Death Run. Justin Richards

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СКАЧАТЬ somewhere up in the main part of the theatre. The picture showed the hotel and casino where they had stayed just a few nights ago.

      “The Tiger had the Banker taken to Mont Passat. But before he could get there himself to question the man…the Banker disappeared.”

      “And what’s that got to do with us?”

      Jade could hear a hesitancy in her brother’s voice. She could guess what he was thinking.

      The picture on the backdrop changed to grainy moving images – pictures from a security camera complete with time and date stamp on the bottom. The footage showed the inside of a casino. It panned back and forth, taking in most of the gaming floor.

      “This is from the CCTV in the casino on the night the Banker vanished,” Ralph was saying.

      At the edge of its journey, the camera swung past a bar. And standing at the bar, drink in hand, was Jade’s dad.

      “And look who is also there. What a coincidence.”

      “It must be,” Rich said. But he didn’t sound very sure.

      “And if we wind on a bit…” Ralph waved to the man working the projector and the images speeded up – people hurrying and scurrying round the casino floor. “Oh – look,” Ralph went on as the footage slowed back to normal speed.

      It showed Dad at the roulette table. Placing a bet.

      “You getting this, are you?” Jade whispered into the phone, ducking behind the front of the box. “Because when you get here, you are so in trouble.”

      “It doesn’t mean anything,” Rich was saying. He sounded less certain than ever now. “It could be a coincidence. Just a coincidence.”

      “Really?” Ralph sighed. He clicked his fingers again and the projector cut off. “I suppose it could. But neither of us really believes that, do we?”

      Jade was angry as well as frightened now. But never mind what the hell Dad had been up to. It was time to get Rich away from here.

      At that moment, the insistent sound of a car alarm came from close outside. On the stage below, Ralph was talking rapidly to the man with the skull-face. He gestured urgently and the five Italians hurried towards the front of the theatre.

      “Probably nothing,” Ralph said to Rich. “But it is as well to be sure. And we would, after all, like your father to come looking for you. You see, I have a warning to deliver to him.”

      She wasn’t going to get a better opportunity than this – only Ralph was left with Rich on the stage below. Jade heard the main theatre doors bang shut as the others left. She grabbed hold of the ragged curtain hanging down the side of the stage, swung her legs up and over the side of the box and began to climb down.

      Jade could feel the material breaking apart under her hands, could hear an ominous creaking sound from above. She climbed as fast as she could, half sliding down and sending out clouds of dust – desperate not to cough as she breathed in. desperate for Ralph not to look up and see her.

      A patter of dust sprinkled across Ralph’s shoulders. He looked up.

      At the same moment, the curtain began to tear. Jade could hear the threads ripping apart. She felt the curtain fall, jolt to a stop, then start to fall again. She was accelerating rapidly as the material ripped under her weight.

      “Jade!” Rich shouted.

      Ralph was staring up at her in surprise.

      Then the curtain gave way entirely and Jade was falling.

      Ralph gave a cry of realisation. But it was too late – Jade fell right on top of him. Her feet cannoned into the man’s bulky form and sent him sprawling backwards. Jade was on her feet at once, running to where Rich was tied to the chair. She tugged at the knots.

      Several metres away, Ralph struggled to his feet. Then a massive moth-eaten theatre curtain landed on him, burying him in dusty, ragged material.

      “Come on!” Jade yelled as she finally prised apart the knot.

      The curtain heaved as Ralph tried to get out from under it. His hand clawed through the decayed fabric, clutching at the air. In a moment he’d be out and free.

      “Thanks. That was pretty neat,” Rich gasped, as they ran for the back of the stage.

      “That was pretty scary.”

      Rich was grinning. “Looked it. There must be a back way out of here.”

      Behind the stage was a corridor. They sprinted along it, Rich rubbing at his sore wrists, Jade punching Dad’s number into her phone. At the end of the corridor was a fire door. As they approached, it sprang open.

      “Back the other way!” yelled Rich.

      But Jade skidded to a halt. “No – wait.” She could hear a phone ringing. “It’s Dad!”

      And sure enough, Dad appeared in the doorway. “Quick. Someone vandalised their car, but they’ll be back soon.”

      “Wonder who that was,” Rich said as they emerged blinking into the bright sunlight beside a narrow canal.

      “Same guy as lied about drinking, gambling and kidnapping in Mont Passat,” Jade said.

      “Not fair. It was a rescue, not a kidnap,” said Chance.

      “Whatever.”

      “Later!” Rich yelled at them both.

      At the same moment, there was another shout. The skull-faced man had appeared down the side of the theatre ahead of them. He was holding a gun.

      “Later,” Jade agreed.

      The other Mafia men were close behind Skull-face. They didn’t look happy. Rich, Jade and their dad turned and ran. Ahead of them, the pavement ended in a small wooden jetty. Beyond that was the canal. They were trapped.

       4

      “I am not swimming,” Jade said. “Got that?”

      “Not a lot of choice,” Rich told her.

      “There’s always a choice,” Dad shot back. He was in the lead, running full pelt across the jetty – heading straight for the canal. And when he got to the edge, he kept running.

      Rich was waiting for the splash, but as they reached the edge of the jetty, he could hear Dad yelling at them to hurry up. Somehow – impossibly – Dad was standing on a narrow strip of pathway further along the canal. He looked completely dry.

      Three strides on to the wooden jetty and Rich could see what he’d done. There was a line of five gondolas moored next to the jetty – a bridge across to where Dad was standing. Except the gondolas were bobbing in the water and there was a gap of a metre or more between each.

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