Bad Company by Cathy MacPhail

clutches and all I’d done was pull him into more trouble.
    As we sat silently waiting for him to arrive I tried to plan my escape.
    I could scream, but who would hear me? These offices were far from the main road, surrounded by building sites. I could make a run for it. Somehow I didn’t think I’d get very far. Esther was leaning against the door, barring my way.
    The best form of defence is attack. Could I throw myself at Magnus Pierce, take him by surprise? Another stupid idea. I could just picture that giant of a man holding me at arm’s length, or lifting me by the collar while she stood watching in amusement.
    This close, I saw how big and powerful and scary Magnus Pierce really was.
    What had made me think I could appeal to his better nature? This man didn’t have any better nature. And now, Dad was caught like a rat in a trap, because of my stupidity.
    Magnus Pierce swung himself round in his swivel chair to face me. ‘Won’t be long now, princess.’
    ‘I’m not your princess,’ I snapped at him.
    He smiled broadly. ‘Spirit,’ he said to Esther. ‘That’s what this one’s got.’
    She wasn’t impressed by my spirit. She scowled at me. ‘I told you we should have dealt with Jonathan Blythe a long time ago.’
    ‘He went to prison because of you!’ I shouted at both of them. ‘He never told on anyone. So why can’t you just let him be!’
    Magnus Pierce shook his head. ‘Ah, your father has always been hampered by a conscience, Lissa. Bad thing to have in our business. Sooner or later, he would have passed on his information.’ He held up his hands. ‘Now, we can’t allow that.’
    ‘Don’t bother explaining anything to her. She’s only a child.’
    And the way Esther was looking at me I didn’t think she intended for me to get any older.
    The clock on the wall ticked the seconds away with the beating of my heart.
    What were they planning to do to us? When Dad came would they just let us go? Somehow I didn’t think so.
    Were we going to ‘disappear’? I’d heard of people doing that. Without a trace, never heard of again.
    And if we did, Murdo’s life would be ruined forever because I’d never get the chance to tell the truth. Tell them that Diane’s story was all a lie. That Murdo was the best teacher in the world.
    I promised if I survived today, that’s the first thing I would do. Save Murdo.
    It all seemed a hundred years ago and yet it had only been this morning.
    I looked at the clock. Only ten minutes had passed. Had the car arrived for Dad yet? Was he being forced to leave the house? I could have almost cried as I imagined him trying to organise a babysitter for Margo. He’d never leave her alone under any circumstances. Never had since he’d come out of prison. While Mum worked he had cooked and cleaned and looked after us and I had never appreciated anything. The job at Burgers A GoGo must have been as humiliating for him as it had been for me, but he had been willing to suffer it just to have a job. And what had Idone? Made things even worse for him. Just as I was doing now.
    And what was he doing now? Was he struggling with the men Magnus Pierce had sent to collect him? Was he being dragged out to a waiting limousine? Maybe the neighbours would see. His struggles would alert them. They might call the police.
    But of course, they wouldn’t. They knew Dad’s past. Who he had been involved with. They would probably think he was just being arrested again by some plain-clothes police.
    There was no way out. The car arriving at the house would have taken him by surprise. Magnus Pierce had given him no chance to contact the police himself to tell them what was happening.
    It took me all my time and effort not to cry.
    And suddenly, after an age, he was here! I could hear him pounding up the stairs before bursting into the office, his eyes wide with alarm.
    ‘Lissa!’ He dragged me close to him. ‘Did they hurt you!’
    ‘Of course not.’ Magnus Pierce sounded