Cherub Black Friday Read Online Free PDF

sounding a touch indignant. ‘She was in a much harder position than when Alfie did it.’
    James showed no sympathy as he took off his six-point racing seatbelt. ‘That’s kind of the point. Pedestrians can crop up anywhere. And don’t worry about it. The competition element is only a bit of fun. You both did good today.’
    Ning smiled as she pushed a mound of sweaty hair off her face. ‘You’re a good teacher.’
    James had never done anything like this before and was flattered and intrigued by the comment. ‘What makes you say that?’
    Ning shrugged, but Alfie answered for her. ‘You get the balance right. Pushing us when we need it, but not so hard that we get pissed off.’
    ‘And you’re good at breaking things down to explain them,’ Ning said.
    The other Golf with Bruce, Leon and Grace inside had finished its final run a couple of minutes earlier. James, Ning and Alfie walked towards them, while fifteen-year-old black shirt Kevin Sumner dashed about collecting the cones.
    ‘All good?’ Bruce asked. ‘Ready to take us on tomorrow?’
    James laughed. ‘We’ll crush you.’
    ‘Got a people carrier waiting to take you back to campus,’ Bruce said, looking at the trainees. ‘Any volunteers for driving duty?’
    All four kids looked at their feet.
    ‘Now that’s enthusiasm,’ James said, smiling at Bruce.
    ‘I’m knackered,’ Leon said defensively.
    ‘It’s not physically as hard as normal training,’ Grace explained. ‘But mentally! Like, you lose concentration for one second and you smash a car into the wall and die.’
    ‘Guess I’ll have to drive you tired little bunnies home then,’ James said sarcastically. ‘And don’t stay up too late because we’re out here again all day tomorrow and things won’t be getting any easier.’

6. BORDER
    The racetrack was twenty minutes’ drive from CHERUB campus, or fifteen if you were James Adams and you’d decided to show off. The four pupils belted off to the dining-room for some hot food as soon as they arrived, while James and Bruce cracked smiles as they stepped into reception and recognised the hot-blondein-short-denim-skirt coming out of Chairman Zara Asker’s office.
    ‘Amy Collins, bloody hell,’ James said.
    ‘Hey!’ Bruce added. ‘What are you doing? I haven’t seen you in yonks.’
    Amy grinned. ‘Could ask you guys the same question.’
    James pointed at Bruce. ‘He’s just back from uni for a few days. Zara found out I was at a loose end. Mr Kazakov is on some mission and another instructor’s on long-term sick with a dodgy back, so she asked if I’d like to come back for two or three months and help out in the training department.’
    ‘So you dropped out of uni?’
    James shook his head. ‘Graduated this summer. Applied for some jobs around Silicon Valley, but the job market’s dead right now.’
    ‘Is Kerry with you?’
    ‘Nah,’ James said. ‘She’s in her final year at Stanford. Says having me bumming around our apartment was putting her off studying.’
    Amy laughed. ‘So you must be twenty-one now! We’re all getting old.’
    ‘So why are you here?’ Bruce asked.
    ‘I was doing the classic post-CHERUB thing,’ Amy said. ‘You know, you leave and can’t find anything else that really lives up to it. Then I got headhunted by a little American intelligence unit called Transnational Facilitator Unit – TFU.
    ‘It’s mainly anti-smuggling operations. The big stuff: people trafficking, weapons, drugs. The money’s decent, and it’s a small team so you’re always close to the action. Plus, my two bosses Ted and Dr D are close to retirement, so there’s a lot of potential to step up career-wise.’
    ‘So you live in the States?’ James asked.
    ‘Dallas,’ Amy said. ‘Though I think I’ve spent ten nights in my apartment since January.’
    ‘And what’s with the Chairman?’ James asked.
    ‘There’s a CHERUB agent working on TFU’s biggest project. So I’m here briefing Zara on the