‘My office. Now.’

Jake opened his mouth to reply.

‘Now, Jake,’ said Sam. ‘ Now.’

And seeing the look on Sam’s face – even though he wasn’t the one being called into his office – Ethan felt sick.

When Jake had left with Sam, Johnny flicked a glance at the rest of the gang. ‘Dead man walking,’ he said flatly.

No one argued.

Ethan heard Jake before he saw him. The crack of Sam’s office door slamming split the air.

Ethan turned, saw Jake storming towards him.

‘Rookie!’

Kat stood up and tried to stop him, but he pushed her out of the way and walked straight up to Ethan.

Ethan didn’t flinch. He’d never been one for backing down from anyone. It had got him knocked around a few times at school, but he didn’t care. Running away wasn’t part of his character.

Jake shoved Ethan in the chest. ‘I’m going to make you pay for this, Rookie…’

Ethan said nothing, did nothing. He just stood there, waiting to see what Jake would do next.

‘You hear me?’ said Jake as Kat tried to pull him away. ‘You did this. All you had to do was keep your stupid mouth shut – that’s all! You prick!’

Johnny and Luke walked over and stood between Ethan and Jake.

‘That’s it,’ said Johnny, looking straight at Jake. ‘Outside. Calm down. Now.’

Jake turned on Johnny. ‘Don’t tell me what to do, you shit!’ he screamed, and Ethan could see he was losing control.

Luke stepped in. ‘Jake, just do what Johnny suggested. Go outside and calm it.’ Then he looked at Ethan. ‘You, walk away,’ he said.

Ethan nodded and turned back towards the counter. He figured it made more sense to let this one lie than help things get out of hand. He wanted the job and he wanted the tandem, and he knew Sam wouldn’t look kindly on a fight at FreeFall.

Johnny and Luke stood firmly in Jake’s way and Kat finally managed to get him to leave the café, taking him by the arm and dragging him out.

Johnny looked at Ethan. ‘Kat was right about you,’ he said, a smile breaking through the seriousness of the moment. ‘You really do know how to make friends and influence people, don’t you?’

‘But I didn’t do anything,’ protested Ethan. ‘And what was all that about? What happened? What’s Sam done?’

Johnny and Luke sat back down at the table. Natalya hadn’t moved, but now she leaned forward and looked up.

‘The only thing he can do,’ she said. ‘If someone makes a stupid mistake like that out on the DZ, then they are grounded until they’ve learned better. With Jake, it should have happened sooner. I have never trusted him. He is too wild. Too obsessed with himself. Even more so than Johnny.’

‘Oh, you hurt me with your words,’ Johnny groaned.

‘What do you mean, grounded?’ said Ethan. ‘Kept inside for a week and not allowed to see his friends? Sam’s not your dad!’

‘No, he’s not,’ said Luke, ‘but what he says goes. Jake won’t be allowed to jump for a few weeks.’

‘You serious?’

‘Sam is always serious about this kind of thing,’ said Natalya. ‘Being grounded will give Jake time to sort himself out, get his priorities straight. And it will keep him out of the air while he is still considered a liability.’

‘Yeah,’ Johnny confirmed. ‘Sam will want to make sure Jake doesn’t do anything so stupid again. He’ll probably interview him before letting him jump too. Check he’s clued up enough on safety to be in the air. Jake will have to gen up on that stuff or Sam’ll kick him out for good.’

‘There would be no complaints from me,’ said Natalya. ‘I still cannot work out what Kat sees in him. She could do much better.’

Johnny gave a wink. ‘With someone like me, you mean?’

Natalya shot him one of her steely looks, but he just winked again and added a very large smile, all teeth.

‘Here’s Kat,’ said Luke, looking over at the door.

Her face was pale. She walked over, sat down, said nothing.

Natalya leaned over, concern etched on her face. ‘Kat?’

Nothing.

‘Come on, Kat,’ said Johnny. ‘Is it bad, really bad, or a full-on shit storm?’

Kat leaned back in her chair, hands on her head. ‘Sam’s not only grounded Jake for three months,’ she said, ‘he’s kicked him off the team. He’s out. Permanently.’

At this, Ethan heard everyone swear. Everyone but Natalya. She simply sat back in her chair, folded her arms and shook her head. But her eyes never left Kat, and Ethan could see she was concerned for her friend.

‘Great,’ said Johnny, and Ethan was surprised to hear disappointment in his voice. ‘Jake finally ruined it for all of us.’

‘What if Sam changes his mind when he calms down?’ said Ethan, and realized as the words left his mouth how crazy they sounded. He’d not worked for Sam that long, but it was already obvious that he was not the kind of person to go back on a decision.

‘He won’t,’ said Luke, confirming Ethan’s thoughts. ‘When Sam draws a line under something, he makes it clear exactly where it is. You cross it and you’re out. No appeal. Nothing. Sam’s word is law.’

Ethan looked at Kat. She was just sitting there shaking her head.

‘Jake didn’t want to talk about it,’ she said. ‘Not even to me.’ Then she turned to Ethan and he could see just how upset she was. ‘Why didn’t you just keep quiet? Why did you have to go and tell Sam about it?’

‘I told you – I didn’t,’ said Ethan. ‘Sam was there with me. He told me it was Jake. I didn’t know what was happening.’

But Kat wasn’t really listening. ‘You’ve ruined everything,’ she said, standing up and pushing her chair away. It skidded for a minute, caught a hole in the floor, flipped.

‘Don’t talk crap,’ said Johnny. ‘Jake did this to himself. You know he’s a liability.’

‘Whatever,’ said Kat.

‘It’s true, Kat. He’s more bothered about how he looks up there – whether I’ve got his good side on camera – than anything to do with safety. We’ve all thought it, so don’t kid yourself.’

‘Looking good?’ said Kat, turning on Johnny. ‘You of all people should know about that being a major priority!’

‘I look good because up there I do everything by the letter,’ said Johnny, sounding serious for once. ‘I certainly don’t put you guys at risk. Ever.’

Kat started to say something, but then just turned and walked out. The café door slammed behind her as she left.

‘I thought that all went rather well,’ said Johnny, grimacing. ‘Pity we’re now utterly screwed.’

‘How’s that then?’ asked Ethan.

Johnny sighed, and Ethan looked over at Luke, who just shrugged. Everyone seemed very downbeat.

‘Can’t believe the same thing’s happened again,’ said Johnny. ‘Do you think we’ll ever make a full team?’

‘It is not quite the same this time, though, is it?’ said Natalya. ‘Jake did not just disappear without trace.’

Ethan rested his tray on the table and stared at Natalya. ‘What do you mean? Who disappeared?’ He saw Johnny and Luke glance at her.

Johnny leaned forward, folded his hands, looked serious (serious didn’t really suit him, thought Ethan). ‘It’s nothing,’ he said. ‘We lost a member of our crew a few months back. Jake was trying out as the replacement.’

‘So what happened to him?’ asked Ethan. ‘Why did he disappear?’

Natalya opened her mouth to speak, but Luke got in first.

‘Nothing that mysterious,’ he said. ‘It just didn’t work out. One day he was here, the next he wasn’t.’

‘And we’ve never heard anything from him since,’ finished Johnny. He grinned. ‘I think he was intimidated by my amazing talent.’

Something about Natalya’s expression told Ethan he wasn’t getting the whole story. She had a distant look, like she was staring through Johnny, rather than at him, but she didn’t argue. And Ethan didn’t see any point in prying further. Hell, if Jake was their second team member to go, they were allowed to be a bit pissed off and weird about it.