Page 48 of The Lost Zone (Dark Water #3)

“Are we done?” Josiah snapped. “Can Dr Baumann get on with her damn job now?”

Esther cast a pitying look at Sofie, at the mercy of his irritable beck and call all day.

He strode to his duck with Sofie jogging along after him, trying to keep up with his long strides.

Only once they were in his duck and safely under way did she make a shaky sound that was halfway between a laugh and a cry.

“Did it go okay?” he asked her gently. “I know you’re not used to this kind of subterfuge.”

“It was fine. I did exactly as you said. I told Ryland I didn’t approve of Sem’s actions and would report him if he came looking for me.

He seemed convinced. There wasn’t much he could say as Esther was there and she’s very protective of me.

” She glanced at him fearfully. “But what Ryland said about bounty hunters… Supposing someone saw us that night? Supposing they come to your house? I can’t put you in that kind of danger. ”

“Oh, I’ve been in far worse danger.” Josiah grinned. “Look, your brother is a low-value IS. I doubt any bounty hunters will bother with him. I’ve shut down all my safe houses, but I think that, right now, he’s probably safer at my place than moving him around – at least until his injury heals.”

“Thank you,” she said sincerely.

“Now, I need your head in this game, not elsewhere,” he told her firmly. “Can you do that?”

“Of course.” She squared her shoulders. “Let’s just hope they find something for me to work on.”

It was not to be. The divers spent another fruitless day searching. Josiah put in a call to Reed from the command post to see if he’d had any more breakthroughs in the Dacre case, but that was a negative, too. Then he filled him in on the latest news from Lewes.

“You’re really sure she’s down there, aren’t you, boss?” Reed said.

“Yup.” Josiah took a swig of his fifth cup of tea. He reached into his pocket for his little silver box and wasn’t remotely surprised to see two fresh dark chocolates nestled inside. Alex really was very good at sneaking them in when he wasn’t looking. It was becoming quite the game between them.

“I hope you’re right. I want to nail that bastard after seeing that recording of him in your house. I can’t believe he just barged in there and threw his weight around like that, with you of all people.”

“You might get your chance. If we find the body, I can get a warrant to search his premises. Alex says he’s got blackmail material on any number of people who’ve been useful to him over the years.

I’m assuming he keeps it to dangle it over them, and I’m also assuming that it’s in a heavily encrypted format.

That’s where you’ll really come into your own, Cam.

If we get our hands on those files, I’ll need you to crack them open. ”

“I’ll try, sir,” Reed said dubiously. “But Tyler must have the most expensive data security in the country, and I’m just… well, me. A lowly data tech.”

“Nonsense. I’ve seen your CV. You could have had your pick of jobs, including working for someone like Tyler. You chose Inquisitus because making a difference was more important to you than making money. I have absolute confidence in your abilities.”

Reed looked startled and not a little touched. “Thank you, sir. Although, you think that anyone who can so much as set up an ancient dog-cam is a technological genius, so…” He shrugged ruefully, making Josiah laugh.

“True, sadly. True.”

Esther arrived later in the afternoon. “Bad news, I’m afraid,” she sighed.

“The lawyers have been all over Lytton’s contract, and Tyler does indisputably have claim to him.

Our lawyers are holding him off on technicalities for as long as possible, but they’re very clear that they’ll lose, and soon. ”

“And then?”

“Then you’ll have to give him back to Tyler. After that, regardless of whether we find this body or not, it’s unlikely we’ll ever see Lytton again. Now, if you find the body before Tyler gets his hands on Lytton, that changes everything.”

“How long do we have?” Josiah asked quietly. There would be little victory to be wrung from this if they found the body too late and Alex was lost. He’d still do his best to bring Tyler to justice, of course, but without Alex it would be bittersweet at best.

“Not long,” Esther said grimly. “A couple of days max.”

Days? Sometimes it took weeks to find a body in water, and this body had been down there for a very long time. It was hardly going to give itself up easily.

At that moment, there was a sound outside. Josiah went out, hopefully, but it was just the divers deciding to call it a day.

“Another day without finding anything,” Josiah mused as he drove home with Sofie. “Maybe Alex is right. Maybe Tyler has moved the body.”

“It’s more likely it’s scattered over the bottom of that lost zone,” Sofie said.

“I checked. That area was once a village, so there’s every possibility there are bodies down there already, either from the Rising or simply some old graveyard.

We might bring one of those up instead of Solange.

So, even if we do find bones, they might not be hers. ”

“Shit.” Josiah felt as though that noose was tightening again, slowly but surely.

He was hiding a runaway IS in his house, was fast on his way to being hopelessly in love with a man he couldn’t have, and one of the most powerful men in the land was out for his blood.

If that wasn’t enough, he was staking his entire reputation on this one case.

Esther was a friend, but would she decide he was worth keeping if all this turned out to be a wild goose chase? “Don’t tell Alex any of this,” he said to Sofie. “All he’s got in the whole world is hope; don’t take that away from him.”

“He has something a good deal more than hope,” she said firmly. “He has you , and, as I’ve found out these past couple of days, that is not to be underestimated.”

Josiah shot her a grateful smile. Maybe his whole life was going to hell in a handcart, but he seemed to have made a new friend.

“Another girlfriend?” Josiah could imagine Alex saying while rolling his eyes, and he gave a little chuckle. Damn it. He could almost hear Peter laughing in his ear. “In-jokes? You’re smitten, love,” he’d have said – and he’d have been right.

Alex and Sem were sitting on the sofa when they arrived home, with Sem wrapped up in a big blanket.

There was a freshly prepared meal warming in the oven, and the house was full of chatter and laughter.

Josiah thought of the many times he’d returned here when it’d been cold and empty, and how different it was when filled with warmth and friendship.

Sem and Alex had clearly had a good day watching the screen and chatting and were totally at ease with each other.

“Any luck?” Sem asked as they sat down to eat.

“I’ve told him all about Solange and what you’re doing,” Alex said, handing out plates piled high with spaghetti bolognaise.

“Not today.” Josiah undid his tie with a sigh.

“Never mind,” Alex said cheerfully. “Tomorrow’s another day.”

Josiah shot him a wan smile, but exchanged a grim glance with Sofie when his back was turned. The realities of the situation were taking their toll, but there was no need to share that with Alex just yet.

“I want you to make love to me tonight,” Josiah said later, as he shut the bedroom door.

“Are you sure you’re not too tired?” Alex asked. “It’s been another long day.”

“Nope. It’s what I want – what I need.” Josiah drew him close. Esther had said a couple of days max. This might be his last night with Alex, the penultimate at best. If they didn’t do this now, then when? Alex wanted it, and he wanted it, too.

“I’ll be gentle,” Alex murmured, kissing him.

Josiah thought of all the people Alex had been with over the years, the many men he’d fucked, and how experienced he was. He had no doubt that Alex would be as good at this as he was at everything else in the bedroom.

“Hey.” Alex nuzzled his ear. “If you don’t want to do this, it’s fine. Don’t do it to please me.”

“No, it’s not that. I’m just thinking of all the times you didn’t have a choice.”

“Shh.” Alex kissed his way along his jaw. “Don’t think… just be.”

He undressed Josiah slowly, tenderly. This was no mad rush, like their first coupling, but an event to be savoured.

Josiah felt all at sea with the changed dynamic.

Had he forgotten how to let a partner take control?

It had been different with Peter; they were together such a long time, and he trusted him.

He trusted Alex, too, but suddenly this felt like a bigger deal than he’d realised.

He’d been grimly hanging on to control, in every area of his life, like a drowning man clinging to the side of a duck.

Now, he was letting go and trying to swim, but he still feared the currents lurking beneath.

“You’re thinking way too much,” Alex said. “Relax.”

Nodding numbly, he let Alex lead him over to the bed and push him down on it. Alex’s mouth was so hot on his body, kissing, sucking, and nuzzling… Josiah groaned and pushed up against him.

“That’s better. God, you’re gorgeous,” Alex murmured, his mouth roving everywhere.

Josiah had an image of Peter, his dark hair flopping over his face as he leaned over him, and he tensed up.

“Hey… it’s okay…” Alex drew back. “Do you feel like you’re betraying Peter by doing this?”

“No. It’s more… I feel that if I let go, then everything else will go – Peter, Hattie, my past, the memory of that night… everything I’ve held on to so tightly, for so long.”

“Would that be so bad? What’s the worry, Joe? That you won’t be able to keep it under control anymore? That it’ll rise up and destroy you?”

“Yes.” Josiah sighed. “Stupid, I know. It’s just sex.”