Page 6 of Six for Gold (The Magpie Rhyme #6)

T wo weeks after Chad had been taken to the hospital, he woke up.

Two weeks after that, the receptionist informed Romeo Chad had been discharged and had gone home to continue his recovery.

Romeo hadn’t wanted to argue on the phone that she was wrong, he wasn’t home .

He’d thanked her before ending the call.

It was only due to her Romeo had kept his sanity. He called every day, and although she was vague, she informed Romeo when Chad had woken up, that the doctors were pleased with his progress, and he was responding well to treatment. Romeo was unsure what the treatment was, but Chad responding well could only be positive.

He’d tried to keep busy, doing all the things he usually did, and had even visited The Harley in search of answers. The taxi driver had been right. It was a well-maintained fishing lake—no rotten wooden platforms or dangerous steep edges. Romeo had strolled around the lake, donning his beanie hat instead of a cap and his thin-framed glasses as his disguise. He didn’t rouse any suspicion. The fishermen were too focused on the morning bites to notice him lurking close by.

He even managed to strike up a conversation with a season ticket holder who had been there the Sunday Chad hadn’t come home. He told Romeo there was no incident, no one fell or was dragged by a baying mob into the lake. Romeo had frowned but hadn’t protested the man’s version of events. He might’ve been telling the truth, or he might’ve been protecting the fishing club’s reputation.

It was a mystery, but became less important when Romeo discovered Chad had been discharged. He could ask Chad what had happened once they were reunited, and if he needed to hunt anyone down and destroy them, he would.

If Chad wasn’t coming home yet, then Romeo had to think of where he would go for the first part of his recovery.

Josh’s place was too small, Chad told him he lived in a one bedroom apartment, so that left Ally’s house.

Romeo found the address on Chad’s phone and called a taxi to pick him up at the end of the dirt track.

He didn’t stop outside of Ally’s house but got dropped half a mile away at a crossroads. Just like he and Chad, Ally didn’t have any neighbors. Her house was set back from the main road. It was a modest size for one person and had a garage with a wooden door. The paint had flaked, the wood had swelled and split, and it was long overdue for a re-do.

Romeo recognized Josh’s car in the driveway. The ‘best uncle’ car sticker Chad had bought him on behalf of Mercutio caught the sun. It had been meant as a joke present, but Chad had said Josh had beamed and immediately stuck it to his car. Beside Josh’s car, there was another, presumably Ally’s car. It was purple, badly scratched and dented with a hubcap missing.

She had appointed herself as Chad’s unofficial mother figure and Romeo still wasn’t sure how he felt about that.

She thought she understood Chad, but she was wrong.

Romeo’s eyes flicked to the sign on the gate.

Beware of the Dog!

Followed by a picture of a snarling Alsatian.

Chad had never mentioned Ally having a dog.

But as Romeo scanned the area, he noticed there was more than one sign warning of a savage canine on the property. Some were staked directly into the ground, and there was a decal warning about a biting bitch stuck to the front door.

Romeo’s heart skipped at the sound of a bark, then he sagged, recognizing Mercutio. A big, savage Alsatian might have caused problems, but Mercutio was harmless.

Garden gnomes covered the front garden, most of them rudely gesturing to anyone who dared to walk up the path to the front door. Romeo wasn’t stupid enough to knock on the front door, he didn’t go anywhere near it.

He kept out of sight, rubbing his chin as he thought what to do. All the windows at the front of the house had net curtains drawn, so he walked in a crouch, following the four-foot-high fence round the property until he was directly behind the house.

There were knots in the wood, small holes, and splits, and Romeo tried out many before he found one that gave him exactly what he wanted, a view into the house, or more specifically, Ally’s sunroom.

He could see Ally, and the side of Josh’s head, and when he shifted, he saw him .

The relief almost dropped Romeo to his knees.

A fierce ache took over his chest.

Twenty-eight days of torture came to an end when he saw Chad.

The Juliet to their forbidden love story.

The smile that spread Romeo’s lips ached, it was a shaky, brittle thing.

“There you are,” Romeo breathed.

Chad was sitting on a chair with Mercutio lying across his knees gnawing a chew.

Romeo didn’t know what he was expecting, some obvious sign Chad had been hurt—bruising, a shaved head, visible stitches—but there was nothing. His brown hair had four more weeks’ growth, and maybe he looked a little paler than normal, but that was all.

Chad stared out of the window to the bottom of the garden. Ally and Josh didn’t look, though. They faced each other, locked in a conversation Chad wasn’t a part of.

“I’m here,” Romeo whispered. He twisted his hand into his t-shirt in front of his heart. “I’m right here, Chad.”

He wondered whether that was the reason Chad was staring so intensely, either sensing Romeo was close, or just hoping. Either way, Romeo decided to put him out of his misery.

He stood up, revealing himself, no longer spying though a gap but locking eyes with Chad across the top of the garden fence.

Chad’s jaw dropped open, and Romeo’s lips twitched until he couldn’t stop his fragile laugh escaping.

Chad was there. Chad was alive.

The nightmare was over and the sun would start rising again.

Romeo’s eyes burned as Chad’s never left his.

Then Chad stood up, knocking Mercutio off his lap, and pointed.

“Shit!”

Romeo threw himself down, breathing hard.

“What the hell...”

His eyes darted, and he listened intently as the sunroom doors opened.

He moved in a crouch, rushing by the fence.

Mercutio yipped and yapped.

Then Josh called out, “Anyone there?”

Romeo kept going, rushing away from the house with his heart in his throat.

Josh called out again.

Romeo slumped beside a tree on the opposite side of the road, panting, mind a whirl.

He shouldn’t have revealed himself.

Chad probably couldn’t make him out clearly and that was why he raised the alarm, but Romeo kept seeing it in his head, that expression on Chad’s face when he’d pointed.

It looked a lot like fear.

****

H e needed to get to Chad.

Romeo was waiting for the right opportunity, but Josh and Ally didn’t make it easy on him. They didn’t leave Chad alone, and whenever Ally had to go out, Josh showed up first with Mercutio and took over watching Chad.

One time while Romeo was spying on the house, Chad and Ally got into her car and left. Romeo couldn’t get a taxi back to him in time to follow and he watched them go with a sinking sensation in his gut.

They returned two hours later. Romeo had hidden in the trees, and there was a moment Chad had paused before going inside. He’d looked back, scanning the trees on the opposite side of the road. Romeo didn’t reveal himself for a second time.

Ally had wrapped an arm around Chad’s back and led him into the house.

Romeo knew it was only a matter of time, and he needed to be patient.

Ten days after Chad was discharged from hospital, thirty-eight days since he hadn’t come home that night, Romeo got his chance.

Josh had gone inside with Mercutio.

Ten minutes later, Ally left.

Romeo knew where she was going. Ally only left to go food shopping and returned with a trunkful of groceries Josh had to help carry into the house. Most of it ended up in the outside bin, burnt or spoiled. Romeo had checked.

He’d become a stalker, sometimes not going home for a few nights so he could spy on the house in the hope of getting his chance.

Josh stepped out of the front door with his phone pressed to his ear. Romeo perked up, studying him and the anguish on his face. Josh rubbed his eyes, then glanced over his shoulder into the house. He nodded, before agreeing with whatever the person on the other end of the phone was saying, then he hung up.

“I’ll ... I’ll be back in ten minutes at most,” he yelled into the house. “Just don’t... Mercutio will take care of you, okay?”

Chad must’ve replied because Josh snorted and closed the door behind himself. He hesitated, hand on the door, frowning, seemingly fighting some desire to stay.

“Go, just go,” Romeo encouraged under his breath. “Leave.”

Josh made his decision, rushing to his car. He climbed inside and pulled the car out of his spot.

Romeo had been waiting for this moment. He’d barely slept, or ate, since he’d been obsessively watching.

They couldn’t keep Chad from him forever.

He made sure no cars were visible even in the distance before jogging to the other side of the road.

Josh had shut the door, but he hadn’t locked it.

Romeo didn’t hesitate, he stepped inside Ally’s house and closed the door behind him.

“That was quick,” Chad said, then he appeared in the hallway.

His jaw dropped again, and his eyes widened.

Romeo wanted to pull Chad into his arms, to hug him, shake him, demand to know what had happened and shut him up for good with a long kiss.

He did none of those things.

He stood there, pushed his own wants and needs aside, and looked at Chad.

There was no warmth in Chad’s gaze, only shock, and a flicker of fear contorted his brow. He tried to speak, but only a sharp breath escaped him as he inched backwards, putting more and more distance between them as he struggled to get his voice to work.

“I saw you,” Chad managed on a whisper. “At the end of the garden.”

Romeo whipped his gaze back and forth across Chad’s face. His stomach churned, and the prickle of unease at the back of his neck turned to stabbing.

Chad’s gaze lacked all recognition.

“They didn’t believe me,” Chad said. “Ally drove me to see my therapist, thinking I’d imagined you, but here you are.”

Romeo swallowed, but the lump in his throat stayed put. “I’m Romeo—”

“Yeah, Romeo Knight,” Chad interrupted. “I described what you looked like to my therapist, and she suspected I’d imagined you , except with longer hair,” he backed up a step. “You’re dead ... apparently.”

“I’m not dead.”

“No shit,” Chad retreated further, and Romeo hesitated before following. They’d moved into the kitchen, and Chad reached towards the counter. His movements were slow, but clumsy as his hand hit the bread bin, then a glass. He didn’t grab it through, he kept sliding his hand along as he tried to put distance between them.

“She said I’m confused,” Chad continued. “That it’s understandable with a brain injury as severe as mine.”

Romeo found his voice. “You’re getting better, that’s what the receptionist told me. You were responding well to treatment, well enough to go home,” he glanced around the room. “This isn’t your home, Chad.”

“Where is my home?”

“It’s with me.”

Chad shook his head. “They told me about you, and I... I watched that documentary.”

“Of course you did...” Romeo muttered.

“You took me, you trapped me in your farmhouse.”

“That was a long time ago.”

“I don’t remember.”

Chad hand knocked the knife block. He pulled out the biggest one. It was a slow action, deliberately so, and he watched Romeo, waiting to see what he’d do. Romeo didn’t react. Chad didn’t launch at him with the knife but held it in front of himself.

“You’re a serial killer, and they all think you’re dead, but you’re not.”

“I’m not.”

“You’re a danger to society.”

Romeo’s mouth twitched with a smile. “Yes. I am. But you keep me under lock and key. You keep the monster on the chain.”

Chad flexed his eyebrow. “Monster?”

Romeo lifted his hand slowly, broadcasting his intention as he reached for the back of his head. “In here. There’s a monstrous part of me. It’s been there as long as I remember, gnawing away at my sanity until I gave in. Satisfying that part of me, it makes me feel like a god.”

“You’re not a god.”

Romeo continued, “It’s addicting, and I crave it, even now I crave it.”

Chad flashed the knife at him. Romeo’s smile dimmed.

“Not you, though, I wouldn’t satisfy that craving with you. You’re special to me.”

“Am I a monster too?” Chad asked.

Romeo hesitated. The press, the public, they’d labeled Chad as a monster.

“That’s a yes then—”

“No. It’s a no. You’re not a monster, Chad.”

“Then why do I feel like one?”

Romeo had no answer for that.

“Why do I feel wrong ?”

“You’re not wrong, you’re perfect.”

“Says you,” Chad sneered. “The serial killer.” His gaze darted away, then stuck to Romeo again. “You killed innocent people.”

Romeo resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “There are no innocent people. There’s good and bad in all of us, and I don’t weigh up one person’s misdeeds with another’s. I kill without bias, not valuing one life over the other. It was all about the opportunity, the right set of circumstances, that led to a kill. Until I met you at least.”

Chad sucked in a breath. His hand shook, and the blade edge danced a reflection up the wall. “What the hell are you talking about?”

Romeo bit his tongue, silencing himself. It wasn’t the right moment to reveal all about his and Chad’s arrangement, not when Chad looked like he was barely keeping it together.

It was no longer just Chad’s hand shaking, his whole body quaked. Tears filled his eyes and dropped onto his pale cheeks. Romeo took a step closer, wanting to pull him close, embrace him in a tight hug, but Chad shot back, raising the knife.

“Don’t you dare touch me.”

“Chad...”

“Don’t!”

Romeo raised both hands in surrender.

“Why are you here?” Chad demanded, stabbing the knife in Romeo’s direction. “To finish me off?”

Romeo frowned. He shook his head. “I want to take you home.”

“I don’t have a home. I’ve never had a home .”

“You do. It’s with me.”

“No,” Chad snapped. “That’s not true.”

“You just don’t remember.” Romeo said softly, lowering his eyes.

He closed them.

It made sense.

Chad hadn’t immediately found a way of contacting Romeo the second he woke up.

He didn’t come home the minute he was released.

He’d pointed at Romeo at the end of the garden, drawing Ally and Josh’s attention to him.

There had been shock in his eyes, fear in his expression, not the love Romeo was familiar with.

This Chad was wild, cornered, shaking himself apart as he kept Romeo at bay with the knife.

“I don’t understand,” Chad said. “Ever since I woke up, I’ve felt wrong,” he touched his head. “They think it’s the injury, but I know it’s something else and it’s to do with you.”

“What did the doctor say?” Romeo asked, reopening his eyes. “About your memory.”

Chad blinked. It dislodged the tears in his eyes which rushed down his cheeks. “He said to give it time.”

“Time?”

“It could come back.”

Romeo’s heart squeezed in his chest. “ Could ?”

“Could,” Chad confirmed. His breath hitched. “But I don’t think I want it to, not if it involves me and you.”

“We love each other.”

“Get the hell out,” Chad snarled. He slashed the blade through the air.

“We do,” Romeo stood firm, unflinching. “You fucking love me, Chad.”

“No—”

“And I love you. It’s me and you. It’s always going to me and you, us against the world.”

“Shut up,” Chad said. He held the blade out with one hand and clawed the other one through his hair. His face scrunched in pain. “This can’t be real.”

“It’s real.”

“I don’t want it. I don’t want you.”

Mercutio took that moment to bound in from outside, through the sunroom, and into the kitchen. Chad gasped, dropping down to hold Mercutio back, to block the dog from Romeo. He looked horror struck, terrified as Mercutio struggled free and crashed into Romeo’s legs.

“Don’t hurt him!”

“Like I would.”

Romeo crouched down, and fussed Mercutio who licked long stripes up his face. Mercutio’s tail moved in a fast blur, and he yipped and yapped as he greeted Romeo.

“Enough with the tongue,” Romeo said sternly. “Sit.”

Mercutio did.

Chad watched with wide eyes.

“Good boy,” Romeo said, scratching Mercutio’s head. “I’ve missed you too.”

“I... I want you to leave.”

“Chad—”

“Please, I just...” he shook his head. “I don’t want this.” He gestured wildly to Romeo. “Whatever this is, whatever it was, I don’t want it, not anymore.”

“You can’t remember, that’s all—"

“Then I don’t want to!”

Romeo got to his feet. “You don’t mean that.”

“I do. I don’t want anything to do with this, to do with you, please ,” his brow tightened in pain again. “If you care about me, leave me be, let me go.”

Let him go.

Inconceivable.

But Chad had made it complicated.

If you care about me.

Romeo clutched the back of his neck. He squeezed hard, fighting with himself.

If you care about me, leave me be, let me go.

“Please,” Chad begged. “Let me go.”

Romeo turned around and left the house.