“No, I haven’t seen him since this morning.But—”
“Has a bloke been round asking after him?”Si cut her off.
“Iwasabout to mention that.I see those psychic abilities are coming along nicely.”
“No—look, Es, it’s important.Was it an older bloke, uh, with a gold tooth?”
“Yes.He said he was Zig’s father and that he’d heard Zig was living here.I didn’t much like the look of him, to be honest, so I simply said that any guests you might have were none of my business, there was nobody in the flat at the moment, and I couldn’t say when anyone might be back.I invited him to leave a number, which he declined.”
“Es, you’re a treasure.”
“Ishe Zig’s father?”
“Seems so.But he’s bad news.”
“I could have told you that.I had to burn sage to cleanse the atmosphere after he’d gone.”
“If he comes back, call me.If you can’t get me, call someone else.Or...or the police.I mean it, Es.He ain’t good news.”
“Noted.And if I see Zig, I’ll tell him to call you.”
They said their goodbyes and hung up.Si’s stomach was churning.It was killing him, being stuck at work while Zig could be in trouble.Thank the gods he wasn’t out on calls this afternoon—or would that have been better?Maybe he could have kept an eye out while he was on his way around?
A customer came into the shop, and Si forced himself to focus on home security.Once they’d gone, he checked the time.Almost five.They closed at six; should he beg off early?Say it was an emergency?Another customer came in before he’d come to a decision.
Sod it.How much harm could Zig’s dad do in—Si checked—three quarters of an hour?It’d take most of that for anyone to get here to cover him.Course, he could close the shop early...but that wouldn’t be fair on the customers.Or the boss.And for what?A vague presentiment of doom?
Every second seemed to take an hour to tick by as he watched the clock—when he wasn’t dealing with customers or answering the phone.When Si finally looked up from the last call, it was two minutes past six.He surged into action, flipping the sign to Closed, locking the door, cashing up, and finally,finallygrabbing his coat.
Si only stopped at the flat long enough to be certain Zig wasn’t there, then he headed out to the Prince of Wales.Gods, the streets werefullof people.He wanted to shout at them to get out of his way.Didn’t they know this was an emergency?
Could be nothing, though, a voice in his head kept on telling him.It sounded a bit like Sash.Could be Zig’s dad found him, Zig told him to piss off, and everything’s hunky-fucking-dory.Si wished he could believe it.
He was so lost in his thoughts, he didn’t notice Adam until he’d practically walked slap bang into him coming out of the pub.
“You’ve spoken to Zig, then?”Si blurted out, taking a step back.It was decent of Adam to come out to warn him.
“Yeah...”Adam’s tone was grim.
It worried Si.“And?”
“He’s not inside.I asked at the bar.They said he’d gone out the back to talk to this older bloke who came in asking for him.”
“You mean his dad.”Si took a step towards the side alley.
Adam grabbed his arm.“Right.Look, maybe hold back a mo?”
“Why, for gods’ sake?”
“Well, for a start, if you go barrelling in there in the mood you’re in right now, you might end up starting a brawl.Zig ain’t gonna thank you for losing him his job.”
“I ain’t in a mood,” Si growled out.
“Mate, you look like you’re this close to punching someone.”
“I can control myself.”
“Can you?And...”Adam made a face.“You’re not gonna like this, but...Zig told you him and his dad had fallen out, right?That he sent his dad tojail.So how come when I stuck my head round the back, I saw them having a cosy little conversation like nothing’s wrong?”
