Avenger Page 5

  Danny was staring at the ingredients with a new fascination, but Elena was looking worried. 'Are you saying I might have to make one of these IED things?'

  Fergus nodded. 'It's possible, Elena. We don't know how far down the line you'll have to go with Black Star before we can get to him. After the attacks in Japan and America yesterday, we now know that Black Star doesn't meet with his Angels to make the IEDs, unless he has accomplices. My guess is that somehow he provides instructions on how to make them.'

  'And that's what I'll have to do?'

  Fergus was trying his best to be reassuring. 'Look, don't worry. I'll be giving you something to make the mixture safe.'

  'Really?' said Elena, looking far from reassured. 'And what's that?'

  'It's a . . . a powder. You'll mix it into all the ingredients you have here.'

  'What sort of powder?'

  'One step at a time. Thirty-nine is highly dangerous at the mixing stage and extremely volatile once it's made.'

  'But you said the mixture will be safe.'

  'And it will. But you need to be prepared for every eventuality. And even if you had to go through with making the PE for real, you could still make the device safe by detaching the det wires from the battery – although it'd still be unstable.' He saw Elena's look of confusion and smiled reassuringly. 'Like I said, one step at a time. And we won't let it get that far.'

  Elena and Danny sat back and listened as Fergus explained that the high explosive the ingredients made was a 'cousin' of TNT and was called Trinitrophenol. He pointed down at the aspirin on the tabletop. 'By extracting the Trinitrophenol from these little things and then mixing it with Vaseline and candles, anyone with the know-how can make their own plastic explosive within three hours.'

  Danny was anxious to know more. 'So how's it done? Are we gonna make some mix thirty-nine now?'

  'The aspirins are boiled down, and then some of the other ingredients are added to extract the Trinitrophenol. And no, we're not making it. Apart from anything else, the fumes are poisonous during the mixing.'

  Elena was looking more and more concerned and Fergus could see it. 'Look, you just have to know about it – we'll probably get Black Star long before this stage.'

  'Probably?'

  Fergus was suddenly aware that his leg was aching badly. He moved slowly round to the other side of the table, pulled up a chair and sat between Danny and Elena.

  He kept his voice low as he spoke. 'We can't step back from this now. We have the best chance there is to rid the world of this Black Star scum.' He leaned closer. 'But what I care about most is keeping you two safe.'

  'You mean with the IED?' said Danny.

  'Not just the IED.' Fergus deliberately spoke softly so that they were forced to lean in even closer to hear his words. 'We've got to tread very carefully around Deveraux. I never trusted her before and I still don't. She's only interested in getting Black Star. Once that's achieved, we become a problem again. So then, she has three options. One, she lets us walk away and get a life away from all this. Two, there's another job that we have no choice but to take. Or three . . .'

  'She kills us,' breathed Danny.

  Fergus nodded. 'And that seems the most likely option to me. So here's the plan. The moment Black Star is found and we've done our bit, you do only what I tell you. You ignore any further orders from Deveraux. I'll get us away to a safe place, and I'll make certain that Deveraux will never be able to hurt us.'

  'But how can you do that?' said Danny urgently.

  'I'm putting together a security blanket that will take care of us all. But just remember, once Black Star is found, you do exactly what I tell you.'

  Fergus let the words sink in before speaking again. 'Any questions?'

  'Yeah,' said Elena. 'Tell me about this powder that makes the IED safe.'

  Fergus smiled. 'Don't worry. You'll know all about it when the time's right.'

  10

  Elena took a deep breath as she gathered her thoughts and began to type.

  I READ ABOUT JAPAN AND AMERICA. THEY WERE AMAZING!!! THEY SHOWED THE WAY FOR US ALL!!!

  She hesitated and her eyes flicked towards Danny and Dr Jacobson for reassurance. She was meant to write more but it was difficult.

  'Go on,' urged Deveraux quickly. 'Tell him.'

  Dr Jacobson glared at Deveraux, but wisely said nothing. The atmosphere in the operations room was already as tense as stretched wire.

  Elena's fingers went back to the keyboard.

  I CAN BE THAT BRAVE. I AM THAT BRAVE!!! I'M SO CERTAIN NOW!!!

  The reply was instantaneous.

  REALLY, GOLA? ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN???

  Elena began to write swiftly, as though she was no longer thinking about each carefully placed word, as though her thoughts were just spilling out. Ignoring errors and spelling mistakes, she hammered the keys.

  TOTALLY!!! DAD RUNNING OUT AGAIN WAS THE END FOR ME, IVE HAD ENOUGH! I HATE HIM!! EVERYONE LETS ME DOWN, EVERYONE!!! IT WAS MY BIRTHDAY THE OTHER WEEK AND NORT EVEN MY BEST FRIEND REMEMBERED!!!

  She kept pounding away at the keyboard, knowing that Danny was looking at her.

  YOURE THE ONLY PERSON WHO TALKS STRAIUGHJT TO ME. I WANT OUT, REALLY! COMPELETLY, TOTALLY, FOR GOOD!!! AND I WANNA MAKE THEM ALL SORRY FOR ALL THE SHIT THEYVE GIVEN ME FOR TOO LONG!! SHOW ME THE WAY, PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  Elena sat back, her eyes wide as she waited for Black Star's response. The others were all staring at her. She'd gone off script; she'd gone further than she'd been instructed, but Deveraux was delighted. 'Good, Elena, very good. The birthday was brilliant, and telling him the way you feel about your father was excellent.'

  'Just piss off,' hissed Elena, still staring at the screen.

  Deveraux glanced towards Fergus, who was glaring at her accusingly. She held the stare for a moment but then returned to the computer screen.

  Charles Pointer II had invited his faithful servant Herman Ramirez into the gloom of his huge mansion in The Hamptons to witness him reeling in the latest and most highly prized Angel.

  'I have her,' he whispered without looking away from his computer screen. 'My first female Angel. Everything she's told me has checked out. The father in jail and then disappearing, the residential home, and now this dead-end hotel job. She's perfect, and her timing is perfect. Exactly when I need her – and I have no need to push. She's mine, and no one is watching over her.'

  'Only you, sir,' said Herman as his master reverted to his Black Star persona.

  I'LL SHOW YOU THE WAY, GOLA. AND I'M SO PROUD OF YA!!! I'LL START MAKING ARRANGEMENTS. YOU'RE-GONNA WAKE A DIFFERENCE AND BE FAMOUS!!! YOU GOT A PASSPORT???

  In the operations room at the hotel there was a sudden moment of confusion. No one had been expecting a question like this – the other Angels had killed themselves in their own countries. Elena looked anxiously at Fergus and then at Deveraux.

  'Do you?' said Deveraux.

  Elena shook her head.

  'Say you do. Tell him you have a passport.'

  'No!' said Fergus. 'Tell him the truth.' He looked at Deveraux. 'He can hack into secure sites. Lie to him now and he just might go and discover the truth for himself. Details – keep thinking details or we get caught out.'

  Deveraux realized that Fergus was right. She nodded at Elena to continue.

  SORRY, NO. I'VE NEVER BEEN OUT OF THIS COUNTRY. SAD, OR WHAT?

  NO WAY ARE U SAD, GOLA, NO WAY. BUT THE PASSPORT IS THE ONE THING YOU GOTTA ORGANIZE. AND QUICKLY. THAT'S ALL YOU HAVE 2 DO. WILL YOU 00 IT???

  'Tell him you will,' said Fergus.

  NO PROBLEM, I CAN SORT IT.

  GREAT!!! LEAVE EVERYTHING ELSE 2 ME, EVERYTHING! I'LL HAVE SUMTHING FOR U VERY SOON. BYE FOR NOW!!!!!!

  Black Star was gone and Elena quickly logged off.

  Danny turned to Deveraux. 'What about me? I haven't got a passport.'

  'We can arrange it. We can arrange everything.'

  'But Elena must go through the proper channels,' said Ferg
us. 'Passport Office, countersignature – I think we'd better get Dave Brooker to do that; none of us can sign the form without possibly alerting Black Star. Everything has to be done properly.'

  Deveraux nodded. 'You were right back there. It was quick thinking.' She made for the door but stopped short and glanced back at Fergus. 'Thank you,' she added, and then left without another word.

  Danny raised his eyebrows and glanced at his grandfather. The first words of praise from Deveraux, however reluctantly spoken, had been a long time in coming.

  But Fergus wasn't looking at Danny; he was deep in thought. They were going overseas in the hunt for Black Star, and that meant a change to his plans for keeping them safe. Fergus was accustomed to having to alter his tactics when an operation took an unexpected turn. This one had; he would turn it to his advantage – but he had to ensure that Danny and Elena were not spooked by the last-minute change.

  He knew that Deveraux had gone to send her daily sit rep to Dudley and he waited until Dr Jacobson had left the room too before speaking to the two teenagers. 'Listen,' he said quietly, 'that powder I was telling you about. I'll have to wait until we get to wherever Black Star is taking us before I give it to you.'

  'Why?' said Elena. 'What is it, anyway?'

  'You don't need to worry about that. I'll get some more in the country we're going to, that's all.'

  Danny was getting tired of the way his grandfather was keeping so much information from them. This was the old Fergus, the one he'd first known. 'One minute you're telling us we're a team, and then the next you won't tell us what's going on. We are worried – don't you see that?'

  Fergus nodded. 'Yeah, course I do. But some things are best kept on a need-to-know basis. If you don't know about it, you can't speak about it.'

  'So you don't trust us?'

  'You two are the only ones I do trust. For now, all you need to know is that the powder I'm going to give to Elena neutralizes the acid in the mix. Which means no big bang. OK?'

  Danny realized that he should have known there was always a sound operational reason for his grandfather's decisions. 'Yeah, sorry.'

  'No problem.' Fergus smiled at Elena. 'And anyway, like I told you before, we'll get him long before Elena starts mixing up the brew.'

  Elena didn't look convinced.

  11

  Returning to Foxcroft was going to be strange. Spring was moving towards summer, but it felt as though years had passed.

  Elena was with Deveraux in the front of the gunmetal-grey Nissan Almera, and Danny was in the back. Deveraux had made it perfectly clear that Danny would be going nowhere near Foxcroft itself, because as far as Dave and Jane Brooker were concerned, he had long since left the area with his grandfather.

  But with Fergus booked in for a physiotherapy session on his injured leg back in Oxford, Deveraux had decided that the journey to Camberwell in southeast London, and then on to the Passport Office, located in Eccleston Square, Victoria, would be a good opportunity for her to question the youngsters to see how they were progressing with their training.

  A complete cover story had been invented by MI5 to get Elena away from Foxcroft on a temporary basis: Marcie Deveraux was her aunt, her late mother's sister. All the necessary paperwork and documentation had been provided to convince social services that it was quite natural for aunt and niece to spend some time together before deciding whether or not to make the arrangement permanent.

  But an unexpected return to Foxcroft was now necessary to collect Elena's birth certificate and to get the application form countersigned by Dave.

  Under Deveraux's instruction, Elena had called the Passport Advice Line the previous afternoon to discover the correct procedure for obtaining a passport urgently. She was told she was ineligible for the one-day, Premium Service; that was only available to existing passport holders. The best Elena could get was the Fast Track service, which would guarantee a passport sent to her within a week.

  Fergus and Deveraux decided that was the route they had to take. If Black Star were to discover that Elena had been able to find a way around rules and regulations, the entire mission would probably be compromised.

  It would have to be a week, and Black Star would have to know why.

  The day before, Elena had rung to make an appointment at the office in Eccleston Square, and then they had collected an application form and had some passport photos taken in a booth at Woolworths.

  Now, at just before 8:20 a.m., Deveraux parked the car in a side street close to Foxcroft. She had chosen the arrival time deliberately. The young residents of Foxcroft would have left for school by 8:20, which meant that there would be no old friends around for Elena to have 'catch-up' chats with. The fewer people she came into contact with, the better.

  Deveraux switched off the engine and turned back to Danny. 'Stay here. We won't be long – I've allowed thirty minutes so that we don't arouse the Brookers' suspicions. So don't you go walkabout. Got that?'

  Danny nodded. 'Can you leave the keys in the ignition?'

  'Why? Are you thinking of going joyriding?'

  'I'm not that stupid,' said Danny with a sigh. 'If I've got to sit here, I might as well listen to the radio.'

  Deveraux considered for a moment. 'All right. But not too loudly. I don't want you drawing attention to yourself, or to the vehicle.'

  She opened the driver's door and looked at Elena. 'Ready?'

  'Yeah. It'll be good to see Dave and Jane.'

  'Just be careful what you say,' said Deveraux as she stepped out of the car.

  'I know!' snapped Elena. 'You've told me a hundred times.' She reached for the door handle and angrily wrenched it open.

  'Give my love to Dave and Jane,' called Danny as Elena got out.

  Deveraux leaned back into the vehicle and glared at Danny over the back of the driver's seat. 'Don't be stupid.' She moved back and slammed the door just as Elena shut hers.

  'Joke!' shouted Danny, watching them walk off down the street. 'Have a nice time.'

  He sat back in the seat and waited for a few minutes, watching the pedestrians passing by, half expecting to see someone he knew. Danny had been away from Camberwell for much longer than Elena – over six months. But before that he had lived at Foxcroft for years. If anywhere had ever been home, Foxcroft was as close as it got.

  Suddenly he wanted to see the old red-brick Victorian building again. He didn't need to go inside – just to see it from the outside would be enough. He knew that Deveraux and Elena would have gone to the front door; he could take a different route to the rear of the building. That was preferable anyway; from across the street he would be able look up over the back garden wall to glimpse his old bedroom window on the second floor.

  He leaned over the driver's seat, pulled the key from the ignition, got out of the car and pushed the door shut. Then he strode off down the street. He had at least twenty minutes to give the old place the once over and be back in time for Elena and Deveraux. Plenty of time.

  12

  Fergus wasn't with the physiotherapist. One session had been enough to tell him that he could manage the rehabilitation of his damaged body perfectly well for himself. And besides, he had more important things to do.