Safe for Summer

to put a bullet in your head or worse. Do you understand that?’
His teeth were clenched hard, his lips were tight, his nostrils flared, and his grip on her was solid.
She bit her lip and tried her best not to whimper. The gear stick was pushing against her bones, and Nathan’s fist was holding her so tightly, her skin was starting to burn beneath the paper-thin jacket. She wondered what on earth could be worse than being shot in the head.
‘This isn’t a game or an episode of Spooks. This is real life, and it’s happening now. I want you on your guard every second of every minute. You speak to no one. You trust no one, not anyone. Not your PA, not your boyfriend. No one.’
‘You’re hurting me, and you’re squeezing the life out of my Audrey Dupont. I don’t expect you to know who she is. She’s French. She designs clothes, and this is a one-off,’ Autumn babbled through her tears.
Nathan let go of her and blasted the horn at a car that had cut in front of them.
‘Audrey fucking Dupont,’ Nathan repeated, shaking his head.
Autumn wiped at her eyes with the fingers of her gloves and stole a glance at him. He looked exasperated, even though he probably couldn’t spell it. She did that to people all the time. She did it on purpose. Why? To get noticed. It was better to get noticed for being a bitch than it was to not be noticed at all. No one noticed the Autumn Raine who just wanted a conversation, unless they could gain from it. But everyone noticed her when she made them stand to attention, It was easy to demand the impossible, create a fuss when it wasn’t delivered, watching people bite their lips and try to hold their temper, worried for their jobs. Nathan didn’t seem to be overly worried though, just pissed off.
‘Can I go home now?’ Autumn asked.
‘Are you living on another fucking planet? Haven’t you listened to a word I’ve said?’ Nathan blasted, putting his foot to the floor and speeding toward a roundabout.
‘I understand that my mother’s employed you, but that really doesn’t have a lot to do with me. We’re not really involved in that sort of capacity. I hire and fire for myself so…’
Nathan let out a laugh so loud, she had to reach for her ears. It was raucous and booming and rather like a crazed pantomime villain.
‘You are something else. Fuck, if it wasn’t so tragic, it would be hilarious!’
Autumn began to count her fingers out on the car’s door frame. One… two… three… four… five, second hand, six… seven… eight… nine… ten. She didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t spend any significant time with this man. He was unhinged. He had no idea who she was and how he should behave toward her. He wore cheap clothes and smelt of some terribly inexpensive aftershave. He was ill-mannered and uncouth. He knew nothing about style, and he definitely didn’t wax. She swallowed as she caught herself looking at the open neck of his collar.
‘Travelodge or Premier Inn,’ Nathan barked at her.
‘What?’
‘You fucked up the safe house by connecting that phone call. Choose, or we toss a coin.’
‘I have no business at either of those establishments.’
‘You do now. So what’s it to be? Lenny Henry?’
‘You want me to spend the night at a… a… budget hotel,’ Autumn said, her mouth hardly able to form the words.
‘Don’t worry, you won’t have to speak to any menials. You’ll be going in the back way and leaving only under the cover of darkness.’
‘This is outrageous! I won’t let you do this!’ Autumn said in a panic. ‘I can’t stay in one of those places. They’re all starchy sheets and one synthetically stuffed pillow. They have shower caps, completely useless hairdryers, and a distinct lack of Rooibos on the complimentary tea tray.’
‘That’s pretty intimate knowledge,’ Nathan remarked.
‘The rooms smell of smoke, even the non-smoking ones. The TV only gets Freeview channels, and they don’t even have room service!’
‘I think you’ll find they do.’
‘They do what?’
‘Have room service.’
‘Oh! What, some grimy little man in a stain-splattered waistcoat, bringing you a lukewarm pizza? That is not room service,’ Autumn proclaimed, closing her purse up with a triumphant thump.
‘What can I say? I like cold pizza,’ Nathan responded.
‘That speaks volumes.’
He let out an audible sigh and pulled the car over into an empty lay-by. He switched off the engine and undid his seatbelt. Autumn began to open and close her purse, waiting for whatever he was going to do next. One, click, two, click, three, click, four, click…
He turned to face her. ‘Stop doing that,’ he ordered.
‘Doing what?’
‘Put the fucking purse down. I get that you have OCD. I know all about it, but I didn’t realize it was going to be this fucking annoying!’
He wrenched her purse from her and threw it onto the back seat. The clasp was undone and Autumn turned and watched the contents spill out onto the seat.
Autumn put her hand to her throat as the breath caught there. ‘I have to get to five! Give it back! I have to get to five! Please!’
‘No.’
‘Oh my God, you can’t do that. I have to get to five. You don’t understand. I have to. I can’t stop at four and a half. Please, let me out of the car. Let me get my purse.’.
Her voice was choked and she teased the end of the glove on her left hand with her right.
*
He looked at her now and almost felt sorry for her. She seemed so pathetic. She thought counting up to five was a life or death situation! She hadn’t a fucking clue. She had a life or death situation going on right now, and she didn’t even want to acknowledge it. This was a job he hadn’t wanted, but he’d owed someone a favor, a bit of a massive favor, and he couldn’t say no. If he’d said no,