“I don’t think there’s time,” Davina said as she reached into the junk drawer and came out with a roll of duct tape.
It took her a few minutes to secure Derek. He was lying on his belly with his ankles and wrists tied together behind him. As a last minute thought Davina put some tape over his mouth too. She never wanted to hear his whiny little voice again. When she’d finished she stepped over Derek, avoiding the puddle on the floor, and poured herself a cup of tea. It was a bit strong but she could live with it.
“Davy,” Jack said calmly. “You’re in shock, honey. You aren’t thinking straight. You need to leave your tea for a minute and come over here to untie me, then we can call the police together.”
Davina saw his mouth move, she heard the words and they even made sense. But they didn’t seem to matter that much. She pulled a stool out from under the counter, sat down, tugged the plastic container towards her and helped herself to a brownie.
“Davy.” Jack’s tone sounded a little more threatening.
The gooey chocolate block helped soothe her nerves a little as she considered her situation.
“Davy, untie me.” Now he was ordering her.
Davina sighed.
“You know what, Jack, I don’t think I will straight away. There are a few things I’d like to talk about first.”
His eyebrows shot right up his face.
“You have got to be kidding me,” he said.
“Nope.” Davina reached for another brownie. “We both know that you listen much better when you’re incapacitated.”
He glared at her for a minute.
“Fine,” he said through clenched teeth. “What’s so important that you have to talk about it now, like this?”
“Well, I think we need to talk about my script.” She looked him in the eye. “How can you say it’s rubbish when you only heard a sma
ll part of it?”
A slow smile curved his lips that made her stomach do flip flops.
“Seriously? That’s what you want to talk about?”
Davina nodded as she wiped chocolate from the corner of her lips. Derek groaned beside her and she reached out a toe to kick him.
“You be quiet,” she told him.
There was no more groaning.
“Call the police and then we can talk,” Jack said calmly.
Davina thought about it. She couldn’t see the harm in that. It would take them a while to get there. She put in the call, asking for Jack’s friend Andy rather than dialling the emergency number. Once she knew they were on their way, she picked up her script from the end of the kitchen counter and settled back onto her stool.
“Since I have your undivided attention,” she told Jack, “how about you hear the rest of the script? Then you can give an opinion that’s actually informed?”
Jack’s mouth fell open. Before he could say anything she started to read from page one. She glanced at the moron as he sat restrained in the chair. She bet he wouldn’t be grinning by the end of Act One.
Unfortunately Andy insisted on untying Jack.
“I’ll deal with you later,” Jack told her.
“Oo, scary,” Davina mocked.
There were policemen everywhere. Davina had tried to be hospitable, to make tea and hand out brownies, but Jack had explained to her that it wasn’t a social event. Her kitchen was a crime scene. Killjoy. So now she sat in the armchair in the bay window and glumly watched everyone work.
“Bet you wish you’d taken your job back now,” Andy said to Jack. “You’ll miss out on all the fun dealing with this one. On the plus side, you won’t be around the station when everyone hears you were tied up and had to be rescued by a girl.”