The Outlaw Read Online Free Page B

hand.
    "Hypocrite," said Kas. "Talking of which, can you believe Mum called
me
OTT? That banquet was the most over-the-top thing I've ever seen in my life."
    Jake heard the purr of a car engine and he looked up, shielding his eyes against the sudden glare of headlights. It was a delivery van, an orange and yellow Nissan with JUMBO written across it in huge letters. Jake remembered these vans from his previous visits to Burkina Faso. They were everywhere in Ouagadougou, zooming around the city, selling Jumbo chicken-stock cubes to small traders.
    The door of the van opened and a man got out, leaving the engine running. He went around to the back of the van, opened the double doors, and started over to where Jake and Kirsty were. He wore a baseball cap and sunglasses.
    "
Bonsoir,
" said the man. "I have a pickup to make."
    "Nothing to do with us," muttered Kas.
    "
Au contraire,
" said the man, and he grabbed her by the wrists.

Seven

    Hey! " shouted Jake. "Get off her!"
    The man pushed him over with one hard shove in the chest. As he fell, Jake's head hit the corner of a trash container, fracturing his world into a kaleidoscope of color. He shook his head to clear his vision and saw his sister's assailant silhouetted in the headlights. He was walking back to the van with Kas slung over his shoulder like a sack of meal.
    Jake sprang to his feet and chased after the stranger, closing his fist around the only weapon he had to hand, the golden fork. He caught up with him right by the doors of the delivery van and plunged the fork into the back of the man's thigh. The kidnapper yelped and staggered and dropped his hostage.
    "Come on!" Jake grabbed his sister's hand and pulled her up. Side by side they ran along the back of the hotel. From the darkness behind them he heard the slam of a van door and a frenzy of revving, but they did not look back. They burst out of the alleyway and sprinted alongside the swimming pool, heading for the glittering lights of the hotel lobby.
    The poolside waiter was perched on one of the lounge chairs, chin in hands, but he jumped to his feet when he saw Jake and Kas. "
Calmez-vous!
" he cried, stepping out into their path. "Slow down! No running by the pool!"
    "Get out of the way!" shouted Jake. "Someone's after us!"
    As if to confirm his words, the Nissan burst through the shrubbery at the other end of the pool and careered toward them, plowing through chairs, umbrellas, and plastic coffee tables.
    The waiter bent down and picked up a large net used for clearing leaves out of the swimming pool. As Jake and Kas ran past him, he swung the pole in a wide arc and brought the net down over their heads, trapping them both in its mesh. Jake felt a sharp pain in his left temple as his sister's head collided with his own.
    They're working together,
thought Jake.
The delivery man and the waiter. They're both in on this thing, whatever it is.
Jake's vision narrowed suddenly, and he was very aware of his own breathing, fast and loud.
    The van screeched to a stop right behind them, and Jake and Kas were dragged toward it. Jake caught a whiff of cheap after-shave as the waiter bundled them into the back. Doors slammed, and the vehicle moved off fast, its wheels spinning on the poolside tiles.
    "Kirsty, are you all right?" said Jake.
    "My head hurts," sobbed Kirsty.
    So did Jake's. He could hardly think straight, it hurt so much. He took his phone out, switched on the flashlight function, and had a look around. They were in the van's storage area, separated from the driver's cab by a thick wooden partition. Piled up against the partition were about forty huge wooden crates of stock cubes. The smell was overpowering.
    "Help!" Jake lashed out at the sides of the van with his fists and feet. "We're being kidnapped!"
    "Help!" echoed Kirsty. "Somebody, please, help us!"
    Immediately the van's loudspeaker crackled into life. Every Jumbo advertising van had a triangular speaker mounted on top, useful for blaring out local