Urban Outlaws Read Online Free PDF

here.’
    ‘We could get it delivered.’
    ‘Yeah?’ Charlie raised an eyebrow at him. ‘You think “secret underground lair beneath London” would be on their GPS?’
    Jack shrugged. ‘Worth a shot.’
    Obi huffed impatiently. Charlie handed him a salad. He held it up with a look of disgust. ‘What’s this?’
    ‘Don’t start,’ Charlie said. ‘You need to –’
    ‘Need to what?’
    ‘It’s just –’
    ‘Just what?’
    ‘We’ve been through this, Obi.’ Charlie gave him a stern look. ‘Just eat it.’
    Obi fell silent.
    Charlie knew exactly how to handle him, and Jack admired that about her. They were all like brothers and sisters. They’d been through so much together. With Wren, the Urban Outlaws’ headcount had increased to five, which meant that the thousand pounds they’d just acquired wasn’t going to last as long as usual.
    Jack had to think of another target – and soon, so he could plan.
    Charlie tossed him a sandwich and sat on the sofa opposite. ‘What’s wrong with you?’
    ‘Nothing.’ How did she always see through him?
    Charlie cocked an eyebrow. ‘Spill it.’
    ‘We nearly got caught this time.’
    ‘So?’
    ‘I should’ve planned it better.’
    Now it was Jack on the receiving end of one of Charlie’s stern expressions. ‘It was perfect, Jack. Your plans always work.’
    ‘It was not perfect.’ Jack forced himself to keep control of his annoyance. ‘Those cops nearly had us.’ He looked over at Wren and Slink who were now sitting at the dining table together.
    Slink was helping her with a maths assignment. As Wren wasn’t going to school any more, Charlie had insisted that they take it in turns to teach her all they knew.
    Jack sighed. In a parallel universe, they could almost be a normal family.
    ‘Jack?’
    He looked back at Charlie and lowered his voice. ‘It’s just that if anything happened to them –’
    Charlie snorted.
    ‘What?’
    ‘Listen to yourself. Soon you’ll be demanding a pipe and slippers.’
    Jack scowled at her. ‘We have responsibilities now.’
    Charlie rolled her eyes. ‘No we don’t. Look around you, Jack. We live in a secret bunker. We can do what we like, when we like.’ She pointed to the far corner of the room. ‘We’ve even got a pinball machine.’
    Jack smiled. That was one of their best finds. They’d had to move it a few metres at a time, keeping an eye out for cops on neighbourhood patrol. So much hassle, but it had so been worth it.
    ‘Lighten up,’ Charlie said. She sat back and bit into her sandwich.
    Jack watched over Charlie’s shoulder as Obi used a mechanical grabber to go through one of the bags of shopping she’d left on the table. Slink and Wren were too engrossed in what they were doing to notice him. First, he pulled out a bag of apples. Disgusted with his catch, he set the apples down and dived in for another try. This time he was rewarded with a bag of jam doughnuts. He smacked his lips and tore the paper open.
    Jack looked back at Charlie. She was right. He did need to lighten up.
    ‘So,’ Charlie said, ‘what’s our next target?’
    Yeah , Jack thought, that small problem . ‘I don’t know yet.’
    ‘I got one,’ Obi said through a mouth full of doughnut. Charlie turned round but Obi managed to swallow it and hide the bag before she realised.
    ‘You’ve got a target?’ she said, dubious.
    Slink looked up from the maths textbook. ‘Is it another one of your crazy plans that involve raiding a supermarket?’
    ‘No,’ Obi snapped.
    ‘What then?’
    Obi hesitated for a moment, looked around at them all, then said, ‘Proteus.’

CHAPTER THREE
    Everyone but Wren let out a simultaneous groan. She had no idea what Proteus was. Jack envied her – ignorance, in this case, was definitely bliss.
    Slink did his obligatory eye roll every time Obi brought up the subject, and now was no exception. ‘Not that again,’ he said, exasperated.
    Obi looked at everyone. ‘Proteus is real .’
    Though