Free Crisis Four by Andy McNab Page B

just feel sorry for Kelly when that day came; she needed other people to support her, even if they were as suffocating as the Browns.
    When I got back to the car Kelly was pretending to be engrossed in another flyer, and without looking up she greeted me with a downright martyr’s sigh. I’d have to sort her out soon, or she was going to turn out like her poisoned granny.
    I kept it upbeat. ‘They’re really excited about you coming to stay today instead of next weekend, they can’t wait to see you and hear all about your time on the ship with everyone.’
    ‘OK. That means that I go back to school when everybody else does?’
    ‘Yes, but you’ll have a great time with Granny and Grandpa first.’
    She didn’t share my optimism, but she was switched on enough to know that, even though they might be boring, they loved her dearly. It was the only reason I put up with them.
    We got back onto the main drag and headed for the tunnel, me thinking about the RV details I’d been given. From Kelly there was nothing but brooding, oppressive silence and I didn’t really know how to break it.
    Eventually I said, ‘I’ll phone you at school one lunchtime next week, OK?’
    She perked up. ‘You will? You’ll phone me?’
    ‘Sure I will. I don’t know when it will be, but I will.’
    She looked at me and raised an accusing eyebrow. ‘Is that going to be another one of your promises?’
    I smiled and nodded my head. I knew I was digging myself a very deep hole here, because every time I promised I seemed to fuck up; I didn’t have a clue what I’d be doing, and I knew it was a short-term gain. I hated this part of my responsibilities, I hated letting her down the way I’d been let down.
    I said, ‘Not just a promise – a double promise. We’ll talk about all the things we’ll do on our next holiday. I’ll make it up to you, you’ll see.’
    She was studying my face, sizing me up. Having gained an inch, she was going to go for the full mile. ‘Do I have to go to Granny and Grandad’s?’
    I could guess how she felt. She’d told me that when she was with them, she spent most of her time pulling her jumper back out of her jeans after Carmen had pulled them up to her armpits ‘to keep out the cold’. I wouldn’t want to be going there either, but I said, ‘It’ll be fine, don’t worry about it. You were going to stay with them next weekend after school anyway. Another weekend won’t hurt. I’ll have a little chat and see if they’ll take you to the aquarium to see those sharks we were talking about.’
    She gave me a look to let me know the aquarium trip wouldn’t happen. I knew she was right and ploughed on. ‘One thing’s for sure, I don’t want them to take you to the Bloody Tower; that’s our special thing, OK?’
    There was a slow acknowledgement, even though she probably knew there was more chance of her grandmother metamorphosing into Zoë Ball overnight. I indicated to get off the M23 on the last stretch towards the airport.
    Signs welcomed us to the North Terminal and I headed up to the short-term parking. I kept up my goodness-me-I’m-so-excited voice. ‘Right, let’s go and see if Granny and Grandad are here yet, shall we? Tell you what, if they aren’t, we’ll go and have something to eat. Hungry yet?’ That should keep Granny happy.
    She didn’t say it, but the look she gave me as she got out of the car said, Cut the crap, dickhead, I’ve had it up to here. She’d been hung out with the washing; she knew it, and she wanted me to know that she knew it. I got hold of her hand and bag, because there was traffic all over the place, and followed the signs to the North Terminal.
    I’d arranged to meet them in the Costa Coffee shop. It would be easy enough to find; even they could do it.
    I looked at my G-Shock, the one I’d bought to replace the one I’d lost. It was a Baby-G this time – the new one – and when you pressed the backlight button, a little surfer came up on one of the