DropZone

‘What are they doing?’

‘No idea,’ said Joh

‘How about calling the police while you’re at it?’

Joh

Ethan watched as Joh

A ‘Yes?’ hissed into the air, and Joh

‘Your gig, mate; you’d best tell him.’

Ethan took the phone and explained everything to Sam. Two minutes later he killed the phone and handed it back to Joh

‘No surprise there,’ said Joh

‘Well, we either hang about and wait for Sam,’ said Ethan, ‘or we get on and do something. Let’s see if we can find out what Jake’s actually up to.’

Just then they both saw a shadow stroll out of the hangar and into the moonlight to smoke a cigarette. They watched, unmoving, until the figure flicked the cigarette butt away and turned back. The dying cigarette cast a faint red arc in the darkness.

Joh

The hangar doors were large, sitting like sliding cat flaps in two even bigger doors for aircraft moving in and out of the hangar. Ethan and Joh

Jake was with two other men. They were both large guys, taller than Ethan, and they were dressed in black, with long leather jackets that finished just above the knee. They looked to Ethan liked they’d popped along to Criminals ’R’ Us to get dressed up before heading out. From this distance, the only difference between the two was that one had blond hair, the other black. They were busy pulling the parachutes out of their packs and shredding them with Stanley knives.

‘They’re messing with the rigs,’ said Ethan.

‘Yeah,’ Joh

They heard Jake shout at the other two to hurry up.

Ethan could hardly bear to sit still and watch as more rigs were destroyed. At last he spoke. ‘We need to keep them here until Sam arrives,’ he said. ‘I reckon he’ll want to have a word or two with Jake.’

Joh

‘We lock them in,’ said Ethan.

‘Nice,’ agreed Joh

‘And simple,’ added Ethan.

15

‘It’s easy…’ Ethan had almost convinced himself. ‘You take this side of the hangar; I’ll sneak round the back and come up the other side. That’ll give me a chance to check the back doors are locked so they can’t escape.’

‘Used to trapping criminals in the act, are you?’ said Joh

‘When you see me at the other hangar door,’ continued Ethan, ‘wait for my signal.’

‘Ooh, a signal!’ said Joh

Ethan smiled. ‘I’ll raise my hand. You wave back to indicate you’ve seen me. Then we push the doors together – fast! – and shut them in. OK?’

‘Just like that?’ said Joh

‘Just like that,’ repeated Ethan. ‘Ready?’

Joh

With a deep breath, Ethan scooted along the side of the hangar. There were two doors at the back and one more on the other side. All were still securely padlocked. Soon he was round at the front of the hangar again. He heard Jake laugh. It was a sound that made him want to punch him hard.

He looked across the doorway. Joh

Shoulder hunched against the door, Ethan pushed it hard. His heart pounded as he drove it along, willing it shut with everything he had. It screeched loudly in the night as he heaved it across.

Inside, a shout went up: ‘The doors are shutting!’

Ethan heard footfalls approaching, but that simply made him go at it even harder. He wasn’t going to let Jake win. With a loud yell, he gave the door a final push and saw Joh

Then, just inches from closing, something stopped the doors in their tracks.

‘Shit!’ panted Joh

‘Then shut up and keep pushing!’ cried Ethan. ‘Push!’

Ethan could feel someone shoving the door the other way. His feet were slipping, his muscles were hurting now, and he’d already split his knuckles on the door. But he heaved again. He was so close…

Suddenly he felt his door give way, heard Joh

Jake’s companions rushed through the gap and hurled themselves at Joh

Ethan abandoned the door and ran to help his friend, but Joh

The one with the blond hair reached him first, but Joh

Joh

Ethan shook his head and ran towards Joh

‘I mean it,’ said Joh

‘Two against one?’ said Ethan, guessing Jake was leaving the rough stuff to these two gorillas. ‘No chance!’

The men were on their feet now and making for Joh

He was turning, ready for another attack. But they were approaching him more cautiously this time, and Ethan didn’t blame them. Having seen the way Joh

‘I said get out of here!’ Joh

As Ethan ran into the fight, he heard the kicks making contact, saw Joh

The men were too busy kicking three levels of shit out of Joh

The guy spun round, trying to shake Ethan loose, but Ethan had locked his arms around his neck. Mr Blond swung left and right, but Ethan hung on, frantically trying to work out what his next move should be. He caught sight of Joh