Death Run. Justin Richards

didn’t look like they had. The grey-masked man was gesturing to the two golden gargoyles, who ran after Dad into the café. Moments later there were shouts from inside and the other masked men followed in a hurry.

      “I expect he’ll be all right,” Jade said.

      “Course he will.” Rich sounded more confident than Jade felt. “Think we should help him?”

      “How? Come on, let’s get back to the hotel like Dad said.”

      “And hope he meets us there.”

      It wasn’t far and walking briskly they were back in half an hour. It probably wasn’t the quickest route – Rich had led them back the same way as they had come that morning. At least they didn’t stop at every church this time.

      “You wait here,” Rich told Jade as they walked through the little foyer into the small lounge bar. “I’ll check he’s not already back in his room. Anyone who knows the way could be here before us.”

      Jade slumped down on a little sofa. It wasn’t as comfortable as it looked, but she settled into it and watched the door. A large black car bumped up the narrow cobbled street outside and stopped opposite the hotel. No one got out, and Jade frowned. She was about to run up the stairs after Rich when she heard his scream. Rich took the stairs two at a time. The door to their room was standing open, and he sighed with relief. He went straight in, not thinking it might be a trap.

      As soon as he was through the door, everything went black. He had time to cry out in surprise and alarm – just once. Then he was fighting against the blanket that was tight over his face and shoulders. Rich was being dragged out of the room and back down the stairs. His feet caught on the threadbare carpet and knocked painfully against the wall of the stairwell as he was bundled away.

      Soon he was on level ground again, the thin lounge carpet under his feet. Then he felt the bare stone floor of the lobby, followed by the warm breeze on his hands and a brightness even through the blanket. He was struggling to speak, but his throat was clogged with dust and whenever he tried, he ended up coughing and choking. There were uneven cobbles under his feet now. His head was pushed roughly down and he was shoved forward – landing on something soft. A chair? Where was he?

      An engine revved. A door slammed. Rich was in a car and it was pulling away. Jade emerged from behind the sofa. She’d been ready to fight the men to get Rich free. But a glance from her hiding place at the four men in carnival masks had been enough to tell her it was no use. She’d end up being captured herself. It made her sick to her stomach, but the best option was to leave Rich to fend for himself.

      At least he wouldn’t be on his own – Jade would follow. But then she saw Rich bundled into the car opposite the hotel and her heart sank still lower. She couldn’t follow a car.

      But she’d try. She wouldn’t give up and abandon her brother. Jade was out of the hotel and running after the car as it started up the street. She kept to the shadowed side of the pavement, hoping they wouldn’t spot her. Mercifully, the dark limousine was going quite slowly up the uneven street. And Jade ran every day. If it kept to this speed she might – just might – keep it in sight.

      The car reached the end of the street and turned right. Almost immediately it turned again – towards the main street. Jade hesitated. Should she follow, or should she take a risk? She’d lose the car if she just followed. She’d risk it, she decided – take a shortcut she’d discovered along an alley and over a little canal bridge. That would bring her to the same junction as the car was making for. Probably making for…

      At the junction, Jade paused for breath. There was no sign of the car. It couldn’t have got here already. But, after almost a minute, Jade realised it wasn’t coming. It was too distinctive for her to have missed. She’d gambled and lost. The car had not been heading for the main road at all.

      With a shout of frustration, Jade turned and kicked the wall behind her.

      The car stopped abruptly and Rich was thrown forward in the seat. Someone laughed as he collided with the back of the seat in front. Then the door opened and he was hauled out. If they didn’t take the blanket off soon, he’d suffocate.

      Indoors again. It sounded large – echoey. Even through the blanket the place smelled old.

      Suddenly the blanket was pulled off his head and Rich spluttered and coughed as he rasped for breath. The room was dim and unlit, but he blinked at the relative brightness of it.

      A golden gargoyle face was close in front of his own – so close his breath misted its cheek. Then it was pulled off, just as Rich’s blanket had been. A man with short black hair and a neat pencil moustache stared at Rich through disbelieving eyes, and let loose a tirade of rapid Italian.

      Rich didn’t understand a word of it, but it didn’t sound polite.

      Then, in English, “You are not Chance!”

      “I am,” Rich retorted. “Richard Chance.” And he gave a short laugh as he realised what had happened. Despite everything, it was almost funny. The laugh made him cough and he gasped for breath again. “You were after Dad, weren’t you? You just assumed he’d come back to the hotel, and as soon as someone came in you stuffed a blanket over them and bundled them off. Sorry.” He paused for another cough and was pleased to find his throat was easing a little. “You took a chance and got the wrong Chance.”

      The Italian stared back at Rich. He didn’t look at all happy. Maybe Rich shouldn’t have laughed at him, but it was too late now. The man stepped back and snarled something at the others. Two of them grabbed Rich roughly by the shoulders and dragged him deeper into the old building. Jade’s foot hurt. She had no one to blame but herself – for everything. She limped slowly along the pavement, walking back the way she had expected the car to come. It must have turned off somewhere between the junction and where she had last seen it.

      Five minutes later, she turned a corner and saw the car parked at the kerb. The whole area was run down and dilapidated. The walls of the buildings were crumbling and cracked. The cobbles were split or missing. In the gap between the buildings Jade could see the sunlight reflecting off the water of a canal. The dark shape of a gondola drifted by, blotting out the sunlight for a moment.

      The building that the car was parked outside had once been grand and impressive. Flaking remains of gold leaf clung to weathered stone ornamentation round the entrance. The door was a rotting apology of damp wood. It creaked and complained as Jade eased it open. She stood for a moment, half expecting shouts and running men to respond to the noise.

      But there was nothing. Was this the right place? Or had they just abandoned the car and gone somewhere else?

      Jade went inside, pausing to allow her eyes to adjust to the lack of light. She was in a large entrance lobby. There was a booth on one side, steps leading up to a raised area at the back and then doors off. It took Jade a moment to realise where she was.

      She was in the lobby of a theatre. Slowly and quietly, Jade climbed the steps. The main doors were chained shut. She gave the chain a tug, feeling the rust rubbing away on her palm. But it was secure. A side door led to a flight of steps that swept round and up impressively. Except the carpet was worn through and the heavy rope handrails were rotten and frayed.

      Jade emerged into the upper circle of the theatre. She made her way quietly down to the front seats to get the best view of what was happening on the stage. The theatre might be old and disused, neglected and in need of repair, but on the stage were four men. Three of them were in carnival masks. All of them were standing round a fifth figure tied to a chair. The chair was facing away from Jade, towards the decaying backdrop of the stage – a faded painting of mountains and a castle. But even so she knew who it was – she recognised the profile and the tousled blond hair.

      “Oh, Rich,” she sighed.

      The man dressed as Harlequin turned to look up at the circle – at Jade. She ducked down quickly. Had her words carried right to the front of the theatre? She risked a look over the low wall at the front of the circle. Harlequin had turned away