'You coming back?' Ken asked.

'I'd like to,' James nodded, still out of breath. 'If that's OK.'

'You've done some kind of martial arts training, haven't you?'

'Yeah, Karate and judo. How could you tell?'

'You're in good shape and you can punch,' Ken said, 'but a boxer needs fast feet as well. You want to be able to skip a hundred and fifty times a minute. Take this home and practise half an hour a day.'

James took hold of a frayed skipping rope. He stuck it in his carrier bag, on top of his damp kit.

Junior slapped him on the back as they went down the staircase.

'He must think you've got talent, James. I kept coming here for three weeks before he said a word and my dad practically owns the joint.'

James couldn't help smiling, though it was hardly surprising he showed promise after all the combat training he'd done at CHERUB.

'You coming down the youth club with me and Del?' Junior asked. 'It's packed out with girls, Friday night.'

The youth club was on the ground floor, under the gym. It was supposed to be a disco, but the music wasn't very loud and n.o.body was dancing. James sat with Junior and Del on some slashed-up seats in a dark corner. There were plenty of boys and plenty of girls, but everyone sat in single-s.e.x groups.

'So,' Junior said, 'which babes are us three studs gonna snap up tonight?'

Del looked at his watch. 'Not me. I'm off to work once I've drunk this.'

Del always had money and James thought it probably came from delivering drugs. He straightened up in his seat, sensing an opportunity to get information, but trying not to make it obvious he was prying.

'Work?' he asked. 'At this time of night?'

Junior burst out laughing. 'Ah ... The voice of innocence.'

'I work for KMG,' Del said.

'KM what?' James said.

'Keith Moore's Gang,' Del explained. 'I deliver c.o.ke for Junior's daddy.'

'Who wants c.o.ke at this time on a Friday?'

'Not Coca-Cola, you wazzock,' Junior said. 'Cocaine.'

James acted like he was surprised. 'Cocaine? Isn't that seriously illegal? You told me your dad was in import export.'

'He is,' Junior said. 'Imports drugs, exports cash.'

'h.e.l.l,' James grinned. 'No wonder he's loaded.'

Del went into his backpack. He pulled out a small polythene bag filled with white powder.

'Cocaine,' he explained.

James grinned as he took the packet and inspected it.

'Don't let everyone see it, you moron,' Del gasped, knocking James' hand out of the air.

'Sorry,' James said. 'So how much is this?'

'One gram in every bag. They give me ten grams at a time, then they ring me on my mobile and tell me where and when to deliver it.'

'How much do you make?'

'Fifteen per cent,' Del said. 'This is sixty a gram, so I get nine quid. If I work Friday and Sat.u.r.day evenings, I can easily make a hundred quid. Sometimes though, like at Christmas, you get people loading up for office parties and stuff. I had this one guy who lived two streets away from me. He was buying ten grams at a time. Ninety quid for a ten-minute bike ride. It was beautiful.'

'Do you blow all the money?'

Del shook his head. 'I used to, but you end up wasting it all on junk. Now I only spend twenty pounds a week. I stick the rest in my savings account and when I'm eighteen, I'm gonna buy a ticket and go off backpacking.'

James looked at Junior. 'So how come you're always broke?'

Del burst out laughing. 'This baby's not allowed to go anywhere near drugs.'

Junior explained miserably. 'My dad's paranoid that he'll get arrested. If I get caught with drugs, it gives the police an excuse to question Dad and search our house.'

'That's a shame,' James said.

'Tell me about it,' Junior said bitterly. 'My dad's a millionaire and half my mates are making a packet selling c.o.ke. What have I got? Holes in my jeans and supermarket-brand football boots.'

'Can't you do it on the sly?' James asked.

'Won't happen,' Junior said. 'The word is out. Anyone who gets me or Ringo involved in the drug business will be in serious trouble if my dad cops them.'

'So you're stuffed,' James laughed. 'You reckon there's any chance I can get in on this delivery lark?'

Del shrugged. 'I'll go upstairs and have a word with Kelvin if you like. I don't know if he needs anyone right now, but I can try and get him to set you up with a few bags of c.o.ke and your own phone.'

'I've already got a mobile,' James said.

Del shook his head. 'You have to use the phone they give you, so the police can't trace it.'

'But there's definitely a chance?'

'I haven't got a clue,' Del said. 'All I can do is put a word in.'

'Thanks,' James said.

Del stood up. 'Anyway, I've got a nine o'clock delivery, so I better dive home and pick up my bike. I'll see you two hard-up losers at school on Monday.'

James smiled. 'Yeah, see you.'

'I'll be thinking about you sweating away on your bike in a couple of hours,' Junior said. 'When I've got my hand up some girl's shirt.'

'In your dreams, Junior,' Del shouted as he walked towards the exit.

James shook his head, grinning in false disbelief. 'I can't believe your dad is a drug dealer.'

'Who cares?' Junior said. 'Do you want to try and get off with someone?'

They both glanced around.

'Look at that bird sitting by the c.o.ke machine,' Junior gasped. 'I've not seen her here before.'

James turned around. He'd guessed it was Nicole before he even saw her.

'She's reserved for me,' he said. 'That's my stepsister.'

'You can't get off with your sister, you pervert.'

'Stepsister,' James said. 'We're not blood relatives. Why don't you go for the one sitting next to her? She looks like a right dog.'

'That's my twin, you cheeky git,' Junior said. 'And you better not call April a dog again, unless you want a slap.'

April had her hair done differently from the surveillance photos. James hadn't recognised her.

'I tell you who else is good looking,' Junior said. 'Pity she's already with someone.'

'Who?' James asked.

'At the table behind our sisters. That Chinese-looking girl, with long black hair. She's well tasty.'

James peered over. All he could see was the back of the girl's head. Then she turned and he saw her in profile.

'That's my other stepsister,' James gasped. 'That's Kerry. Who's that she's with?'

'Dinesh Singh. He lives up my road. His dad runs a firm that makes those microwave meals for supermarkets. So, you want to go over?' Junior asked. 'I'll go for Nicole and you can have a run at April. She's not too picky, to be honest with you, so even you might stand a chance.'

'Jesus,' James said, feeling like his head was going to burst with jealousy. 'Dinesh just put his arm around her.'

'What's the problem? Do you fancy all your sisters, or something?'

'It's just, Kerry's really young.'

'How old is she?' Junior asked.

'Twelve.'

Junior burst out laughing. 'We're twelve.'

'Yeah,' James said. 'But we're in Year Eight, she's only a Year Seven.'

'If you ask me,' Junior said, 'it's none of your business what your stepsister is up to. But if it makes you feel better, Dinesh is a weed. Just go over there and slap him one.'

'I've a good mind to,' James said.

This was a total lie. Kerry would break him into fifty million pieces if he even thought about it.

'Anyway,' Junior said, 'I'm not sitting here all night. Are you gonna ask April out or not?'

'You go,' James shrugged. 'I'm not in the mood.'

April Moore was OK-looking and being friendly with her would be good for the mission, but James couldn't get Kerry out of his head.

Junior pulled up a chair next to Nicole and started chatting her up. James sat by himself and kept glancing over to see what Kerry was up to with Dinesh. He realised he couldn't sit on his own all night being jealous of Dinesh and decided to go across to April, but company arrived before he got a chance.

It was Kelvin and Marcus, the two coaches he'd seen at boxing club. They were both over six feet tall and solid muscle. They sat either side of James, squashing him even though there was plenty of room.

'I'm Kelvin,' the black one said. He pulled a mobile phone out of his pocket and stuck it on the table. 'Del tells me you're interested in doing deliveries.'

James nodded. 'I could do with the cash.'

'Del said you're a solid kid,' Kelvin continued. 'What you gonna say if the cops pick you up holding drugs?'

'Nothing, of course.'

Kelvin nodded. 'That's right. You don't know us, you ain't never seen us. Tell 'em you found the drugs in a bush and stick to that story no matter how they try to mess with you.

You know what happens if you gra.s.s us up?'

'I get beaten up?'

'Cut up, more likely,' Kelvin said. 'And that's just for starters. They'll send people round your house and start on your family. Smash the furniture, batter your mum and dad. Del said you had two sisters, they won't look so pretty after we finish with them. So you better understand, James, even if there's some ma.s.sive cop threatening to lock you up and throw away the key, you better keep your trap shut.'

'Don't worry,' James said. 'I'm no gra.s.s.'

'You got a good bike?'

'It's pretty c.r.a.p actually.'

'Good,' Kelvin said. 'You don't want nothing fancy or you'll get mugged. How cool are your parents about you being out late?'

'It's OK until about half-ten.'

'Marcus, set the kid up with three bags. I think we'll give him a trial run.'

Marcus got three bags of cocaine out of his tracksuit.

'I want you on call school nights,' Kelvin said. 'Monday through Thursday. That means you keep your phone switched on and you're always ready to go. We don't want to hear that you're grounded, or you're busy doing something. Whenever they call, you jump to it.'

'Can't I do weekends?' James asked. 'Del reckons that's when you make the real money.'