‘I made a lot of money,’ James smiled. ‘Thirty grand in one day. Once I’m twenty-one I won’t need Kazakov or surveillance equipment, I can do it legally. I’ve ordered a couple of books from Amazon with the most advanced card-counting strategies that give you an even bigger—’
Lauren cut her brother dead and read some more from the article. ‘Louisiana trawler-man, Dan Williams, intervened to prevent the teenager’s escape and was floored by the powerfully-built youth in what police described as a vicious assault. Williams sustained two cracked ribs and was kept in hospital overnight after complaining of chest pains.’
James looked down at his lap. ‘I feel bad about that, obviously. But I warned the guy not to stick his nose in.’
Lauren snorted with contempt. ‘You must be so proud of yourself.’
‘We could go up to London next weekend,’ James said, desperate to win Lauren around. ‘Covent Garden, all the designer clothes shops, my treat.’
‘No thanks,’ Lauren said acidly. ‘It leaves a bitter taste. I thought you’d grown up over the last couple of years but right now I’m back to thinking that I’m gonna end up visiting you in prison some day.’
‘I know it was dumb,’ James admitted. ‘Very dumb, to be honest, but it happened. I’m not proud of it, but I don’t exactly regret it either and you know, the money’s in a shoebox behind my bath surround, if you ever need some help. Fifteen thousand quid, all in twenties.’
‘Maybe you should donate it to charity or something.’
James shook his head resolutely. ‘I risked my CHERUB career and my life to make that money. Besides, what’s thirty thousand bucks to a ten-billion-dollar casino corporation?’
Lauren gulped air and broke into a big yawn. ‘Jetlag,’ she moaned. ‘I’m gonna try staying awake until after dinner, then I’m going straight off to sleep.’
‘I’ll probably see you down there,’ James said. ‘I’ve got this essay to write on sonnets … What the bloody hell are sonnets anyway?’
‘More top marks coming your way then,’ Lauren smirked as she headed for the door. She turned back when the door was half-way open. ‘Oh, there’s one other thing you might be pleased to hear.’
‘What’s that?’ James asked.
‘Day before yesterday,’ Lauren said, rubbing an eye as she stifled another yawn, ‘Bruce and Kerry had a massive ruck at the hotel. It looks like they’ve split up.’
EPILOGUE
After a seven-week trial the leader of the Street Action Group (SAG), CHRIS BRADFORD, and former paramilitary, RICH DAVIS (AKA RICH KLINE), were both convicted of conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism.
Bradford was sentenced to fifteen years in prison. In the light of his previous terrorist convictions Davis was sentenced to life, with a judge’s recommendation that he should not be released for at least thirty-five years.
An independent review concluded that the CHERUB security check team led by LAUREN ADAMS had done valuable work in uncovering slack procedures, bad training and poor design at Britain’s newest air traffic control centre.
The opening of the centre was delayed by three months while the perimeter fencing was replaced with a five-metre-high wall and improved surveillance technology. The private security company was dismissed, although several staff, including JOE PRINCE, were taken on by a new contractor and redeployed to the site after extensive retraining.
Following his unimpressive performance during the training exercise at Fort Reagan, GENERAL NORMAN SHIRLEY was reassigned to duties with a non-combat unit. After three months in his new post the general took early retirement.
Each two-week mission at Fort Reagan costs over $25 million to mount and the tactics used by red team leaders are studied carefully by military planners. Although General Shirley was outraged and GENERAL SEAN O’HALLORAN was highly concerned by the destruction of his aerodrome, the US military strategic planning unit described the unorthodox and highly aggressive tactics employed by YOSYP KAZAKOV as an outstanding example of guerrilla warfare.
Kazakov was offered a highly-paid position as a full-time advisor to the US Military at The Pentagon, Washington DC, but he declined on the grounds that he enjoys his job at CHERUB and couldn’t stand the idea of living in America.
The security office at the Vancouver Hotel and Casino only had the evidence of one receptionist to show for their investigation into possible fraudulent gaming by a Russian suspect. None of their electronic jamming devices or signal-detection equipment had picked up any kind of video transmission.
The casino’s security boss concluded that the Vancouver’s state-of-the-art revenue protection systems could only be defrauded by the kind of high-tech surveillance equipment used by security services such as MI5 or the CIA and that the chances of any such equipment being used by ordinary members of the public was negligible.
The Vancouver hotel did file a complaint about a teenage boy causing $3,200 worth of damage to a video surveillance pod and a window on one of their monorail carriages.
Trawler-man DAN WILLIAMS sued the owners of the Vancouver hotel for damages, claiming that by stopping the monorail car with a criminal suspect on board they had negligently imprisoned him with a dangerous and potentially violent criminal, with no regard for his safety or that of the other passengers.
Williams settled out of court for $373,000. Two fellow passengers, including Williams’ wife, each received payouts of $114,000.
DANA SMITH and MICHAEL HENDRY broke up after four weeks. Michael begged GABRIELLE O’BRIEN to take him back, but she told him to stick it.
JAMES ADAMS has continued to hone his blackjack skills and has told his closest friends that his ambition in life is to ride around America on a Harley-Davidson and make millions by counting cards in casinos. James points out that while using surveillance equipment to cheat casinos is illegal, counting cards in your head is not.
READ ON FOR THE FIRST CHAPTER