Bodyguard: Ransom (Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page B

the Principal.’
    Jason was first to finish his press-ups and went straight into the next exercise – fifty stomach crunches.
    ‘In an emergency, you’ll need such strength to get you and your Principal out of the danger zone,’ continued their instructor as his students sweated and groaned on the floor. ‘Fatigue, on the other hand, will hamper your ability to make quick decisions and choose the right course of action.’
    ‘But we did a … ten-mile run … only yesterday!’ panted Luciana, a dark-haired Brazilian girl from Delta team.
    ‘Your fitness isn’t about yesterday; it’s about
today
,’ Steve lectured. ‘You must treat your fitness like a tyre with a slow puncture – you have to keep topping it up.’
    He strode over to a boy in Bravo team who’d given up halfway through his press-ups.
    ‘Would you trust your security to an overweight slob?’
    Too out of breath to reply, the boy shook his head.
    ‘Nor would I. Now let’s see what you’re made of. Keep going!’
    His arms trembling with the effort, the boy resumed his exercise. Meanwhile, his teammate Elsa had completed her stomach crunches and was running to beat Jason to the chin-up bars. Connor was only a few paces behind. Charley, who’d used a vertical chest press and played catch with a medicine ball in place of press-ups and stomach crunches, powered her adapted sportschair over to a lowered chin-up bar. She fired off twenty reps before anyone else had even managed ten. Then, dropping back into her chair, she sped off along the track for another shuttle run – now the leader in the race.
    As soon as she reached the end of the track, Steve announced, ‘Piggyback sprint.’
    This was met with groans of disbelief from the weary teams. But everyone dug in for what they prayed would be the final exercise. In Alpha team, Connor partnered Amir, Jason ran with Richie, while Charley pulled herself up on to Ling’s shoulders.
    The teams raced in relay down the hall. Ling managed to hold Alpha’s lead, then Jason extended it. But Richie staggered under the weight of his brawny teammate.
    ‘This is murder!’ Richie moaned, gritting his teeth as Delta team swiftly passed him by.
    ‘Winners train, losers complain,’ Steve growled. ‘When things go wrong and you need to run for cover while carrying your Principal, you’ll be thankful for this exercise.’
    ‘I’ll be thankful when it stops!’ he gasped.
    By the time it was Connor and Amir’s turn, Alpha team had fallen into last place. Amir did his best to catch up, but had nothing left to give. It was a miracle he even managed to carry Connor over the line. Now they were almost ten seconds behind the leaders.
    ‘It’s all down to you,’ said Marc as a burnt-out Amir clambered on to Connor’s back.
    Naturally fit from six years of martial arts training, Connor summoned up hidden reserves of energy and raced after the two rival teams. They quickly passed Bravo team as Elsa stumbled and went sprawling with her partner. But Delta still had the lead. And with only thirty metres left in the race, Connor had to dig deep.
    ‘
Go! Go! Go!
’ cried Amir, geeing him on as if he was a racehorse.
    Connor could see that Luciana, with Sean on her back, was fading fast. He pumped his legs and charged after them.
    ‘
Come on!
’ Amir urged.
    They began to draw level. With victory almost in sight, Connor raced for the finish line.
    Suddenly aware she was about to be passed, Luciana leant forward like a jockey in the final few paces … and beat Alpha team by a nose.
    Delta team cheered and high-fived Luciana in celebrationof their slimmest of victories. Gutted at their loss, Connor collapsed to his hands and knees in an exhausted heap, Amir rolling off him on to the floor.
    ‘Good job, everyone,’ said Steve. ‘Take a break. I’ll be back in ten minutes for combat practice.’
    As Steve passed Connor, he clapped a meaty hand on his shoulder. ‘You may have lost out this time, but