How do I explain that I was hiding from people who were hiding from him? He wouldn’t believe me if I tried.
‘I’ve been eavesdropping,’ I mouth, pointing outside. ‘There are two people hiding outside your bedroom.’
Cam immediately throws open the front door and marches round the trailer. He comes back in with a confused look. ‘There’s no one there.’
‘I promise they were there. I heard everything.’
He looks unconvinced.
‘One of them had a funny name!’ I suddenly remember. ‘He’s called Gram. I mean, what sort of name is that? Where I come from, it’s a basic unit of scientific measurement.’
‘Where I come from it’s what we call our senior technician.’ He points a thumb to his bedroom, giving me a stern look. ‘But first, could you please explain what you were doing in my bed?’
11
Cam flops down on the trailer’s hard-looking corner sofa. He looks shattered. The youthful exuberance of our morning adventures together has disappeared.
I hope he doesn’t think I’m some weirdo who climbs into every man’s bed she comes across. ‘I swear I wasn’t in your bed. Just hiding beside it. I panicked, that’s all. I’d never get into a strange man’s bed.’
He screws his eyes at me.
‘Not that you’re strange.’
Someone, pass me a spade.
‘Obviously, I meant I don’t bed-hop. I wouldn’t ordinarily be found in a male companion’s bedchamber?—’
‘You really heard voices?’ Cam interrupts before my nonsense gets too out of hand.
‘Yes. They said something about a blind spot.’
Cam’s jaw drops. ‘Blind spot? Graeme is a senior technician. He’s solid. If there’s a serious problem, then there’s a serious problem.’ He looks at the pile of papers awaiting his attention. ‘Those schedules will have to wait until I track down Graeme and find out what’s going on.’
‘Let me help,’ I say. ‘I’m a teacher. I can basically solve every problem known to humankind.’
‘What about top-secret work schedules?’
‘My speciality.’
At least this raises a smile from him. I reach out to touch his arm.
‘It’s been a really fun day. I owe you one,’ I say, pleased that he looks more relaxed. ‘Now, what can I do?’
Cam considers me for a moment. ‘I know geography isn’t your strong point but are you any good at organising people?’
‘Are you kidding me? I’m a professional people organiser. It’s my superpower.’
‘I thought you said doing a hundred jobs at once was your superpower?’
‘That is the very definition of being organised, Cameron.’
Me using his full name is causing some amusement. ‘And can I trust you here on your own while I go look for Graeme?’
‘Yes, but only if you stop calling him Gram and start pronouncing his name correctly. It’s GRAY-UM.’
Cam doesn’t rise to the bait. ‘And you haven’t just violated my trust by snooping at confidential papers or prying around in my bedroom?’
‘No, absolutely not. What a ridiculous thing to assume.’