Free Shadow Breakers by Daniel Blythe Page A

spare parts and all that kind of junk.
    â€œLeave the stick in the machine,” says Cal. “We’ll have to risk it.”
    I pull on the handle of the closet door. I pull again. It rattles but it won’t budge.
    â€œLocked!” I hiss at Cal.
    She flips out her Swiss Army knife again, slides it in between the door and the frame, and levers expertly. With a judder and a creak, the door snaps open.
    â€œIn!” she says to me and Lyssa, bundling us inside.
    We pile in, squat down on the bottom shelf underneath all the stuff. Cal pulls the door behind us and holds it shut. The enclosed space smells of metal and paper. Cal’s on one side, Lyssa and I are on the other. And we hold our breath. I try to peep out through the crack, but Cal waves a finger at me and shakes her head.
    I want to see what’s making that noise. Human intruders I can deal with. But I’m worried about what else I sensed back there, just for a moment.
    There was a shadow.
    And now someone steps into the computer room. We hear the footsteps stop, and we hear a
tut-tut
sound.
    â€œBloomin’ vandals,” says a gravelly voice.
    We look at each other, because we all recognize the voice. It’s Mr. Harbinson, the school custodian. I almost sigh out loud with relief. I imagine he is looking at my clean incision in the plastic across the door, and I feel a twinge of guilt.
    â€œBlimey,” he says. “I dunno.”
    He’s still muttering to himself. His footsteps come closer to the closet. We hardly dare breathe. We hear him bending down, then we hear something shuffling on one of the desks. I realize straightaway what has happened — he’s found the computer on, and he’s moving the mouse around to see if anything appears.
    A second later, the whine of the computer cuts out — Mr. Harbinson has switched it off, muttering, “Gawd, I dunno,” again.
    I cross my fingers. I hardly dare look at Lyssa or Cal.
    Now, at last, his footsteps start to go away again, and we hear him wheezing and coughing as he shuffles out of the computer lab.
    He’ll be on the phone to the principal, I imagine, to report that someone has been messing about in the computer lab. I hope we’ll be miles away by then. But we still have to get out of here.
    Cal nods and points to me. I carefully open the closet door a crack and check the coast is clear before emerging, trying not to make any sound. Lyssa rushes over to the computer, which is now switched off.
    But the flash drive has been left in the machine. Lyssa grins at me and Cal before pulling it out and pocketing it.
    â€œLucky!” I mouth.
    Old Harbinson can’t have spotted anything other than the fact that the computer was left on. With any luck, what was displayed on the screen wasn’t of any interest to him.
    â€œI just hope we got all the data before he cut the power,” Cal whispers.
    I check at the doorway.
    â€œAll clear!” I hiss.
    We tiptoe our way back along the corridor. We can hear Harbinson whistling downstairs, clanking about and doing something in his little room off the main downstairs corridor.
    â€œBack to the main entrance,” whispers Cal. “Quick!”
    Less than half a minute later, we are back in the lobby, and Cal has her phone out again. I look nervously over my shoulder, but Harbinson’s whistling is still echoing through the school, giving us a good idea of where he is.
    Cal thumbs the number for whatever signal it is she uses, and the electronic lock springs open.
    We’re out, racing down the playground toward the gate, and we have our treasure.
THE SEAVIEW HOTEL: SATURDAY 16:32
    Miss Bellini looks across the big wooden table at each of us in turn.
    â€œAll right,” she says. “So what do we know? Let’s ask our newest member. Miranda?”
    We’re in a transparent pod that serves as Miss Bellini’s office — it’s held by girders right up in the