Miss No One by Mark Ayre (interesting books to read TXT) 📕

But Abbie couldn’t turn, in case she caught sight of the enemy behind one of the school buildings’ windows. Staying alert was vital.

“Why did Ndidi attack you?”

Gary drew a sharp breath but, when he answered, his voice was clear. No chance he hadn’t expected the question. It was natural she would want to know.

“You’ve probably noticed I’m a coward,” he said. Abbie chose not to comment. “Every big decision I make seems to be fear-driven. I started dealing drugs because I was afraid of looking uncool. I couldn’t stop because I was afraid of what Lucky Draw might do to a deserter. I came to find you today because I’m afraid the guilt will crush me if something happens to that little girl. I’m afraid of coming into that school but I will, because I’m even more afraid of you.”

Abbie smiled at this last comment. Didn’t respond, not even to hurry him along because she trusted Gary was building towards an answer.

“That’s important,” he said. “You’re here, so you’re scarier than the kidnappers. I was scared of betraying Lucky Draw but when the guy asked me to rat on them, I did, because he was in front of me, and he was frightening. But I knew it’d come back on me. I knew the guys at Lucky Draw would find out. There are plenty of stories about them… they always find out.”

The smile remained. Abbie knew nothing about the crooks who ran Lucky Draw, but she had dealt with plenty like them. Enough to know there was every chance the stories Gary had heard about those punished for desertion and betrayal were false, put around by the owners of Lucky Draw to ensure the reality of betrayal and desertion never happened. Such propaganda always worked a treat. Bottom-wrung crooks tended to be a nervous, easily frightened bunch. Gary was proof of that.

“And they did find out?” Abbie knew where this was going, but needed to hear Gary say it. Despite the risk, she turned to face the lanky teenager as she asked this final question.

“Oh, I knew. Knew the moment he laid the first punch on me. He didn’t have to say a word,” said Gary. “Not their enforcer. Not Idrissa Ndidi.”

Eighteen

Detective Idrissa Ndidi—corrupt cop in the employ of Lucky Draw. An enforcer for that nasty gang, sent to punish those who turned against the crooks. Amongst over tasks. That made even more sense of the kidnapping. Having a cop on side before you carried out a major heist was good. But a corrupt cop who worked for both the police and the crooks you were trying to rob? That was a hole in one.

Abbie mulled it over. Nodded. Then turned back to the gate separating her from the closed school’s grounds.

With one hand, she tapped the metal. The other, she rose and used to signal Gary forward.

"Over."

"What? Why?"

Abbie turned back. The panic on Gary’s face was reminiscent of a rabbit in traffic.

"Well, it's possible the bad guys have set up invisible lasers around this gate that recognise when an unregistered party tries to enter the school and so releases the death drone. The death drone is fast. You wouldn't be able to outrun it, and when it caught you, it would deploy its incineration beam to atomise you."

Abbie looked to Gary, who appeared to be on the verge of tears.

"The beautiful thing is this system would already have been here. Orion and his team would have needed only to reprogram it to target their enemies rather than its natural foe. The paedophile."

Gary stepped back, bumped the roundabout, and almost screamed.

"I want you to jump over the gate first so I can ascertain what model of death drone we're dealing with and thus decide how best to combat it. You'll die, but your sacrifice will be noble and not in vain."

Gary looked as though he might have wet himself.

"I'm obviously kidding," said Abbie and hopped the gate. "Come along."

Taking several steps across the carpark, her gun still by her side, Abbie shaded her eyes with her hand and glanced at the windows of the nearest building.

She couldn't see anyone. Not that this told her anything. If Orion had left men inside any of these blocks, they would have positioned themselves so trespassers would be unable to see them until it was too late.

Besides, if Isabella was here, Abbie didn't believe there would be guards posted anywhere except in the building where Orion was holding the child. His team would be small. If armed police arrived, he would have little interest in starting a firefight he almost certainly could not win.

"The building where you met your mysterious friend. You said it was at the rear of the school?"

Abbie looked back. Gary was still hovering on the gate’s other side. His eyes were flicking back and forth, perhaps searching for the imaginary death drone.

A flash of guilt shot through Abbie. She reminded herself Gary was not a hardened criminal but an insecure teenager, led down a path it was not easy to escape before he was old enough to know any better. Teasing him was unkind.

"You're safe with me," said Abbie. "Come over the gate. If at any point we come against adversaries, you listen to my instructions. If I think you're best served staying at my side, I'll tell you. If I don't, I'll say run, and you bolt fast as you can. Got it?"

Gary raised his hand to his mouth as though to bite his nails but resisted. He was right at the gate but still not over.

“I don’t understand,” he said. “Don’t you want to know more about Ndidi?”

Raising her eyebrows, Abbie said, “Do you know any more about Ndidi? Anything relevant to his daughter’s kidnapping, that is.”

Gary stuttered and stumbled. “Well, no.”

“What I thought,” she said. “Now come along, hop that gate, would you?”

Still he hesitated. “This is a bad idea.”

Shrugging, Abbie said, "Only time will tell."

When Gary still would not cross the school boundary, Abbie returned