Love Lies Dying (23 page)

He touched the bandage, “What’s this?”

She glanced over her shoulder at the bandage and then met his eyes.

“Nothing,” she replied. “I noticed it after you found me behind the sofa. I guess I must have cut myself when I was panicking about Ricky.”

“Is it serious?” he asked. “Are you going to be okay?”

“Yeah,” she looked back into the fire. “I’ll live. It’s nothing really.”

“I didn’t see any blood at the time, on you or on the floor or anything.”

“As I said, it’s not too deep. Just a scratch really.”

“I only want your wellbeing,” he whispered in her ear. “I want to make sure you’re okay and can get on with your life after this whole thing blows over.”

She turned to face him, “Are you sure?”

“I’m positive.”

“And that’s it?”

John smiled, “That’s it.”

She smirked, “You mean I can’t even tempt you?” She reached out, exposing her breasts to him. “You don’t even want to try me?”

You have
no
idea,
he thought.

John signed. “Listen Zoe,” his voice was firm and direct. “I’m not going to continue to play silly games with you. I’ve told you already and I’m only going to tell you one more time. Okay? I
can’t
and
won’t
have sex with you!”

“But, Johnny,” she pouted again. “This is our last chance.”

“No!”

“This is
your
last chance!”

“NO.”

“Our last moments of freedom together before tomorrow!”

“
NO!
”

She turned to face the fire once more. John watched as the shadows played across her. He tried to read her emotions, but for the first time there weren’t any.

“You don’t want to fuck me,” she muttered.

“Exactly!” he replied. “You finally understand. That’s exactly right. I’m here to get Helen back and to free you from Fox. But that’s it!”

“Why don’t you want to fuck me, Johnny?” she asked, still staring at the fire.

 “And another thing,” he said, his anger rising. “While we’re letting all the truths spill out. Don’t call me Johnny! I
hate
it. My name is John, okay? No one calls me Johnny!”

Her mouth trembled.

“Do you understand?” he said in a slow, level tone.

She nodded her head slowly.

Finally, I’m getting through to her,
he thought.

John pressed on his shirt to mop up the still-bleeding scratches on his chest.

“Shit,” he said. “You play rough.”

“Do you like it like that?” she asked.

“No, I don’t. How the hell am I supposed to explain these scratches when we get Helen back? Shit, Zoe, sometimes you just don’t think. No wonder Fox could control you so easily. Use your brain, girl.”

The silence between them was heavy. Only the sound of the fire crackled in the night.

John watched Zoe.

She stood still, watching the fire.

John sighed and looked at his watch.

I’ve gone too far now,
he thought.

“Look,” he began in a calmer tone. “It’s after midnight and we both need to get some rest for tomorrow. Let’s go to bed and try and get some sleep, okay?”

She didn’t reply.

“Okay?” he took a step forward and touched her shoulder.

She nodded.

“Good. I’ll bring in the luggage from the Jeep and then we can get some sleep.”

She nodded again.

“We have to concentrate on what we’re here for.”

“You’re right,” she agreed.

“We need to be at our sharpest and at the ready for anything to happen in the next few hours, okay?”

She nodded.

“Now, why don’t you put on some clothes and I’ll bring in the rest of our belongings from the Jeep.”

He smiled at her, but she continued looking at the fire.

He sighed and walked towards the church door. As he did so, he listened for any sound behind him, but all he could hear were his own footsteps echoing on the wooden floorboards.

Amazing,
was all John could think as he gently poked the jagged bite in his lip with his tongue.
Amazing.

He opened the church door and the cold night air greeted him. He walked over to the Jeep as the floodlights sprang to life and he felt more aware than ever. The heat in the church had made him feel light-headed and sleepy, but now he felt awake again. The chill in the air seeped into the wounds in his chest and caused them to burn.

He glanced around the night once more. He was ready for anything unexpected to burst out at him, to run from the bushes and attack.

But all was silent.

He opened the back of the Jeep and pulled out his canvas bag and Zoe’s suitcase. Eyeing the bushes as he did so, he turned and walked back to the church.

Zoe was standing naked in the doorway.

John walked up to her but she wouldn’t let him pass.

“Please, Zoe,” he said. “You’ll catch a chill standing there in this cold.”

She looked deeply into his eyes as if she was searching for something. Then she smiled and moved aside. “Sorry,” she said.

John placed the bag and suitcase inside the church door.

“You can move them down to the beds if you like,” he said as he turned and walked back to the Jeep.

The cold was making his chest wound hurt more. He didn’t want to spend any more time outside than he had to. So he grabbed the rest of her parcels in one hand and her handbag in the other. He closed the back of the Jeep and started to walk back to the church.

He realised quickly he was carrying too many parcels. They blocked his line of sight and he couldn’t see where he was going. His foot caught on a rock. He tried to redistribute the parcels and re-balance, but he failed. The parcels and Zoe’s handbag tumbled from his hands and fell to the ground, some of the contents spilling into the dust.

“Shit,” John muttered as he looked at the mess. “Just what I need.”

“Want me to help you?” Zoe asked from the door.

John shook his head, “No, no. Stay where you are. I don’t need you catching pneumonia or anything. I’ll fix it.”

He began scooping her purchases back into the bags.

Most of the items hadn’t escaped the shopping bags. It was Zoe’s handbag that had spilled the most.

He grabbed the handbag in one hand and started to shovel her make-up, brushes, tissues and receipts back into it.

Women and handbags,
John shook his head.
I’ll never understand why they carry so much junk around with them.

He grabbed a compact mirror and lipstick and placed them in the handbag, then he reached out and grabbed her car keys and threw them in too.

He stood and picked up the parcels and smiled at Zoe.

She had a worried expression on her face.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Nothing,” she replied.

John walked towards her and entered the church. He bent down and put the parcels on top of her suitcase and held out her handbag.

“Do you want this?” he asked.

She smiled and stepped forward, “Yeah, thanks.”

“Sorry about the mess. It’s probably all out of order now.”

She reached out to grab the handbag.

And John jerked it out of her grip.

He took a step backwards out of the church and tilted his head slightly.

“
Hang on
,” he said, as his eyes narrowed on her.

He took another step back and watched as Zoe stood in the doorway. Her eyes darted from his face to her handbag and back again.

John opened the handbag and rummaged around inside.

“What’s going on here?” he asked.

He pulled his hand out of the handbag. He was holding her car keys.

“What’re these?” he showed them to her.

She tried to smile, but failed. “They’re my car keys.”

“But you said
Helen
had your car keys.”

“Yeah, well, these are my spares, Johnny.”

“Don’t call me Johnny,” he replied. “You said you didn’t have any spares! That’s why we travelled all this way in a Jeep that you had to
hot-wire!
”

“I must’ve forgotten I had them,” Zoe shrugged her shoulders. She stepped out of the church and towards him. “Can I have the handbag back, please?”

John stepped backwards. “I don’t think so.”

“
Please,
” Zoe walked towards him.

John backed up further. “What else have you got in here you don’t want to tell me about?”

“Nothing, honest, Johnny.”

“Don’t call me Johnny! What
else
don’t you want me to know about?”

She shook her head, “Johnny, please.
Don’t!
”

“Stop calling me Johnny!”

“I can explain everything,” she said as she took another step towards him. The security lights shone from behind her, making her bare shoulders shine and causing a dark shadow to fall across her face.

“You better start talking, and talking fast,” John replied as he took another step back.

He felt a sharp cold pain in his back and he cried out. The side of the Jeep had slammed up against him and had almost knocked him off his feet. He threw out one hand on the hood to brace himself.

Zoe took another step forward. “Please, can I have the handbag?”

“You said the gun was in here too,” he whispered. “But I didn’t see it.”

John placed his hand back in the bag and started to fumble around for the gun.

He found nothing.

“It’s not here,” he said.

“I know,” Zoe pouted.

“You said it was, and it isn’t. Like you said you didn’t have keys but you
did
.”

“It’s under the seat in the Jeep,” she replied. “Honest, it is.”

“I don’t know what to believe any more,” John muttered as he continued to fumble in the handbag. As he did so, Zoe walked closer.

“Please give me the bag,” Zoe held out her hands.

“Fine!” John replied as he turned the handbag upside down and shook all the contents onto the ground. They clanked loudly as they fell and hit the dirt and gravel.

Zoe came to a halt and looked down at the mess.

“Sorry,” John said as he dropped the now-empty handbag onto the ground and kicked it towards her. He let the car keys fall from his hand too. “Looks like I’m clumsy.”

He prodded at the handbag’s contents with the toe of his shoe, kicking more dust over them.

“Can’t see any gun,” he replied.

Zoe pouted, “I told you, it’s under the front seat in the Jeep.”

John eyed her up and down. It was cold in the night air, but Zoe’s naked body didn’t look as if she was affected by it. Her nipples were erect but she wasn’t shivering. Her hair was still tightly held in the bun. The diamond in her belly button was slightly off-centre.

“I don’t know whether to believe you or not,” he said.

“I’m telling you the
truth
,” she replied as she continued to look at her handbag on the ground.

“Well, I’m going to climb in there and get it now,” he said.

She nodded.

“Don’t try anything,” he replied.

She looked at him and spread her arms wide. “What am I going to do to you?” she replied.

John edged his way along the hood of the Jeep, not taking his eyes off her. He opened the passenger door and bent inside.

As he did so, Zoe knelt down and started picking up her things and placing them back in the handbag.

John took one last look over his shoulder to check on her before he bent further forward and checked under the seat for the gun.

He reached under and stretched as far as he could, but there was nothing there. He climbed onto the passenger seat and moved across to the driver’s seat. He reached under the driver’s seat and stretched as far as he could.

Nothing.

He sighed deeply.

Nothing!

He shook his head and climbed out of the Jeep. He turned around to face her with his hands on his hips.

“Zoe, quit playing games,” he looked towards the handbag.

It was still on the ground, the contents underneath it.