The Stranger, Mark Ayre [microsoft ebook reader .TXT] 📗

she tumbled to the floor. Rising, Travis puffed out his chest. What little of it there was, anyway. Ignoring him, Abbie turned to Clarissa.

“Young lady, you must find a way to see sense. Do you know what he texted me earlier? Right after he slept with you?”

Abbie looked at Travis to see what effect her words were having. Travis only smiled. His eyes gleamed. What a lot of fun this was, he was thinking. Perhaps this was even how he dreamed it. Abbie would find him and try to reclaim the items he had stolen. They would scrap, and he would pin her down, at which point she would succumb to his animal magnetism.

It was a repulsive thought. Abbie wished it would go away.

“Yes,” said Clarissa. “Trav tells me everything. He texted because you were ignoring our demands. We needed to warn you if you didn’t give us what we wanted, the book would go to the wrong kinds of people.”

Abbie shook her head. The poor girl had no idea. Regurgitating the few tidbits of information Travis had fed her.

In the doorway, Michael stood quiet, contemplating. Occasionally he looked to Clarissa, but there was no compassion in his eyes. It was like he was seeing her for the first time.

Abbie said, “Fine. I’ll pay up, then you can give me my property.”

Clarissa rose to her knees, shuffled forward. Like an obedient puppy, she went to nuzzle Travis’ palm, but Travis jerked away. After Abbie’s date, she had changed into her new jeans, boots, and top. The top was tighter than the dress but not so tight as had been the top on which Kline and Ronson had rudely bled. Reaching in, she began fiddling, struggling.

“What are you doing?” said Clarissa.

“Taking off my bra,” said Abbie, as though this was obvious.

Travis’ eyes lit up.

“Why?” said Clarissa. Now the girl got to her feet and stood shoulder to shoulder with the boy to whom she was devoted and who held her in nothing but contempt.

Abbie paused. “You wanted me to pay up. That’s what I’m doing. Actually, could you take the picture? Reason I’ve held out was fear that, in taking it myself, I wouldn’t do the goods justice, if you know what I mean. You’ll get a shot of which I can be proud. I know you will.”

Unlocking the phone, she passed it to Clarissa, then reached for the hem of her top and prepared to pull it over her head.

“Wait, I don’t understand,” said Clarissa.

“Was this not what you wanted?” said Abbie. “This is what Travis’ text specified.”

“No,” said Clarissa. “No. Five grand. By the end of the day.”

Abbie feigned confusion. “Well, this is embarrassing. Did I misunderstand? The text icon is in the bottom left there, maybe if you click it and check the request. Tell me how I misunderstood. Oh, I’m so flustered and frustrated with myself. What a fool I’ve been.”

As Clarissa looked at the bottom of the screen on the phone Abbie had handed her, Travis realised what was happening. He put a hand on her wrist, then tried to take the phone.

“Ignore that,” he said, but Clarissa jerked away. When Travis tried to follow, Abbie grabbed his arm to halt his progress.

On the phone, Clarissa’s hands were shaking. The texts had been stored on the sim, so Clarissa had both the original ask for the nude and the derogatory comments the boy she loved had made about her. As she reached the end, tears sprung into her eyes.

Abbie released Travis and adjusted her bra, which had shifted into an uncomfortable position while she was engaging in her own bit of amateur dramatics.

The phone slipped from Clarissa’s hands.

Travis approached her.

“Babe, it’s a bit of—“

A knee to the groin crushed the end of the sentence and caused Travis’ lungs to evacuate. Gasping, eyes bulging, Travis went to ground, curling into the foetal position as he put his hands between his legs.

“You shit,’ said Clarissa.

“Good connection,” said Abbie, collecting her phone from the floor. Luckily, the drop hadn’t damaged it. Abbie couldn’t have faced asking Ben for a second new phone in a day. “Where’s my book?”

Clarissa looked at Abbie with wide eyes that appeared to belong in a girl far younger than sixteen. Abbie allowed her a moment. The girl turned and went to the bed, lifting the mattress to reveal the little black book.

“I didn’t look in it,” she said, handing it over. “Travis wouldn’t let me. I promise I had no idea what he’d asked of you. I swear.”

“I believe you, sweetheart,” said Abbie. “You just thought he was trying to rob me, which is comforting.”

Clarissa’s face flushed red, and she looked at the ground. She didn’t try to explain away her indefensible actions. That was something, at least.

As Abbie slipped the book back into her drawstring bag, Michael stepped into the room. After a glance at the still groaning Travis, he turned his attention to the black bag which Abbie had already claimed and which now hung off her wrist.

“So what now?” he asked. “We give that to Francis?”

“I’d quite like to know why he wanted it,” said Abbie. Then, to Clarissa, “Did Travis work that out?”

“He said it would be the phone, but he didn’t look inside. I think he was afraid.”

“What did he think; there might a ghost in here?”

No answer. Abbie again unclasped the bag, but this time removed the phone. It would probably be locked. Abbie would never know because it had also run out of battery. It was an iPhone, and there was bound to be an iPhone charger around. Before Abbie asked for one (on the off chance the phone wasn’t locked), she took out the purse and card.

In the purse, there was nothing but bank cards Leona would by now have cancelled and ten pounds in cash. Despite the smaller amount, Abbie was interested to see Travis hadn’t pinched the note. This indicated Clarissa hadn’t been lying and hadn’t been lied to; Travis hadn’t opened the bag.

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