Read See How They Run for Free Online Page B

assured of a green light, but not at the budget the producers wanted. Harry’s task was to wow the studio executives into pledging more cash.
    He had intended to call Alice around ten o’clock, but became so engrossed that when he finally broke away from the screen he discovered it was gone eleven.
    ‘Sorry,’ he said when she answered. ‘Really didn’t think I’d get caught up in work.’
    ‘That’s a good thing. Anyway, Steve’s here, so I’ll talk to you later.’
    She’d ended the call before he could say goodbye. Harry stared at the phone for a moment, trying not to read too much into her abruptness. It was a standing joke among their friends that he and Alice had a relationship that was, if anything, too harmonious. Harry didn’t think that was true – friends didn’t always get to see the little everyday squabbles and disputes – but he would happily concede that the bedrock of their marriage was their friendship: something that he believed would endure even if they were not together as partners. But now he was left with a disturbing sense that this event could turn them into strangers, forced to rebuild their relationship from the ground up, one brick at a time.
    And who was to say they’d fit together so perfectly the second time around?

    A lice had crossed the road without looking back at either number 43 or 45. Once Steve had parked, she greeted him warmly and led him indoors, all the while making light of the attempted break-in.
    ‘Harry heard them, thank God. He switched the lights on and went downstairs, and by then they’d gone. Probably just kids.’
    Steve took Evie and wandered into the living room. Alice was filling the kettle when he returned, frowning.
    ‘I was expecting to find some yobbo had kicked the door in, but this is pretty clean. They forced the lock without damaging the surround.’
    ‘That’s good, then. Easier to repair?’
    ‘It is. But I don’t think kids would have done that. Looks more like a professional job.’
    Alice forced a laugh. ‘Are you trying to scare me?’
    ‘Sorry, love. I just thought you’d have called the cops.’
    ‘What’s the point? It’s not like we can tell them anything.’
    ‘I suppose not.’ Still troubled, he scratched his head. ‘I’ll have a cuppa, then pop out and get you a new lock. Wickes all right for you?’
    ‘Yes, I assume so.’
    With a sly grin, he said, ‘I mean, round here you’re probably no one unless you’ve got the latest designer fittings …’
    ‘Very funny. For that you’re only getting one sugar.’
    They were chatting over tea and biscuits when Harry rang. Alice kept the conversation brief, not wanting Steve to pick up on any tension. Afterwards she announced that Evie was due her lunch. Steve looked blank for a second, then went slightly red.
    ‘Got you. I’ll make myself scarce.’
    He was gone for about twenty minutes, returning while she was in the middle of a feed. Breaking off to let him in, she carried Evie into the kitchen so that Steve could work undisturbed. It was as she transferred the baby to her other arm that Alice made sense of her vague reluctance to continue.
    So far today she’d only fed Evie from her right breast. She didn’t want to use her left: the one that had been mauled last night. Just the memory of that man’s filthy mouth caused waves of nausea.
    But she couldn’t let it haunt her. The build-up of milk would quickly become uncomfortable – and Evie certainly wasn’t going to differentiate. To her, food was food.
    She steeled herself to get on with it, staring fixedly out of the window until her mind went blank. When it was done, she carried the baby into the living room and set her down on the change mat. Steve had needed to make a few minor alterations to the door frame, enlarging the cavity to accommodate a sturdier lock, so the room was filled with the sweet aroma of wood shavings.
    ‘I love that smell,’ Alice said. ‘But I’m about to ruin it. Evie’s got a