Chapter 70
The rain smacked off the windscreen as the wipers struggled to make headway. The road surface looked like a thousand Gatling guns had been unleashed upon it simultaneously and the thunderous drumming on the roof made conversation impossible.
Almost as soon as it had arrived, it disappeared. There was an eerie silence then the sun broke free as water cascaded along the gutters and into the drains. Ten minutes later the street was dry again and Nicks opened the window to adjust the wing mirror.
“Have you noticed that?”
Simon unwrapped his Mars bar. “You sure you don’t want one?”
He was going to decline but after a moment’s thought, “Ah, fuck it. Go on.”
Si handed him a fun-size bar. “Anyway, noticed what?”
Nicks chewed his way through the contents of his mouth before answering. “That grey Honda back there, tucked in behind the blue van.”
Si adjusted the interior mirror. “Got it. Can’t say I have. Why?”
He was pensive. “Just a feeling I’ve seen it before.” He took another from the bag, unwrapped it and popped it in his mouth. When he’d finished it, he said. “Just take a drive round the block. See what it does.”
As they re-entered the street and drove past, he glanced at the occupant. Nondescript, glasses, mid-forties, hair starting to recede, sat with an old-style briefcase on his lap from which he was pulling a sheaf of papers. Probably an insurance agent, he decided.
They went round the block again and chose a different parking place, this time fifty metres behind the grey Honda, on the same side. Although he wasn’t overly concerned, it was best to keep an eye on it.