Hummingbird (25 page)

‘If it really was George that the psycho was looking for.’

‘It’s all I’ve got to go on, I can’t keep running, not now that you’re involved.’

‘Okay,’ she replied. Chloe came back into the living area. She was wearing the zippered skirt and a black push-up bra; on her feet were a pair of sequined flat shoes that looked expensive. Chloe’s hair was tied back in a pony tail and she had put on a little make-up. In her left hand she carried a white top that appeared to be see-through; its material very thin and reflective. A small string bag was clutched in her right hand. Chloe swung the bag by her side; indicating the bag she said, ‘Some personal items, clothes and some cash.’

‘Prepared for everything,’ he said.

Dan finished dressing and then handed Chloe his refilled mug of coffee. Chloe took a couple of sips and then handed it back to Dan. The gesture made her feel warm inside, it was as if they had been together for years, falling into little routines.

Dan was openly staring at her large breasts pushed together in the bra; her cleavage was immense and Chloe laughed.

‘I know; I have huge tits for my small frame, I get them from my mother’s side.’

Dan rubbed a hand down his face and said, ‘Ah shit, your parents; what are they going to think? What are we doing, ah fuck.’ Dan rubbed his face again. ‘My god, they’ll go mental,’ he muttered.

Chloe slipped her top on over her head and shoulders and pulled it down over her breasts. It was transparent and did absolutely nothing to hide her cleavage; the black bra was so obvious, making the top pointless. The material stopped just below her breasts leaving her flat, toned belly on show.

‘Now, they will think you’re a pervert...at first.’

‘Thanks,’ Dan replied. Chloe moved in and hugged him, resting the side of her face against his chest.

‘But once they come to realise how much I love you they’ll come round, and when we have kids they’ll be putty in your hands; so don’t worry.’

‘Kids?’ Dan said.

‘One day, yeah it would be nice to have them; wouldn’t you like that at some point?’ Chloe asked.

‘I’m struggling to think beyond the next seventy two hours.’

‘Sixty eight and counting, we’ll get through this.’

‘I hope so.’

Chloe stepped back and looked up at Dan, ‘So you think we should go visit George?’

Dan nodded. ‘He may know something, could be that’s why he cried off sick.’

‘But that put you in danger, would he do that sort of thing?’

‘Not intentionally, I’ve known George for years. I think if he knew about the psycho then he certainly didn’t expect for the guy to switch targets to me. I think that was just a coincidence.’

‘Or fate.’

Chloe stretched and smiled as Dan’s eyes followed the movement of her breasts.

‘How do we get to George if you want to ditch the car, I don’t currently have one?’

Dan nodded, ‘I figure we’ll use the Astin to put a few more miles between us and the psychopath and then either catch a train or rent another car for a few days.’

‘Wouldn’t that leave a trail?’

‘Not if I pay cash, and it would be worth the risk.’

Chloe checked the clock, ‘Almost five o’clock; nowhere will be open for a few hours yet.’

‘Yeah, I figured we’d just head north until somewhere is open.’

‘What if George isn’t around?’

‘I’d still like to try. I also want to go back to the club. There are CCTV cameras there, they record continually, and I’d like to take a look at those tapes. They may reveal something; earlier I was so quick to run that I wasn’t really thinking straight. I am now and the only clues are all to be found back in Hertford.’

‘Okay.’ Chloe opened her bag and went to the fridge; she put some fruit in the bag; a couple of bananas and two apples. She also added two cans of coke. She pulled the string tight; securing the bag and turned back to Dan.

Chloe saw he had been admiring the view. He pointed at her skirt.

He pointed at the fifty or so zips that ran vertically around the entire skirt, there didn’t appear to be any material, just the tiny metal teeth of numerous zips, ‘What are they all about?’ He asked.

‘I made it myself by stitching the zips to the thin waistband, it’s entirely zips, look,’ Chloe unzipped two of them; one on either hip. She spun around on the spot; showing thigh all the way up, ‘I can unzip them all and it looks like a metal hula-skirt.’

‘Very funky, so you design clothes?’

‘It’s only a hobby, I work in London; temping for an advertising agency, its shit but pays the mortgage.’

Dan moved close to her and put his arms around her waist. Chloe linked her hands behind his neck and looked up at him. Dan was easily six inches taller than her, and she saw some of the tiny scars barely visible on his exposed forearms. He was a handsome man and she was intrigued as to his history.

Dan must have been thinking similar thoughts, ‘There’s a lot we don’t know about each other Chloe, everything has been moving so fast, and I’m finding it hard to understand what’s going on between us.’ He looked at her closely, her eyes a perfect tropical-sea blue, and said, ‘Are you sure you really want to be involved in this?’

Chloe reached up on her tiptoes and kissed him. He could taste the cherry flavour of her lipstick.

‘You’re not on your own in this; besides I couldn’t be apart from you now, and if you were to be honest you wouldn’t want to be on your own, separate to me.’

‘That’s true,’ Dan said.

This is unbelievable. What had made him run? Fate? He could have taken that psycho back at the club, and probably with ease, there were things he needed to tell her, about him, his past. Why had he run? Had fate really meant for them to meet? Crazy! So many thoughts fighting to be heard, he opened his mouth to voice some of those thoughts but he was stopped from doing so by what happened next.

The beer bottle dropped to the wooden floor and shattered making them both jump. They turned to the door and saw that the brass knob was turning left and right; someone was trying to get in.

‘Concerned neighbour?’ Dan said, not even convincing himself.

Chloe offered him a sardonic smile, ‘No, it’s him.’

She grabbed her bag and started for the bedroom.

‘Are you sure?’ Dan asked but he knew the answer.

Chloe laughed, ‘Who else would it be? Let’s go.’

Dan followed Chloe into the bedroom and she pushed the window up on its runners. Dan poked his head out the window; to his left was a metal ladder secured to the side of the building, it was about a foot along from the window. He turned his face upwards and he could see that the ladder appeared to go all the way to the roof, just like Chloe had said it would. Dan turned back to Chloe; she had slipped her bag over her shoulders, the string cords tight against her chest, the canvas bag low on her back.

‘You first,’ he said.

‘Perhaps you should go first,’ Chloe replied; she looked a little sheepish but there was no time for Dan to think about it. A loud thud came from the front door as it was hit hard from the outside.

‘No Chloe, you’re going first so go, go, go!’

‘Okay, alright,’ she cried. Dan held her hips as she climbed out of the window and onto the ladder, she started to climb and Dan quickly followed her. His hands were on the metal rungs of the ladder as another tremendous crash came from the front, the noise echoed through the small flat. Pinging noises followed a split second later as the security chains were ripped from their fastenings.

Dan swung out onto the ladder and he started to climb as fast as he could, Chloe was about six feet up from him.

From within the flat he heard the psycho shout out, ‘Dan? Chloe? Where are you?’ The last word was stretched out for several seconds making Dan think of a child playing hide-and-seek.

Dan’s insides turned to ice, how did the psycho know Chloe’s name? He couldn’t have known, there were no post boxes on the ground floor, no markers, how did he know about Chloe?

Dan was breathing hard as he quickly caught up with Chloe. He glanced down; expecting to see the psycho in hot pursuit, but there was no sign of him.

The day was brightening, dawn almost on them and Dan looked up; straight up Chloe’s short skirt and her glistening wet cunt was only a few feet from his face. He lost his footing and yelled out; he hadn’t expected to see that. He quickly regained his footing. Chloe stopped climbing and looked down at him.

‘I told you to go first!’

‘Christ Chloe; don’t you believe in knickers?’

‘Sorry, I thought I’d surprise you later, I wasn’t anticipating climbing any damn ladders.’ Chloe continued to climb towards the roof. Dan shook his head and followed her.

Dan cast another glance back down the building; they’d easily climbed a good 150 feet. Chloe as if confirming this said, ‘We’re almost at the roof.’ Her voice sounded relaxed and not at all out of breath.

Dan looked back up at her and said, ‘Good, because he’s just climbed out on to the ladder,’ and unlike Chloe he did sound out of breath; he hadn’t exercised properly for months and he was regretting it now.

Despite everything Dan couldn’t help but admire the view beneath Chloe’s zip-skirt; the early morning light made the wetness of her pussy shimmer and he could see the faint outline of her lips, and the curve of her buttocks as she climbed and he felt stirrings in his groin. Ashamed he averted his eyes and kept them focused on the rungs directly in front of him.

‘Six feet,’ Chloe told him.

‘Great.’

A spark flew from the ladder just to his left and he realised that he’d just been shot at. Then a piece of concrete splintered just to the right side of Chloe and she yelped as a small piece of masonry ricocheted off her skin.

‘Why can’t I hear any shots?’ she shouted as she climbed faster.

‘Silencer. Keep going!’

Chloe disappeared over the lip of the roof and out of the line of fire.

‘Thank fuck for that,’ Dan said. Two seconds later and he was also on the roof. Dan took one last glance back down the side of the tower block. The psycho was about 100 feet below them working his way up the ladder. Even in the poor light Dan could see that the man was grinning viciously up at him.

Chloe pulled Dan back by his collar; it proved to be a life-saving gesture as a bullet buzzed by Dan’s face with only inches to spare.

‘Christ Dan! Come on.’

‘Where to?’ he replied panting.

Chloe grabbed his hand and together they sprinted across the flat surface of the roof.

‘We’ll jump across to the next building.’

‘Jump?’ Dan yelled, ‘Are you nuts?’

‘We can’t stay here.’

Dan could see the end of the roof; there was a slightly raised lip running the perimeter of the roof, he could see the next building and there was a gap between the tenement buildings. It was a long way down to the concrete pavement; but mercifully it appeared to be level with this roof.

‘Can we make that?’ Dan shouted

Chloe grinned, ‘Let’s see.’

Hand-in-hand they jumped out over the gap; for a split second Dan feared they wouldn’t make it, and then they were across and landing safely on to the next roof. Chloe hand landed perfectly but Dan landed a little heavy and he let out a grunt of discomfort.

‘Are you okay?’ Chloe asked.

‘Yeah, go, don’t stop.’

Chloe ran on and Dan was right behind her; across the flatness of the roof they raced. Chloe was slightly in front and she reached the next edge first; she launched herself out over the expanse between buildings, her skirt flapped about her; her ass momentarily revealed to Dan.

He quickly cast a glance over his shoulder; there was no sign of the psycho against the rapidly brightening eastern skyline.

Chloe landed safely on the next roof and Dan told her to keep running. Dan jumped the gap safely and landed securely; he was soon on Chloe’s heels as they sprinted across the flat roof.

‘How many more?’

‘Three,’ Chloe said, ‘and then we’ll climb down to the street, you’ve got the car keys right?’

Dan felt his keys in the front left pocket of his jeans and nodded at her. They quickly moved on to the next roof and then the next; it was scary but exhilarating too and Dan could feel the adrenalin coursing through his bloodstream.

Dan looked back the way they’d come and this time he did see the outline of the psycho; he was moving across the first roof. The psycho must have spotted them because Dan could see the man raise his gun-hand.

‘Chloe; start zigzagging.’

Immediately they began to run in a zigzag fashion across the third roof and Dan heard a round whizz by his ear like an angry bee; this was followed by a second. Their zigzagging would make it nigh on impossible for the psycho to hit them. The psycho must have come to the same conclusion because Dan didn’t hear any more bees.

Chloe jumped the final gap and stumbled on her landing; Dan landed with her and he was able to grab her right arm thus preventing her from falling flat on to her face.