Safe for Summer

Janey or that fucking yapping computer dog you arse about with until I decide it’s time. You need to get that fixed in your head. You might hate me, but you can trust me. You’re my responsibility right now, and I take that responsibility very seriously.’
‘I don’t know what to do. What do I do?’ She looked at him, her gray eyes pleading for guidance.
‘First, you start by eating more than a fucking bird’s portion of everything. Be under no illusion, you’re going to have to fight for your life at some point in the near future, and the crust of a crust of a Hawaiian from Domino’s isn’t going to bode well for you coming out on top,’ Nathan said, handing her the plate.
‘I’m scared.’ Autumn’s hands shook as she took the plate from him.
‘Yeah, me, too. I lied. I hate cold pizza.’

Six
She hadn’t slept. Nathan had kept his word and stayed in the chair while she took the bed. It was nothing like her queen bed at home. The sheets here were not from anywhere remotely near Egypt, and whatever they’d been washed in hadn’t softened their texture.
She’d slept in her clothes, apart from her hat, and she’d clutched her purse tight to her all night. She was too worried that if she put it down, Nathan would take it. She needed it near.
She knew it was morning now, but she didn’t want to open her eyes. If she did, all the events of the previous day would come back to her and she’d have to continue to react to them.
‘You awake?’ Nathan asked.
Autumn closed her eyes tighter and held her breath.
‘We need to get going soon,’ he said.
She sensed him moving across to the side of the bed. Her heart quickened in response. What if he touched her?
‘Hey, wake up!’ he barked in her ear.
Autumn shot up and out from under the covers, her hands still holding her purse.
‘Why did you do that? You could have deafened me! What would that have done to my career? I can’t sing if I can’t hear.’
Smoothing down her skirt and adjusting her jacket, she was acutely aware that she had been in the same outfit for twenty-four hours. The thought made her queasy.
‘I need new clothes,’ she stated, watching Nathan as he toyed with his mobile phone.
‘Yeah, when we get where we’re going,’ he responded.
‘You haven’t said where we’re going yet.’ Autumn played with the catch on her purse.
One… two… three…
‘No, I haven’t,’ Nathan answered.
‘Don’t you ever have a normal conversation? Why can’t you tell me where we’re going? You say I have to trust you, well, how about showing a little trust in me?’
‘Trust has to be earned.’
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
‘It means, I know as soon as my back’s turned, you’re going to try to make a call to your PA, you know, the one sleeping with your boyfriend.’ Nathan locked eyes with her as he turned around.
‘Stop saying that. It isn’t true,’ Autumn hissed.
She opened and shut the clasp on her purse even faster now, back and forth, open, shut, open, shut.
‘Put the fucking purse down!’ Nathan yelled.
The suddenness and volume of his voice made her drop the purse. She snatched it back up and hugged it to her.
He was looking out the window and had parted the net slightly at one side. He looked deep in concentration. His breathing was steady and slow, deliberate and controlled.
‘Is something wrong?’ she ventured.
‘No.’
‘Are you sure? I mean—’
Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Autumn’s heart leaped into her throat, and Nathan immediately reached into his waistband for his gun. He strode toward the door and motioned Autumn to go into the bathroom.
‘Room service,’ the voice called from outside in the hall.
‘Please, tell me you didn’t order fucking room service,’ Nathan hissed to her.
She was shaking, loitering by the bathroom door, not knowing what to do. She shook her head at him. His eyes were on her all the time. She’d not had the means to call room service even if she’d wanted to.
Nathan reached out and put his hand on the doorknob, preparing to open it. Autumn took a step back into the bathroom and squeezed her eyes tight shut. What should she do? She’d not been in a situation like this before. Should she pick up something to use as a weapon? There was a choice of a toilet brush or a razor she would have to unwrap from its plastic wrapping. She heard the door open, flipped her eyelids up and took a deep breath, waiting.
‘Room service, Mr Martin. Two full English breakfasts,’ the voice announced.
‘You must have the wrong room. I didn’t order breakfast, and I’m here alone. The name’s Shepherd,’ Nathan replied.
‘Oh, I do apologize, sir. I’ll go check the order with the kitchen. Sorry for any inconvenience.’
‘Not a problem.’
She heard the door close and Nathan practically ripped the bathroom door from its hinges as he came to find her.
‘We’re leaving. Get everything you came with. Leave nothing,’ he ordered.
*
He’d noticed the black transit van pull into the car park earlier. Two men had left it. One returned fifteen minutes later and had been sitting in it ever since. The man seemed to be reading a newspaper, but he also kept looking at his watch and checking his rear-view mirror. It wasn’t normal behavior for a normal person. It was, however, normal behavior for someone in a similar line of work to his.
Autumn was counting aloud as she checked and re-checked the small room. She didn’t have anything apart from that bloody purse and the stupid fucking designer hat, but he had to ensure she was alert to everything he said. The next time he asked her to get her stuff together, it might be a life or death situation. For now, they only had time against them.
She muttered to herself, breathing like an exhausted grayhound, gripping the purse as if it could save her life just by being close to