shout if anyone comes.’
Ketty nodded. I raced along to the toilet. The window was just above my head, about two metres off the floor.
Ed? I thought-spoke. Are you there?
I’m in the cubicle. Nico, I’m sorry, but I couldn’t jump out of that window upstairs. It was Cal . . . I didn’t . . . I just don’t know him well enough to—
Never mind that now. Can you reach the toilet window?
Yes, but it’s locked.
I looked up at the outer wall of the toilet, focusing hard on the frame above my head. I raised my hands. I couldn’t see the whole of the outer part of the lock from this angle, but I’d opened locks like this a million times.
I gave my wrist a flick and heard the satisfying click of the window opening. A second later Ed’s hand appeared on the sill. I focused on helping him up telekinetically, trying to move him as smoothly as I could.
He rose, his face screwed up in concentration.
Okay? I thought-spoke.
Yeah, this is weird, though.
Ed pushed at the glass, opening the window further. A moment later he was scrabbling his way through. I caught his eye and, in that moment, felt a surge of pride. Ed might not have trusted Cal, but he was willing to put himself in my hands as he had done before, in that jump from the church tower in Africa.
‘Turn around,’ I ordered.
Ed twisted round so that he faced the wall.
‘Okay, now let go, I’ve got you,’ I said, focusing on holding him in the air.
I felt my telekinesis taking his weight, as Ed stopped clinging onto the window frame. I took a quick moment to balance him, then gently teleported him to the ground.
As he landed, I glanced up to where Ketty was still keeping lookout at the end of the street.
‘Go with Ketty,’ I said.
Ed nodded. ‘Er, thanks . . .’
‘No sweat.’
Ed set off. I looked up at the toilet window again. Two flicks of my wrist and it was shut and locked. As I stepped back, about to run to the others, something made me look up.
A man with cropped, grey hair and dark brown eyes was peering out of the open first-floor window immediately above the toilets. I recognised him straight away from the photos we’d studied earlier. Rod McMurdo.
I froze.
As our eyes met, McMurdo’s mouth fell open. ‘Nico?’
Heart pounding, I turned and ran, tugging my cap down over my face as I tore out of the alley towards Avery and the waiting car.
McMurdo hadn’t lived in the UK for fifteen years.
How on earth had he known who I was?
12: Test Results
I reached Avery’s car just behind Ed and Ketty. Seconds later we were zooming down the road.
The others chattered away, full of that combination of excitement and relief that comes after a mission nearly goes wrong, then works out at the last minute. I sat in silence, going over what had just happened. How could I have been so careless? We’d kept our faces away from all the security staff and indoor cameras. Why hadn’t I thought there might be someone watching us outside?
Ed was eager to report that he’d seen exactly where McMurdo was keeping Geri’s filmed confession.
‘It’s in his bank, in a safety deposit box,’ he said. ‘I know the name and the branch, and the number of the box, though it won’t be easy to access once we’re inside.’
Dylan snorted. ‘Don’t be so lame. We’ll do it.’
‘Are you sure McMurdo won’t remember your face from the mind-reading?’ I said. It had occurred to me that maybe McMurdo knew more about all of us than we’d realised.
‘No,’ Ed said firmly. ‘I did the full memory-erasing technique on him.’
I nodded. Ed had recently developed the ability to hypnotise people while mind-reading them so that they would never remember his presence.
‘When you were inside his head, did you see if he knew you?’ I said. ‘Or if he knew the rest of us?’
‘No.’ Ed frowned. ‘I wasn’t looking for that information though, so—’
‘There’s no way McMurdo could know what any of you look like,’ Avery said. ‘Geri
Ketty nodded. I raced along to the toilet. The window was just above my head, about two metres off the floor.
Ed? I thought-spoke. Are you there?
I’m in the cubicle. Nico, I’m sorry, but I couldn’t jump out of that window upstairs. It was Cal . . . I didn’t . . . I just don’t know him well enough to—
Never mind that now. Can you reach the toilet window?
Yes, but it’s locked.
I looked up at the outer wall of the toilet, focusing hard on the frame above my head. I raised my hands. I couldn’t see the whole of the outer part of the lock from this angle, but I’d opened locks like this a million times.
I gave my wrist a flick and heard the satisfying click of the window opening. A second later Ed’s hand appeared on the sill. I focused on helping him up telekinetically, trying to move him as smoothly as I could.
He rose, his face screwed up in concentration.
Okay? I thought-spoke.
Yeah, this is weird, though.
Ed pushed at the glass, opening the window further. A moment later he was scrabbling his way through. I caught his eye and, in that moment, felt a surge of pride. Ed might not have trusted Cal, but he was willing to put himself in my hands as he had done before, in that jump from the church tower in Africa.
‘Turn around,’ I ordered.
Ed twisted round so that he faced the wall.
‘Okay, now let go, I’ve got you,’ I said, focusing on holding him in the air.
I felt my telekinesis taking his weight, as Ed stopped clinging onto the window frame. I took a quick moment to balance him, then gently teleported him to the ground.
As he landed, I glanced up to where Ketty was still keeping lookout at the end of the street.
‘Go with Ketty,’ I said.
Ed nodded. ‘Er, thanks . . .’
‘No sweat.’
Ed set off. I looked up at the toilet window again. Two flicks of my wrist and it was shut and locked. As I stepped back, about to run to the others, something made me look up.
A man with cropped, grey hair and dark brown eyes was peering out of the open first-floor window immediately above the toilets. I recognised him straight away from the photos we’d studied earlier. Rod McMurdo.
I froze.
As our eyes met, McMurdo’s mouth fell open. ‘Nico?’
Heart pounding, I turned and ran, tugging my cap down over my face as I tore out of the alley towards Avery and the waiting car.
McMurdo hadn’t lived in the UK for fifteen years.
How on earth had he known who I was?
12: Test Results
I reached Avery’s car just behind Ed and Ketty. Seconds later we were zooming down the road.
The others chattered away, full of that combination of excitement and relief that comes after a mission nearly goes wrong, then works out at the last minute. I sat in silence, going over what had just happened. How could I have been so careless? We’d kept our faces away from all the security staff and indoor cameras. Why hadn’t I thought there might be someone watching us outside?
Ed was eager to report that he’d seen exactly where McMurdo was keeping Geri’s filmed confession.
‘It’s in his bank, in a safety deposit box,’ he said. ‘I know the name and the branch, and the number of the box, though it won’t be easy to access once we’re inside.’
Dylan snorted. ‘Don’t be so lame. We’ll do it.’
‘Are you sure McMurdo won’t remember your face from the mind-reading?’ I said. It had occurred to me that maybe McMurdo knew more about all of us than we’d realised.
‘No,’ Ed said firmly. ‘I did the full memory-erasing technique on him.’
I nodded. Ed had recently developed the ability to hypnotise people while mind-reading them so that they would never remember his presence.
‘When you were inside his head, did you see if he knew you?’ I said. ‘Or if he knew the rest of us?’
‘No.’ Ed frowned. ‘I wasn’t looking for that information though, so—’
‘There’s no way McMurdo could know what any of you look like,’ Avery said. ‘Geri
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