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Chapters (88)
  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Dear Reader …
  4. Also by Robert Muchamore
  5. PART ONE
  6. Walter J Freeman Adolescent Mental Health Unit – East Grinstead, UK
  7. ONE
  8. TWO
  9. THREE
  10. FOUR
  11. FIVE
  12. SIX
  13. SEVEN
  14. EIGHT
  15. NINE
  16. TEN
  17. ELEVEN
  18. PART TWO
  19. TWELVE
  20. THIRTEEN
  21. FOURTEEN
  22. FIFTEEN
  23. SIXTEEN
  24. SEVENTEEN
  25. EIGHTEEN
  26. NINETEEN
  27. TWENTY
  28. TWENTY-ONE
  29. TWENTY-TWO
  30. TWENTY-THREE
  31. TWENTY-FOUR
  32. TWENTY-FIVE
  33. TWENTY-SIX
  34. TWENTY-SEVEN
  35. TWENTY-EIGHT
  36. TWENTY-NINE
  37. THIRTY
  38. THIRTY-ONE
  39. THIRTY-TWO
  40. THIRTY-THREE
  41. THIRTY-FOUR
  42. THIRTY-FIVE
  43. THIRTY-SIX
  44. THIRTY-SEVEN
  45. THIRTY-EIGHT
  46. PART THREE
  47. Walter J. Freeman Adolescent Mental Health Unit – East Grinstead, UK
  48. THIRTY-NINE
  49. FORTY
  50. FORTY-ONE
  51. FORTY-TWO
  52. FORTY-THREE
  53. FORTY-FOUR
  54. FORTY-FIVE
  55. FORTY-SIX
  56. FORTY-SEVEN
  57. FORTY-EIGHT
  58. FORTY-NINE
  59. FIFTY
  60. FIFTY-ONE
  61. FIFTY-TWO
  62. FIFTY-THREE
  63. FIFTY-FOUR
  64. PART FOUR
  65. FIFTY-FIVE
  66. FIFTY-SIX
  67. FIFTY-SEVEN
  68. FIFTY-EIGHT
  69. FIFTY-NINE
  70. SIXTY
  71. SIXTY-ONE
  72. SIXTY-TWO
  73. SIXTY-THREE
  74. SIXTY-FOUR
  75. SIXTY-FIVE
  76. SIXTY-SIX
  77. SIXTY-SEVEN
  78. SIXTY-EIGHT
  79. SIXTY-NINE
  80. SEVENTY
  81. SEVENTY-ONE
  82. SEVENTY-TWO
  83. SEVENTY-THREE
  84. EPILOGUE
  85. Discover more books and sign up to the Robert Muchamore mailing list at muchamore.com
  86. Have you read KILLER T?
  87. 1 SLASHED RUBBER
  88. 2 NOT HARRY POTTER

Julius went straight behind the desk and opened the second drawer in a file cabinet. He thought his mother might have moved her stash of pre-paid SIM cards after discovering one in his old phone, but she hadn’t made that link and he slid two Image Missing10,000 SIM packs out of a stack held together with an elastic band.

He hoped to find an old phone and charger in the drawer, but had no luck. He looked in more drawers and opened a glass-fronted cabinet, yet still didn’t find anything. He wondered if he might be able to find an old phone in Gabe or the twins’ rooms, but before progressing with this thought he noticed a Shoprite carrier bag tucked between the office chair and the side panel of his mother’s desk.

It was the bag she’d been carrying when she came home from The Cross late on Sunday night. She’d have left the driver to deal with anything unimportant, but she’d carried this bag herself and taken time to stash it in her office before going to bed.

After wheeling back the chair, Julius was delighted as he saw that the bag was filled with banknotes. Bunmi kept jewellery and money in a floor safe in her bedroom, but the money in the bag was church donations. It hadn’t yet been moved to a safer place, because most of the notes had to be unravelled from the cigarette-sized tubes that people kept in their pockets for giving bribes.

Julius had already spent longer in the office than he’d meant. But money would enable him to buy a phone and other freedoms, especially if he was sent away to boarding school. He pushed his hand down the bag, and as his fingers sifted, he realised that the amounts were large. Most likely the contents of the collection box in The Cross’s VIP level.

Most of the rolls comprised bundles of Image Missing1,000 notes. These were the highest value notes issued by the Bank of Nigeria but would still struggle to buy a cup of coffee in a cafe at the mall. To avoid carrying bricks of cash to church, larger donations had been made in US dollars. Julius noted twenties, fifties and even a tightly wound roll of hundreds. It would be quick and easy to steal the lot, but he’d be prime suspect and had no obvious place to hide a large amount.

Reasoning that his mother was busy and distracted, Julius decided he could take a fifth of the money with little chance of being detected.

He found a large padded envelope in the waste bin and started filling it with money. He picked out the roll of hundreds, but thought his mother might know about it and put it back. After plumping the bag under the desk so that it looked fuller, he headed for the door, but paused when he heard footsteps.