Page 138 of Dying Truth

Kim had a sudden thought as she looked from one stricken parent to another.

‘I know where we have to go,’ she said, suddenly.

As she turned and started sprinting she hoped to God that for once she was wrong.

Ninety-Nine

The gymnasium was situated right below the boys’ dorm rooms and took Dawson less than five minutes to get there. He thanked God he had already spent hours navigating his way around the sprawling building.

He arrived just as Philip Havers was locking the door.

‘Where’s Geoffrey?’ he asked.

Havers appeared to look puzzled.

‘Piggott,’ he clarified. ‘The fat kid you pick on,’ Dawson said, making no attempt to hide his dislike of the teacher. He didn’t have the time.

‘Why would I know where he is?’ he asked, ignoring Dawson’s comment.

‘Because he was headed down here, to get a key or something,’

Havers shook his head. ‘Not a clue what you’re talking about. Now if you’ll excuse me I have to—’

‘No, I won’t excuse you,’ Dawson said, blocking his path. ‘Not until you tell me where Geoffrey is.’

Havers didn’t take too kindly to the physical barrier before him. His nostrils flared in response.

‘What’s the particular interest you’ve got in this kid anyway? You into young—’

Dawson pushed him up against the wall and held him there.

‘I dare you to finish that fucking sentence, Havers,’ he spat. ‘Cos unlike you I’m not into bullying poor kids who can’t fight back just because they’re not as you’d like them to be; but getting them to turn on each other to…’ His words trailed away as a sudden realisation hit him. ‘It’s you that’s keeping the bloody Spades going, isn’t it? You’re the fucking Joker? Your speech about belonging and connections and lifelong bonds. Thorpe really has tried to stamp them out and—’

‘There’s nothing wrong with healthy competition,’ Havers spat. ‘Thorpe only hates them because he was never invited to join. Fucking wimp. It’s survival of the fittest. I was the Nine of Spades and it never hurt me.’

Dawson pinned him harder. ‘You set these kids against each other, encourage them to hate and bully for your own sick selection process.’ Everything he’d learned this week flew through his mind. ‘The fucking damage you’ve caused to innocent kids in the name of healthy competition,’ he cried. ‘Now tell me where he is,’ he said, shaking him.

Havers held fast and shook his head.

Dawson realised he was wasting his time. He could deal with Havers later.

‘I will be back, you evil bastard, but I swear if anything happens to that boy I will make your life a living hell.’

Dawson unclenched his fists from the man’s shirt and let him go.

Havers smoothed down his shirt and smiled. ‘You can try, but I have powerful friends just a phone call away.’

‘They won’t get you out of this, you sick shit,’ he said, reaching the door. He turned. ‘And if being the Nine of Spades made you the man you are today, I can assure you it did you no favours.’

Dawson turned away and began to sprint, with the definite feeling that he was running out of time.

One Hundred

‘But wh-why would she be here?’ Mrs Winters asked fearfully, as they reached the swimming pool.

Kim no longer had the need to shout as they had travelled a quarter mile away from the focus of the evening’s attention.

‘You’ve tried her phone a dozen times now and there’s been no answer. If my team had located her they would have called by now.’