She stared back at him. Cole studied her. “Yeah. You should have.” He would soon rid her of any defiance. She wore a pretty dress, it would almost be a shame to cut it off, but that would be part of the fun. The bitch had not only done Daz over, now she’d done him over too. It was only right he returned the compliment. He’d waited long enough. Nothing would deny him the opportunity to fuck her brains out, and he no longer cared whether she'd enjoy it.
He pushed her onto the bed, and she lay in a defeated heap. “Aw. Don't look so sad, Alice. This is going to be fun. A lot of fun.” He went to the bedside table and switched on the radio. “Let’s have a little music, shall we?” An unfinished glass of wine stood beside the radio. Cole picked up the glass by the stem and swirled the contents. He brought it to his nose and sniffed. “Mmm. Nice bouquet. Earthy, musky, sweet. You know what, Alice? Reminds me of you. But this wine’s a little old. Last night’s? I hope you’re cleaner than that.”
Cole backed away and reached down to pull the framed photo of Daz from the bag. He placed the frame on the bedside table. “Remember my brother?” He pointed to the frame. “That’s Daz. He died yesterday thanks to your mate. Now Daz is gonna watch us.”
She didn't move or look his way. Cole shrugged and took off her shoes. He looked at her dress and waved the knife at her. “Sorry about this. I’m gonna have to cut your dress off.” She shook her head and moaned through the tape over her mouth. “What’s that? You don’t want me to cut it? Oh I see. You want me to unzip it?” She nodded.
He motioned to her to roll over and waited until she did. “Now Alice. Here’s the deal. I’ll cut the tape around your wrists, but if you mess with me, you’ll force me to use the knife. Might leave a permanent scar on that beautiful body. You wouldn't like that, would you? Will you obey me? Let me see you nod.”
She lifted her head from the pillow and nodded. “Good, Alice. You're getting into the mood. I like that. But first, let’s make sure you have none of that nasty pepper spray under your pillow.” He ran his hands under the pillows and pulled out a can. “Well, well. Look at that. Let’s keep this out of your grasp, eh?”
When the mace was in his bag, he cut the tape and her arms fell to her sides. He pulled the dress off her, unclasped her bra and threw it on the floor. She wore a tiny thong and Cole wanted to force her to peel it off slowly. Her body no longer shook, and Cole took it to mean she wouldn’t offer any resistance. Perhaps he had impressed on her the danger of trying to fight him off. She would lie there and take it. He’d prefer her tied to the bed, but maybe he could do that later.
“I think I’ll put the knife away. Would you like that?”
She nodded.
“Good.” He put the knife on top of the bag within easy reach. “More civilised, eh?”
Cole ran his hands down her back. “Yum,” he said. Then he kicked off his shoes. He slipped one hand in between her legs and stroked her thighs. He undid his belt and zip. In a single move, he removed his jeans and shorts. He needed to be naked in the bed with her. Living his fantasy. Then Alice ripped the gag off and screamed.
119
Kapoor drummed her fingers on the desk to the steady beat of a tune in her head. She kept thinking about the conversation she had with Laura Bowfield about Lewis Cole. Instinct told her something didn't add up. Several minutes passed, then she picked up the phone and called a colleague in Bethnal Green.
“Charlie, could you help me out? I’ve got someone in your area I’m trying to get a hold of. I want to know where he was last Thursday night and early Friday. You think someone over there could swing by and ask? And, you know, check him out?”
“I’ll see what I can do Meera. Send me the case file and his address.”
“Thanks, I owe you one.”
Then Kapoor called Mark Flanagan.
“Hey Mark, I was hoping you could help me.”
Flanagan grunted. “Seriously? You lot got me sacked.”
“Really? Nothing to do with shagging your girlfriend in clients’ houses, then?”
“What do you want?”
“I’m going to send a photo to your phone of someone. I want to know if it could be the guy who viewed the house in Portobello.”
“Uh, I guess.”
“Give me a few minutes to send it and I’ll call you back.”
Kapoor called the techs in CEG and asked them to get her a screen grab of Lewis Cole from the interview he did on TV after South Kensington. “Do you think you could put glasses on him?”
The guy moaned at her. “Take me a couple of hours at least.”
“Aw shit. I can't wait that long. Just send me the grab.”
Half an hour later she still hadn't received it, and she called him back. “Yeah, yeah, yeah,” he said. “Ten minutes. I got other work.”
While she waited her phone rang. “Charlie? Already?”
“You're not going to believe this Meera.”
“What?”
“We picked up a guy at that address, but it wasn't Cole. It was Joseph Baines, also known as Scully.”
“And?”
“He’s the guy wanted in connection with Whitechapel.”
“Shit. What was he doing in Cole’s place?”
“Looked like he
