Page 93 of Five for Silver

Josh pushed back into the sofa again,sloshing cola from his cup into the pizza box. “And how is itchaperoning the one-hundred-year-old devil incarnate?”

“Not fun. The sooner he dies, thebetter.”

“I’ll toast to that,” Josh lifted his papercup, and Chad did the same. They both downed them.

Chad rubbed his throat before fixating onthe rucksack again. “So…”

“No,” Josh said. “All the pizza needs to beeaten before we start onthat.”

“Is it a new games console?”

“No, and no more clues.”

Chad frowned but gave in after Josh glaredat him. The pizza didn’t last long, not with them both ravenous andMerc ready to gobble up any unwanted crusts. Josh held his fingersout for Merc to lick clean, much to Chad’s disgust.

“What?” Josh asked. “Why you looking at melike that?”

“It’s kind of gross.”

“Hey, at the shopping center there’s tanksof fish that eat bits of your feet. This is practically the samething.”

“If this is your business idea after youleave the police force, good luck to you.”

Josh wrinkled his nose. “You’ll be rightthere beside me.”

“The rucksack.” Chad asked.

“Okay, okay,” Josh replied. “Just let mewash my hands first.”

He left the room to wash them in thekitchen. Chad checked his phone and opened a message fromRomeo.

I can smell the grease from here.

Chad grinned, messaging back.

Smells good, doesn’t it? :)

“Right,” Josh said, strolling across theroom.

Chad pocketed his phone and looked up atJosh who hovered awkwardly. Josh bit his lip, reaching down for therucksack. He heaved it onto the table and tugged at the zip.

“Where to start…” he murmured.

“The beginning would be good,” Chadsuggested. “What’s going on?”

“Yeah, the beginning,” Josh let go of astrained laugh. He stopped opening the rucksack, and waited. Chaddidn’t know what he was waiting for. He flicked Josh in theribs.

“Why have you gotten so nervous?” Chadasked. “It’s me.”

Josh swung around to look at him. “I’m notnervous.”

His cheeks had pinked, he avoided eyecontact, and he mauled his bottom lip.

“I’ve literally seen you handcuffed to abed,” Chad reminded him. “You looked more at ease then than you donow.”

“That wasn’t a big deal.”

“Yes it was,” Chad mumbled. “I thought youwere dead. Remember.”

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