‘Jack.’ Belle caught his arm. ‘This is my job. Not yours.’

He looked at her. ‘You’re fucking joking.’

‘I’m not.’

‘Belle. He’s already had one crack at finishing you. You want to give him a second?’

‘Give me the gun,’ said Belle. ‘And give me fifteen minutes. Then you can come in.’

Jack gave her the stare that made grown men crumble. Belle didn’t.

‘You won’t change my mind,’ said Belle. She’d been frightened of Harlan Stone long enough. Now it was time to be the bold, brave girl she’d once been – the old Belle – and to set this straight.

He took the gun out and handed it to her. ‘You’re crazy.’

‘Fifteen minutes,’ she said, and began to make her way towards the zoo.

156

Harlan sat in the feed store for a while, then he pushed through the heavy-duty doors and through the thick plastic one, emerging into the central atrium where the caiman pool was. It felt like a semi-dark underground cave in here, with its ferns and waterfalls and humid, oppressive air. He’d always liked its feeling of enclosure.

But things weren’t too good in here. He’d seen that straight from the off. Some of the poisonous frogs were dead in their tanks, the lizards looked seriously out of condition and the boa’s big heated glass enclosure was empty. He went around the edge of the pool now, looking for the biggest caiman, George; but him and the other two must be in the water. Last time he’d looked down here, there had been a few tiny babies – but the others had probably eaten them; he couldn’t see them now.

He strolled around to the far side, careful not to slip on the ornamental rocks. Then he looked across and . . .

‘Belle?’

He gasped out the word as he saw her standing there, across the pond. His foot slipped and for a second his leg was in the water. He scrambled back. You had to be careful around the caimans. You couldn’t see them, but they were there, and they were aware of you.

And right now? They must be hungry.

Harlan stepped back, further up the bank. He gave a nervous half-laugh as he stared across at her.

‘Shit, I thought you were dead,’ he said.

‘Nearly was,’ said Belle, and turned her face so that he could see.

Harlan winced. ‘The caimans do that?’ he asked.

‘Yeah they did. After you told your boys to throw me in.’

‘Well dammit, Belle, you shouldn’t have been so fucking awkward about the whole thing,’ he snapped.

Belle’s stare was steady. ‘What? About the fact that you killed baby Jake? Sorry Harlan, but some things do stick in my throat. Killing babies? That’s not nice.’