Blood Ransom Read online

  ‘Wait, Rachel,’ Milo said. ‘We’ve gone far enough.’

  ‘Just a little bit further,’ I insisted.

  I walked on, my heart hammering. The salty smell had to mean that we were close to the sea.

  Grace’s wail grew more intense. I tucked the blanket around her again. ‘Sssh, baby,’ I murmured. ‘Sssh, Grace, you’re okay now.’

  ‘Rachel, please stop.’ Milo was several metres behind me now. He sounded breathless from the effort of moving his wheelchair and there was a note of panic in his voice.

  Ignoring him, I kept walking. In a minute, I’d make a run for it. I had both the torch and Grace. It would take Milo a while to turn his wheelchair in the darkness and make his way back to the cave. I didn’t want to be mean to him, but there was no other option.

  We went on, Grace’s cries echoing around us. The air grew gradually colder and stiller. I felt like I’d been walking for ages. Surely we were at least half-way to the jetty now?

  ‘That’s enough,’ Milo said. ‘Rachel, please, no one will be able to hear Grace all the way in here.’

  The tone of his voice was more plea than order.

  It was time.

  ‘Bye, Milo,’ I whispered.

  I put the torch in my mouth, then, keeping its beam focused on the bumpy tunnel floor, I clutched Grace to my chest and raced off.

  50

  Theo

  Fumbling, and cursing my clumsy fingers, I undid the fourth screw at last. I forced the bed frame away from the post, making just enough space to slide my chain over.

  I raced to the door, the chain trailing behind me. The cabin door was locked, but it looked pretty flimsy. I was sure I could break it down. Except, if I did, then anyone left on the boat would surely come running. I hesitated, but only for a second. I didn’t have a choice. I had to take the risk.

  I set myself sideways on to the door, took a few steps back, braced myself, then hurled myself shoulder first at the door. It broke with a snap. I stumbled out into the corridor and listened for the sound of footsteps.

  Nothing. I crept down the corridor to the engine room where Lewis and I had been held earlier.

  I peered round the door. Lewis was lying, slumped, on the floor. His wrists and ankles were bound so tightly with rope, they were blue. I raced over and knelt beside him. ‘Lewis?’

  He groaned.

  ‘Are you okay?’

  He groaned again.

  I ran out of the engine room and tore towards the stairs at the end. Up to the main cabin. Still no sign of anyone. RAGE must be using every single person on board for the attack.

  I looked round, desperate to find something to release Lewis with. Across the room a cupboard door was ajar, an open padlock hanging from one handle. I yanked it open. This had clearly been some kind of weapons stash, but all that was left now was a broken firing pin from a gun and three rounds of bullets.

  Damn. I reached into the far, dark corner of each shelf. As I reached the bottom shelf, my hand closed on a blade. Not sharp – presumably that was why it had been left behind – but a knife nonetheless. I pulled it out and ran back to Lewis.

  He was still groaning, curled up on the floor. I dropped to my knees and set to work carving the rope that bound his wrists.

  Precious minutes ticked by. Lewis was stifling his moans now, but I could see he was still in pain.

  He opened his eyes as I worked away at the rope. The knife was so blunt, it was taking ages.

  Another explosion.

  I bit my lip. How much longer was RAGE’s attack on the island going to go on? Where was Rachel? Was she okay?

  At last the knife sliced through the final bit of rope round his wrists. That just left his ankles. Lewis sat up, wincing.

  ‘I think they cracked my ribs,’ he muttered, reaching for the knife.

  I handed it over and stood up. ‘I’m going to find her,’ I said.

  ‘No. I’m coming too.’ Lewis clutched at the back of his head and let out another groan of pain.

  ‘You’re hurt and your legs are still tied up,’ I said.

  ‘I have to.’ Lewis positioned the knife and started working on the rope that bound his ankles.

  ‘Why? So you can get even with Elijah?’ I said. ‘This mission is about rescuing Rachel. You need to stay on board and work out how to start this boat up for when I get back with her.’

  ‘You don’t freakin’ know where she is,’ Lewis snarled.

  ‘Neither do you,’ I said, turning away. ‘Stay here.’ I ran out of the engine room and up the stairs, through the main cabin and out on deck. It was still dark, though the moonlight cast a veiled glow over the shoreline, sparkling on the tips of the waves. I could just make out a plume of smoke rising from the part of the island which contained Elijah’s lab.

  I swallowed down the panicky lump that lodged in my throat. Rachel said she had never been inside the lab and Elijah was hardly likely to have taken her there tonight.

  There was no sign of him and his men – or of the RAGE crew. I raced across the jetty and onto the beach. There were two paths. One, to the left, I knew led to the barn with the lab. Surely the other – much stonier and to the right – must lead to other buildings? I still couldn’t see anyone, though I could hear distant shouting.

  Using the cover of the trees, and keeping the stony path on one side of me, and the coastline on the other, I made my way carefully round the island.

  51

  Rachel

  I ran hard, Grace huddled against my chest, the torch in my mouth. Milo’s voice echoed through the tunnel behind us.

  ‘Come back!’ he yelled. ‘You can’t get out that way. Please. Or I’ll shoot!’

  I ran on, my heart thumping. I was certain Milo wouldn’t use his gun – that’s if he even had one.

  The rocky floor was jagged and increasingly uneven. I had to slow down for fear of stumbling. It was colder and damper now. The chill was seeping into my bones. I hugged Grace closer and her cries at last subsided.

  I slowed to a jog. The ground was damp now and really slippery, but I couldn’t stop. Goodness knows what was going on outside on the island, but this tunnel was my best chance . . . my only chance . . . of reaching the jetty.

  Milo was still shouting. I could hear the wheels of his chair bumping over the uneven ground. He was moving more slowly than me, which meant maybe I could slow down myself . . . the rock surface was really treacherous now. Cold water lapped at my feet – and the torchlight showed that it continued as far as I could see.

  Was this the flooding Milo had talked about? At least it wasn’t deep. I waded on, more cautiously. The uneven surface of the ground was concealed completely. The dark water rose up round my ankles. It was freezing.

  ‘RACHEL!’ Milo was still behind me. His voice ricochet-ted off the rock walls, a booming echo. He didn’t sound far away.

  I sped up again, splashing as I pounded along the tunnel. Grace wriggled against me as I slid around. She made that mewing sound I’d heard her make earlier.

  Sssh. I looked down at her, distracted.

  Whoosh. I took another step but my feet met no resistance. Just water . . . more water. My legs burning with the shock of the cold, I lost balance. Screamed. In a single movement I dropped the torch, instinctively raised Grace above my head and sank like a stone into the seawater.

  52

  Theo

  I froze, still under cover of the trees.

  The muffled scream echoed in my ears.

  It was Rachel. I was sure of it. But where?

  The sound seemed to have come from beyond the trees . . . somewhere near the beach. I crept through the patch of woodland, towards the sea. My steps, crunching on grass and twigs, sounded loud to my ears, but no one was around to hear. There’d been no more explosions since I’d left the boat, though I’d just heard a round of gunfire coming from the other side of the island.

  I reached the edge of the trees, where the stony beach began to slope down to the sho
re, and stood still, listening hard. The wood and the rest of the island was behind me; the sea in front.

  Another round of distant gunfire, then silence. All I could hear was the wind in the trees and the waves lapping at the shore.

  Had I imagined that scream?

  ‘Help! Help!’ The voice came again. It was definitely Rachel. And was that an animal crying?

  It didn’t make sense.

  I waited for what felt like ages, though it can’t have been more than half a minute. Then another yell sounded right beneath me.

  Rachel was underground.

  I stepped back, wishing I had more than the moonlight to see with. I stood, waiting for more sounds. But there was only silence.

  53

  Rachel

  My head broke through the water. I gasped for breath, shocked to the core by the fall and the cold of the water.

  I forced my legs to tread water, though they were already numb with cold. I held Grace above my head. She was screaming like she was being murdered.

  Fighting to keep my legs moving, I looked back at the tunnel. The pathway must have shelved very suddenly for me to have fallen so deeply. The torch was lying where I’d dropped it, near the tunnel wall. It was still working, thank goodness, but pointing away from me, which meant I couldn’t see how far this pool of water lasted.

  Even in my bewildered state, I knew I didn’t have much time. My legs were already tired and it was taking a supreme effort just to hold Grace above my head. I couldn’t get out of the water without putting her in it – and I knew that the cold of it would kill her, even if she didn’t drown.

  ‘Help!’ I shouted desperately. ‘Help!’

  Grace’s high-pitched squeal pierced through my brain. The sound of wheels turning echoed towards us. I squinted into the tunnel.

  ‘Rachel?’ Milo wheeled up to the torch. He picked it up and scanned the water. The light glared in my eyes.

  ‘Oh, Jesus.’ Milo pointed the torch away from me.

  I could only dimly make out his face, but I could hear the terror in his voice.

  ‘Help me,’ I gasped, my teeth chattering.

  In answer, Milo slid out of his chair.

  Lying on his front, he hauled himself by the arms across the wet, rocky ground to the edge of the pool. ‘This is where it shelves,’ he said, shining the torch across the water. ‘I can’t see where it ends.’

  ‘Please help,’ I gasped.

  I was sinking lower in the water, the freezing brine splashing against my lips. My arms shook uncontrollably. I was going to drop Grace in a moment.

  ‘Let me take her then I’ll get you out,’ Milo said.

  He laid the torch on the ground beside him and reached across the water. I held Grace up to him, kicking as hard as I could to get closer. I could barely feel my legs.

  Milo took Grace. She stopped crying straight away. He picked up the blanket that trailed in the water and felt along its length.

  I let my arms fall into the water. They were so cold, so cold.

  Milo found a dry bit of blanket and wrapped it tightly round Grace.

  ‘I’m going to put her in my chair,’ he said, ‘then I’m coming back for you.’

  I tried to speak but my teeth were chattering too hard. I seriously couldn’t feel my legs now, but they must be moving, or I wouldn’t still be afloat, though now my arms were helping, weren’t they? I looked down, unable to connect my brain giving the instruction with my arms trying to obey it

  I was moving, though very slowly. My mouth was completely underwater now, so I was breathing through my nose, my whole body shaking with cold.

  Milo was crawling, commando-style, back to his wheelchair, Grace firmly in his grasp. At least she wasn’t crying any more. At least she was safe.

  And then my legs stopped moving altogether. I flailed with my arms, panicking, tipping my head back. Mouth above water. One last yell.

  And then I sank beneath the water.

  The shock of the water on my face roused me for a second. Enough to register that I had to move.

  Swim, my brain screamed at my limbs. Swim.

  Somewhere, somehow I managed to move, clawing back the water, fighting the urge to sleep. I was running out of breath now.

  Give up, said a little voice in my head. It’s the easier choice.

  No. My hands banged the side of the tunnel. I reached along the mossy wall, pulling myself through the water. Which way was up? I couldn’t breathe.

  And then a huge hole appeared in the wall. I could feel it with my hands. The water was even colder here.

  Swim there, my brain shrieked at me.

  I had no idea if I should. I’d lost all sense of where I was or who I was or what I was doing here.

  All I knew was that I had to keep moving.

  My lungs were going to burst. I kicked myself into the hole. Another kick. Darkness forcing itself into my closed eyes.

  And another. The darkness was overwhelming.

  And then the water seemed to tip me downwards and I slid down a metal pipe . . . down, down, and suddenly there was cold air around me and hard, wet ground beneath.

  I took a single conscious breath, then gave myself up to the darkness.

  54

  Theo

  I forced myself to walk slowly down the beach, away from the trees, my whole body tense as I listened out for more sounds. Rachel was here somewhere . . . why didn’t she shout again?

  ‘Rachel!’ I called as loudly as I dared. ‘Rachel, where are you?’

  The gunfire in the distance was intensifying. Above the island I could hear a helicopter lowering, its lights shining out.

  Ahead of me, the beach sloped right down to the sea. The tide was out. I strained my eyes into the darkness. I could just make out the curve of a metal pipe emerging into the stones at the very edge of the water. Was that a body slumped on the ground? I raced towards it. Behind me, the helicopter was getting louder.

  ‘Rachel?’ I shouted, throwing all caution to the wind.

  No movement. I reached the body. It was her.

  I pulled back her hair, lifted her up. Her body sagged against mine.

  ‘Rachel, please,’ I hissed at her. ‘Rachel, wake up!’

  She spluttered. A dribble of water trickled out of her mouth. She gave a low moan, but didn’t open her eyes.

  In the distance the helicopter’s engine slowed. Jesus, had it landed? Footsteps pounded along the path I’d been following. Crouching lower against the sand, I covered Rachel’s body with my own. A crackling radio message drifted faintly across the night air:

  ‘Lennox says the lab is destroyed. Get to the helicopter. Elijah Lazio is on board.’

  ‘On my way.’ The footsteps disappeared.

  ‘Can you walk?’ I whispered.

  But Rachel was still only semi-conscious.

  I hauled her up and over my shoulder. Weighed down by all the water in her clothes, I could barely carry her.

  RAGE wouldn’t be busy with this helicopter for long. Either they’d take it or it would take off. And whoever won the fight, Lennox and her men would be back on their boat within minutes.

  I set off along the beach, walking as fast as I could, soaked now from Rachel’s clothes.

  She was still moaning lightly under her breath, though I couldn’t work out what she was saying. Ace? No, Grace.

  What was that? Some kind of prayer?

  I made my way along the beach. There was the jetty. Looking round as I approached, I hurried onto the wooden walkway and along to RAGE’s boat.

  It looked deserted. No. There was a man on deck.

  He’d seen me. He raised his knife.

  I held my breath. How was I going to defend myself and Rachel?

  And then the man lowered his knife and shouted out, ‘Theo?’

  ‘Lewis!’

  Overwhelmed with relief, I rushed on board as Lewis limped to the hull and threw off the rope that bound the boat to the jetty.

  ‘You got he
r,’ Lewis said, as I deposited Rachel on the couch that ran along one side of the main cabin. ‘Is she okay?’

  The noise of the helicopter taking off made us both look round. Through the door of the cabin I could see it rising into the moonlight.

  ‘Where’s Elijah?’ Lewis took an unsteady step to the door. I grabbed his arm.

  ‘He’s on that copter,’ I said. ‘I heard a RAGE soldier say so. Which means he’s got away, but RAGE will be back any second. We need to get out of here, fast.’

  Lewis hesitated a second, then nodded. He raced over to the back section of the cabin where the boat’s controls were situated.

  A moment later the engine fired and we were away.

  Part Two

  The Aphrodite Experiment

  55

  Rachel

  I came round to the sound of muffled voices above my head.

  I lay still, completely disoriented.

  Where was I? Who was talking?

  Why was my bed moving?

  The cloth under my hand was rough and scratchy.

  I was warm, my limbs heavy.

  I registered these things slowly, as the voices above me grew stronger and clearer. I stroked my finger across the coarse blanket that tickled my chin. Even that small movement was an effort.

  ‘She moved her finger.’ It was Theo, his voice full of relief. ‘Rach, we’re here. Me and Lewis. We’ve got you. You’re safe.’

  My heart skipped a beat at the sound of his voice.

  ‘I told you she was just asleep.’ Lewis. As he spoke, a hand stroked a wisp of hair off my face.

  I wrinkled my nose, trying to open my eyes, but the effort was too great.

  ‘Where am I?’ I whispered through parched lips.

  ‘On a boat,’ Theo said.