‘And what did you think?’ she asked him.
‘Not my thing really, Playboy. No puzzle page,’ he said with a smirk.
*
First the transit van, then the room service call and the photographer. He was starting to panic about this assignment. If he’d had any sort of choice, he wouldn’t be here right now. Right from the outset, when he’d been given his instructions, he hadn’t been sure whether there would be a good outcome for anyone involved. That thought troubled him more with every passing minute. The truth was, he wasn’t really sure of anything anymore, not with this job, or any other.
Eight
She didn’t know where they were going, and at the moment, she didn’t really care. She knew it wasn’t back to her apartment or anywhere remotely familiar to her, and that wherever they were headed, she knew she would be with him. She was actually starting to wonder about his suitability for the role of her bodyguard, if that’s what he was supposed to be. Pouncing on a photographer, pulling his gun out at every opportunity, he didn’t do things with any degree of consideration for the consequences. He obviously had no idea about discretion.
Nathan pulled the car off the main road and drove up a rough-looking track for a short distance before taking to the grass. The ruts in the ground bounced Autumn around, and she steadied herself by holding onto the plastic rail above the passenger window.
‘Where are we going?’ she asked as her purse fell off her knee and into the footwell.
‘Here,’ he responded.
He turned around a small copse of fir trees, and there, almost hidden from view, was a landing strip, on which sat a light aircraft.
‘What? I can’t leave the UK yet. I have appearances to make, interviews before the music award preparations.’
‘You’re getting really boring.’ He parked the car and turned off the engine.
‘I don’t have my passport. There! We can’t go because I don’t have my passport and they don’t let you in anywhere without a valid passport.’
She opened and closed her purse clasp again as she spoke to him.
One… two… three… four… five.
He let out a laugh and clapped his hands together as if giving her a round of applause. Her cheeks flamed and she couldn’t meet his eye. Why did he always make her feel so stupid?
‘No passport control where we’re going. Come on, grab the fucking stupid purse and let’s go before any more photographers jump out at you,’ he said, opening the car door.
Autumn watched him as he approached a man who stood by the plane. The man was in his forties and was dressed in jeans and an inconspicuous gray shirt. It seemed no one knew about fashion in this world she had been pushed into. She took one last look at her appearance in the vanity mirror then got out of the car.
‘… and you’re sure I can trust them,’ she heard Nathan say as she approached.
‘Yes, two hundred per cent, mate. On my life,’ the man said, looking to Autumn.
He looked older close up, had a mottled complexion and a smile that showed up tarnished teeth. Her personal dentist would have had a field day with him.
‘On your kid’s life?’ Nathan asked, staring at him with a deadpan expression.
‘Not such a kid now. He’s twenty. Just joined up,’ the man told him.
‘Swear it on his life, Matthews,’ Nathan demanded, his eyes trained on his companion’s face.
‘I swear it. I said I swore it, didn’t I? You can trust them and you can trust me. You’ve always been able to trust me! Hello,’ the man said, smiling at Autumn.
‘Hello,’ Autumn answered as she noticed the true extent of his awful clothes.
‘I’m Gerry Matthews, a friend of… What you calling yourself this time?’ he asked as he held his hand out to Autumn.
‘Regan.’
Autumn looked at the offering and contemplated a little too long about what to do with it.
‘Shake his hand, Autumn. Don’t be fucking rude,’ Nathan told her.
Gerry clasped her fingers with his large paw and pumped it up and down until her purse fell off her shoulder and hung from her elbow.
‘She’s got OCD about germs and everything. Hope you haven’t been scratching your arse.’ Nathan smirked at his friend.
Autumn snatched her hand back and started to wipe it up and down on her Audrey Dupont skirt. It was soiled already anyway by twenty-four hours of moving and sleeping in it.
‘Well, everything’s in there you asked for, and you’ve got one brief stop to refuel,’ Gerry told him.
‘Cheers,’ Nathan replied.
‘So, do you know where we’re going?’ Autumn questioned the man.
‘Not the exact location, no. I believe that’s on a need-to-know basis, and the less I know about all this, the better,’ Gerry said with a throaty laugh.
‘Get in the plane,’ Nathan ordered her.
‘I do hope they have waitress service,’ Autumn remarked, looking at the tiny jet.
‘Yeah, of course. We’ve also got a full fucking orchestra to play us something by Beethoven,’ Nathan replied.
‘Why do you have to be like that?’
‘Why d’you have to be like that?’
‘Right, I’m getting out of here. My job’s done,’ Gerry said as he backed away from them. ‘I’ll take care of the car later. Tie up all the loose ends.’
‘Thanks Gerry. I owe you,’ Nathan called.
‘No, not yet, you don’t. Listen, you need me, just call me, any time.’ Gerry waved a hand.
*
She had maybe a minute before Nathan got on board the plane. She had to find a phone. This Gerry had indicated there was ‘stuff’ on the plane. ‘Stuff’ could mean essentials like a phone or a laptop, maybe. Anything to communicate with the outside world would be good. One little message to Janey and she would feel better. She didn’t have to exactly tell her what was going on, she could just make contact.
She saw half a dozen large duffle bags at the
