think there's any point in lying to me?'
'I'm not... lying,'Carol managed to squeeze out through bruised lips. 'We didn't kill Katerina.'
'Don't fucking lie to me,' he screamed, flecks of spittle flying from his mouth and spattering her face. 'The motorbike that caused the accident is registered to your fucking National Crime Squad. You killed Katerina. And then you killed Colin Osborne so there would be two nice little vacancies for you to fill.'
'I had nothing to do with Katerina's death,' she protested weakly. 'I'd never heard your name till a couple of weeks ago.' Now he was dragging her across the room. Dazed, Carol couldn't work out ^hat was going on. He was clearly going to kill her, so why not just get on with it?
When she registered that he was hauling her into the bedroom, her befuddled brain found the answer to that question. The panic that hit her then cut straight through her confused state. Oh, no, she thought. There is no way this is going to happen to me. Carol let her body flop, turning herself into a dead weight in a bid to slow him down. But he was in the grip of a rage of primeval proportions, a berserker fury that gave him a strength beyond his normal means.
She began to twist and flail, hoping he'd have to loosen his grip to contain her. He stopped heaving her across the floor for a moment and stooped over her. 'You know what's coming, don't you, bitch? I'm not going to kill you. I'm going to make you live with what you've done to me.' Then he slapped her again, so hard she thought her neck would snap. This time, she faded into unconsciousness.
When she came to, she couldn't remember where she was or why her head was a solid throb of pain. Nor could she understand why her hands wouldn't move when she tried to pull them out from under her back. Then he moved into her line of sight and everything clicked back into focus. She was naked on her bed, hands bound beneath her. And Radecki was hell-bent on revenge.
'You've destroyed my life,' he said. 'You killed Katerina, and you've obviously done enough to destroy my business. Well, now it's my turn. You'll get what's coming to you. And then I'm going back to kill your boyfriend. So you'll have to live with the knowledge that you are responsible for the death of someone you loved. Just like you've forced me to do. And then I'm going to walk away.'
'You... won't... get...' she mumbled.
'I won't get away with it? Of course I will. You think I haven't planned for this? You can't get my money. By morning, I'll be somewhere you and your bosses can't touch me, even if you could find me. So you see, all of this has been for nothing.' As he spoke, he was stripping off, placing shirt and trousers delicately over a chair, dropping his socks into his shoes. At last he stood naked before her. His erection was the ugliest thing she'd ever seen.
He walked towards the bed. Desperately, Carol tried to writhe away from him. But her hands were useless and her head wasn't working any more. He kneeled on the bed, forcing her legs apart. 'Come on, struggle a bit more. Make it more fun for me,' he taunted her.
Carol summoned up the last of her courage and spat in his face. He didn't even bother to wipe it clean. He simply smiled and said, 'I'm going to enjoy this, bitch.'
Then he was on top of her and she wanted to die.
Darko Krasic sat behind the wheel of the Mercedes smoking a cigar. He didn't want to think about what was happening three floors up. He hadn't believed a word of that stupid tale that Hill had tried to fob them off with. But Tadeusz had it bad for the woman, bad enough to clutch at a straw that thin. If it had been up to him, they would have finished Hill off in Koblenz and left him to rot on the barge. Because if he was right and Carol Jordan was a cop, they were finished, and instead of fucking around they should be activating their long-established escape plans.
After he'd dropped Tadeusz off at the apartment, he'd driven Tony to a small industrial unit they occasionally used for temporary storage. He'd driven the car right inside, then dragged the tarpaulin-wrapped bundle out of the boot