Blood Rush (Lilly Valentine) Read Online Free Page B

turned to her.
    ‘I’m glad we were able to do that,’ he said.
    ‘Me too,’ Lilly said. And she was.
    She waited until he was sat in the driver’s seat before stepping outside towards him.
    ‘Jack,’ she said. ‘I don’t want to fight any more.’
     
     
    Demi would like to punch the policeman, with his lopsided smile and tatty leather jacket. He probably thinks his Converse make him down with the kids.
    He’s said all the usual stuff, like how sorry he is, and how he wants to catch whoever did this to Malaya. The same thing the police always say whenever Gran calls them about the boys on the estate smashing a window or nicking a car. Mostly, they don’t even bother to come out.
    ‘Has Malaya had any arguments recently?’ he asks.
    Gran tries to reply that she’s a good girl, that she has lots of friends, but she’s crying and her accent always gets thicker when  she’s stressed. Usually it embarrasses Demi if someone can’t understand her, and she hisses a translation under her breath, but right now it’s just making her angry at the policeman.
    ‘Could you repeat that?’ he says, and Demi balls both hands into fists.
    Gran wipes her eyes. ‘My granddaughter is not the type of girl to be fighting in the street, Officer.’
    He nods but he’s obviously unconvinced.
    ‘What about you, Demi?’ he locks eyes with her. ‘Can you think of anyone who would want to hurt your sister?’
    Demi stares back at him, refusing to blink. ‘No.’
    Eventually he looks back at Gran.
    ‘Let’s hope Malaya wakes up soon and she can tell us who did this to her,’ he says.
    Gran’s face fills with hope. ‘And then you will bring these terrible people to justice.’
    The policeman smiles but promises nothing, and Demi can feel her nails digging into the palms of her hands until they draw blood.

Chapter Two
     
     
    Lilly was late.
    She was standing in the queue to pass through the metal detectors at Luton Youth Court, the two boys ahead of her refusing to put their mobiles on the conveyor belt.
    One waved his Nokia under the guard’s nose.
    ‘If that machine wipes my contact list, I’m coming for you, man.’
    The guard rolled his eyes and hitched up his belt.
    ‘I’m gonna sue you for loss of business, you get me?’ said the boy.
    Lilly recognized him immediately. She’d represented him half a dozen times. Beneath the bravado was a brittle child slowly unravelling in the care system, making the inevitable descent into drugs and crime.
    She tapped him on the shoulder. ‘You might have all day, Jermaine, but some of us have to work for a living.’
    His face lit up. ‘What you doing here, Miss?’
    Lilly opened her arms to encompass the bare brick walls, the stained carpet tiles and the crowds of young people pushing, swearing and ignoring the smoking ban.
    ‘I fancied a day out.’
    Jermaine laughed. ‘Thought you said you weren’t doing this work no more, Miss.’
    ‘Just doing someone a small favour.’
    Jermaine bounced back on his heels. ‘How about doing me a small favour then, Miss? My brief is one useless mother. I swear I’m gonna end up inside.’
    ‘No chance,’ said Lilly. ‘And if you don’t get a move on I’ll shove you in the cells myself.’
    Jermaine kissed his teeth, but placed his mobile in a plastic tray and passed through into the court. Lilly followed suit, praying she didn’t set anything off.
    ‘Who you here for, Miss?’ asked Jermaine.
    Lilly fished in her jacket pocket and pulled out a scribbled note. ‘Tanisha McKenzie.’
    Both boys sucked in a breath and began dancing from foot to foot, flicking their wrists.
    ‘I take it you know her,’ said Lilly.
    ‘Man,’ Jermaine laughed, ‘everybody knows Tanisha.’
     
     
    Annabelle was waiting for Lilly by the vending machine. She was wearing the same orange waterproof and looked even more incongruous amidst the pandemonium of the Youth Court. Yet she seemed perfectly comfortable, her shoulders relaxed.
    ‘Sorry