The meanest Flood

another bottle. And as he looked out over the freshly cut lawn Sam had come into eye-contact with the boy. I’m being stalked, he’d thought. And he told the blonde woman about it and she looked for the boy but he’d already disappeared, like magic.
    And after that Sam Turner had put it aside, left it alone, preferring not to engage with anything that took him away from his own boozy calling. But now it looked as though he might have been right. Young Danny Mann had been stalking him. For years and years and years. All his life. And now he’d stopped the stalking and moved into a different phase.
    Sam Turner eased himself out of the bed and dressed in the fresh clothes Angeles had brought for him. When he was ready he leaned over the bed and kissed her on the cheek. He left the hotel room and closed the door quietly behind him. It was time to put a stop to it. Enough people had died. He couldn’t afford to lose anyone else.
     
    He arrived at Alice’s house shortly after four o’clock that afternoon. Alex Richardson came to the door with a can of Caffrey’s in his hand. He smiled nervously when he realized it was Sam standing there behind the beard.
    He said, ‘Can I help you?’ He didn’t mean it.
    ‘Is Alice here?’ Sam asked.
    Richardson did something weird with his shoulders, pushing them forward at the same time as pulling his head back. He frowned, craning forward to look along the street.
    ‘I’m alone,’ Sam said. ‘Is Alice here?’
    Richardson took a gulp from his can. ‘She went to meet you,’ he said. ‘Pick Conn up.’
    ‘Meet me where?’
    ‘What I heard, you phoned and asked her to come to your place. You’ve got Conn, right?’
    ‘No,’ Sam said. ‘I only got back here around midday. I haven’t seen Conn and I didn’t make any phone call.’ Alex Richardson let that sink in while he poked a finger up his nostril. ‘That can’t be right,’ he said. ‘Hannah said...’
    ‘Is she here?’ Sam said.
    ‘No, she went round to your place.’
    ‘Both of them? They went together?’
    Richardson shook his head. He opened his eyes wide and closed them for a moment. He could be patient. He was used to dealing with idiots. He took another drink from the can. ‘No, they didn’t both go. Alice went round there to pick up Conn, but Hannah is still here in her room. That’s how I know Alice went round to your place, ’cause Hannah passed on the message.’
    ‘Get her down here,’ Sam said.
    ‘Now just a minute, this is my house and...’
    ‘Just get her down here,’ Sam said. He stepped over the sandbags, pushed past Richardson and went to the foot of the stairs. ‘Hannah,’ he shouted, and then again: ‘Hannah.’
    Richardson said, ‘Jeez, c’mon, you’ve spilt my beer.’ A door opened and a small girl in a mini-skirt came to the top of the stairs. ‘D’you want me?’
    ‘Jesus,’ Richardson said. ‘Whose house is this?’
    ‘Shadup,’ Sam said. He looked up the stairs at Hannah. He spoke quietly and clearly. ‘What was the message from your mother? Where is she and who phoned her?’
    ‘You don’t have to answer him,’ Richardson shouted, his voice cracking. ‘He doesn’t live here.’
    Hannah paid her father no heed. She looked at Sam for a moment. ‘There was a man rang. Mother didn’t hear it so I picked up and he asked to speak to her. I didn’t listen to them. When they’d finished talking Mother got dressed and went out. She said she was going to your house. She said Conn was there.’
    ‘Thanks,’ Sam said. The last remnants of youth drained from his face. He turned and pushed past Richardson in the hallway, spilling more of the guy’s beer.
    He jumped over the sandbags and splashed along the street. Alex Richardson followed him, rubbing at a wet patch on the front of his trousers. ‘I pay the bloody mortgage, here,’ he shouted. ‘I’m the man. I’m the owner.’
    Sam didn’t look back. He had never been able to work out whether Alex Richardson was kidding him or if he really was like that.
    When Sam got to Bishopthorpe Road he flagged down a taxi and gave the driver his address. He asked to be dropped off before they reached the street where he lived. Sam knew the routine by now. Danny Mann would be waiting and watching. He wouldn’t kill Alice until Sam entered the street, to make sure that the time of death coincided with Sam’s presence.
    It was as if he was being conjured into existence in this place at this time. The