Page 119 of A Long Way Back
Ink winced as he shouldered his backpack.
Tay tsked. “You should have packed it. And your guitar.”
“I need my things close to me.”
Tay stepped into Ink’s space and kissed him, just a brief brush of lips, but Ink’s pulse sped up.
“Am I a thing?” Tay asked.
Ink smiled. “Yeah. My most important thing.”
“That’s okay then.”
Tay put his laptop bag over his head, locked the flat, put the keys in an envelope and dropped it on the hall table. Ink pulled the front door slightly ajar and they waited. This should be easy, so why did Ink feel so anxious?
“We’ll buy food at King’s Cross to eat on the train. Okay?”
Ink nodded. He’d feel better when they were on their way out of London.
“I read there’s a trolley stuck in the wall with half a bird cage sitting on the top of the cases,” Tay said. “Maybe we’ll have time to look for platform nine and three quarters.”
“There’s a cab pulling up,” Ink said. “Keep your eyes open.”
“That usually stops me falling over.”
Ink smiled, though a surge of apprehension made him feel sick. It would only be a matter of time before Tay decided he’d had enough of his paranoia. But was his gut telling him trouble was outside the door, or just that there’d be trouble ahead? There was always trouble ahead.
He let Tay go first and gave him time to negotiate the steps, before he came out with Dog. The camera flash stunned Ink for too long a moment. More than one camera. Voices shouting. People coming towards him.Fuck.Adrenaline surged. He shoved Dog’s lead into a bewildered Tay’s hand and set off at a run across the gardens towards the high street. The pain was instant, his backpack banging his injuries through his jacket and T-shirt, and he pulled them round to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. He needed to move as fast as he could. They’d follow and he had to lose them.
When he glanced back, he saw two guys in pursuit, cameras hanging around their necks. One of them stopped to take a picture and Ink ran faster. The high street was busy and he sprinted down the edge of the road in the cycle lane until he reached the Tube station. He yanked out his wallet, slapped his card on the reader and chose a direction at random. He didn’t want to draw attention to himself, but he couldn’t afford to just stand on the escalator. He pushed his way past a group of tourists who weren’t standing on the right and ran down. He heard someone shout “Hey” and “Stop” behind him and Ink glanced back to see the two men following.
The moment he reached the bottom, he switched to the ascending escalator and ran up with his face averted. His heart was pounding, his breathing ragged, his fear off the scale. When his phone vibrated in his pocket, he knew it would be Tay, but he couldn’t speak to him yet.
Back at the top, Ink went down again. He turned his face as he fled down. The first platform wasn’t busy enough so he changed sides to head in a different direction, then moved to stand beyond one of the largest groups of people, hoping he’d be hidden while he watched passengers come onto the platform. The rattle of an approaching train grew louder. The board said it would arrive in one minute. When it pulled in, Ink stayed in the shadow of the biggest guy and stepped onto the train at his side. He wasn’t going to think about the fact that his back felt wet.
He stayed on the train until it reached Oxford Circus where there were more people around. He’d planned an indirect route to King’s Cross. But maybe he was wasting his time. If any of the press had followed Tay’s cab, they’d know where he was going.Shit.
Ink came up to the surface at St Pancras station because he was too tired to keep moving around and he was running out of time anyway. He didn’t think anyone was on his tail.I hope I’m right.As he walked to King’s Cross, he called Tay.
“Oh my God, where the fuck are you?”
“On my way. Was the cab followed?”
Tay gave a brief laugh. “The cabbie thought you were a film star. I told him we didn’t want anyone to know about us or where we were going. We went a roundabout route and no one followed. Are you okay?”
“Yes.” Apart from the sticky feeling on his back. “Where are you?”
“Platform nine and three quarters.”
Ink smiled. “Don’t go through without me.”
He kept his head down as he followed the signs for King’s Cross. When he spotted a cashpoint, he withdrew a hundred pounds. He felt a little better with money in his wallet because it gave him options.
Tay’s smile when he saw Ink approaching, warmed Ink’s heart. Dog pulled at his lead and wagged his tail. How long since anyone had been happy to see him? Tay grabbed hold of Ink’s hand, pulled him in and kissed him.Oh God, I should be running the other way not falling in deeper.
“We should have thought that through,” Tay said. “Planned a different escape route.”
“What? Dug our way out? Maybe we should try running at this wall. You go first.”
