‘Is he ready?’ asked the boy.
Titus climbed down into the space. He stood back from the trussed man hanging upside down before him and then produced a wallet from his back pocket. Immediately, Vernon recognised it as his own.
‘Vernon Ray English. Forty-four-year-old Caucasian male. A private eye, which is no surprise. He’s divorced and lives alone.’
‘That’s good,’ said Ivan, climbing down beside his father. ‘Isn’t that good?’
‘It means he’s less likely to be missed,’ said Titus, who was now sizing Vernon up and down. He stepped closer to his terror-struck captive, whose muffled gasped marked the moment Titus began to gently press his sides and stomach. ‘The liver is a little enlarged, which is often down to alcohol, but the kidneys are in good shape.’
‘He looks healthy enough,’ observed Ivan. ‘In a tired sort of way.’
Titus slapped Vernon’s left thigh, before taking a step back.
‘He’ll need stripping down and washing,’ he said next. ‘And shaving, of course.’
Vernon responded to each instruction with a squeak and a whimper.
‘I can do all that,’ said Ivan eagerly, before facing up to his father. ‘I can do… everything.’
Titus thought about this for a moment.
‘Very well,’ he said, only to caution him by extending a finger. ‘Just be nice, OK? I’m letting you do this alone because I trust you to have respect for this gentleman.’
‘I won’t let you down, Dad. I promise.’
Ivan held his father’s gaze, who nodded to himself after a moment.
‘My boy,’ said Titus eventually, and ruffled his hair. ‘It’s time to make a man of you.’
By now, Vernon was making an almighty noise. Seized by panic, he began thrashing like an escapologist over flames. Titus and Ivan observed him calmly, as if they’d seen it all before. Finally, Titus grasped the man by one arm, and waited for him to fall still. Then he crouched and yanked the gag from his mouth.
‘Let me go!’ Vernon begged him, gasping for air at the same time. ‘Whatever you want with me, we can pretend it never happened.’
‘We could do that,’ agreed Titus, ‘but I have to think of my family.’
Vernon struggled to keep his composure from cracking.
‘What kind of family are you?’ he asked, sobbing at the same time.
‘A private one,’ Titus told him. ‘A family that doesn’t take kindly to people bugging their kitchen.’
‘I know you had something to do with the death of Lulabelle Hart,’ spat Vernon. ‘You’re not just a crooked businessman. I should’ve gone to the police with my suspicions!’
Ivan looked up at his father.
‘Lulabelle was an accident,’ said Titus, as if speaking for his son.
‘But we didn’t eat her,’ added Ivan, who seemed surprised when Vernon responded with a harrowing scream.
28
Jack Greenway was not used to being ignored. Three times he had tried to reach Sasha by phone. On each occasion, it had rung off before her answer machine kicked in. Finally, he had texted her, a simple ‘WTF?’ but that too had failed to draw a response.
Jack also knew that he only had himself to blame. Ever since the thing with the tea and the knife, he’d done his level best to avoid Sasha. Amanda had become his top priority, but now there was a problem. In order to fulfil her fantasy, which he hoped would earn him a very special reward, he needed to get back into Sasha’s good books so as to gain access to her house. Finally, Jack went looking for her one lunch break. As he’d failed to show up with his Tupperware container at the skate ramp all week, he learned from Faria and Maisy that Sasha had gone to the nearby express supermarket to buy a sandwich. When Faria cheekily invited him to sit with them and share the box, it was clear he felt his efforts had gone to waste.
‘Another time,’ he said with a sigh. ‘It isn’t the same without Sasha.’
Later, after lessons had finished for the day, Jack was spotted in the sixth form car park. He was sitting in his hybrid, picking at the contents of his container with his fingers, clearly brooding. He was just dropping a pinch of bulgur wheat with pomegranate seeds into his mouth when a knock at the driver’s side window caused him to sprinkle it down his shirt.
‘Sasha!’ Hurriedly, Jack wound down the window. ‘I’ve been trying to get hold of you.’
‘Is now good?’ she asked.
‘Perfect!’ said Jack, stowing the box and brushing himself down. ‘Where shall we go?’
Sasha looked at him uncomfortably.
‘I haven’t got long,’ she told him. ‘I promised Mum I’d be back to help out in the kitchen. We have a big meal planned for the weekend.’
‘Then let me drive you home,’ said Jack, thinking at the same time that this would be just the opportunity he needed to talk her into inviting him round.
‘I’m not sure,’ replied Sasha hesitantly. ‘There’s just something I need you to know.’
Jack pressed the ignition button.
‘Tell me on the way,’ he said, and gestured at the passenger seat. ‘In this car we’ll barely leave a carbon footprint.’
For the first few minutes of the journey, the pair exchanged small talk. Jack reported that the vegan life was like finding his spiritual home, and while Sasha complimented him on the commitment her voice lacked enthusiasm. Jack wondered whether she had relapsed as a carnivore, but reminded himself that his goal here was to make sure Sasha felt that things were good again between them. It wouldn’t be difficult, he thought to himself. She was crazy about him.
‘I like your mascara,’ he said, without taking his eyes off the road. ‘It really suits you.’
‘I’m not wearing any.’ Sasha wound down the window by an inch to get some air. ‘Jack, this thing we have—’
‘It’s going places,’ he cut in, and shifted up a gear. ‘I’m sorry I haven’t been around much lately, but I really do feel we’re heading in the right direction.’
‘It’s over.’
‘What?’ Jack glanced across at her, and pulled back into the lower gear. ‘It can’t be.’
‘I’m sorry,’ said Sasha. ‘I thought that’s what you wanted.’
‘But you can’t,’ Jack replied, his voice tight with panic, and found himself torn between looking at Sasha and the road. ‘I need to see you. At the weekend.’
‘We’re finished,’ she said as if to spell it out. ‘You’ve introduced me to some things, and I’m grateful for that. I’ve just come to realise that I’m not comfortable sharing my life with someone quite as intimately as you’d hoped. I had to give it a shot to realise this, and I just hope we can be friends. That’s all I want in my life right now, Jack. Family and friends.’
For the last few minutes of the drive, Jack pleaded with Sasha for a second chance. At the same time, all he could think about was the very real possibility that his opportunity to bed Amanda could vanish.
‘Is there someone else?’ he asked at one point. ‘Is it that guy from the talk? The one who looked like he needed a bath and a shave? I saw you chatting to him in the queue. Don’t think I’m completely stupid.’
Sasha looked at the floorwell.