’s dad, but
because foiling it would bring me another step closer to getting my revenge on the League. I took a deep breath and turned to Aaron.

‘I’m sorry,’ I said with a rueful smile. ‘I just get really uncomfortable when people talk about Mum. It’s not your fault.’

‘No worries.’ Aaron grinned. ‘I get it.’

We reached the Nutmeg Café. Rosa and several of her friends were sitting by the window. That was all I needed. At least Jas and our friends were here too, towards the back of the
café.

‘This is it,’ I said, and pushed open the door.

After the chilly late afternoon air, the Nutmeg Café was warm and inviting, rich with the scents of toffee and cinnamon and buzzing with excited chatter. It was my favourite place for Jas
and me to meet, mainly because the hot chocolate was delicious and the young guy who ran the place gave us discounts on our drinks. Rosa spotted me immediately. She came rushing over, one of her
giggly friends in tow.

‘Hi, Charlie, wow, is that
make-up
?’

I winced. I’d forgotten about the eyeliner Par had made me put on.

Rosa turned to Aaron. For goodness sake, she was practically batting her eyelashes at him. ‘And
who
is
this
?’

I gritted my teeth. Rosa was clearly trying to sound all seductive and sophisticated but she was coming across as a total idiot. Swallowing the impulse to tell her this, I tried to speak as
calmly as I could.

‘This is Aaron. We met at the memorial service the other day, then bumped into each other just now.’

‘Oh, how
awful
. I was there too. It was
really
moving.’ Rosa’s face crumpled with concern. Her silly friend whose name was Milly or Minnie or something copied
her expression. Now the pair of them looked like someone had just drowned their pet kittens. I shuddered with embarrassment. ‘Were you related to one of the victims too?’ Rosa
asked.

Aaron’s rosy cheeks flushed red. ‘Er, no,’ he said. ‘I was there because my dad was there, er, for his job.’

‘Aaron’s dad is the Mayor of London,’ I added.

Rosa’s eyes now widened into circles, the concern on her face morphing into the kind of look she normally reserved for her favourite boy band.

‘Wow,’ she said.

‘Yeah, totally,
wow
,’ Milly/Minnie added fervently.

This time I couldn’t resist. ‘I don’t know why you’re both so impressed,’ I snapped. ‘He’s just somebody’s son, it’s not like he won a gold
medal at the Olympics.’

Too harsh, Charlie
.

An awkward silence descended. Rosa and Milly/Minnie looked completely offended. Aaron was now an even deeper shade of red. I bit my lip, wishing I were anywhere but here. My thoughts skittered
to Nat. Was he inside the League of Iron yet? Was he okay? It struck me that I’d rather be facing a bunch of racist thugs than the situation I was in now.

I stared at the floor.

Aaron cleared his throat. ‘Can I buy anyone a drink? I have a gold medal at spending my allowance.’

I forced myself to look up. Aaron’s face was still flushed, but he was grinning, the dimple showing in his cheek. I had to admit he was pretty cool for not being offended by me.

‘Hey, I’m sorry.’

‘No need for that.’ Aaron waved his hand. His eyes sparkled. ‘I’ve been told a lot worse.’

‘Well, I’d
love
a Caramel Cappuccino,’ Rosa said. ‘Thank you, Aaron.’ She took his arm and walked him to the counter.

I followed, telling myself to be more careful with what I said.

Just be nice
, I told myself.
How hard can it be?

The end of the counter was near the back of the café, where Jas and two of our friends were sitting. Jas sidled up as Rosa pointed out a display of iced cupcakes to Aaron.

‘Hey,’ I said.

‘Hi.’ Jas grinned. ‘I was beginning to think you weren’t going to make it.’ She lowered her voice to a whisper. ‘You look gorgeous with that make-up on. Come
over, we’re sitting in the corner.’

‘Thanks, er, I had to bring someone,’ I said, pointing to Aaron.

Jas’s eyes widened. ‘Where did you find him?’ she asked.

I shrugged. ‘Just bumped into him. We’ve met him before.’

‘Yeah, at the memorial service,’ Jas said. ‘I remember. Is he going to come and sit with us?’

‘I guess, if I can get Rosa away from him.’ I lowered my voice. ‘I’m not into him, okay? But he’s actually really nice.’

‘Okay.’ Jas nodded, then scuttled off to her table. Aaron was at the counter, still talking with Rosa, but he was looking around, taking in the whole café. I hurried over,
determined to reclaim him.

‘Our table’s at the back,’ I said, pointedly.

‘But I’ve asked Aaron to sit with
us
,’ Rosa pouted.

I was on the verge of snapping at her again, but Aaron spoke before I had a chance.

‘I came here with Charlie, so I should really sit with her. Maybe you could join us?’

Rosa looked at me hopefully.

‘Sorry, but there’s not much room.’ For a moment I wasn’t sure Rosa would take the hint, then she turned on her heel and stalked off to Milly/Minnie and their
friends.

Gail’s warning about trying to get on better with Rosa flashed into my mind. Well, there was nothing I could do about it. I
had
to get Aaron to invite me to his party and he was
hardly likely to do so with Rosa hanging on his every word.

To my relief, Aaron didn’t seem all that bothered I’d blown Rosa off. He quickly put in an order for some drinks. They arrived all together at the end of the counter. I immediately
snatched up Rosa and Milly/Minnie’s caramel caps and took them over. I expected Aaron would still be waiting when I returned to the counter, but he was already sitting at the table with Jas,
her two mates and both our hot chocolates. I hurried over and sat down.

Aaron was smiling at something Jas had said. She was laughing, self-conscious even for Jas. I felt a stab of guilt, for imposing Aaron on the group. I liked Jas and it really wasn’t fair
to inflict him on her. On the other hand, Aaron was actually being quite charming, asking her about the black-and-cream check coat she was wearing over her school uniform. I knew she’d it
made herself and when Aaron found out, he sounded genuinely impressed, complimenting her with a surprising level of fashion knowledge.

‘It’s kind of Prada, with a dash of Kate Spade,’ he said. ‘But then it’s totally original too.’

I stared at him. So did Jas.

‘My mum wears a lot of designers so I’ve picked a few things up,’ he said modestly. ‘She usually asks me to help her choose what she wears to functions. My dad’s
too busy.’

‘Does she ever wear Versace?’ Jas asked.

‘Actually, there is one evening dress . . .’ Aaron said.

I sat back, letting the two of them chatter on. A few minutes later, Jas’s two mates left and, after politely saying goodbye to them, Aaron turned back to Jas and asked her something about
school. In a minute I’d try and bring the subject round to birthdays and parties. My thoughts drifted to Nat again. It was quarter past six now and I was itching to find out what was
happening in that League of Iron meeting and whether he and the others were okay. I couldn’t send Nat a text while he was in the middle of an operation, but if all had gone according to plan,
Parveen should be free now. She could tell me if Nat and George were inside the meeting at least.

I sent a quick text, then got up and headed for the loo. Par replied before I reached the bathroom.

They’re in. All good, esp my fake blood;)

I smiled to myself as I went into the Ladies. Well, that was a relief, at least. I took my time in the loo, washing the makeup off my face as best I could. I didn’t care what Aaron
thought, I didn’t like how I felt with all that eyeliner. It just wasn’t me. I came out into the café, intending to get Aaron talking about his birthday party straightaway, but
when I got back to the table he was gone.

I looked around, but there was no sign of his tousled fair hair anywhere in the café.

‘Where did Aaron go?’ I asked, sitting back down next to Jas.

‘He got a message from his mum,’ she explained, her face reddening. ‘Said he had to leave straightaway.’

My mouth fell open.
No
. This was a disaster. We hadn’t even mentioned the birthday party. Taylor would be
furious
.

‘But he didn’t say goodbye,’ I blurted out.

Jas looked really uncomfortable now. ‘He asked me to say goodbye to you, to thank you for bringing him here.’ She hesitated.

I groaned, putting my head in my hands. Aaron had gone back to Highgate. I’d completely blown my only opportunity to get an invite to his party.

‘Hey, Charlie.’ Jas tugged at my arm.

I looked up at her. ‘What?’

‘He . . . he said it was his birthday at the weekend,’ she stammered.

‘And?’ I clutched at her hand.

‘He asked if we’d like to go his party,’ Jas went on.

I stared at her, filling up with relief. Oh thank goodness.

Jas frowned. ‘Aaron said his parents had been strict about the numbers but he was sure he could get four more people in. I think he wanted it to be the four of us, who were here at the
table, but Rosa came over when he was leaving and she dropped such a massive hint about coming that he was forced to invite her. Which means it’s just the three of us.’ A tiny smile
curled around Jas’s lips at the memory. ‘Though I suppose we could still bring
one
of the others as well.’

‘Right.’ My head spun. I’d got my invite, which was brilliant. But Jas and Rosa were invited too, which was seriously not brilliant. Still, I had nearly two whole days to work
out a way of stopping them both from coming. ‘You don’t have to go if you don’t want to,’ I said to Jas. ‘I’m sorry I had to bring Aaron with me this
evening.’

‘It’s fine,’ Jas said, giving her hot chocolate a careful stir. ‘His party sounds like it might be fun.’

‘Right,’ I said. Whatever else the party might involve, the prospect of trying to make friends with Aaron – with Rosa annoying me and Jas watching in that quiet way of hers
– certainly didn’t sound like fun to me.

We were inside. George was nervous, I could feel the anxiety coming off him in waves.

‘Calm down,’ I whispered as we crossed the echoey entrance hall and followed WhiteRaven into the League of Iron meeting room. Curtains had been drawn at all the windows and the only
lighting came from a series of wall lamps that gave off a dim glow. The effect was probably supposed to be mysterious and atmospheric, but to me it seemed sinister. It was noisy too. Music was
playing – some loud, heavy rock track – on top of which WhiteRaven’s arrival was greeted with a chorus of deep cheers and shouts from about half of the thirty or so people
gathered in the room. As on my previous encounter with the League of Iron, most of those present were men dressed in black T-shirts. Nobody seemed to have noticed me and George arrive. We stood,
hesitating, in the doorway. Our instructions from Taylor were clear: wait for the undercover EFA agent, Lionheart, to make contact, then do what he ordered to get information on the assassination
plot.