But where was she?
Nothing was making sense. At first, Donna had been convinced that the invasion had been something to do with Andy’s debt. Montrose hadn’t directly threatened her but his tone and the way he’d slowly scanned her face with his cool grey eyes had been less than reassuring. Now it seemed there was a connection with the Bainbridges in some way.
‘So, now what?’ Curly asked. ‘The kid could be anywhere. She’ll have found somebody to help and they’ll have rung the police.’
‘Somebody will already have rung the police,’ Larry said with a smile. ‘I’d think there’ll be a couple of officers on site by now.’ He seemed to find this fact highly amusing, but his colleagues clearly didn’t share his mirth.
‘Then we should go,’ Mo said. ‘Cut our losses.’
‘And say what?’ Larry snapped. ‘I’m not going to carry the can for your incompetence. No. We stick to our instructions.’
Mo shook his head. ‘It’s all right for you. You’re like fucking Teflon – nothing sticks. But what about us two?’ He nodded at Curly.
‘Do as you’re told and you’ll be fine.’
‘What about the other one?’ Curly asked. ‘New boy. He was supposed to be watching the door. How did the kid get past him?’
‘Dunno. She might have got out of a window in one of the classrooms.’
Curly appeared to give this some thought.
‘But he’d have seen her run across the playground. Or I’d have seen her if she’d come round the back.’
‘I haven’t a fucking clue!’ Mo yelled. ‘I don’t even know what he’s doing here. He was practically–’
‘Enough!’ Larry raised his free hand, keeping the other firmly on his weapon. ‘Ears everywhere.’ He looked pointedly at the students. The other two nodded, clearly chastened, and again Donna was reminded of naughty children. It was obvious that Larry had all the power in this group. And what was wrong with the other man – the one they’d left guarding the door?
She mulled over the words that she’d found most interesting. Larry was convinced that the police would already be in school – rescue was possible, if they could just get into the humanities block.
‘Hey,’ she said. ‘We’ve forgotten about Tom. He still needs medical supplies.’
Jess looked up at her and gave the smallest of nods.
‘How’s he doing, Jess?’
‘Not great,’ the girl said. ‘He’s lost a fair bit of blood and he’s in a lot of pain.’ Her voice was unsteady but audible, convincing.
‘We need to get help,’ Donna said. ‘He’s getting worse and a few sanitary towels aren’t going to help. If he dies, everything changes.’ She didn’t need to explain what she meant. In front of her, Harley lowered his head to the desk.
‘Nobody else leaves,’ Larry said.
‘Nobody needs to. Ring reception again. They’ll have got some first aid organised. Somebody can bring it over.’ Donna prayed that ‘somebody’ would be a police officer disguised as a member of staff.
Larry reached into the pocket of his tactical vest and took out his phone. He grabbed it tightly in his large fist and stared at Tom and Jess, his uncertainty obvious.
‘Don’t let him die,’ Jess begged.
Larry jabbed his thumb at the phone and raised it to his ear. ‘Cleaver,’ he barked. ‘Your son’s hurt. We still need the first aid. Wait five minutes and then send it across.’
He waited, listening. ‘No. Not you. Send that woman who works on the front desk. Warnesford or whatever her name is. She can drop it at the door to the building. If you try anything dodgy, I can’t guarantee your son’s safety.’ He jabbed at the phone again, possibly sending a text, and then slid it back into his pocket.
‘Happy?’ he asked Donna.
She nodded. ‘Thanks.’
‘Now what?’ Curly asked. ‘We just wait for somebody to come over from the main building? Shouldn’t we be keeping watch and intercept them in case it’s a trick?’
Larry snorted. ‘It’s a fucking secondary school not a top-secret facility. Do you really think they have the resources to play spy games with us? If Cleaver has any sense he’ll do exactly what he’s told.’ Larry glanced at Tom, and Donna noticed that his eyes looked a lot less confident than his voice sounded. ‘One of you needs to get out there and make sure numb-nuts doesn’t cock this up. Is he back on the door?’
Mo shook his head. ‘He was still looking for the girl. I told him to get back to his post while I came back here. I have no idea what he’s doing on this job – he’s completely out of his depth.’
Larry shrugged. ‘Can’t do anything about it now. Make sure he’s where he’s supposed to be and then go out and get the stuff they send across.’
Larry stood up straighter and Donna thought she could make out a frown around what little of his eyes she could see.
‘Why me? How do you know they’ve not put police snipers on the roof ready to pick us all off?’
‘Listen to yourself. We’ve been here less than an hour. How would they have had time to set that up? And what purpose would it serve. They don’t know what’s happened to the lad – how serious it is – they wouldn’t want to risk us not treating him.’
‘I don’t know,’ Mo said. ‘I don’t think–’
Whatever he’d been about to say was interrupted by the door being opened from outside – Mo had forgotten to lock it behind him when he came back. All three men shouldered their rifles while the students whimpered and huddled down in their seats. Donna turned to face whatever was coming through the door.
‘I’ve got her,’ the black-clad figure said, pushing the trembling form of Annie Bainbridge ahead of him into the room. ‘She was hiding in a cupboard. No harm done. She couldn’t get out of the building so she’s not been able to raise the alarm. She…’ His voice tailed off as his eyes fixed on Donna. ‘She’s
