Chapters (62)
Her head spun. ‘I’m a bit pissed,’ she said, by which she meant she was very pissed.
Still on the phone, Kev opened the mini-fridge and took out a bottle of water – ‘Drink this’ – and then he got down on his knees and calmly packed the bag. ‘We’ve got everything, let’s go.’
He picked up the holdall and opened the door, turned to see her standing in the middle of the room. ‘You okay?’
‘Yeah.’ Sasha blinked back tears – of fear and regret. ‘So near and yet so far.’
‘We’ll come back.’ He pulled her to him to kiss her gently. ‘Ian has unfinished business with you. Or Duncan does, I can’t remember which.’
45
Crashing through the wood, Abs had no idea where he was going. He couldn’t find his way out and started to panic that he was running around in circles. He called the girl’s name, in case she was lost too, but didn’t get any answer.
Finally, after what seemed like hours, he ran across the lawn towards the dark house. Jez’s car was still there, but there was no key in the ignition. The house was locked up and he considered using some garden furniture to smash his way inside.
Instead, he went to the converted stables and tried the patio door, and to his surprise and relief discovered that it slid open. He crept in, closing it behind him. He couldn’t see a thing inside, but from memory he knew that he was in the games room; there was a full-sized snooker table, a pinball machine that hadn’t worked for years, a drinks bar shaped like the prow of a ship. Abs dabbed his hands against the wall, but when he found the light switch nothing came on. Somewhere there was a phone, he vaguely remembered that.
There was a pitch-black space at the far end of the room, a door, and he rushed through it, keeping his arms out in front of him to avoid bumping into anything. In the dimness, he sensed he was standing in another rec room. A large dark rectangle hung on one wall, a big home cinema screen. The phone had to be around here somewhere, but Abs needed more light to locate it. He found another light switch and clicked it. The lights went on for a split second – and then off again. There were lots of appliances in this room – Sky boxes and DVD players and sound systems – and not a single one had a light on it that was working.
Which meant the power had been cut.
‘Stop being an arse,’ Abs called into the dark, sensing that he wasn’t alone.