He thought about the horses he had hurt previously. And smiled. He enjoyed hurting. He enjoyed killing, too. But hurting was like a sport, a pastime, whereas killing was a profession.
Hurting had been fun. He had wondered what it would be like to hurt a horse, wondered if he would actually have disliked doing it, hurting a poor, dumb, defenceless creature. But it had been excellent because they were not actually dumb enough not to show terror in their eyes. As he’d slashed them, their expressions had been glorious to behold.
Tonight, though, he had been told to go one step further.
The pair made it back with about thirty seconds to spare — just at the point where the ladies were getting a little agitated and the children, because it was late and they were tired, fractious.
Kate and Henry stood at the door and waved Karl and his family off. As the 4x4 turned out of sight, Henry slid his arm around Kate’s slim waist and planted a kiss on the side of her face.
She pulled away from him slightly.
‘Drink equals friskiness with you, doesn’t it?’
‘Not necessarily,’ he said, mocking offence. Then, ‘OK — yes it does.’
They closed the front door and melted into each other’s arms. ‘It’s a good job I’ve had half a bottle of Blossom Hill red then, isn’t it?’ Her face tilted up. He kissed her slowly, gently, deliberately.
‘Think we’ve got time to. . y’know? Before the girls get back?’
‘Is it going to be a slowie or a quickie?’
‘Long and slow. . I’ve had a drink, remember?’
She gulped. ‘Even if they come back, they wouldn’t interrupt us, would they?’
‘Wouldn’t dare.’ Henry took her hand and led her upstairs, feeling very frisky indeed.
The chill of the night did not bother Verner. He had been in far colder, more uncomfortable places.
It was an hour since the security patrol had left. At the main house, some lights had been turned off, leaving only the main lounge and one bedroom light on. The time was slowly approaching. His watch said 10.17.
There was some movement in the stable yard. Quickly he put the night sights to his eyes.
It was a teenage girl, dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt top. She was edging her way around the yard, keeping to the shadows. What the hell was she up to? And who the hell was she? He could not quite get a sharp focus on her face, but he kept the glasses held firmly to his eyes, watching her movements. It was obvious she was trying to keep unseen. She dashed quickly across the yard, then back into the darkness of the stables. Verner could clearly see her at the door of one of the loose boxes. She was messing with the lock. Suddenly the door opened and she went inside, closing it behind her.
‘Shit,’ Verner breathed to himself. A delay, maybe a complication. What was she up to? He breathed out, relaxed, waited.
Ten minutes later she emerged, locking the stable door behind her. She paused, rushed across the yard and disappeared behind the building that was the tack room. Verner next picked her up in his sights as she ran towards the main house.
Twenty minutes after that, the security patrol car re-entered the grounds and parked in the middle of the stable yard. The driver got out and checked each stable door carefully, then left.
Security sure is tight, Verner thought.
Henry’s promise to Kate came true. Their lovemaking was long and sensual, not always slow, sometimes fast and furious and with abandon, but always — always — with love and respect. It was as though he and Kate had just invented sex. It reminded him of the times all the years before when they were courting and then newly wed when they went for it at every opportunity — and they were determined to enjoy it to the full today.
When their daughters arrived home together, Henry slowed down to a stop, remaining deep inside Kate, who, with mischief, used her internal muscles to drive him wild, making Henry gasp with pleasure.
‘Oi,’ he warned her.
‘What?’ she said innocently.
Jenny shouted, ‘Good night you two — we know what you’re doing!’ The girls giggled naughtily, then went to their respective bedrooms.
Henry and Kate laughed quietly. Sex had never been so much fun for them.
‘Now then,’ he said, ‘time to get my own back.’
When it was over, they lay embracing face to face, locked tight in each other’s limbs.
‘That was lovely,’ Kate sighed, her face nuzzling one of Henry’s nipples.
He breathed out contentedly and closed his eyes.
Sometime later as they lay dozing, Henry said, ‘I got propositioned today.’
Doing the horse had been a lot of fun. It was a power thing. Slashing cuts across the buttocks with a cut-throat razor, then going for one of the eyes, driving the stiletto into the eyeball, causing it to burst with a fantastic ‘pop’ and a spray of clear liquid. Then slicing off its mane and shearing the tail.
All good fun and very necessary to prove a point.
Kate did not like the idea at all. It showed in her whole demeanour and tone of voice. At least Henry was not surprised and he was ready for it with his argument, which, admittedly, he knew was pretty thin.
‘You could get into trouble,’ Kate informed him.
‘It’s just gonna be me bummin’ around, asking a few questions, that’s all. I know four people in the area with convictions for mutilating horses. It’ll probably be one of them. They’re easy people to deal with for someone like me. Just very weird.’
‘I didn’t mean that,’ Kate said coldly. ‘I meant with work.’ She sighed through her nose, a sure sign she was pissed off. She was sat up in bed, knees drawn up with her arms folded around them. Still naked. ‘You’ve got enough problems without having more by doing some unofficial investigating.’
‘I’m not going to get paid for it. It’ll just be helping a friend of my daughter.’
‘Hm,’ sniffed Kate. She shook her head. Did not like it one bit.
Henry lay next to her, also naked. Both of them were well tanned from frequent forays to the sun during his time of suspension. Both were trim and fit-looking. Henry ran a hand up the underside of her thigh, stopping at her buttocks. He allowed a finger to touch her sex. She shivered involuntarily and closed her eyes.
‘Don’t,’ she said weakly. ‘That won’t change my mind. I don’t think you should get involved in anything, whatever it is, love. You need to keep focused on clearing your name, nothing else. Clearing your name and getting back to work.’
‘I know, I know.’ He rolled on to his back, slid his hands behind his head. ‘Just sounded like. . summat to do.’
‘The front room needs redecorating.’
‘You know what I mean.’
‘Yeah, yeah, I know.’ He shut his eyes and curled his lips sardonically. Suddenly Kate planted a kiss on his mouth, hard, then let it dissolve into a wet mush of tongue, saliva and teeth, gums and the insides of each other’s mouths. She reached down and grabbed hold of him, forcing a grunt to escape from his throat. She eased a leg over him, slid him inside her and moved over him, rotating her hips slowly. She was very good at this.
Henry did not admit it to her, but he would not change his mind either. He had stubbornly decided to himself that he would be taking a look into Tara Wickson’s mutilated horses, no matter how much sex he had on a plate.
Verner unlocked the tack room by jemmying the hasp off, and was inside quickly. The aroma of cleaned leather greeted him. Down one wall were complete tack sets for eight horses — saddles, bridles, blankets, everything required to kit out a horse. They smelled lovely, he thought. What a shame.
He started at the far corner of the room, splashing out the petrol on the floor and as high up the wooden walls as possible, and on the equipment. The smell of accelerant soon replaced that of leather. He breathed it in and it sent him slightly dizzy.
He tossed a lighted match into the room. The fumes caught it immediately with a hissing boom as air got sucked into the flames. The man smiled and stepped smartly out of the tack room, leaving the door ajar to help with airflow.