‘I think we can safely say that the recruitment element of this mission is dead,’ James said. ‘Oli is clearly smart enough to be a CHERUB agent, but he’s just …’

James couldn’t think how to phrase it correctly in front of his boss, so Daniel finished the sentence for him.

‘Oli is the most loathsome kid I’ve ever met.’

James nodded in agreement. ‘You rescued Oli from Trey’s grasp, but I think we can assume that Trey might come after him again. So, we’re going to arrange for him to be given a new surname and moved to a foster home at least a couple of hundred miles from here.’

‘Can’t we just do the world some good and shoot him?’ Daniel suggested cheekily.

‘I wish,’ James grinned. ‘Especially as I’ve got to find a good foster home and do all the paperwork for his transfers.’

‘So we’re staying for at least a while longer?’ Leon asked.

James nodded. The twins smiled because it meant that they got out of more heavy drill back on campus. But Daniel had another realisation.

‘I put staples in Trey’s leg and stole his gun.’

‘And we took the six hundred Oli made from the laptops,’ Leon added.

Daniel nodded. ‘So we’re not exactly flavour of the month.’

James and John both erupted in smiles.

‘We’ve gotta do a bit of work on getting you back into Trey’s good books,’ James said. ‘Don’t worry, I have a few ideas.’

18. BROTHER

Gurbir yelled as Rhea strode past his office, long legs and a school uniform that violated at least ten regulations.

‘What I do now, Gurby-kins?’ Rhea asked, contemptuously popping bubble-gum as she leaned in the doorway. But her expression turned for the better when she saw a handsome seventeen-year-old, sat in a plastic chair with a bright yellow North Face pack resting between his legs.

‘This is Ryan,’ Gurbir explained. ‘I have a few calls to make, would you mind showing him to room thirteen?’

‘Oli’s room?’ she asked.

‘Oli has been placed with a foster family some distance from here,’ Gurbir explained.

Rhea flicked an eyebrow. ‘Good riddance to the little shite.’

Gurbir half smiled as Rhea beckoned Ryan with a purple fingernail. ‘You coming then?’

Ryan slung the yellow pack over his shoulder and grabbed a duffel bag. He eyed Rhea as she led him through the dining area, slightly put off by her cigarette smell.

‘Like your jeans,’ Rhea said.

‘Cheers,’ Ryan said. ‘Diesel. Bought ’em with my birthday money.’

‘I like it when they’re tight enough to see a crotch bulge,’ Rhea said, then as Ryan looked down at himself in a state of panic, ‘Joke!’

‘Been here long?’