Page 9 of Six for Gold (The Magpie Rhyme #6)

P ain woke Romeo from unconsciousness.

Not from his hand, or even his temple where the rock had made contact, but his throat. He swallowed hard before he’d even opened his eyes and found pressure digging into his Adam’s apple. His cough didn’t ease it. It made him more aware that something pressed against his throat.

Romeo reached for the tightness as his eyes fluttered open. His clumsy finger got caught on the thing around his neck. It was cold, hard, and linked.

“Shit,” he murmured, stroking his fingers against the thick chain. He followed it around until he pushed at the padlock at the back of his neck.

Chad had put a collar on him.

The chain was too tight to slip his fingers beneath, it dug into his flesh and made panic rear up. He fought with the instinct to thrash and pull and took a calming breath through his nose as he glanced around.

He was in the outhouse, and the chain that was attached to him was also padlocked to the middle column of his one-piece gym. The smell of earth surrounded him, and his jeans were covered in mud, some dried, some still wet. He turned his head, and his temple throbbed.

Chad had tricked him.

Chad had hit him with a rock.

Romeo had underestimated him.

“More than a magpie,” he murmured, shaking his head.

The pain in Romeo’s hand began to sting. It burned, like a rash, the fire spread down his arm. The wound was messy, and a twitch of his thumb made it bleed.

“Chad...”

“I’m here.”

Romeo shifted his back against the bench press he was propped up against. Chad sat on a chair facing Romeo, breathing hard. Mud was up to his knees. There were smears of it on his face and sweat on his forehead. He wiped his arm across his brow.

“You’re heavy,” he said with a snort.

“You carried me?”

“More like dragged.” Chad looked away. “I got your keys out of your jeans, was going to run, but then I saw all the stuff on the backseat ... and in the trunk,” he gestured to Romeo. “Help me put the pieces back together? That’s what you said you wanted to do—”

“I do—”

“That involves chains and padlocks does it?”

“It does,” Romeo replied.

He stroked the chain around his neck. Then he laughed, he laughed until Chad frowned, and shook his head.

“What’s so funny?”

“You’ve had a chain around the monster metaphorically for a long time, but now it’s around me, too. Now it’s physical.”

“I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.”

Romeo sobered. “You tricked me. You pretended you were hurt.”

Chad didn’t respond.

“Stupid,” Romeo hissed at himself. “Stupid emotions. You tricked me and I fell for it. That’s what love does. It makes you do foolish things.”

“You don’t love me.”

“I do, Chad.”

Chad shook his head. “You’re a psychopath, and psychopaths can’t love.”

“Says who?” Romeo asked.

Chad blinked.

“Whether I am a psychopath or not...” he shot a sad smile at Chad, “it’s just not important.”

“You’re crazier than I thought you would be.”

This Chad wasn’t his Chad, nor was he the Chad he’d spoken to at Ally’s house. Romeo could see it in the way Chad studied him from the other side of the room, like he was a specimen.

This Chad was different.

He was in control.

“What now?” Romeo asked.

Chad stared at him.

Romeo flicked his chin in the direction of the door. “There’s no sirens—”

“Doesn’t mean there won’t be.”

“You haven’t called them, though,” Romeo reached for the length of chain that connected him to the gym. Chad had given him roughly four meters. He eyed the space between them.

“You can’t reach me,” Chad said coldly. “And just because I haven’t yet called the police doesn’t mean I won’t.”

“You have a serial killer chained up in your outhouse and you’ve not called them?” Romeo raised an eyebrow. “What are you waiting for? Me to escape?”

“You can’t escape. Not without the key.”

“Why haven’t you called them?”

Chad rolled his eyes. “Your question is getting boring.”

“Maybe if you’d answer it...”

“I don’t want to call them,” Chad snapped. “Is that enough of an answer for you?”

“Not really. What’s going on in that head of yours? What do you feel when you look at me?”

Chad’s eye twitched. “A lot.”

“A lot?”

“I feel a lot, but none of it makes sense.”

“You have a brain injury.”

“Do I really?” Chad asked in mock surprise. “Thanks for cluing me in.”

“You can’t remember me, not yet, but you will.”

“Is that a threat?”

“It’s a promise.”

Chad smiled but it didn’t lift his cheeks let alone reach his eyes. “They tried to keep it from me for as long as they could, but I found out. One quick google of my name, and I found out, not just about you, but Marc, Tate, Lucinda, Vincent Whitehall. I mean, I only have to look at my chest to realize something happened to me. There’s so much hatred directed at me and I look at you and I think maybe ... maybe you could be my redemption.”

“What do you mean?”

“I hand you over, and maybe it’ll satisfy the mob. I’ve made mistakes. People have died because of me, but maybe being the one who not only discovers ‘The Countdown Killer’ is still alive, but brings him to justice, I could win them over, be left alone.”

“It’s a possibility.”

Chad nodded. “But then I think. Why? I don’t owe them anything. I don’t need to please them, prove myself to them. If they’re so eager to turn their back on me, then I should be able to do the same to them without judgement. I’m not a police officer anymore. I’m just Chad and I have a serial killer chained up in my outhouse.”

He smiled, and this time it met his eyes. They shone as he got to his feet.

“And what are you planning on doing with me?”

Chad shrugged. “I don’t know yet.”

He crouched down then reached beneath his chair. Chad slid out a green zipped up bag. He pushed it across the floor, and it knocked into Romeo’s ankle.

It was a first aid kit.

More than a magpie, but definitely not a monster.

Romeo placed it on his lap and managed to unzip it one handed. There were bandages and wipes, and a pair of scissors.

“My hand ... it needs to be stitched.” Romeo said, but when he glanced up, Chad was leaving. “Hey!” he shouted, just as Chad slammed the door behind him.

Slammed it and locked it.

****

A long time ago, Romeo had tied Chad up in a barn. He’d left him there all night in the cold, and only returned in the morning after he’d soiled himself.

Romeo had not given much thought for how that must’ve felt for Chad until he was in the exact same situation, helpless, at the mercy of someone else.

He’d wiped his temple with an antiseptic wipe and attempted to do the same to his hand but it burned with a ferociousness that had the room spinning and his consciousness waning. He fixed the wound as best as he could, wrapping up his hand with bandages and rendering it useless.

Romeo had tried to pick the lock with the scissors, but the blades were too wide and doing anything one handed was difficult.

In the end, he’d slumped in defeat.

Hours passed, and he soon grew hungry, but he ignored the rumbling in his stomach. The intense pressure in his bladder was harder to shut down, and he knocked the back of his head against the bench press to distract himself.

Chad had left his hands free, and although he could pull down his jeans and relieve himself on the concrete, he didn’t like the idea of doing so and then having to sit there with the smell and shame of it. He didn’t want Chad to come back inside and see that he’d done it, which was ridiculous considering Chad was the one that had chained him up, giving him no choice.

He’d done the same thing to Chad all those years ago and mocked Chad for being unable to hold his piss.

Romeo sighed, struggling to his feet. The chain clanged, his head throbbed, but he managed to get his balance and take down his zipper.

Chad chose that moment to return, just when Romeo was about to relieve himself on the floor.

Romeo rarely got embarrassed. He didn’t even know what embarrassed was exactly, but the repulsion on Chad’s face when he stepped into the outhouse brought fire to Romeo’s cheeks. He bit his tongue to stop himself from launching curses at Chad, and wondered whether that uncharacteristic impulse was also due to embarrassment.

“What the hell are you doing?” Chad asked.

His eyes widened.

Romeo didn’t answer. It was pretty obvious what he was about to do.

Chad sighed, and placed the bucket he was holding in his hands on the floor.

He slid it over the concrete. It stopped just within Romeo’s reach. Inside there was a bottle of water, what looked like some cereal bars, and a toilet roll. Romeo emptied the contents on the floor before turning his back on Chad and using the bucket for its intended purpose.

Chad didn’t leave.

He waited until Romeo had finished, then asked. “How’s the head?”

Romeo gingerly prodded the lump by his temple. “It throbs.”

“And the hand?”

“It needs stitches.” He turned back to Chad and held his mummified hand for him to see. “I can’t stitch it on my own.”

“And I’m not stupid.”

Chad sat down on the chair again. Romeo sighed, adjusting his chain, then perched on the edge of the bench.

“You know,” Romeo said, glancing around the space. “I once chained you up in my barn.”

“I know,” Chad folded his arms. “It was on the documentary.”

“I wasn’t so kind to give you a bucket...”

Chad frowned, like he didn’t understand, so Romeo made it clear.

“You pissed yourself.”

Chad recoiled. He looked away.

“They left that bit out of the documentary.” Romeo said softly.

“You’ve seen your own documentary?”

“Of course. If only to listen to all they got wrong. All those detectives and psychologists trying to work me out. I found it amusing.”

“You smashed a rock against my head.”

Romeo prodded his temple. “I did. I should have seen this coming.”

“My rock is a bit special.”

Chad reached into his coat pocket and pulled it out.

Romeo stiffened.

The word monster was clear to see.

“I had it in my pocket,” Chad explained. “This and my car keys were all I had on me that day.” His brow twitched as he looked down at the rock, brushing his thumb against the word.

“Some asshole smashed one of our windows,” Romeo whispered. “It had a note attached.”

“What note?”

Romeo shook his head. “Some spiteful comment about you killing Lucinda Hastings.”

“I did kill her.”

Romeo ignored Chad’s words. “They smashed the window with the rock and stole the TV.”

Chad hummed. “That explains the TV. Josh said he hadn’t seen it before, said if he’d had known I was after a new TV he would’ve recommended one.”

“The TV I picked works fine, thanks.”

“They told me I’d gone on holiday with Mercutio and my ex-boyfriend, Frank.”

“Ex-boyfriend?”

Chad’s mouth twitched. “That’s how Josh describes him. Josh hates the man. Says he’s worthless scum and he’d make a better boyfriend.”

Romeo flared his nostrils. “Maybe I should’ve killed Josh when I had the chance.”

“Can you really blame him for hating Frank ? He didn’t rush to the hospital. He vanished, abandoning me while I was at my most vulnerable...”

Romeo’s heart hurt. “I’ve been right here the whole time. I’ve been waiting.”

“You’re Frank,” Chad snorted. “The boyfriend I’ve not formally introduced to them...” He shook his head. “How is this even real? How can this...” he gestured between them, “be real?”

“We work. It didn’t happen overnight. There was compromise involved but we love each other.”

“How did that happen?” Chad hissed through his teeth. “How could I let myself fall in love with a killer?”

“Falling isn’t a conscious decision. If it was, it would be jumping. You fell in love with me, accidentally, against your better judgement, despite everything. And I fell for you in exactly the same way.”

“What happened that morning?”

Romeo didn’t need Chad to clarify. He knew Chad was talking about the day he hadn’t come home.

“It was our last morning at the cottage. We walked hand in hand along the beach with Mercutio. He kept running up to you, dropping his ball at your feet, then waiting for you to throw it. You handed it to me, though, because I can throw further. We went back to the cottage, packed our things, and then drove home, me in the back with Mercutio, you in the front.”

Chad squeezed his eyes shut. “This can’t be real, yet...”

“Yet?”

“If feels more real than everything else I’ve been told.”

Romeo continued, “We saw the window had been smashed when we got home. You locked Mercutio in the kitchen so he wouldn’t cut himself on the glass while I got the dustpan and brush to sweep up the mess. That’s when you found the rock.”

Chad looked down at it on his lap.

“I didn’t want you to read the message, but I couldn’t stop you. When your back was turned, I snatched it, balled it up and put it in my pocket, but I couldn’t find the rock,” he snorted. “You must’ve taken it.”

“Then what happened?”

“You got a call from Josh and made plans to go see him. You left.” Romeo lowered his gaze. “You didn’t come home. Josh called me to say you were at the hospital.”

“We didn’t ... fight? Row?”

Romeo frowned. “No.”

“It must’ve just all got to me,” Chad whispered. “And I don’t blame myself. It makes perfect sense, doesn’t it?” he glanced at Romeo like he understood the thoughts he shared. “This is too much for anyone.”

“Tate, Lucinda, Vincent, I know they were on your mind, and you were sick too.”

“Sick?”

Romeo bit his lip. He thought back to the box of capsules he’d shoved in the kitchen drawer.

Chad’s secret sleeping pills.

“You were taking medicine to help you sleep. They had side effects. You’d been reading horrible articles about yourself before you...” Romeo blinked. “Wait...” his head snapped up. “What happened? Why were you at the fishing lake?”

“Fishing lake?”

“You were parked close by. Josh said bystanders pulled you from the water. What happened?” Romeo got to his feet. He ran his hand through his hair. “Did you decide to go for a walk? Did you fall ... or did someone push you?” he closed his eyes and his head filled with his most disturbing nightmare. “Did they surround you? Did they drag you into the water and try to drown you?”

Chad didn’t answer.

Romeo opened his eyes.

He’d been so wrapped up in Chad losing his memory he’d stopped trying to solve the mystery of what had happened that afternoon, what had taken Chad’s memory from him in the first place.

“I will kill them all,” Romeo’s eyes burned. “If that’s what happened I’ll—”

“I wasn’t at a fishing lake.”

“I found your car.”

Chad looked at him blankly.

“You’d parked it close by to The Henley.”

“The what?”

“The fishing lake!”

Chad shook his head. “I don’t remember what happened that day, but I didn’t walk around any lake. I walked along the A14. I walked about two miles.”

Romeo frowned. “I don’t understand.”

“I was looking for the right spot.”

“The right spot for what?”

“To jump from.”

“Jump...”

The room began to spin. Romeo scrunched his eyes shut, shaking his head.

“The bridge.” Chad murmured, but his voice sounded far away, too far for Romeo to understand. “A witness saw me. He got me out of the river.”

It didn’t compute. “No. You didn’t jump.”

“Yes. I did.”

Romeo snorted. “That’s not possible.”

“That’s what happened. I jumped. A conscious action ... unlike falling.”

“No,” Romeo growled, surging forward. The chain cut into his throat, and he staggered back, falling to the floor. Chad got to his feet but didn’t retreat.

“I don’t believe it!” Romeo shouted. “You wouldn’t do that. This witness, whoever it is, they’re wrong. They did this. They pushed you.”

“I jumped.”

“You wouldn’t do that to me not unless someone forced you, someone put a gun to your head—"

“There was CCTV footage covering the bridge. It’s clear I was on my own. No one pushed me.”

Romeo’s chin trembled. He squeezed it until it stopped shaking.

“I don’t believe you.”

But the more Romeo thought about it, the more things started to make sense. Ally and Josh had kept Chad in their sights since his release from hospital. Josh had been vague on the details, wanting Frank to get to the hospital before revealing what had happened to Chad to put him there. He’d even suggested Frank might have had something to do with how Chad ended up in the water, like he was partly responsible and Chad ... he’d asked whether they’d had a fight or row that day before he got in the car.

“This...” Chad gestured between them, “whatever this is, it was obviously too much. I was a police officer for fuck’s sake, of course a secret like this was too much.”

“You promised me.” Romeo yelled. “It’s us. It’s always us.”

Chad’s smile was sad. “Maybe you didn’t know me as well as you thought you did.”

Romeo’s heart stopped beating in his chest. It turned to stone and cracked down the middle.

“Get out,” he murmured.

“What?”

“Get out!” he roared. And it wasn’t just him, it was the monster, too, filling his head, snarling and spitting. Romeo was hurting, withering in pain, and the monster came to his aid, flinging itself forward in Romeo’s skin.

Romeo grabbed the first aid kit, the bottle, the toilet roll, and threw them at Chad.

Chad scuttled backwards, pressing himself to the outhouse wall. His eyes were wide, and his mouth hung open.

“How fucking dare you,” Romeo spat, wrapping his hand around the chain. He yanked, again and again he yanked, until the screws bolting the gym to the floor began to wobble. “How dare you come in here and tell me that! How dare you smile at me and tell me I didn’t know you as well as I thought I did.”

“It’s what happened.” Chad’s voice shook. “I tried to kill myself.”

“No!”

“I did.”

“This isn’t real,” Romeo snapped. “It can’t be real.”

“I—”

“You wouldn’t,” Romeo dropped the chain, and shot in Chad’s direction. The chain yanked at his throat hard enough he choked, folding in half. He fell, spit left his lips as his knees hit the ground.

“No,” Romeo shook his head. “I don’t ... you can’t have.”

“There was a witness. There was CCTV. I jumped.”

Romeo turned his back to Chad. His eyes burned. His chest felt like it was imploding. “We always said we’d go out together, but you tried to take yourself from me. How could you do that? How could you break your promise?” He touched the chain around his neck. He yanked. “You better hope this holds because I’ve never wanted to kill you more in my life, and if I get loose, I’m going to take my time. I’m going to make you feel pain like you’ve never felt before, like you’ve done to me.”

The door slammed.

Chad locked it behind himself and his footsteps pounded against concrete as he fled.