Mirror Man Jacques Kat (classic novels for teens TXT) 📖

not leaving Mum here on her own!’ I said. ‘What if he comes back?’

‘PC Williams is right outside.’

Mum snorted again. I suspected she had no faith in PC Williams’s protection.

‘Okay…’ I said reluctantly.

Mum sat down at the kitchen table.

‘We’ll get changed. JC, meet me in the car in ten. I’ll load up the wood and tools.’

‘Are you sure, Grandad? You don’t look too well.’ It was true; he’d been pale and out of breath since trying to chase down The Suit.

‘I’m fine,’ he snapped as he exited the room.

‘Will you be okay while we’re gone, Mum?’ I asked her.

‘Don’t worry about me, lad, I can take care of myself. Just be as quick as you can, okay?’

I nodded and went to get changed. I checked the guns were still secure and then went to wait in the car. PC Williams was sat in his car reading a copy of the News of the World. He could hardly protect Mum with his head stuck in the paper. I leaned across to the driver’s side and beeped on the horn. He stuck a thumb up at me and carried on reading.

Crap! I hoped he would pay attention once we were gone.

Grandad loaded up the boot and off we went.

‘What was the beeping for?’ he asked as we bumped down the uneven drive.

‘PC Williams is sat reading the paper. He’s meant to be keeping an eye out.’

‘Don’t worry, lad, he won’t be coming back tonight. We chased him off good and proper.’

‘Did you tell PC Williams about the shop?’ I asked him.

‘Yes, lad. Now stop fretting.’

I was worried, though. The Suit had got within feet of our home without me realising. He’d even followed me at some point. How could I have been so careless to draw him in so close? I’d played a dangerous game bringing the guns into our home, and now Mum was all alone.

All the way to the shop, I barely blinked as I kept an eye out for The Suit. I shivered as a feeling of dread hung in the air.

Chapter Twenty-four

At the shop, nothing had been taken, and I made Grandad fasten the plywood as quick as he could. I was almost bouncing on my heels waiting for him to get it done.

‘Stop panicking,’ he said. ‘Your mum will be fine. PC Williams knows what he’s doing.’

‘Okay, but we really need to get back,’ I said.

‘Get a brush and sweep the glass up. Take your mind off it for a minute.’

I managed to get rid of all the glass. I didn’t know what the window had been smashed with, but there was no evidence of it on the floor. Only the remnants of the window.

I kept glancing around, making sure we weren’t being watched. I knew The Suit was responsible for this mess. But why would he bother breaking in again? He knew he couldn’t get into the safes. Unless…

The pieces started to connect in my brain.

He’d been trying to draw me here on purpose.

‘Oh no. Mum!’ I gasped.

Grandad looked at me. ‘What is it, son?’

I practically threw the broom back into the shop, not caring where it landed. ‘We need to go home, Grandad—now!’

Grandad all too slowly put his hammer down. ‘Calm down, lad, what’s got you in a rush all of a sudden?’

‘It was The Suit. He did this, Grandad. He did it to lure us here, and we left Mum alone!’ I started pulling Grandad’s tools back into his toolbox as I spoke, then closed it up and stood, heading back to the car. ‘Come on!’ I yelled.

With a dramatic sigh, Grandad propped the rest of the planks against the side of the shop, and joined me at the car.

We hurried back, despite Grandad’s protests on breaking the speed limits, and when we pulled into our drive, I was relieved to find PC Williams had finished reading the paper. I jumped out of the car before it rolled to a stop and ran into the kitchen. The phone receiver was on the floor. I picked it up and hung it back in its cradle, thinking Grandad hadn’t replaced it properly.

I paused and listened for voices, the TV, or Mum’s record player. Nothing.

I was desperate to hear a sound. Anything to distract me from the feeling of dread I had inside my gut.

The same sensation hung in the air as I moved. I felt like a stranger in my own home. As though I was following the steps of someone who had been here only minutes before me. Their presence still lingered, casting shadows in my mirrors where there shouldn’t be any.

I moved to the hall, where shards of glass covered the floor. That’s odd. I thought Mum was doing better. Why had she smashed one of my mirrors?

I sniffed the air. A sour smell drew my attention. I couldn’t put my finger on it. The food from the wake couldn’t have gone off already, surely.

I shrugged and went back the way I’d come to get the sweeping brush and start cleaning up, all my senses on high alert.

I no longer trusted the mirrors. They taunted me, played tricks with my mind, cast shadows of an invisible presence.

When I heard a thud above my head, I glanced at the full-length mirror opposite the foot of the stairs, expecting to see Mum coming down.

But instead, I saw long, dark legs. A tailored jacket. A red tie.

The Suit looked across the landing at something before making his way down, and as he moved, so did I. I shoved the broom handle through the spindle of the staircase, causing him to trip. His arms and legs flapped about as he stumbled down the stairs before crashing into the mirror at the base and landing in a heap with the shattered glass. I pulled back the broom and noticed it had snapped.

Two sets of feet ran from the tiled kitchen floor, into the hallway. Despite the commotion, The Suit didn’t move.

‘What’s going on?!’ yelled PC Williams.

‘I’m sorry,