20-2
340 Words
“I THINK SLEEPING BEAUTY’S woken,” Crash remarked when the scream reached him from upstairs. An amused grin lifted the corners of his mouth as he said, “I hope she’s comfortable up there.”
A squeak from the armchair diverted his attention for a second time, and looking around he was surprised to see Lewis getting to his feet. “Where’re you going?” he asked of his partner.
“To check on Alice,” Lewis told him, “and to take her some water and a sandwich.”
“What the hell are you doing that for?” Sitting up, Crash swung his legs round and got to his feet, so he could follow Lewis into the kitchen. As he passed the foot of the stairs, his eyes went to the door at its head, it was still closed, locked and bolted as far as he could see, not that he had expected it to be anything else.
“We can’t leave her without food and water, especially water.”
“Why not? She’s only here for a few days, there’s no reason for us to have anything to do with her. If you or any of us go into that room, we run the risk of her being able to identify us, and to escape, is that what you want?”
“Of course not,” Lewis said quickly, “but we can’t leave her without water, she’ll get sick.” As he spoke, he took a bottle of water from the fridge, as well as a plate of thickly cut Wiltshire ham and some strong cheddar cheese.
Crash wasn’t sure if his partner was telling the truth about Alice Keating getting sick if she was made to go without water. It seemed like a reasonable possibility, though – he knew how he felt when he went most of the day without anything to drink; just in case, he let Lewis carry on with what he was doing. He didn’t care, personally, what happened to the girl so long as he got his money, but he didn’t want Lewis to know that. “If you want to take a chance on her being able to identify you later, that’s your lookout, just don’t cause me any trouble.” With that he turned away and went back to the film he had been watching.
**
- Writer
