Wild Fiction

He found the bug unlocked which made the coat hanger in his hand redundant. The wire cutters, screwdrivers and shifting spanner, however, were not. He looked at his watch, it read 9:37. The screwdrivers removed the plastic cover below the steering wheel and the brackets holding the wiring harness to the steering shaft. He cut the green/yellow wire and the blue one and joined them together. He did the same to the red and black and then, with the red/white and black/white, he touched them together and the starter motor turned over and the car kicked into life. He looked at his watch again, 9:41. ‘I could have done that in a quarter of that time ten years ago,’ he said to the bug, patting the dashboard and revving the engine.
The author swung the car hard into the driveway at Possum Lane. He slammed on the brakes too late and the car skidded on the loose gravel and hit the house making it shudder. The door opened and Conrad walked out and grinned when he saw what had happened.
‘Yes, very impressive,’ his grin broke into a laugh as he ran his hand over the crumpled front bumper.
The author grunted and scowled as he got out of the car. He looked at the front of the car and muttered under his breath.
‘I want to know everything,’ he said once inside and sitting with them.
They all spoke continuously, interrupting each other and filling the author in on all the events of the past few days.
‘And I’m sure that bastard Julius was lying to us – I didn’t trust him one bit,’ Conrad concluded.
‘Julius is fine, you can trust him,’ the author said. ‘He just looks like a shifty character. He’s actually probably the most honest out of all of them. I know the competition isn’t stiff but you can trust him. Believe me.’
‘Can we trust you anymore?’ Rebecca asked. Her eyes narrowed as she looked straight at him. ‘You lied to us about your fear of flying. Julius tells us that you fly there often. That you like Belize and are always off on jaunts there.’
The author avoided her stare and folded his hands under his armpits. ‘I’ve only recently become afraid of flying. When I was younger, I could do it all the time. It only scares me now.’
Rebecca nodded and her face relaxed. It was the way that he said it that made her believe him.
‘Do you have the key and the bank details?’ he asked.