The rain eased to a steady drizzle. Forty minutes after they set off, they arrived at Silverhurst Drive, a curving road of neatly kept terraced houses. The address Jean-Claude had given them was at one end.
‘Right. You two sit tight and I’ll go and see whether anyone’s home.’ Kim got out of the car and strode purposefully up to the bright blue front door of number 94. She brought her shoulders down from under her ears, where they had unaccountably hunched themselves, and drew a deep breath. She pushed the doorbell and heard it shrill somewhere at the back of the house. Her heart was thudding as she ran through her opening words. She planned to introduce herself and say she understood the Lanes had recently ordered a spare parts clone. She would talk about how they had also sent for one but had changed their minds about using it. Hopefully, the conversation would sort itself out after that, she had no clear idea how to work round to asking them to give up Emma.
Adrenaline was pulsing through her body, so she was frustrated when the door didn’t open. She turned and shrugged eloquently at Joe who had wound down the car window and was watching her intently.
‘Try again,’ he mouthed.
She pushed the bell again and rapped her knuckles on the door for good measure. There was no response. Kim looked at her watch. Almost noon. Perhaps they had gone out for lunch? She walked back to the car, shaking the damp from her hair and got in.
‘They must be out. What do we do now?’
‘Let’s wait for a bit and see if they come back,’ said Joe. ‘This is so frustrating. I bet Emma is in there somewhere.’
‘She is,’ said a voice from the back seat. ‘She’s in that space there.’ Xavier pointed to a block of garages glimpsed behind the houses.
‘How do you know?’
‘I think perhaps you have forgotten I have a built-in receiver/transmitter. Emma has one also and we can connect.’
‘Is she okay? What does she say?’ Kim was remembering how cramped Xavier had been in his box and imagining Emma in hers.
’She is not vocalising at the moment, but I can hear her breathing. I think she is very uncomfortable.’
‘Well that settles it,’ said Joe. ‘We wait here until someone comes back to the house.’
Half an hour later, the windows had steamed up and Joe had finished the tube of extra strong mints he kept in the car for emergencies.
‘I don’t think there’s anything else to eat except chewing gum, and that is no replacement for lunch,’ he complained. ‘I vote we scout round the back and see if there’s a way to get into that garage.’
Add comment
Comments