Doctor Who_ The Hollow Men - Keith Topping [34]
Another vehicle pulled up behind him, the engine just audible above the music. Trevor was out of the car in seconds, his fingers tight on the trigger of the sub-machine-gun which he held out in front of him.
And there stood Rebecca, her hands on her hips, a scowl of suppressed amusement on her face. „Is that thing an extension of your penis, Trev?‟
„Jesus, Becky...‟ He tossed the gun on to the front seat of the car and came towards her, kissing her savagely on the mouth.
„Ah, ah, ah,‟ she tutted, pushing him away with a look of disapproval. „Business before pleasure, matey. I had to make more excuses than the captain of the Titanic to get here.‟
„Trouble?‟
„Not really. That girl who came with the Doctor is snooping around. She‟s harmless enough, though. Apparently the Doctor‟s missing. You wouldn‟t know anything about that, would you?‟
Trevor shook his head mutely.
„I‟ve had to leave her at the vicarage,‟ continued Rebecca. „I made up some cock-and-bull story about needing to see a sick friend.‟
„Charming,‟ said Trevor ironically.
„Come on,‟ said Rebecca impatiently. „I‟ve got to get back.
You said you could show me some merchandise.‟
„Well,‟ said Trevor, „As I told you in London, it depends on the amount of collateral damage you hope to cause.‟
„I want to blow the whole world ten feet off the ground,‟ said Rebecca with an anger that Trevor had seldom seen before.
„I‟ve got plastic explosives that‟ll shift it off its axis if that‟s what you want.‟ There was a dour sadness in his voice.
„Untraceable, too. If you‟re careful.‟
„Aren‟t I always?‟ she asked angrily. „Just show me what you‟ve got.‟ Trevor tugged at the tarpaulin in the back of the car to reveal rows of crates and boxes, stuffed with bubble wrap and terrifying weaponry. Rocket launchers, machine-guns, mines, timers and a bewildering array of explosives.
Many of them still carried small white tags, as if giving the prices of Action Man‟s latest accessories.
„I like your showroom, Trev,‟ smiled Rebecca.
„I don‟t,‟ he said sourly, glancing around him nervously.
„OK, what are you interested in?‟
Ace had let the rest of the day slip through her fingers like sand on a beach, and she felt a familiar frustration that the Doctor hadn‟t been more explicit with his instructions.
Actually, if truth be told, she had assumed that he would turn up, as ever, and was more irritated than concerned when he hadn‟t.
She‟d hung around the village, watching people come and go, but they seemed wary of her. She had the feeling that important things were happening, but it was always just out of sight, and whenever she approached people they would stop talking and let her pass, continuing their business only when she was out of earshot.
She glanced out of the window. Black clouds had come in from the west, and night had fallen quickly. There was rain in the air, but none fell. Ace could sense the nervous energy of those that braved the seats just outside the Green Man, and she wondered if Hexen Bridge was like this all the time.
No wonder everyone here was a loony.
From her room, high up in the inn, she could watch the entire village. In her position the Doctor would probably stand, brooding, hatching plans and schemes, alert for anything that went on beneath him. Ace found herself being distracted by the sound of a lovers‟ tiff, and the constantly changing, endlessly rolling grey-black clouds that reached down to brush the church spire and the Gothic pinnacles of the school.
The school. That was the place to start. After all, the Doctor had been there the previous evening, and as far as she could tell no one had seen him since. The obvious answer was that he had found out something he shouldn‟t, and was trussed up like a pig about to be spit-roasted.
She walked down the rickety back stairs and into the bar.
Bob Matson was noticeable by his absence, which suited Ace down to the ground.
Out on the green the lovers had come to some sort of sobbing