Page 29 of Caught in the Middle

Chapter Ten

Oliver had relieved Lucy of her driving duties, and had been driving deeper into the forest for less than half an hour before Oliver had stopped ripping her for her awful driving abilities.

'Remind me never to call you up to be the getaway driver for a hit and run,' he said, 'you wouldn't be able to get out of first gear.'

Lucy didn't mind, she was just happy to be able to talk to him like normal again. He had explained to her that now Joey's men knew where in the world they were, they had to stay as off the grid as possible. So no more scruffy council estates or grubby motels, because now he wasn't sure about who he could trust.

'It's just me and you now, kiddo,' he grimanced, 'never thought that bloody motel owner would ever rat me out, after all these years.'

Also, he told her, they'd have to stay out of anywhere with cameras, as they most certainly knew what car they were driving now.

The car in question looked very expensive, Lucy thought. As they were making their way down these tiny lanes in the forest, she shuddered every time a bush scraped past the window, or her head hit the roof when Oliver went too fast over an unsuspecting fallen tree.

Looking over at Oliver however, she noticed that he didn't flinch in the slightest.

'Do you not care that your very nice car is now trashed?' she asked him incredulously, as they forced their way through a mesh of nettle bushes.

'No, I'll just buy a new one,' he shrugged.

Lucy couldn't even afford to pay that months’ rent, so the idea that Oliver could just pick up a new car like he was popping out to the supermarket for a pint of milk baffled her.

'Huh...' she mused, 'you must be super rich.'

He laughed and shook his head. 'Jesus, kiddo, your mam never tell you not to talk about money?'

'I'm not talking about money, I was simply thinking out loud,' she quipped back.

After a moment of watching the roads twists and turns, she turned to face him again. 'Hey,' she said, 'I just realised, I have no idea what you do - wait... I actually know nothing about you! I don't even know your last name!'

'Didn't I just tell you that you there was a lot you didn't need to know about me?'

'Yes, but surely you're not so secretive that I can't even know your last name?'

He laughed again. 'The less you know...' he trailed off, not feeling the need to finish such an obvious statement.

'Okay, but what do you do then?' Lucy pressed.

He pondered this for a while, as if he couldn't decide whether to answer it.

'I'm a business man,' he finally said, 'I just dabble in a lot of things.'

'Nope,' Lucy replied immediately, crossing her arms in defiance. 'there's no way you'd know so much about this this mafia man, Joey, unless you were at least a little bit dodgy yourself.'

This amused Oliver, much to Lucy's surprise. He turned to face her, with that glint in his eye that she had began to crave.

'Aren't we all a little bit…dodgy?'

She playfully punched his arm. 'Don't try and turn this into a philosophy lesson, Mr. Mafia man. Literally, this is the first time I haven't seen you in a suit since you kidnapped me at my university, and besides, you have at least two guns.' She squinted her eyes as if putting him under scrutiny, 'No normal business man would be carrying a gun, let alone know that Britain's scariest mafia boss wanted me dead.'

'Hey, what can I say, I just like looking suave. And besides, you'll be happy that I'm carrying a gun or two tonight, when the wild bears try and eat you.'

'Huh?'

He looked over at her, a smirk tugging at his lips. 'Well, why do you think we are driving into the forest? I just told you we can be seen, going to have to camp I'm afraid.'

Lucy groaned. You got to be kidding me, she screamed silently.

There was very little in this world that Lucy hated more than camping. In fact, it was probably the thing she hated most. Why would anybody choose to sleep on the ground in a thin material dome thing, freezing their arses off, when they could be staying in a nice hotel or even a bloody caravan? Just something that can't be blown away with a little bit of wind!

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