"First thing we gotta do," said Danny, "is get past the guy on the gate."

He studied the bored-looking ticket collector who was standing beside the automatic barrier. "I'm gonna tell him we're from Scotland Yard. You just follow my lead, okay?"

"Okay," said Ricky. "Only..." He hesitated as Danny glanced at him, then went on diffidently: "Wouldn't it be easier to buy a ticket?"

He gestured towards the bank of vending machines standing behind them in the side passage where they'd taken cover. Pargeter and Flynn, making their way around the station ticket hall, hadn't seen them yet.

Danny dismissed the suggestion with a grunt. Then he reconsidered. He hated to admit it, but it made a whole lot more sense than trying to bluff their way through.

"Keep an eye out for your friends," he muttered.

"Flynn's no friend of mine." Ricky sounded as though he'd just been insulted, but Danny had already turned his attention to the nearest machine. In all the time he'd spent in London, he'd never gotten round to travelling on the Underground, and for a few seconds he stared the display, trying to figure out which was the right fare.

"We should go to the ticket window and get a Go As You Please ticket," suggested Ricky. "It lasts four days and lets you go just about anywhere."

"If Pargeter's still chasing us around London in four days' time, we might as well give up," Danny snapped back. "We're not making a vacation out of it, we just need to get on the first train back into the city."

"If we ever manage to get a ticket."

"Okay, give me a break. It's a long time since I've been on the subway, and that was in New York. They run things a bit different over here. So..."

He trailed off, and Ricky gave an exaggerated sigh. "Here, let me." He took Danny's place, shifting the holdall containing his borrowed clothes from one hand to the other. "Do you have any change? I'm skint."

That figured. Danny pulled a handful of coins out of his pocket. A few seconds later, Ricky handed him his ticket, and drew back against the wall, while Danny made a quick survey of the ticket hall. Flynn, standing near the public toilets across the way, was easy to spot, but Pargeter was nowhere to be seen. They'd have to chance it. At least Flynn wasn't looking in their direction.

"Keep close," murmured Danny. He might as well have saved his breath. Ricky followed him close enough to almost trip over him.

"Do you know what to do at the barrier?" he murmured into Danny's ear.

"Do I – How dumb d'you think I am?" Danny snapped.

The guy at the gate gave them no more than a cursory glance as they approached. So far, so good.

"All right," said Danny, "so I just shove the ticket in there, right? Easy as pie."

He pushed through the gate, and turned to see Ricky hesitating before following. "Now what?" Danny growled.

It was the rail employee who answered: "Don't forget your ticket, mate."

"My what?" Danny turned back to the gate, and saw the ticket sticking out at the top of the barrier. "Well, how was I to know?" he muttered, as he grabbed it.

The railway man glanced at Ricky. "Tourist?" he asked.

"My – my uncle, from America," Ricky replied, in an apologetic tone as he passed through, and the man rolled his eyes and tutted.

His uncle?

Danny gritted his teeth. He'd have something to say about that later. But for now, he let had to it go. Pargeter had just come out of the gents and rejoined his pal. Even though he was too far away to be heard, it was clear what he was saying: They're not in there.

He glanced past Flynn, caught sight of his quarry and started forward; then, realising they'd already gotten past the barrier, he changed tack, and made a beeline for the ticket machines. Danny grabbed Ricky's elbow. "We'd better get moving. With a bit of luck we'll be gone before they catch up."

"What if there isn't a train due?"

"Don't ask questions like that."

There were two platforms, both above ground but below the level of the ticket hall. Without stopping to think, Danny steered Ricky to the stairs on the right, and rushed him down so fast that Ricky missed the last step, landed awkwardly and almost fell flat on his face.

A train had just left from the platform on the other side of the tracks, and there weren't many people waiting on this one. Danny looked around for a sign showing the next arrival. He found it, but the electronic display was dead.

Ricky had dropped onto one of the benches, leaning forward to rub his ankle. "You okay?" said Danny.

"I twisted it when I fell down the steps."

"You don't make things easy, do you?" The sound of an approaching train reached Danny's ear. "Well, you'll have to grin and bear it. On your feet, let's go."

"But..." Ricky stared at the approaching engine, but Danny hardly noticed. He'd just spotted Flynn on the other platform. Pargeter was just behind him, looking from side to side. Just before the incoming train blocked his view, he saw Danny, called out to Flynn, and turned to race back up the stairs.

Danny scarcely waited for the doors to open before he hauled Ricky aboard. There was still no sign of their pursuers. They might just lose them here, if only the train would get moving.

"Come on, come on," said Danny under his breath.

A few seconds later, the doors started to close, just too late. First Flynn, then Pargeter, hurtled out of the stairwell and into the next car, with scarcely half a second to spare. The doors slid shut, and the train set off.

"Now what?" asked Ricky. He was still on his feet, gripping the holdall with one hand, and clinging with the other to the pole in the middle of the car as he tried to keep his weight off his injured ankle.

"We'll wait till we get to a busy station, and try and lose them there."

"You mean, somewhere like King's Cross? That's going to take a while." Ricky gave up on the pole and sank down onto one of the seats, with the holdall on his knees.

"How come?"

"We're on the wrong line, and going the wrong way. This is the train to Upminster."

"Why didn't you say so before we got on?"

"I did try to tell you," said Ricky, instantly defensive.

"Okay. So, no big deal, we just get off at the next station and change trains."

"Uh...okay..."

"Or would you prefer to go to Upminster? Or Downminster, how about that?"

"No, it's my ankle. It really hurts. Can't we just forget about the tube and find a cab?"

Danny thought about it, then shook his head. "It'll be easier to lose them on the Underground. Easier to get where we're going, too. They've probably got someone watching my car, so that's a no-go, but once we've got rid of the posse we can double back and catch an out-of-town train."

"What about the policewoman who was with you yesterday?" Ricky suggested. "You could give her a call."

"Can't do that."

"Why not?"

Danny didn't answer at once. He had a feeling Ricky panicked easily, and they already had enough trouble. But ever since he'd noticed the cab following them, after they'd left Stafford Row, he couldn't shake off the idea that someone might have given the crooks a tip-off, and there was only one other person who knew where Ricky had spent the night.

Okay, he was almost sure she could be trusted, Sure enough, in fact, to bet his own life, but not Ricky's.

Luckily, he had a couple of other arguments up his sleeve. "In the first place, we can't hang around in one place too long. By the time Foley sends a rescue party we could be miles away. In the second place, if Ronnie sees us using the phone, he's liable to get reckless, and we know Flynn likes guns. They haven't done anything yet, so I guess they don't want to attract attention. Let's try and keep it that way."

Ricky didn't look convinced, but at least he shut up.

Even though the windows of the inter-carriage doors were pretty grimy, it was easy to spot Flynn's ginger head. He was keeping close to the exit, just like Danny; and presumably Pargeter was right there, too, ready to jump off at a second's notice.

A garbled, incoherent announcement came over the Tannoy. Ricky sighed, and dragged himself up.

"How long does it stop for?" asked Danny, but Ricky didn't answer.

The train pulled up at the platform, and a couple of passengers got off. Danny paused in the doorway, glancing at the next carriage. Pargeter and Flynn would be off the train as soon as Danny and Ricky were. Well, there wasn't much Danny could do about it, unless he was prepared to go all the way to Upminster.

And that ain't happening, he thought; and just as the doors started closing, he put his hand on Ricky's shoulder and propelled him out of the car. Sure enough, Pargeter and Flynn stepped off, too.

"Don't worry about it," Danny muttered, sensing Ricky's apprehension. "They're not gonna do anything now. They'll wait till there aren't so many witnesses."

"Thanks," Ricky hissed back. "That's very reassuring – " He finished on a stifled groan as he embarked on the stairs.

Pargeter and Flynn stayed several steps back, which added weight to Danny's theory. All the same, his gut had started to tighten up, and he hustled Ricky across the footbridge fast enough to elicit a feeble remonstrance.

"Bite the bullet, kid," said Danny. The sound of an engine pulling up had reached him, and he sped up, hoping with all he had that Ricky wouldn't stumble again, and that those two hoods behind them wouldn't take the opportunity to give him a shove.

They didn't. Instead, they overtook their target on the way down and waited on the platform for Danny and Ricky to get there before boarding at the same instant.

"You know what?" said Danny, observing them from the other end of a half-full car. "I don't think they're planning anything. Not right now, anyway. They're just keeping tabs."

Ricky's eyebrows drew in. "What do you mean?"

"They can't get to you right now, not with all these people around. But if they can figure out where we're headed, they can come back and pick you off any time that's convenient." Danny gave Ricky a few seconds to absorb this suggestion, before going on: "Of course, if they see a chance to arrange an accident, they'll probably jump at it. You better keep away from the edge of the platform from here on."

Ricky opened his mouth, thought better of whatever he was going to say, and instead edged towards the nearest empty seat. "Don't sit down," said Danny. "If we're gonna give 'em the slip, we need to be quick on our feet."

He peered out of the window as the train slowed down. "This is where we first got on, right? I gotta remember where I left the car."

"Are you sure it wouldn't be better to just drive wherever it is we're going?" asked Ricky.

For a moment, Danny wondered if, after all, driving might be his best move. This trip had already gotten way more complicated than he'd expected. Maybe it was time to rethink the whole thing, get back in the car, and take Ricky back to Brett's place where he could keep watch over both of them.

Receiving no response, Ricky pressed on: "Where are we going, anyway?"

"Somewhere they'll never think of looking for you." Danny hadn't even thought it through, but he spoke with absolute certainty. After everything that had happened, and with that vague suspicion still in the back of his mind, he couldn't be sure Ricky would be safe even at the apartment. Anyway, Brett sure didn't need this first-class waste of space hanging around. The surest course was to stick to the plan, if only they could dodge Pargeter and Flynn.

The train was moving again, and abruptly the daylight outside was cut off as the line went underground. The rumbling and vibration, rebounding from the tunnel walls, seemed to intensify, and the atmosphere felt thicker.

There's no going back now, thought Danny.

Ricky was still looking at him for an answer. Danny glanced at their pursuers again, then turned away from them, in case either of them could read lips. "There's an old country inn in – well, it's somewhere in Wiltshire. The landlord's an old friend of Brett's. He'll put you up for a few days, until all this is over."

"Okay." Ricky sounded pretty unenthusiastic, and Danny had hard work to restrain his growing irritation. He was glad he had, when Ricky, very tentatively, went on: "Didn't the inspector say my granddad sent the watch to someone called Brett? Is he a friend of yours?"

"Yeah."

Ricky hesitated again, putting two and two together. "She said something about saving a man's life. Is he...?"

He didn't finish the question, but Danny, seeing his heightened colour and the whiteness of his knuckles as his fingers tightened around the handrail, responded by pure reflex: "He's safe now."

Ricky blinked rapidly. His lips were moving, and although Danny couldn't make out what he was saying, he felt himself thawing, just a little bit.

Outside the carriage, the next station slid into view; a wide double-sided platform, more densely packed than the last one, and with another train standing on the other side. Danny inched back from the doors to get out of the way of several passengers getting off, and gripped Ricky's arm so they wouldn't be separated by the jostling of the boarding passengers. At the other end, Pargeter was hemmed in.

"Okay, now's our chance," said Danny, and shouldered his way through the throng and onto the platform. Ricky, dragged along willy-nilly, uttered a breathless protest; but Danny didn't dare slow down, nor even to look back, until they got onto the other train, cutting it so fine that the closing door barely missed taking the heel off Ricky's shoe.

Leaving him to get his breath back, Danny looked out of the window. Pargeter had escaped the crush, but not fast enough, and was still on the platform. He met Danny's eye, gave a rueful grin and shook his head, and was left behind as the train moved off.

"Did we lose them?" asked Ricky. He'd managed to get to a seat, and seeing as he was clearly in pain, Danny let him sit.

"We lost Ronnie." Danny gave a slight jerk of his head towards where a glimpse of red hair could be seen, further down the car. "Flynn's sticking on. How's the ankle?"

"I think it's getting better."

Danny sighed. "Skip the brave little soldier act, Ricky, it doesn't suit you. It ain't gonna be no good to nobody if it gives out on you while we're halfway up the escalators." He tried to see what was outside, but there was only the blackness of the tunnel. "I don't suppose you know where we're headed now."

"Well, it's not Wiltshire, but if you happen to know of an old country inn in Ealing..." Ricky glanced surreptitiously at his enemy. "He's looking at me."

"They can't arrest him for that," Danny pointed out. "Or for anything else he's done so far today. It ain't no crime to get on a train. But if it'll make you feel better, we'll move to the next car."

Ricky got to his feet. "I should have stayed in the police cell," he grumbled, limping towards the connecting door. He baulked a little at the shaking and racket of the tiny platform between the carriages, but with Danny pushing him from behind he made it across, and dropped onto the nearest vacant seat.

It was a couple of minutes, and they'd passed one more station, before Danny noticed something was missing. "Where's the bag?"

Ricky looked startled, and blushed. "I pushed it under the seat, so nobody would fall over it."

"And then you forgot about it." Danny drew a deep breath, but he managed to hold back what he wanted to say. "Stay right there. Don't move."

He made his way to the connecting door, then came back. "Well, that's the last we'll see of that. Flynn's got it, and now that he's had a rummage through it I don't want any of it back."

"Sorry," murmured Ricky.

"I guess he's looking for something that'll tell him where we're going. All he's gonna find out is that I dress better than he does," Danny went on. He realised the noise of the train was decreasing. "We're slowing down. What say we get off at the next stop, and see if he's too busy rifling through my stuff to notice?"

"Fat chance of that." But Ricky stood up.

There was quite a crowd waiting on the long, narrow platform, which would have improved their odds of dodging Flynn, if only Ricky hadn't wrenched his ankle. As it was, they needed some kind of diversion, and Danny had been racking his brains ever since they got on the first train. It was up to him, because there was no hope of Ricky coming up with an idea.

"I've got an idea," said Ricky suddenly.

"Is that right?" Danny, elbowing his way through the ruck, gave him a brief, exasperated look. "How about you let me have the ideas, and just try not to fall over again – Ricky!" He finished on a furious, incoherent mutter, and set off after his charge, who was hobbling with determination towards a dark uniform and peaked cap which could be seen at the back of the mob.

By the time Danny caught up, he was already laying out his complaint to the station employee, a wiry little woman who looked like she could handle a dozen football hooligans without breaking a sweat.

"...and I had an overnight bag with me, and it's been stolen."

She didn't seem very interested. "Well, you know, pet, there's always a risk of theft if you don't keep an eye on your things."

"I only put it down for a moment to look for my ticket. The thing is, I know who took it, because I saw him. Can't you do something?"

He gave her a limpid, hopeful look. No doubt about it, he had his share of boyish appeal; and if she didn't completely fall for it, she certainly warmed by a few degrees. "What did he look like?"

"About my height, red hair, wearing a purple jacket, and carrying my overnight bag. And..." Ricky broke off, and pointed. "That's him."

She turned her attention to the man who had just stepped off the train. "Right. I'll go and have a word. You wait right here."

Flynn had taken in the situation at a glance. As the woman started towards him, beckoning to one of her workmates to come and help, he turned around and headed rapidly for the exit, with the station staff in pursuit.

In spite of himself, Danny had to admit it. The kid had come up with the goods.

"Do you think they'll catch him?" said Ricky.

"I think he's had plenty of practice at shaking off the cops, so these guys won't give him any trouble," replied Danny. "It's gotten him off our backs, anyway. We better make the most of it."

Ricky sighed. "Back on the train?"

"Back on the train," said Danny. "And this time, we're really gonna get lost."