"What if it's a trap?" Steve had a bad feeling about the bookshop. It just looked out of place. "I'm sure it's a trap."
Dustin looked at him contemptuously.
"You're scared," he said. He shook his head in disappointment. "I expected more from you."
Steve looked at Dustin. During the course of the journey from Hawkins, that had lasted, seemingly, forever, he had decided he no longer liked Dustin. Dustin met his gaze. His disappointment was evident.
"I'm not scared," he hissed. He looked at Robin, then back at Dustin. "Maybe I am a bit scared," he said. "It's stupid not to be scared." He sighed and dragged his fingers through his hair. "We'll be no good to Hopper if we get caught."
"He's right," Robin said. She looked at Dustin and then back to Steve. "I hate to admit it, but you're right."
Steve raised his hands to the air. "Thank you," he said. "Thank you."
"So, I'll go in and you guys stay here…"
"Wait! What?" Steve was beginning to feel as if he was the only sane one between them.
"And if I don't come out, then you know to send the cavalry in." She smiled. "It'll be okay, Steve. They don't know me and I'm just one, lost tourist…I'll go in, assess the situation, maybe ask about the weather…"
"The weather?" Steve frowned.
"Yes Steve. You may have been playing with the plastic chicken." She rolled her eyes when Steve continued to stare at her blankly. "It's the code. For information. We have to…" She stopped. "Never mind. Just stay here."
"I'll go with you."
Robin looked at Dustin. "No. You stay with Daddy," she said.
Dustin now turned his contemptuous glare upon Robin. "If there are two of us and something happens, one of us can get help." He grinned. "You know it makes sense," he said. "I'll be the lookout."
"You'll be the lookout?" Robin looked at Steve. "Is he for real?"
"It's not a bad idea," Steve said. He shrugged.
"Okay," Robin said, sighing. "Let's do this."
"Wait!" Robin looked at Steve.
"Don't do anything stupid," he hissed at her.
Robin pulled a face at him and walked away.
"She said she doesn't like boys, Steve," Dustin said. He winked at him and clapped his back and then hurried after Robin.
Steve leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. He was hungry and it was getting cold and they were in the middle of nowhere and there was absolutely no way, they were going to find Hopper. They were stupid to have even tried.
He groaned quietly to himself and thought of chicken wings.
"Do you know what you're doing Lucas?" Max seemed to be challenging him.
"You don't need to worry about me, Max," he replied.
Jonathan looked between them both.
"Whatever's happened here," he said, gesturing with his hand, "between you guys I mean, needs to just be put on hold, okay? We need to focus on this and trust each other."
Lucas stared at Max. "I would always trust you," he said.
A smile glanced across Max's face. "I trust you too," she said.
"Okay, good." Jonathan switched the engine off and opened the car door. "Let's do this." He opened his boot and took out the bolt cutters and together they walked towards the Hawkins police station.
"I hope El was right," Jonathan mumbled under his breath.
"She was right," Max said.
He looked at her and nodded. "You ready?" Max nodded back. He turned to Lucas. "Ready?"
Lucas nodded. "Ready," he said.
Jonathan made a grab for Max, yanking her by the scruff of her t-shirt.
"Ow," she shouted. She struggled fiercely. "Leave me alone," she screamed. She began to lash out, swinging wildly with her fists.
Jonathan began to pant. "Jesus," he whispered. He kept a tight hold of her as he dragged her, kicking and screaming, all the way to the front of the police station.
Officer Callahan appeared at the doorway. He rushed out to help Jonathan, grabbing hold of Max who was red-faced and hissing like a cat.
"Calm down Missy," he said. He frowned at Jonathan. "What's with the wildcat?" he asked.
"Found them both vandalising my old house," he said through gritted teeth.
The officer glanced at the bolt-cutters and then looked at Lucas who looked down, seemingly contrite.
"You wanna think about who you're friends with son," he said to Lucas, pushing him ahead into the station. He turned to help Jonathan haul Max up the stairs.
It was gloomy inside the reception of the Hawkins jail. And empty.
"Is there no one else who can help with her?" Jonathan pleaded as Max's shoe connected with his shin again. He put the bolt cutters down.
Officer Callahan shook his head. "Powell is out on patrol. Just me." He was trying to keep Max at arm's length. "You need to calm down," he shouted, but it had an adverse effect on Max, and she wriggled even more frantically.
"What's with the bolt cutters?" he asked Jonathan.
"They were smashing windows…" Jonathan said as Max growled like an animal and tried to lunge at Officer Callahan.
"She's out of control," Lucas said. "When she has a melt-down like this, her step-dad usually locks her in her room. It's the only thing to calm her down."
"I can't hold her much longer," Jonathan said. Officer Callahan began to look flustered. "Haven't you got anywhere you can lock her up for a bit?"
"Not really," he said. "Not today." His face began to glow with sweat. "I'll have to make a call," he said.
Jonathan frowned at him. "What's the problem?" he said. "Don't tell me all your cells are occupied."
The glow on Officer Callahan's face intensified. Max caught Jonathan in his midriff with a punch. Jonathan lurched over, gasping.
Officer Callahan made a grab for Max, but Lucas jumped on him.
"Hey," he shouted. "Leave her alone!"
Officer Callahan flung Lucas to the ground. He was panting heavily.
"You need to do something," Jonathan said through gritted teeth.
Officer Callahan nodded. "Okay," he said. "This way." He glared at Lucas. "You too buddy." He dragged Lucas to his feet and marched him through a door into a brightly lit corridor. Two doors either side were closed. Jonathan saw they were the male/female restrooms. There were two other doors, both closed. And two cells. Both empty. At the end of the corridor, facing them, was another closed door.
Officer Callahan unhooked his key chain from his belt and opened one of the cells. Jonathan noticed his hands were shaking. He pushed Lucas inside and then flung Max after him. She fell to the floor dramatically, red hair flying.
"I'm going to put in a complaint about you," Lucas shouted.
Officer Callahan held up a bleeding finger. "You do that," he said. "And I'll have you down for assaulting a police officer." He looked at Jonathan, nervously. "I really could have done without you guys today," he said. He pointed his bloody finger through the bars. "You stay quiet, d'you hear?"
He walked away with jerky steps and opened the door towards reception. He waited, impatiently, for Jonathan. Jonathan glanced quickly at Max and Lucas.
There was no going back now.
The book shop was empty and dark, and it smelt of dust and mould.
"I'll be browsing," Dustin whispered, and he ducked behind a row of books.
A man appeared from a small room at the back of shop. He was wiping his hands.
"Can I help you," he said. He wasn't what Robin had expected. He was short and portly with a receding hairline. He peered at Robin with suspicion.
"I doubt it," Dustin muttered under his breath. The choice of books was sparse, largely consisting of fish related topics.
Robin cleared her throat and walked towards the man. She smiled, but his face remained impassive.
"I'm just passing through," she said.
"I see," he replied. "We don't get many people come this way anymore." He was still wiping his hands, nervously.
"No." Robin smiled again. Her plan had been to start up a friendly conversation before mentioning the weather, but she didn't fancy her chances of engaging the man before her in idle chit-chat. "I'll just browse then." She looked back, but Dustin had disappeared behind a row of books. Robin cleared her throat again. "It's mild," she said. "For this time of year."
"I beg your pardon," the man said.
Robin stared at him. "Er…"
A woman appeared. "That's okay Daddy," she said a little too brightly. She had an English accent. "I'll deal with this customer."
'Daddy' looked as if he had been scolded. He cast his eyes down and disappeared into the darkness behind him. The woman, smooth and glossy, but with steely blue eyes, stared at Robin.
"You were saying?" she said. She smiled, but there was something unnerving in her smile.
Robin fleetingly wondered if Steve's reluctance had been warranted. But she didn't think there was an alternative. Not now.
"I was just saying," she said. "It's mild for this time of year."
"So it is," the woman replied and, as if from nowhere, she produced a gun. She pointed it at Robin's head. "I'm impressed you found us," she said. "It was deigned to be convoluted. We had to make it seem like we wanted to help you." Her smiled grew. "It's just a shame you didn't persuade Eleven to come with you."
"Why is that?"
The woman cocked the gun. "Quite simply," she said. "We would have swapped her for you. But you, my dear, are expendable and so too, are your two friends." She stood aside and gestured with the gun. "Why don't we go back here and wait for them," she said. "Assuming they like you enough to come and find out what's keeping you so long."
Robin edged around the counter. As she passed the woman, she smelt the sweetness of her perfume. It was strong. Overpowering almost. She glanced at her, wondering if she would be able to plead with her, but the woman looked like ice.
Robin felt the gun, hard against her back. She walked into the dark and dingy bowels of the shop and felt as if she was being swallowed.
Dustin had made himself as small as possible. He had seen the woman, through a gap in the books and he had seen the gun too. And now Robin was gone. He looked out of the grimy window behind him, but Steve had stayed well out of sight.
"Where are you Steve?" his whispered.
"Hiding won't do you any good." A voice filtered towards Dustin between the books. He looked up and saw someone peering at him from the other side of the shelf. The small, somewhat, opaque eyes, appraised him. "Move," the voice said. "Quickly."
AUTHOR'S NOTE - Sorry this has been so long coming (over 2 weeks!). If you're still enjoying it, please let me know by leaving a review and I promise to update more regularly! Thanks :-)