Free Going Viral by Andrew Puckett Page A

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    I found myself thinking: He’s there and we’re here , less than a foot away , separated by a thin piece of wood …
    My hand was still on her foot and suddenly, for no reason I could imagine, I felt intensely horny… it flooded through me and my chest tightened, as did my grip on her foot…
    Then the footsteps moved away. There were muttered voices, then these, too faded.
    I whispered, ‘Have they gone?’
    ‘Shh. We stay put.’
    We waited in silence. My horniness subsided, but I left my hand where it was. It felt comfortable.
    After a few minutes, we heard muffled voices again, then nothing.
    We went on waiting. It seemed like an hour, but she told me later it was only about fifteen minutes. Then, very carefully, she unlocked the door and slowly eased it open.
    Nothing. I cautiously followed her out. My leg had gone dead and I stopped to rub it…
    When she was sure no one was still there, she said in a low voice, ‘What do we do with these?’ She meant the gowns.
    ‘Tear them off and I’ll stuff them back in the bag.’ I showed her.
    We listened for a few more minutes, then she said, ‘We’ll go out by the front.’
    ‘Why? We might be seen…’
    ‘If anyone’s watching, they’ll be at the back.’
    She lit the pencil beam and moved slowly down the shop. I followed.
    She was by the front door, fiddling with her keys. As I reached her, she said, ‘I’m going to make sure this one doesn’t bleep.’
    She found the right key, unlocked the door, but didn’t open it. Instead, she keyed in the number, then said,
    ‘Put your finger on this button, and the moment I open the door, press it – OK?’
    I nodded. She checked I had the right one, eased the door open –
    ‘ Now …’
    I pressed the button – silence. She slid out. I followed. There was no one around. She pulled the door shut and relocked it. Still silence. She whispered, ‘Keep to the side. Don’t run.’
    She walked away, staying close to the side of the building. I followed. We didn’t say anything until we were in the car. She started the engine, said,
    ‘I’m not going back that way, you’ll have to direct me to your place.’
    ‘Down here, second left.’
    She drove away. I said, ‘Who raised the alarm?’
    ‘I don’t know. Probably the people in the flat.’
    ‘I thought you said they wouldn’t hear anything.’
    ‘I said it was unlikely… they might have, I suppose.’
    ‘D’you think they’re part of it?’
    ‘If they were, would they have called the cops?’
    ‘They might…’
    ‘Yeah, they might.’
    She drove in silence for a few minutes, then said, ‘Did you shut the door behind you? The back one, when we went in…’
    ‘I didn’t realise I was supposed to.’
    ‘Well, I expect it was when they found it open, they came in. They might not have otherwise.’
    ‘I didn’t want to come,’ I reminded her.
    We continued in silence till she pulled up outside my house fifteen minutes later.
    ‘D’you want to come in?’ I said. ‘We need to talk.’
    ‘We can talk here.’
    I was about to ask what was wrong with my house when she pulled out a tobacco pouch and started rolling a cigarette. Her car. She wound down her window and lit it. Pulled a drag.
    I said, ‘It’s only just occurred to me – why did we have to hide from the cops anyway? You could’ve shown them your warrant card, couldn’t you?’
    ‘They might have had whoever raised the alarm with them, which would’ve got back to the perps and told them we were onto them.’
    ‘They’re going to know now anyway, aren’t they?’
    ‘I don’t think so. The door could’ve easily been left open earlier, which could’ve triggered the alarm.’
    I said, ‘It would help to know who raised the alarm, wouldn’t it? Is it worth asking the cops?’
    ‘I’ll talk to the boss about it.’
    ‘I mean, the local cops do know you’re here, don’t they?’
    ‘I doubt those two who came a-calling do.’ She went on, ‘I’ve had a