Double-Cross (10 page)

‘Well, I’m taking a shower,’ Dylan said. ‘We can find out everything else later.’

She marched into the room opposite and shut the door. Ed wandered away soon after, to the room immediately beyond Dylan’s. Ketty turned to go.

I grabbed her arm. ‘Ketts?’ I said. ‘What’s up?’

She shook off my arm. ‘Nothing.’

‘Yes, there is,’ I said. ‘Why are you mad at me?’

‘Why are you being so difficult?’ she said.

I stared at her. Did she really think
I
was the one being difficult?

‘Why’s it unreasonable to be suspicious of a man who comes out of nowhere and offers us exactly what we want, plus the equivalent of a holiday in a five-star hotel?’

‘I’m not talking about Avery,’ Ketty said. ‘I’m talking about Cal. Why did you make all that fuss about him taking me flying earlier?’

‘I
didn’t
make a fuss,’ I insisted. ‘I just thought you could have talked to me – and the others – before you went off with Cal.’

Ketty shook her head. ‘Like you talked to us before you went off with Amy back to England?’

What?

‘That’s completely different,’ I said. ‘Taking you with me would have put you in danger.’

‘But you didn’t even discuss it,’ Ketty said. ‘You just went off on your own, like you always do. And for far longer.’

I opened my mouth to protest, but Ketty held up her hand. ‘Don’t, Nico.’ She paused. ‘Just think about it. I’m going to my room.’

She turned on her heel and disappeared inside the room next door. I stood, staring after her. Was she right? Was me going off with Amy back to England a similar thing to her going off with Cal to try out his Medusa gift? It was true that I hadn’t said anything, but that was because I knew there’d just have been an argument. And at least I was trying to help the four of us get evidence on Geri. Ketty had just been messing around with Cal.

And he’d
definitely
been flirting with her.

I gritted my teeth and went back inside my room. I took a long, hot bath in the massive bathtub, then wrapped myself in a white, fluffy towel. None of this improved my mood.

As I paced back into the bedroom, there was a knock on the door. Avery’s wife, Philly, was outside, four carrier bags in her hands.

She looked at me with soft eyes. ‘Nico?’

I nodded, checking my towel was firmly wrapped round me.

She handed me one of the bags. ‘Something in there should fit.’

‘How long have you lived here?’ I said, too curious to keep silent.

‘Avery and I moved here just after our youngest was born.’ She paused.

‘What about Cal?’ I said. ‘What happened to his mum?’

‘Meg?’ Philly lowered her voice. ‘She died, of course. But you know about that. Your mother died for the same reason, didn’t she?’

I nodded again. Philly smiled sympathetically at me. ‘Avery will answer all your questions,’ she said. ‘Get dressed. Cal will be along to collect you in fifteen minutes.’

She drifted along the corridor to Ketty’s door. I closed mine and examined the contents of my bag. Two pairs of plain grey shorts which fitted fine and a selection of T-shirts. I picked one in a pale green that I knew I’d look good in, then spent a bit of time sorting my hair.

Don’t get me wrong – I’m not vain or anything, but I like making the most of how I look. So many guys either don’t know how or can’t be bothered. I mean, look at Ed!

I examined my torso in the bathroom mirror before slipping on my T-shirt. I looked okay, though my muscles weren’t anywhere near as developed as Cal’s. And though my arms were a deeper brown than his, the rest of my torso was much paler, where it had been hidden from the sun for months.

I made a mental note that whatever else I did in the next couple of days, I was going to make an effort to build myself up a bit. Avery was bound to have a gym here. And I was definitely going to get outside in the sunshine.

Another knock on the door. This time Cal was outside. He looked at me without smiling. ‘The others are ready. You?’ His tone was curt.

It struck me that he’d been ruder to me than the others right from the start. Or at least, right from the moment he’d clocked Ketty.

I narrowed my eyes. ‘I’m ready,’ I said.

Cal stared at me.
Man
, he looked mad as hell. I met his gaze. No way was this jerk intimidating me.

The others emerged from their rooms. Dylan was dressed in a flowery, feminine dress rather like the one Caro, the maid, had worn earlier. Ketty was in cut-off jeans and a pretty T-shirt. Ed – unbelievably – was wearing crisp cotton trousers and a polo shirt, – almost an exact copy of his normal dress style back home.

‘Hey, Chino Boy,’ Dylan said, ruffling his hair. ‘How you doing?’

Ed grunted.

Cal’s eyes lingered on Ketty. I gave him a not particularly gentle prod in the ribs. ‘Shall we go?’ I said.

Cal led us along the landing to the balcony at the end. It was set with plants and sunloungers and overlooked the swimming pool below and the small garden area beyond.

As we followed Cal down the steps to the swimming pool patio, I gazed out across the scrubland beyond. There was literally nothing for miles, just the mountains in one direction and the outline of the nearest town in the other.

‘This is the pool area,’ Cal said.

‘
Really?’
I said.

Ketty glared at me. Dylan giggled.

Ignoring my interruption, Cal led us round the corner to the back of the ranch. Fenced fields stretched out as far as the eye could see. Cal started droning on about how many zillions of hectares belonged to the ranch. Apparently, there were sheep out there somewhere – towards the greener part of the landscape.

Two horses gambolled in one of the nearer fields.

‘Can we ride them?’ Dylan asked breathlessly.

‘Sure,’ said Cal.

Dylan’s eyes glittered. ‘You have to try riding, Ketty. It’s awesome. As good as flying, I imagine.’

‘D’you wanna go flying with me now?’ Cal said with what looked to me like a very self-satisfied smirk on his face.

‘Sooo
much,’ said Dylan.

‘What about you?’ Cal turned to Ketty. ‘You want to come up again, too?’

I glared at her. Surely she wasn’t going to fall for his fake charm
again.

‘I’d love to,’ she said.

I ground my teeth. Couldn’t she see he was totally hitting on her?

Cal grinned. ‘Okay, let me show Dylan how it works first.’

He grabbed her wrist and they soared into the air.

Ed clutched his chest. ‘There is no way I’m ever doing that,’ he said.

Cal did a quick spin over the ranch with Dylan. She squealed with delight. I glanced at Ketty. She was watching – enraptured.

After a few minutes Cal and Dylan landed beside us.

‘That was
sooo
awesome,’ Dylan said. ‘Let’s go again.’

‘I can take you both up, if you like.’ Cal spoke to Ketty, completely ignoring me and Ed. ‘It’ll be totally safe.’

‘Really?’ Ketty’s eyes shone as he took her hand.

As the three of them soared into the air, I clenched my fists. If I hadn’t been sure before, I was now. Cal was definitely trying to steal my girlfriend – and from right under my nose.

At that moment, Avery came out of the house and strolled towards us. He stood between me and Ed, smoothing his bald head with his hand.

‘Do you have everything you need?’ he asked us politely.

Yeah, except for a way of getting rid of Cal or any idea what you’re really after.

I said nothing.

‘Yes, thank you,’ Ed replied.

I could feel Avery’s eyes on me again. I turned to face him.

‘What?’ I said, knowing I sounded rude and not caring.

Avery looked at me thoughtfully. ‘I know you’re impatient for answers, Nico, and I
have
answers. The evidence that will convict Geri Paterson of murder and help prove your innocence is her own confession.’

I blinked at him, startled by his sudden reference back to our main reason for being here. Ed’s mouth fell open.

‘Go on,’ I said.

‘Geri sold the Medusa gene code to a Scottish scientist called Rod McMurdo,’ Avery said. ‘She met him during her early days as a psychic investigator. In fact, it was McMurdo who told her about William Fox. Fox and McMurdo didn’t know each other, but Fox was a big name in scientific circles. McMurdo had some interesting ideas, but he wasn’t in William Fox’s league as a scientist. When Geri discovered Fox, she lost interest in McMurdo who left the UK to work here in Sydney. Later, after Fox’s death, Geri flew over to sell McMurdo the gene code and he recorded her explaining exactly how far she’d gone to bring it to him.’

‘She just blurted out that she’d murdered someone?’ I said, disbelieving.

‘She was in an emotional state,’ Avery said. ‘And to be honest, I think she
wanted
to confess to someone. She knew that as long as McMurdo had possession of the gene, which he desperately wanted, he would never expose her.’

‘And how do you know all this?’ I demanded.

‘McMurdo and I used to be friends. We met here in Sydney . . . we worked at the same hospital for a while. McMurdo knew that I’d had a number of run-ins with William Fox . . . we even chatted about how ludicrous Fox’s claims were. At the time, neither of us believed that the Medusa gene really existed.’ Avery sighed. ‘Anyway, when my second wife, Meg, became pregnant, McMurdo told us he had bought the Medusa gene.’

‘Did he tell you about the mothers dying?’ I asked.

‘No, not that,’ Avery said. ‘McMurdo must have known that the Medusa gene was deadly – after all, Geri had sold him the gene – but he certainly didn’t tell us. The implantation worked. Cal was born and . . .’

‘. . . and a few years later Cal’s mother – Meg – died,’ Ed said.

Avery nodded, looking weary.

‘So you want revenge on McMurdo?’ I said slowly.

‘Yes, he betrayed me, just as Geri betrayed you,’ Avery said bitterly. ‘I went after him at the time, but he was clever . . . there was no proof he’d ever been involved in Cal’s birth.’

‘Why didn’t you just beat him up?’ I said.

Avery stared at me. ‘Physical violence is not my style, Nico.’ He sighed. ‘I’ve waited a long time for this, but if you can find the proof that Geri killed William Fox, McMurdo goes down with her as an accessory after the fact. It’s not the crime I wanted him to pay for most, but it will have to do.’

I nodded. It made sense.

Avery cleared his throat. ‘I hope you’ll understand, Nico, but before I tell you any more, I’d like to see what you’re capable of. McMurdo is potentially a dangerous man and I need to know you can take care of yourself

My immediate reaction was resentment. What did he think I was – some sort of performing chimp? But I soon realised it was in my interests to show Avery exactly what I could do. If we could access McMurdo’s secret film of Geri’s confession, then we could hand it over to the Australian police. It was perfect, in fact. Geri might have a lot of power at home in Britain, but even she couldn’t control a police force on the other side of the world.

‘Sure, I’ll show you what I can do.’ I looked around for something to move telekinetically that would impress Avery. Apart from a couple of bales of hay in the neighbouring field and the sunloungers round the pool behind us, there wasn’t much that was movable out here. And I was certain Avery wouldn’t want me ripping up his plants or fences.

My gaze flickered upwards, to where Cal, with Ketty and Dylan on either side, were lined up in the air about twenty metres above the ground, performing double somersaults.

Without thinking it through, I focused all my powers on the three of them. I only intended to give them a nudge, to throw their stupid somersaults off balance, but the energy flowed out of me with more force than I’d realised.

The three of them blasted forwards in the air, as if shoved by an invisible hand. With a yell, Cal let go of both girls’ hands.

And then everything went into slow motion as the three of them dropped through the air, falling towards the ground.

10: Falling

I could feel myself trying to race forwards, but everything had slowed and it was like moving through mud. Beside me, Avery roared out Cal’s name.

I held out my shaking hands. Dylan and Ketty were dropping like stones. I put every ounce of effort I had into the telekinesis, intending to hold them up.

And then I realised Cal had the girls by the arms again. They bobbed in the air for a moment, then soared up.

They were safe. The whole thing had lasted seconds.

My heart thudded as it occurred to me that Dylan – had she fallen – would have been safe thanks to her ability to protect herself from physical harm. Ketty, on the other hand, would probably have fallen to her death if Cal or I hadn’t saved her.

Avery and Ed were still standing beside me, looking shocked. Above our heads, Cal and Dylan were speaking. Cal let go of Dylan’s arm and she dropped to earth.

Avery gasped, but it was obvious from the relaxed way Dylan fell that she was fine. She landed lightly on the ground, her force field protecting her from the impact. Jumping up, she raced towards us, her eyes glinting with fury.