A. N. T. I. D. O. T. E. (11 page)

‘But this isn’t on your mum’s PC any more?’ Halle asked when she’d finished.

‘There’s nothing left on my mum’s PC,’ I said gloomily. ‘It’s been completely erased. If all the files had just been deleted then I could get them back but the whole disk has been unconditionally formatted. It’s clean.’

‘So if I do go to work for ANTIDOTE, how will I even know what to look for?’

That’s when I had a flash of brilliance, even if I do say so myself! I leaned forward eagerly. ‘I’m going to reinstall all Mum’s software on her PC tomorrow and configure a memory key for you to take with you on Monday. Then all you have to do is insert the memory key containing my super-snooper software onto each person’s PC and run just one file. I’ll set it up so that everything else is done for you. My program will search each computer for any information sent to or received from Marcus Pardela or that other guy – whats-hisname Shelby. It’ll copy all the information and all you’d have to do is bring the memory key back home and I’d check it here.’

‘Will that work?’ Halle asked doubtfully.

I sat back, indignant. ‘Of course it’ll work.
I’ll
be the one setting up the software.’

‘Pardon me!’ Halle raised an eyebrow. ‘And when exactly am I meant to load up this memory stick?’

‘Plug it into each PC’s USB port in the lunch break
when
there’s no one around, or after work?’ I ventured.

Halle chewed on her bottom lip. She didn’t look at all happy and, to be honest, I couldn’t blame her. It was dangerous and goodness only knew what would happen if something went wrong and she got caught. But she was my last hope.

Please don’t say no. Please don’t say no … Please don’t say …

‘OK, I’ll do it. But not for you – for your mum and for ANTIDOTE. I believe in what they’re doing and I wouldn’t want to stand by and let anyone from Shelby’s jeopardize that,’ Halle said at last.

I leapt out of the chair.

‘You’ll do it? You’ll really do it?’

‘I just said so, didn’t I,’ Halle sniffed. ‘And I’m regretting it already.’

‘Thank you.’ I bounded round the room, unable to keep still. ‘We’ll find out who the Shelby agent is and then get them to admit to the police that my mum and uncle were framed for something they didn’t do. Yippee!’

‘Hold your horses.’ Halle put out a hand. ‘Before we start making a carrot cake, we’ve got to dig up the carrots first.’

That slowed me down a bit. I
was
getting ahead of myself but it had to work, it just had to.

‘OK. You sort out the software I’m meant to use and I’ll take it from there. But don’t count your chickens.
ANTIDOTE
might not even want me to work there,’ said Halle.

‘Of course they will,’ I grinned at her. ‘You’ll just have to charm them.’

‘Then she doesn’t stand a chance,’ Nosh stage-whispered from behind me.

Both Halle and I turned round to glower at him. He shrank into the chair and shut up – for once!

UP AND DOWN
, up and down. Stop and wait. Up and down. Stop and wait. On and on. And still the phone didn’t ring. Admittedly, I was still a couple of minutes ahead of time. Nine-fifteen the note had said.

‘Elliot, sit down for goodness’ sake. You’re making me dizzy,’ Nosh complained. He sat halfway up the stairs, watching me.

‘It’s all right for you,’ I glared.

‘No, it isn’t,’ Nosh interrupted. ‘We’re friends, aren’t we? If you’re upset, I’m upset.’

I briefly smiled at him, grateful that I wasn’t totally alone in all this. I sat down on the second-to-last stair and waited. I’m not very good at waiting. In fact it’s one of my worst things. I’d always much rather be
doing
than watching and waiting.

The house was in darkness apart from the hall, and perfectly still. I thought about what had happened so far – what I’d done or not done, what I’d
achieved
. It didn’t seem like much. But what else could I do? Halle would
get
a job at ANTIDOTE (hopefully) and find something to connect someone at ANTIDOTE with Shelby’s and then maybe I could use that information to force the Shelby agent at ANTIDOTE to help Mum and Uncle Robert. That’s all I wanted. The agent could tell the police that Mum and Uncle Robert had been framed, that they were innocent. I didn’t particularly care what happened after that.

The sudden shrill ring of the phone startled me. I rushed over and snatched it up.

‘Hello?’

Silence.

I tried again. ‘Hello?’

The phone clicked faintly back at me.

‘Hello, dear. Are you all right?’

‘Mum! Oh, Mum, I’m fine. I miss you. Where are you? It’s good to hear your voice.’ I could feel myself choking up, even though I’d just spent the last few hours telling myself I wouldn’t.

The phone line clicked again.

‘Are you still staying over at Nosh’s house?’

‘Yes, Mum.’

‘Good. Not giving them any trouble?’

‘Not much,’ I said, remembering what had happened earlier. ‘When can I see you, Mum?’

Click …

‘I’m working on it. I’m missing you horribly, Elliot,’ Mum sighed.

‘You sound tired.’

‘I am tired,’ Mum admitted. ‘It’s taking longer than I thought to try and clear my name.’

‘I saw the recording that’s meant to be of you and Uncle Robert,’ I said eagerly. ‘You were right. It
had
been doctored.’

‘Where did you see that?’ Mum’s voice was suddenly sharp, alert.

‘At the ANTIDOTE office. They got sent one anonymously,’ I began.

‘Elliot, keep away from that place. D’you hear me?’

‘But Mum …’

Click … There it was again.

‘What’s that funny clicking noise?’ I asked, irritated. ‘Is that something where you are?’

There was a brief pause.

‘Elliot, the phone’s been bugged. I can’t stay on the line much longer or they’ll trace the call and find me.’

‘The phone’s bugged?’ I pulled the receiver away from my face and stared at it. I couldn’t have been more stunned and shocked than if it’d just turned into a spitting cobra.

‘Who bugged the phone? Was it Shelby’s? And why? Why do they want to get you into trouble with the police? I don’t understand. Why
you
?’ I was choking up again.

‘Elliot, listen. We don’t have much time left. Visit your favourite spot in the park any time on Monday. I’ll be waiting for you.’

‘But Mum …’ I started. This made no sense at all. What was she doing? If the phone really was bugged then the heavies from Shelby’s would have heard every word and would surely be waiting, too?

‘Don’t argue with me, Elliot,’ she cut me off. ‘And don’t ask questions. Your favourite spot in the park!’

Click …

‘It’s OK, Elliot. I know what I’m doing,’ Mum told me. ‘Just make sure you don’t bring anything with you.’

I instantly knew what Mum meant by the way she stressed
anything
. She didn’t want me to bring her phone.

Click …

‘Mum, are you … are you really just a secretary?’ I whispered.

Pause.

‘Elliot, I’ve only got a few more seconds. They’ll be able to trace the call …’

‘Are you?’ I insisted.

‘No.’

The phone clicked again, then went dead with a different kind of click. But my ears, my entire brain reverberated with Mum’s answer to my question.

No …

I put down the phone, then picked up the whole thing and put it on the floor. I don’t know what I expected it to do. Maybe I expected it to morph into one of those two men who’d been outside Uncle
Robert
’s house. All I knew was, I was afraid of it. Afraid of it for the things I learned over it.

‘Did you say the phone has been bugged?’ Nosh asked with breathless horror.

I turned to him and nodded, my fingers over my lips. I pointed to the phone and shook my head. Nosh got what I was trying to say at once. But even if the phone was bugged, that was nothing compared to Mum’s other revelation.

She wasn’t a secretary. And she was involved in something that had others interested enough in her to bug our phone.

So if Mum wasn’t a secretary, what was she? I replayed the conversation I’d overheard between Mum and Uncle Robert again in my head, trying to work it out. What job was it that Mum gave up when I was born? The job that made Uncle Robert ask for her help in getting evidence of Shelby’s illegal animal experiments?

It was then that I remembered the last Thursday of term in Mr Oakley’s class when he’d asked us what our mothers did for a living. Hadn’t I wished that Mum did something a bit more exciting than just being a secretary? Well, now I’d got my wish – only now I wished I hadn’t! All this trouble had started from the time I’d made that wish in the classroom. It was almost as if I’d asked for all this chaos to descend over our heads.

‘I didn’t mean it,’ I muttered to myself. ‘I really didn’t.
I
don’t mind if Mum’s a secretary. In fact, I’d prefer it.’

‘What did you say?’ Nosh asked.

‘Nothing,’ I sighed.

But it was too late. Mum wasn’t a secretary. She’d said so herself and confirmed what I’d suspected over the last few days. I took a deep breath, then another which I cut off abruptly. Could the people who’d bugged our phone hear me – even now? Could they hear my breathing? Had they heard what I’d said about Mum? Did they know Nosh and I were alone in the house? I picked up the phone and looked all over the handset and the underside of it. I don’t know what I expected to find. Maybe a small button-sized object with the word ‘BUG’ written on it in capitals!

‘What’re you doing?’ Nosh called out.

‘If the phone’s bugged, they might be listening to us right now,’ I replied. ‘Or they could be outside, watching the house …’

‘I don’t like this …’ Nosh’s tone was an echo of my own.

I beckoned to Nosh with my finger and we made our way into the front room. I looked through the window.

‘I can’t see anyone …’ I began. ‘But if they’re not already outside, maybe they’re on their way here now …?’

‘Thank you for sharing that with me,’ Nosh said. ‘As if I wasn’t scared enough already.’

We went back to the hall. I don’t know about Nosh but my heart was thumping fit to bust in my chest.

‘Elliot, let’s get out of here,’ Nosh stage-whispered.

‘Good idea,’ I agreed.

I opened the front door and we left the house, slamming the door shut behind us. The road was deserted. We looked around, our heads jerking every which way until we were safely back in Nosh’s house. And all the time I remembered something Mum was always saying to me – be careful what you wish for, or you just might get it!

Now for the first time, I could see exactly what she meant by that.

I WOKE UP
just after seven o’clock Sunday morning – which was unheard of for me. To be honest I was surprised I got to sleep at all. In the half light of the dawn, I could see that Nosh was still fast asleep. I envied him. I lay perfectly still, staring up at the ceiling. In a strange way, I was calmer and more together than I’d felt in a long, long time. Only one more day and then I’d see Mum again. Only one more day and then I’d learn exactly what was going on and what all this was about. How I wished it was Monday already. But half an hour of wishing seemed to make Sunday morning pass even more slowly. I couldn’t spend Sunday doing nothing.

Come on, I told myself. Get up and do something!

The trouble was, I spent at least an hour in bed doing exactly nothing as I tried to make up my mind what I should do with the rest of the day. Luckily, Nosh’s mum came to my rescue soon afterwards. I heard her up and about and reckoned that in less than an hour she’d be
calling
Nosh and me downstairs for our breakfast. I wasn’t wrong.

As soon as I’d wolfed down my breakfast I wanted to go back to my own house for a while. Nosh’s mum wasn’t too happy about me going home by myself, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me.

‘Why don’t you wait for Nosh? Then you can go over together,’ she suggested.

I shook my head. ‘It’s my house. I don’t want to feel that it’s not safe unless I’ve got someone with me,’ I told her.

She sighed, but gave in after that.

‘HELLO?’ I shouted once I’d got home, even though I knew that no one was there. The silence in the house echoed back at me. ‘MUM?’ I shouted again.

After a deep breath, I told myself not to be such a coward. There was no one in the house. No Mum and no burglars. All I was doing was whistling in the dark in the vain hope that if there
was
someone in the house – apart from Mum – then they would leg it out the back at the sound of my voice. With determined heavy footsteps, I made my way up the stairs and into the back bedroom. I switched on Mum’s PC, then dug out Uncle Robert’s back-up disk. But first I had to load up all the utility software, like the operating system and all the software required to make the CD player, the scanner, the printer and all the other devices attached to Mum’s PC work. Only after that did I load Uncle’s disk, typing
in
the necessary command, before sitting back and waiting.