‘Your daughters,’ Bianca said without warning. ‘Cassie and Harper. And the man on the touchline with the dog by his feet, that’s your husband, Justin.’
Emilia gasped, her attention flitting between a slim, red-headed man and the girls. She was scared to blink in case they vanished as quickly as they had appeared.
‘The scar across your belly that Ted told you was from being slashed by an employee?’ continued Bianca. ‘That event happened but had nothing to do with you. You didn’t even work for a bank. Your wound is actually a Caesarean scar.’
Her mind raced and she desperately wanted to remember anything about them, but instead, she drew a blank. However, she was convinced they were related becausesomewhere deep inside, Emiliaknewshe was watching family. The maternal force was too intense on sight alone for this to be a lie. She was a mother and a wife.
‘Take aim,’ Bianca added and three red, circular dots appeared, one on each of Emilia’s family’s heads. ‘Snipers,’ Bianca continued. ‘One word from me and all three will die here and now, right in front of you. What’s it to be? Will you be leaving or staying in the car?’
Chapter 41
BRUNO, OUNDLE, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE
She moved from room to room, completely unaware of Bruno’s presence.
From inside his parked car adjacent to her house, he watched carefully as she went about her business. Her property was palatial compared to his former bedsit. It was an immaculate detached Victorian building, renovated and stretching across three floors. The latest model of a top-of-the-range autonomous car was parked on her drive. His hackles rose as he calculated the value of her material possessions.I bet inside you’re as empty as me, he thought.
Karen Watson was the sixth and final name on his list. And by the end of the night, she would be dead.
It was the second time Bruno had been in her presence that day and earlier, he had been even closer to her than he was now. He’d volunteered to take a dog for a walk from a nearby homeless pet shelter knowing from previous reconnaissance missions exactly where to find Watson. She was a creature of habit and took her golden retriever for a countryside walk every other day, choosing to sit on the same bench by the river Nene.
‘Go and be a dog,’ Bruno whispered into Oscar’s ear and dropped the lead. Once Oscar clocked the other pet, he made a beeline for it. The retriever rose to its feet andthe excitable pair began running circles around one another, their leads entwining.
Bruno fumbled with his jacket pocket and felt the shape of the hammer inside it. He hoped the dog was not aggressive as he would rather not kill that too.
‘I am so sorry,’ said Bruno as he approached Watson. He hoped that distracting her with Oscar would make it easier to strike quickly. However, a couple walking arm in arm slowly towards them put paid to that plan. For the moment, he would have to wait.
‘Luna, come here!’ Watson ordered but her pet wasn’t listening. Soon, neither dog could move as their leads were wrapped around one another’s.
‘I’m a bit new to this,’ Bruno continued, playing for time and feigning embarrassment as he began unravelling Oscar. ‘He belongs to a dogs’ shelter and I’ve volunteered to walk him.’
He caught a longer glimpse of her, his first close-up. She was a handful of years older than him, he knew that already, but she appeared younger. Her frame was slight and her smile kind. He hadn’t appreciated how striking she was each time he’d followed her from a distance. He blinked his attraction away.
‘That’s a lovely thing to do,’ Watson replied, her dog finally free. ‘Luna’s six but she still thinks she’s a puppy.’
Bruno suddenly became lost for words. Watson wasn’t like the others on his list. It wasn’t because she was the only woman, it was because she was …different… and he couldn’t put his finger on why. ‘She’s a beautiful girl,’ was the best he could manage.
He reciprocated the ‘hello’s the passing couple gave. If he killed Watson now, they could identify him. And when a line of schoolchildren and their teachers appeared, he knew his moment had passed.
‘We’d best be heading home,’ Watson said and offered him a smile that he returned before she disappeared from view.
I know where that is, Bruno thought. Which brought him to where he was sitting now.
‘Hey.’
The Echo startled Bruno. He turned quickly, taken aback to find a young boy with a missing jaw in the back seat of his vehicle. Warren Hobbs had been the victim of a sadistic eighteenth-century British aristocrat, another secret hidden from the world. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘Why?’ Bruno replied, disguising his unease.
‘Because you aren’t yourself,’ said the boy.
‘That woman in the house. She’s done something to you.’ While he looked like a child, he spoke as an adult.
‘Of course she has. I don’t kill indiscriminately.’
‘That ain’t what I mean. I know you. We all know you because we’re a part of you. Every one of us. She’s stirred something up inside you.’
The fine hairs on the back of Bruno’s neck stood to attention. ‘How long are you all staying for?’
