Killing Me Softly by Nicci French Page B

thing –’
    ‘Sylvie!’ I said in horror. ‘For God’s sake.’
    ‘Well, they do,’ she said pertly, relieved to be back on familiar territory, reckless Sylvie talking dirty. ‘Or at least metaphorically. You should just be careful, that’s all. I’m not saying you shouldn’t do it. Enjoy. Do it all, go wild, as long as it isn’t actually a physical risk.’
    ‘What are you talking about?’
    She looked prim all of a sudden. ‘You know.’
    We ordered more coffee and Sylvie continued to grill me, until I looked at my watch and saw it was just a few minutes until half past. I reached for my purse. ‘I’ve got to go,’ I said quickly. After I’d paid, Sylvie followed me out on to the pavement. ‘So which way are you going? I’ll come along with you, Alice, if that’s all right.’
    ‘Why?’
    ‘There’s a book I need to buy,’ she said brazenly. ‘You’re going to a book shop, right?’
    ‘It’s fine,’ I said. ‘You can meet him. I don’t mind.’
    ‘I just want a book,’ she said.
    It was only a couple of minutes’ walk away, a shop that specialized in travel books and maps.
    ‘Is he here?’ asked Sylvie, as we walked inside.
    ‘I can’t see him,’ I said. ‘You’d better go ahead and find your book.’
    Sylvie mumbled something doubtful and we both wandered around. I stopped in front of a display of globes. I could always go back to the flat if he didn’t show. I felt a touch from behind and then arms around me, someone nuzzling my neck. I turned round. Adam. He put his arms round me in the way that felt as if they were wrapped around me twice. ‘Alice,’ he said.
    He let me go and I saw there were two men with him looking amused. They were both tall, like Adam. One had very light brown, almost blond hair, smooth skin, prominent cheekbones. He wore a heavy canvas jacket that looked as if it should have been worn by a deep-sea fisherman. The other was darker, with very long wavy brown hair. He wore a long grey coat that reached almost down to his ankles. Adam gestured to the blond man. ‘This is Daniel,’ he said. ‘And this is Klaus.’
    I shook their very large hands in turn.
    ‘Good to meet you, Alice,’ said Daniel, with a little bow of the head. He sounded foreign, Scandinavian maybe. Adam hadn’t introduced me but they knew my name. He must have told them about me. They looked at me appraisingly, Adam’s latest girlfriend, and I stared right back, willing myself to hold their gaze and planning another shopping spree very soon.
    I felt a presence at my shoulder. Sylvie. ‘Adam, this is a friend of mine, Sylvie.’
    Adam looked round slowly. He took her hand. ‘Sylvie,’ he said, almost as if he were weighing the name in his mind.
    ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘I mean, hello.’
    Suddenly, I saw Adam and his friends through her eyes: tall, strong men who looked as if they had come from another planet, dressed in odd clothes, beautiful and strange and threatening. She stared at Adam, mesmerized, but Adam turned his attention back to me. ‘Daniel and Klaus might seem a bit out of it. They’re still on Seattle time.’ He took my hand and held it against his face. ‘We’re going round the corner. Want to come?’ This last was addressed to Sylvie and he looked sharply back to her. I swear that Sylvie almost jumped.
    ‘No,’ she said, almost as if she had been offered a very tempting, but very dangerous, drug. ‘No, no. I’ve, er, got to…’
    ‘She’s got to buy a book,’ I said.
    ‘Yes,’ she said, falteringly. ‘And other things. I’ve got to.’
    ‘Some other time,’ said Adam, and we left. I turned and gave Sylvie a wink, as if I were on a train that was pulling out of a station and leaving her behind. She looked aghast, or awestruck, or something. As we walked Adam put his hand on my back to guide me. We made a few turnings, the last of which took us into a tiny alley. I looked questioningly at Adam but he pressed a bell by an anonymous-looking door and