Most of them wouldn’t yet know that it was the first of many. But they soon would, and then it’d be the start of a nightmare for all those cunts at Scotland Yard.

Slack knew that there was no way they’d disband the task force or allow any detectives to willingly step away from it. But that was the whole point of the exercise. He’d wanted them to be in an impossible position from the start. And he’d aimed to achieve that with the text messages – by forcing them to ignore the death threats. Now in the eyes of the public they would have to share some responsibility for the killings, and it was certain to fuel the crisis they were about to face.

He had every confidence in Rosa Lopez, and not just because of her fearsome reputation. There was something about her that set her apart from other people. It was an intangible quality that was impossible to define and yet marked her out as a grade-A psycho. And it told him that she would approach the task she’d been given with gusto, that the more people she killed the better she would feel about herself.

He was also pretty sure that in the unlikely event that she was caught she wouldn’t dob him in for fear of upsetting her boss back in Mexico.

But even if she did it wouldn’t matter that much so long as she’d racked up enough kills by then to have made it all worthwhile.

He raised his glass of Scotch in a toast to the woman they called The Slayer, the only person who could give him what he wanted before he bailed out.

‘There’s a lot riding on your beautiful shoulders,’ he said aloud. ‘Please don’t let me down, Rosa. Pay the bastards back for what they did to the only people who ever meant anything to me.’

He gulped down the rest of his drink and suddenly found himself fantasising about the woman. He pictured her in the hotel room thinking through the plan for her next hit. But, rather than hunched over a desk, she was lying on the bed with her legs apart and her mouth open.

She was indeed exceptionally horny, and none of his mistresses, including Jasmine, could compare. Given the chance he’d willingly pay a king’s ransom to spend the night with her.

22

Rosa

Rosa did not plan to stay cooped up in her hotel room. Having dispensed with detective Dave Prentiss she was ready to party.

Some of the world’s most celebrated gay clubs were in London, and no way was she going to miss the opportunity to visit at least a few of them during her stay in the city.