Neither Danny nor Rachel could see the door to the cellar opening behind the wine racks but they both heard it together with the anxious bark of a dog. Philip called out. ‘Rachel? Rachel? Where are you? What’s going on?’
For a moment, Danny looked up in alarm, then back down at Rachel who he was still gripping with his stubby icy fingers. He leant into her face. His voice was quiet but savage. ‘You dumb bitch. What did you have to make a noise for?’
Philip’s feet clattered down the stairs. As if to punish him, Danny raised his hand and struck Rachel across the face so she tumbled off her chair. Clasping her cheek, she hurriedly jumped to her feet but she was in too much shock to run or shout.
Danny grabbed her hair and forced her back into the chair. ‘Shut up. Say nothing, leave the talking to me. I’ll sort this out.’
Only when Philip appeared from behind a wine rack, followed by Ray, did Danny loosen his grip on Rachel and stand up straight. ‘What do you want? Rachel and I are just sharing a private moment here – Isn’t that right, Rachel? Now, why don’t you clear off and prune some roses, like a good little boy?’
Philip said nothing, but his chest rose high in harsh breaths. He took Rachel by the hand and tried to help her out of her chair. ‘Come on, let’s go.’
For a moment, Danny watched him do it before he sneered, ‘Is this your Sir Galahad, Rachel? I’d be hoping for something with a little more in the way of polished armour than this puss.’ Danny’s voice went up a notch with significantly more bite. ‘I suppose you’ve been hanging around in the hall again, have you, Philip? Is that how you get your jollies? Listening to other people get theirs? Or are you more of a guy-on-guy kind of shining knight? Yes, I reckon that’s it.’
Danny grabbed Rachel’s arm, shoving her back into the chair. Before she could say or do anything, he cuffed her head, making her cry out this time in pain and shock.
‘Sit down, you little whore, you’re not going anywhere. I’m thinking there’s a little confusion around here about who’s employing who.’
Danny loomed over Philip. ‘Come on then, Sir Galahad, why don’t you get your lance out and joust with me? Let’s see who’s the real man with balls here.’
Rachel found her voice. ‘Leave him alone. Philip – go upstairs and call the police—’
Danny burst out laughing. ‘Call the coppers? Sir Galahad won’t be calling the police.’ He drew closer to Philip. ‘Why don’t you tell Rachel why you won’t be calling the police.’ When there was no answer, he laughed, a sound that echoed around the dank cellar. ‘Go on, boy, tell her.’
When he got no answer, Danny shoved Philip back against a wine rack. It shook, wobbled, unseating bottles of wine that crashed to the floor. Dark red liquid ran wild over the stone flags. Ray yapped and charged at Danny, grabbing him on the ankle with his little jaws.
Enraged, Danny growled through gritted teeth. ‘I’ve had enough of you as well.’ Danny yanked the puppy away by the scruff of the neck, drew his booted foot back and kicked the puppy as hard as he could. Ray went flying across the floor. Rachel flew at Danny from his rear. Philip lunged at him from the front. A dazed Ray ran circles around the three of them, barking. They all struggled and fought on until suddenly there was silence.
Rachel lay on her back from where Danny had elbowed her in the belly. Philip stood unsteadily with a broken bottle in his hand while Ray sat shaking and mute. Danny lowered himself onto the empty chair, holding the side of his head with red wine running through his fingers. Rachel hadn’t seen a blow struck but one obviously had. Danny was clearly hurt but at first sight it didn’t look too serious. Only when the shock wore off and her eyes focused properly, did she realise the red wine on his fingers was actually blood. All Danny’s violence, anger and lust seemed to seep out of his body, along with the blood leaking from the wound over his ear.
His voice was bewildered and almost childlike as he tried to stand. ‘What did you do that for, Philip? Eh? There was no need for that. No need at all. I wasn’t going to hurt anyone.’ He took his bloodied hand away from his temple, raised it at Philip in accusation and choked. ‘Look at that!’ Then he swayed and whimpered. ‘No need, no need for that at all.’ He gradually slumped over Rachel’s desk in confusion before finally, and slowly, sliding to the floor.
Then he was still.
‘We’ve got to call the police!’
Philip was kneeling down, feeling Danny’s pulse. ‘We’re not calling the cops.’
‘He sexually assaulted me. Attacked you. He kicked Ray. It was self-defence, they’ll understand. What’s the matter with you? We’ve got to call them.’
Philip rose up from his knees and screamed, ‘We’re not calling anyone! Do you understand?’ His voice broke. ‘We’re not calling the cops.’
Frightened by Philip’s voice, Rachel insisted, ‘All right, but we’ve got to call an ambulance, he’s unconscious.’
Philip’s voice fell to a whisper. ‘He’s dead, Rachel. He’s dead.’
Her hands flew to her mouth as she staggered back. ‘But he can’t be dead, we hardly touched him.’
Philip threw the broken bottle that he was still clutching to one side. ‘Well, he is. And there’s nothing we can do about it. Now we need to decide what to do next.’
He crouched down again, taking a shaken Ray by his collar. ‘Right, first you need to take Ray.’ Philip’s mind seemed to be ticking over on its own as if he were talking to himself. ‘There are no other staff on the grounds today, so no-one knows you’re here. Here’s what you do. You go back home. You tell no-one you were here today. Ever. You never ever tell anyone. Say to your father that you were ill on the way to work. No, better, that you had a puncture and you couldn’t get to work in the first place. Say you stopped off somewhere on the way back and had a long breakfast but don’t say where so no-one can check. Then you say you went up the woods and did some sunbathing or something. And don’t forget – when you hear that Danny’s dead, don’t forget to be shocked – okay?’
Rachel listened in disbelief. Perhaps it was that or the whole series of shocks compressed into the previous hour but she suddenly burst out laughing. ‘You’re not serious? I’m not doing any of that. I’m calling the police and I’m doing it now.’
She was swept forward as Philip grabbed her lightly and tugged her towards him. ‘Do you care about me, Rachel? Do you care at all? If you do, you’ll go home and keep your mouth shut about this. Please, I’m begging you. That’s all I’m asking. That’s all I’ll ever ask of you.’
Rachel sat astride her bike on the drive in front of Danny’s house. Ray was tucked inside her jacket for the journey home. But he was already looking at Philip and pawing the lining of the jacket with a view to escaping.
Their voices were quiet and businesslike. Rachel said her goodbyes. ‘What are you going to do with Danny’s body?’
‘I don’t know. I’ll figure it out.’
Rachel pushed an escaping Ray back into her jacket and whispered, ‘Why aren’t we calling the police? I don’t understand. I’ll make Danny sound like the most evil man that ever lived. It was us or him.’
Philip looked over her shoulder into the distance with a wistful gaze. ‘You need to get out of here.’