Harlan sat in the feed store for a while, then he pushed through the heavy-duty doors and through the thick plastic one, emerging into the central atrium where the caiman pool was. It felt like a semi-dark underground cave in here, with its ferns and waterfalls and humid, oppressive air. He’d always liked its feeling of enclosure.
But things weren’t too good in here. He’d seen that straight from the off. Some of the poisonous frogs were dead in their tanks, the lizards looked seriously out of condition and the boa’s big heated glass enclosure was empty. He went around the edge of the pool now, looking for the biggest caiman, George; but him and the other two must be in the water. Last time he’d looked down here, there had been a few tiny babies – but the others had probably eaten them; he couldn’t see them now.
He strolled around to the far side, careful not to slip on the ornamental rocks. Then he looked across and . . .
‘Belle?’
He gasped out the word as he saw her standing there, across the pond. His foot slipped and for a second his leg was in the water. He scrambled back. You had to be careful around the caimans. You couldn’t see them, but they were there, and they were aware of you.
And right now? They must be hungry.
Harlan stepped back, further up the bank. He gave a nervous half-laugh as he stared across at her.
‘Shit, I thought you were dead,’ he said.
‘Nearly was,’ said Belle, and turned her face so that he could see.
Harlan winced. ‘The caimans do that?’ he asked.
‘Yeah they did. After you told your boys to throw me in.’
‘Well dammit, Belle, you shouldn’t have been so fucking awkward about the whole thing,’ he snapped.
Belle’s stare was steady. ‘What? About the fact that you killed baby Jake? Sorry Harlan, but some things do stick in my throat. Killing babies? That’s not nice.’
‘All right! I hold my hands up, I did that. And that fool Beezer, I did him too. Things were getting old. Getting tired. Charlie’s reign was done, you know that. It was time for me to take over and Beezer was just one of the casualties of war, I guess.’
Belle pulled out the gun and pointed it at him.
‘You sent Ludo and Nipper to find me and kill me,’ she said.
‘You’re not going to use that. Look – you made me angry, Belle. You know you shouldn’t make me angry. You were mine. You know that.’
Belle shook her head. ‘You killed my parents.’
‘I told you. They were the old guard. And if you hadn’t been so fucking obstinate I wouldn’t have harmed a hair on your head. You know I wanted you. You know what a good team we’d make.’
She stared at him, her eyes cold. ‘Don’t kid yourself. And anyway – I’ve been busy, Harlan. Pulling your manor apart. Me. You think you’re a dangerous man to upset? You don’t know a damned thing. Watch and learn, you arsehole.’
Harlan’s eyes were fixed on the gun in her hand. ‘So that’s it? You’re going to shoot me?’ He shook his head and laughed. ‘Nah. You won’t do it. You and Milly, you’re just girls. No danger to anybody except yourselves.’
‘You think so? You’re wrong. You killed them too, didn’t you. Charlie and Nula.’
‘I told you. They were getting in the way. I had plans for the manor. Big plans.’
And then Belle saw something move.
Something big.