Gripping the stick tightly, Connor Reeves smashed the silver-masked wrestler in the belly as hard as he could. The wrestler spun round, reeling from the blow.

‘Dale! Dale! Dale!’ screamed the crowd in Spanish, urging him to hit again.

As the wrestler swung back at him, Connor wound up for a second strike. His devastating blow split the wrestler’s stomach open, causing his guts to spill out across the tiled floor. The crowd cheered and Connor was almost knocked over in the rush as everyone surged forward. Peeling off his blindfold, Connor was astonished at the excitement a piñata could generate, even at a fourteenth birthday party. Then again he’d only ever imagined fruit and sweets to be stuffed inside the papier-mâché figure, not fistfuls of dollar bills, gold bracelets, glittering necklaces and sparkling rings! But this was Mexico and the party was being held by a super-rich business tycoon.

‘That’s a powerful swing you have there, Connor,’ said Carlos Silva, the birthday girl’s father, his English smoothed out by his Latin American accent.

Connor shrugged and, by way of an excuse for his surprising strength, replied, ‘I’ve played a lot of cricket, Señor Silva.’

‘Well, you certainly hit El Santo for six!’ Carlos gave a rolling laugh and nodded at the effigy of the famous silver-masked Mexican wrestler, now hanging forlorn and battered from the ceiling. ‘Tradition says the piñata symbolizes the devil. You have to hit him hard to make him let go of all the good things he’s stolen. The devil has clearly stolen a lot from you!’

Connor responded with a bittersweet smile. There was more truth to the tycoon’s words than the man would ever realize. He wished that hitting the piñata could bring back his father, who’d been taken from him when he was just eight years old, killed in an ambush while protecting the US ambassador in war-torn Iraq. And now the devil seemed intent on taking his mother too. She was battling the advanced stages of multiple sclerosis. Only his gran seemed to defy the devil, soldiering on despite her ageing years and a failing hip.

Connor offered the piñata-buster back to his host.

‘No,’ insisted Carlos. ‘Keep it as a reminder of defeating one of the greatest legends in Mexican sport.’

‘Thanks,’ said Connor, slipping the rainbow-striped stick into the back pocket of his jeans.

The tycoon patted him firmly on the shoulder. ‘Enjoy the party, my friend.’

As Carlos wandered off, joining his wife on the veranda to watch dusk settle over the haze of Mexico City, a boy with slick black hair, bronzed skin and a swagger straight out of a hip-hop music video approached Connor. He wrapped an arm round Connor’s shoulders. Eduardo was the son of a high-ranking Mexican politician and the Principal whom Connor had been assigned to protect. The boy already had two muscle-bound security guards accompanying him wherever he went, but Connor was his ‘invisible shield’ – the teenage bodyguard no one suspected. Despite Connor officially protecting Eduardo, the two of them had hit it off the first day they’d met and over the past few weeks had become firm friends.

‘Hey, didn’t you get anything from the piñata?’ asked Eduardo, a clutch of cash and candy in his own hand.

Connor shook his head. ‘Too busy hitting the devil.’

Eduardo unwrapped a bright orange lolly and popped it into his mouth. ‘Well, you sure missed out.’

‘No, he didn’t!’ In a glittering white dress and her long honey-brown hair braided with miniature red roses, Maria left no doubt about the identity of the birthday girl. ‘Connor, I saved this for you …’ With a coy smile, she fastened a gold-chain bracelet around his wrist.

‘Err … thanks!’ said Connor, unsure how to respond. ‘That’s really something.’

‘It should be,’ said Eduardo, rolling the lollipop from one cheek to the other. ‘It’s solid twenty-two carat gold!’

Not your standard party gift then, thought Connor. But he knew such extravagance shouldn’t have really shocked him. Now on his fifth assignment, he’d witnessed many flamboyant excesses of wealth. When protecting the sons and daughters of the elite and super-rich, it simply came with the territory. Yet he felt uncomfortable accepting a gift worth thousands of dollars. He unclipped the bracelet. ‘I’m sorry, I can’t take this. It’s too much.’

‘Sure you can,’ Maria protested. ‘It’s my party and I can give gifts to whoever I want.’ She fixed him with her bewitching brown eyes. ‘You don’t want to upset the birthday girl now, do you?’

Shifting uneasily on his feet, Connor put the bracelet back on. ‘Of course not –’

Suddenly a thumping Latino beat blasted from the terrace’s sound system and the disco lights flashed and spun overhead.

‘Come on, let’s dance,’ said Maria, grabbing Connor’s hand and dragging him on to the terrace with the other guests.

Connor glanced helplessly back at Eduardo. He was keenly aware that he should stay at his Principal’s side. But Eduardo just laughed as Maria’s girlfriends surrounded Connor in a circle, preventing his escape. Each girl began to dance with him in turn and Connor found himself flattered by all the attention. Checking on Eduardo again, he reassured himself with the fact that the house and grounds were secured by high walls and razor wire as well as CCTV and numerous security guards. His Principal was as safe as he could be, as long as he stayed within Connor’s line of sight.

With one eye on Eduardo, Connor danced with Maria and her friends late into the evening. With each song, the birthday girl drew a little closer and Connor found himself getting into an awkward predicament. When the DJ put on a slower track, Maria appeared to be plucking up the courage to make her move, wrapping an arm round his waist and …

The delicate moment was thankfully interrupted by a call on Connor’s mobile. He glanced at the screen. It was Charley.

Excusing himself, Connor headed over to the veranda, leaving the birthday girl with a wounded frown. He answered the video call and Charley’s warm wide smile appeared on the screen. Her head rested against a pillow, her corn-blonde hair poking through a tight wrapping of bandages.

‘Hi, Connor,’ she said, her voice soft and weary. She caught the thumping sound of the disco and the flashing of strobe lights in the background. ‘I’m not interrupting you, am I?’

‘Of course not,’ Connor replied, overjoyed to see his girlfriend. Between his assignment and her spinal treatments, they hadn’t spoken for nearly a week. Charley was in China undergoing pioneering surgery and intensive physiotherapy for the spinal injuries she’d sustained on a mission that had gone terribly wrong. For the past two years she’d relied on her wheelchair for mobility after being paralysed from the waist down. Not that she let it stop her from doing anything: she was operations leader for Alpha team and one of the most experienced recruits in the whole Buddyguard organization. ‘How did the surgery go?’ he asked.

‘I still feel a little groggy and I’m having a few odd dreams, but the doctor says the implantation was a success. I’m starting physio now that I’ve recovered. There’s a long road ahead but the doctor’s very hopeful.’

‘That’s great news –’

‘Connor, come back and dance!’ implored Maria, appearing at his shoulder.

Charley’s brow furrowed. ‘Sounds like you’re having fun.’

Connor responded with an awkward smile. ‘Birthday party,’ he explained. ‘My Principal was invited by Maria, one of his school friends.’

‘Well, I think the school friend wants a dance with you,’ said Charley, her voice tight.

‘Charley … you’re the only one for me,’ Connor reassured her. And that was the truth – he’d never met a girl like Charley. She was everything to him. ‘I’d never betray you. Besides, you’d kick my arse if I did!’

Charley let out a laugh. They both knew that was true. Charley was a force to be reckoned with when it came to unarmed combat sessions – many a recruit had learnt the hard way not to underestimate her abilities just because she was in a wheelchair.

‘And after your therapy,’ Connor went on, ‘I’m sure it won’t be long before I’m dancing with you –’

He flinched as a deafening explosion ripped through the air.