Chapter 1

It was all panning out exactly as expected. The van pulled up just across the road from Del Floria's. Lee smiled to himself. The Hazel gang were getting sloppy.

Just as the tip off suggested the truck parked at 3pm exactly. If all went well at 3.30pm they would enter Del Floria's carrying a plain brown package. The package would be left on the countertop when the store attendant wasn't looking. Then they would take their leave. Then if all went according to plan the bomb would blow a substantial hole in the little flower shop and make an entrance into the bank beside it. It wasn't a great plan, the vault was bomb proof and the goons hanging around to finish the job were as conspicuous as Cubs at a Lakers game but that was the plan.

Lee chuckled to himself. The Hazel gang were getting very predictable.

He backed into a side alley and took out his pen communicator.

"I'm in position," he spoke clearly.

He replaced the cap on his communicator, his eyes firmly fixed on the van opposite.

Without warning he was knocked to the ground, the communicator skidding out of his hand.

The girls laughed as they picked themselves up. They were no more than school girls indulging in horseplay but somehow all three of them together had managed to knock him off his feet.

"Sorry!" One of the smaller girls came up behind them and tried to help him up.

Lee got to his feet and brushed himself off.

"Maybe you could find a park to play in," he told them sternly.

The tallest girl scowled all over her pretty face. "We're fifteen. We don't play."

"You coulda fooled me."

Lee lost interest in them quickly, his eyes reverting back to the van but he soon noticed when the tallest of the girls picked up something from the ground.

Her eyes glistened at the prize. She thought it was an expensive fountain pen.

"Come on, give that back to me," Lee put his hand out for it. "Come on now."

For a moment it looked as though she would comply but then she grinned wickedly at him and began backing away.

"Give him his pen Jessica," the younger girl said.

But instead she took off running, her friends chasing after her, everybody laughing.

For a moment Lee stared after them. He looked down at the youngest girl still standing near him. She started backing away from him trembling all over at the thought of her friends stealing from this grown man.

He pointed a finger at her. "No, stay, STAY."

Lee had cared for various breeds of dog in his time, children, not so much.

She took off running with the rest of them. Lee had no choice but to follow. It was not unknown for enemy forces to hack their computer system and capture the exact frequency of a communicator tracking it's location. For a communicator to fall into the wrong hands, especially if those hands were that of school children. Lee could find himself flipping burgers for the rest of his life.

He limped along after them, having sustained an injury to his knee in the fall. The chase took them to wasteground not far down the road. They headed for an old mansion house, it's owners long since dead.

"Come on, he won't follow us in here," Jessica giggled as she headed inside and made for the dilapidated staircase. Her three friends followed until she began heading up the stairs.

"We're not supposed to go up there," Charlotte frowned.

"Come on, he's nearly here," Jessica shrieked.

Just as Lee came into view outside the three remaining girls ran up the rickety stairs to join their friend.

"Quick come on. I know a back way out of here," Jessica grinned, leading the way.

The others followed cautiously.

Lee gained the top of the stairs and followed their voices. He walked purposefully from room to room, his temper beginning to fray now at this unnecessary waste of time. They turned and shrieked in horror at seeing the man on the same landing they stood on.

"Come on now. You're not in trouble. I just want my pen back." He told them.

He moved forward. There was an almighty crack. The girls screamed as the man literally disappeared down through the floor. As the dust settled they cautiously walked on the creaking boards and peered down through the hole. The youngest girl gasped as on the floor below he lay motionless, his right leg bent at an odd angle.

"Is he dead?" Emily asked, her bottom lip beginning to tremble.

"Shut up," Jessica snapped. "We just need to think!"

Natasha spoke for the first time. "Maybe we should get help. We could send Emily for help and we could go down and see to him,"

Jessica shook her head. "He's fine, he's probably fine. No sense getting ourselves into trouble over nothing. We'll go down and apologize."

So carefully they crept across creaking boards, found the stairs and descended to the lower level of the house. Through the dust clouded shadows he could be seen, lying very still, his body at an awkward angle. It was a bad fall. His head had connected with the side of a desk on his way down. Blood poured from a gash on his forehead and pooled on the concrete floor.

Natasha crouched and put out a hand.

"Don't touch him," Jessica shrieked. "You could be touching a corpse."

Natasha shook her head as she lay fingers on his neck.

"He has a pulse."

"Emily, run and get help." Natasha told the youngest girl.

"No!" Jessica caught hold of her before she went to run. "No, let's think on this a minute. It's the start of the summer holidays next week. I'm going to Europe. No. This will cause problems. We'll go to jail."

"You'll go to jail," Charlotte spat out. "You had to steal his pen. You had to."

Jessica slapped her face as she started to shriek at her. Charlotte slapped her back. They both caught hold of each other's hair.

"Stop it, stop it." Natasha yelled at them both.

Suddenly they all looked to Emily who was crouched beside him crying.

"Blood is coming out from his mouth," she whimpered.

"Listen...he'll be fine. He will probably wake up none the wiser as to what happened to him. My brother woke up after falling from a tree and he hadn't a clue what just happened. He will probably wake up and go on home. But if we tell on ourselves you can forget about any holidays we might have. We'll be lucky if we're not sent to some awful borstal school."

Jessica's words had the desired effect. They all looked terrified.

"Come on, we'll prop him up against that wall." Jessica tried to haul him into a sitting position.

"Help me!" She yelled.

Charlotte and Natasha finally moved. Charlotte put her arm under his other arm and Natasha took his legs. They half carried, half dragged him to a bare stone corner which was shrouded in darkness and left him propped up with his back to the wall. Blood still poured from his head wound and trickled down the side of his face. Natasha went to her purse and took out her handkerchief.

"No!" Jessica yelled. "Leave it, they'll know there was someone with him."

Her keen eyes spied something in among the rubbish, she quickly went to it and screwing off the lid she poured alcohol all over him.

"What are you doing?" Natasha cried.

"Do you want everyone to know we were involved?" Jessica told her. "It's no harm for people to think he came by this way himself. It was an accident. He had too much to drink, he fell over. Can happen to anyone."

As she spoke Jessica lifted Lee's head. She loosened his tie and undid the first two buttons of his shirt."

"She has a point," Charlotte agreed, though her voice was shaking. "He got drunk and he fell. It could happen to anyone."

"There now," Jessica got back up. "He'll be found in no time. Come on we'll be late for dinner. Charlotte, you're staying the night at my house aren't you?"

"I guess,"

Jessica stirred her two friends towards the door. It was a minute before they realized that Emily wasn't with them.

She was still standing looking at the man slumped in the darkest corner.

"Poor Emily, she's traumatized." Jessica told the others. "Wait here a minute will you."

She went to the younger girl. Emily gasped as she took hold of her by her school tie.

"You breathe a word of this to anyone and you will be put away for the rest of your life and never see your mama and poppa again, now do you want that to happen?"

The youngest girl shook her head, her bottom lip beginning to tremble.

"Pull yourself together then," Jessica growled.

~o~

At first Billy was annoyed.

There was no problem, they had apprehended the felons and diffused the situation, but Lee had missed his cue.

At first he was annoyed thinking Lee had gotten distracted or decided to change the plan without telling anyone but as day turned to evening and shutters began to come down on the stores all around them Billy began to realize that something was very wrong. Where was Lee?.