Kiss and Die

Chapter 79

She kept her glasses on, her head down. Her hair was tucked up into a blond wig. The hotel was busy-no one noticed her. They had people coming in off the street all the time, sometimes they headed down to the bakery, sometimes they came into the small shopping mall at the entrance, but no one thought twice about a woman walking through the doors of Vacation Villas, straight into the lifts to the upper floors. Her mouth was dry, her bag heavy. She had Peter Thorne’s head in it. She got to the sixteenth floor. The lift doors opened. She stepped out to the Bavarian music and the floral spray that swamped every hotel floor.

Shrimp stepped into the lift opposite.

The landing was quiet. She came to the end, turned right and stopped outside Peter Thorne’s room. She checked her phone. She had a message. Ruby read it then shook her head. Didn’t Victoria realize it was too late now? She hovered for a moment outside the hotel room, unsure, and then she turned and walked back down the corridor. She smiled to herself as she patted her bag. She had thought of a much more fitting place to leave it. If Victoria was going to play a game then Ruby would up the stakes. Victoria would have to learn that the game had taken on a life of its own. When you start a fire you can’t always predict which way the wind will blow it. Ruby was seeing things differently now. She no longer cared for the promises. She no longer held the dreams she once had. It was all gone now. Ruby must prepare for the end of the game. She would go hunting tonight and this time it would be for someone very special.

That night she headed to an Irish pub she knew. Ruby walked down the steps, past the Guinness posters, into a bar with dark alcoves and dark wood, shamrocks a plenty. The Pogues were playing. On the screen at the end of the bar Manchester United was playing Arsenal.

Ruby chose a different table to last time. It wouldn’t do to form a pattern, a recognizable trait. She went to the left of the bar, beneath the TV screen. She could watch them as they watched the game. She tucked herself away with her glass of Coke. This place was good. The clientele was businessmen. There were several sat at the bar. Several more alone at tables, eating dinner; pub food that they found familiar, comforting when they were away from home. This was a good place to start the night’s hunting. She slid from the stool and took off her mac and then sat back down and crossed her legs.

A group of three men were sat at the bar talking business and football. Well, two of them were, the third looked bored. He was dark haired, red faced. He looked a little bit the worse for wear. His eyes wandered round the room and came to settle on Ruby. She stared back and allowed a small smile as she sucked her Coke through the straw. The man continued staring. Ruby watched him staring at her legs. He was going to be easy, she thought. He had only one thought in his mind and it wasn’t business and it wasn’t football. Ruby was looking for someone specific tonight, she could spot a policeman a mile away and he wasn’t one. Ruby knew where she could find one.