Now he was here, cooling his heels, mentally preparing himself. He took a long luxurious shower and then towelled dry. He dressed in fresh jeans and a crisp white linen shirt. Then he stood looking out of the vast master bedroom window down the garden and over the grounds to the orchard and the zoo. No helicopter on the helipad, not any more. He thought of Charlie then, and that crazy old cow Nula.

Dead and gone.

Sorting them out should have solved every problem. But it hadn’t been plain sailing since the crash. Far from it. Someone, somewhere, was making his life hell, tearing chunks out of his backside, kicking the shit out of his manor.

He thought of Belle. Still missing. Dead, or alive? He hadn’t a clue. He thought of the scarred woman the Vietnamese had talked about. The dragon lady.

Belle?

Nah. Surely not. He went back downstairs. He’d have some lunch if he could find anything in the kitchens and then he’d go down to the zoo; he liked it down there, although that place, like the rest of his manor, had been sadly neglected of late. They used to keep a girl on to care for the reptiles, but she’d left, months ago. The caimans and the big boa had scared her. So he had no idea when they or any of the other animals had last been fed. None whatsoever. It was time he got a grip on things.

And he would.

He promised himself that.

Leaving the master suite, he paused at his old room and pushed the door open. It was empty now, all his stuff had been moved out. The master suite was much more comfortable even though it was bigger and he’d always had a liking for small, enclosed spaces. Still, he was getting used to the suite. It was fitting that the master of the house should be in there – and he was the master.

He kept telling himself that.

155

‘He’s back at the house,’ said Tank, coming in the door at Beechwood Farm. ‘He’s just taken the buggy out down the grounds. Past the orchard.’

The rest of them were sitting around the kitchen table, drinking tea. Belle drained her cup and stood up. ‘That’s my cue, then.’

‘Ours,’ said Jack, rising and going into the bedroom. He came back, tucking the gun inside his jacket. ‘Come on then. Let’s go.’

Belle and Jack went out to the Jeep. Jack drove along the lane until they reached the Stone residence, then turned in and sped up the drive, veering to the right and sending the Jeep bulldozing through the pampas grass, over the formal gardens, and into the orchard. They could see the white buggy now, parked up beside the seat outside the zoo. Twenty yards away from it, Jack stopped the Jeep, switching off the engine. He started to get out.