‘Is it safe to go outside?’
‘Yep. It’s nice. View is amazing.’
‘I saw.’ Tango Two offers a smile and nods at the window.
Safa tuts. ‘We didn’t have a clue when we got here. I mean, where we were. Ben said to leave the shutter up so you’d be able to look outside.’
‘I see. Seems a good idea.’ Tango Two has no clue if it is a good idea or not, but knows to be agreeable. She chews slowly, thoughtfully. ‘Certainly a jarring place to wake up in.’
‘Say that again. You finished?’
‘Oh, yes. Thank you. That was very nice.’
‘Hey,’ Ben says as Safa walks back into the main room carrying the empty food tray. ‘Alright?’
‘Fine,’ Safa says. ‘She seems alright actually. Beardy? How’s the face?’
‘Sore,’ Harry says, sitting at the table with Ben.
‘Back in a mo.’ Safa dumps the tray and walks through the next set of doors down to Miri’s office. She stops to see the woman reading from either another or the same newspaper, which she folds and places down on the stack on her desk. A bigger pile rests on the floor nearby. Notepads and pens on the tabletop with an old smartphone, the earphone wires stretched across the desk.
‘Report.’
‘Same as before. Chatted a bit. Didn’t really say anything. Talked about exercise.’
‘Good. She may go silent to try and draw you out. That is fine if that happens. Be yourself, as I said before.’
‘Weird,’ Safa mumbles. ‘I told her who Harry is. So she knows who she has to get through if she thinks of escaping.’
Miri doesn’t reply.
‘That was it,’ Safa says.
‘Thank you.’ Miri lifts the newspaper up.
Safa sighs. ‘We’re almost out of food.’
‘We need money to get supplies.’
‘Whatever. Get money then.’
‘I am working on it,’ Miri says, reading the newspaper.
‘Fuck me, you’re not Roland, are you,’ she mutters as she leaves.
‘Correct. I am not Roland.’
Twelve
‘Wake up.’
‘Huh?’ Tango Two’s eyes come open as she sits up to stare round in the split-second panic of waking too fast from a deep sleep. She breathes hard. Not recognising where she is until the pennies start dropping one after the other. The first question in her mind is the same as the last thought before she slept. Why did Mother order them to kill me?
‘Are you hiding behind the door with the toothbrush?’ Safa’s voice calls through.
‘What? No . . . I’m . . . I’m in bed.’ Tango Two says, her voice rough from sleep.
‘Hope you are,’ Safa says, overly stating each word as the door handle starts going down. ‘I mean waiting to attack me, not that I hope you’re in bed. Bollocks . . . I am coming in . . . in case you wanted to attack me . . .’ The door opens. Safa looks in. Tango Two stares out. Safa shrugs. ‘Get up, breakfast.’
‘Yep. I mean, yes. Yes, of course,’ Tango Two says, blinking and forcing her brain to kick in. She slides off the bed, expecting the same wave of dizziness that kept coming yesterday. It comes, but weaker. Mild even.
‘It goes quickly,’ Safa says, seeing her holding the bed. ‘Use the ablutions, as Harry calls them. I’ll wait here.’
‘Of course,’ Tango Two says politely, walking from the room as Safa steps back from the door. She notices Safa is dressed differently, in jeans and a plain black T-shirt, with her boots on. She spots two mugs on the tray and glances again at Safa before going into the bathroom.
‘No rush,’ Safa calls out, picking up one of the mugs.
‘Thank you,’ Tango Two calls out. She goes for the toilet first. Sitting to relieve her bladder and hardly believing how well she slept last night. She expected to be tossing and turning. She expected nightmares, but she slept soundly, and that was after spending most of yesterday dozing. What happened? Why did Mother tell them to kill me?
How long has she been here? She tries to focus, feeling surprised at the lack of grasp she has on time. Two days? Three? This is the third day. Yes. Yes, it is. She shakes her head to try and clear the fug in her mind.
Miri visited yesterday. She walked in, looked round and nodded to Safa, who walked out. Then Miri sat down on one of the blue chairs and opened a paper notepad. She said she was called Miri and that they were going to debrief. She asked what happened that led to Tango Two being here, and listened as the agent recounted the events. Tango Two was truthful, but basic. She gave facts, but no opinion. She studied Miri, as Miri studied her. Sitting positions. Posture. Eye contact. Tone of voice. The way Miri held the pen, and every nuance available.
Once Tango Two finished her account, Miri did not ask any questions, but said thank you and left.
Later, while Tango Two was dozing on the bed, the doctor came to check her injuries. Safa was present the whole time. He gave her some pills to take and said they were just anti-inflammatories and pain relief. She was given food again too and drinks throughout the day, and every time she felt the jolt of knowing the woman bringing them was Safa Patel.
She rinses her hands and checks her reflection. The swelling is already going down. The bruises are still livid and she’s still sore everywhere, but healing quickly. She washes her face, dries off and walks out to see Safa by the window, clutching one of the mugs between her hands.
‘Have a shower, if you want.’
‘I can later,’ Tango Two says politely.
‘Sleep alright?’ Safa asks after a time, watching the other woman start eating. Tango Two didn’t think she would be hungry, but her appetite is strong and she tucks in. Just fruit, eggs and coffee, but it’s so nice.
‘Very well, thank you,’ she replies.
‘Does that here,’ Safa says after another brief silence. ‘I sleep like a log. Harry does. Ben didn’t for a while, but he was messed-up on bad meds and . . . some other issues. He sleeps alright now.’
Tango Two eats, knowing when to stay quiet and hoping Safa will feel the need to keep talking. All information is good information.
‘Nice day,’ Safa remarks, looking out the window. ‘Doc said you can go outside later for some air. Said your injuries are fine. I said I can give you some more, but he didn’t find it funny. Ben laughed. Harry smiled a bit, but then Harry doesn’t laugh out loud that much. Sounds like a donkey when he does though.’
Tango Two eats and listens. Nodding and making noises when appropriate.
Safa suddenly stops and grins with perfect white teeth showing through her darker skin tone. ‘Miri said that happens too.’
‘What’s that?’ Tango Two asks, wishing she had teeth like that.
‘Said cultivating can happen without you saying anything. We got trained like that in the police for interviews when we question the bad guys. Something about the use of silence to make the suspect need to speak. I was shit at it. My questioning technique was Did you do it? Did you do it? I’d ask that twice, then get bored and give up.’
Tango Two laughs. She was ready to force a fake laugh, and is surprised when the real thing comes out instead.
‘Yeah, so, stop cultivating me with your silence.’