They watched the girl be driven away. Chloe shut the door and looked at Alex's, whose face was twisted into an odd expression. His brow was drawn and his mouth pressed into a line. The girl took his hand.

"What's up?"

"Just thinking about Julius. I bet he sits in that facility every day thinking up ways to kill us."

"Don't think about stuff like that. There's nothing you can do."

"That's why I can't stand it," he said, "because there is nothing I can do. All I can do is pray he doesn't escape."

"I wouldn't let him get near you," Chloe asserted, squeezing him tight. She felt a little silly saying it, but it was the truth. Alex kissed her briefly despite his expression remaining troubled. The girl couldn't blame him. There was no precedent for how to react to this situation. All she could do was be there for him.

"Want to watch a movie? It's not too late yet. I'll make dinner."

Alex smiled at her and kissed her again.

"You're the best," he said. Then, with a devilish grin, "I'm so lucky to have a girlfriend who knows where her place is. The kitchen"

Chloe scoffed and grabbed his chin, "don't push your luck."

The next step was to investigate Morton & Co. A simple internet search returned millions of results. Reviews, a Facebook page, news articles, a Wikipedia link and at the top, the company's official website. Chloe looked at the about section. Formed back in 1959, William James Morton created the business from the ground up. Starting with a fleet of only ten trucks, Morton had grown the company bit by bit with a head for business and natural charisma. At least, that was what the website claimed. The current CEO was his son, Vaughn Morton. His picture displayed prominently on the front page. Dressed in a deep green suit with perfectly styled salt and pepper hair, Vaughn's appearance screamed money. Right down to the perfectly manicured nails on his long fingers. The man was smiling brightly, showing off pearl white teeth. It seemed appearance was important to Vaughn. The website was professional and sleek, all greys and whites.

"Is there an address for headquarters?" Alex asked, leaning over her shoulder at the computer.

"78 Comercial Lane. It's not far. There's an email for business enquiries too. And a phone number."

"Well, we can't just call them and ask if they have the girls," Alex said.

"No. We have to get close to the CEO somehow."

"What makes you think it's him? It could be someone on the board of directors, anyone who would be able to authorize those boats to be used. It may even be that it's another group entirely that's responsible. Maybe Morton & Co were hired as transport because they would turn a blind eye for the right price."

"We have to start somewhere," Chloe said, "they are involved somehow. Even if they're not primarily involved, they'd know who was."

"Then we need to find a way to investigate the CEO and the board of directors," he bit his thumb, "and who knows how many of them there are? Potentially, we'd have to look at them separately. Find out where they live, plant recording devices…"

"Maybe not," Chloe tapped the keys as she thought, "who's the one person closest to the CEO other than the board of directors?"

Alex shrugged.

"His PA," the boy smiled as he caught up, "they would have less security on them too. I bet the big shot CEO lives in some crazy mansion with hundreds of cameras and a whole security team. The PA though, they don't have that."

"Then we've found our in," Alex said, "we just have to find the PA."

"How do we do that?"

"Easy," he said, "lots and lots of emails."

Alex wasn't joking. To protect their IP address, they had to make a trip to the local library. From there, Alex used their computers to create a fake email address and a few back-ups. Posing as an aspirational teenager, he composed a message to Morton & Co's business address, conveying his interest in interviewing Vaughn for a project at school. Then he sent another directly asking to be put in contact with the CEO from another account. With the third, he wrote a lengthy passage as a university professor who wanted to arrange a tour of the company's headquarters.

"Hopefully one will get a response," he said, leaning back in the chair, "even if it's just the PA declining us, all we need is their name for now."

"If all else fails," Chloe said, "We could go for a good old fashioned infiltration mission."

"I'd rather avoid that. My acting can only get us so far."

The girl's phone vibrated. It was a message from a private number.

"Alex, I think this is our seller."

The girl paced around the hotel room. Gorman wasn't due for another ten minutes and they were already early. He had texted the location to them the night before. It was a tiny, hole-in-the-wall kind of hotel. The only indication that the solitary door between a chip shop and groomers was a business was a sign reading 'vacancy' in the window. The clerk had waved them through without looking up from her newspaper. That told her the hotel must be a hub of various illicit activities. What kind of world had they just walked into? Chloe was feeling very exposed. She was in an unfamiliar location, waiting to meet an unfamiliar man. Every instinct was telling her this was a bad idea. Alex was similarly nervous.

"Would you stop pacing?" he said finally, "you're making it worse."

Chloe sat on the bed and began bouncing her legs instead. Alex sighed but said nothing. The room was unremarkable. Two twin beds with questionably stained sheets were against one wall. There was a dresser with a limescale covered kettle on top and a little window covered with newspaper. It smelt of feet and cigarettes. Chloe was about to text the number again when there was a polite knock at the door. The two looked at each other. The girl got up and hovered her hand over the knob.

"Who is it?" she asked.

"Room service. I've brought more towels," said a man.

That was the code words- she hadn't chosen them. Chloe let him in.

Gorman proved to be a tall skinny man with limp blond hair. He was wearing a badly tailored suit. Rather than professional, it somehow only made him look more shifty. There was a large duffle bag in his hands. Chloe was amazed no one had stopped him on the street and asked what was in it. She couldn't imagine a way to look more suspicious. It was as if he was trying to draw attention to himself.

"Hi…" she said as he put the bag down.

Gorman smiled, showing thin yellow teeth.

"Welcome one and all," he said, gesturing wide, "to my little shop of horrors."

Chloe rushed to close the door as he spoke, "keep your voice down! Who knows who's listening."

"Darlin', I have been in this game for years and I have never been caught. You're in safe hands."

"Forgive me for not being reassured by that," said Alex, "you've brought our stuff?"

"Indeed I have. And excellent merchandise it is too. Though now I get a look at you, you two are very young aren't you?"

"Is that an issue?"

"Makes no difference to me. I've already been paid."

One by one he carefully removed the items from the bag. First the jackets, then the tasers and lastly the guns. Once finished, the dealer stepped back and urged the pair to take a look. Chloe tried one of the jackets. It was heavy, but it fit her well enough. She pressed the button on the taser. It crackled angrily.

"This beauty runs off a twenty-second cycle. That's twenty seconds of 50,000 volts. It's also got high voltage but low amperage so it can spark across up to 2 inches of space. That means even someone wearing full body armour is gonna feel it."

At least the man knew his stuff.

"I brought you a few cartridges, on the house. One-shot equals one cartridge. The prongs will dig into the target giving you enough time to get out of there," he added.

"Impressive," Chloe said, unsure of what else to say. She took hold of the tranquiliser next.

"There are three darts for each of you so use them sparingly."

Chloe felt the weight of the weapon. It was fairly light and only just the size of her hand. That was good, it meant it would be easier to conceal.

"Everything to your satisfaction?"

"Almost. Can I see the antidote?" Chloe held out her hand. Gorman happily gave it over. She turned the syringe over in her fingers. It was filled with a clear liquid.

"Maybe one of us should test it," she told Alex, who went slightly pale.

"You'll have to find some other guinea-pig," he said, "I'm not doing it."

Chloe was still holding the tranquiliser.

"And you're positive that the antidote works?"

"One hundred percent certain," the dealer confirmed.

"Let's hope you're right," Chloe said as she fired a dart into his neck.

"What the hell?" Alex shouted.

Gorman put a hand to the dart and staggered forward. Within moments he was lying face down on the floor, snoring.

"Jesus, Chloe!"

"We had to test it," she said, "better him than us."

After a few minutes, she checked his pulse. It was around 50 bpm.

"His heart rate has gone right down," she observed, "looks like he's not faking. Now we see if the antidote works too."

In Gorman's bag was a sterilisation kit. He had come prepared for someone to be injected. Chloe disinfected the area before she administered the syringe. The clear liquid emptied into his bloodstream slowly. The man didn't stir.

"Just wait," she told the boy, trying to sound confident. It had seemed like such a good idea at the time.

She checked his pulse again. It was still too low. The girl slapped his bearded cheek once, twice. Nothing.

"Chloe, if you've killed this guy I swear to God-"

The long-haired man let out a long groan and rose to his feet. He staggered and fell sideways onto one of the beds. Alex had to jump out of the way.

"Looks like you have the real deal," Chloe said, "impressive."

Gorman blinked hard several times and opened his mouth as if testing if he still could.

"You know, I probably should have seen that coming," the words came out slurred and slow, "but that was seriously not cool, young lady."

"Sorry, but I had to test it out on someone."

"Just take the stuff and get out," he said, "whatever you two have gotten yourself into, I hope you know what you're doing. I know guys who'd skin you alive for what you just did. Never contact me again. You're blacklisted."

Alex had been withdrawn on the way back to his Chelsea home. As soon as they were through the door, he went off into another room and called Jack. Chloe felt pretty ridiculous standing in the living room with a bag full of weapons. She took them upstairs and hid them in Alex's wardrobe behind his clothes. She found herself wondering what Jones was doing at that moment. Had they reached a breakthrough? Were they in the process of arresting the culprit already? An unwelcome feeling of resentment for her and Blunt crept up on her like a winter chill. Neither had tried to get into contact. She had become dead to them. It was stupid to think they valued her as anything other than an asset in the field. Her phone pinged. The group was getting excited about the party that night. Micah was bringing Twister and Daisy was making brownies. Chloe let herself join in with their excitement and pushed away her anxieties. In a few hours, there would be loud music and shouting and alcohol and all her worries would seem miles away.

She could hear Alex talking to Jack downstairs. It didn't take a genius to figure out why he had been distant. Chloe knew that what she had done had crossed the line. She had drugged a stranger without knowing the consequences. Everything could have gone very, very wrong. At that moment, she hadn't seen a better way to test it out. Not one to let her thoughts fester, she went downstairs and found the boy finishing the phone call.

"How's Jack doing?"

"Good," Alex said, "she says it's crazy hot in California."

"I see."

There was an awkward lack of conversation. Chloe found herself slightly embarrassed. The ball was in her court and she couldn't seem to find the words.

"Alex," she said and took his hand, "I'm sorry about earlier."

The boy said nothing, waiting for her to continue.

"It was a stupid idea and I shouldn't have done it. I thought I had everything under control, but things could have gone very wrong. I was just lucky."

Alex remained stoic. Chloe grew desperate, wanting him to say anything, even yell at her. His silence only made her more insecure.

"And I should have talked to you about what to do. We should have worked it out together."

Despite herself, Chloe felt her eyes sting as they filled with tears. Alex's face softened.

"Come on now, don't cry," he took her face in his hands, "I'm not really that angry about it. You just scared me. We have to do this as a team, Chloe. We don't make decisions on our own."

"I know. I'm sorry."

Their lips pressed together. The girl felt relief flush her senses. Chloe was pleasantly surprised when Alex didn't pull away.

"We have a party to get ready for," she smiled against his mouth.

"We still have time."

There was only an hour until their friends were set to show up. It turned out, they did not have a lot of time after other distractions had been taken care of. A mad flurry of activity saw the pair rushing around the house, cleaning everything they could find. Chloe set out drinks of alcoholic and non-alcoholic variety on the island while Alex ordered pizzas. Then she threw on a light dress and did her make-up. The boy tossed out half of his wardrobe before Chloe took pity on him.

"Help," he said, "shirt and jeans or t-shirt and shorts."

The girl pointed at the white t-shirt, "I put the gear in that wardrobe. We should make your room off-limits."

Alex nodded and slipped into the outfit.

"Are you going to drink?" he asked.

"Maybe a bit. Are you?"

"I don't know. Part of me wants to get wasted. The other part says there's a world-class assassin who has bullets with our names on waiting until we turn eighteen."

"I can't argue with you there."

"You're not eighteen for another two days though," he said, "maybe he'll wait for both of us. Kill two birds with one stone."

"That's grim," Chloe had to laugh, "I bet that is what he'd do."

"You can drink if you like," he decided, "I think I'll stay sober tonight. Look out for you."

"If that's what you want," said Chloe with a grin, "but I don't need babysitting."

Four drinks deep and Chloe had forgotten their conversation. The small house was filled with people, mostly friends from school. Music played over the T.V speakers and voices shouted to be heard over the din. The girl hooked her elbow around Marnie's freckled arm and downed another shot. She scrunched her face up and coughed.

"That's the last one," she declared.

"Sure," Marnie said, unconvinced. She turned to Alex, "you sure I can't tempt you?"

"I'm good," he said, "I have to look after this one."

Chloe plopped into his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck. Alcohol always made her want to be near him, touch him.

"Don't be angry," she begged, "I'm sorry I got drunk. But Micah and Tom challenged me to twister and I kept losing."

"What?"

"The price of losing was taking a shot," Marnie clarified.

"Ah, now I see. I forgive you. But no more, okay?"

"Okay," she hummed and kissed him slowly.

"Alright, I need to get away from you heterosexuals for a while. Where's Daisy?"

Marnie pushed through the crowd and disappeared.

"Are you having fun?" the girl asked. Despite her intoxication, she was still aware that no one liked having to babysit a drunk. Especially on their own birthday. Alex only laughed.

"Of course I'm having fun. Good music, hot girl in my lap, what more could I want?"

"A hot girl in your bed?"

"You two are gross," Kyra said. She had come into the kitchen to get some water. Chloe had expected her to see the crowd and make herself scarce. Micah however, had caught her in a conversation about desktop computers and they'd been in deep discussion ever since. She poured a second glass and gave it to Chloe.

"Thanks."

"Do I want to ask about how things went this morning?"

"We got our stuff without any trouble," Alex said.

"Good."

"But we did get blacklisted," Chloe said before she thought about it.

"You what?" Kyra clapped a hand over her mouth, having not meant to raise her voice, "how did you do that?"

Alex rubbed the back of his neck, "we might have pissed him off a bit. Sorry about that."

Kyra pushed her hair back and shook her head.

"You idiots. Sellers pass blacklisted names around. I doubt anyone will sell to me anymore- I used my pseudonym for the sale."

Alex and Chloe muttered out another apology.

"Can't you just make another?"

"I could, but I have to build up my reputation again," she saw their hung faces and sighed, "whatever. It's fine. I just hope it was worth it."

"I'm really sorry, Kyra."

"I said it's fine," the girl said, pushing Chloe off her. She checked the time on her phone, "I think I'm going to head off. It's late. Happy birthday you two."

Chloe saw her off at the door. She assumed the taxi she climbed into was real at first. Then she saw the bespectacled eyes of Jones looking at her from the driver's side. Kyra climbed in next to her and waved sheepishly. The woman broke the stare and drove away. Chloe wrapped her arms around herself and hung in the doorway for a moment. The fresh night air was sobering, but not as sobering as seeing Jones again. There was no need for her to come personally. Blunt's deputy had come just to keep an eye on them. Coming from her, who knew what that meant.

All of a sudden, the music felt too loud. She had to push past half a dozen people to get back inside. There were so many faces that she didn't recognise, names she didn't know. It had been easy to ignore it and talk when she had been around Alex or the others. Now, she was on her own, Chloe felt out of her depth. This was a world that was Alex's more than hers.

"Chloe!" someone yelled over the music, "over here!"

Tom was standing on the sofa and waving his arms above the crowd. The girl broke into a grin and went to meet them. Alex was between him and Micah. Daisy and Marnie were perched on the coffee table. They shuffled over to give the blonde room. It was so easy to push aside her anxieties with them.

"Did Kyra get a taxi?" Alex asked.

"Yeah. She's going to text me when she's home."

"Good," Daisy said, "how many people have gone missing now? Twelve? I'm a bit worried about people staggering home tonight."

"I was going to let everyone stay," Alex said, "but a few more people turned up than I expected."

Tom grabbed his friend and ruffled his hair, "you can't seriously have thought the year would miss the Alex Rider's eighteen's birthday?"

The boy wrestled Tom away from him, laughing, "pretty sure they just heard 'party' and thought they'd crash it."

"Seriously though, this situation is crazy. Mass kidnapping just doesn't happen like this," Micah said, sipping a beer.

"I wonder how many people are involved," said Daisy, "you must have a lot of time and space to kidnap twelve(SEVEN?) people."

"Assuming they haven't been killed," Marnie added with a dark look.

"Let's talk about something else, shall we," Chloe chimed in, "I don't want to think about that right now."

"Who was that girl before?" Micah said, "I've never seen her at school or anywhere else."

Chloe didn't trust herself to come up with a convincing lie. She looked to Alex.

"Oh, she's Chloe's friend from her old school."

"She knew a lot about computers," he said wistfully.

"Aw, has our little Micah got a crush?" Marnie teased.

"What can I say," he shrugged, "I'm a sucker for girls into tech."

The conversation drew on long into the night. People began filtering out of the house in groups. Several patted Alex on the back and wished him a happy birthday as they left. Chloe assumed he had been well-liked at school. How could you not? The fact that he was so well-liked and valued made her feel even luckier to be so close to him. They were playing a game of monopoly and the girl was losing badly. Her piece had been relegated to jail no less than three times while Daisy dominated the board. Chloe had to tap out, flat broke and stuck behind bars. She watched as Daisy continued to decimate the others, eventually winning the game by a landslide. By that time, everyone had left. Chloe observed the carnage around them. Cups and beer bottles, plates with half-eaten pizza and cake were strewn around the room.

"We'll help you clean," Daisy offered.

"Will we?" Tom grimaced at the mess, "it's past my bedtime and-"

"You're helping," Daisy reiterated, "come on."

Once again, Chloe found herself full of gratitude for the four friends, and sadness that they were going to be broken apart. With the six of them hard at work, clean-up took a mercifully short time. Even so, the girl felt very tired. It had been a busy day and even busier night. Her head was pounding and begging for sleep.

"How about one last drink for old times' sake?" Tom said, standing on the sofa and raising his glass.

"How about we make that drink non-alcoholic and I'll take you up on that," Chloe said, feeling sick at the thought of more.

In the end, Alex poured apple juice into six plastic cups. They gathered in a circle and knocked them together, liquid slothing over the sides.

"To the future!" said Marnie

"To the unknown!" said Micah.

"To Alex and Brookland Comprehensive!" Tom shouted.

The group drained the juice and broke into a fit of laughter. Chloe's eyes were growing misty. She rubbed them with the back of her hand before anyone could notice.

It took an additional fifteen minutes for everyone to say goodbye. No one wanted to leave. It felt too final. Nonetheless, at 3 am, Chloe and Alex were left alone in the house once again. The girl felt him wrap his arms around her from behind. She kissed his cheek.

"I hope everyone gets home alright," she said. Alex hummed, forehead pressed against her shoulder. The music was still playing softly. He turned her around and they swayed along slowly, not caring that they were out of time.

"Was that a good party as parties go?" she asked, "I've never actually been to one."

"It was good. The end of the night is always the worst, though," he said, "the house feels so empty now."

"That's not so bad," she said and kissed his neck.

Alex guided her head back, "don't tempt me," he said, "you're still drunk."

"I don't mind."

"Another time," he said, "besides, I can tell you're exhausted. I'll still be here tomorrow."

Chloe laid her head against his chest, overcome with affection for the boy. It wasn't the first time she'd felt the desire to tell him she loved him. But it was too soon and the fear of rejection was crushing. She held her tongue for now.

Alex, sensing a change in her said, "what's up? You've been off ever since Kyra left."

"I saw Jones. She came to get her. I suppose she wanted to wish you a happy birthday," she said sardonically, "she just looked at me and left."

"Creepy. Is that why you're upset?"

"Kind of," she said.

"Then what's really bothering you?"

Chloe gazed at him and decided to be honest.

"Seeing you with all your friends from school, being a normal teenager. I love seeing you like that."

"I'm not following."

"Sometimes," she paused to find the right words, "sometimes I feel like I take that away from you. If I hadn't told you about your dad, if we'd parted ways after Point Blanc… I don't know. Maybe you would be happier. You would definitely be safer."

"Chloe…"

"You don't have to say anything. I know it's just my insecurity talking. I don't really think you'd be happier without me. But sometimes, like tonight, it gets the better of me."

"You don't have to justify your feelings to me," he said, "I understand. But I want you to know that I would have gone after answers no matter what, even if you weren't there to help. I think you and Jones were right after all. This is in my blood, it's part of who I am. You don't need to feel responsible."

Chloe squeezed him tight, tears welling in her eyes. She didn't know what to say that could convey what she was feeling. Or rather, she did, but couldn't bring herself to say it.

"I love you," Alex said softly, without hesitation. That was it. He was always one step ahead.

"I love you, Alex," Chloe repeated, her body alive with elation, "I really do."