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  Kyle got one of the buckets from under the sink and stood it on the table. Nicole leaned into it, her sobs echoing into the plastic.

  ‘Get us a tissue,’ she groaned. ‘My nose is running.’

  James ripped off a square of kitchen towel and handed it over. When Nicole took the bucket away from her face, they all saw her nose was bleeding.

  ‘Oh, my god,’ Kerry gasped. ‘I think we should wake Zara up.’

  ‘No,’ Nicole begged. ‘I’ll get into trouble. Take me to bed and I’ll sleep it off.’

  Kerry grabbed the roll of kitchen towel and the bucket and took them upstairs to the girls’ bedroom. James and Kyle each wrapped one of Nicole’s arms around their back, picked her off the chair and helped her stumble along the hallway.

  ‘Nicole,’ Kyle said firmly. ‘We’re at the bottom of the stairs. Lift up your legs.’

  Nicole’s head slumped forward and her legs gave way. A fresh wave of blood began streaking out of her nose.

  ‘Oh, Jesus,’ Kyle said desperately. ‘Put her down.’

  Kerry was coming back down the stairs to help them. When she saw Nicole’s limp body on the hallway carpet, she spun around and burst into Ewart and Zara’s room. Ewart raced downstairs in his boxers. Kyle was taking Nicole’s pulse.

  ‘Her heartbeat’s all over the place,’ Kyle said.

  ‘Shall I call 999?’ James asked.

  ‘There’s no point hanging around for an ambulance,’ Ewart said. ‘I’ll drive her.’

  Zara was running downstairs in her dressing-gown, carrying clothes and trainers for Ewart. Ewart stepped into the clothes before scooping Nicole off the floor. Out on the driveway, Kyle had opened up the people carrier.

  ‘She’s taken some cocaine,’ James blurted.

  He didn’t want to grass, but it might save her life if the doctors knew what was in her system.

  ‘Christ almighty,’ Ewart shouted, as Kyle helped him lay Nicole across the back seat. ‘That’s all we need.’

  Ewart climbed into the driver’s seat and slammed the door so hard James thought the glass might break. When the car was out of sight, James closed the front door and turned around to face Kerry and Zara, who were both in tears.

  ‘I hope she’s OK,’ Kerry sniffed.

  ‘You’re absolutely sure she took cocaine?’ Zara asked.

  James nodded, feeling a lump forming in his throat. ‘I saw it.’

  ‘Why didn’t you stop her?’ Kerry asked angrily.

  ‘I tried to,’ James lied. ‘She wouldn’t listen to me.’

  ‘What about you, James?’ Zara asked. ‘Did you take any?’

  ‘No way,’ James said. ‘I’d never go near it.’

  ‘That’s a relief,’ Zara said. ‘If they find traces of cocaine in Nicole’s urine, they’ll expel her from CHERUB.’

  ‘Is that for certain?’ James asked.

  ‘You both know the rules,’ Zara said. ‘There’s zero tolerance for class A drugs. We even put the reminder at the bottom of the mission briefing where you guys signed your names, in case you considered anything silly.’

  ‘Are you two going up to bed?’ Kerry asked anxiously.

  ‘I suppose,’ Zara said. ‘Unless you want a drink or something first.’

  ‘I don’t think I’ll sleep,’ Kerry said. ‘I don’t want to be on my own wondering what’s happening with Nicole.’

  Zara pulled Kerry into her chest and gave her a hug. ‘I’ll sit up with you for a while,’ she said. ‘Don’t worry.’

  James thought about Nicole. Imagining her being wheeled into hospital and having tubes pushed down her throat and needles under her skin. He wondered what it would be like to go into a coma and realised he didn’t feel like being on his own either.

  *

  James and Kerry got their duvets and sat together in the living-room with their feet on the coffee table. It was a weird feeling; anxious for news, being exhausted but not able to sleep. The hands on the clock seemed to be frozen.

  Zara had to go upstairs to sort out Joshua when he started bawling.

  ‘Did you really snort any coke?’ Kerry whispered.

  ‘No,’ James said indignantly. ‘I already told you.’

  ‘In front of Zara,’ Kerry said. ‘What about just between you and me?’

  ‘I saw them doing it and got offered a snort, but I said no.’

  ‘I’m glad,’ Kerry smiled. ‘I’d have bet my life savings that if something as dumb as that was going down on your birthday, you’d be into it.’

  ‘I’m not a complete moron, you know,’ James said.

  Kerry’s mobile started ringing. James had changed her ring tone to the national anthem for a joke while she was in the toilet at the youth centre, but that didn’t matter now.

  ‘Dinesh,’ Kerry said, surprised. ‘Are you crying? Calm down … Tell me what the matter is. What the hell are you doing at the police station?’

  21. BRAINDEAD

  Three hours earlier, Dinesh had hitched a lift home in Kelvin’s car with April and Junior. He lived with his mum and dad in a flash house a few doors down from Keith Moore. Mr Singh was in his study, working on his laptop. Dinesh wasn’t surprised to find him there, even though it was past eleven.

  ‘Good time at the youth club?’

  ‘Nothing very exciting,’ Dinesh said. ‘Did Mum ring up?’

  ‘She asked me to make sure you washed behind your ears and changed your underpants.’

  ‘Very funny, Dad,’ Dinesh said, grinning. ‘I’m off to bed. Don’t sit up working all night.’

  Dinesh had brushed his teeth and was getting into bed when he heard a saloon car pull on to the driveway. Sometimes cars used the drive to turn around, but this one stopped and Dinesh watched two doors open. Another car stopped behind. It was white, with blue lights and cop markings on the roof.

  ‘Dad,’ Dinesh shouted.

  The two cops from the first car were in plain clothes. The three out of the second wore uniform and carried rifles. Two cops split off and jogged around the house, covering the back exit. Dinesh quickly slid on his tracksuit bottoms and ran on to the landing.

  ‘Dad,’ Dinesh shouted again, nervously. ‘The police are outside.’

  The front door exploded into the hallway. Police never ring the doorbell when it’s a drug bust, because it gives the suspect a chance to destroy evidence. Dinesh had never seen a gun outside of a museum before. Now two were aimed at his head.

  ‘On the floor,’ the cop barked. ‘Hands where I can see ’em.’

  They ran up the stairs towards Dinesh, who was trying to stop himself shaking.

  ‘Don’t be frightened, son,’ the cop said. ‘Where’s your old man?’

  Mr Singh opened the door of his study. The guns swung towards him.

  ‘Hands in the air.’

  One of the plain-clothes cops bounded up the stairs. He pushed Mr Singh against the wall and locked on handcuffs.

  ‘You have the right to remain silent. Anything you do say can be taken down and used in evidence against you …’

  The armed cop looked down at Dinesh.

  ‘Who else is home?’

  ‘Nobody,’ Dinesh said.

  ‘Where’s your mum?’

  ‘Barcelona. She’s back tomorrow.’

  ‘How old are you?’

  ‘Twelve.’

  ‘We can’t leave you here on your own,’ the cop said. ‘You’ll have to come with us.’

  *

  A police car pulled up on the driveway. Dinesh looked nervous when Zara opened the door.

  ‘You don’t mind me staying, do you?’ Dinesh asked. ‘They asked me to think of somewhere I could go until Mum gets home. Kerry was the first person I thought of.’

  ‘Don’t worry,’ Zara said, putting her hand on Dinesh’s shoulder. ‘There are so many kids coming in and out of this house, one more won’t make any difference.’

  The cop gave Zara a custody form to sign, while Dinesh wandered into the living-room. Kerry s
tood up and gave him a hug.

  ‘I’m so sorry about your dad,’ Kerry said.

  ‘I told you he was a crook,’ Dinesh said angrily. ‘It was bound to happen sooner or later.’ He looked at the duvets and pillows scattered around the living-room.

  ‘We couldn’t sleep,’ Kerry explained. ‘They had to take Nicole to the hospital.’

  ‘Is it serious?’

  ‘Kyle called from the hospital. They gave her an adrenalin shot to bring her round. Then they pumped her stomach.’

  ‘I saw that on TV once,’ Dinesh said. ‘It’s so nasty. They force a rubber tube down your throat and right down into your stomach.’

  ‘They’ll keep her in under observation for a few hours,’ James said. ‘But they reckon she’ll be OK.’

  Dinesh managed a smile. ‘I wouldn’t want to be in her shoes when she gets home.’

  It was gone 3 a.m. when a cab dropped Kyle home from the hospital. Zara told them all to go upstairs and try to get some rest. Dinesh slept on Nicole’s bed.

  *

  While the mission was going smoothly, Ewart had been acting calm, but when he shook James awake at eleven o’clock that Saturday morning, he looked rabid.

  ‘In the bathroom, now,’ Ewart barked.

  ‘Uh?’ James said, still half-asleep.

  Ewart grabbed James by his wrist and practically dislocated his shoulder as he yanked him out of bed. He shoved James towards the bathroom, bolted the door and bundled him up to the wall.

  ‘We’ve got to keep the noise down while Dinesh is in the house,’ Ewart whispered. ‘But you better start giving me straight answers about last night, or I’m gonna make you sorry.’

  ‘I haven’t done anything,’ James said.

  ‘So what’s this then?’ Ewart asked, producing the metal straw that had come out of Junior’s cocaine. There were still specks of white powder stuck on one end.

  ‘It’s not mine,’ James said.

  ‘Liar,’ Ewart snarled. ‘I was checking inside the pockets before I put the washing on. It was in your jeans.’

  James realised he must have pocketed it when Kelvin had surprised them.

  ‘I swear I never took coke,’ James said frantically. ‘That belongs to Junior. I must have picked it up by mistake.’

  Ewart opened the medicine cabinet and took out a plastic sample bottle.

  ‘We’ll see, won’t we? I got three of these at the hospital last night,’ Ewart said. ‘Pee in that. I’m gonna have your, Kyle’s and Kerry’s urine samples tested and if there’s cocaine in there, you’ll be out on your arse with Nicole.’

  James was pleased to see the sample bottle. The test would clear up any argument.

  ‘Give it here,’ he said, smirking confidently. ‘How much do you want to bet that I’m clean? Fifty quid, a hundred?’

  ‘Cut the smart mouth,’ Ewart said. ‘And piss.’

  James angrily snatched the bottle off Ewart, flipped up the plastic lid and stood over the toilet. He was usually busting when he woke up, but he couldn’t go with Ewart standing behind him.

  ‘Can’t you wait outside?’ James asked.

  ‘You might tamper with it,’ Ewart said. ‘Try thinking about waterfalls or something.’

  When he’d finished, James handed the bottle to Ewart.

  ‘Any money you like,’ he said cockily.

  His air of confidence had taken the edge off Ewart’s anger. ‘Go back to your room and tell Kyle to get over here.’

  After Kyle had gone, James slumped on his bed feeling pleased with himself. Ewart would look an idiot when the drug test came back. Then he had a horrible thought: if Kelvin had called down the stairs a couple of seconds later…

  James relived the drunken instant when the dish of white powder was just centimetres from his face. He felt sick when he realised how close he’d come to snorting a dangerous drug – and getting himself booted out of CHERUB.

  22. NICOLE

  Junior called James on his mobile.

  ‘Dude.’

  ‘You sound happy,’ James said. ‘What’s up?’

  ‘It’s pandemonium here,’ Junior said. ‘I’ve got a killer hangover and the pigs arrested over eighty KMG people last night. My dad thinks he’s about to get busted. He keeps running up to the curtain every time a bird flies past the window.’

  ‘Mr Singh got nabbed,’ James said. ‘Dinesh spent the night here. Ewart’s taken him to the airport to meet his mum.’

  ‘They nicked Uncle George and Uncle Pete,’ Junior said. ‘They’re not my real uncles, but they’ve been working for Dad since before I was born.’

  ‘So how come you’re in a good mood?’ James asked.

  ‘Nicole, of course,’ Junior said. ‘I had my hands everywhere. No offence, James, I know she’s your sister and everything.’

  ‘She’s in hospital,’ James said. ‘The coke did her in.’

  ‘No way,’ Junior gasped. ‘That explains why I couldn’t get her mobile. Is she OK?’

  ‘Yeah, but I wouldn’t get your hopes up about seeing her any time soon. She overdosed once before,’ James said, repeating Zara’s latest cover story. ‘Ewart and Zara are terrified that she’s gonna end up killing herself. They’ve arranged for her to go back to a care home in London for a psychiatric assessment.’

  ‘Oh, my god,’ Junior blurted. ‘I’m really sorry, man. I’d never have offered her coke if I’d known she had a problem. How long will she be gone for?’

  ‘Um,’ James said, scratching for an answer, ‘it all depends on the assessment, I suppose … She might not be back at all … Anyway, I just heard Zara pulling up with a carload of shopping. She goes loopy if I don’t help her unload.’

  ‘I’ll see you then,’ Junior said. ‘April asked if you fancied coming round for Sunday lunch?’

  ‘Maybe,’ James said. ‘I don’t know what’s going on at the moment, with Nicole and that. I’ll ring you later.’

  James ended the call. There really was a car pulling up, but it was John Jones. Zara made tea while John Jones explained what had been going on over the last twenty-four hours.

  ‘It all came out of the production facility you kids found at Thunderfoods. KMG imports and distributes cocaine through lots of different channels, but you guys uncovered the weakest link in the chain. Almost every gram was being packaged in the automated plant at Thunderfoods.

  ‘We wired the place with cameras and bugs and watched everybody who came and went through binoculars. I’ve been on drug investigations where you go months without finding a good lead. Once we had Thunderfoods under surveillance, we started getting so much information we had to bring in extra staff to handle it.

  ‘You’d get a couple of guys coming in to mix and package a few kilos of coke. It’s boring work, so they’d usually start gossiping. They were off guard and the quality of the information was unbelievable. Names, dates, phone numbers, flight numbers. What are you doing next week? Where’s your next shipment coming in? What deal is old so-and-so working on at the moment?

  ‘We’ve made a hundred arrests already, but we’re not even scratching the surface. We’re sending information to police stations all over the country and another two or three hundred guys are gonna get pulled over the next few days. By the time we’re done, KMG will be lucky if it can sell a bag of sweets in a school playground.’

  ‘I just spoke to Junior,’ James said. ‘Keith Moore still hasn’t been arrested.’

  ‘That’s politics,’ John said. ‘Us MI5 guys wanted to keep the undercover work going until we had enough evidence to get Keith, but the police wouldn’t hold out. They’ve got hundreds of people working on Operation Snort. Not just police officers, but the administration and back-up staff that go with them. It’s costing over a million pounds a month and there was talk of shutting it down if they didn’t start getting results.’

  ‘So Keith Moore might get off?’ Kerry asked.

  John smiled uneasily. ‘I hope not, Kerry. I’d say out of the top ten people i
n KMG, we’ve got enough evidence to put eight in prison. We’re gonna try and flip a couple of those guys. We’re offering total immunity from prosecution. Given a choice between twenty years in prison and walking home to your wife and kids, we reckon a few people might start tattling on Keith Moore.’

  ‘So is there anything special we should be looking out for?’ Kyle asked.

  ‘I’d be amazed if you kids make another breakthrough to match the one you’ve made already,’ John said. ‘Just keep in with the bad guys and we’ll see if anything else turns up.’

  ‘Actually, kids,’ Zara said, ‘I had to phone Mac and explain what happened with Nicole. He seems to think we’ve achieved most of what we set out to do. He’s not impressed by what happened to Nicole and he wants the rest of you out of harm’s way. I expect we’ll be heading back to campus in a few weeks, so you might want to start dropping hints to your friends. Suggest that Ewart has gone for a job interview and there’s a chance you might be moving back to London.’

  John Jones did his routine of shaking everyone’s hands before he left.

  ‘Of course,’ he said, holding on to Kerry’s hand after he’d shaken it, ‘this young lady is the biggest hero of the lot.’

  Kerry still had an ear-to-ear grin five minutes after John Jones had driven away. James got sick of looking at it and chucked Joshua’s furry cement mixer at her head. Kerry chucked it back and they ended up chasing each other around the dining table, along the hallway and into the living-room.

  ‘I’m a hero,’ Kerry sang as she ran. ‘Hero, hero, hero. Hero, hero, hero.’

  James chucked a couple of sofa cushions at her. Kerry bundled James on to the floor and pinned him down. She grabbed his ankle and started tickling the bottom of his foot. It was James’ weakest spot. Within thirty seconds she’d reduced him to a drooling wreck.

  ‘OK,’ James gasped. ‘You’re a hero. You’re a hero.’

  Kerry stood up sharply and straightened her expression. Ewart and Nicole stood in the doorway, stone-faced. James got off the floor and wiped his lips on his sleeve.

  ‘They tested your samples at the hospital,’ Ewart said. ‘You two are both clean for drugs, though they found higher levels of alcohol than I’d like to have seen, especially you, James. I know you’re allowed to drink if you’re in a situation where the kids around you are drinking, but that’s not a licence to go crazy.’