The male officer stepped forward. “Look, mate, one or two posters we can turn a blind eye to, but yours are pasted up over half of Lambeth. It’s remarkable the council haven’t slapped a fine on you already.”
“I’m not your mate.” Dylan’s arms were still folded, andLibby could sense him pulling his body up to its full, intimidating height.
“I’m going to ask you again, please remove all your posters,” the first officer said.
“No. They’re not doing any harm; we’re just trying to help a friend.”
What was Dylan doing? At this rate he was going to get them both arrested.
The officers exchanged a glance. “Do you really want to get yourself fined over this, sir? Because if you continue to refuse our request, then we have the power to authorize a—”
But Libby didn’t hear the rest of what the officer said, because at that moment Dylan grabbed her hand and yelled, “Run!”
CHAPTER
20
In the split second it took for Libby to work out what was going on, Dylan had started pulling her along the pavement, away from the police officers. She almost tripped over her feet, but his strong arm held her and she started to sprint alongside him. What the hell were they doing, running away from the police? They were bound to get arrested for this, and with the fly-posting offense as well, maybe they’d even be prosecuted. Libby picked up her pace. Dylan was still holding her hand, and he suddenly swerved out into the busy road. Libby squealed as they dodged through traffic until they reached the far pavement. She had no idea if the police were following them, but she didn’t want to slow down to look back.
“I need to stop. I’ve got a stitch,” she panted as she felt a stab of pain in her right-hand side.
“Over here,” Dylan said, and he pulled her right into a small alleyway between some shops, lined with industrial-sized green bins. At once they stopped running and released hands, and Libby bent forward, gasping for air.
“Oh . . my . . god,” she wheezed.
Beside her, Dylan was leaning against one of the wheeliebins, his body convulsing, and it occurred to Libby he might be having some sort of fit. “Are you okay? Should I call a...”
Dylan looked up and Libby could see that his whole body was shaking with laughter.
“Why are you laughing?” she shrieked.
“ ’Cos that was fun!”
“Are you kidding me?”
“Come on, you must have run away from the police before.”
“What? No! I’ve never even been stopped by the police, let alone run away from them.”
“Seriously? Not even when you were a teenager getting drunk with your mates?”
“Never! I swear, until today I’d never even been in trouble with a teacher at school, much less broken the law.”
Dylan shook his head in disbelief. “Wow, I’m not sure I’ve ever met anyone like you, Libby.”
“I’ve never met anyone like you either.”
As she said this, Libby glanced up and caught Dylan looking at her. He didn’t look away, and for a moment, neither of them spoke. Libby’s heart was hammering, and she was pretty sure it wasn’t from the running anymore.
“I really need to start doing some proper exercise,” she said, pushing her hair out of her hot face.
“Do you want me to get you some water?”
“No, I’ll be fine in a minute. Do you think the police will still be looking for us?”
“I doubt they even followed us in the first place; we’re hardly Bonnie and Clyde. But we can stay here for a bit if you like, to be safe. Let me find you somewhere to sit.” Dylan looked around, but the only objects in the alleyway were thebins and some abandoned crates. He picked up two crates and carried them over. “Your throne, madam.”
“Why, thank you, sir.” She sat down and Dylan took a seat next to her. After the excitement of their getaway, the alley suddenly seemed very quiet.
