Page 17

“Right, what the hell is going on?” A cup of tea slamming into the table in front of me spilling over the top of the cup as Gale throws himself into the chair opposite me.

“Well good morning to you too,” I yawn, covering my mouth with the back of my hand and looking down at my top noticing the wet spots spreading across it. “Good job, I haven’t gotten ready for work yet.”

“Rhys,” Gale sighs, throwing his head back dramatically. “What’s going on inside your head? You’ve been at this job—one that you didn’t ask for—for two weeks and it’s like you’ve seen a ghost. Help me out, man. I’m worried about you.” I look up from my wet top and purse my lips.

“So worried you thought you’d throw tea all over me.” I wave my hand around, gesturing towards the clock above the oven. “At this time in the morning.” Gale snorts, kicking me under the table. “The fuck?!”

“It’s almost eleven, dickwad.”

“And?”

“And,” he huffs. “I’ve had enough of this—” He casts his scrutinising gaze over me, his nose scrunching up at what he sees. “—Whatever this is. You forget I know you Rhys, and there is something on your mind that’s eating away at you.’’

I look up as his words hit me like a slap in the face and regard him. Can I really tell him what’s happened? Will he believe me or think I’m going crazy? I mean for fucks sake I’ve been living this but even I can’t tell if I’m hallucinating, dreaming or awake and it’s scaring the shit out of me.

“Okay, but before I tell you anything, answer me one question?”

“Anything.” He says instantly, settling back in his chair and taking a sip of steaming coffee.

“Has anything happened to you since I started there?” Gale sprays his mouthful of coffee over the table, the cup practically falling from his grasp as he hurries to put it on the table before he empties the cup over the table. I jump up and grab some kitchen roll before the flood can reach me.

“What makes you say that?” He squeaks as his cheeks turn a deep red, I tilt my head trying to get him to look me in the eye but he avoids looking at me.

“What aren’t you telling me, Gale?” I push, leaning forward onto the table.

He swallows audibly and starts picking at the hangnail on his thumb while chewing on his bottom lip. “I… I… fuck!” He screws his face up and runs his hands through his hair. “Fuck!” He jumps up from his chair and starts pacing across the small kitchen.

“Jesus, Gale. You’re scaring me what the fuck’s happened?” He turns and glares at me before continuing to wear a hole in the floor.

“Don’t get mad.” He turns, pointing his index finger at me. “Don’t get mad.”

“When you say shit like that, of course I’m going to get mad. It’s like saying don’t look down. Newsflash, dude, you always fucking look down! Now sit the fuck down and tell me what’s going on, please?”

“Fine, fine.” Gale deflates in front of me as he collapses into his chair. “I had to get the car fixed on your first day. I mean thank fuck, Amy told me about Eastbridge, I was able to find a garage that could repair the door and give it a full valet.”

“It was valeted just before the guy dropped it off… why would it need doing again so soon?”

Unease trickles across his face, furrowing his brows he starts picking at his finger again. “Itneededcleaningbecauseitstankofpissandtherewascumonthesteeringwheel,” he rushes out in one breath and looks at me like he might puke.

“I didn’t quite catch that, can you say it again?” I ask while two words oscillate through my mind piss and cum everything else is white noise.

“Nope. I said it. I told you. I’m not repeating it.” He crosses his arms and raises a brow with an indignant expression.

“Alright,” he releases a breath, his shoulders dropping, thinking I’m going to let this go but with K’s words ringing in my head, Gale isn’t going to be that lucky. “Let’s start at the beginning shall we? Why did you need a garage?”

“I.. ummm… needed to get a scratch repaired?”

“Are you telling me or asking?”

“Telling?” He angles his head to the side, his gaze flicking between me and the door.

“Gale, you seem to forget I know you as well as you know me.” I state folding my arms across my chest, unwilling to let this go till he coughs up the truth. “I know you’re lying,”

“I’m not,” he snaps, his leg bouncing in agitation.

“Maybe not, but—and that’s a big hairy arsed but. You are bending the truth.”

“Yeah.” Eyes dropping to the table in defeat Gale spins his now empty cup around. “When Amy took us into Horizon House someone,” he clears his throat looking like he is about to puke.

“Do you need a bucket?” I ask as the red hue of his cheeks takes on a green tone.

“No, I’m, uh, good.”

“So something happened when Amy took us in so I could meet Jenna?”

“Yup,” he pops the p like bubblegum.

“For Christ’s sake, spit it out,” I grit through clenched teeth, Gale is never normally this obtuse on purpose.

“Someone keyed the car?—”

“What do you mean when you say keyed?”

Throwing his hands up in the air he says, “They scratched a message into the driver’s side door.”

“And??” he looks at me blankly, making a frustrated sigh pass my lips. “What did it say?”

“Don’t touch what isn’t yours. GALE!!” He shudders, wrapping his arms around himself as he deflates in his seat. His hazel eyes dull, as he seems to be lost to a memory and I find myself wondering if he’ll put two and two together and work out who left him the message.

“That fucking, little shit,” I mutter through gritted teeth, a smirk tugging at the corner of my lips. “Did you see who did it?” I demand, my tone laced with simmering anger.

He shakes his head, his lips pressed into a thin line, the weight of the situation evident in the heaviness of his gaze. “Was that it?” I press, I knew Kayden was possessive but this is taking it to a whole new level. All Gale had done was hug me after we’d nearly been smashed off the road, we were both shaking when we got out of the car. But I guess if you were seeing it from afar it could have made something completely innocent look like so much more.

Shaking his head once more, he closes his eyes, a deep shudder wracking his frame as he struggles to find the words. “No,” he finally manages to choke out, his breath coming in ragged gasps. “That was all that was done to the outside. The inside... oh god, Rhys, the inside was...” He trails off, unable to continue as the memories of whatever K did threaten to overwhelm him.

“It was so, so bad,” he finally forces out, his voice barely a whisper. “I had to stop and throw up on the way to Eastbridge.” The gravity of his words hangs in the air, a palpable reminder of the horrors that lie beneath the surface, hidden from view but impossible to forget.

I smother a chuckle behind my hand. “It can’t have been that bad?”

“That bad?” he looks at me like I’ve lost my mind. “Not only had someone keyed your car and threatened me but they’d also pissed over the front seats and dash. And the worst of all was they smeared cum, fucking CUM—” he shouts “—over the steering wheel. I had to find something to wipe it off, Rhys. I couldn’t drive with that all over my hands.”

I can’t help the laugh that roars out of my chest, slapping my hand down on the table. “Oh. My. Fucking. God,” I gasp in between bouts of laughter until tears are streaming down my face. “That is the funniest thing I’ve ever heard.” I wipe my tears away and look at Gale as he glares at me. “Seriously?”

“Yes, seriously. Why in the hell would I make something like that up?” He snarls, throwing a handful of wet kitchen roll at my head.

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry,” I wheeze, holding my hands up in surrender. “So that’s why the car smelt so lush when you picked me up?” He rolls his eyes at me as I continue to snicker like a little kid.

“For someone who just found out they’re car got fucked over?—”

“Literally!” I interrupt.

“Hmmm, yes. That. You don’t seem all that pissed off about it.” He eyes me judgingly.

“I’m horrified really but…” I chew my bottom lip as I try and think how to break the news that it was K. That he’s alive and there, seemingly okay and acting like a neanderthal. Then it hits me. “Have you heard back from that PI you said you were going to contact to see if they could find anything on Kayden?”

Gale slumps down in his chair, defeat washing over him as he looks at me with glassy eyes. He pulls himself up, back straight, shoulders back and clasps his hands that now rest on the table. “Yes, I heard back from him last night, found the email this morning whilst you were having your beauty sleep.” I toss him a wink while he sniffs uncomfortably. “I asked him to check CCTV, traffic cams, bank transfers, internet activity, and phone records. Fuck even the dark web to see if there was a hit out on them or something.”

I observe him closely waiting for him to say that he knows K’s at Horizon House but he only grows more and more agitated. What starts as a fine tremor in his hands slowly spreads up his arms until they’re trembling and his leg is bouncing so hard his knee is knocking against the table. His breathing shallows, and sweat beads on his brow, I want to reach out and reassure him but something, a gut feeling is telling me to hold back.

“Has he found anything?”

“Yes and… no.” He looks at me, imploring me to understand what he’s not saying but I just shake my head waiting for him to continue. With a defeated sigh he does. “Kira was spotted in the passenger seat of a silver Merc the day before—Kayden went missing—on the M1 heading north.” I lift a brow waiting for him to continue innately knowing that isn’t the full story. “So Giles ran the plates through the traffic cams and the car is registered to a Dr Regina Wolfe.” My blood runs cold as soon as her name leaves Rhys’s lips. I saw what that woman reduced Kayden to, too many times over the summer along with the implications of malpractice that Dr Grey hinted at. Cold, hard dread settles in my stomach like a lead weight.

“And?” I ask, on the edge of my seat.

“They disappeared. The car and passengers seemingly vanished, but..” He gets up and grabs a bottle of 7Up from the fridge and sits fiddling with the lid, eyes anywhere but on me. “The car resurfaced a week later down in Hastings with only doctor Wolfe in the car.”

“What does that mean?”

“I don’t know man, but I’ve got a feeling it isn’t anything good.” The blood drains from Gale’s face and his eyes lock on me, his whole body vibrating.

“What about Kayden?”

“He didn’t find anything, your boy is a ghost,” he licks his lips nervously. His hand tentatively snaking across the table to where mine rests and squeezes. “Maybe it’s time you accepted?—”

“No!” I bite out and pull my hand back from his grasp. “I won’t accept that.”

“Rhys,” he says softly as if speaking to a wild animal. “Giles is the best and if he’s found nothing at all… that can only mean?—”

“He’s at Horizon House.” My words stun him into silence. His mouth opens and closes like a fish but no sound comes out, realisation soon dawns as a scowl takes over his face.

“So the car was?—”

“Him? Yup. Well, in my defence, I only found out about that today. He said something about you not understanding his warning and that I should ask you about it.” I shrug as Gale just stares at me like I’ve lost my mind.

“Well, shit.” He runs a hand through his hair, his eyes flickering like he’s putting all the pieces of a puzzle together and huffs out a humourless laugh. “So I guess that’s why you’ve spent the last couple of weeks looking like you’ve seen a ghost.” He drums his fingers on the table, left eye twitching like there’s something on his mind he doesn’t want to ask.

“Just spit it out. I need to go and get ready for my first sleepover.”

He looks at me sheepishly but shakes it off. “How is he?” I tilt my head to the side regarding his question and scrub my face with my hand. “I only ask because that place isn’t cheap and as far as your Father,” I scoff at his choice of words. “Alright, as far as your sperm donor is concerned Kayden is gone but you say he’s not.” I go to speak but he holds his hand up stopping me, a sad smile lifting his lips. “And that is a place for addicts and people with mental disorders… so how did he… and how could Neil not know he’s there. I’m stumped.”

“You and me both.”

“You’ve not spoken about it?”

I shake my head. “No, not yet… we’ve been. Um, a bit preoccupied.”

“Oh, for fucks sake. I don’t want to know, Rhys.” I feel like the temperature in the kitchen has gone up a million degrees as a blush works its way up my neck. “Oh my god.” His eyes nearly bug out of his head. “You’re at work. I never thought straight-laced?—”

“Not so straight,” I chuckle and he joins in relief washing over his face.

“True dat,” he says with a smile. “But…” I groan at his tone and roll my eyes, making him snicker. “That’s brilliant and all but it raises a lot of questions.”

“It does. There’s a lot that doesn’t make sense right now but it hasn’t been the right time to ask him.” I swallow as a wave of trepidation washes over me with so many unanswered questions hanging between us. I don’t know where I stand. What we are or where we’re going. I know what I want, that’s simple. Him. I want him in my life, I fucking need him to be able to function and if the only way for that to happen is to leave behind everything and everyone I’ve ever known I’ll do it. “And Jenna has said a few concerning things.”

“Like what?” Gale leans forward resting his elbows on the table like he’s fully invested in what I’m telling him, even after finding out what K did to my car. He’s all for supporting me and helping my brother, my love, my everything.

“So here’s the deal, while K may be in Horizon House he goes by eighteen rather than his name. She said it was because he was suffering from amnesia and didn’t remember anything of his life so he was getting help and support to work through that but things don’t add up.” I start ticking them off on my fingers. “His room isn’t like any of the other residents. It’s a cross between a hospital and a prison cell.” Gale’s brows pinch as I continue. “He gets locked in his room every night. He’s got a tracker in so they know where he is at all times.”

“That’s… that’s weird right? Anyone else got one?”

“No, no one and it’s very weird. I don’t know if it’s because they consider him a flight risk or what. I don’t even know if he knows he has one. Jenna seems to have a vested interest in him and has hinted that she wants me to befriend him because other than two girls there—Michelle and Kait—no one interacts with him. Now K being K, I don’t know if that’s his choice or if people are just giving him a wide birth ‘cause he freaks them the fuck out. But the main thing that’s been on my mind since I found out he was the illusive eighteen is how did he get there and who is funding his treatment.”

“Especially as Giles can’t find any record of him anywhere.” Gale taps his finger against his lips in thought.

“I have one of two ideas, both seem as outlandish as the other. One, Neil has put him there…”

“But that doesn’t follow with how he’s been towards you and what he’s made you do since you’ve been home.”

“I know right?! The second is that someone we, or I know, found him somewhere and has hidden him there and is paying for his treatment.” I rub my temples feeling a headache brewing.

“That’s the most likely even though highly improbable,” Gale mutters into his hand. “Did you want another tea?”

“Sure.”

He busies himself putting the kettle on, getting the cups out and making our tea. When he sets them down on the table he glances at me before grabbing some paracetamol. “How about I see if Giles can look into the accounts of Horizon House and see if we can trace the money that’s coming in,” he shrugs. “Maybe that will give us the answer.”

I bring the steaming cup up to my lips, “Maybe it will. Can you get on that while I’m at work tonight?”

“Sure can, boss,” he snarks over the rim of his cup.

“Great, and you’re okay to stay in a hotel for the night? I don’t want you here without me. I don’t trust Neil as far as I can throw him.”

Gale snorts choking on his coffee. “Don’t worry about me, I’ve got it all booked.”