The Set Up (12 page)

‘Nico, my man.’ Jack sounded cheerful and breezy. ‘I won’t keep you, as I’m sure you’d rather be with Ketty than—’

‘I’m not with Ketty,’ I interrupted, my anger rising again. ‘Thanks to you, she hates me.’

‘What?’ Jack sucked in his breath.

I explained, briefly, what had happened after we left the bar. ‘You were wrong about her seeing me as some sort of hero,’ I went on, bitterly. ‘And you were wrong about Ed keeping quiet, as well – he came straight back to school and told Fergus everything.’

‘
What?
’ Jack snarled. ‘And what’s that
idiot
going to do?’

‘I don’t know,’ I stammered, shocked by the sudden fury in his voice. It might be okay for
me
to say Fergus was an idiot, but it didn’t feel right when Jack did it. I took a deep breath. ‘Anyway, I guess I’ll find out tomorrow. Fergus says he wants to talk to me in the morning. And I don’t think he’s planning on raising my allowance.’

There was a long silence on the other end of the phone.

‘Jesus Christ,’ Jack said through gritted teeth. ‘I had no idea either Edward or Ketty would react like they have.’

‘Yeah, well . . .’ I tailed off.

More silence.

‘Jack?’

‘I’m just thinking,’ he said, sounding a little calmer than before, ‘. . . about you talking to Fergus.’

‘What about it?’ I sighed inwardly. No doubt Jack was going to suggest I concealed as much as possible about Geri Paterson and the demonstration she’d just forced me and Ed to give.

‘I think you should tell Fergus everything,’ Jack went on.

I sat up, surprised. ‘Really?’

‘Yes. I feel very guilty that, thanks to me, there’s a wedge being driven between the two of you.’

I frowned. Jack didn’t
sound
like he felt guilty.

‘Well, we weren’t exactly close before,’ I said.

‘Still, I was wrong to encourage you to keep secrets from your stepdad.’ Jack paused. ‘There’s only one thing I’d appreciate you
not
mentioning . . .’

‘What’s that?’

‘The fact that we’re looking for the fourth person with the Medusa gene.’

‘You mean Viper?’ I said, remembering the code name Geri had told Ed and me about earlier.

‘Yes. Whatever you think of me you have to understand that my only objective is to help you and the others come to terms with your gift. That’s what Geri wants too – she might be an overbearing, control freak with too much power at her disposal, but she’s not a bad person
.
She wants to
help.
And if Fergus knows we’re looking for Viper, he might take steps to make sure we never reach her.’

‘Tell me who you and Geri work for,’ I said.

‘I can’t right now, not over the phone,’ Jack insisted. ‘It’s too complicated. But I promise I’ll tell you soon.’

I thought about what Jack was asking. He had a point – whatever else he’d done, he had certainly helped me use my telekinesis. I had no reason to doubt that, whoever Jack was working for, all he wanted was to understand the effects of the Medusa gene experiment and to help me and the others develop our abilities. After all, if he’d wanted to hurt me he could have done so very easily already. And the same was true of Geri.

‘So, will you keep your eyes open for any information?’ Jack hesitated. ‘I mean, I know you must feel that you’ve been really manipulated, especially with Geri weighing in like she did this evening . . .’

‘Yeah,’ I grunted.

‘Well, all I can say is that I would have handled things differently if she hadn’t been there.’ Jack cleared his throat. ‘As for Ketty, I’m not big on giving advice but, bloke to bloke, here’s what I know about girls. Only a few are the real deal. If Ketty didn’t really matter, then don’t waste time on hurt pride. With your looks I can’t imagine you’ll have any problem landing someone else. But if she
is
special, then fight for her. Give her a chance to cool down, then find her. Explain how you feel. If it’s meant to be, she’ll listen.’

The call ended and I fell asleep soon after, in a slightly more hopeful state of mind.

The next morning I decided Jack was right. It was Sunday, a day Ketty always went for a long run. I’d give it until the afternoon, then try and talk to her again.

Fergus hauled me up to the flat first thing and laid into me, big time. He was furious that I was using my telekinetic abilities when I’d promised I wouldn’t . . . that I’d lied to him . . . that I’d cheated in the casino last night . . . that I’d even been in a bar and casino in the first place . . . that I’d dragged Ed and Ketty into danger . . . and that I’d let Jack Linden into my life.

‘Why didn’t you come to me?’ he kept saying. ‘Why didn’t you tell me Jack had contacted you?’

I’d done as Jack had suggested and confessed everything to Fergus. Well, almost everything. I didn’t tell him about winning the money on football and – as requested – I didn’t tell him Jack and Geri knew there was a fourth teenager with the Medusa gene.

Fergus paled when I mentioned Geri’s name.

‘God, I hoped Ed had got that bit wrong,’ he muttered. ‘You must stay away from that woman, Nico. I mean, Jack Linden’s bad enough. Untrustworthy sod. He was a really bad influence on William, encouraging him to push the boundaries of his research all the time – research which William should
never
have got involved with. But Geri Paterson’s in a different league.’

‘How do you know?’ I asked, curious.

‘I met her once, briefly. But my brother told me about her before he died, after he realised the Medusa gene was lethal. She provided all the funds for his research. Jack was just the go-between.’

‘But where did
she
get the money from?’ I frowned.

‘I don’t know. But William told me the funds were pretty much unlimited
and
that she had a huge hold over the police. Anyway, we’re not here to talk about Geri Paterson.’

He changed the subject back to my shortcomings. I sat back in my chair and let the rest of his lecture wash over me. I was planning what I was going to say later to Ketty. Maybe if I finally told her how I felt about her, she’d understand that everything I’d done – all the lies I’d told and the money I’d managed to win – none of that was to make me look big. It had all been for her.

‘And so . . .’ Fergus sighed, ‘I feel I have no choice but to ground you from today through to the end of the Easter holidays.’

I snapped back to attention. ‘What?’ The three-week holidays were due to begin at the end of the week. That meant almost a month of staying inside the school grounds. ‘You can’t.’

‘It’s the only way for me to make sure you understand how serious what you’ve done is . . . and to keep you safe. There must be no more communication with Jack Linden and Geri Paterson. And, obviously, no more telekinesis.’

‘That’s not fair,’ I said.

Fergus leaned forwards. I noticed, for the first time, that there were deep lines etched across his forehead. ‘I wish you understood just how much you mean to me, Nico.’ His voice was strained.

I looked down at the scuffed and scratched wooden floor. Fergus
never
talked about feelings like this. What was going on?

‘I loved your mother very much,’ Fergus stammered on. ‘And . . . and I love you.’

I focused on a patch of floor where the whorl of wood combined with a particularly deep scratch. My face burned. It wasn’t that I didn’t love Fergus back. I did. It was just that talking about it felt awkward and embarrassing.

‘I realise we live in . . . in strange circumstances, what with this being a school and me being your head teacher. And I also know that I’m not the most demonstrative person in the world,’ Fergus said stiffly. ‘But I’ve tried to be a good stepfather. Up until a couple of years ago I think we had a good relationship. And then . . . I don’t know what’s happened since, Nico . . .’ Fergus tailed off.

You don’t want to let me grow up.

You try to control my life.

You don’t listen.

I was staring so hard at my patch of floor it had started to look like a face with only one ear.

‘Nico?’

‘’S all fine,’ I mumbled.

Fergus sat back. ‘But it’s
not
all fine, is it? Come on, talk to me, Nico. I’m listening.’

I looked up at last. Maybe if I tried to explain to him . . . maybe he’d see I hadn’t done anything deliberately to hurt him. I just wanted . . . needed . . . to be treated with respect.

‘I just . . . I just wish you would stop treating me like a baby.’

‘How do I . . .?’

‘Well, take the Medusa gene . . . you
knew
that it was inside me . . . that the virus William Fox used to implant it actually killed Mum. And yet you let me think she died of some random cancer.’

‘But she did,’ Fergus said. ‘A cancer that my brother created. I know William didn’t
mean
to create it, but he took risks, egged on by Jack and paid for by Geri.’

‘But you didn’t even tell me he existed,’ I said.

‘Don’t you understand, Nico?’ Fergus sighed. ‘My brother and I were reconciled before his death, but we hadn’t been close for months . . . years, even. Not since he got obsessed with the Medusa gene. And after he’d come to me and told me what he’d done – and the effect it was going to have on your mum – I got rid of all reminders of him . . . because every time I saw his face, I saw her death too. I decided you were better off not knowing anything about him or his work. And, I’m sorry, but I still think you’re better off not knowing—’

‘That’s what I’m talking about. Right there.
You
deciding what’s best for me.’

‘Of course that’s what I do.’ Fergus’s voice rose. ‘That’s my job as your stepfather.’

I sighed. What was the point of trying to talk to him? He was never going to understand.

We sat in silence for a few more moments, then Fergus muttered something about cooking me some breakfast and I muttered something back about getting my breakfast as usual at the canteen and I stumbled out of the flat.

As planned, I waited until the afternoon, then went to look for Ketty. She was nowhere to be found. Lola thought she was still out running, though Lauren said she’d seen her strolling in the grounds with Ed. I checked several times later and they were both still missing.

I could only assume they were outside somewhere, discussing what a horrible person I was.

I felt really ill that evening. Flu, probably brought on by getting soaked the night before – or so Fergus insisted. He found me in the common room, still hoping to see Ketty that night, and hauled me up to the flat. I spent the next three days in bed, feeling extremely sorry for myself. I called Ketty over and over on my mobile and left at least three apologetic messages, but she didn’t answer and when I crawled downstairs, which I did at several break times, I was unable to find her before some teacher intercepted me and, grumbling that I was spreading my germs, sent me back upstairs to bed.

Lola, Lauren and Tom came to visit briefly on my second evening. None of them mentioned Ketty – though Tom did tease me about Dylan again.

‘Still no picture of that mystery girlfriend, Nico?’ ‘Yeah, yeah,’ I said, barely listening. ‘I’ll sort it next time I see her.’

I felt a lot better when I woke up on Thursday. That evening I wandered down to the common room, then along to the girls’ dorm, looking for Ketty. One of her room-mates said she was out running. I rolled my eyes. Didn’t the girl ever stop?

Ketty was clearly avoiding me. Which meant that the only place I was going to be able to see her was in class. I decided that I had to go back to lessons tomorrow, Friday. It would be the last day of term and I was worried that if I didn’t see Ketty then, I might miss her altogether. She hadn’t said anything about visiting her parents in Singapore for Easter, but there was every chance that she would. Fergus agreed I was well enough. He also told me he was going away from early tomorrow for a couple of days . . . that Mr Rogerson and Ms Sanders, Fergus’s PA, would keep an eye on me . . . blah, blah . . . I didn’t really pay much attention.

All I could think about was trying to make up with Ketty.

I woke early the next morning and – unheard of for me – was the first person to arrive for our first class of the day – maths, with Mr Rogerson.

I kept an eye open for Ketty as everyone else arrived, but she didn’t turn up. At one minute to nine, I scurried over to Lola and Lauren and asked why she wasn’t there.

‘She’s gone off to that marathon in Scotland,’ Lauren explained.

My mouth fell open, I’d forgotten all about the marathon.

‘Yeah, Mr Fox got permission off her parents to take her. He’s, like, signed up as her mentor and she’s staying with him in his house in Edinburgh.’

What?
My head spun. I knew about that house, though I’d never been there. It was Fergus’s parents’ old house – left to Fergus last year when his dad died. Why hadn’t Fergus told me he was going there? And why hadn’t he explained he was taking Ketty?

‘Ketty’s staying with
Fergus
?’ I stared at Lola, shocked.

‘Yeah.’ Lola made a face. ‘Rather her than me. After that, she’s off to her parents’ for the rest of the holidays.’

Ketty was going to Singapore for the next three weeks? No
way.
I let out a groan.

‘Sorry, Nico, I forgot he’s your stepdad.’ Lola smiled apologetically, misunderstanding the look of horror on my face.

‘I wish he wasn’t,’ I muttered, my stomach turning somersaults as I anticipated the next few weeks without Ketty . . . without any chance to get her to change her mind about me.

‘
I’m
around this weekend, though.’ Lauren looked up at me from under her eyelashes.

‘Yeah, me too,’ Lola giggled.

‘Right, er, thanks.’ I made my way back to my desk.

Ketty was gone. And there was no way I could reach her. Fergus had not only grounded me, he’d taken that hundred pounds from the casino off me too.

As Mr Rogerson strolled into the room, I sank down in my chair, defeated.

By the end of the morning I’d decided to try and call Ketty in the house in Edinburgh. Fergus said he’d left the details with Ms Sanders. I wandered over to his office during the lunch break. Ketty might not be answering her mobile when she could see it was me ringing, but if I called her on Fergus’s landline she’d
have
to come to the phone.