He couldn’t deal with her at all. It was as if she’d become two, even three people. This hard, sophisticated woman was not the same woman who had wept in his arms.
He looked so confused that she felt suddenly guilty, wanting to comfort him. It was stupid. She lit a cigarette, blowing the smoke out high above her head. ‘I’ll have your brother charged with assault and then they’ll think again about the murders, same blow as the one to the back of my head. He wanted to kill me — he tried to kill me — and you may say in court that he was bitten by your dog, big Mr Brad Thorburn, but wait till I tell them, weeping, holding my head in my hands, that when he struck me with the hammer I fought for my life. I bit him in the neck and I hung on until my teeth broke his skin, until he screamed like a stuck pig... It was Steven who attacked me, Brad. Why don’t we stop all the bullshit and get down to just how much you’ll pay me to keep my mouth shut?’
He looked at her with open hostility. She revolted him.
‘Okay, I’ll give you more. I had a tooth missing. They get a match on those marks on his neck, they’ll be able to verify it was my teeth — not your dog’s, but mine.’
He wouldn’t look at her.
‘You don’t like hearing me talk this way? Well, why don’t you get Steven down here? Why don’t the three of us discuss just how much it’ll take to buy me off, maybe to send me to France and forget I was ever attacked.’
‘You’d do that?’
‘Sure. You wanted to know why I was here, well, now you do.’ Brad was so obviously out of his depth she felt almost sorry for him, sorry to have to be so hard, but she had no option. In some ways she wanted him to throw her out, wanted him to be straight and honest because she liked him so much.
‘How much?’ he said gruffly, not even looking at her.
She inhaled and let the smoke drift out slowly, then rested her chin on her hand. ‘A million. You can afford it. But I want it in cash, used notes.’
He made a sound that was half laugh, half sob. ‘A million.’
‘And I guarantee that I’ll disappear, any charges will be dropped. Suddenly he didn’t look like your brother, suddenly I guess I was just mistaken. He’d never even have to go to court.’
‘I doubt if he will, anyway,’ Brad snapped.
‘You want a bet? Because if they don’t press charges, then I will take out a private prosecution. I’ll have every feminist group backing me up. You wouldn’t believe the stink I could create. You and your precious brother and your beloved mother would be hounded by the press. You won’t buy out of that but you can buy me out now. Go talk to Steven. Is he in?’
Brad made it to the doorway, his fists clenched. He wanted to grab her by her hair and throw her out bodily. He had never felt such loathing for another human being — let alone a woman.
‘Oh, I can see I got you real angry. Well, it’s up to you, I think I’m being fair and square. What’s a million to you, rich boy?’ He moved so fast, one moment in the doorway the next at her side. He slapped her face hard. She held her cheek. ‘That make you feel better, rich boy? It’s just gone up another ten grand. Touch me again and, so help me God, I’ll walk out of here and start screaming my fucking head off. Now go talk to your sick pervert of a brother — better still bring his ass down here. Let’s hear what he has to say.’
He walked out. She was shaking all over — he had really hurt her. She rubbed her aching jaw and checked her face in her compact mirror. Her cheek was inflamed but otherwise she looked better than she had in years. She snapped the compact shut, moved to the hall and looked up. Brad was nowhere in sight. She went into the empty drawing room.
‘He’s gone upstairs, I’m now in the drawing room.’ She said it softly, tilting her head down to the tiny gold heart.
Lorraine heard footsteps and leaned against the piano, as if she was looking over the framed photographs.
‘He’s agreed, a million, but he can’t get it for at least a couple of months.’
Lorraine propped both elbows on the piano. ‘No deal, I can’t wait that long. I want it today. Why don’t you pay me? You got the dough, haven’t you?’
‘This has nothing to do with me. I wouldn’t pay you a cent.’
‘No, but you’d stand up in court and tell a jury that your dog bit him on the neck, your mother would say on oath that her son was with her all day and all night on the night he nearly killed me. You’re sick, you know that? Well, fuck you and fuck your brother. I’m getting out of here, I can make enough selling my story to the press.’
Brad stood across the door. ‘He doesn’t have that amount of cash and nor do I. Everything’s tied up in property, trust funds. I can’t get that amount of money released in a day, it would be impossible.’
‘I don’t believe you and I wanna talk to your brother. You’re a pain in the butt. Steven!’
She heard footsteps; he was coming down the stairs.
Steven Janklow walked into view and stood in the hallway.
‘Hi, you remember me, don’t you, Steve? You said you needed to be sucked off in a public place, twenty dollars. We drove to the garage in the shopping mall. Sure you remember. Look at him, Brad, he remembers me. Maybe it’s my scar.’
Janklow’s face twisted in rage. ‘I don’t know you. Throw her out of here, Brad.’
Lorraine remained where she was. She felt safe with Brad between her and Janklow. ‘Fine, Brad, you throw me out, but first fill him in, tell him what the deal is. If you don’t have the cash, then I’ll take a couple of items belonging to your mother. Art Mathews said he was getting good prices for the stuff in Europe.’
Janklow looked as if he would attack her but Brad gripped him. ‘Just calm down, Steven. Have you ever seen her before?’
They moved out of sight further into the hall. Lorraine had to hold on to the piano top, her legs were shaking so much. She could hear Janklow insisting that he did not know her, that she was lying. She hurtled out and confronted both men. ‘I’m lying, am I? Right, you’ll see, and I’ll see you in court.’
She strode into the kitchen and picked up her bag. She was about to walk past them to the front door, when she heard Brad’s low voice, ‘Give that to me! Give it.’
She turned round just in time to see Janklow with the gun but he hadn’t even got it to waist level before Brad had taken it from him. Then he sank onto the bottom stair. Brad slipped the weapon into his pocket. He spoke to Lorraine.
‘You’ll get your money as soon as I can arrange it.’
‘Well, what about the jewellery? Don’t you have any left? Art seemed to think you had more’n the Queen of England.’
Janklow’s head was in his hands, but he said, ‘He was a thieving piece of shit.’
Lorraine sniggered. ‘Yeah, he was that all right but you got no worries about him talking.’ She was on firmer ground, testing how much she could say. ‘They had him arrested for the murders, didn’t you know? Apparently he even admitted to a couple, then he got scared and killed himself — cut his wrists on his glasses.’
Janklow looked at her with his pale, expressionless eyes. Lorraine held his gaze. ‘You shouldn’t have hurt Didi, though. She was a friend of mine. I know she was into the blackmail with Art, but he forced her to do it.’
Janklow looked up at his brother. ‘There’s nothing left, Brad. I’ve got no money — I can’t pay her.’
‘What about your mother? She’s sitting on a load, isn’t she? How would you think she’d feel if I paid her a visit? It’s all the same to me. Look, I don’t want to walk away empty-handed. If Art and Didi cleaned you out, then why not—’