‘I’m not afraid to admit that he’s a trophy husband.’
‘And a trophy father.’
‘Yeah,’ said the more cynical one. ‘Just right for a glass cabinet.’
They laughed. The sound of four different tones of laughter met in a single chime.
I’m an outcast, thought Sebastian.
‘Here’s to you and a happy birthday!’
‘You gonna croon for me?’
‘We’re going to do better than that.’
‘What?’
‘We’re going to dance too.’
Cast out.
The door opened slowly. The four faces turned. The white gloss door swung all the way in. In the doorway, a stranger, his face still and intense. Terrifying. Unknown. At that moment, all five people were silent. Sebastian waited. Who would break? His big smile moved from face to face.
The senator took a step forward to defend his family.
‘Who the hell are you and what are you doing in my house?’
Sebastian let the uncertainty hang in the air for a moment longer. He stared at each of them again, weighing them up like a predator. He looked particularly hard at the two daughters. He liked to feel their eyes try to hold his and then fall to the pale carpet.
‘You heard me — I’m asking you politely to leave my house.’ Senator Stanhope moved to the phone and picked it up. Sebastian just stood. ‘The goddamn phone’s dead.’ The senator stared at Sebastian. Could he take him? Did he want to with his two daughters in the room?
He turned to his wife. ‘Caroline, would you take Mary and Rose through to the drawing room and let me talk to this gentleman?’
‘Okay, John,’ she said slowly, ‘so long as you’re sure.’
‘I’m sure. Thank you.’
Sebastian moved to an armchair covered in beige silk. He sat and crossed his legs. ‘Nobody leaves.’
‘What do you want?’ said Caroline. ‘Do you need money?’
Sebastian gazed at her. He recalled her lithe naked figure in the shower. ‘I’ve been watching you. I liked how you looked in your little shower unit. Real pretty.’ Caroline took an involuntary step backwards.
‘Please take anything you want,’ she said. ‘Just leave us alone.’
‘Anything?’ said Sebastian, staring at Rose. He shook his head and tutted. ‘You sure you’re offering anything?’ He smiled and stood, walked to the fireplace and picked up a poker. ‘Are you familiar with the works of Neville Heath?’ They all shook their heads. ‘You will be soon,’ he said, and smiled.
‘What the hell do you want?’ shouted Senator Stanhope, moving forward.
Sebastian stood and swished his cane. ‘Fra Angelico is my favourite artist. Do you like him?’
The Stanhopes looked at each other. Caroline put an arm round each of the two girls.
‘He’s a Renaissance artist,’ said Sebastian.
‘Yes, I know Fra Angelico,’ said Stanhope.
‘Beautiful angels he painted. I like to paint too. I like to paint wings in bright colours just like he did. He’s quite an inspiration to me. But I like to use real people, not paint.’
The two girls held on to Caroline.
‘I want Rose to come over here to me, Senator.’
‘No. You leave Rose alone.’
‘I never ask more than once.’ Sebastian drew a long sword from the cane. ‘Is it dawning on you yet, Senator?’
‘What?’
‘That I’m here to kill you.’
Caroline screamed. She hadn’t even dared to imagine anything like that. This guy was strange but she imagined he was something to do with politics. Not now. Now she saw what he was and she was scared and both the girls were sobbing against her.
‘Now, Rose. Please come to me. Your father’s a very famous man, but I’m famous too. You might have heard of me. They call me the American Devil.’
They all felt the fear grab hard. Caroline tried to hold on to Rose but she moved forward and stood in front of Sebastian. He smiled. She was trying to be fearless, displaying the pride that had attracted him to her so many months earlier. He couldn’t wait to bite into her. He felt the desire welling up in him like a force. ‘Thank you, Rose. Now take off that pretty dress.’
Chapter Seventy-Two
Senator Stanhope’s House
November 28, 11.28 p.m.
This was their man, thought Harper. On the drive to the senator’s home, Eddie went through everything the psychologist had said on the phone. It seemed to fit, and what was more it fitted Denise Levene’s profile better than Redtop did. This wasn’t some loner simpleton; this was a white-collar Jekyll and Hyde with an inability to stop himself.
Eddie and Tom drove in silence for the next ten minutes as the car neared the home of Senator Stanhope. Harper took out his Glock and checked the magazine. Sebastian would not give himself up without a fight. He was dangerous and would be desperate.
They got to the entrance of the secure residential area and could see a line of street lights all the way up to Senator Stanhope’s house.
Tom was worried that if it was the American Devil, he might have killed already. Or would he? They’d never worked out how long he kept Jessica Pascal or Elizabeth Seale alive. But they knew he liked to torture his victims for a long time. He liked to see them weakening. They didn’t know how he got away, either. This guy was a chameleon, or a magician. Or perhaps he had a trick they hadn’t heard of yet.
They turned right and stopped at the huge steel-gated residence of Senator Stanhope. There were no security guys on duty and they didn’t want to alert anyone inside. Eddie parked the car up close to the high wall and they both jumped on top. Eddie threw his leather jacket over the razor wire and they hopped over the wall.
They dropped on to the ground on the other side and listened out for dogs. Nothing. The house ahead was bright with lights in all the windows. They could smell a log fire and see smoke twirling from a high chimney. Without a sound, Harper motioned to Eddie to flank left while he flanked right. Crouching low, they both sprinted towards the house, moving silently on the thick lawn.
At the front door, there was no sign of forced entry, but that wasn’t Sebastian’s style. He was too clever for that. He saved all his violence for those who could fear him. Harper pulled Eddie close.
‘We’ll stick together and do a circuit. When we get a picture of what’s inside, we can split.’
‘Okay,’ said Eddie. ‘Let’s do this.’
They crouched and circled the house, moving quickly under each window and checking for signs of people inside. They came to the windows of the largest reception room. Eddie looked, and pulled back sharply.
‘We got a single male suspect standing. There’s a girl in front of him in her underwear. The suspect has a sword of some kind.’
Harper leaned down into the grass, out of the pool of light, and looked up into the room. ‘There’s one woman and another girl on the far sofa. They look tied up somehow. Clasped together.’ He moved back close to Eddie. ‘Okay, this is it. We can’t wait for back-up. I’m going to move back into the darkness of the garden and line up a shot, you want to take the front door. You hear my shot, you bust the front door and go in quick.’
‘Make sure you get a good shot.’
‘I want him alive, remember. He might be the only key to Lucy James.’
‘Well, make sure he can’t get up.’
