Written In Blood

Chapter Fifty-Three

Zack whipped the curtains back, flooding the room with light, and then crossed to the bed. "Come on, time to get up."

"No it's not," a muffled voice replied. "It's still dark."

"If it's dark, why have you got the duvet over your face?" Zack asked of his friend, a smile playing about his lips. "Come on, get up." He yanked the duvet off the bed and out of Sophie's reach. "You said you're going to be my shadow and keep me out of trouble, well I'm going for a run, are you coming along to keep an eye on me or am I going alone?"

Sophie opened her eyes, which she had scrunched up when the duvet was pulled away, at that. "Are you out of your mind?" Propping herself up on one elbow, she looked at her friend disbelievingly. "You only got out of hospital last night, your back looks like a mass of freckles, and you had a buggered ankle only the other day; why the hell would you want to go running? And why the hell would you want to do so this early? What time is it anyway?"

"Half-six," Zack answered. "And no, I'm not out of my mind, at least not as far as I know. I'm going for a run because I'm awake and I've got energy to burn, now are you coming or not?" Before Sophie could respond, he said, "I'm going to put the kettle on and finish getting myself ready; I'll be heading out the door in about fifteen, with or without you." He exited the room, leaving Sophie staring after him with an expression that would have killed him, were it possible for a look to do so.

Sophie leaned over and retrieved the duvet, which she pulled up until it covered her so completely she was no longer troubled by the light filling the room. She remained like that for a little over a minute before deciding to give in to what she knew was inevitable; as much as she wanted to go back to sleep, she had promised Zack that she would stick with him until his troubles were over, and that was what she was going to do.

Reluctantly, she threw back the quilt and got to her feet so she could head along to the bathroom to get ready. It didn't take her long, and she was soon in the kitchen doorway, accepting a mug of coffee from Zack, who handed it to her with an amused smile on his lips.

"I hate you," she said, though that didn't stop her sipping eagerly at the drink, desperate to wake herself up.

"No you don't," Zack told her "You just hate mornings. You're like Garfield, you hate mornings and Mondays, and you love Lasagne. Now hurry up and drink your coffee, I want to get going."

Sophie regarded her friend over the top of her mug. "Why don't I just break your leg or something and then go back to bed?" she asked.

"'cause you'd have to catch me first." Zack dodged past her and headed for the front door. He stopped just outside to do some stretching exercises while he waited for Sophie, who didn't take long to join him. Despite his joking, he knew that if Sophie wanted to catch him, she could, and probably without too much effort; his injuries aside, he was a fairly fit person, but Sophie was one of those blessed people who remained in great shape no matter what they ate or drank, and without the need to do any exercise at all.

"Can I ask you something?" Sophie said as she set off down the road at her friend's side, Zack's spare water bottle in one hand.

"Of course you can, anything, you know that." Since he wasn't sure how his ankle was going to hold up, it felt fine while walking but running was different, he started them off slow, which meant they had plenty of breath for talking.

"Where were you last night?"

Zack frowned as he looked ahead, keeping an eye on the road. "What d'you mean?"

Sophie turned her head to study her friend for a moment. "I woke up in the night," she said. "Must have been around one, needing a pee, so I got up, and went to check on you while I headed to the bathroom. You weren't in bed, and you weren't anywhere in the house, I checked. And just when I was heading back to bed, worried obviously, I heard a car head up the road."

"You can't have looked very hard," Zack remarked. "I was in the back garden."

"What the hell were you doing out there? It must have been freezing."

"It wasn't too bad," Zack said with a shrug. "A little brisk, but nothing more than that. I was sitting on my rusty old bench, contemplating everything that's happened since I moved here; trying to decide what I'm going to do."

"And?"

A ghost of a smile touched Zack's lips. "I decided that moving here is just about the worst thing I've ever done; few people have made any effort to get to know me, I haven't been any more productive with my writing than I would've been if I'd stayed in Southampton, and the first chance they got, just about everyone who lives here decided I'm a rapist and a murderer.

"I can understand them wanting to believe it's me, a stranger, rather than someone they've known for most, if not all, their lives, but that doesn't make me feel any better about it. Worst of all, being here makes it tough for me to see Joanne, and I miss her."

Sophie didn't need to be told that last, she knew just how much Zack missed his daughter, she also knew why he had moved away – to escape the situation with his ex-wife, where she had made it almost impossible for him to see his daughter. She didn't agree with Zack's decision to move away, she thought he should have stayed and fought, but she could understand it.

"So, what are you going to do?"

"What can I do? I'm stuck," Zack said unhappily. "Between paying for the house and the cars, and my other bills, and the child support Cathy convinced the judge to set, I'm only just making ends meet. Moving here took what savings I had, it's going to be a while before I've got any space cash I can do anything with, especially with the royalty cheques only coming in every quarter." His frustration was plain to see. "I'd move back to Southampton if I could, but it's going to take at least a year to come up with the money to do that, assuming I can find a buyer for the house, which is doubtful after everything that's happened here. I definitely won't be able to find a quick buyer, not one who's willing to pay the full value of the house, and without that I'm stuck here."

"Why don't we sit down with a nice, big fry-up when we get back and see if we can't figure out a way to get you back to Southampton quicker than that," Sophie said, reaching out to give Zack a reassuring pat on the arm. "If it comes to the worst, you can always borrow my spare room."