Page 141 of The Killer’s Mark

‘They’ll have seen me leave Cowie House.’

‘Of course,’ Towler said. ‘But they won’t call yet. They know you needed time to collect the woman.’

‘My name is Océane,’ Océane said.

‘I thought it was Donna Reed. Or Brandy Calhoun. Or the Midnight Beekeeper.’

She glowered at him.

‘So are you two official or are you still playing it low-key?’ Poe said as he came off the M6 at Junction 44 and went round the roundabout until he was heading south again.

‘I wouldn’t touch her with yours, mate,’ Towler said.

‘And I wouldn’t let his tiny dick anywhere near me.’

Poe grinned. ‘Official, then.’

‘The more time you spend with her, the more you wonder why Wednesday Addams is so desperate to find her,’ Towler said. ‘In my whole life I don’t think I’ve met anyone so self-absorbed.’

‘And in my whole life I’ve never met anyone so crude, so vulgar. I feel as though I should call the Smithsonian and tell them I’ve found the missing link.’

Poe was enjoying Towler and Océane’s ping-pong exchange of ever cruder insults when his phone rang through the car’s speakers. An unknown number flashed up on the dashboard’s touchscreen display. He tapped the accept call icon.

‘Mr Ex-Policeman,’ Dongyang Dong said. ‘Where are you now?’

‘Doing a loop on the M6,’ Poe replied. ‘Can we hurry up, please? I’m getting dizzy.’

‘You have the woman?’

‘Say something, Océane.’

‘Towler’s a fucking asshole.’

The triad chuckled. ‘Like mother, like daughter,’ he said. ‘I need you to drive to Cumwhinton. Do you know where that is?’

‘I do.’

‘When you get there, please go to the rear of an abandoned restaurant. It’s called—’

‘Bullace & Sloe,’ Poe finished for him.

‘Of course,’ Dong said delightedly. ‘You know it!’

Poe said nothing.

‘Yes, well. When you get there, someone will approach the driver’s door. I would like it if you wound down the window. You’ll be given the new location.’

‘And why should I trust you not to kill me there and then?’ Poe said. ‘Take the woman?’

‘You’ll just have to.’

‘But I don’t.’

‘But I trust you to have thought about this. I don’t know what it is you have done, but I know you wouldn’t wander willingly into a bear trap without having made contingency plans. We don’t know what they are, so we are forced to play this out.’ Dong paused. ‘Just as you are.’

Poe took a deep breath. ‘You can bet your fucking life I’ve made contingencies,’ he growled.

‘Then it’s agreed. My man is waiting for you.’