Read S.O.S for Free Online Page B

moment and tilted her head up as if she were listening. “I was just making stuff up Mummy. I’m sorry.”
    Jenny pulled back and looked at Sophie. “You don’t have to be sorry,” she said. “Come on, let’s go and get a giant
Macflurry
. I’m going to have the one with
Maltesers in.
”
    Sophie slid off the window seat and took Jenny’s hand. “I’m having
Smarties
,” she said. They went to the door, but as they did so, Sophie cast the smallest glance behind her and smiled. It looked to Jenny like a parting gesture.
    *
    An Asian City – exact location confidential.
    The young man lay prone on the rooftop and waited for his target to appear. He viewed the entrance to the building through his sights, an impossible distance away, an impossible shot. Yet he never missed. He waited, calm and assured, the familiar weight of the rifle in his arms as he thumbed the trigger, waiting to release the single bullet. He only ever needed one. There was a ripple of movement behind the dark glass of the hotel lobby and his mark stepped into view.
    Surrounded by bodyguards, the mark walked swiftly through the entrance to the lobby towards the car. The young man watched him from above, as a hawk watches its unsuspecting prey, his mind utterly blank as it always was in the moments before a kill. The doomed mark paused for a moment at the car door; it was the perfect opportunity. There was a silent flash of the rifle and the mark fell, dead before he hit the floor. Blood trickled down the bridge of his nose.
    The assassin moved swiftly. Wasting no time he disassembled his gun and packed it into a small bag, making his way down through the building into the open street. The crowd pressed in on him and he was swallowed up, just another face in a city of millions.
    *
    London
    It was late in the afternoon and Molly and Dev’s date for coffee and cake had extended into a cinema trip to see The Woman in Black. It hadn’t been a great choice for Molly.
    â€œA bit unbelievable,” Dev said, as they came out of the Odeon, “no-one really believes in ghosts any more, do they?”
    Molly shrugged and looked across the road where the dark, young boy she’d bumped into earlier stood leaning against the wall, staring at her.
    â€œI liked the special effects though, the way that the ghost was always in shadow, never quite materialising.”
    Molly nodded absentmindedly and made a little shooing gesture with her hand at the boy across the street.
    â€œAre you OK Molly?” Dev asked.
    â€œOh, yeah, fine. Sorry.” She turned to face Dev. “I thought it was really good actually, and the special effects were very realistic. Ghosts are often just shadows.” She blushed. “I mean, that’s how I’d always imagined them, if they were erm... real that is...”
    â€œYeah, if...” Dev turned the collar of his coat up and dug his hands in his pockets. “It’s cold,” he said, “we could go back to mine if you like?”
    Molly felt herself blush again. Was he asking her back? “Oh, erm, I...” She wanted to go, if he
was
asking her back, that is, to get closer, because she liked him, but what if he wasn’t? Would she look too eager?
    â€œYou don’t have to,” Dev said quickly, misinterpreting her silence. “I mean there’s nothing in it, I just thought that we could chat a bit more and well, I’ve got nothing else to do and we don’t want to be out on the streets in this weather and...” he broke off. He was gabbling and making a right twit of himself. He wanted Molly to come back because he really liked her, but he didn’t want to say that, in case she didn’t like him.
    â€œSure,” Molly said, “that’d be nice.” She looked across the street and narrowed her eyes.
    â€œYou sure you’re ok Molly?” Dev said again. “Is there something across the road