'Well, say ''hi'' to her from me and tell her I'll call to see her soon.'
'I thought of asking her over here for a meal,' Jackie said.
The smile on Lasser's face grew wider. 'She'd love that.'
'Right, I'll sort it, now you had better get going before Alan rings to tear you off a strip.'
She watched as he walked under the bridge and then she sighed in pleasure as she felt the morning sun on her face, the sound of the water lapping at the side of the boat was soothing to her ears.
91
Max listened as Jepson gave him more details about the fight that would be taking place later that day.
By the time he had finished Max's face remained unchanged and Jepson marvelled at the attitude of the man in front of him.
'Don't you want to hear about your opponent?'
They were standing at the rear of the huge house, the grounds rolling down towards yet more woodland, the sun shining in a picture-perfect sky of blue.
'I have no interest in who I will be fighting,' Max replied.
'You know, you have been like that right from the start and I have often wondered why that is?' Jepson asked.
Max shrugged his heavy shoulders. 'Whoever they are they will be here to kill me, that is all that matters.'
Jepson slipped his hands into his pockets. 'Believe me, my good friend, this is the last thing I wanted but alas with the death of Julie, my hands have been somewhat forced in this matter.'
Max nodded in understanding. 'The older ones will never be able to hunt anyone down, all they want is the blood, not the chase.'
Jepson sighed, Max was right, those who were attending tonight's fight were all of the same ilk, some had been attending from when he was a boy, and his father ran the fights. Now, they were old men and yet that aspect of their characters had never changed, they still bayed and waved their spindly arms about. He had watched them over the years and although their faces were now wrinkled with age, their eyes still held the same fervour that had been evident when they had been younger men, men of privilege, who loved to watch those below them fight to the death. Not for the first time, Jepson marvelled at the fact that it had always been the same, no matter how far back you went into history, people had always fought in arenas to satisfy men of power. The Romans built amphitheatres to watch gladiators slaughter one another, built statues to some of those warriors, their names still known over two thousand years later.
At one time he had been thrilled to be part of the modern-day equivalent, though now of course the fights were held in secret, it was no longer a thing to be shown to the masses, no longer celebrated, and cheered about. No one would write odes to Max, there would be no statues built in his honour, but to those in the know he was legendary.
Though as he looked at the man he considered a friend, he knew that Max had no interest in anything like that, all he was concerned about was killing whoever was put in front of him.
'It will always be like this, won't it, Max?' he asked.
The big man nodded. 'Always.'
Jepson felt the frustration inside. Over the last three years he had tried in his own way to change things, to appeal to a younger crowd. Many were the sons or even grandsons of the elderly men who would be attending tonight and although they had always enjoyed the type of entertainment the likes of Max provided, Jepson had tapped into something new. Something that offered a more hands-on experience and to his great delight the younger ones had been eager to be involved.
He knew that some of them would be in training themselves to hunt down the quarry that he provided. So far, he had held half a dozen ''events'' and each time the chaser had been caught. It was similar in many ways to fox hunting, something he had also taken part in, and found thrilling, although the ban was in place, he knew it still went on and always would. Though he had made the decision to remove himself from that particular pastime. He had even been praised for making a stand about the banning of the fox hunt on his land, he had been quoted as saying it was, ''an archaic event that has no place in the modern world''.
Though the truth was he had missed it and then the idea of replacing the fox with a human had seeped into his mind, it had been a stroke of genius on his part, and they had flocked to take part, so many in fact that it was almost as if he were running his own pack of hounds all baying for blood.
'We live in a cruel world,' Jepson said with a sigh.
'What would you know about the cruelty of the world?' Max suddenly asked.
Charles Jepson looked at the man in amazement, then before he could think of a reply Max turned and started to walk back towards the house, leaving Lord Jepson mute with the shock of what had happened.
He almost shouted after him, but the truth was he could not find the words, all he could do was watch astonished as the big man vanished around the corner of the mansion.
92
Spenner was feeding loose change into the drinks machine as Lasser walked into the station canteen.
'Morning, boss, do you want a brew?' he asked.
'No thanks, I'm looking for Bannister.'
'Don't think he's in yet.'
'In that case I will have a brew,' Lasser said before pulling out a plastic chair and sitting down as Spenner punched at the buttons, knowing Lasser would want his usual.
'So, what have you got planned for today?' Lasser asked.
'Still looking into Draper's past but nothing of interest so far,' Spenner replied as he carried the drinks over and placed one in front of Lasser before sitting down opposite.
'The whole thing's a bloody puzzle,' Lasser said with a sigh. 'I mean, we're still fumbling around in the dark over all this.'
'I still can't believe Rea Lomax contacted her father to say she was OK,' Spenner said with a shake of the head.
Lasser scratched at his chin before taking a sip of the hot chocolate. 'That was the last thing any of us expected.'
'Do you believe it's genuine?' Spenner eased back, the plastic chair creaking under his weight.
'Well, it was detailed that's for sure, and Dan Lomax confirmed that what was in the text was factually correct, though she didn't send it from her own phone, which means we can't trace where the message came from.'
'Plus, we don't know if she gave up that information willingly, do we?'
Lasser sighed as he shook his head. 'There so much about this case that feels wrong, right from the moment Rea was snatched it's all felt bloody bizarre.'
Spenner nodded in agreement then took a sip from the plastic cup. 'What about Jepson, do you really think he could be involved?'
'I don't trust the man, though the truth is we have no solid evidence to tie him to any of this.'
Spenner glanced towards the window, his face thoughtful. 'Roger was going through some of the charitable works that Jepson's done over the years, and it's impressive stuff,' he paused, 'then again Fripp was the same and he was as mad as a hatter.'
Lasser grunted and rose to his feet. 'I need a cigarette,' he stated, and headed for the door, Spenner watching him go as he sipped at his drink, pulling a face at the sludge, and wishing he had chosen the hot chocolate option as well.
93
Jepson hesitated for a moment and then turned the key before pushing the bedroom door open.
Rea was sat on the edge of the bed, and she looked up at him as he stood in the doorway.
'Let's go for a walk,' he said.
Before she could reply, he turned and left the room, she paused for a moment before following. He was waiting on the huge landing, his face was unreadable, she waited for him to say something, but he simply turned and headed for the top of the wide staircase and again she followed, the sense of unease fluttering low in her stomach.
Once outside, he looked up at the sky as she moved to his side.
'Is everything all right?' she asked.
He remained with his head tilted towards the blue. 'To be honest I'm not entirely sure.'
Rea thought for a moment, tryi
ng to gauge his mood. 'Is there anything I can do?'
At last, he looked at her and shrugged. 'I don't think there is, I mean, I'm grateful for the offer but sometimes we reach a crossroads and have to decide which path to take, decisions like that are always best made alone.'
'Decisions about what?'
'About you.'
'Me?' she asked, the ripple of unease increasing.
'I'm trying to decide if I am fooling myself. You see, I've told you that Julie was special and – please don't be offended – but I don't think you could ever replace her, no matter how much you tried you would fall short.'
'If that's how you feel then I can simply go.'
Jepson smiled at last, though there was no humour in his eyes, in fact, she was sure she could see anger buried in the depths.
'You're an intelligent woman, Rea, and I've been thinking about why you came back to the house. At first, I was pleased with your explanation, after all I love to mentor people, but then I got to thinking that you could have been lying to me.'
She felt the heat rise in her face, it had always been a problem for her, even in the past when she had been ending a relationship with one of her boyfriends, she had always felt responsible no matter how badly they had treated her. Her cheeks would heat up and the guilt would surface as she tried to explain her reasons for ending the relationship.
'I think you came back because of what had happened to Draper, and you convinced yourself that you would have suffered the same fate if you had carried on walking.'
Rea didn't know what to say, so she kept her mouth closed.
'Am I right?' Jepson asked.
She could feel the heat of the sun on top of her head and shoulders as she cleared her throat. 'Can you blame me for considering that? After all you promised Mark the same thing then had him killed.'
Jepson nodded. 'You were right to be concerned, Max had been following you and if you had insisted on trying to reach the road then he would have snapped your neck, you were so close to the boundary but then you turned and came back here.'
Rea swallowed the sudden sense of fear. 'You talk about trust and yet you lied to me.'
'Guilty as charged,' the smile widened. 'What can I say, I have no real excuse, but surely you realise that I cannot simply let you go?'
Rea took a hesitant backward step, the fear increasing heading rapidly towards terror.
'Even now you want to run but we both know how that would end, don't we?' he asked, as he continued to stare at her with unblinking eyes.
'You were the one who took me, I didn't volunteer for this,' she fired out the words, her hands closing into fists as the anger fought with the fear for supremacy.
'True, and believe me I regret that decision, but I was upset, no, I was devastated when Julie died, and I wasn't thinking rationally.'
'But that was nothing to do with me, I stopped to help her, I…'
'Well, to be brutally honest you are partly to blame.'
'What are you talking about?' she demanded.
'You could have stopped Draper from driving whilst drunk, you admit you got out of the car and allowed him to drive off. If you had been more forceful then you could have stopped him, and he would never have been on Hamley Road and Julie would still be alive.'
His words hit her hard, she had felt the blame acutely enough without hearing him accuse her of failing to do the right thing.
'Even if you hadn't managed to stop him, you could have even called the police and explained to them what had happened, they might have been able to get to him before he killed the woman I loved and admired, you knew the direction he was heading, but you chose not to. Instead, you ignored it completely, and Julie died.'
Despite the growing terror, Rea Lomax couldn't listen to another word of his bullshit. 'She died because you were hunting her down, you were the one chasing her. You talk about loving her, but you are totally deluded, because no one runs out in front of a car if their heart is full of ''joy'',' she snarled.
She watched as the smile slipped from his face, his mouth working though for a couple of seconds no sound emerged.
'How dare you say that, you know nothing about the relationship we shared.'
Rea never heard the small warning voice, inside her own anger was now boiling over at his accusations. 'I know that she tried to flag Mark down, she ran out in front of him, and he killed her, there was no joy in that for her, you would only ever do something like that if you were desperate to escape. Julie would have known that you could not be trusted, you talk about mentoring and expanding minds but all the time you would have been lying to her, and she knew it…'
Jepson lunged towards her, this time she was ready for him, and she dipped low beneath his outstretched arms and darted back.
Twisting towards her, his teeth were bared as he wiped the back of his hand across his mouth.
Rea knew that to turn and run would be her downfall, so she stood her ground and then she jabbed a finger towards him. 'If you're looking for someone to blame for her death then take a look in the mirror, you lied to me and you did the same to her!' she screamed out the words, her anger turning to fury.
Her words echoed through Charles Jepson's mind, fanning the flames of his rage.
'You know nothing about us, you know nothing off the sacrifices we both made and…'
'She was the one who made the ultimate sacrifice, you twisted bastard, you gave up nothing, you took her and kept her locked up just like you've done with me. You talk about the imaginary bond you shared with her and yet in the end she still tried to escape, she still wanted to get away from you, you worthless piece of shit!' she bellowed into the still air, her fury burning bright and all-consuming.
Charles Jepson actually took a staggering step back as if her very words were a physical blow.
'You talk about mentoring, you talk about trust but look at you, you are nothing but a privileged brat with time on your hands and the money to indulge your sick fantasies!'
Jepson tried to hold onto the mask, but it was crumbling, her words cutting to the heart of the man, stripping everything away, as if she saw him, really saw into the core of his being.
'Shut your mouth!' was all he could think to say.
'You're pathetic, spouting all your rubbish about expanding minds when in reality it's nothing but shit!'
Jepson felt the fury wash through his stupefied mind and then he saw a flash of light to the left, a bright sparkle and he whipped his head around to find the car heading towards the house.
Rea heard it at the same time and instantly she sprang forward.
'Help me!' she screamed.
For a few seconds, Charles Jepson was rooted to the spot, no one ever came to the house unless invited and he could see a woman behind the wheel, her mouth open in shock as Rea Lomax dashed towards her, both arms raised as she continued to scream for help.
94
Lasser was halfway through smoking the cigarette when Bannister pulled in through the gates. Dropping the stump into the receptacle, he waited for the DCI to park up and then he headed over.
'I hope that wasn't your last cig?' Bannister asked.
'Don't tell me you've run out again?'
'Can't afford them, so come on, cough up.'
Pulling out the pack, Lasser handed it over, seconds later, Bannister blew out the smoke.
'I've been thinking, I want to go and have a word with Giles Black.'
Lasser looked at him in surprise. 'Why?'
'Look, we know Jackie's been to see the guy but let's face it, she's too nice to dig deep and Black obviously know Jepson well, so he needs a proper grilling.'
Lasser paused for a moment before nodding. 'Fair enough, but I don't think it will be easy getting him to spill any more beans.'
'That man owes you his life, so we remind him of that fact.'
'But I thought you were for backing off from Jepson, you said we can't keep hassling the man without evidence.'
'And that remains t
he same, but that doesn't mean we stop looking for the bloody ''evidence'', does it?'
Lasser spread his hands. 'You'll get no argument from me on that score.'
'Good, now come on, you drive, I'll try and think of the best way to get Giles to open up.'
'Like driving Miss Daisy,' Lasser commented, striding away before Bannister could think of a reply.
95
Gemma Fox screamed as Jepson flung the door open and snatched the keys from the ignition before leaning over her to unfasten the seat belt, then he dragged her from the car by her hair and she screamed again as he thrust her down to the ground, alongside the unconscious Rea Lomax who lay in the gravel.
It had all happened so fast, at first Gemma had seen nothing apart from the house, the sheer impressive size of the place taking her breath away. Then she had heard the scream, her eyes widening in astonishment as the woman came running towards her waving her arms in the air, the words of terror shrieking from her mouth.
'Help me!'
Gemma had hit the brakes in shock and then the man chasing her had caught the running woman, his hand grabbing at her hair, and she had screamed as he whipped her back, Gemma had hiccupped a scream of her own as he immediately drove his fist into the side of her head. Then before she could react, he was snatching the car door open, now she lay on the ground as Lord Jepson loomed over her.
'Who are you and what the fuck are you doing here?' he snarled down at her, eyes bright with madness and anger.
Gemma raised her hand and looked up, she had seen plenty of pictures of Jepson and in most of them he was smiling, though he wasn't smiling now.
'Answer me!?' he roared spittle peppering her face.
'Gemma, Gemma Fox,' she yelped.
'Is the name meant to mean something to me?' he sneered.
'I'm a reporter for…'
Jepson drove his fist into her upturned face, and she slammed down to the gravel, her eyes closing, blood spurting from her split lip as she passed out.
Driven by Fear (The DS Lasser Book 27) Page 30