Andy McNab - DropZone

‘Oh, you’re part of the team all right,’ said Johnny. ‘Otherwise you wouldn’t be here. It was Kat who suggested it.’

‘Really?’

Kat nodded. ‘You’re in, Ethan. No doubt about it.’

Ethan beamed. He couldn’t help it. The grin spread across his face and refused to leave.

‘You OK with that?’ asked Johnny. ‘I only ask because you don’t look too sure.’

Everybody laughed.

Suddenly there was a flash of headlights and Ethan saw a Porsche come speeding round the bend. Then he heard the police sirens.

They all did.

‘Said we were being followed,’ hissed The Dude. He stamped on the accelerator, wheel-spinning out of the lay-by, throwing Ethan onto his back.

‘It’s Jake,’ said Kat. ‘I’d know his car anywhere. The bastard shopped us.’

‘But that car earlier wasn’t a Porsche!’ Ethan yelled over the roar of the van’s engine.

‘It was probably being driven by his minions,’ said Johnny. ‘I bet Jake’s been keeping an eye on us for weeks, just so he could do this.’

The Dude swung the van hard to the right and catapulted Ethan into Kat.

‘Sorry,’ Ethan said, pushing himself away. ‘I thought you said this wasn’t illegal!’

‘It isn’t,’ Johnny shouted back. ‘But climbing that antenna was.’

‘Thanks for letting me know,’ said Ethan, rolling his eyes. It was one thing getting involved in something that was risky. But getting chased by the police wasn’t exactly something he’d include as part of a fun night out. ‘What now?’

‘Toolbox in the back there somewhere,’ said Johnny. ‘Need it.’

‘What the hell for?’ said Ethan, turning to look at the piles of kit The Dude had scattered in the back of the van.

‘Just find it,’ shouted Johnny.

Ethan could hear the sirens getting closer. With a shrug he started to search through what seemed to be bits and bobs of The Dude’s life. There was a sleeping bag, a couple of tents, rucksacks of all shapes and sizes, ropes and climbing kit, a camping stove.

He looked over at Kat; she’d pinned herself into a corner of the van, bracing herself against the sides with her feet and hands. ‘Toolbox?’ he said, raising a hand in the air in frustration.

Kat looked around, shook her head. ‘Must be your side, Eth.’

Ethan turned round for another look.

‘Ethan?’ said Johnny. ‘We’re going to need it very soon…’

‘You sure it’s here?’ he asked. Through the windscreen he could see city lights ahead; at least they were nearing home.

‘It’s there all right,’ said The Dude.

‘Yeah, and so’s everything else,’ hissed Ethan, and had another rummage, digging through The Dude’s stuff like a mole through earth. Then his hands found a box. He pulled it out. ‘This it?’

Johnny turned, nodded. ‘Open it.’

Inside there wasn’t a single tool. Instead, Ethan was looking at a pile of number plates. He looked up and saw the grin on his friend’s face.

‘Done this before,’ said Johnny with a wink. ‘They’re all sorted into pairs, so just grab one, OK?’

The van suddenly braked hard, but Ethan braced himself against the side, pulled out a pair of number plates and snapped the toolbox shut. ‘Here,’ he said, passing the plates to Kat, who handed them to Johnny. ‘What next?’

Johnny laughed. ‘Look and learn, Eth.’

Ethan hung on as The Dude accelerated again, spun down some side streets and pulled over.

‘Out!’ shouted Johnny.

Ethan and Kat tumbled out into the street.

‘Make like you’re walking back from town,’ said Johnny. ‘You’re a couple and you’ve had a great night. Make it look good.’

Ethan saw The Dude quickly swap the number plates on the van as Kat slipped her arm round his waist and pulled him away. They walked round a corner into the main street.

Ethan heard the sirens, and instinct told him to run – especially when the police cars turned onto their street, lights flashing. But Kat pushed him up against a wall and snuggled in, her body warm and soft against him.

‘What are you doing?’ he asked.

‘Saving our arses,’ Kat hissed.

The police cars sped past, disappeared.

Ethan didn’t move; didn’t really want to.

Kat spoke first. ‘OK, we’re in the clear.’ She pushed herself away.

‘Well, that was all very cloak-and-dagger,’ said Ethan. ‘Done this before?’

Kat just smiled. ‘See you at FreeFall tomorrow?’

‘Just a minute,’ said Ethan. ‘How are you getting home?’ He didn’t like the idea of leaving Kat to her own devices. It was late and dark.

Kat pulled out her phone. ‘Taxi,’ she said. ‘Need a lift?’

In the shop the next morning, Ethan was finding it difficult to concentrate. He’d already narrowly avoided making a couple of errors with takings at the till. The events of the night before were still buzzing in his head. The BASE jump had been exciting enough, but being chased by the police had added an edge to the proceedings. As had the brief moment when Kat had pressed herself against him – even if it had only been an act to avoid the police.

‘Good morning, Ethan.’

Ethan looked up. Natalya, face serious as ever, was waiting at the counter. He nodded, said, ‘Hi.’

‘I have heard that you had an interesting evening last night.’

Ethan wasn’t sure, but he thought he saw a faint smile on her face. He shrugged.

‘Such secrecy,’ said Natalya. ‘A pity Jake called a few people to tell them about Kat’s BASE jump.’

Ethan sighed. He was beginning to wonder if the whole world knew about that.

‘You should be more careful,’ Natalya told him. ‘Sam does not like his team taking too many risks.’

‘Sam knows?’

Natalya shrugged. ‘Perhaps. Probably. Sam knows most things.’

‘What have you heard?’ Ethan asked her. He didn’t think he’d done anything wrong. So why was he nervous?

‘Nothing much,’ said Natalya. ‘I have not seen Sam today so I cannot say for sure what he does or does not know.’

‘Why would Sam care anyway? It was Kat’s decision. She didn’t need his permission.’

‘Maybe not. But the team is more important to Sam than you could possibly know.’

‘You make it sound like he’s their dad!’

‘In many ways he is,’ Natalya said simply.

And that answer really worried Ethan. It suddenly felt like there was something mysterious about ‘the team’. Something going on that he didn’t know about. And he didn’t like that at all.

‘Anyway, I just came in to see if you were around all day. We are having a little meeting later about the competition,’ Natalya told him.

Ethan wanted to ask her more questions, but he couldn’t think of any that made sense. So he just said, ‘What time?’

‘One, I think. In the hangar. Luke would like to do a quick check to make sure we are all prepared.’

Ethan wasn’t surprised. Luke had been given responsibility for looking after the accommodation and flight details. And Luke, as Ethan now knew well, was obsessed with detail. They all made fun of it, but they respected it. After all, no one would want Johnny in charge of getting everyone to the airport on time.

‘I will see you then,’ said Natalya as she left the shop.

For the first time that morning, the shop was empty. Ethan found the silence deafening. It had been bad enough being chased by the police for trespassing, but now he had Sam to worry about. He didn’t want to be on the receiving end of his fury. After all, Sam had kicked Jake out for taking a risk that jeopardized the team. What was to stop him doing the same to someone else?

‘Ethan!’

A cheer from Johnny greeted Ethan when he arrived at the hangar. Johnny and Kat were the only ones there.