He nodded. ‘I guess I’d buy that.’
‘And mostly the true lovers are having their breakfast in bed up in their rooms.’ She cocked her head again with a smile. ‘I bought everything for a really nice breakfast, I’d hate it to go to waste. How about I drive you in the Merc? It’s a glorious morning — we could put the roof down — and it would save you the cost of the cab. I can wait for you while you change, and get the papers, to save time.’
‘Well, that’s — that’s a— you know — a very kind offer. But — ah — that would delay you getting breakfast ready. I’m already pretty peckish.’
‘Good point. Hey, you told me last night how much you love cars. I have a very beautiful 500SL — take it. It’ll save time waiting for a cab and you’d have fun!’
He nodded. ‘Well, if you’d be happy with that?’
‘Of course!’
‘And you’d trust me not to run off with it?’
‘I think I would!’
‘Well, I guess it would be kind of fun to drive over here on the wrong side again.’
‘The wrong side?’ she chided. ‘Wrong side for who?’
He grinned then looked serious for a moment. ‘Is there any issue with insurance?’
You don’t need to worry, you’re a police officer, you’re probably insured to drive anything, she thought. ‘No, any responsible adult can drive my car. Are you a responsible adult?’
He grinned again. ‘I hope I never will be.’
‘Don’t be; there are far too many of those already in the world. It’s one of the things I like so much about you, your naughty streak. You’re still a kid at heart, aren’t you?’
‘That’s how you make me feel. I don’t think I ever met anyone who made me feel the way you do.’
‘Me neither,’ she said. She leaned forward and kissed him on the forehead again. ‘Come downstairs, I’ll get you the car keys. The sooner you go, the sooner you’ll be back!’
‘What do you say in this country about — you know — going home the next day in the same clothes you went out in?’ he asked.
‘The Walk of Shame.’
‘Same in America. Guess that’s what I’m doing right now, the Walk of Shame.’
‘Been there, done that, didn’t get the T-shirt though — was still wearing it from the night before.’
He laughed.
Tooth, dressed in his normal clothes, ready to catch a plane, was parked down a side street a few hundred yards from Jodie’s house, hopefully safely off the dog-walking route of that nosy Neighbourhood Watch bitch from yesterday. He listened in growing horror to the conversation.
Nothing ever panicked him, usually. But he was as close to it as he’d ever been at this moment as, on his laptop screen, he watched Jodie walk down the stairs, followed by the American.
No. Shit, shit, shit. No.
He watched her slide open the drawer in the hall table and pull out the car keys.
He had seconds, he knew, to act.
Making his decision, he flung open the car door, slamming it behind him and hitting the central-locking button on his key, then sprinted, uncomfortably, up to Roedean Crescent, turned right and raced, limping, along to No. 191.
Jodie kissed Potting on the lips, and said, ‘Drive safe, Paul, hurry back!’ She pointed at the door in the kitchen that led directly through to the integral garage. ‘The garage clicker’s in the car, right by the gear lever.’
‘Thanks. It’s an automatic?’
‘Absolutely.’
‘OK! I’ll be right back!’
‘Hasta la vista, babe!’ She gave him another kiss on the lips.
As he reached the garage door, she was already halfway back up the stairs. She was going to use the next hour, or however long she had, to check out the reptile room and, in particular, Silas. Just how the hell had whatever he’d eaten got into his vivarium? Hurrying along the landing and into the spare room, she grabbed the remote and pressed the button, then opened the glass door and went straight across to Silas.
The boa constrictor was curled up, inside his vegetation, looking content.
‘What have you eaten?’ she asked. ‘I need to know. Let’s have a look at you, shall we? Are you going to be a good boy?’
The creature, now approximately twelve years old, was nine feet long. Her late husband, Christopher, had warned her never to try to handle a boa on her own. He’d told her there should always be two of them in the room. If the creature became nervous for any reason, its natural self-protective instinct would be to wind itself round whatever it perceived to be the threat. When the snake had been younger and smaller he had demonstrated this by handing it to her and scaring it by shouting loudly. Before she’d had time to react, lightning fast the snake had coiled round her arms, pinning them to her midriff, then wound its body round her neck.
Within seconds it had begun to crush her neck, suffocating her. She’d tried, desperately, to free herself but the strength of the reptile had been too much. She was close to choking when Christopher had freed her by unwinding its head and tail.
‘You bastard!’ she’d spluttered as the pressure came off and he lifted the snake away, placing it back in its vivarium. ‘Why the hell did you do that?’
He’d just laughed. She could still remember, years later, how he had looked into her eyes. ‘I love you, my darling, I want you always to be safe. Now you’ve experienced the power of these creatures for yourself, you’ll be safe around them. OK?’
It had been a good lesson. She lifted the lid carefully. ‘Hi, Silas,’ she said. ‘So what have you eaten?’
Norman Potting pushed open the interior door to the spotlessly clean double-garage, he was scanning it for any obvious clues. He saw the gleaming blue Mercedes sports car, as well as a hybrid mountain bike and a helmet on a shelf above it, a stack of suitcases, a red plastic crate on a shelf piled high with newspapers, and a row of gardening tools on hooks.
To his surprise, the garage door was already up.
As Tooth, panting from his sprint, and in deep discomfort, reached Jodie’s front door, he heard the roar of an engine and saw the blue Mercedes, with a man in a baseball cap behind the wheel, accelerate hard up the steep driveway. The car turned left and shot off down the road.
Shit, shit, shit. Breaking her goddam neck would have to do instead.
He looked into the kitchen, the dining room, the living room, but all were empty. Then he hauled himself up the stairs.
The reptile-room wall at the end of the landing was open.
Through the glass door, he saw her, facing away from him, peering into a vivarium.
Just as he rushed forward, he heard a massive explosion that shook the windows and doors in the house.
Jodie felt the floor of the house shake as she heard the deep boom somewhere close by. Jesus, what the hell—
As she turned, in shock, to run and find out what it was, she saw a small, wiry, shaven-headed, furious-looking stranger, in an anorak, jeans and trainers, hurtling through the door of the reptile room towards her, holding a long, pointed blade.
She had no time to think. She just acted instinctively, in self-defence, doing the only thing she could think of. Finding almost superhuman strength from somewhere, in her panic, she heaved the heavy boa constrictor out of its vivarium and hurled it straight at him.
The creature hit him full in the chest, its weight halting him in his tracks, knocking him off balance, sending him stumbling backward against a wall.