the wannabe Dusty's tedious CD and smash it against the wall.
The doorbell saved him the trouble.
Louise swore and stood up, walked across to the CD player and turned it off. 'If that's the stupid cow from upstairs, she can piss off. There's no way that was loud enough to disturb her.' She looked at Thorne as though she were waiting for him to go and answer the door.
' I 'm not going,' he said. 'She's your bloody neighbour…'
He switched off the film and faded up the lights with the same remote. He always got a buzz out of that. When the home cinema had been installed, he'd made sure it came with all the bells and whistles, and it had been worth every penny. He had all the big dishes, so he could watch Premiership football whenever he wanted, the BBC news, all that. But mostly he just watched films. He had quite a library now: war movies, Westerns and a full set of Laurel and Hardy; a decent porn collection that he and Candela dug into every now and again.
Just to keep things interesting.
He'd had it built down in the basement, so it was also the coolest room in the place. Most nights, when he wasn't out somewhere or entertaining, he ended up here, with the sound turned up good and loud, stretched out in shorts and a T-shirt until his eyes began to close. He would usually call it a night then, but sometimes he would nod off and wake up sweating at three or four in the morning, with the screen still bright and the speakers hissing. For a moment or two, he might not remember where he was.
Which time, which country.
Then, once he'd sorted himself out, he would pad slowly back through the villa to the kitchen, pick up a bottle of water from the fridge and go to bed. Happy enough, all things considered, at the way things had turned out.
Until now…
It was hassle he simply did not need, not to mention a lot of money he could have done without spending. The precautions he'd taken to make sure the situation could not seriously hurt him had not come cheap. The people he was using had to be paid decent money, on top of what he'd been shelling out every year anyway, just to keep his sources sweet.
It wasn't all about the money, though. He'd earned the life he'd made for himself, and, bar a minor hiccup or two, until recently it had been relatively stress free. He wasn't getting any younger and he'd been counting on life staying the way it was until he went toes-up. Golf and boats and a spot of clubbing. Parties and shagging until he couldn't get it up any more and a bit of business every now and then, just for the mustard.
Who wouldn't want that? Do whatever it took to protect it?
He picked up the remote again, dimmed the lights and restarted the film.
But he couldn't get his mind off that copper. The one who looked like he might enjoy a bit of digging…
He looked at his watch. On the screen, Stan and Ollie lay asleep in bed, a feather floating back and forth between them as they snored in turn.
The UK was one hour behind. Things should start happening soon enough.
And with a bit of luck, that would be the end of it.
TWENTY-SEVEN
Thorne had heard the voices and was already on his feet when Louise walked back into the living room with Anna Carpenter. Louise was smiling and saying something about a drink, but as soon as she caught Thorne's eye she stared good and hard. Said, 'Visitor.'
'Right,' Thorne said.
'I'll put the kettle on.'
She walked towards the kitchen, her mouth set, the muscles working in her jaw. Thorne put a hand on her arm as she went past, hoped that her irritation was due to nothing more than having an important conversation interrupted.
'This is obviously not a great time to be dropping in,' Anna said, trying to smile. She stood in the middle of the room, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. She had not taken off her coat or put down her bag.
'How did you get this address?' Thorne took a step towards her.
'Look, I'm sorry-'
'And don't tell me it was your mate at the DVLA…'
'Your chief superintendent,' Anna said.
' What? '
'He gave me his number last week and told me to call if I needed anything, so-'
Thorne had already turned away and was moving towards the kitchen. He stuck his head around the door and told Louise not to bother with the coffee. When she opened her mouth to speak, he told her that he was sorry and that he would not be gone long. Then he lowered his voice and told her they could continue the conversation when he got back.
He walked back into the living room and grabbed his leather jacket from the arm of a chair.
Anna adjusted the strap of her shoulder-bag.
'Let's go for a walk,' he said.
Anna had to hurry a little to catch Thorne, then settled into step with him and did her best to keep up. 'Where are we going?'
Thorne was unable to answer as he did not have the slightest idea.
'OK, how about why?' She turned to look at him. 'I'm guessing you didn't want to shout at me in front of your girlfriend.'
Again, Thorne said nothing, unwilling to think about his reasons for wanting to get out of the flat – wanting to get Anna out of the flat – for too long.
'Sorry, I don't know her name,' Anna said.
'Tell me about Jesmond.'
As they walked, Anna told Thorne that his chief superintendent had called her the day after she had visited Thorne at Becke House. Jesmond had been extremely friendly, she said, and keen to let her know that he and his team would do whatever they could to assist her.
'I'll bet he was keen,' Thorne said.
Anna had been told she should not hesitate to contact him if there was any question she needed answering or anything he could do to help. She explained to Thorne that she had already been to his flat in Kentish Town earlier that night, and not knowing where else he might be, she had phoned Jesmond. He had called back a few minutes later and given her the address Thorne had signed out to for the evening. Anna said he'd been happy to help.
Thorne swore and upped his pace.
'I didn't know what else to do.'
'Why didn't you just call me?'
'I needed to talk to you in person,' she said. 'There's some things I need to say…'
Thorne looked at her properly for the first time since they had left the flat. He saw the colour in her cheeks as they passed beneath a street lamp and watched her hitch up the strap of her shoulder-bag to prevent it slipping. He slowed down a little.
She puffed out her cheeks and nodded, grateful.
'Go on then,' Thorne said.
She took a few seconds, shrugged, took a few more, then said, 'Just… sorry, really. I said a few things in the bar that were probably out of order. I mean, obviously I was fuming, but that's no excuse. That stuff about you being a fuck-up… I don't know what I'm talking about, so…'
Thorne stared ahead.
'And mostly you've been really great, which makes it even worse. You didn't have to take me along to see Monahan, or Donna, and I know I was a pain in the arse.' She waited. They were now little more than strolling. 'You can contradict me, you know.'
