"Come on, let's get some clothes on and your hair combed." I was really fighting for words now.
She just sat there. Then, as I started to pull her shirt on, she said quietly, "Mommy and Daddy are dead, aren't they?"
Getting her arms into the shirt suddenly became very interesting
"What makes you say that? I told you, I'm just looking after you for a while."
"So I'm going to see Mommy and Daddy again?"
I didn't have the words to use, or the guts to tell her.
"Yes, of course you will. It's just that they had to go away really quickly. I told you, it was too late to pick you up, but they asked me to look after you. As soon as they come back I'll take you to Mommy and Daddy and Aida. I didn't know it was going to take this long; I thought it was going to be only a couple of hours. But they will be back soon."
There was a slight pause as she worked through it all. I got her panties and placed her feet in them and pulled them up.
"Why didn't they want to take me. Nick?" She sounded sad at the thought.
I moved over to the chair and picked up her jeans. I didn't want her to see my eyes.
"It isn't that they didn't want to take you, but there was a mistake made, and that's why they asked me to look after you."
"Just like Home Alone I turned around and saw that she was smiling. I had to think about that one.
"Yeah, that's right, just like Home Alone. They left you by mistake!" I remembered watching it on a flight.
Shitty film but good booby traps. I busied myself with her jeans again.
"So when are we going to see them?"
I couldn't spend all day picking up two bits of clothing. I did a half turn and walked back toward the bed.
"That won't be for a while yet, but when I spoke to them just now they wanted me to tell you that they love you, and they're missing you, and to do everything I say and be a good girl."
There was a beaming smile on her face. I wished I had the courage to tell her the truth.
I said, "Kelly, you must do what I say, do you understand that?"
"Yeah, I understand."
She nodded, and I saw a little child needing affection.
I gave her my best attempt at a smile. I looked into her eyes.
"Come on, cheer up. Let's watch TV" We both went back to watch the Power Rangers, with a can of Mountain Dew. I couldn't take my mind off the news broadcast. Kelly's photograph had been on the TV. The receptionist the clothing store clerk, anyone might remember her. Surely the embassy had called London by now, surely every fucker knew what was going on because it was splashed all over the news. No need to wait three hours before making the call.
I'd have to go to the outside phone again because I didn't want Kelly to hear. I put Kev's jacket on, slipped the TV remote control into a pocket, told her where I was going, and left.
As I came to the stairs by the Coke machine I looked down.
Two cars had pulled up outside the reception lobby. Both were empty, but their doors were still open as if the occupants had piled out in a hurry.
I looked again. Besides a normal radio antenna each vehicle had a two-foot antenna on the back. One of the cars was a white Ford Taurus, the other a blue Chevy Caprice.
There was no time to think, just to turn around and run toward the rear fire exit like a man possessed. Now wasn't the time to worry about how they'd found us. As I ran, the options started to race through my mind. The obvious one was to leave Kelly where she was and let them pick her up. She was a millstone around my neck. On my own, I could get away.
So why did I stop running? I wasn't too sure; instinct told me that she had to come with me.
I doubled back and burst into the room.
"Kelly, we've got to go! Come on, get up!"
She'd been drifting off to sleep. There was a look of horror on her face because of my change of tone.
"We've got to go!"
Grabbing her coat, I picked her up in my arms and started toward the door. I snatched up her shoes and stuffed them into my pockets. She made a sound, half-frightened, half-protesting.
"Just hold on!" I said. Her legs were wrapped around my waist.
I came out onto the landing. I closed the door behind us, and it locked automatically. They'd have to break it down. I did a quick check down the corridor, not bothering to look below to see what was happening. I'd know soon enough if they were behind us.
I turned left and ran to the end of the corridor, turned left again, and there was the fire exit. I pushed the bar and it opened. We came out onto an open concrete staircase at the rear of the hotel, facing the shopping mall about a quarter of a mile away. Kelly started to cry.
There was no time to be nice. I got hold other head so that her face came right up to mine.
"People have come to take you away, do you understand that?" I knew it would frighten her, and that it would probably fuck up her mind even more, but I didn't care about that.
"I'm trying to save you. Shut up and do what I say!"
I squeezed her cheek hard and shook her face.
"Do you understand me, Kelly? Shut up, and hold me very tight."
I buried her face in my shoulder and lunged down the concrete stairs, looking for my escape route. Ahead of us lay about forty yards of rough grass, and beyond that a six-foot chain-link fence that looked old and rusty. On the other side of that was the rear of the long row of office buildings that faced the main road. Some were brick, some were plaster, all different styles built over the last thirty years. The rear administration area was strewn with clutter and large Dumpsters.
There was a pathway running across the empty ground, and it went through at a point where a whole section of the chain-link fence had crumpled or been pulled down. Maybe the hotel and office workers used it as a shortcut.
Carrying Kelly was like having a rucksack on the wrong way. That was going to be no good if I had to run fast, so I threw her around onto my back, linking my hands under her butt so I was carrying her piggyback. I got to the bottom of the stairs and stopped and listened. No sound of them shouting or breaking down the door yet. The urge was just to run for it across the grassy dirt toward the gap in the fence, but it was important to do this correctly.
Still with Kelly on my back, not bothering to tell her what was happening, I got onto my hands and knees. I lowered myself to within about a foot of the floor and slowly stuck my head around the corner. There was a chance that once I'd seen what was happening, I'd choose a different route.
The two cars had pulled up to the bottom of the staircase by the Coke machine. The fuckers were obviously upstairs. I didn't know how many of them there were.
I realized that the ground was in fact dead ground to them now, and started running. The rain had been light but constant, and the ground was muddy. It was reasonably well looked after, littered only here and there with bits of paper, old soft drink cans, and burger wrappers. I kept heading for the gap in the chain-link fence.
Kelly was weighing me down; I was taking short, quick strides and not bending my knees too much, just enough to take her weight, bending forward from the hips. She made in voluntary grunts in time with the running movements as the wind was knocked out of her.
We reached the broken section of fence, which was buried in the mud. I heard the screech of tires, then the sound of protesting suspension and body work. I didn't bother looking around, just dug deep to try to lengthen my stride.
Once through, we were faced with the rear of the office buildings. I couldn't see the alleyway we'd come through earlier. I turned left, looking for any other route through to the main drag. There had to be one somewhere.
Now on asphalt, I could make good speed, but Kelly started slipping. I shouted, "Hold on!" and felt her tense up more.
"Harder, Kelly, harder!"
It wasn't working. With my left hand I got hold of both her wrists and pulled them down in front of me toward my waist.