Kate winced as he hauled her up by her hair. ‘Liked you better with black locks, sweetheart,’ he hissed. ‘But it was sweet of you to make the effort for ol’ Swag.’ She tried to struggle free, but when he held the switchblade to her throat, still wet with Woollard’s blood, she stayed very, very still.

‘Now get into the examination room, Stein,’ he snarled. ‘Or this little prick-tease here’s gonna be gargling blood.’

Kate held her breath. She could feel the muscles in his arm clenching, smell the rank odour of his sweat saturating his clothes. He kept shifting his weight between his legs like he couldn’t hold still. The blade pressed harder against her neck as he marched her inside the examination room after Stacy.

‘I got to get every piece of paper out of this hole,’ Swagger told her. ‘Takapa wants all his science research shit back. You got brains, pick it all out for me.’

Stacy nodded, cowed and pale, and started to collect together the scattered papers. Outside, Woollard was moaning softly in the hallway.

‘Shame you had to find out about this, Stein,’ Swagger snarled. ‘Takapa likes you. You been good to us.’

‘You tricked me,’ she said quietly.

‘We coulda gone on trickin’ you, too. Used you a whole lot more and then given you the bite like your poor little hubby. But Takapa saw you watching when he was outside Ramone’s with the doc tonight. Guess he could hear the penny dropping right the way across the street.’ He giggled again. ‘He said you’d come here. Said you’d work it out.’

Stacy finished collecting the papers and held them out to him.

He put the knife away so that he could take them. Kate let out a shuddering sigh of relief.

‘Now, let her go,’ said Stacy, trying to sound brave. And failing.

‘Nuh-uh,’ said Swagger. ‘But you won’t care, no-how. ’Cause now you gotta die.’

Stacy stared at him, speechless for a second, before his big fist crashed into her chin and sent her reeling back over the couch, where she lay still.

‘No!’ shouted Kate, but he tightened his grip around her throat, choking her off.

‘Sure is cold out, tonight, ain’t it?’ laughed Swagger. ‘Still, a little fire will warm us all up.’

Struggling and writhing in his grip, Kate was dragged out of the room. She saw Woollard feebly rocking on his back like an upturned tortoise.

‘You ain’t going nowhere, gutless,’ Swagger shouted, pulling Kate into the living room. ‘So, babe. Just you and me now, huh? Where’s your freak boyfriend?’ He clumsily folded the papers and put them in his coat pocket. ‘I aim to have me some fun with him.’

‘He’s … he’s left,’ she croaked. ‘Gone.’