‘Just killing time,’ said Rebus. ‘I couldn’t sleep.’
The boy laughed harshly. ‘Yeah, couldn’t sleep, so you came for a drive. Got tired driving so you just happened to stop here. This particular street. This time of night. Then you went for a walk, a stretch of the legs, and came back to the car. Right?’
‘You’ve been watching me,’ Rebus admitted.
‘I didn’t need to watch you. I’ve seen it all before.’
‘How often?’
‘Often enough, James.’
The words were tough, the voice was tough. Rebus had no cause to doubt the teenager. Certainly he was as dissimilar to the first boy as chalk to cheese.
‘The name’s not James,’ he said.
‘Of course it is. Everybody’s called James. Makes it easier to remember a name, even if you can’t recall the face.’
‘I see.’
The boy finished the cigarette in silence, then flicked it out of the window.
‘So what’s it to be?’
‘I don’t know,’ said Rebus sincerely. ‘A drive maybe?’
‘Fuck that.’ He paused, seeming to change his mind. ‘Okay, let’s drive to the top of Calton Hill. Take a look out over the water, eh?’
‘Fine,’ said Rebus, starting the car.
They drove up the steep and winding road to the top of the hill, where the observatory and the folly - a copy of one side of Greece’s Parthenon - sat silhouetted against the sky. They were not alone at the top. Other darkened cars had parked, facing across the Firth of Forth towards the dimly lit coast of Fife. Rebus, trying not to look too closely at the other cars, decided to park at a discreet distance from them, but the boy had other ideas.
‘Stop next to that Jag,’ he ordered. ‘What a great-looking car.’
Rebus felt his own car take the insult with as much, pride as it could muster. The brakes squealed in protest as he pulled to a halt. He turned off the ignition.
‘What now?’ he asked.
‘Whatever you want,’ said the boy. ‘Cash on delivery, of course.’
‘Of course. What if we just talk?’
‘Depends on the kind of talk you want. The dirtier it is, the more it’ll cost.’
‘I was just thinking about a guy I met here once. Not so long ago. Haven’t seen him around. I was wondering what happened to him.’
The boy suddenly placed his hand on Rebus’s crotch, rubbing hard and fast against the material. Rebus stared at the hand for a full second before calmly, but with a deliberate grip, removing it. The boy grinned, leaning back in his seat.
‘What’s his name, James?’
Rebus tried to stop himself trembling. His stomach was filling with bile. ‘Ronnie,’ he said at last, clearing his throat. ‘Not too tall. Dark hair, quite short. Used to take a few pictures. You know, keen on photography.’
The boy’s eyebrows rose. ‘You’re a photographer, are you? Like to take a few snaps? I see.’ He nodded slowly. Rebus doubted that he did see, but wasn’t about to say more than was necessary. And yes, that Jag was nice. New-looking. Paintwork brightly reflective. Someone with a bit of money. And dear God why did he have an erection?
‘I think I know which Ronnie you mean now,’ said the boy. ‘I haven’t seen him around much myself.’
‘So what can you tell me about him?’
The boy was staring out of the windscreen again. ‘Great view from here, isn’t it?’ he said. ‘Even at night. Especially at night. Amazing. I hardly ever come here in the daytime. It all looks so ordinary. You’re a copper, aren’t you?’
Rebus looked towards him, but the boy was still staring out of the windscreen, smiling, unconcerned.
‘Thought you were,’ he went on. ‘Right from the start.’
‘So why did you get in the car?’
‘Curious, I suppose. Besides,’ and now he looked towards Rebus, ’some of my best customers are officers of the law.’
‘Well, that’s none of my concern.’
‘No? It should be. I’m underage, you know.’
‘I guessed.’
‘Yeah, well. . . .’ The boy slumped in his seat, putting his feet up on the dashboard. For a moment, Rebus thought he was about to do something, and jerked himself upright. But the boy just laughed.
‘What did you think? Think I was going to touch you again? Eh? No such luck, James.’
