Chapter 26

TIME TO REPENT

“I made peace with my enemies on your behalf,” Hanbury said.

“I know,” Faultless said.

Hanbury’s cold, lilac eyes measured him. “And you mocked me like that? Using my name.”

“I owe you, Roy.”

Hanbury stubbed out his cigarette. “Not me, Charlie. You owe the Lord.”

Thank Christ, thought Faultless.

Hanbury went on. “Everyone pays in the end. We have to. Our sins are too great. They stain creation. There’s no getting away with it.”

“Many have.”

“No they ain’t, son. What d’you think happens when you die?”

Faultless said nothing.

“I’ll tell you. You face the Lord your God, maker of heaven and earth, and you submit to his judgment.”

“I thought he loved us. That’s what the Bible says. Why should we face his judgment?”

“He does love you, Charlie. But he wants you to love him back.”

“Or he’ll torture me forever.”

“That’s right, son.”

“So I’ve got a payment overdue.”

“Not overdue. But when you die. The Lord will demand repentance on the last day. Repent or suffer burning hell. That’s why you need to do it now. Let Christ into your life. He saved me. Fuck knows what would’ve happened had the Lord not entered my cell all those years ago.”

“You would’ve been hunting Rachel’s killer.”

Hanbury looked him in the eye. When Hanbury looked you in the eye, you felt your brain boil. His cold eyes fired lasers into your soul.

Faultless dropped his gaze and then looked at Jesus over the fireplace. His wounds flared red. The artist had mixed up a good shade.

He said, “You on the straight and narrow these days, Roy?”

“God’s path, son. None straighter.”

“What do you do with yourself?”

“I got my pension, you know. Enjoy my granddaughter. Little Jasmine. She’s a handful, but what kid isn’t. I was. You were. She’s a gem.”

“I met her.”

Hanbury nodded and went on. “And I try to keep the kids here out of trouble. You know how it is. Unemployment. Gangs. Drugs. The devil marches through Barrowmore. His works are increasing. The bad days are coming, Charlie.”

“I thought they’d always been bad.”

“You wait. You think what man can do is bad? You wait. Armageddon is around the corner. God’s wrath. You wait.”

“I will.”

Hanbury placed the python back in its vivarium.

He said, “So you’re here to dig up the past?”

“I’m here to bury it.”

“Forgiveness is the key, Charlie.”

“You telling me you’ve forgiven whoever murdered Rachel? Who opened her up and—”

“Enough.” Hanbury’s face had turned crimson.

Faultless said, “I want to know who did that to her, Roy. To her and my mum. I want to know.”

“You thought you did know, son.”

“I was wrong.”

“You were wrong, and it cost a man’s life. You were wrong, and it gave me a serious headache.”

Faultless shrugged. “It brought peace between you and the Graveney’s.”

“Don’t try to be funny with me, Charlie. Humor was never your strong point. Being a little shit was your strong point.”

The past reared up in Faultless’s mind—him running wild, feeling rage, and being a pain in everyone’s arse. But then he shut off the memories. He didn’t want to see what he’d been. He stowed the recollections away.

1996 was 1996.

You couldn’t change it.

You could only . . .

Repent?

Hanbury said, “Had you stayed, Charlie, they would’ve killed you. And they’re still on the maps, the Graveney’s. They won’t have forgotten.”

“I thought you made peace.”

“I did. But part of the peace was that you would never be seen again. Charlie Faultless is gone, I said. He ain’t coming back. Christ, you were trouble, son. You were like a son to me. Especially when you were with Rachel. When you saved . . . ”

He trailed off and crunched his knuckles. Veins swelled on his bulldog neck. He found his voice again. “But—Jesus forgive me—I sometimes thought of killing you myself.”

“Once this is done, I’m gone.”

“This book?”

Faultless nodded. “Interviews. Photos. Can you help me? Be my point man?”

“No, I can’t. I helped you once before.”

“You know you were a suspect.”

Hanbury narrowed his eyes. “I don’t mind being accused of the things I’ve done—and I’ve done bucket loads—but telling me I did things I would never do, that’s injustice. I hate that, son. You put that in your book, I may have to forget I’m a Christian for an hour or two.”

“God wouldn’t be happy.”

“I’m saved. The Lord keeps me from harm, Charlie. And he keeps me from harming others. Remember that.”

Hanbury rose. His knees clicked. He went to the mantelpiece, kissed his finger and touched it to the stigmata on Christ’s foot.

“I don’t want old wounds re-opened,” he said. “Rachel’s or yours. I don’t want revenge.

I don’t want nothing, Charlie. Only peace on earth and goodwill to all fucking men. Even the Graveney’s. I love seeing you again, son, it makes my heart sing, it does. But it’s not a good thing. And it makes me look like a liar.”

“Fair enough. But I ain’t going.”

“You’re a bastard, Charlie. If things were as they were, I’d have to kill you.”

“My mum deserves justice. Your Rachel deserves justice. Their killers deserve judgment.”

“All killers do. Don’t they, Charlie.”

“I know. Maybe my day will come.”

“It will. Count on it.”

Hanbury sat down again and poured more coffee into his cup.

Faultless said, “Is Wilks still around?”

“Don Wilks.” The name came out of Hanbury like a growl. “Cunt,” he cursed. “The Lord forgive my foul language. But cunt. Wilks. The bastard. He’s a detective chief superintendent, now. Heads up some serious crime squad. Bollocks, he was. You’d have thought he was on the side of the killer back then.”

“He liked you for Rachel’s killing.”

“The bastard. I’ve known some useless filth in my day, but he took the fucking digestives when it came to being a crap copper. He should’ve been a villain. He is a fucking villain. Bent as Larry Grayson. Bent and twisted. I thought I was a mean bastard. But Wilks. You ain’t seen nothing.”

“I did see.” He rolled up his sleeve. A scar, four inches long, sliced across his forearm. The skin was withered—a burn mark.

“Hot poker,” said Faultless. “I was thirteen. He caught me with some of your dope, Roy.”

Hanbury grimaced.

“I kept my mouth shut, and this is what he does,” said Faultless.

“You were a good boy, Charlie. I should’ve killed Wilks for that. I don’t know why I didn’t. Maybe ‘cause he gave me back the dope. I still wanted to do him, though. That’s why I need God, see. If I didn’t have the Lord, there’d be blood, Charlie. Blood and vengeance.”