“You shouldn’t have killed him.”

“And what should I have done? Let him go down to Pokhara and contact the authorities? Let that dick weasel bring Ekanta Yatra to its knees?”

“No. But I could have talked him out of it. I just needed to get him on side. A few spliffs, a few beers, a few chats, ask one of the girls to fuck him. I could have turned him.”

Isaac laughs dryly. “Like you did with that fat dyke, you mean?”

He’s talking about Al.

“She’s still here, isn’t she?”

Isaac shrugs. “Until the next time she tries to leave. And how many people will she take with her then? I don’t like her and I don’t trust her. And if she smashes anything else up, I’ll kill her myself.”

“We need her, Isaac. You said yourself that we need more members.”

“Not if they’re going to cause trouble.”

“So what’s the plan? Are you going to send her to Pokhara like you did Ruth? Is that what happens to women who won’t sleep with you? You get Gabe to—”

“Don’t fucking go there, Johan.”

“Guys!” Kane raises his hands. “Let’s not—”

“Tell you what,” Isaac says as Johan crosses his arms over his chest and heads in the direction of the house, “you keep fucking who I tell you you can fuck, and keep your dick out of my business.” He raises his voice as Johan moves into the distance. “I’ll let you know when it’s your turn with Emma.”

It’s all I can do to keep breathing.

“Right, then.” Isaac strolls over to Frank’s body and prods his head with the end of the axe. It flops onto his shoulder and something thick and viscous oozes out of the wound in his skull. “What are we going to do with this fucker? I suggest we chop off his head and bring it to the next meeting. Tell everyone he tried to escape and the Maoists lopped it over the fence?” He laughs. “Who wants to do it?”

Gabe reaches for the axe. “Me.”

Chapter 35

Chapter 35

Present Day

It’s been a week since I was knocked off my bike and, other than the yellowing bruises on my face and body, it’s starting to feel like a remote horrible nightmare. Will insisted I stay in bed for twenty-four hours after we drove back to his house, and he and Chloe took it in turns to bring me drinks, snacks and entertainment. He even popped over to my cottage to pick up my TV and DVD player so he could install them at the end of bed.

“Now you can finish watching Battlestar Galactica,” he said, whipping the DVD out from under his jacket and making me smile for the first time in what felt like forever.

He insisted that I hand my mobile phone over to him.