Before Another War

Chapter Nine

Raf hadn't been lying about his niece's clothes, but he hadn't seen her or his sister in a long time. 

As his car pulled up at the flats, he noticed how shaken up he was. It was a relief that only one person had been taken. But Raf couldn't help but wonder if they'd come after others too. At any minute, he felt he could be taken off the street and stuffed into an unmarked white van.

He tried to put the thought out of his head. Raf knew he wasn't brave, he'd already proved that to himself. Yet, he couldn't help wishing he was. To have Matt's giddy joy at finally being involved in something interesting, or to have Alex's enduring calm. He'd never once seen them scared. In the office, both of them had rushed towards the girl, while Raf had been stuck, frozen by his own fear. He'd been forced to watch everyone take action like a spectator at a football game. 

Raf had met Sapphire before. She'd been dragged along to various team outings Matt had planned. She'd always seemed happy, bubbly, and full of life. Seeing her so withdrawn had made him realise just how bad things had gotten. And it hadn't even been twenty-four hours yet.

 Beginning to regret saying that he'd help, Raf headed into the building and trudged through the grimy hallways. He prayed that Martha wouldn't be there, but alas, as he passed, there she was. The door was already swinging open, and she stood just outside as if she'd been waiting for him. Martha hadn't gotten dressed yet and was wearing an off-white dressing gown with tomato soup stains on the collar.

'Your little dog's been barking again,' she said, 'you'll want to keep him quiet if you know what's best for him.'

Raf was too preoccupied to give her a second thought so he gave Martha a pained smile and tried to rush past her. 

'Don't give him such a hard time,' Melissa called from her own flat. 

The walls were thin here. Melissa lived opposite Raf and was the only neighbour he got on with. He didn't know many other people in the building, having not taken the time to meet them. 

Melissa's door opened and she stuck her head out, raising one eyebrow at Martha.

'Me? Give him a hard time? Never.' She winked at Melissa like they'd just shared a joke. 

Raf was perplexed, are they friends?

'Sorry, I'm in a bit of a rush,' he said, feeling in his coat pockets for his keys.

'What's happened?' asked Melissa, sensing the tension in his voice.

'Someone at work's gone missing. I'm just trying to help out.' Finding the key, Raf hastily shoved it in the lock.

'Missing? Wow...' She glanced at Martha. 'Well, if you need anything-'

'Oh, leave him alone,' Martha interrupted.

Raf couldn't quite tell if she was joking or not. He gave Melissa a quick nod before escaping into his flat. 

Thank God, he thought, leaning against the closed door. Raf knew he was being paranoid, but Martha really worried him sometimes. To his relief, Roxy bounded up to him, delighted her owner was home so early, and wagged her tail so fast Raf thought it might fly off. 

After greeting the dog, he went to the spare bedroom. It was still full of his niece's old stuff. The room was a vomit-inducing pink — that was the way she used to like it. But she was fifteen now and had suddenly decided that pink was only for 'little girls'.

When Malika was in a bad way, Raf had stepped in to help look after her. It had come in handy today. He had a wide array of pink clothes to choose from. He took a moment to stuff a few outfits that weren't too bright into his rucksack before heading back to the door.