open back door.
‘All right,’ he pulled over, ‘here you go. I’ll walk you up.’
‘Er, no,’ she grabbed her bag from the floor, opened the door, ‘I’m only on the first floor. There’s no need.’ She jumped out. She wasn’t a snob but she was embarrassed about where she lived, the back alleyway always full of stinky, old potato peelings and her cramped, damp flat smelling of fast food. She ducked her head back into the car, quivering as chilly rain dripped down inside her collar. ‘Thanks so much, Zack, for the lift I mean. I really appreciate it. I’d invite you up but it really is getting late and I need to take a hot bath. My ribs are pretty uncomfortable.’
He relaxed back in his seat, tapped a hand idly on the steering wheel. ‘Whatever you need,’ he smiled gently. ‘As long as you’re not running away because you’re traumatised by riding in my car.’
‘Oh well, there is that as well,’ she countered, ‘but at least it was clean.’
‘I do my best,’ he said. ‘Okay, well take care and have a nice evening.’
‘Will do. See you at work tomorrow.’
‘See you in the staff room,’ he gave a friendly wave.
Slamming the door with a thud due to his earlier comments, she crossed around the back of the car, staring up at the shop sign Starr’s Kebabs. Huh, there are no stars here, she thought. Zack’s engine started behind her and she swung around to watch him pull away. As he went to drive off, a sudden thought occurred to her. She ran over to the car and knocked on the window.
Zack wound it down. ‘What’s up?’
‘Random question.’
He looked amused, ‘Fire away.’
‘If something happened and I needed to drive your car, or if I wanted to, what would you say?’
‘I can’t imagine for a minute why you’d want to drive this crap heap,’ he replied, ‘but if you needed to drive it, and were insured, it wouldn’t be a big deal. Why?’
‘Nothing. That’s what I thought. Night.’ Frankie stepped back from the car, tucking her hands in her pockets. It really was bitter tonight.
‘Right. Not sure about weird question,’ he quipped, starting to roll up his window, ‘more like weird girl! See you in the morning.’
‘See you,’ she whispered, watching his rear lights as he pulled away.
***
‘Here you go, found it! It was buried in a colleague’s in-tray in the office.’ The McLaren salesman’s voice sounded next to Frankie’s ear through the car’s open window.
She let out a little yelp, hand flying to her chest.
‘Apologies,’ he tacked on, helping her open the car door, ‘I didn’t mean to startle you.’
‘No, it’s okay,’ she waited for the door to finish swooping up over her head and slid out sideways, a lot harder than it looked, as the car was so close to the ground. He offered her a helping hand and she accepted it gratefully, feeling like he was hoisting her up from a horizontal position. ‘It was my fault,’ she excused him, ‘I wasn’t paying attention.’
‘You did look quite deep in thought,’ he agreed, handing her an A4 manila envelope, which looked suspiciously bumpy.
‘Thank you,’ she ran her fingers over the envelope, wondering what was in it.
‘No problem. Sorry for the delay.’ He closed the car door smoothly and walked her over to shop front. He paused, manicured fingers wrapped around the door handle. ‘You know, he was lucky. We're not open all the time, some days we only do private appointments.’
Intrigue fizzled in her belly, ‘He? What did he look like?'
The man smiled politely, 'I don’t think that's for me to say, but to be honest I don't think the young man who delivered the envelope is necessarily the one who arranged whatever this is, for you.’
‘Why do you say that?'
‘Well, by my estimation he looked about twelve.’
‘Oh.' Now she was really confused. Christian didn’t have any relatives or know anyone that age and neither did anyone else she knew. Was this all a part of some elaborate schoolboy prank then? Was she going to come out looking like a prize idiot? But what schoolboys wrote poems / clues like that? There was only one way to find out.
‘Do you mind if I open this in here?’ she asked the salesman, ‘I probably need to go on somewhere else after this and it’s quite dark outside, even with the street lights.’ She checked out the window. It also looked freezing cold out there from the way people were rushing past, huddled in their coats and scarves, heads bowed against the wind.
‘I can give you five minutes while I start locking up.’
‘Thank you,’ she said gratefully, ripping into the envelope as he walked away.
The bumps she’d felt turned out to be a handful of mini Bounty bars, her favourite chocolates. Smiling, she unwrapped one and stuck it in her mouth, savouring the rich milk chocolate alongside the crisp nuttiness of the coconut centre. She doubted anyone would go to all this trouble to poison her, and there were no signs of any serial killers so far.
This note was similar to the first.
You’ve found the next clue, you know what to do,
You don’t have to go far, you won’t need a car.
Footsteps only to this destination,
Opposite main Knightsbridge station.
Their range is extensive, but very expensive.
A flagship store; beauty, designer and more.
? x
P.s Hope the chocolates makes you smile.
P.p.s. Ask for Millie on the second floor.
Frankie hit the redial button on her phone, peering out along the road as the double tone rang in her ear. The clue was vague in one way - everything around here was pretty expensive, she was in Knightsbridge for heaven’s sake - but she was pretty sure from the reference to flagship store where she was going next. One side of her tingled with anticipation at the thought. It was where she’d used to shop all the time, when she was with Christian. But, oh god, the other side of her thought, did that mean it was definitely him?
‘Hi, it’s me.’ She said as Kate finally answered the phone.
‘Hi, Hun.’ Her friend sounded breathless. ‘Sorry, I was out back with the dogs. How’s it going?’
‘Good, I think. I made it to the first place, a McLaren dealership and they had an envelope for me. Apparently it was delivered by some twelve year old kid, which is a bit strange.’
‘That is odd. So what was in the envelope?’
‘Another clue, and some mini Bounty bars.’
‘Ooh. Nice.’
‘Christian knows my favourite chocolates,’ Frankie said flatly.
‘Yes, but anyone who works with you knows that too. I bet you still eat them all the time. It’s like your thing. It’s a wonder you’re not three foot wide.’
‘Thanks. Helpful.’
‘So, do you think it is Christian?’
‘I thought it was unlikely but I am starting to wonder. I think I’m off to Harvey Nichols now, which is totally his style. And I can’t imagine Davey or Zack being able to afford anything in there, so by a process of elimination…I don’t know how