James heard someone speak, and Kerry mouthing, ‘OK, OK.’ Then into the phone, ‘My meeting is about to start and my boss is glowering at me through a glass partition. I’ll call you later, OK?’

‘I love you,’ James said.

Kerry laughed. ‘I love you more. And don’t worry. Everyone will support you and you’ll do great.’

James heard a sound like a door opening, then the speaker went dead. He felt warm, imagining Kerry in her black business garb, pulling her close and smelling the top of her head. Then he started thinking about what Kerry had said.

She was right that he’d feel less overwhelmed once the shock had worn off. He started breaking the rescue mission down into manageable chunks and thinking about who he’d want alongside him in a situation where his life was on the line.

James hit the contacts button on his phone and scrolled down as far as B before dialling.

‘Yo, dumbass!’ Bruce Norris answered.

James smiled, as someone in the next cubicle ripped a huge fart. ‘Hey,’ James said. ‘Are you still on campus, helping out with combat training?’

‘For a few more days,’ Bruce said. ‘How’s Birmingham? How’s the mission?’

‘It’s taken an interesting turn,’ James admitted. ‘Is there any chance you’d be up for something violent and highly dangerous?’

‘Always,’ Bruce said.

‘Cool,’ James said. ‘Because I need people I trust. So I’m gonna try getting the old gang back together, for one last mission.’

The twins had school, but Ryan had nothing to do but kill time at Nurtrust. He’d spurned Rhea’s advances, out of respect for Leon, and spent all day Monday and Tuesday in his room, doing Skype sessions with a maths tutor on campus.

Like most CHERUB agents, Ryan had taken his exams at weird times, enabling his studies to fit between missions. This meant Ryan already had enough qualifications for university, but he was now studying some extra modules to give himself an advantage when he got there.

He kept checking his phone, but James had vanished and there had been no job offer, either from Uncle, or the site foreman. It was Thursday morning when he finally got a call from campus.

James Campus flashed on his caller ID, but it was a girl’s voice.

‘Ning, is that you?’

‘Who else, dear boy?’ Ning said, putting on a posh English accent. ‘Where you at?’

‘Bored off my head,’ Ryan said. ‘I’ve done so much math, I’m seeing imaginary numbers in my dreams. Now I’m out, picking my car up from the repair shop.’

Ning sounded amused. ‘You crashed?’

‘Nah, just someone messed with a wing mirror. So how come you’re at James’ desk?’

‘I help out in his office sometimes,’ Ning explained.

‘Is he coming back here, do you know?’

‘That’s why I’m calling,’ Ning explained. ‘You and your brothers have been reassigned.’