but his father held him down

Toni looked over the edge, down a hundred-foot drop to where the sea boiled among jagged rocks. Kit struggled, but his father held him down, and eventually he became still. Stanley got slowly to his feet and pulled Kit up. Kit's eyes were shut. He was shaking with emotion, like someone in a fit. "It's over," Stanley said. He put his arms around his son and held him. "It's all over now." They stood like that on the edge, with the wind blowing their hair, until Kit stopped shaking. Then, gently, Stanley turned him around and led him back toward the house. * * * THE family was in the living room, stunned and silent, still not sure that the nightmare was over. Stanley was talking to the Inverburn ambulance service on Kit's mobile phone while Nellie tried to lick his hands. Hugo lay on the couch, covered in blankets, while Olga bathed his wounds. Miranda was doing the same for Tom and Ned. Kit lay on his back on the floor, eyes closed. Craig and Sophie talked in low voices in a corner. Caroline had found all her rats and sat with their cage on her knees. Toni's mother sat next to Caroline with the puppy in her lap. The Christmas tree twinkled in the corner. Toni called Odette. "How far away did you say those helicopters were?" "An hour," Odette replied. "But that was then. As soon as the snow stopped, I moved them. Now they're at Inverburn, waiting for instructions. Why?" "I've caught the gang and I've got the virus back, but—" "What, on your own?" Odette was amazed. "Never mind that. The important man is the customer, the one who's trying to buy this stuff and use it to kill people. We need to find him." "I wish we could." "I think we can, if we act fast. Could you send a helicopter to me?" "Where are you?" "At Stanley Oxenford's house, Steepfall. It's right on the cliff exactly fifteen miles north of Inverburn. There are four buildings in a square, and the pilot will see two crashed cars in the garden." "My God, you have been busy."