Читать книгу Born Scared - Kevin Brooks - Страница 16

Jenner glanced at his watch again.

It was 12.28.

They were parked across the road from the house, and so far things hadn’t been going quite as Jenner had planned. For a start, he hadn’t given any consideration to the possibility that the mother might not be at home, so when they’d arrived at the house twenty minutes ago and seen that her car wasn’t there, it had completely thrown Jenner off balance. And for another thing, once he’d decided that the only thing to do was wait, and hope the mother came back soon, he’d begun to realise that maybe their Santa Claus outfits weren’t such a good idea after all. As disguises, plain and simple, they were excellent. No one who saw them in their Santa gear could possibly give a meaningful description of them. Unfortunately, no one who saw two cheap-and-nasty Santas sitting in a parked Land Rover would ever forget them either, especially if they’d tried making conversation with them, which several curious passers-by had already done.

But there was no point in worrying about it, Jenner told himself. It was what it was, and there was nothing they could do about it. And besides . . .

‘About bloody time,’ he said as a silvery-grey Volvo pulled into the driveway.

‘Is that her?’ Dake asked.

‘Of course it’s her. Who else is it going to be?’

‘I don’t know, do I?’

Jenner watched as the mother got out of the car and scurried over to the front door, digging into her handbag as she went, looking – no doubt – for the door key.

‘She’s left it running,’ Dake said.

‘What?’

‘The car . . . she’s left it running.’