The children raced back inside the convention centre on high alert.

‘We have to find that van,’ Kensy said. ‘There has to be a loading dock somewhere. I can’t imagine the jaguars would be walked through the foyer.’

The others nodded.

‘Huang and Lu are so bold – they’re out in public for anyone to see,’ Curtis said. ‘Wouldn’t they be on Interpol lists? They’ll be recognised.’

‘I guess he just loves his fast cars,’ Max said. ‘And the police don’t seem to make a fuss here – even if they saw them, I doubt there’d be a scene. From what we’ve encountered, I imagine they’d probably just want to bring them in quietly.’

‘Song must have messaged Mr Nutting for back up. So that means Uncle Rupert and Fitz should be springing Sidney about now too, and hopefully your dad as well, Autumn,’ Kensy said.

The children entered Level 1, where their contest had been held, and found their way to the escalator down to Basement 2, where the motor show was being held.

The show room was teeming with people wandering among the manufacturer’s exhibits, and there was a real party atmosphere with loud music and excitable announcements.

‘We need to find the Jaguar stand. Didn’t Carlos say that they were launching the new prototype at half past three? It’s almost quarter to four,’ Max said.

They didn’t have to look far. A loud roar caught everyone’s attention, but it wasn’t the sound of an engine.

Curtis pointed at the crowd in the centre of the pavilion. ‘There!’

The children dodged in and out of the enthusiasts, who were all raving about the horsepower and exotic looks of the new machine, to the front of the display – only to see two handlers leading the black cats from the room.

‘Come on, we have to follow them,’ Kensy said, but the doors leading from the auditorium were flanked by two guards.

‘Leave it to me,’ Autumn said. Suddenly the girl began to cry; big gulpy sobs. She walked closer to the security guards, who both leaned down and asked if she was all right. Autumn shook her head and while the pair was distracted, Kensy, Max and Curtis dashed through the exit into a long hallway leading to storerooms and kitchens and other facilities.

A roar echoed along the corridor and the children jumped in fright.

‘I hope they have a good grip on that pair,’ Max said, not fancying the idea of coming face to face with a jaguar on the loose.

The children scurried along the passageway, but were forced to dart through doorways and hide from staff who were going about their business several times. When they finally turned the corner into the loading dock, they saw the two handlers, flanked by four security guards, loading the jaguars into cages in the back of a black van with Singapore Zoo logos and pictures all over it.

The children hid behind some garbage trolleys, listening while one of the crew radioed the zoo.

‘We’re on our way back now, sir. All went perfectly,’ the younger keeper said. ‘The organisers were very happy and the jaguars behaved like pussy cats.’

Kensy’s shoulders slumped. ‘I guess we were wrong,’ she said, her disappointment palpable until suddenly things changed. One of the guards turned around and Kensy saw the scar on his chin. He was one of the policemen she’d overheard talking at the zoo the other night – except today he wasn’t a policeman at all.

The keeper with the radio signed off and was immediately grabbed from behind by a security guard, while the other handler was hauled from the driver’s seat. A second van – also black and with almost identical markings on the side – pulled up beside them. The two keepers were thrown in the back.

Kensy looked at her brother. ‘We have to help them.’

She leapt from their hiding spot and Max grabbed hold and hauled her back.

But it was Curtis who was thinking. He pulled the magnetic tracking device out of his shoe and promptly threw it onto the roof of the van just as the vehicle sped away. The children were then stunned to see another car screech around the corner after the van with Mr Nutting behind the wheel.

‘I know we can’t activate it until we get our phones, but hopefully it will work,’ Curtis said.

Kensy smiled at the boy. ‘I wish I’d remembered that.’

‘You can thank Max – actually, you can thank that rotten brat at the championships in London who lured us to the stairwell. If that hadn’t happened, I still wouldn’t know about all the cool devices in our school shoes,’ Curtis said.

‘We need to get back inside and find Autumn. Huang’s still here, and Lu. Hopefully Song is too,’ Max said. He turned to leave, but the corridor was now bustling with white-suited waitstaff.

‘I’ve got an idea,’ Max said, pulling out his lab coat and throwing it on over his clothes. He pointed to an empty garbage trolley. ‘Get in,’ the boy ordered.

‘Ew.’ Kensy wrinkled her nose, but she knew as well as her brother that they were less likely to get caught if the staff saw only Max, looking as if he was collecting the rubbish. ‘It stinks in here.’

Curtis jumped in beside her and the pair crouched down.

Apart from a fellow throwing in a handful of paper towels as he hurried past, Max’s plan worked. Exiting the service corridor, he quickly pushed the trolley behind the Porsche display and Kensy and Curtis leapt out.

‘Can you see Autumn?’ Max peered across the floor but there was no sign of her.

‘There!’ Curtis pointed, but it wasn’t Autumn he’d spotted. Over by a shiny Aston Martin, Cameron Lu, dressed in skinny jeans, red stilettos and a glittering gold top, was talking to a salesperson on the stand while Honesto Huang wandered around, peeking under bonnets and opening and closing doors.

‘Hey, what did I miss?’ Autumn snuck up behind them.

‘The poachers got what they were after, but we have a trace on them – as long as it works,’ Curtis said. ‘And Mr Nutting is on their tails.’

Kensy hadn’t taken her eyes off Cameron Lu, while Max was watching Honesto Huang like a hawk. Curtis and Autumn surveyed the rest of the room.

‘Who’s that?’ Kensy said as she noticed a grey-haired woman approach Cameron. The two spoke for a few moments before the older woman handed Cameron Lu a small box. Lu dropped it into her handbag and turned around.

Autumn saw the exchange and gasped. ‘The woman – that’s Mr Koh’s maid Vera. I saw her with my mother last night.’

‘Why would she be here?’ Max asked.

Autumn bit her lip. ‘I heard my mother tell her that Mr Koh was quite capable of looking after himself, but Vera said, don’t be so sure of that. I thought it was a strange thing to say.’

‘She just handed something over to Cameron,’ Curtis said.

‘And we need to find out what it is,’ Kensy said, taking a step from their hiding place.

‘Are you mad?’ Autumn grabbed her friend’s arm. ‘Hasn’t Huang been trying to kill you and your family for months? They probably know what you look like. I’ll go.’ Autumn scurried away before anyone had time to object.

The girl pushed her glasses as far up her nose as she could and wandered around the exhibit.

‘Honesto, we need to go,’ Cameron said loudly.

Autumn had to do something and fast.

‘Not now, sweetheart, I’m just working out a deal here.’ The man smiled through gritted teeth.

‘We have to get that handbag.’ Kensy frowned. ‘Then we’ll have proof that Mr Koh is part of all this. I’m going to help. Lu won’t have any idea who I am – we’re out of context. She won’t be expecting to see us.’

‘No!’ Max ordered, but his voice was drowned out by the thumping music and blaring PA announcements. Kensy marched across to where Autumn was standing.

‘There you are,’ Kensy said loudly. ‘I’ve been looking for you everywhere.’

Cameron Lu didn’t pay one ounce of attention to Kensy. She was staring into the distance at something, or rather someone.

‘Honesto, we need to leave now,’ the woman said. ‘Song Li is here.’

That got her boss’s attention. Kensy’s and Autumn’s too.

‘What?’ He sped over from where he was speaking to the salesman. ‘Has he seen us?’

‘I don’t think so. But if he’s here, there will be others,’ the woman gulped.

‘Dead right there are,’ Kensy murmured as she lunged at Cameron Lu, grabbing the woman’s handbag from her shoulder and throwing it to Autumn, who then hurled it across the floor to Max and Curtis and took off towards the boys.

‘Come on, Kensy!’ Autumn shouted. Kensy was starting to make a run for it when she felt Cameron Lu’s hand on her collar. The woman reeled her in and grabbed the girl around the shoulders. Kensy wriggled and squirmed, but stopped when she felt Lu’s fingers around her neck. Kensy had done enough martial arts training with Song and Fitz to know exactly what damage the woman could do with a small twist or pinch of her neck.

By now Song had realised what was going on. He approached the woman slowly.

‘Come any closer, Song, and you know what I’m capable of,’ Cameron Lu threatened.

‘Hello, Cameron, Honesto,’ Song said. His voice was calm.

Standing around the back of the Maserati booth, Max unzipped Cameron’s handbag and pulled out the box that Vera had passed her. He opened it to find a beautiful watch inside and a note reading, ‘This ends now.’

‘That’s a 1942 Rolex Antimagnetique,’ Curtis said, studying the piece. ‘The last one that came up for sale went for over two million dollars.’

Autumn wrinkled her nose. ‘And you’d know that because . . .?’

‘I love watches and Mum took me to the preview of the new timepiece exhibition at the V&A last week. There was one on display just like this, on loan from a private collection,’ the boy explained.

‘Where does Vera get a two-million dollar watch?’ Max asked. ‘And why is she handing it over to Cameron Lu?’

‘We have to exchange the watch for Kensy,’ Curtis said. His heart was pounding and, despite the crowds, it felt as if they were the only people in the room.

‘Surely those two didn’t come here alone,’ Max said, glancing around and wondering if there were bodyguards crawling all over the place.

He turned back to Lu and his sister, wondering about the woman’s next move.

‘Give me the bag,’ Cameron whispered.

‘Give me the girl,’ Song said.

‘Honesto, where are the others?’ Cameron asked, looking around.

‘Oh, you needn’t worry about your friends. We’ve taken care of them,’ Song said. The children were very glad to hear it. Song and Mr Nutting must have dealt with some of the thugs earlier. ‘As for your home – it was a bold decision taking over Mount Serapong. No wonder you could not get any locals to work for your operation. There are so many ghosts, it is considered very unclean. You will not be able to go back there; it is crawling with police. Why don’t you just give us the child and you can leave.’

‘And how far do you think we will get?’ Huang glared at Song. ‘We need some guarantees, or perhaps you don’t care if you ever see this little one again.’

Kensy flinched in pain.

‘And perhaps I should ask: how is Cordelia? I heard that she has fallen ill. So unfortunate.’ The man feigned concern. ‘Or is she dead?’

Kensy’s fists clenched. If she could have spun around and smacked Huang in the mouth, she would have, but Cameron’s fingernails were digging into her neck. The woman had an extraordinary grip.

‘I am not going back to prison,’ Huang muttered. Even in the arctic air-conditioning, beads of perspiration peppered his brow.

‘We want the package, a helicopter and guaranteed safe passage out of the country,’ the man said. ‘When you organise that, then you can have the girl.’

‘Honesto, there is one more thing. I want Koh’s parrot,’ Cameron said. ‘Vera refused to bring it to me.’

‘Really?’ Huang looked at the woman, his brows furrowed.

‘I have a buyer who will pay twice the return we got for the ape,’ she said. He couldn’t argue with that.

‘When?’ Song said.

Kensy could feel the woman’s grip tighten. ‘Tonight,’ Cameron replied.

‘It must be a public place,’ Song said. The other children hurried over to where he was standing.

Max had an idea. ‘The presentation. We’re expected to be at the ArtScience Museum at six to tour some of the exhibits before the ceremony at the Sands Theatre. They bring Kensy, we bring the bird and the package, and there’ll be a chopper outside.’ He really hoped that could be organised or else they were in big trouble. ‘And I swear if you hurt my sister, you will not even live long enough to regret it.’

Song stared at Huang and Lu and nodded.

Autumn looked at Kensy. ‘You’ll be okay,’ she mouthed.

Max tugged on his left earlobe and his sister blinked furiously.

Kensy could feel the tears welling in her eyes but she wouldn’t cry. Not in front of these monsters. Not ever.