30th January 2019

  Charlie woke as the sun hit the stained gss. Noah still seemed to be well asleep and Charlie squirrelled herself around in the hammock, still fearful that at any moment she’d move in a way that dropped her onto the floor. Charlie watched the shadows from the trees flicker across the gss and reflected that she should have known that something was wrong the moment that Jess’d told her about that gig.

  Charlie had known for a long time that Jess’ ‘consulting’ varied wildly from things that were probably pretty kosher, through to things that were highly illegal. Even as rusty at hacking as she was, she’d had to very, very explicitly ignore some of the stuff that’d scrolled past on Jess’ screens. But that day six months ago Jess’d sat her down and said “I dunno know if I should take this ‘n.” She’d fidgeted with the hem of her dress the whole time she’d talked – all the while sharing nothing explicit or identifying. Then she’d instantly hopped up and paced around the ft while Charlie’d tried to formute a response. With little to no information, she’d encouraged Jess to go with her gut, which had seemed like a good pn.

  Then Jess hadn’t been paid.

  Then she still hadn’t been paid and she’d burned through her savings.

  Then they’d resorted to just Charlie’s income, and Jess’ constant promises that it was nearly done.

  Jess still wouldn’t, or couldn’t, share anything about what was going on, and several times she’d disappeared for several days without expnation. When Charlie asked, Jess said she was trying to sort out payment, but that there was more information that she needed to get. When Charlie asked why she was having to go away, Jess asked if she really wanted to know. Charlie, now, deeply regretted saying “No.”

  Pulling herself back to the present, she gnced over at Noah who was showing some signs of life, in the spreading sunlight. Noah’d been hinting for a while that maybe it was time to call things off with Jess. That she seemed to be ‘bad fucking news’, and had started leaving the local property rag lying around at work with more affordable fts circled. But Charlie’s guilt at keeping her own secrets from Jess, and the fact Jess’d never pushed again, had always tempered her frustration. Not so much anymore. But funny that, after all those hints about moving, Charlie was living with Noah. At least for the moment.

  Finally Noah stirred, and promised that while Charlie made the uncomfortable and chilly run to the barn for yet more eggs, she’d get the fire properly going. When Charlie dived back into the cabin, shivering, Noah informed her – No new messages from Michael.

  “D’you think they know about your van yet?”

  Noah pondered. “I don’t think so, but it’s not exactly fucking subtle. Why?”

  “Oh, well, this isn’t exactly nearby,” Charlie stated, holding the paper up and vaguely indicating the address. “It’s actually a good hour away. By car. Or, uh, van.” She smiled unevenly.

  Noah considered for a moment, “You think that van’s the only fucking thing here?” She seemed reticent when Charlie pushed for more details, eventually ending the conversation with “You’ll see.” As they prepared to leave, Noah grabbed a road ats, and commented that they should probably not take their phones. At least, not with the batteries in. Before whipping the battery out of her phone, she gnced at it for messages, then visibly rexed at the on-screen ptitude from her partner.

  Charlie gnced across as Noah waved the phone at her. ‘I’m so sorry hon. I just forgot!’ was all the message said. Charlie looked quizzically at Noah whose lips drew into a thin line.

  “You know that I’ve not always been, well, on the up and up? What with Jim and all.” She waited for Charlie’s nod. “Well, Michael can’t be involved in that shit. It’d fuck his job. Or at least make it hard. So we pnned some stuff to make sure it’s not a problem. He’ll let me know when it’s safe to come home if I send him an I’m ready to come home message.”

  At any rate, the short note seemed to have settled the previously noticeably anxious Noah, who, expnation seemingly complete, strode across the fields with Charlie having to almost sprint to keep up. Confusingly, she was heading to a different farm outbuilding, one which looked somewhat sturdier than the rest. She slipped the bolt on the door and Charlie slowly took in the scene. Around ten vehicles were sitting, mostly under dust sheets. Something decrepit sat in the corner on defted tyres, but the other uncovered cars were, it seemed, intact. As was the moderate-size collection of cssic motorbikes, several of which were substantially shinier than anything Noah had been seen on at the office.

  “I can’t get the van in here.” Noah waved at the arched entrance. “The big doors at the end are fucking rotten, and John doesn’t want to repce ‘em unless I pay for ‘em, but the little rollershutter is still working so we’re pying a fuckin’ round of chicken.”

  Charlie had still not exactly taken in the view. “Noah. You seem to have...a lot of cars,” she finally mumbled.

  “That, sweetie, is very fucking true. Although half of ‘em are Michael’s. Bikes are all my babies though.”

  Charlie finally turned to Noah. “You told me, a few months ago, that you wouldn’t buy a car because you - and I quote - ‘fucking hate them’. That you were a biker through and through.”

  Noah grinned at her, “No hon, I told you that I wouldn’t buy a new car, and I think I said ‘I liked my bikes too fucking much’. I don’t think you can deny that I’ve got a fucking good collection of bikes in here.”

  Charlie wandered over to the bikes and distractedly started fawning over them. “Hey! Is this…it is… it’s an HRD. An HRD Bck Shadow. You never told me you had a Vincent… Hang on, that’s an Excelsior too!”

  After a few more minutes of amusedly watching Charlie stroking bikes in a scivious manner, Noah interrupted, “Hey Charlie, bad guys breaking and entering, doing evil nefarious things, you remember?”

  Charlie looked up and gestured at the fleet surrounding her. “Which one are we taking?”

  Noah’s smile broadened. “I think today a bike might be handy.” She yanked the covers back off a Suzuki GT750 and her smile became almost maniacal. “Quick, dirty, and all kinds of fun!”

  “I know I’m being a bit of a killjoy, what with the mob’n all wanting me,” Charlie began, “But I don’t have any of my bike gear here. Actually, thanks to that office visit, I might not have any of my bike gear full stop.” She paused. “Fuck. Fucking Mess.”

  “Bollocks,” Noah commented dryly, throwing the dustsheet back over the bike. “‘S a fair fucking point though. And, to be fair, it’s fucking icy outside. Michael would probably prefer I take a car anyway.” She rolled her eyes theatrically. “Well, the rest of the fleet doesn’t really do discreet... they’re all cssics.” She circled the garage looking indecisive and finally muttered, “Sod it, let’s go with the rota.” Wandering over to the wall, she ughed again and then walked over to a well-rounded blob under a sheet. “No ughing,” she stated emphatically to Charlie as she pulled the sheet gently back.

  Charlie bit back her ughter. Revealed was a silverish Austin Allegro, complete with red and orange decals. “You’ve got to be kidding!” she cried. “We’re trying to follow spies, and we’re going to turn up in...” She stopped as she saw Noah staring stonily back at her. “Err, that fine uh…” she desperately tried to come up with a positive phrase, “icon of British engineering?” she finished, somewhat weakly.

  Noah continued to stare at her for several seconds before cracking up. “I’m sorry hon, it’s the next one on the list. I know it’s not exactly James bond. But honestly, you pull back any sheet in here and it’s a catalogue of failed cars. We love ‘em though. Just be gd it’s not Trabant day. And hey, it’s an Equipe… so y’know, it’s fucking sporty.”

  They cmbered in as the rollershutter cttered upwards, letting in the watery light. “They’re actually really fucking nice to drive,” Noah tried to expin as she pulled out into the yard, the sun glinting off the chrome mirrors. After some hesitation, Noah asked, “D’you think we should find a space a few streets away? It is pretty fucking distinctive.”

  Charlie thought back to the street view she’d seen. “I think we’ll be okay? It’s a massive carpark outside a big corporate building. And if it’s empty there’s a couple of streets around the pce where we can park.”

  The journey turned out to be an uneventful trek up the motorway, and they slid into the carpark of the complex matching the address of Christopher Alden. As soon as they arrived they realised that however much the Allegro had stood out on the motorway, it was utterly inappropriate to the area they found themselves in. Quickly they exited the carpark and tried to find somewhere less obvious to park but still with a view of the entrance.

  “Maybe we should rent something? Come back with something a bit less fucking obvious?” Noah muttered.

  “I just – they might be monitoring our bank accounts? I don’t really know how much power they have.”

  “I could ask Jim.” Noah said as she finally found a space. At least the streets outside were filled with more normal automotive fare between which the car just looked normally out of pce. The carpark for the building itself looked like a showroom and, during their brief tour of it, Charlie’d felt like they might as well have had fshing neon lights on the vehicle.

  Noah swivelled around to face Charlie. “So, your call. What do you want to do?” Charlie sat, considering. “Look, we’ve come this far, let’s give it an hour. They don’t know this car. They don’t know we’re here. And then we can try Jim and get something more…subtle tomorrow – if he can?”

  “Okay.”

  “Look,” Charlie sighed, “I don’t imagine we’ll see him in the hour, but it might give us a bit of an idea how busy this pce is?” Charlie curled herself up in the rapidly cooling car. “I guess this is where it gets staggeringly dull.”

  Noah yanked bnkets from the back seat and Charlie wrapped them around her legs. Eventually, Noah decred she was going to find coffee and would return shortly. The door clunked closed behind her and Charlie slid down in the seat, attempting to surreptitiously cover more of herself with the bnket. She willed Mr Alden to appear from his building. Every time the door opened and another well-dressed individual stepped from the doorway she’d almost leap from the seat.

  A chill hazy rain began, both dulling the car’s bright colours and misting up the windows. “Shit,” Charlie muttered as she intermittently wiped at the gss trying to see through the increasing haze. Finally, despite the wet and cold, she wound the window down and started peering out of the crack.

  Just as she was starting to wonder where Noah had got to, the door clicked open. “Okay, Let’s go home. Bloody wild goose chase.” she muttered and wound the window up. “Stick the heat–” As she turned, she stopped mid sentence. “Uh, er, hi?” she tried, facing the brown-haired man she’d been waiting for. In reality he was taller than she’d realised from the CCTV footage, but his thinning brown hair and cool brown eyes were instantly recognisable.

  “Hello.”

  She wondered how he’d managed to make ‘Hello’ so disturbing.

  “You could do with something less,” he paused for a moment, “conspicuous,” he concluded, waving his hand at the cornucopia of brown pstic surrounding them. “However, I’ve never been one to be picky about my choice of vehicle.”

  Charlie stared for several seconds and then, without her brain seemingly being involved, she demanded, “How the hell did you get here? I’ve been watching that bloody building.”

  A thin, predatory smile appeared on the man’s lips. “Yes, you have, haven’t you? But I wasn’t in there. Do you really think we’re that stupid?”

  Since the only response was ‘apparently, I did’, and clearly they weren’t, she reigned in her mouth and instead cast about hoping for escape. In doing so, she noticed that her new companion had not arrived alone. “Just a short drive,” he stated, turning the key.

  The car rumbled into life and Charlie internally cursed Noah’s maintenance. She debated throwing open the door and making a run for it, but the quick gnce she’d got of the people standing by the car made it pretty clear she wouldn’t get far. Instead, she flicked the heater up to max. Cold air blew in. Cursing, she turned and queried, “What about my friend?”

  “She’s not of interest, for now at least.”

  As they pulled out from the carpark she saw a small squad of police vans blocking the ends of the street, and police turning people away. Charlie noted that he drove steadily, almost cautiously. Nothing like Noah and Charlie’s frenetic pace.

  “So, Charlie,” he rolled the name around, making it clear that he didn’t trust it, or her. “Charlotte Jones – You’re a bit of an enigma aren’t you. I’m not overly fond.”

  Charlie risked another gnce at him. His face was impassive. If anything, he seemed almost bored.

  “I am impressed though. It’s not like I actually live there. But we do like to keep an eye on the pce.” He tapped one finger lightly against the steering wheel. “Funny, for our many differences, it seems we do share a characteristic. Christopher Alden is not my real name, just as Charlotte Jones is not yours.” Charlie bit back an urge to defend herself. “I suppose you’re wondering what our interest is in your, hmm, paramour, Jessica Mitchell.” At this, he briefly turned to her, his cold brown eyes drilling into her.

  “If you’re trying to get me to bite, you won’t. I just want to know where my stuff went. And I’d like to see Jess again, too. And just to be clear, Charlotte is my name.”

  She waited, hoping to have hit the right notes. Noah’s York notes on in person social engineering had been abbreviated, and Charlie’s grasp of them vastly less finessed than Noah’s.

  “Don’t bother lying to me. I am fully aware of the extent of your curiosity in me and, by extension, your curiosity about the organisation. We’re not easy to find, yet there you were sitting outside one of our buildings.” He paused, contemptive for a moment. “Indeed,” he continued, “If you’d’ve rented a car rather than using this vehicle.” He gestured with a spectacur degree of disdain. “Then it might have taken us a little longer to piece together your involvement.”

  Charlie took a quiet breath and aimed for an almost bored tone to match his. “Okay, I get it. You’re bigger, stronger, cleverer, faster. You’ve made that very clear. Why exactly are you circling the city with me, then?”

  “I don’t want to share this discussion with anyone else, depending on what comes out of it. And obviously, a terrible accident with you driving a notoriously unreliable old sporty car, well, that could happen to anyone.” Charlie thought he could have been reading out a shopping list as he described her possible death.

  The tennis ball appeared to be back in Charlie’s throat and she surreptitiously swallowed several times to attempt to clear it. “Well, shall we get on with the conversation then. I wouldn’t want my death to inconvenience you too much.” She tried to subtly gnce across at him again. His face tightened a little and, as they pulled up at some traffic lights, he turned to her.

  “It really wouldn’t. But it’s unnecessary paperwork, and I’m aware you have your own reasons for not wanting to out yourself too much. So you inform me of Jessica Mitchell’s whereabouts, where the information she stole is, and I let you go back to your parochial little life.” He turned back as the lights went green .Charlie listened to the industrial sound of the engine pulling hard as they took the on-ramp to the motorway.

  She debated her options and realised that nothing she knew was actually incriminating, or would help them locate Jess. “I dunno much about her work. She’s a consultant, but I dunno who for. She’s never said. Things I do know are: she's great in bed, and she’s sweet and thoughtful.”

  Christopher shot her a warning look. “Keep to the topic at hand, Charlotte.”

  “Uh, I met her in a café years ago. My ft burned down and I was looking for somewhere to live.” Gradually, as the silhouetted countryside fshed past, she sketched a history of their retionship, trying to tread the line between honesty and sharing how much she cared for Jess. No need to give them any more leverage.

  When she finished, he sat in silence for several minutes before bluntly stating, “Let us return to the contracting job. When, exactly, did it begin, and who was it for?” He spoke slowly and clearly, as if to a child.

  Charlie sighed. “I told you, I don’t know. And I don’t know who for. I never paid that much attention and she never shared it with me.” She gripped the edge of the seat as he suddenly veered right, the tyres squealing unpleasantly as he slid the car to a halt on the hard shoulder.

  He flicked off the lights and the engine and sat in silence for a moment. From the corner of her eye Charlie saw a flicker of movement, then found herself reeling from her head being smmed against the side window with enormous force. Her scream was cut short by being dragged towards him. The sudden appearance of a knife at her throat sealed the deal on silence.

  “Take this as your one warning, Ms Jones.” If she’d thought his voice was cold before, now it was utterly frigid. She felt Martin caressing her neck with the bde before slipping the knife away and shoving her upright. Just as quickly he stepped out of the car. His outline intermittently silhouetted by passing traffic he turned back and quietly stated, “I presume you understand that you’re not discussing what happened today with anyone. And I don’t expect to see you again.”

  She tracked him as he slipped past the car and walked off into the bckness beyond the motorway. Charlie sat, staring at the space where he’d disappeared from view. “Fuck,” she finally uttered, cold air ripping her back to her current plight. She lent across and pulled the door to then found and flicked on the hazard lights before fishing around in the glovebox to locate her battery-free phone. Reassembling it, she waited while it came on and chirruped through a succession of messages and missed calls, including a couple from Noah, who was aware that the car, and Charlie were missing.

  Firing back a quick message expining that she was on her way back, and would expin her absence ter, she slid across to the driver’s seat.

  Back a the now closed café, she rang Noah, who sounded both aggrieved and wary. “What the fuck happened? No, scratch that. Fucking come and get me, then tell me.” She directed Charlie to a nearby pub where she was holed up. Charlie parked up and scurried in.

  As she reached the table Noah said, “Look, hon, sorry about the call. I was just fucking worried. There was that police thing, with the street closed, and I finally get in there, and you’re gone. With the car.”

  Charlie gnced around the room and said decisively, “I’m pretty hungry, shall we go and get something to eat?” She led Noah out of the pub and back to the car. “Burger or fish’n’chips?” Noah looked at her in disbelief.

  “You were serious about the food?” she finally managed.

  “Yeah, I’m serious. Burger or fish’n’chips? Or, ooh, I’ve not had one forever. How about a kebab?” Charlie started to walk towards the car and threw back, “We can decide on the way, but, err, I don’t want to talk about anything non-food yet.”

  She flicked back a significant gnce to Noah, who nodded and followed slowly, examining the car as she wandered around to the driver’s side. Charlie tossed the keys across and procimed, “I didn’t scratch it mum! And no parking tickets neither. Surveilnce equipment, that I can’t promise,” before slotting herself into the passenger seat. “You’re right, y’know. It’s not actually a bad car. Bit noisy, but ‘s alright.” Noah smiled and slid out into traffic. “There’s a good kebab pce up on the triangle,” she mumbled. The silence between them spread leaving them isoted miles apart. When they ran into yet another queue and the silence became too oppressive, Noah flicked on the radio.

  The comforting bther of a radio py enveloped them, saving Charlie from coming up with small talk. Charlie flicked the sun visor down and watched intently in the mirror trying to evaluate each car behind for the possibility that it was following them. After they pulled into a nearby square, Charlie signalled Noah and they wandered off and down to the basement of a house in darkness.

  “He got in the car, threatened to kill me if I talk to anyone, drove up the motorway asking a bunch of questions, gave me a head injury, and then just abandoned me’n the car when he was done. Didn’t ask about you though. Honestly, he seemed to know everything I know already.” She turned and walked back up the stairs and down towards the takeaway.

  “Wait!” Noah called, but Charlie shook her head, pacing away. After a moment’s hesitation, Noah followed, and caught up with her. “That’s it? You’re gone nearly 2 fucking hours, and that’s all you’re going to say?”

  Charlie came to a sudden standstill and turned to face her. “Noah, they know about me. My life. Or they suspect something. They are powerful enough to kill me, I’m sure, and for it to not matter. It’s just paperwork to them. He knows about you. About your little fleet of cars and bikes and whatever. They know what I did to get the information about him.” She almost spat out the st word. “They closed that street to make sure that you couldn’t get near me. All that street theatre – that was for your benefit. How long did it take you to work out I’d gone? They have that much power and they flexed a tiny bit just to remind me how fucking powerless I am. And at the end of it, at the end of it all – you know what I learned? That Christopher Alden isn’t his real name and he doesn’t live there. So we have nothing on anyone.” Tears leaked from the corners of her eyes and she angrily swiped at them with her sleeve. “Even if it wouldn’t get me killed, I don’t have any way to find Jess. All I can do is go back to work tomorrow and try and find somewhere to live. And try and forget the whole fucking thing.”

  They stood in silence. Finally, Noah stepped forward and offered an arm. Charlie first swatted it away, then grabbed it back and clung to Noah in a tight hug. “You can stay with Michael and me,” Noah quietly offered, “or in the cabin, if you like, ‘til you sort out a pce.” Charlie sniffed and mumbled into her friend’s arms. Noah shushed her and said, “‘s okay. I know you’re sorry. C’mon, let’s get you fed.”

  They separated and started walking down the hill. “I think I want a fucking doner kebab, with chilli sauce all over it. I’ve not had one since I was a student and they’re the best thing for weeping into.” Charlie’s sideways smile fshed briefly and unevenly, before her phone chirruped and she set about a fumbling search for it.

  “Fskingthing,” she muttered, finally pulling it out. “Oh uh, fuck.” She stopped dead in the middle of the crossing.

  Noah quickly dragged her out of the road just as drivers began to voice their frustration. “What?” was all Noah could get out before Charlie showed her the phone.

  here the number should be listed it was just zeros and the message was simple: Sorry they came for you. Now we both need help. Noah stared at it, confused. “Charlie, how come it’s not listing the number?”

  Charlie looked frantically around her. “Fuck, what if they have the phone tapped. Oh fuckit, of course they do, so now they think I know where she is, or they know she’s in contact with me. Oh shit, they’re going to come scoop me up.” She degenerated into incoherency while Noah gently walked her back to the car and stuffed her into the passenger seat.

  “Home,” she said firmly, and smmed the door, slipping in to the other side and rapidly hurling the car into gear. The journey home was quick, aided by te evening roads and Noah’s leaden right foot. She’d forewarned Michael that their somewhat broken friend would be staying the night and Charlie barely registered the look of concern at her near comatose state. Michael took over the directing and moved Charlie through the house, sitting her down on the sofa, where she slowly curled into a ball.

  “Hey lover! Miss me?” he smiled as Noah quickly fuzzled his blue hair before throwing her arms around him. Charlie always thought they looked so cute, with Noah towering over her boyfriend. Today, though, she felt empty.

  “Of course. Always.”

  “So, can you tell me anything?” he asked quietly.

  “Not much. She needs to decide how much of this she can share.” Noah sounded exhausted and paused. Charlie eventually looked up at Noah, having finally registered that there was some kind of response required. “Charlie? Let’s get you to bed and we’ll talk about things tomorrow.”

  With some coaxing from both Noah and Michael she managed to make her way up the stairs. Noah finally got her into bed where she y staring at her phone. Finally, Noah took the mobile and, as gently as she could muster, told Charlie to, “Sleep.”

  Charlie heard Noah’s soft steps as she went back downstairs. Although it felt wrong to listen, Charlie could hear the discussion through the floorboards. Charlie tried to concentrate on breathing, and maybe sleeping, but found herself drawn in by the clink of gsses and the comforting sounds of her friend’s easy comfort with her partner.

  “Hey, it’s wonderful to see you too, lover, but can you at least tell me if we’re somewhat safe?”

  “I really can’t tell you more until I know what the fuck Charlie wants to do.” Noah’s voice carried clearly. She sounded frustrated. Charlie dug her fingernails into her palms and curled tighter into a ball.

  “You think we’re in danger?” Michael’s quiet, thoughtful voice had always been one of her favourite things about Michael. She enjoyed the faint traces of his Korean accent – almost entirely faded – but when he was rexed with Noah, they came out. Well, she liked that and that he and Noah had made space in their lives for Charlie, despite Charlie’s reticence about sharing her past.

  “I think we could be. Possibly we already are. I didn’t really fucking believe it’d be as big as this. I thought maybe it was someone just wanting to fucking scare her. Someone I could set,” Noah paused. Charlie wondered if she was, like her, thinking about possible bugs in her home. Fuck. What had she brought into her friends’ lives? Noah finally continued, breaking through Charlie’s spiralling thoughts. “Uh, my friend on. But honestly, I didn’t think that we’d really fucking well find him. Well. He found us. Not that it matters, if what Charlie said is true.”

  “Well, shit. My mum’d say ‘Jejeongsin-iya, Noah’. I mean, she says that anyway, but she’d mean it more than normal,” Michael ughed. “Bed?”

  “Bed.” Charlie heard some cttering followed by irregur steps up the stairs. “‘s been whole days, don’t you know,” Charlie could hear her delighted grin and Michael’s faked struggle as she dragged him into the bedroom, “And if they’re going to go fucking up our lives, we might as well get some good fucking in ourselves.”

  Charlie slid under the covers and quietly cried to herself.

  –

  Charlie awoke early, moonlight streaming into the room. She picked up her phone, thumbing it awake, and stared at what she assumed was Jess’ message. Jess had left her. She’d lied to her – either by omission or by actually deliberately lying – and left her. And fucking taken everything. And left her – to take the fall? Or had she? Hauling herself out of bed, she padded over to the window and gazed at the misty street below. After the fight, Charlie said she’d be leaving for a week. And if her bike hadn’t died she’d’ve been riding over the Yorkshire moors like a fucking racer, getting her anger out, when the raid happened. Was getting her angry enough to leave some fucked up attempt at a fucking pn on Jess’ part? But, at the end of the day, she’d lied to her and kept working on something so dangerous and illegal that now all their lives were at stake.

  Charlie bit back a wail. Fucking Jess. Deep breaths, Charlie. Deep breaths.

  Of course, she’s not the only one who lied, Charlie’s treacherous brain supplied.

  You lied. You put a lie in the foundation of your retionship. Cemented it there. You’re the one who made a lie a core part of your retionship.

  Jess knew the lie was there, of that Charlie was certain. But she’d left it untouched after Charlie’d denied the truth seven years ago. Jess had gifted Charlie an unstated faith that whatever Charlie was keeping from her, she had a valid reason for doing so. Jess’d given Charlie her trust. At least, more trust than Charlie had returned. She slumped down onto the floor, tears silently falling. Eventually the tears ran out and, feeling hollow, Charlie levered herself back upright. Staring bleakly out into the mist, she watched as someone stumbled home, looking decidedly the worse for wear. Smming indelicately into a car, startled by the arm, and then meandering to the other side of the pavement almost into someone’s garden.

  They didn’t look like a candidate for surveilling her, but how would she tell? How would Charlie know whether she was being watched? These people clearly had the money, knowledge and contacts to not only watch her in ways she probably wouldn’t even notice, but also probably to make her disappear. And that left her with the question: should she help Jess? Could she help Jess?

  After a personal eternity she slipped back under the covers and fell into a fitful sleep.

  Late in the morning Charlie padded downstairs to find Noah and Michael chatting over breakfast. “Tea’s up!” Noah handed a grateful Charlie a steaming mug. Unable to meet Noah’s eyes, Charlie dropped herself onto a chair before sipping slowly at the drink.

  Finally, Charlie steeled herself to look over at Michael. His face somehow telegraphed both his interest, but also an awareness that she might not be ready yet. “‘re you sure you want to know? It might be safer not to.”

  He sat contempting for a few moments before he turned and nodded. “Yeah,” he started slowly, “I think I better had.” he tailed off. “Just in case, y’know,” he finally finished. Noah dipped her head in agreement. Charlie set to expining the situation from Jess’ ‘contract’ to her disappearance, and sketching out everything that had happened until she’d got back to Noah yesterday.

  “You’re all really in it, aren’t you?”

  “Oh, ah, I forgot one little thing,” Charlie said, rooting in her borrowed dressing gown pockets and pulling out her mobile. She flicked to Jess’ message and handed it across to Michael.

  Michael looked at it and sighed, “Oh Jesus, Charlie.”

  Charlie smiled unevenly. “I agreed she should take this job, even when she hinted it was trouble.” She stared fixedly at the light reflecting on her mug for a few moments before continuing. “I knew that it must be pretty risky if she was asking me, but she thought it was worth it, so I said yes.” The pool of silence spread from Charlie, engulfing all three of them in its chill before she finally caught Noah’s eye and stated emphatically, “Anyhow. I’ve got to go get some furniture, and then I should be back at work this afternoon.”

  “Err, Charlie? What the fuck?” Noah stared at her friend, her eyebrows arched. Charlie merely nodded back and sucked down the remainder of her tea before hastily slipping from the kitchen, leaving Noah and Michael staring at the space she had previously occupied.

  “She’s going to do something atrociously unwise, isn’t she?'' Michael sighed.

  “Oh yeah, of course she fucking is,” Noah wrapped her fingers around her cup. “I expect I am too,” she eventually muttered.

  –

  That afternoon, Noah watched as Charlie wandered into their office-cum-workshop and joined in the immense tidying job that Noah had started. The old sofa, well beyond redemption, was dragged outside. And paperwork stacked and sorted ready for filing. The radio pyed in the background and the periodic sputtering of the coffee maker filled the air as they attempted to return to normality.

  Various bikers flitted in and out during the day, the majority of them looking in horror at the epic cleaning task that Noah and Charlie appeared to have undertaken and leaving very rapidly before they could be asked to ‘help’.As the street lights flickered on a van rolled up to deliver a battered Chesterfield and a couple of very ratty armchairs.

  “I saw ‘em while I was getting a bed for the ft.” Charlie grinned cheerfully. “Thought they were better’n that old thing that’s outside, ‘n probably hardier.”

  Noah tried a few times to broach the subject of Jess, but Charlie slithered out of the conversations, occasionally subtly, but more often in the manner of a brick being dropped on a foot. After a few more hours they separated, Charlie decring she was looking forward to an evening in her new bed and quickly walking away from Noah. She turned around briefly and said, “I’m not doing anything stupid yet, promise,” then slipped off down into an alley.

  The next few days passed quietly. Courier work kept them both busy, and Charlie was back out on the road ‘for the sake of her sanity’, disappearing on her ratty GT-550, the bike seemingly having fixed itself after a stint of sitting. The fourth day, Noah arrived slightly te and found Charlie swearing, and her beloved bike in pieces.

  Noah grabbed the tools and steered Charlie to the sofa.“What are you doing to that poor bike?” Noah demanded.

  “She tried to turn into a fireball. On the motorway. I’ll put her back together!”

  Noah, visibly taking some slow breaths before she finally looked at the mass of disassembled bits that had, until recently, constituted Charlie’s bike, sighed heavily. “I’ll grant you can build a PC…but fixing a fucking toaster is beyond your technical skills. Why…” she paused again, taking several more deep breaths. “Why have you hurt that poor motorcycle?”

  Charlie stood and picked up a manual from the floor, oil smudges gracing its less than pristine pages. “Because the wiring runs through there.” Charlie waved vaguely at the bike. “And so I had to remove this bit, err, bits.” She gestured at the pile of parts on the floor. “To get to the loom, err, here.” Charlie finally pointed at the smoke-bckened loom where it’d rubbed through and shorted out against the frame.

  Noah twitched slightly, sighing long and slow again before she finally looked at Charlie, “I could’ve done that… without... taking... quite so much fucking stuff off.”

  “Anyhow, I’ve ordered a new loom. It’ll be here next week. Uh, till then I’m going to take a few days off. Rex, y’know. I think I need it.” Charlie picked up a box from the corner of the office and started putting bits of her bike in it.

  “Please tell me that you belled those as they came off or know where they fucking well came from?”

  The despair in Noah’s voice was palpable, as the tinkling of a pile of differently sized nuts and bolts fell into the box.

  “Uhm, no. It all got a bit...out of hand.”

  “Take a few days off. No, take a week off. Please. I’ll sort it,” she stated, staring fixedly at the pile of bits.

  Charlie smiled and fell back on the Chesterfield which had already started to develop an oil-stained sheen.

  “I know that you’re going to do something silly,” Noah muttered, “I don’t know what it is, yet, but I have a suspicion that this was part of it,” she continued, waving her hand at the messy remains of a bike. “But really, sabotaging your own bike? That’s fucking certifiable.”

  Charlie gnced at the heaped remains of her GT-550 and ughed. “You think I’d trash my bike? Really?” She scrabbled up and leapt over the arm of the sofa before crooning softly to her motorcycle, “Don’t listen to the nasty woman. I’d never hurt you, baby.”

  Noah visibly lost some tension and wandered toward the counter, yanking a bag of coffee beans out from her bag and muttering darkly about the ineptitude of other people and their ck of mechanical skills. Conversation was rapidly cut off by the cacophony of grinding beans. Through the medium of mime and pointing, Charlie indicated that she was off and disappeared out the door, pausing to throw her keys across to Noah.