Don’t tell Dad about the man, he commanded himself. Say nothing about Joseph Cobb. Nothing.
And then he heard his mother’s scream.
26
It was obvious from her reaction that she knew something.
Ronan didn’t think he had a particularly scary face. A bit rough around the edges, maybe, but not piss-your-pants terrifying. Plus, he’d put on his best smile when she’d opened the door. He’d had a good success rate with women when showing them that smile.
And yet here she was, screaming the place down.
She knew something.
He barged into the flat. The woman back-pedalled, her hands to her mouth. Ronan pushed the door closed behind him. Through a doorway on the right of the hall, the big bastard appeared. He began steaming towards Ronan and making a weird ape-like rumble in his throat. Ronan decided to take no chances. The guy might have the IQ of a pea, but he was the size of an ox and could do some serious damage.
Ronan pulled out his gun and pointed it at the man-mountain.
‘DANIEL, NO!’ the woman shrieked. She grabbed Daniel by the arm and did her best to hold him back. ‘NO!’
‘Listen to her, Daniel. Stay right there, or I’ll blow your fucking brains out.’ He switched his aim to the woman. ‘And if that makes no difference to you, I’ll blow your mum’s brains out too. How about that, Daniel? You want me to kill your mum?’
Daniel stood there, panting in indecision.
‘Move,’ Ronan ordered. ‘Back inside. Both of you.’
The woman took the initiative, leading Daniel back through the door he had just exited. Ronan followed them into a large living space. This room looked similar to Barrington’s, with an open-plan dining and kitchen area, but Barrington didn’t get the hallway or the additional bedroom.
That realisation triggered another thought.
‘Who else is here?’
‘Nobody,’ the woman said.
‘The bedrooms. Who’s in the bedrooms?’
‘Nobody. I swear.’
‘You’d better be telling the truth, because if I hear the slightest noise that doesn’t come from one of you two, I’m going to start blasting. Do you understand what I’m saying?’
‘I understand. I promise you, there’s nobody else here.’
‘Your husband. Where’s he?’
‘At . . . at work.’
‘When will he be home?’
‘Any minute now. I thought it was him at the door.’
‘Anyone else live here?’
‘No. No, it’s just the three of us. Look—’
‘Shut up. Sit down.’ He used the gun to indicate the sofa. They obeyed. Ronan grabbed one of the wooden chairs from the dining table and sat facing them.
‘You,’ he said to the woman. ‘What’s your name?’
‘Gemma. Gemma Timpson.’
‘Okay, Gemma. I don’t have to introduce myself. You already know me.’
‘No. I—’
‘Don’t fucking lie. I saw how you reacted out there. I’m guessing you don’t scream every time you open the front door. Your son here knows me, too. I wasn’t sure at first, him being a bit slow and everything, but he recognised me on the stairs. Isn’t that right, Danny boy? Who am I, Danny? Go on, tell your lying bitch of a mother here who I am.’
‘You’re . . . you’re Joseph Cobb. And you shouldn’t swear. It’s not nice.’
‘No, you’re right. It’s not nice to swear. And you know what else isn’t nice? Killing people.’
He turned to the mother again. ‘See, Gemma? Even your brain-dead son knows who I am. So why don’t you? Why are you so sure that a man called Joey Cobb couldn’t possibly be sitting here in your crappy little flat, fit as a fiddle? Why would that be so un-fucking-believable?’
‘The police.’
‘What?’
‘The police. They showed us a photograph of a man called Joey Cobb and said he’d been killed.’
Ronan smiled and shook his head. ‘Nice try, Gemma. What about you, Danny? Did you only see a photo too, or was I here in the flesh?’
