Page 23 of Chaos & Carnage

“Who’s that?” he asked suspiciously.

My chest tightened quicker than my fist, a dull thudding punch of heaviness catching me by surprise, and all I could do was stare at him silently.

“This is Cade,” she started.

“And who the fuck is Cade?” he grunted.

Now I was on my feet, my fists in tight balls.

“He brought the Doberman in the other night.”

“And he’s here now because….”

“Because I’ve come to visit our girl Kinobi, mate.”

I hadn’t realised I’d stepped closer, cutting off his view of Alice with my body. My eyes solely focused on the man at the door, in jeans and a padded jacket.

“This is my boss, Stuart,” Alice’s voice trailed from behind me.

“Uh, huh.”

I stared at him and eventually he stepped sideways, edging his way into the room.

“Just need something from the cabinet,” he muttered.

“You still doing the emergency shift tonight, Stu?” Alice asked, her voice tentative.

“Well, if you’re already here…”

“Alice is going home,” I answered for her, ignoring the little tug against the leather at my arm. “Alice needs some downtime.”

The man in the jacket pushed his arms into the air in surrender.

“Just asking, mate. Just asking.”

*****

“You didn’t need to walk me home.” Little plumes of white swirled in the air above her head as she masked the shiver of her body.

“It’s late, dark and cold, babe.”

“I would have made it home safely, you know. I do it every night.”

“Not carrying a box of kittens, though.” I lifted the box out in front of me.

“Thanks, Cade,” she turned to me as we stopped at two red doors standing side by side against the pavement.

“You the top or the bottom?” I glanced up at the pair of flats we stood in front of, crumbling brick and gaps in the pointing.

“Top one.”

“You need a hand up?” I gestured with the box.

“No, I’ll make it. Thanks Cade.” She mumbled, her focus on her toes, avoiding my eyes.

Probably a good thing she left me on the doorstep tonight. My phone vibrated again in the inside pocket of my leather jacket.

“Make sure you get some sleep.” I passed the box of kittens to her before reaching into my jacket to pull out my phone.