Little Boy Blue - [26]

She stood there smiling, her hand outstretched for the keys. She seemed so confident of what she was doing that Sally now found herself rummaging for her keys. As she pulled them out, however, she spotted her key ring. On it was a small picture of her, Paul and the twins, taken about six months ago, at the top of Scafell Pike. They were all smiling – tired but exhilarated by their triumph in reaching the summit.

‘I’m sorry, who did you say you were again?’ she said, keeping the keys gripped tight in her hand.

‘I’m from the Southampton Evening News,’ the woman replied, her smile tightening a touch. ‘I know you must be wondering what to do for the best and I’d like to help. Within the hour, you’re going to have reporters, TV journalists and God knows who else camped on your doorstep. I can deal with them. Let me do that for you,’ she said, casting an eye across the street as a van pulled up near by, ‘or, believe you me, it’s going to be a free-for-all. And nobody – least of all you – wants that.’

‘I don’t even know you.’

‘Here’s my ID,’ she replied, thrusting a laminated press card into Sally’s hand. ‘You can call the office if you like. It’s now or never, Sally.’

Sally now spotted a reporter she recognized from the local news heading up the road towards her.

‘I’m sorry, I don’t want to talk to anyone,’ Sally said, finally finding her voice.

‘You’re going to have to talk to someone -’

‘Please get off my property,’ said Sally, cutting her short. She opened the door and bustled inside.

She turned to find the woman had a toe on the doorstep – where do these people get their cheek? – and slammed the door shut quickly. She hurried out of the hall, taking refuge in the kitchen, but before she’d even sat down, the doorbell rang. This time she heard a male voice, imploring her to answer. She said nothing in response. There was no way she could talk to anyone. She had the boys to think about and, besides, what could she tell them? She didn’t have any information about why Paul had been arrested, what was happening or when he’d be back.

The only thing she did know was that their happy, ordered life was about to implode.

40

He grasped the metal bar and pulled down hard. The weights at the other end of the rope shot up and he held them in that position, his broad shoulder muscles taking the strain. He counted down the seconds in his head – thirty, twenty, ten – before easing the weights back down to base. They touched down without making a noise, bringing a smile to his face. It was stupid to revel in the finesse he brought to the job, but not everyone could do it, so why not?

Rising from the bench, Max Paine surveyed the scene around him. This was by far the most expensive gym in Southampton – complete with floor-to-ceiling views of the Solent – but you got what you paid for. It had the latest equipment, was quiet and full of professional gym bunnies. A particularly well-toned pair of girls wandered past now as he towelled himself down and he took the opportunity to scrutinize their tight backsides. They pretended to be deep in conversation, but they knew he was checking them out and loved it. Max made a mental note to say a few words to them before he left.

He was still following their progress towards the treadmills, when his attention was caught by one of the large plasma screens on the wall. There were TVs everywhere in this place, showing sports, lifestyle programmes, soaps and of course the ubiquitous game shows that clogged up daytime viewing. He generally ignored them – he was here to exercise – but this time what he saw stopped him in his tracks.

The news was playing, showing a press conference with Hampshire Police. Max didn’t recognize the guy leading it and his headphones were switched off, so he couldn’t hear what he was saying – but his eye was drawn to the headline bar at the bottom of the screen: TORTURE ROOMS MURDER. Dropping his towel on the bench, he hurried over to the screen, tapping his console to tune into the relevant channel.

‘… in custody. We won’t be releasing a name, but we can confirm that he is a male in his forties who lives locally.’

Max Paine listened intently. He had been to the Torture Rooms on numerous occasions and had been scouring local media for updates since he’d heard the news of Jake Elder’s death.

‘That’s all I’m prepared to say for now. As you know, Detective Inspector Grace is leading the investigation, and I’m very confident that we’ll make swift progress in this case. There is no need for members of the public to be alarmed as we are currently treating this as a one-off incident.’

Max stood still. Had he been hearing things? No, the guy had definitely said DI Grace. Suddenly he laughed out loud, provoking startled looks from the gym bunnies nearby. This was too good to be true. No, this was priceless.

All thoughts of his workout were now long gone. As he strode towards the exit, his mind turned on the possibilities this surprising development threw up. This was an opportunity to make some serious money. What he had to say would pay for his expensive gym membership and a lot more besides.