The policeman crashed into the room. He held his nose as blood dripped through his fingers.
“I need that chair of yours, son,” he shouted. “Quick!”
“Yes, of course. I’ll get you a nurse,” Lee said.
“Not for me. I need wheels. I’m going to get him.”
He pulled the chair through the door into the corridor. Pushing it in front of him, he began running. As he gained speed, people in the corridor leapt out of his way. They pressed themselves against the walls. A nurse screamed and ran for cover.
Zeta had already reached the end of the corridor. He’d changed from his overalls and now wore a doctor’s white coat. No one stopped to take any notice of him. He walked quickly towards the stairs. Within minutes he’d be out of the building and away. That was his plan. But the policeman had other ideas. He was already hurtling towards the top of the stairs at full speed. So fast that nothing could stop him.
After just a few steps down the stairs, Zeta turned to look behind him. His head was level with the floor of the corridor. He saw the wheelchair shooting towards him. In horror, he reached for his gun. He raised his arm to fire. But it was too late.
The policeman fell to the floor as the wheelchair took off from the top step. It shot through the air and flew at Zeta’s head. It struck him in the mouth. Both he and the chair smashed into the railings and flipped over the top. They fell with a crash and clattered to the stairs below. His gun flew into the wall with a deafening shot. It fired into the seat of the chair. A bullet ripped through it and into Zeta’s back. Both man and wheelchair thudded onto the bottom step. The wheels spun with a whir, but Zeta lay still.
The policeman looked over the rail. “That’ll teach you. You’re under arrest.”
But it was too late for that now. Zeta was dead.
*
“Can I come back to see you tomorrow?” Lee asked Georgi. “If they let me.”
“I hope so,” he said. “You’re a brave boy. I’d like to know how you got into all this. I want to hear about my brother, too. You were one of the last people he spoke to. I want to tell you how that message we sent will change things for the better. My country will be a safer place. The bad men on that list will now be exposed for being killers back home. You’d make a good secret agent, Lee!”
They shook hands.
The policeman carried Lee to the lift. “It’s just as well I let you in, young man,” he said. “You took a mad risk, but you saved Georgi’s life. But I’m afraid you need to know the bad news. Your wheelchair is a wreck. It’s all bent. But don’t worry – they’re getting you a smart new one. Top of the range. A James Bond model!”
“Cool!” Lee grinned. “But I’d like to keep my old one to show people. Proof of the day I became a spy and saved the world. Well, I saved Georgi at least.”
By the time he’d finished talking to the police, Lee’s mum was pulling into the car park. She was bound to make a fuss that he still hadn’t seen the physio yet. She’d probably get in another of her bad moods.
“Hi, love. How did you get on?” She got out of the car with a wave. “Did you cope?”
“I think so, Mum. Rather well, I think.”
“Look at the state of your jeans! You look a mess. Where’s your silly red cap?”
“It got shot.”
“Don’t be stupid, Lee. You watch too many spy DVDs. And where’s your chair?”
“That got shot too. They’ve given me an upgrade.” He laughed and pointed at his new wheelchair. “I spy with my little eye something beginning with M.O.W.”
“M.O.W.?”
“Yeah, ‘Meals on Wheels’. I fancy a bag of chips in my new turbo-charged spy machine!”
“Come on then. I’ll treat you to chips and a pizza. I just got you another treat, too. A new DVD. It’s about a boy who’s a spy. A bit far-fetched… as if that could really happen.”
“Thanks, Mum. Cool! You seem in a good mood all of a sudden.”
She giggled. “Do you know – I can’t believe my luck. I just went in to pay the gas bill. They said someone had already paid it. In cash. The garage said the same about my car bill. They must have made a mistake, but I wasn’t going to argue. So shh, don’t tell a soul!”
Lee smiled. “I won’t say a word.” And he meant it. He’d become skilled at keeping secrets… and an expert at escape. Escape from feeling a victim… and from being no more than a sitting target.
THE END