She glanced at the solid form of the man beside her, the man who had promised to keep her safe and she leaned back against the seat. Let it be, she thought. Just let it be.
Chapter 38
A disembodied voice filled the car. The reception was rattly and faint, perhaps the banks and hedges obstructing the signal. After a brief conversation, most of which was unintelligible to Pauline, Pete rolled his shoulders and his grip on the wheel seemed less tense.
“Is it okay now?” She couldn’t even imagine what “it” or “okay” might be but felt desperate for reassurance.
“Yeah. I know where we’re going. It’s about two hours. Can you take the phone out of the thing?”
“Do you want it back in the glove box?”
“No, you need to open it up. Can you do that?”
“Well of course I can. I’m not stupid.”
“No, I know, that wasn’t what I meant. Oh whatever, just open it will you.” So there it was. The short fuse. It was a clear indication that, no matter what he said, things were far from okay.
“Okay, now what?”
“Take out the SIM, fling it through the window. Then the battery, then the phone. If you can break it up a bit first that would be even better.”
Cold air took her breath and her hair swirled in the draught. She flung the plastic bits as far as she could. “Okay. That’s gone.”
“Well you might as well settle back if you can. There’s nothing more we can do now except cross our fingers.” All that was left was to hand over her fate and her future to Pete. So, she pushed back in the seat and turned her head to watch as the wakening world flew past to be lost behind them as he drove on to whatever their fate would be.
After another half an hour they hit the motorway. Now they were simply one more in an never-ending trail of cars and lorries thundering through the landscape. The ride became more even. In spite of everything, Pauline felt her head begin to nod and as clouds filled her brain she reclined the seat a little and let herself drift off.
“Pauline, come on. We’re here.”
She’d had no idea what to expect. All there was to imagine was from films and television; she had thought maybe a grimy flat, a fortress somewhere in the country, or even perhaps a police station.
Peering through the car window she was surprised to see a neat semi. A young mum pushed a buggy along the pavement and a ubiquitous parcel delivery van was parked just a little further along the road. It was ordinary, normal and in fact rather boring.
“Where are we?”
“Uh… I guess you could just say ‘somewhere’. It’s not that important and actually it’s better if you don’t know too much. Just in case.”
“In case?”
“Well, you know, it’s a sort of secret and well…” She fixed her gaze on him but he couldn’t look at her and glanced away awkwardly.
“You mean in case I’m forced to tell someone don’t you? You think I’m going to be caught or something and they’ll… what? Torture me? Bloody hell. Just what have I got myself into here? I wish I’d left that bloke where he was, in the ditch.”
“Yeah, to be honest so do I.”
It wasn’t his fault though, was it. It wasn’t his fault and he was doing his best. “Oh come on, let’s get on with it.” She swung open the car door and uncurled onto the pavement. Her muscles still suffered from the damage inflicted in the cave and on the rocks so she stretched her arms above her head, easing the stiffness.
Pete came round and took hold of her arm, “Hey come on, let’s get inside.”
“What am I going to do about clothes? How long am I going to be here? Pete?”
“Hmm.” He was crouching now retrieving a key from under a flower pot.
“I can’t believe that. You’re not supposed to do that. Don’t you know that’s the first place they look, criminals and so on.”
He grinned at her. His smile creased the weathered skin around his eyes and lifted the muscles of his face. Blue eyes sparkled. “I know. Quite right. Though in fairness these will only just have been put here.”
“Right.”
“Did you want to ask me something?” He had pulled her into the narrow hallway and now turned back to the door. There was a bank of bolts and locks which he spent time securing and she noted that the glass, though pretty and ornamental from the outside was reinforced on this side by a metal grill.
Now that they were inside Pauline was overcome by a sense of intimacy, a wave of shyness. She dipped her head, clasped her hands in front of her. She unfolded them and let them hang at her sides. Her arms didn’t know what to do; she folded them across her front. “I, erm… I just wanted to ask… Will you be staying with me? Well, what I mean is… you’re not going to leave me are you? I don’t want to be on my own.” She raised a hand; the need for human contact, for a reassuring hug was overwhelming.
He tipped his head to one side, moved a half step closer. His hand brushed her arm and then her fingers were folded in his great, bear like paw. “Don’t worry Pauline. I’ll be here. I’m staying.”
The gentle tug was all that she needed to take her into the fold of his embrace and as the heat from his body soothed her aching muscles his presence soothed her aching soul. Her heart juddered, part delight and part sadness, for this wasn’t real. This closeness was fleeting, but it showed her what had never been hers and she grieved for the loss of what she hadn’t had and now never would have; a man, kind and careful of her, just another person to be with.
Chapter 39
They moved through the quiet rooms. Pete’s hand stretched behind him, silently holding her back. He had taken out the small gun and as he scanned the empty spaces Pauline had to bite back the urge to giggle. It was fear and nerves of course, but this was all so unreal it felt silly. Some strange play-acting reality divorced from the real world of Pauline Green. It was so much outside her world of gardens and shopping, of endless lonely walks and bitter mornings after nights of violence. This was a joke, surely just some outrageous comedy that had inadvertently drawn her in.
In time he had walked into every room downstairs. “Okay, seems fine down here. I’m going up so you stand in the hall and be ready to move.”
She cracked; it was all too much. She raised her voice to cry out, “Hello, anybody up there? Pete’s got a gun and he’s coming to get you!”
He hissed at her and spun on the step. “What the hell…”
“Oh come on. If there’d been anyone there they’d have come and shot us by now!” She pushed past him and stomped up the blue carpet. “Come out, come out!”
All he could do now was laugh. In truth he had to acknowledge that some of the performance had been for her benefit. The thought shamed him a little and he felt heat rise to his face. He ran up the stairs after her. It felt good to laugh but he had to make sure that she understood the danger.
“Okay, okay, very funny. But really, you have to listen to me. We have to be careful until this is sorted.”
For her part Pauline had surprised herself. Really it was so unlike her but she had taken all that she could of continual tension. If there had been gunmen, gangsters or whatever hiding in the bedrooms she would have been responsible for heaven knows what carnage but the whole ludicrous situation had pushed her to the edge and she had leapt over. It felt good. She felt free and actually a bit brave and carefree.