Lost and Found

by Natasha West

  ‘Just a fact I thought you might be interested in.’

  ‘I’m more interested to know how you found us this time,’ April said.

  Kenny chuckled darkly at some private joke. ‘Oh, yeah. That’s a good one, that. Better than last time even.’

  ‘Share the joke, then,’ April said.

  Kenny just grinned.

  Sophie found her voice at last. ‘What are you going to do?’ she asked Kenny with a trembling voice.

  Kenny turned as though he’d forgotten she was there. ‘That’s a pickle, actually. You see, I tried to treat this one,’ he pointed a thumb at April, ‘with a bit of respect and let her have a seat next to me. But I think we all remember how that went. So I think I’m going to deliver this particular package, in the boot of my car, stuff a gag in her mouth and hope for the best. Thing is, I can’t fit both of you in there, it’s a sports model.’ He took another sip of coffee, leaving the threat hanging in the air.

  ‘But April’s supposed to go alive?’ Sophie said, her brain beginning to unfreeze.

  Kenny looked annoyed. ‘I think they want a conversation with you before anything else,’ he said to April. ‘They said alive. But if you struggle, I never promised to deliver you in a pristine state, so don’t think I won’t fuck you up if you start playing silly buggers.’

  ‘What about?’ April asked, swerving around the threat effortlessly.

  ‘What?’

  ‘The conversation they want to have? What is it about?’

  Kenny shook his head. ‘Don’t know, don’t care.’ He drained his coffee and put his mug down. ‘That was lovely, but time’s ticking on.’

  ‘Yeah, you enjoyed it?’ April said. ‘Did you like my extra ingredient?’

  Kenny didn’t respond for a second. And then he laughed. ‘Ha, you gonna try and tell me you poisoned me?’

  April nodded and smiled. ‘Yes.’

  Sophie was almost as shocked as Kenny.

  ‘I watched you get the coffee out of the cupboard and make it. You didn’t put anything else in the mug,’ he said with certainty. ‘Just spooned in coffee and poured hot water from the kettle.’

  ‘Yes, that’s right,’ April agreed. ‘The rat poison was already in the mug.’

  ‘You were keeping rat poison in a mug?’ he sneered disbelievingly. ‘What, just in case I showed up and asked for a coffee?’

  ‘The box broke, I scooped it up and put it in a mug under the sink, so I’d know where it was, forgot about it,’ April explained matter-of-factly. ‘When you came in demanding a hot beverage, I remembered it. Didn’t you see me get the mug out of there?’ she asked. ‘Didn’t you think it was odd?’

  ‘No, you didn’t. You got it off the mug tree,’ Kenny said snippily.

  ‘Did I?’ April asked.

  ‘Yes, you did. I know you did,’ Kenny said. But he didn’t sound that sure.

  April smiled evenly. ‘If you say so.’

  Sophie was hypnotized by the tennis match going on between Kenny and April. She wasn’t sure who was right. She thought she’d seen April get the mug off the tree as well. But there had been a lot going on, it was hard to remember now.

  ‘I didn’t taste anything weird. I would have done,’ Kenny said, trying to laugh. ‘You’re full of shit.’ But he was starting to touch his stomach.

  April shrugged. ‘I thought you might taste it too, but you drained it pretty quickly.’

  Kenny’s smile was struggling to stay on his face. ‘I feel fine.’

  ‘You look a bit pale,’ April said. ‘Don’t you think, Soph?’

  Sophie found the will to nod, looking at Kenny. ‘He does look a bit peaky.’

  Kenny's eyes narrowed, and he looked at the pair of them. ‘Do you think I’m thick?’

  Sophie laughed. It was forced, but she made it sound pretty real. She didn’t know how she was even talking; she’d never been so scared in her life. But April was doing something, and she had to at least try to help. She couldn’t be the lump she’d been in the carpark. ‘Thick enough to drink something from someone who knows you might kill them? Oh, no, Kenny. You’re a fucking genius,’ she found herself cracking.

  Kenny looked at the two women, rubbing his stomach, the last vestige of bluster draining away. He looked scared. He stood up, knife in his hand, advancing toward April. ‘You fucking-’

  April didn’t even look at the knife, she just smiled up at Kenny and said, ‘Yeah, I guess you could murder us both while you’re dying, use your last few minutes to get your revenge. Not sure that’s what I’d do in your shoes.’

  Kenny froze. He looked from Sophie to April, back to Sophie, back to April. ‘Shit,’ he muttered. He pointed his little knife at April. ‘The doors and windows are locked, don’t get any funny ideas.’ And he hurried out of the room. April stood up quickly and whispered to Sophie, ‘Be ready.’

  Sophie stood uncertainly, still filled with panic, but not without hope.

  Twenty-Two

  The second Kenny was in the bathroom, sticking his fingers down his throat, trying to vomit up not remotely poisoned coffee, April was at the bathroom door, slamming it shut. She heard Kenny say, ‘What are ya-’ and then the door handle started jiggling, but of course, Kenny was locked in by the shoddy workmanship of new builds. He couldn’t get to the backwards lock from inside.

  But April was counting no chickens whatsoever. She’d been pushing her luck with that fake story, it had somehow come to her when she’d watched Kenny slurping his beverage, and with no car lighters to hand, she’d done the only thing she could and run with it. It was her only plan, though. She had to make it count.

  She turned from the door and sped back to the living room, where Sophie waited. ‘Window. Now.’ The sound of someone trying to kick a door through could be heard. April didn’t know how much time they had before Kenny busted the thing open, but it wasn’t long.

  Thankfully, Sophie knew the window she meant (she’d complained about it enough), and she ran to it. She cranked the handle and slammed her shoulder into it, once, twice and boom! The entire thing - frame and glass - fell clean out of the house, smashing on the floor outside, leaving a square hole of nothing, an escape hatch. Sophie grabbed April’s hand and shoved her through first, jumping out behind her. Once they were both out, hopping around the broken glass, they set off running into the night, into the rabbit warren of the estate. They ran through identical streets, no plan, just trying to put distance between them and the house Kenny would escape from any second.

  They ran around several corners of the quiet streets. There was no one around. ‘What do we do?’ Sophie asked breathlessly as they slowed to a jog.

  ‘I don’t have my phone, do you?’ April asked.

  ‘No. We could knock on a door?’

  ‘I don’t want to drag anyone else into this. If he finds us, I don’t know what he’ll do.’

  ‘Then, we run.’

  That’s when they heard it. The sound of feet beating the pavement. Kenny was out, and he was hunting. They sped up.

  The sound of feet got closer as they rounded a bend into another street of beige, box houses. April saw a large communal bin, and she hissed, ‘Quick, in there!’

  Sophie didn’t look keen, but she didn’t argue, heading for the bin. April grabbed its heavy lid and opened it up. She laced her hands together, and Sophie jumped the hand-step and leapt into the bin. April was right behind her, getting a foot on a handle and scrabbling up the side of the bin, Sophie yanking her all the way inside. Once they were in the bin, April and Sophie grabbed ahold of the lid and pulled it down on themselves, slamming it shut.

  Hunched and sweating, they waited in the fetid darkness. Soon enough, the footsteps got closer, and April sat shivering as she heard Kenny’s light footfall get horribly close. How had he found them? April knew quickly. These streets had brought him here, as they’d brought her and Sophie. The estate had been planned this way, to lead you in one direction.

  Kenny, breathing heavily and
slowing down, got even closer. His footsteps seemed to be right outside the bin. April felt Sophie grab her hand, and she gripped it tightly. The footsteps stopped. April squeezed her eyes shut.

  ‘Yeah, I’m here,’ they heard Kenny say, and at first, she thought he was talking to her through the bin, that he knew somehow they were in there. But he kept talking. ‘No, I don’t know. I didn’t… I went to their house, but they weren’t there. I think they’ve been moved. I don’t know why, that fucker’s not gonna tell anyone anything, is he?’ April felt relief flood her body. He was on the phone. And he was lying through his teeth. ‘No, I think they’re gone. Well, how the fuck should I know? Yes. No, no, no, hang on a minute… Yes, I know you paid a lot for that copper's name.’

  April didn’t know what that meant. But she didn’t like it. Not a bit.

  ‘Yeah, well, I found ‘em twice now, so maybe you should just relax and let me do what I do,’ Kenny went on. Someone on the other end of the phone obviously had a lot to say about that because Kenny didn’t say anything for quite a while. Then he sighed. ‘Yeah, fine. I’m coming home. I know that, and I’m sorry, but I found the contact, and he was right about the handler, wasn’t he? I’m sure he’ll be able to find out where they move to.’ Another pause. ‘Yeah, well, that type of thing doesn’t come cheap.’

  Kenny stopped talking, and they listened to his footsteps moving away. Silence resumed. After a few minutes, Sophie whispered, ‘Can we get out of here now? I’m sitting in what I can only hope is fudge cake.’

  ‘Let’s give it another few minutes,’ April said.

  Once the minutes were up, April stood and pushed the bin lid open. She turned to Sophie, who was wearing noodles on one shoulder. April flicked them off. ‘Come on.’

  Sophie hopped out first and caught April by the waist as she followed. They looked at one another, dirty and dishevelled, their efforts to look nice for each other at the beginning of the night completely erased.

  ‘What do we do now?’ Sophie asked anxiously.

  ‘We need to find a phone,’ April told her.

  ***

  April listened to the phone ring. They were in a pub at the edge of the estate, using the payphone with borrowed change from the barman. ‘Hello?’ a woman’s voice said from the other end of Barry’s phone number. April was thrown. ‘Oh, I think I’ve got the wrong number. I was looking for Barry, but…’

  ‘Yes, this is Barry’s phone,’ the woman at the other end said. ‘Are you a friend of his?’

  ‘Kind of,’ April said.

  ‘Well, I’m sorry to have to tell you, but he’s in the hospital.’

  That was exactly what April had hoped not to hear. Although she was glad she wasn’t hearing something worse. ‘Is he OK? What happened?’

  ‘Line of duty injuries, I don’t know much more than that right now. He’s being checked for brain injuries; we’re waiting to hear back.’

  ‘Is he conscious?’ April asked.

  ‘Yes, but he’s sedated right now.’

  ‘What hospital is he in?’ April asked.

  ‘St Jude’s in Borton,’ the woman said.

  ‘OK, thanks. I hope his scans come back alright. But Barry’s tough, I’m sure he’ll be fine.’

  ‘Thank you.’

  April hung up.

  ‘That didn’t sound good,’ Sophie said, waiting beside her.

  ‘No, it wasn’t. Come on. We need to get to Borton.’

  ‘What? How?’ Sophie asked.

  ‘We’re going to have to hitch.’

  ‘Jesus, no. That’s dangerous,’ Sophie wailed.

  ‘We’ve got no money, no phone, nothing. You got a better idea?’ April asked.

  ***

  April was in the back of a very small car with two kids next to her who were involved in some sort of squabble. Sophie was in the front, next to the driver, a woman nice enough to pick up two filthy women on the hard shoulder of the motorway.

  ‘Mum, will you tell her?’ the boy, about twelve, said.

  ‘What’s she doing?’ the driver asked disinterestedly.

  ‘She’s saying she’s a vegan,’ the boy snapped.

  ‘I am a vegan!’ the girl, eight-ish, said.

  ‘You don’t even know what that means,’ the boy said.

  ‘I do! It means I don’t eat animal things!’

  ‘I literally just watched you eat a cheeseburger,’ the boy said.

  ‘Yeah, that was just a cow. I’m not eating any other animals. No chickens or lambs,’ the girl said with certainty.

  ‘That’s not vegan,’ the boy said irritably.

  ‘It is if I say it is,’ the girl declared.

  ‘Can you two shut up?’ the mum asked tiredly.

  The argument went on, but April didn’t pay it any mind. She was still trying to figure out hers and Sophie’s next step. Because with everything she’d heard tonight, she was going to have to make some hard decisions.

  ***

  At the hospital, they tracked Barry down pretty quickly. He looked bad. His arm was in a bandage, his face battered, one of his eyes the size of a plum. He was being examined by a doctor, but when he spotted April and Sophie, his remaining good eye bulged. ‘April!’

  April ran over to him and hugged him. Barry took the hug awkwardly, but April could tell he was touched. The doctor said she’d come back later and scarpered.

  ‘I’ve been trying to find you; there are squad cars all over Forlorn looking for you right now!’ Barry exclaimed as they parted.

  ‘Yeah, well… I wasn’t sure we should wait for anything like that. I needed to know you were alright.’

  Barry’s good eye moistened, and he blinked furiously until the emotion was banished. ‘But… I mean… You know what happened?’

  April nodded. ‘I’ve got a pretty good idea.’

  ‘I don’t know how they knew I was your handler,’ Barry said. ‘But they caught up to me coming out of the gym last night. I spent the night in a bush. I thought I was dead.’ He shook his head. ‘Might be better if I was.’

  April was shocked. ‘What, why?’

  Shame oozed from Barry’s very pores. ‘Because… Because they got it out of me, didn’t they? Where you were.’

  April gave him the most forgiving smile she could summon. ‘Yes, I know. But it’s alright.’

  ‘It’s really not,’ Barry said croakily. ‘I’m burned now, can’t do witness protection anymore. I don’t even know how they found me. I must have messed up somewhere, been careless-’

  ‘No. That’s not what happened.’ April leaned into Barry’s ear. ‘They paid someone,’ she whispered. ‘They paid someone in your department for your name.’

  Barry looked at her in shock. ‘How do you know that?’

  ‘We overheard it, that Kenny’s a slippery eel, but he also likes the sound of his own voice,’ April told him, leaning back.

  ‘Yeah,’ Sophie said. ‘If he was more of a silent but deadly type, we probably wouldn’t be here now. But April got him to believe, well, that’s a long story. But she tricked him, and we got away,’ Sophie said with an admiring glance at April.

  But April wasn’t taking any compliments. ‘I shouldn’t have even walked into that house. I should have known he was in there.’

  ‘How?’ Sophie asked.

  ‘Because that’s how you stay alive,’ Barry completed. ‘You need to have those sorts of instincts, know a trap when you see it.’

  ‘Right,’ April said. ‘Which is why this is goodbye, Barry.’

  Barry’s good eye was wide with horror. ‘April, I know what you’re thinking and don’t, OK? We can sort this out.’

  ‘Don’t take it personally, Barry. I appreciate everything you’ve done, and I don’t blame you. I really don’t. But this is bigger than you. I can’t trust anyone now I’ve heard how far their reach goes.’

  ‘There’s one bad apple. We’ll find them, April. I promise you,’ Barry beseeched. ‘Anti-Corruption will go through everyone’s financials
with a fine-tooth comb-

  ‘No, Barry. It’s over.’

  ‘Wait. What?’ Sophie asked.

  April turned to her. ‘We’ve got to go it alone. You know it makes sense.’

  ‘We didn’t discuss this,’ Sophie said angrily.

  April nodded. ‘You’re right. With one thing and another, there wasn’t a chance. So let’s talk now. I want us to take ourselves out of protective custody and do this alone. If you’re willing.’