Steve was reaching for the door handle, and Annie’s stomach was crawling with dread. Don’t be in there, please don’t be in there…
Steve opened the door, dived inside. Tony followed, then Max, then she walked in too – and there he was.
The breath caught in her throat.
Constantine, sharp-suited, narrow-hipped, broad-shouldered, wearing the silver-grey suit to match his silver hair. He was standing in front of the roaring fire, facing away from them, staring into the flames.
Then she turned and saw the gun in Max’s hand.
109
Hearing the commotion in the doorway, the man standing by the fire turned and looked at the four interlopers.
‘Stepmom?’ he said to Annie.
Of course it wasn’t Constantine. Constantine wasn’t like this any more, he wasn’t the Silver Fox, he wasn’t the Don. The man who stood before them now very definitely was.
It was Alberto, Constantine’s youngest son.
As they all stood there staring at each other, two massive Latino men in dark suits emerged from the shadows at the side of the room, pointing guns at them.
‘It’s OK,’ said Alberto quickly, raising a hand to them. They stopped moving, kept watching. ‘It’s Annie Carter. And her husband Max.’
Annie hurried forward and hugged Alberto. ‘Christ, you gave me a fright. For a minute I thought it was your father, standing there. Thought I was seeing things.’
‘No, just me,’ he said, smiling; but the smile looked strained. He stared at Max. ‘Hi,’ he said.
‘Golden Boy,’ said Max, letting the hand holding the gun fall to his side.
Annie shot him a furious look. Max would never be cool with Alberto, particularly not since Alberto had linked up with Layla, their daughter. She turned back to her stepson. ‘What’s happening?’ she asked. ‘We found Mrs McAllister tied up in the kitchen.’
‘You what?’
‘Redmond Delaney’s in here somewhere. He’s after Constantine. Didn’t you hear us coming in on the chopper?’
Alberto looked blank. Then he shook his head. ‘We haven’t heard a thing. These walls are three feet thick, you forgotten that? Delaney! For God’s sake. How did that happen?’
‘One of ours gave the game away,’ said Max. ‘Told Redmond that your dad organized the hit on him and Orla back in the seventies, told him Constantine’s still with us. Bit of a fucking shocker, to be honest. And your aunt spilled the beans over this place, so he knows where to find your father. The Delaneys don’t do forgiveness. Redmond’s come for blood.’
‘We’ve got Papa under guard upstairs,’ said Alberto. ‘He’s safe.’
Not for long, thought Annie. Not if Redmond can get through. And if Redmond can’t, then Max will.
She was aware that if she announced Max’s sworn intention to Alberto’s men, then Max would be toast. So she couldn’t. But somehow, she had to try to find a way to stand between Constantine – who was helpless now, more to be pitied than feared – and two people intent on killing him.
Somehow.
If only she knew how.
‘He’s been asking for me,’ said Annie. ‘Hasn’t he.’
‘That’s right.’ Alberto gave a sad smile. ‘He’s been remembering you these past few weeks. But I don’t suppose it’ll last. He’s getting worse. Much worse.’
‘Layla’s not here, is she?’ asked Max sharply.
‘Layla’s safe,’ said Alberto. ‘She’s a thousand miles away.’
‘Let’s get up there and see him then,’ said Annie.
110
They crept up the stairs where the upper floor opened out on to a big stone landing hung with tapestries that once had been bright and glorious reds and yellows but were now muted to pink and ochre; there were lights up here, but they were faint, and there were too many shadowy corners for a madman with red hair to hide in. Annie didn’t like it at all.
As they turned a corner and approached the master bedroom, she breathed a sigh of relief. There, sitting in a chair on guard outside Constantine’s bedroom door, was a bulky minder. They went closer and Alberto signalled to the man, but he didn’t look round.
A look passed between Alberto and Max. Then as a group they all moved forward again. Steve put a hand out to the minder, touching the man’s shoulder, and he slumped sideways in the chair and hung there over the arm of it, unconscious. As he did so they could see a bloody egg-shaped lump on the back of his head. Annie felt a chill of dread. Somehow, Redmond had got in close enough to strike.
Alberto put a hand to the man’s neck, feeling for a pulse. He found one, nodded; and looked at the closed door leading to the bedroom. His father was in there. And so – without a doubt – was Redmond Delaney.
Alberto started forward but Max caught his arm. ‘Is there another way in?’ he whispered. He knew it would be suicide for the first person who walked through that door.
Annie spoke, very low. ‘There’s a secret passageway leading up from the hall. It opens in the bedroom, a false bookcase – I can show you.’
‘How long?’ Max asked her.
‘Three minutes, if we run,’ said Annie.
Max glanced at his watch and then looked at Alberto. ‘Three minutes,’ he said.
‘In three minutes my father could be dead,’ said Alberto urgently.
‘Less than that and you could be, too,’ Max hissed. ‘This bastard don’t take prisoners. Not that I give a stuff, but my daughter thinks the sun shines out of your arse, so go with it, OK?’
Alberto paused. Looked at the door, at Annie, at Max. ‘Three minutes,’ he nodded, and checked his watch.
Max and Annie ran.
111
‘Christ, when was the last time anyone used this thing?’ Max whispered to Annie as they opened the concealed door into the spiral staircase that led up to the master bedroom. He was leading the way with a pencil torch, swiping thick cobwebs away as he charged up the stairs. There was a faint smell of rat urine burning their noses, and the ancient stones were green with moss. Even though it was the height of summer, it was bone-chillingly cold in here.
Annie was following, trying to stay calm. As usual under pressure, Max was clearly having fun, but all she could think about was what would happen when they reached the top, and what they would find when they stepped out into the bedroom itself.
Constantine, lying dead on the bed, his throat slashed like Gary’s and Jackie’s?
Or Redmond, looming over him, just about to do the deed?
And if they managed to stop him, what then? Max had his own agenda, and that was dangerous. If he tried to kill Constantine, she had to find a way to stop him. Constantine was no rival to Max. But if Max went ahead with his promise and he succeeded, for certain Alberto would be forced to kill him, and that would destroy her, break her heart – and Layla’s too. She couldn’t let that happen.
They reached the top of the stairs and there was the door. On the other side of it, there would be the fake bookcase, nothing to give them away. So they had the element of surprise on their side. Annie remembered once marvelling at the books in that case right beside the bed, how convincing they appeared; they gave every appearance of real books when they were anything but. She had read to Constantine sometimes in the last year or so, sitting beside his bed; and he had joked sometimes, get another book, that one’s crap, and he would indicate the bookcase. Once she went there and tried to pick a book out from the others; but the book she selected was nothing, just blank pages inside a gold-blocked cover.