Under Cover (Agent 21) Read Online Free Page B

from behind the foliage where he had spent the night. When she saw him, the witch’s lip curled. ‘Looks like we got ourselves a score,’ she rasped nastily to her companion. ‘Empty your pockets out, cutie pie. Let’s see your money,’ she snarled. ‘And your shoes. I’ll have those trainers too . . .’
    Ricky didn’t move.
    An irritated look flashed across the woman’s face. She was wearing a dirty grey tracksuit top, which she unzipped now. From inside, she pulled out a flick-knife, and with the press of a thumb the blade sprang out.
    ‘You heard what I said.’
    Ricky stepped back. He couldn’t take his eyes off the knife. It looked thin and vicious.
    ‘Cut him,’ said the man. ‘Just cut him . . .’
    – Over there!
    Ricky’s glance shot towards the gate. He blinked. The witch’s other accomplice was on the ground, writhing in pain. And just inside the gate, striding towards them with a slight limp, his stick held like a weapon, was a familiar face.
    Felix.
    And he looked like he meant business.
    The witch ran forward. She was just a couple of metres from Ricky, and he staggered back as she raised her knife in a stabbing motion. He could see her teeth, yellow and crooked, and smell the foulness of her breath. But he could also see Felix, standing right behind her now, his eyes slightly narrowed and a serious look on his strange face. One hand was leaning on his walking stick. In the other he carried a small, white paper bag.
    ‘Would you like a mint humbug?’ he said quietly.
    The woman froze. She looked over her shoulder. When she saw Felix standing there, with his walking stick and his white paper bag of sweets, she sneered.
    ‘Get out of it, Grandad,’ she said, before turning back to Ricky.
    Felix’s stick moved so fast that Ricky barely saw it. It cracked against the woman’s raised wrist and there was a sudden splintering sound as she dropped the knife. She gasped in pain and grabbed her wrist with her good hand while her companion ran towards the gate. Ricky saw from the corner of his eye that the other woman had also got up and run away.
    The witch was staggering back, still clutching her wrist. Felix put the bag of sweets in his pocket, then picked up the flick-knife, made it safe, stuck it in his pocket too, and strode up to Ricky. ‘It’s totally up to you,’ he said mildly, ‘but I suggest you come with me.’
    ‘You’ve been following me.’ Ricky’s voice sounded high-pitched. Tense. Slightly wild.
    ‘Yep. Good job too. Look at the state you’re in. She’d have murdered you.’ There was sweat on his forehead, even though the morning air was chilly.
    ‘I don’t like being followed.’
    ‘I should get used to it, if I were you,’ Felix muttered.
    ‘What do you mean?’
    Felix stared him straight in the eye. ‘I’ve got two things to say to you, Coco. Will you listen?’
    Ricky eyed Felix’s walking stick nervously. ‘OK,’ he said.
    ‘Number one. Staying here was a bad move. You were locked in.
Never
lock yourself in. That means no escape route, and you
always
want an escape route.’
    ‘Right. Thanks for the advice. Very useful.’ He darted his eyes left and right. Just to check.
    ‘And number two, you need a hot drink and a hot meal. I’ll buy you one now. While you eat, I’ve got a proposition for you. If you agree to it, great. If not, you’ll never see me again. Do we have a deal?’
    The only part that Ricky really heard was the bit about the hot meal.
    – Bite his arm off
, said Ziggy.
Get some breakfast inside us, then we can ditch him.
    – Too right.
    Ricky smiled falsely at Felix. ‘All right, mister,’ he said. ‘Deal.’

4
THE DEAL
    ‘You’ve got a decision to make,’ said Felix.
    Ricky stared at his food. Right now, the only decision on his mind was whether to start with the sausage or the bacon. Or the beans – the beans
did
look good. He shovelled a forkful into his mouth, then closed his eyes in bliss as they almost scalded