Turmoil

‘Are they all okay?’ Joe was flicking through the menu from The Golden Wok.

‘Emma and Delphine are upstairs, looking a bit frazzled, to be honest.’

‘Oh?’ said Joe, checking the prices of the set meals on the back of the take away flyer.

‘What does this mean - frazzled?’ said Xavier.

Kim explained the young women were upset about the visit from the men who had come looking for clones earlier.

‘Our neighbour said we were all out and that seemed to satisfy them. Apparently they left almost immediately.’

‘If Emma and Delphine are upstairs, where are the others?’ said Joe. ‘How many am I ordering for now?’

Kim shrugged. Her mind was in a turmoil. She had never lied to Joe, but she was mindful of Emma’s warning.

‘They’re not upstairs, so they could be anywhere, I suppose.’

Xavier’s brows came together in a frown. ‘Not upstairs, clearly not down here and we can see the garden is empty.’

‘Perhaps they went out for a walk?’ Joe was marking things off on the list and not giving the conversation his complete attention.

‘Why would they do that? They had no reason to leave the house and I expressly asked them not to communicate with anyone,’ Xavier said. ‘As far as I know they did not, or I would have picked it up on our comms system.’

‘I’m sure they’ll be back before long,’ said Kim.

‘Am I ordering this food for everyone then, or just us five?’ Joe’s hunger was making him tetchy and Kim hastened to make a decision.

‘Order for all of us - we can always reheat theirs when they turn up. Get that one,’ she said, pointing to a set meal offer. ‘We like everything on that list. But maybe double up on the rice and noodles?’ She reached for the phone and, realising they still had Jean-Claude’s mobile, handed it to Joe. ‘You’ll have to key in the number, it’s not our phone. I’ll lay the table, the delivery from there is always really quick.’

As she bustled about collecting cutlery and plates, she was very aware that Xavier was standing silently, his face impassive. Was he reporting to Euron? Or tracking the others? She had no way of knowing.