Kim looked at Leanne, who nodded her understanding.
‘Fair enough. Now you can go,’ Leanne said.
‘Hey,’ Kim said. ‘Only I get to throw Frost out of my house.’ She turned to the reporter. ‘Now piss off.’
‘Gladly,’ Frost said, heading for the hallway.
Kim followed her and opened the door. Frost was two steps out of the house.
‘Oi,’ Kim shouted.
Frost turned.
‘Do what she said.’
‘Yeah, you too,’ Frost said, before turning away and heading out of the gate.
Kim closed the door and felt a weariness wash over her.
After a day like today she’d normally spend a few hours on the bike, talking to and fussing Barney before taking him for a long walk before bed. Barney was having a whale of a time, judging by the photos of him running on the beach sent to her phone by Charlie.
Leanne was no replacement for her best friend, she thought as the woman entered the kitchen doing something on her phone.
‘Who’s delivering your meal tonight, the SAS?’ Kim asked.
‘Nope, Just Eat. Want anything?’
Kim shook her head. She wasn’t hungry. All she wanted was a bit of time on her own.
Leanne’s phone tinged receipt of a message.
‘Food order?’ Kim asked.
Leanne shook her head as she approached the alarm panel.
‘No, it’s a reminder that we’ve been in the house for fifteen minutes and the alarm hasn’t been rearmed.’
‘For fuck’s sake. This is worse than prison. Am I under curfew now?’
‘Jesus, your boss was right about the drama. The system is doing exactly what we asked it to.’
‘Well I might accidentally just switch the bloody thing off just for my own amusement as soon as your back is turned,’ Kim said, feeling her irritation at the constraints boil over.
‘Go ahead, but you won’t much care for the security team that breaks down your door.’
‘What bloody team?’
‘It’s not a standalone alarm with just an audible siren. Nobody even listens to them anymore. The system is linked to an alarm receiving company who will dispatch manpower if we don’t stick to the protocols we’ve set. The external cameras are now being monitored by them.’
‘That’s why you didn’t go to bed,’ Kim observed. ‘And now I can’t even go outside my own home without appearing on someone’s monitoring screen. You know, Leanne, I sure am glad you came.’
‘You’re welcome.’
Kim could think of few people who infuriated her more than this woman, and being stuck with her twenty-four hours a day was really starting to get on her tits.
She couldn’t even go outside for a breather without setting off some kind of tripwire or motion sensor.
‘I’m going for a bath or a shower or maybe both. I’m going to be in the bathroom some time and I don’t need your protection in there.’