Tess left Gareth rubbing his wrists and feeling sorry for himself. She swept out of the house, stopping at the end of the driveway to read the message again.
The impossible message from Kate.
Meet me at Izzy’s house. Now.
Some sick fuck had Kate’s phone and was using it to mess with her. She had a suspicion of her own about who killed Kate, and she wondered if it just might be true. What she didn’t understand was Izzy’s connection.
The safest thing to do was leave everything to the authorities. However, having ditched her idiotic boyfriend, Tess felt giddy. Giddy and very curious. She decided she’d look into the text message, then continue on to the Garda Station to report everything. Her suspicions about Kate’s murder and everything she knew about Gareth’s activities too.
As she stood there, a train rumbled past. The damn things never seemed to stop. Its noise prompted her to move.
She walked towards Izzy’s house. What was she going to find there?
I’ll keep a distance, Tess told herself. I’ll just take a look and see what’s going on.
And something was definitely going on in the area. She heard sirens and caught the smell of smoke.
After all the stress and fear, Tess was amazed at how relieved she felt to be rid of Gareth. She wondered whether she had ever loved him or if she had simply settled for him.
The relationship was over now and that was what mattered.
She straightened her back and felt a thrill as she reached Izzy’s road. The smell of smoke was stronger here, and she could see the smoke rising over nearby rooftops.
Tess continued on.
*
Adam watched the building burn from the back.
Seeing Izzy walk off with the Asian guy had made Adam incandescent with rage, more furious than he could put into words.
But Adam knew where to find the guy. That little prick wasn’t stealing his girl.
Adam had lost quite a bit of blood before he cleaned himself up in his van, put on his jacket again to hide the bloody bandages, then went to the shop and got some matches, cloths and bottles of spirits.
Starting fires was fun. He used to do that a lot back in Maryhill, long before the likes of Ruth and Izzy came along.
When the lights in the Chinese building went out, he jumped the wall into the back garden again, then used four Molotov cocktails to get the party started.
A thirst for vengeance grew as he stood in the shadows of the garden and watched the flames surge and the smoke billow.
He hoped everyone in the house was killed, but he’d settle for Izzy’s new boyfriend.
Adam sat on his ass in the garden.
After a while he heard screams and shouts. Music to his ears. When he was sure the fire was going strong, he jumped the garden wall again and got into his van.
He pointed it towards his apartment.
Adam’s work in Dun Laoghaire wasn’t yet done. But there was something he needed to get from home.