chapter THIRTY-THREE
“It’s all right, Jem. It’s only us. Simon and me.”
I swam up to the surface again, through the green, green water of sleep toward the light. A woman’s voice was speaking to me, and from somewhere a long way away my memory started to put the pieces back together. I sat up, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, swallowing back the sour stuff at the back of my throat. Anne was over by the table, and Karen was already up.
“I’ve brought some juice,” said Anne. “Shall I put on the kettle as well? You and Karen can have a cup of tea. Simon, would you like one?”
There was a shakiness in her voice that I couldn’t put my finger on. She was trying to sound normal, say normal things, but the tremor in her voice made her sound afraid. What was she afraid of?
I felt embarrassed, these people seeing me in bed, at a disadvantage. I swung my legs out onto the floor and heaved myself to my feet. Just for a moment, it went red and then black behind my eyes, and I clutched the edge of the table to stop myself from falling.
“Stood up a bit quickly?” Anne had her arm half around me, supporting me, although she held me away from her body. I got the feeling that if she could have used tongs, she would have. “Sit down here, that’s it. You don’t look like you’ve been eating much. Try a bit of toast. Here.” She unwrapped a foil parcel.
There was a little pile of toast inside, cut into triangles. I couldn’t do it, couldn’t eat any — it actually turned my stomach to look at it. I’d only just woken up. I brought the edges of the foil together, hiding its contents away again.
“Um, I’m not hungry yet. Maybe in a bit.”
“Have some tea, then. Here we are.” She put four mugs down on the table and joined Karen and me.
Simon stayed standing. He was paler than ever, and seemed intent on hovering there. He kept licking his lips, frowning. Finally, he came out with it.
“You were seen last night, Jem. On the tower.”
“You what?” spluttered Karen.
“Jem was out there on the roof, on top of the tower. She must have taken the keys. It was a very dangerous thing to do — to go up there on your own. Questions are being asked. Stephen will be in shortly.”
“When was this?” Karen asked.
I sighed. “When you’d gone to sleep. I couldn’t get comfortable. Too many things to think about, so I took a look around. Haven’t you ever wandered about here on your own?” This to Simon.
“Yes, of course,” he said, “but that’s different. You’re still a child, and I’m an adult, I’m…responsible.” Standing there, shifting his weight from foot to foot and wringing his hands, it was difficult to imagine anyone his age looking more innocent or vulnerable.
I liked him, I really did, but there was something about that word — responsible. I burst out laughing.
His pale blue eyes widened with the shock of being laughed at and then brimmed with tears. What was I doing? This was the guy who rescued me, the one who gave me sanctuary just in the nick of time.
“Sorry,” I said quickly, “I didn’t mean to laugh. And I shouldn’t have used those keys. I didn’t mean to get you in trouble.” He was watching me carefully, blinking back the hurt I’d caused. “Simon, you’ve been really kind to me. I’d be completely in the shit without you.” He winced, but kept looking. “I couldn’t help exploring last night. It’s an amazing place.”
His face softened. “Yes,” he said. “It is.” He picked up the keys, which were lying on the table. “I’ll go and check that everything’s locked up and get things ready.” He scuttled out, while Anne poured more tea.
“The police will be back soon,” she said. “You should eat something….”
I stayed quiet, folding the top of the foil over, sealing the parcel of toast. I wanted to tell her to leave me alone, I’d eat if I felt like it, but a little voice inside me was telling me to shut up, that she was trying to be kind. So I said nothing, which for me was a big deal. Anne probably just thought I was rude. I glanced up at her, and she was standing there, looking hurt, too, like I’d rejected her or something. For Christ’s sake, it was only a piece of toast.
There was something else, though. It was the first time our eyes had actually met, and though I tried to ignore it, there it was, plain as day. Her number. 06082011. Less than a year to go. And suddenly her nervousness started to make sense. At some level, whether she understood why or not, she was scared of what I knew. She looked at me, a rabbit caught in the headlights, then swallowed hard and turned away.
Sure enough, the police came back, and the social worker, Imogen. There were other people, too: men in dark suits, who sat at the back of the room, listening. Karen sat in on the questioning, as the police went over and over the same ground as the day before. I stalled them for a bit while I tried to figure out what they really wanted to know; yes, there were questions about the day at the London Eye, and about Spider, but there was other stuff, too. Someone had obviously told them about the numbers. At this point, the police took a step back and the men in suits came and sat at the table.
“We’ve been hearing stuff about you, Jem. Interesting stuff. Like the reason why you ran from the Embankment. They’re saying you can predict the future? You can tell when people are going to die. That right?”
I looked down, saying nothing. One of them produced a set of photographs from his briefcase.
“Look at these photos and tell me what you see. How long has this one got? Or this one? Can you tell me?”
They went on and on, until I was hearing that edge of stress and frustration in their voices again.
Then I spoke.
“I can tell you. I can tell you everything you want to know.”
They sat up then, looked quickly at each other — little triumphant glances — and then back at me.
“Yes, I was there at the London Eye, and I’m pretty sure I saw the bloke who was carrying the bomb. I even spoke to him. I can give you a description. I can tell you about the guy with the tattoos and why he was chasing us. I can even tell you about these pictures.” They were excited now, almost drooling. “I could tell you, and I will, if you bring my mate, Spider, here. I’ll make a full statement, and then we want a car, and some money, a thousand should do it, and we want you to leave us alone and let us get out of here.”
The guy in the suit leaned forward. “I don’t think you realize what trouble you and your mate are in. You’re looking at some serious charges here. You’re not in a position to negotiate.”
He didn’t faze me at all. I’d thought this all through — they needed me to talk. “Actually, I think I am. I know you want to solve the bombing, don’t you? And you’d love to know whether your prime minister’s got a future, wouldn’t you? Is he here for the next ten years or going to be taken out by a sniper’s bullet? Does that interest you?”
“We’ll need to talk about this.” He scraped his chair back and went outside with the others. Karen stayed behind.
“What are you doing?” she asked. “What are you saying?”
“I told you yesterday. You just didn’t believe me.”
“Jem, this has got to stop. These tall tales — it’s gone far enough now, Jem. Stop saying these things. Let me take you home and look after you.”
“No! It’s not gonna happen. I need them to bring Spider here, and I’m not budging until they do.”
She sighed, and I could tell she was about to launch into another weary lecture, when the door opened again. The men in suits were back.
“OK,” one of them said, “it’s a deal.”
My stomach flipped over. I couldn’t believe it — I’d won.
“You’ll bring Spider here?”
He nodded. “After you’ve given us a full statement.”
“And you’ll provide us with a car and some money like I said?”
He nodded again, but there was something in the way that the two policemen behind him looked at each other that made me suspicious.
“I want it all in writing,” I said quickly. “I want you to sign it. A legal agreement.”
And that’s what I got, there in black and white. I would tell the police what they wanted to know, and they would bring Spider to me before the fifteenth of December and provide us with safe passage out of the abbey. Not being great at reading, I took my time, but it seemed OK. I asked Karen to check it, too, but she refused.
“This is stupid, Jem. I don’t want anything to do with it.” She watched while I signed the paper and then announced, “I’m going to get back to the boys now. They need me, too. I’ll come back tomorrow.”
She gave me a big hug before she left. “Imogen and Anne will be here with you. And you’re to ring if you need anything.”
“OK,” I said. To be honest, I felt a little twinge as she left. We didn’t exactly see eye to eye — perhaps we never would — but she meant well, I could see that now. But I had to stay focused — everything was going according to plan. All I had to do was tell them what they wanted to know, and then they’d have to keep their side of the bargain.
They’d have to bring Spider here.