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  ‘That’s the plan.’ Jack gestured to Noble. ‘Come on. We’re going.’

  Noble stood.

  ‘Not so fast,’ Talya said.

  ‘You have the antiques from Hector’s hotel suite,’ Jack said. ‘A deal’s a deal.’

  ‘No deal,’ Talya said. ‘Why would I care about them antiques when the whole of London is up for grabs? What would I do with a few poxy trinkets?’

  Jack let out a breath. ‘What do you want now, then?’ But he’d already predicted what the answer to that would be.

  Noble sighed and sat down again.

  ‘Well,’ Talya said. ‘Apart from the antidote, of course, I wanna know what’s up with this Hector kid.’ She pointed at one of the televisions. ‘What’s he doing all this for? Noble won’t share. Took me hours to get him to tell me you’re gonna be the hero and save London by getting the antidote.’ She leant forward in her wheelchair. ‘Tell me about Hector. What does he want?’

  Jack shrugged. ‘Who knows? Hector and his dad are lunatics.’

  ‘Nah,’ Talya said. ‘I don’t buy that for a second. You know what they’re doing this for, don’t ya? I just saw that look on your face.’ Talya drummed her fingers on the arm of her chair as she seemed to think for a moment. ‘Crown jewels? Bank of England?’

  ‘Excuse me?’

  ‘Please don’t play dumb with me, Jack. You know exactly what I’m on about.’

  Jack smiled inwardly. Talya was playing right into his hands.

  ‘Look,’ he said, making sure he kept a straight face. ‘I can’t just let you –’

  ‘Let me?’ Talya said, her voice rising. ‘Who do you think you are exactly? Let me?’ She ground her teeth for a moment and then seemed to compose herself. She waved a finger at him. ‘You want Grandad back? Then you’re gonna find out exactly what this Hector kid has targeted and what his plan is – because it’s gotta be big.’

  That was one thing Jack and Talya agreed on. With London empty, Hector would be stealing something on a monumental scale – but what Hector had set his sights on, Jack had no idea.

  Talya continued, ‘And once he’s inside wherever it is, my gang will move in.’

  ‘Hector’s men will have guns,’ Jack said.

  Talya waved that comment away. ‘I have hundreds in my crew. We’ll use all of ’em. Rush Hector and his goons. We might lose a couple on the way, but the rewards . . .’ Talya licked her lips, obviously thinking of all the money she could make from the raid.

  She leant forward in her chair and locked her gaze on his. ‘What’s your idea?’

  Jack let out a slow breath. ‘Hector will have everything mapped out. He’s methodical. So if we go now, he’ll have done the hard part already – he’ll have planned whatever mission he has in mind and all we need to do is steal those plans and his equipment.’

  ‘That’s a stupid idea,’ Talya said. ‘We don’t want his plans.’

  ‘Yes,’ Jack said in a firm tone. ‘We really do.’

  ‘No, we don’t,’ Talya retorted in an equally hard voice. ‘We should wait until they’ve stolen the stuff and we’ll take it from them. Let Hector’s people do all the heavy lifting.’

  Jack shook his head. ‘You’re wrong.’

  ‘Excuse me?’

  Skin took a step towards him. ‘You want me to –’

  Jack stifled a fake yawn. ‘Enough with the threats.’

  ‘It don’t ’ave to be a threat,’ Skin snarled.

  Jack looked at Talya.

  She signalled for Skin to step away and said, ‘Go on then, Jacky. Stop messin’ about and explain yourself.’

  Jack cleared his throat – it felt like he’d swallowed hot coal. ‘The hardest part of any mission is the planning. I should know. If you plan it right and have a good team, the rest is plain sailing, yeah? A bunch of trained monkeys can’t muck it up if you have a good plan to start with.’

  Jack waited for Talya’s response and hoped she didn’t see through him.

  Luckily, Talya’s ego did exactly what he’d hoped for and, after a moment’s pause, she nodded.

  ‘So,’ Jack continued, reeling her in. ‘When they do the job, Hector will use armed professionals, right? They’ll be on high alert. They’ll be ready for problems. Once they have the jewels or gold or whatever it is they’re after, they’ll protect it with their lives. But if we go right now . . .’

  ‘They won’t be expecting a hit,’ Talya said, understanding him.

  ‘Exactly.’

  ‘And how do you expect to find Hector and his people?’ Talya asked.

  ‘We already know where they’re hiding and we already know how to break in. We could just do with some extra help.’

  Talya eyed him. ‘Extra help? You need help from me, Jacky?’

  ‘I don’t need your help,’ Jack said, trying to sound casual. ‘It would just make life a bit easier. That way, we both get what we want quicker.’

  He sat back and watched her mull that one over.

  ‘So,’ Talya said after several moments’ quiet reflection, ‘what’ve you got in mind? What’s the mission?’

  Jack fought to contain his smile.

  An hour later, Jack, Charlie and Wren were standing across the road from the Millbarn building.

  The whole area was eerily quiet – the streets were empty and there wasn’t a single sound coming from anywhere.

  Jack was relieved that Noble was now free from Talya, but the Outlaws’ dealings with her were far from over. When Jack had explained his plan to Noble, he had thought that Noble was going to stop them. In the end though, when Jack asked Noble to play an important part in it, he had agreed.

  Charlie leant into Jack’s ear. ‘Let me get this straight,’ she said, frowning. ‘You told Talya that Hector’s hiding in there when he isn’t?’

  Jack nodded.

  Charlie continued, ‘And you told Talya that if she helps us break in, she’ll catch Hector and his men with the amazing plans for a mission they’re supposedly organising?’

  Jack nodded again.

  ‘All this so you could trick Talya into helping us break Obi out?’

  ‘Yes.’

  Charlie frowned. ‘And you think this is going to work?’

  Jack sighed. ‘Not you as well. Noble said the same thing to start with.’

  ‘Well,’ Charlie said. ‘You have to admit it, Jack – you’re playing a dangerous game.’ She glanced about. ‘You actually think that Talya will come here? That she’ll show up?’

  ‘Yeah, she’ll come.’

  ‘And what happens when she finds out you’ve tricked her again – that Hector’s not here at all?’

  ‘I’m hoping we’ll be far away when that happens,’ Jack said. ‘Besides, I’ve taken care of that too. Noble should be making a phone call as we speak.’

  Charlie still didn’t look convinced. ‘What makes you think Talya will come here herself? She hardly ever leaves the warehouse.’

  ‘I’m telling you – she’ll come,’ Jack said with utter conviction.

  ‘But how do you know for sure?’

  ‘Because I asked her not to.’ Jack shrugged. ‘After that cashpoint job, she doesn’t trust me. Plus she has one major flaw.’

  Charlie looked puzzled. ‘What’s that?’

  ‘Talya doesn’t trust her team either,’ he said. ‘Not with a prize as big as she thinks this one is.’ He turned back to the building. ‘She’ll be here.’ Jack coughed and rubbed his chest.

  Wren sneezed and sat on the ground with her back against the wall.

  ‘Are you OK?’ Charlie asked her.

  Wren shook her head. ‘Not so much.’

  ‘Me neither,’ Charlie said, hugging herself.

  Jack knew that the sooner they got Obi out of there and reunited the Urban Outlaws, the stronger they’d be to take on Hector.

  Sure enough, a few minutes later, a London taxi with blacked-out windows pulled up to the kerb down the road.

  Skin hopped out with six other k
ids, opened the back of the taxi and folded out a metal ramp. Talya wheeled herself down it and towards the Outlaws.

  As she approached, she gave Jack one of her smug grins. ‘All right?’

  Jack glanced at Charlie as if to say, ‘I told ya so.’ Then he looked at Talya again.

  ‘Where’s the rest of your gang?’ Jack asked.

  ‘Waitin’ around the corner. I wanted to make sure this wasn’t another one of your pathetic tricks.’ Talya gestured to the Millbarn building. ‘This it?’

  ‘Yep.’

  ‘Doesn’t look so bad.’

  ‘It won’t be – with your help and once Slink disables their cameras,’ Jack said.

  ‘Is he inside?’ Talya asked.

  Jack shook his head and pointed.

  Towards the top of the building was a figure, dressed all in black. Slink was climbing with no ropes or harness, and Jack’s stomach clenched, remembering when Slink had fallen off the crane. His ankle still wasn’t fully recovered. That, on top of having the virus, made this mission even more dangerous.

  Talya smiled. ‘He’s got some guts, that one.’ She glanced at Jack. ‘When this is all over, I’m gonna take him from you. I could use his skills. Oh, and speakin’ of skills . . .’ She looked at Charlie. ‘All right, pretty girl?’

  Charlie glared back at her.

  Jack ground his teeth and focused on Slink as he scaled the last few metres and hauled himself on to the roof.

  Charlie pressed the mic button on her walkie-talkie. ‘Slink?’

  ‘Here.’

  Jack looked at the entrance of the building and then his eyes roamed over every floor. All was quiet.

  ‘Go in as planned,’ he said.

  The sound of Slink removing an air vent cover came over the walkie-talkie’s speaker. ‘Give me a couple of minutes,’ Slink said.

  They all waited in anxious silence.

  ‘Tell me exactly what’s happenin,’ Talya demanded, losing patience.

  Jack took a deep breath. ‘Slink is going to head down to the security office on the ground floor and turn off the external cameras but leave the internal ones on for now. Then –’

  ‘Wait a second,’ Talya interrupted. ‘I thought this place had loads of security and you couldn’t get past it all last time.’

  ‘We couldn’t,’ Jack said. ‘But there aren’t any guards in the building, right?’

  ‘Yeah,’ Talya said.

  ‘And Hector’s people are in there. Yes?’ Jack said.

  She nodded.

  ‘So the place isn’t on total lockdown.’ Jack pointed at the main doors. ‘You just need to get us through those when I say so.’

  ‘Outside cameras are now off,’ Slink whispered.

  ‘OK,’ Jack said to Talya. ‘You’re up.’

  Talya nodded at Skin.

  He pressed a phone to his ear. ‘Go.’

  And Jack’s eyes went wide as hundreds of kids came running down the road towards them.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Talya’s gang ran down the road, screaming and brandishing clubs and weapons.

  Jack thought it was both an impressive and terrifying thing to witness.

  Talya looked at Jack with a smug expression. ‘Why d’ya look so shocked?’

  Jack made a show of straightening his face. ‘I just wasn’t expecting so many of them.’

  ‘What were you expecting?’ Talya said, apparently amused.

  ‘I dunno,’ Jack said. ‘Maybe, like, ten or twenty extra people to help us out.’

  The kids reached the front of the Millbarn building and started smashing the glass doors and windows.

  ‘Not very subtle, are they?’ Charlie said.

  ‘Jacky didn’t want subtle,’ Talya retorted. ‘Did ya?’

  Jack chose not to answer her.

  With the main door now smashed and torn from its frame, Talya’s gang poured through the front of the building.

  ‘Time to go,’ Talya said, wheeling herself towards the mayhem.

  Jack, Charlie, Wren, Skin and the others followed.

  Once inside, the crowd parted, letting them through.

  Talya stopped in the middle of the foyer, the smirk on her face bigger than ever.

  Jack was determined to wipe that away. But he had to be patient and play it carefully. Talya was predictable, but also temperamental and dangerous. Jack knew he had to adapt this mission as it went along.

  ‘Skin?’ Talya said, as more of her gang forced their way into the building.

  Skin cleared his throat and stepped forward. He held up his hands and shouted, ‘All right, you bunch of freaks. Shut up.’

  If Hector’s men hadn’t noticed hundreds of kids flooding into the building already, then the shouting would certainly draw their attention – which, for once, was exactly what Jack wanted to happen.

  ‘I said, shut up,’ Skin bellowed.

  The kids quieted down and turned to look at him and Talya.

  ‘OK, Skin,’ Talya said in a calm voice. ‘Now you have their attention . . .’ She glanced at Jack and winked. ‘You’re gonna like this next bit.’

  ‘Right then,’ Skin called to the group. ‘You know what to do, so get on with it.’

  The entire gang of kids roared and streamed towards the stairs.

  ‘Wait.’ Jack spun to Talya. ‘They’re only supposed to guard the exits and stop anyone leaving. What are you doing?’

  ‘It’s OK, Jacky boy,’ she said. ‘They’re just gonna sweep through the building and find this Hector kid for ya. Save ya some time, like.’

  ‘Stop them,’ Jack said. ‘This isn’t the plan.’

  Jack knew Hector wouldn’t be here, but he wasn’t prepared to let Talya find that out. And God only knew what Hector’s men would do if they were rushed by all these kids at once. And Obi was in there . . .

  ‘You need to calm yourself,’ Talya said with a crooked smile. ‘Don’t worry about it. My army have orders that when they find Hector and his mates they’re not to move in on them until we get there.’

  ‘Will they follow those orders?’ Charlie asked, blowing her nose and watching the kids shove and push each other.

  Talya followed her gaze and shrugged. ‘I can’t promise they won’t do a little bit of criminal damage on their way.’ She nodded at a couple of kids who were ripping a fire extinguisher from the wall. ‘But they’ll get the job done.’

  ‘Why don’t you just follow the plan?’ Wren said.

  Talya’s expression hardened to stone. ‘Because I don’t trust any of you. That’s why.’

  As the foyer cleared, Jack took the walkie-talkie from Charlie and pressed it to his ear. ‘Slink?’

  ‘I’m in the main security room,’ Slink said. ‘I had to pick the lock, just like you thought. There’s no one in here though, which is good.’

  Jack let out a slow breath. At least one thing was going the way he’d hoped. ‘Any sign of movement?’

  ‘What?’ Slink said. ‘You mean apart from the million hooligans barrelling up the stairs?’

  ‘Yeah,’ Jack said, glancing at Talya. ‘Apart from that.’

  ‘Nothing,’ Slink said. ‘The cameras only cover the corridors, but so far I haven’t seen anyone else.’

  For a fleeting moment, Jack’s stomach tightened. What if Hector’s men had moved Obi out of the building already?

  ‘What about remote viewers?’ he asked.

  ‘I haven’t found any extra wires connected to the security system yet,’ Slink replied. ‘Need some help.’

  ‘OK,’ Jack said. ‘I’m sending Wren to you. She’ll help look.’ He nodded at her and she hurried off.

  Jack felt bad, but with Talya around, he just needed to keep the Outlaws as safe as possible. By sending Wren away to help Slink, they’d both stand a good chance at getting out if the mission went wrong.

  ‘Keep us updated,’ Jack said to Slink.

  ‘Wren and me will keep an eye out,’ Slink said. ‘We’ve got this covered.’

  �
��Thanks.’ Jack handed the walkie-talkie back to Charlie, and started pacing.

  He wondered if all this might be one of Hector’s traps, but then Jack reminded himself that Connor hadn’t realised they’d followed him from the bunker earlier. Jack allowed that thought to relax him slightly.

  But the relief was short-lived because the next few minutes passed like an hour. The longer they waited, the tighter his chest felt. The anxiety mixed with the virus meant he was finding it very hard to breathe.

  Charlie sneezed and then promptly went into a coughing fit.

  Skin slapped her on the back. ‘There, there, princess.’

  ‘Get off me,’ Charlie growled.

  ‘You lot look worse by the second,’ Talya said, seeming happy about that. ‘You are gonna make it, ain’t ya?’

  Jack ground his teeth. Obi’s life rested on them not messing up and he wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible.

  Talya’s phone rang, and all eyes moved to her as she answered.

  ‘Yeah?’ She listened for a moment. ‘Right.’ She hung up and looked at Jack. ‘Tenth floor. Just like you thought. Rest of the building is empty.’ She wheeled herself towards the lift. ‘Come with me.’

  Jack glanced at Charlie and together they hurried after her.

  The lift doors opened and Jack, Charlie, Talya and Skin went inside.

  Skin hit the tenth-floor button, the doors closed and the lift ascended.

  They stood in silence for several moments as music played in the background.

  It was absurd, Jack thought. Here they were, in the middle of a dangerous mission, with hundreds of kids cornering Hector’s men, and the four of them were listening to classical music that sounded like it was being played on milk bottles.

  The lift stopped, and Jack, Charlie and Skin followed Talya into the hallway.

  It was packed full of kids and they stood aside to let them through.

  At the far end of the hallway, Talya paused outside a door and looked up at one of her gang members, a kid with short-cropped hair and a crooked nose with a ring through it.

  ‘Well?’ Talya asked her in a low voice.

  ‘They’re in there,’ the girl said, nodding at the door.