Under Cover (Agent 21) Read Online Free

and, perhaps later, sleep on. He chose a bench on the north side of the garden, where he sat down to eat. He had to stop himself from wolfing down the chocolate bars, savouring each mouthful slowly. Experience told him that food would be in short supply in the days and weeks to come, so he should enjoy it while he had it.
    As he ate, he looked around the gardens. He wasn’t alone. On the far side, two women and one man were sipping from cans of lager. They looked to Ricky like they were homeless. You started to recognize the signs after a while – the old clothes, the long hair, the look of hopelessness. A couple of teenage girls were sitting on another bench, chatting and playing music from their phones. A middle-aged man was walking his dog. Ricky kept his head down and concentrated on his food.
    – They’re watching you.
    – I know. I saw them.
    The homeless trio with the lager were staring at him. No doubt they too recognized a fellow vagrant. But Ricky noticed something else in their stare.
    – They’ve seen you’ve got food. Food means money. They’re thinking, you’re just a kid. You should get out of here before they go for you.
    But Ricky was too exhausted to move. He finished his chocolate, but kept half an eye on the trio who were taking so much interest in him.
    Five minutes passed. It was fully dark now. Another man entered the gardens. He looked official – blazer, peaked cap. He walked up to the two girls listening to music. Ricky couldn’t hear their conversation but he could tell what was happening. They were being asked to leave. He glanced at the big iron gate through which he’d entered the gardens, and realized that it must be locked at night. Clearly nobody wanted homeless people loitering here after dark.
    The girls turned off their music and the park-keeper headed over to the dog-walker.
    The three down-and-outs, however, still had their eyes on Ricky. They stood up, so Ricky did the same. He didn’t really want to leave this square – it would be a good place to stay the night, he had decided, because if he was locked inside he would be protected from the street. But it looked like he needed to get ready to run again.
    The dog-walker was making his way towards the gate. Now the park-keeper was approaching the vagrants. He stood in front of them, blocking their view of Ricky.
    – Hide. Now, while nobody’s watching. You’ll be safe locked inside the square for the night, where nobody can get at you . . .
    The nearest thicket was about five metres away. Ricky grabbed his bag and stealthily headed towards it. Seconds later, he was hidden among the leaves and low branches. Something scratched his bruised face and he winced, but kept quiet.
    A tiny gap in the foliage gave him a view onto the square. The vagrants were walking towards the exit while the park-keeper looked around to check there was nobody else to kick out. He seemed satisfied, but the same couldn’t be said of the woman holding her can of lager. She had a scary, raddled, pockmarked face. In his time on the streets, Ricky had learned to recognize the features of a drug addict, and he was looking at them now.
    And unlike the park-keeper she seemed to look straight through the foliage at Ricky’s exact position.
    – She knows you’re here.
    – Too right.
    ‘Get a move on!’ the park-keeper shouted. The woman swayed slightly, but then she obediently followed the others to – and through – the gate, which the park-keeper locked behind him with a big iron key.
    Ricky didn’t move. From his hiding place he kept his eyes on the scary woman. Silhouetted in the darkness, she reminded him of a witch in a story book his mum had once read him. The witch was talking to her companions. Ricky held his breath, hoping that they would disappear. But they didn’t. They started to circle the garden.
    He watched, breathlessly, as the scary woman prowled round the railings. ‘I know you’re in there, kid,’ she hissed when she was