Warhol's Prophecy

50

THE TAPPING ON the window startled him.

Adam Walker looked round as he heard the sound, at first unsure where it was coming from.

Then he saw Caroline Hacket standing beside his Scorpio, smiling in at him.

Walker wound down the window.

‘You were miles away,’ she said to him. ‘You didn’t even see me coming.’

‘How did you know I was here?’ he wanted to know.

‘I’m parked just along there.’ She indicated her own vehicle. ‘Are you waiting for somebody?’

He nodded slowly.

‘Get in,’ he said, reaching across and unlocking the passenger door. ‘I think it’s going to rain again.’

Caroline accepted his invitation.

‘How are you, Adam?’ she said as she scrambled in beside him.

‘I’m fine. I didn’t expect to see you here.’

‘You were waiting for Hailey, weren’t you?’

He looked surprised.

‘It’s OK.’ She grinned. ‘I’m very discreet.’

‘What’s Hailey said to you, then?’

‘Nothing. She doesn’t have to. We’ve been friends for long enough.’

He nodded slowly.

‘You’re out of luck today though,’ Caroline informed him. ‘She asked me to pick Becky up. Hailey’s still at work.’

‘What would you say if I told you it was you I was looking for?’

‘I’d say you were a liar.’

He reached into the glove compartment of his car and pulled out a battered paperback.

Caroline laughed as he showed her the cover.

‘Where did you get that?’ she wanted to know, inspecting the book.

She flipped it open and glanced at the author photo inside the back cover, shaking her head. Still smiling.

It showed her sitting on what looked like a bar stool, with legs crossed. She looked very efficient, in a black two-piece and court shoes. There was no smile though. That was her enigmatic face, she mused.

‘I got it from the local library. They ordered them both for me. I’ve already finished Murderous Minds.’

‘And?’

‘Very interesting.’

‘Just interesting? Not devastating, or ground-breaking, or incredibly powerful? Just interesting?’

‘I didn’t mean it to sound like an insult. It was very good. I enjoyed it. Why didn’t you say you were a writer the first time we met?’

‘It’s not the sort of thing you just drop into a conversation, is it? And besides, I’m hardly Catherine Cookson, am I?’

‘I’m impressed,’ he said, smiling.

She handed the book back to him.

‘Why the fascination with murderers?’ he enquired.

‘I’ve always been interested, ever since I was a kid. All the gory details – but not just that. It’s why people kill that fascinates me. What drives someone to take another life?’ She shrugged.

‘Hailey told me you were working on a new book at the moment. What’s it about?’

‘It’s like a dictionary of murderers.’

‘I’d like to read it when it’s published.’

‘I’ll let you have a copy. At least then I’ll know someone’s read it.’

‘How long have you been writing?’

‘Over ten years. I was a journalist on a local paper before that. That’s how I met my first husband. He owned the paper.’

‘I admire anyone who can write – or can do anything creative.’

‘You know what it’s like. You paint, don’t you?’

Walker nodded.

‘What else did she tell you?’

He looked perplexed.

‘About me?’ Caroline continued.

‘Just that writing was your hobby,’ Walker said. ‘She wasn’t talking behind your back, if that’s what you’re worried about.’

‘I wasn’t worried about that. I’m just curious about you and Hailey.’

‘There’s nothing going on between us.’

‘Adam, I saw the way you looked at each other. And I know Hailey. Her marriage has been on the rocks for the last six months. Rob’s been acting like a complete bastard. If you and her have got a thing going, then good luck to you. Both of you. I certainly wouldn’t blame Hailey, and I’m not going to drop you in it.’

She glanced at the dashboard clock.

‘I’d better go,’ she told him. ‘Becky will be coming out any time now.’ She paused and touched his arm. ‘If there is something going on between you and Hailey, then that’s your business. If there isn’t, then give me a call.’ She laughed and closed the door.

He watched as she walked back to her car, then beyond towards the school gates.

Only when he saw Becky emerge from the school, among the hordes of other children, did he drive off.

And from the heaving skies the rain began to fall again.