‘I have no idea what you mean,’ said Holly innocently.
‘You probably couldn’t help anyway. Spiro’s security is pretty advanced,’ mimicked the centaur. ‘You’re trying to light a fire under my ego. I’m not stupid, Holly.’
‘OK. Maybe I am. Do you want the straight truth?’
‘Oh, you’re going to tell me the truth now? Interesting tactic for the LEP.’
‘The Spiro Needle is a fortress. There’s no way in without you, even Artemis admits it. We’re not looking for equipment, or extra fairy-power. Just advice over the airwaves, maybe a bit of camera work. Keep the lines open, that’s all I’m asking.’
Foaly scratched his chin. ‘No way in, eh? Even Artemis admits it.’
‘“We can’t do it without Foaly.” His exact words.’
The centaur struggled to keep the smugness from his features.
‘Have you got any video?’
Holly took a hand-held computer from her belt.
‘Artemis shot some film inside the Needle. I’m mailing it to you now.’
‘I need a blueprint of the building.’
Holly panned her visor left and right, so Foaly could see where she was.
‘That’s why I’m up here. To do an X-ray scan. It’ll be in your mainframe in ten minutes.
Holly heard a bell chime in her speakers. It was a computer alert. Her mail had arrived in Police Plaza. Foaly opened the file.
‘Key codes. OK. Cameras. No problem. Wait until I show you what I’ve developed for CCTV cameras. I’m fast-forwarding through the corridors. Dum de dum de dum. Ah, the vault. On the eighty-fifth. Pressure pads, antibiotic mats. Motion sensors. Temperature sensitive lasers. Thermal cameras. Voice-recognition, retina and gel-thumbprint scanners.’ He paused. ‘Impressive, for a Mud Man.’
‘You’re telling me,’ agreed Holly. ‘A bit more than two tin cans and a dog.’
‘Fowl is right. Without me you’re sunk.’
‘So, will you help?’
Foaly had to milk the moment. ‘I’m not promising anything, mind…’
‘Yes?’
‘I’ll keep a screen open for you. But if something comes up…’
‘I understand.’
‘No guarantees.’
‘No guarantees. I owe you a carton of carrots.’
‘Two cartons. And a case of beetle juice.’
‘Done.’
The centaur’s face was flushed with the promise of a challenge.
‘Will you miss him, Holly?’ he asked suddenly.
Holly was caught off-guard by the question.
‘Miss who?’ she said, though she already knew.
‘The Fowl boy, of course. If everything goes according to plan, we’ll be wiped from his memory. No more wild plots or seat-of-the-pants adventures. It will be a quiet life.’
Holly made to avoid Foaly’s gaze, although the helmet cam was point-of-view and the centaur could not see her.
‘No,’ she said. ‘I will not miss him.’
But her eyes told the real story.
Holly circled the Needle several times at various altitudes, until the X-ray scanner had accumulated enough data for a 3D model. She mailed a copy of the file to Foaly in Police Plaza and returned to the van.
‘I thought I told you not to mark them,’ she said, bending over the fallen hit men.
Juliet shrugged. ‘Hey. No big deal, fairy girl. I got carried away in the heat of battle. Just give him a shot of blue sparks and send him on his way.’
Holly traced a finger round the perfectly circular bruise on Chips’s forehead.
‘You should have seen me,’ said Juliet. ‘Bang, bang, and they were down. Never had a chance.’
Holly sent a solitary spark down her finger; it wiped away the bruise like a damp cloth cleaning a coffee ring.
‘You could have used the Neutrino to stun them, you know.’
‘The Neutrino? Where’s the fun in that?’
Captain Short removed her helmet, glaring up at the teenage human.
‘This is not supposed to be fun, Juliet. It’s not a game. I thought you realized that, considering what happened to Butler.’
Juliet’s grin disappeared. ‘I know it’s not a game, Captain. Maybe this is the way I deal with things.’
Holly held her gaze. ‘Well then, maybe you’re in the wrong line of work.’
‘Or maybe you’ve been in this line of work too long,’ argued Juliet. ‘According to Butler, you used to be a bit of a wild card yourself.’
Mulch emerged from the bathroom. This time he had been applying a layer of sunblock. It was now the middle of the night, but the dwarf wasn’t taking any chances. If this insertion went pear-shaped, as it probably would, then he could very well be on the run by morning.
‘What’s the problem, ladies? If you’re fighting over me, don’t bother. I make it a point never to date outside my species.’
The tension deflated like a punctured balloon.
‘Dream on, hairball,’ said Holly.
‘Nightmare, more like,’ added Juliet. ‘I make it a point never to date anyone who lives in a dung heap.’
Mulch was unperturbed. ‘You’re both in denial. I have that effect on females.’