Warhol's Prophecy

110

‘WHY?’

The question hung in the air like a bad smell.

Walker merely drove on, eyes alert. As he turned a corner, he could see Hailey staring at him from the passenger seat.

‘I’ve already told you why,’ he said flatly.

‘You didn’t have to kill them. You didn’t have to kill Caroline. If you were trying to impress me, it didn’t work.’

Walker grinned. ‘It was nothing to do with impressing you, Hailey.’ He chuckled. ‘I was protecting you.’

‘By killing my best friend?’ She sniffed back tears.

‘I told you, she betrayed you. I know all about betrayal. My mother betrayed me when she ran off with another man and my father did the same when he viciously abused me. Trust me: I know what I’m talking about.’

‘So three people had to die because of that?’

‘I thought so,’ he offered.

‘And how many more will die?’ she wanted to know.

Walker didn’t answer, merely kept his eyes on the road, easing his foot down a little harder on the accelerator.

Hailey allowed her head to flop back. She gazed out of the side window.

‘You’re going to kill me, aren’t you?’

He didn’t answer.

‘You’ll never get away with this, Adam.’

‘I know,’ Walker said flatly. ‘But there’s always a price to pay for fame, isn’t there?’ He looked at her and smiled. ‘People are going to know my name after tonight, Hailey. Just like they know the names of people like Charles Manson, Denis Nilsen, Peter Sutcliffe, Michael Ryan, and Thomas Hamilton. And they all paid a price too. They paid with their freedom, or their lives, but people remember them. They will do for years to come. They’ll be written about and talked about. They’ve become part of our culture, no matter how much people supposedly despise them – the media need them. TV and papers condemn them because they know they have to, but they’re fascinated by them, and I’ll tell you why. They know that those men did things that everyone is capable of. It’s just that not everyone has the courage to do it.’

‘They killed innocent people,’ Hailey said, trying to control her breathing. ‘What’s so courageous about that?’

‘It takes a lot of strength to take another life, Hailey. More than you’d think.’

‘Was that the kind of fame you always wanted?’ Hailey said slowly. It felt as if her entire body had been enveloped by a cold chill that had started at the back of her neck and spread outwards. As if someone had injected iced water into her veins.

‘I always told you I wanted people to know that I’d been here. I wanted to make a mark.’

‘Like Manson? Like Sutcliffe? Like the rest of those killers?’

‘If necessary.’

‘You admire them, don’t you?’

‘Yes. They only thought about themselves. They were single-minded. They didn’t care what people thought of them. They didn’t worry about things like conscience, remorse or morality. And, yes, I do admire that.’

‘People will know your name, but they’ll hate you for what you’ve done.’

‘And you think I care?’ he said sardonically. ‘I’ll be doing the world a favour.’

Hailey looked puzzled. ‘But you said you killed Caroline and the others for me,’ she said falteringly. ‘What’s that got to do with anyone else?’

‘They were just the beginning,’ he told her sharply. ‘Did you think I expected to be remembered for killing some small-time criminal and a couple of slags? You underestimate me, Hailey. I’ve got more ambition than that.’ He chuckled. ‘But now you’ll see.’

He looked at his watch. ‘And we’re nearly there,’ Walker observed, smiling.

At last Hailey understood.