Sharp Shot. Justin Richards

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СКАЧАТЬ doing?” Jade asked, going straight through to the kitchen.

      “Nope.”

      “Did he say when he’ll be back?” Jade called as she opened the fridge.

      “Nope.”

      “Did he say where he’s put the tin opener?”

      “Nope,” Rich called back. “But I did ask,” he added after a moment.

      “Liar.” Jade started to unload the beer and champagne from the fridge. “So why did he bother to call?”

      “Don’t know. That was something I didn’t ask.” Rich was standing in the doorway, watching Jade empty the fridge. “I hope you’re not going to empty all that down the sink again,” he said.

      “No. But I don’t see why the fridge has to be full of Dad’s booze. One bottle of champagne and two bottles of beer, that’s what he’s allowed now. If you’ve finished your homework, you can go online and order some real food and drink.”

      “You mean healthy stuff.” Rich was smiling. “You mean lettuce and carrots and things that only rabbits eat. You mean fruit juice and bottled water.”

      “Among other things.” Jade stood up and surveyed the collection of bottles on the worktop. “That should do it. If we’re left on our own to look after ourselves, we might as well eat healthily and sensibly while we can. He could be gone for weeks. Are you sure he didn’t say when he’ll be back?”

      Rich shrugged. “He’s working for Ardman. He could be anywhere in the world for days or weeks or even months, I guess.”

      “All the more reason to make the most of it.”

      “Yeah,” Rich agreed. “I did an order yesterday, anyway. They’re supposed to deliver it this evening. Don’t worry, I put us down for some health food. Salad and fruit and vegetables. Oh, and I ordered some Coke and burgers too. And we can have pizza tonight.” He grinned at Jade’s horrified expression. “You can put extra pineapple on yours. Then it’ll count as fruit.”

      Before Jade could protest, her phone beeped. It was warning her it was almost out of power, so she went through to her bedroom to plug it into the charger. By the time she returned, Rich was back at his homework.

      There was something else Jade was determined to do while Dad was away. That was to unpack at least some of the crates and boxes that had been standing unopened in the spare room since they’d arrived several months earlier.

      Dad was used to living out of suitcases and boxes, but since the death of the twins’ mother, Jade hadn’t really felt anywhere was home. If she unpacked Dad’s stuff, if they filled the cottage with things that belonged to them as a family rather than the people they were renting the cottage from, then maybe this would become home.

      It frustrated Jade that Rich didn’t seem to have the same problem. Maybe he was more like their dad. He seemed happy just to unpack things as and when—and if—he needed them. If she left it to the men, Jade knew, they’d never be moved in.

      Another reason for unpacking, though she could barely admit it to herself, was that despite everything Jade was enjoying her new life. Dad could be annoying and irritating, but he’d demonstrated time and again the lengths he’d go to for his children. It was strange to think that less than a year ago John Chance hadn’t even known he had children, and they’d known nothing about him…

      School was OK, and Jade had made some friends. There was a time, a few months back, when she’d expected to be asked to leave. But Dad’s boss Ardman had somehow persuaded the Head and Governors that getting involved in an armed siege during which large sections of the school were blown up, and others demolished by various members of the Chance family —including Dad, who’d driven his BMW right through the main reception block—wasn’t actually an expellable offence.

      Somewhere at the back of Jade’s mind was the thought that if she got everything unpacked, it would be that much more difficult, that much more unlikely, that they would have to move on. The cottage might not seem quite like home yet, but she hoped it soon would.

      “Box time!” she called to Rich as she packed the beer and champagne into a cupboard.

      “What, again?”

      “One a day, remember? We agreed.” She went back through to the living room.

      “We didn’t agree,” Rich told her. “You decided. An agreement requires the consent of both parties.”

      Jade sighed, deciding it wasn’t worth an argument. “You sort out the shopping,” she said. “I’ll do the box after I’ve had a shower. Deal?”

      “I suppose.”

      Jade grinned. Her twin brother drove her every bit as mad as her dad did. But she couldn’t imagine being without him. She went into the bathroom, thinking how lucky she was really to have Dad and Rich. How lucky she was that no one had tried to kill her for months now.

      But that was about to change.

      Rich watched as Jade dragged a large cardboard box in from the spare room. She sat cross-legged on the floor beside it. Her shoulder-length fair hair was still wet, and she’d pulled on a sweat shirt and jogging bottoms.

      “Anything good?” Rich asked.

      “Books, papers, magazines.” Jade pulled out a handful of magazines and spread them on the carpet beside her. “I mean, why does he keep this stuff?”

      “You can always put it away again.”

      She was leafing through the different magazines—National Geographic, The Rifleman, The Economist, History Today, Jane’s Intelligence Review…The books were just as varied. There was a battered hardback copy of Oliver Twist stacked with a book about the Falklands War. Jade pulled out a paperback thriller published in the 1970s. The cover was a photograph of a woman dressed in combat uniform. Or rather, half dressed in it. Jade tossed it to one side.

      “That looks good,” said Rich, kneeling down beside her.

      “No it doesn’t,” she told him. “Leave it where it is. That’s the rubbish pile.”

      “Dad might want to read it again.”

      “You think he got past the front cover the first time?” Jade threw another paperback after it, it landed face down.

      “What was that one?” Rich asked eagerly.

      “You don’t want to know.”

      “You mean you don’t want me to know.”

      Jade had lifted out another stack of books and magazines. There was an old newspaper on the top. The headline read, ‘Government Denies SAS Involvement in Hostage Rescue’. Underneath it was another paper—a lurid tabloid from the same day. Its headline was: ‘Our Boys Give ‘Em Hell’.

      “Wonder why he’s kept these?” said Rich.

      “Like we can’t guess.”

      “Shall СКАЧАТЬ