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‘He’s in his eighties. He’s my West Country grandfather. Although he’s hardly around anymore.’
‘So you run it for him?’
Laurie let out a snort. ‘In actuality, yes, in job title, no. I’m just an admin assistant who does everything from accounts to driving the forklift.’
Ben frowned. ‘So what do the other staff members do?’
Laurie let out a puff of air. ‘Make a five-minute job last all day, piss about on social media or wait for their turn to ask me to do their job for them.’
Ben looked confused. ‘And you stayed? Why didn’t you leave? Do something else?’
‘If I left the company would collapse. I can’t do that to my West Country grandfather. I did go for a promotion a while back, but he gave the job to someone who had been there longer than me. It’s just how it is.’ She sighed. Reality was seeping into the moment like a bad smell. ‘So, future Mr Dover,’ she said with a broad West Country accent. ‘Where you be to then?’
Ben’s face creased with a grin. ‘You’ve got the lingo down pat. Have you ever used that line on your family?’
‘I once asked ‘where that be to?’ in reference to a bottle of ketchup, and my dad asked if everyone spoke funny down here.’
Ben nodded solemnly. ‘He’d be right.’
Laurie giggled, aware she’d laughed more in one night than she had in years. ‘But you don’t have a West Country accent. I can hear an American twang in there.’
He stroked his finger down her cheek. ‘Laurie Dover, you’re incredible. You’re the first person who’s ever noticed. I did an MBA in the States and got a job there. I wanted to come back to be closer to my parents. I’ve only been back a couple of days.’
She heard a thundering of footsteps, then a loud banging on the door.
‘Anyone in there?’
Laurie jumped up in panic, pulling the hem of her skirt down. Ben strode to the door, tucking himself back into his trousers and zipping them up.
‘Yes, is everything under control downstairs?’
‘It’s contained. We need to take statements from everyone. Can you open the door?’
‘Give me a moment.’
Laurie was struggling to refasten her bra and top. She stared at him in panic.
‘You stay here,’ Ben said. ‘Let me see what they want and I’ll come back for you as soon as I can. Okay?’
She nodded. Ben pulled the vending machine back enough so he could slip out the door. She heard their footsteps going down the stairs. Was it really okay down there? She shuddered. She only felt safe with Ben next to her; she didn’t want to leave the room without him. Laurie straightened her clothes and sat on the sofa to wait. The sooner he came back, the better.
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Ben didn’t return. After ten minutes there were more footsteps, but it was two police officers. She pulled back the vending machine, and they entered the room and took her details.
‘Can I leave now?’ she asked. ‘I need to find my friends.’
They shook their heads. ‘This is an active crime scene. We need to take witness statements first.’ The officer looked around her. ‘We’ll turn this into an incident room and start with you.’
‘What are your friends' names?’ asked the other officer.
‘Shelley Lawler and Denise Taylor.’
He nodded. ‘I’ll go and let them know you’re safe.’
It felt like an age before she’d given her statement, and with every tick of the clock on the wall, she felt Ben slipping away from her. Where had he gone? Why hadn’t he come back? She wasn’t even allowed to leave the room on her own, as Harriet, one of the more aggressive hippos, was still on the loose. Finally, a man wearing a flak jacket, beard and grim expression escorted her down the stairs, an assault rifle wedged into his side.
