Disclaimer: All recognizable characters and locations in this fic belong to Jacqueline Wilson and the BBC.
Liam and Frank both stared in horror as Gina's voice came down the phone. After neither of them had answered his question, the guard had shrugged non-committally before dialling the number himself and putting on the speaker.
"Hi, I'm looking for a Mr. Mike Milligan, I believe he works there." The guard stated jovially, the grin still plastered on his face.
"Yes he does but he's busy at the moment. Can I take a message?" Gina asked.
"Yeah," he answered, frowning now. "This is Carl Hagen, I'm lead security at the Watford offices of Keavo. Can you tell him that we think we have two of his charges here. Two boy's about fourteen, fifteen, one has..."
"You found them!" Gina interrupted excitedly. "How...can you hold for a moment? I have to get Mike." Without waiting for an answer Gina hurriedly exited the room, smiling widely.
Tracy gaped at Mike, her mind taking a few moments to process what he was saying. "Where?" She asked incredulously.
"Watford. The kids figured it out." He answered.
"Watford! Why Watford?"
"There's a competition there for a drinks company." He stated, handing her the flier. "Apparently they've been making Liamade again." He added ruefully.
Tracy read the flier carefully before passing it on to Crash. "Sounds about right." She said wryly. "It's a wonder they've not tried to sell it on a bigger scale before."
"How did the kids find out?" Crash asked, still looking over the flier in his hand.
"They went through their rooms. We'll need to have a talk abou..."
Mike was cut off by Gina calling his name as she came racing up the hall. Turning quickly he moved towards the door to intercept her, worry and fear etched on his face.
"What's wrong?" He questioned.
"They've found the boys! They're in Watford, being held in the security offices. The head of security is on the phone now, a Carl Hagen, he wants to speak to you." She answered excitedly.
"The office phone?" He asked, already backing away from her.
"Yes but..."
"Thanks Gina." He exclaimed, hurrying towards the office.
Gina huffed in exasperation before following him. It had been a long day.
Sapphire paused at the top of the stairs, looking back over her shoulder as she heard Gina shouting excitedly from the hallway. She shrugged unconcerned, thinking that Mike had obviously told her what they had found out about the boys. Carrying on once more, she turned into the corridor that would take her to her room only to be confronted by the rest of the kids standing in her way.
Crossing her arms in front of her, she stared at the group defiantly. "What is this, the inquisition?" She asked sarcastically. At receiving no answer other than a a few glares, she huffed in exasperation. "Look. If you've got something to say, say it. Otherwise, you all need to get out my way."
"You told." Gus stated simply.
"Yeah, care kids don't snitch." Johnny added.
"Be serious guys. They weren't answering they're phones and Liam's got a reputation for pissing people off, someone had to do something before they got into trouble." Sapphire defended.
"But you told." Gus repeated.
"Yeah I told. What you gonna do about it?" She asked rhetorically before striding towards the group purposely. As she expected, they moved out of her way rather than face up to her. Although there was nothing she could do to stop the looks.
Mike strode into the office, heading straight for the phone. "Hello, Mr Hagen? Yeah, this is Mike Milligan from Elm Tree House, I believe you have two of our boys in your office."
Mike looked up on hearing Gina enter the office, a frown on his face as he listened to Carl speak on the other end of the phone. "Yes, I'm aware of what they've done, no I don't condone..." His hand gripped the phone tighter as he became more frustrated at the path the conversation was taking. "Look," he almost growled, gritting his teeth in irritation. "I know they've caused some trouble down there, but if we could talk to them and make sure they're OK?"
At Mike's disgruntled tone, Gina looked up from where she sat at her desk, trying to process some of the paperwork. "Is everything alright?" She asked, concerned by his behaviour.
Mike threw her a brief smile, as he put his hand over the mouthpiece of the phone. "He's just being a bit difficult." He said, "stalling on letting me talk to the boys. But he's finally agreed to put them on."
Gina began to the reply, until they both heard a voice shouting down the phone. Mike quickly put the phone back to his ear, his posture relaxing at what he heard next. "Liam, thank god!" He exclaimed, collapsing onto the chair behind him. "What did you think you were doing?"
"We thought we were gonna make a quick couple a quid." Liam answered cheekily, as Frank rolled his eyes in exasperation beside him.
"But your OK?" Mike's worry could be heard clearly down the phone and it made both boys feel guilty, tempering Liam's attitude.
"We're fine Mike." Frank answered.
"Yeah, we just wanna come home" Liam said, before adding sheepishly. "Only, we've missed our train after being stuck in here."
"I'll sort it." Mike promised. "Can you put the guard back on now?"
"Yeah, but it's on speaker anyway. He can already hear you." Liam stated.
"That's good to know. Be good yeah, don't get into any more trouble." Mike warned. "We'll sort your punishment out when you get out."
The two boys winced at the veiled threat, sharing a look of hopelessness before going back to sit in their chairs, giving the guard some privacy to talk to Mike."
"I wonder what he'll do." Frank muttered.
"Dunno, but it'll probably be a good one. He sounded worried." Liam answered thoughtfully, before they both fell into silence, contemplating their fate.
A/N: I've been trying to get this up for ages but every time I tried to upload I got a blank screen. I think FFnet dislikes my story :)). Although thanks to a post in one of the forums by Rhea Silverkeys, I found an epic wee trick to get around the problem. I doff my hat to you. Or I would if I wore one.