‘Looks like it.’
He shook his head, still not convinced. ‘Who else did you text?’
Annie stared at him. Larry raised his rifle. ‘Who else?’
Annie took a deep breath. ‘I texted 999. If the texts have got through to my friends, then that one should have as well. The police will be on their way.’ She had no idea if this were possible but, if she didn’t know, their captors might not know either.
Annie was trembling but she couldn’t let Larry see that she was frightened. She had to sound plausible, to convince them that help was on the way and that they should leave.
‘I don’t believe a word of this.’ Larry gestured towards Mo. ‘Go and find this phone.’
Annie watched as the man looked at her doubtfully, then back at his boss. She had one last gamble. ‘It might not be there,’ she said. ‘If somebody found it or moved it and it picked up service then that might be another reason the texts got through. Either way, the police will be here soon, if they’re not already.’
The three men all exchanged looks. She’d thrown the one who’d been kind to her under the bus, she knew that, but why should she care? If he was such a nice person, he wouldn’t have been walking round a school wielding a gun.
‘I knew he’d be a fucking liability!’ Larry raged. ‘Bring him here now! And if he’s got that fucking phone, I’ll kill him!’
Curly looked at him doubtfully. ‘Shouldn’t we be leaving? Getting caught was never in the plan.’
‘We leave when I say we leave,’ Larry said, his lowered voice adding to the menace of his words. ‘Bring that arsehole to me and find the phone. Now!’
26
Penny left Ruth in her office, poring over the accounts. She didn’t need to stay with her: she knew exactly what the PA would find. Penny had checked earlier to make sure that the 200 grand was still in Cam’s account. He had no idea what was going on, no idea what she’d done and no clue who ‘Adam’ really was. Her only regret was that she couldn’t be there when her brother did the big reveal. She’d had to keep an eye on Ruth, lead her to the accounts and make sure she found out about the money. She’d seemed a bit surprised that the supposed ransom demand was for so little but had no reason to question what Penny was telling her.
Her job now was to get the students out of the humanities block safely. They’d not been in any real danger – apart from the threat from each other, apparently – but they didn’t know that, and she was to be the face and voice of reassurance. Especially to Annie, who wasn’t supposed to have been there. Penny had been stunned when she’d found out that her daughter was in school. The girl was supposed to be shopping in Carlisle, but she couldn’t keep away from bloody Tom Cleaver. A quick text had alerted the team to Annie’s presence but there was no guarantee that it would have made any difference – all Penny could do was pray that her daughter hadn’t been harmed. As far as she knew, they were loyal men – apart from the new one who was an entirely unknown quantity – they knew where the lines were drawn. Using Donna Frith’s brother had been inspired, Penny thought; a great way to recruit an extra body who had everything to lose. She wondered if he’d seen his sister’s distress and finally come to realise exactly who he was dealing with. He might clear his physical debt, but she doubted the emotional toll would ever truly leave him.
A text announced itself on her phone as she made her way through the corridors to the exit to the playground. It was the one in charge – Mike something, she didn’t know his full name – and it was very clear.
Call me. Now!
Penny didn’t know who he thought he was, giving her orders, but she’d make sure Gerry knew about this. She briefly considered letting him sweat for a while but it might be something important, or something to do with Annie, so she didn’t dare ignore it.
‘What?’ she snapped as soon as the man answered.
‘Wait.’
Penny heard a door opening and closing. ‘Where are you?’ she asked. ‘You can’t leave the classroom.’
‘I’m literally outside the door. Spanner’s looking after them. He’s solid.’
‘Spanner? Where’s Charlie? And that other one – the new one?’
She heard a heavy sigh, obviously this was a man who didn’t like to be questioned.
‘That’s what we need to talk about. One of the kids had a phone. She escaped for a few minutes and claims she sent a text to 999…’
‘She’s lying,’ Penny said.
‘That’s what I’d be tempted to think but she texted all her little friends as well and we just got a bunch of messages come through saying the police are on the way.’
‘Come through where? On whose phone?’ He wasn’t making sense.
‘On all the fucking phones! We took them off the kids and locked them in a drawer and they all started going off like a bloody pinball machine. If these texts got through, then the one she sent to the emergency services must have as well.’
He wasn’t making any sense. How could one of the students have sent a message? ‘I don’t–’
Another sigh. ‘One of the kids escaped. While she was gone, she claims to have sent a series of texts including one to the emergency services. The ones she sent to her mates say that the police are on their way.’
He still wasn’t making sense. Penny was missing something. ‘Check her phone. See if she sent the texts.’
‘She doesn’t have it on her. She claims she left it in a cupboard and it had no signal but it must have found some because the texts to her friends came through. I’m worried that Andy whatever his name
