Mind Blind by Lari Don Page B

any more.
    I knelt down and looked round the corner too. I saw a tall man in a suit shut the car door and walk towards the lane.
    “He’s checking the back,” said the boy. “Follow me.”
    He sprinted along the front of the shopping centre to the flower shop opposite Grampa’s flat. I followed as fast as I could.
    He crouched in the doorway of the shop and gestured for me to do the same. “Just in time,” he grinned, pulling his balaclava down.
    From our position in absolute darkness, I saw the policeman emerge from the lane and return to his car.
    “That was too close,” I hissed once the car door had thudded shut. “He could have come out when we were still running.”
    “We had time. He went round to check no one was going in the back door. Surely that was obvious.”
    “It wasn’t obvious to me!”
    “That’s why I’m the boss. And the next time he checks the back, we’ll go in the front.”
    Then he shut up. Just closed up. Crouched there, utterly still and utterly silent.
    I copied him. Still and silent.
    We waited.
    Soon my left foot was getting pins and needles. My nose was itchy. My right knee was cramping up.
    But as my eyes adjusted to the dark, I could see he wasn’t twitching a muscle. Musical statues was clearly another of his criminal skills. So I stayed rock-still too, biting my tongue, clenching my fists, digging my nails into my hands.
    Then he laughed, very quietly.
    “What?” I whispered.
    “It’s not a competition! If you need to move, it’s ok to move. We’re in the dark, he’s in the light. He can’t see us. Anyway, if you get cramp, you’ll seize up when we run. So find a comfier position and stop trying to out-macho me.”
    I flexed one foot at a time and rolled my shoulders. When I wasn’t so uncomfy, I started wondering if the wreaths for Viv’s funeral were already being made up in the shop behind me.
    “Any minute now,” he interrupted my thoughts. “Get ready.”
    Then the policeman got out of the car, walked across the road and into the lane.
    We jumped up and sprinted across the road. When we reached the door I dug about in my pocket for the keys. But the boy grinned at me and pushed the door with his foot. “It’s not locked.” We both stepped inside, closing the door quietly behind us. And I walked up the stairs, not sure if I was protecting my family or betraying them by leading this boy to my grampa’s flat on the first floor.
    Feeling like a traitor, I unlocked the door and let the wolf in.

CHAPTER 14
Ciaran Bain, 30 th October
    So I walked into the second Shaw house of the night. I hadn’t heard of this family three days ago, now I was on a guided tour of their residences.
    I knew far more about the Shaws, their past and their connection to my family than this girl could ever guess. But I hadn’t found out about them in a briefing. I’d had to find out for myself.
Ciaran Bain, 29 th October
    I’d been desperate to prove I could bounce back after my mistake with the mask, my thrashing by Daniel and that brutal Q&A by my mum and uncles. So when we were called for another briefing the next morning, I turned up all showered and combed and shiny.
    Malcolm, the great mindreader, must have been thinking about something else, because he spluttered coffee all over his laptop when he saw me come into the briefing room.
    “Bain! What are you doing here?”
    “I’m working. I thought the briefing was for everyone.”
    “You actually think you’re working again today, after the almighty mess you made of yesterday?”
    I looked round at my cousins. “They’re working and they made a mess of yesterday as well. They took far too long to grab one puny target, remember?”
    I didn’t meet Daniel’s eyes, but I sensed his growl of anger.
    Mum swivelled round from her computer. “Why shouldn’the go, Malcolm? He didn’t make a mess of everything yesterday. He did extremely well on the grab, much better than you expected, right up to his mistake with the