Page 68 of The Lost Zone (Dark Water #3)

Neil glared at him, his eyes dark and furious.

“He does! He’s been traumatised by his years as an IS, but the minute we were alone together, I could see the passion was still there.

Nobody will ever love him the way I do. I’ve always told him that.

Nobody. He needs me to look out for him, to look after him. I understand him.”

“So, why didn’t he run away with you when he had the chance? Why did he decide that staying with Elliot Dacre was preferable to escaping with you?”

A look of smug disdain spread over Neil’s features. “He was protecting me. He was scared that the men in the black SUAVs would intercept us, and I’d be hurt. He told me that Solange had tried to help him escape once, and she’d been killed because of it. He was terrified that would happen to me.”

“I see.”

“You’ve known him for five minutes,” Neil flared. “Don’t imagine you understand him better than me. If he cuddles up to you on the sofa at night, if he whispers in your ear and kisses you as if you’re the only man he’s ever wanted, it’s because he has to, to survive. He doesn’t mean it.”

“Is that what you think he does?” Josiah sank back on his heels, gazing at Neil coolly. “Or is it what you’ve witnessed? Have you been spying on us, Neil? Standing in my garden, looking in through the windows?”

Neil became flushed and defensive, and Josiah knew he’d hit a nerve.

“You have no evidence of that.” Neil was like a tightly wound spring, ready to snap at any moment, fuelled by a mixture of resentment and rage. “I know Alex, and I love him in a way you’d never understand.”

“Is that why you hurt him at the show?”

Neil’s face became pinched. “He hurt me, too. We were both upset and took it out on each other.” A sly smile spread across his plain features. “The passion is still there, you see. We still want each other, need each other, crave each other – that’s never changed.”

“Alex said you made a bid for his contract. What was the plan, Neil? Were you going to buy him and set him free?”

“Not exactly.” Neil gave an evasive smile.

Josiah rocked back on his heels. “Oh, I see. You were going to keep him as your IS – forcing him to stay with you forever because you owned his contract.”

“I’d have looked after him. All I ever wanted was to keep him safe and happy. He’s always had this self-destructive streak, and he needs me to protect him from himself. I wish that idiot Dacre had accepted my offer to buy him.”

“Hmm,” Josiah grunted. He was relieved that it hadn’t been in Elliot’s power to sell Alex to a man such as this. He had no doubt that Alex’s life would have been just as miserable as it’d been with Tyler if Neil had got his hands on him.

He glanced around the apartment. “Which begs the question, how the hell does a man living in a matchbox afford the most expensive IS in the land? What were you going to use to pay for him? Magic beans?”

“I live here like this to save,” Neil spat. “I’ve been saving for years to be able to afford Alex.”

Josiah snorted. “Neil, I lead a pretty frugal lifestyle. My salary has been sitting in my bank account for eight years, more or less untouched, but even I don’t have enough to buy Alex Lytton.

Not even close. Not even if I sold my house and car and everything I own – I still wouldn’t stand a chance.

What makes you think that you could afford him? ”

“Oh, I’d say you’ve wasted plenty on those fancy suits you parade around in.” Neil cast an accusatory look at Josiah’s blue-and-tan herringbone ensemble.

“True, but I’m not saving for the most expensive indie in the land. I could go to work in an old sack and live in a hovel, but I still wouldn’t save enough to buy Alex. Where does the money come from, Neil? Does it even exist?”

“That’s none of your business,” Neil snapped. “Why have you come here, Investigator Raine? To arrest me for maybe standing in your garden?”

“No, to find out where you were when Elliot Dacre was murdered,” Josiah said quietly.

Neil stopped short, his mouth opening and closing in surprise. Was that an act? Josiah couldn’t be sure. Neil was certainly hiding something, but was it murder?

“I didn’t kill Elliot Dacre,” he exclaimed. “Oh, I see. That’s what all this is about. You’ve come here to try and pin that stupid old fool’s murder on me. You want to get rid of me, so you can have Alex to yourself.”

“Hardly.” Josiah found Neil’s level of delusion confusing.

On the one hand, he was clearly smart enough to have engineered that night with Alex at the show.

On the other, his entire world view centred around this great love affair they were supposedly having, and he twisted everything to support that in a way that was frankly ludicrous.

“I’m merely asking if you have an alibi. ”

“I was working,” Neil said tersely.

“Doing what? Do you have witnesses?”

“I’m not going to tell you, and no.” Neil’s face crumpled. “But that doesn’t mean I killed Dacre.”

“Maybe not, but it would help your case a great deal if you could tell me where you were that day.”

“I didn’t kill him!” Neil yelled. He took a moment to recover from his outburst, blinking rapidly, then he collected himself. “I didn’t kill him,” he repeated in a calmer voice.

“You can understand how it looks, though,” Josiah observed.

“You tried to buy Alex’s contract but were turned down.

Then you tried to persuade Alex to escape with you but were turned down.

So, by your own admission, you were desperate…

What else was left for you to do? If you and Alex are meant to be together, as you claim, then what else makes sense but to kill Elliot and run away with Alex? ”

“If that was the plan, then why didn’t I do it, you idiot?” Neil demanded. “Why didn’t I grab Alex after I’d killed Dacre and run off with him, if it was that simple?”

“I don’t know. Maybe you were expecting Alex to return home from the gym earlier than he did. He went for a long drive after working out. Or maybe you were startled by the arrival of the housekeeper and ran off.”

“I wasn’t there! Even if I had killed Dacre, which I didn’t, I wouldn’t have been able to escape with Alex, because he was being followed everywhere by the black SUAVs.”

“What do you know about those SUAVs?” Josiah asked quietly.

“Only that Alex was afraid of them. He said they followed him everywhere, and he could never escape because of them.”

“Might it have been a crime of passion, then?” Josiah asked. “You’ve spoken heatedly about the passion you believe exists between you and Alex. It must have been hard for you to see him with Dacre, to watch them behaving like a couple.”

“Oh, I knew that wasn’t real. No more than you and he are real,” Neil said scornfully. “I know how Alex really feels. He was fond of Dacre, sure, but it was all pretence. It always is with Alex.”

“But not with you?”

“No, because with me he’s free to be who he really is.

That’s not always very nice. It’s why we fight and hurt each other.

But it is genuine. You’re getting the sweet, loving, false Alex, but with me, he’s the real deal.

He’s a spitfire – always has been. He likes to fight it out in the bedroom, scratching, biting, and bruising.

You should have seen us as teenagers. We’ve always liked it rough. ”

“I saw the wounds on his body after the show. It didn’t look like rough sex to me.” Josiah grinned and leaned in close. “I’ve had plenty of rough sex and I never left my partner looking like Alex did after a night with you.”

This pressed all Neil’s buttons and his nostrils flared furiously. “It’s how we are with each other,” he said tightly.

“Ah, yes. Which brings us back to the passion. If you’re like that with someone you love, then what’s to stop you putting a bullet into someone you hate, because of that same passion?”

“I can see you’ve made up your mind. Well then, why don’t you arrest me?”

“I can easily get a warrant for your arrest. I have reasonable cause,” Josiah said carefully.

“Then do it,” Neil snapped. “All you have is guesses, no actual evidence. You must be feeling very pleased with yourself to be getting rid of the opposition in this way. I’ll tell the press.

I’ll say you want Alex for yourself, that’s why you’re arresting me.

I’ve heard all the talk about you – they’ll believe me. ”

“Oh, go ahead.” Josiah was genuinely amused by the threat. “The press love writing nonsense about me.”

“I will.” Neil folded his arms over his chest. “Well, then. Are you going to arrest me or not?”

“We’ll see.” Josiah gave him a pleasant smile. “What happened, Neil?” he asked quietly, changing tack. “You colluded with Tyler to bring Alex down – why the change of heart? Why do you want him back now?”

“I wanted to teach him a lesson, but I never stopped loving him,” Neil retorted, his eyes dark. “I tried to make a life for myself, but I couldn’t stop thinking about him. How could I just let him rot as an IS? I had to save him.”

“You thought you’d buy him or escape with him, and he’d be so grateful that he’d finally love you back?”

“Oh, he’s never stopped loving me,” Neil said confidently.

There was really no arguing with this level of delusion, Josiah could see that.

“Thank you for your time, Mr Grant,” he said curtly.

“Please report to Inquisitus at nine a.m. tomorrow for a formal interview. I suggest you think about that alibi, as I can assure you it’s important.

You are entitled to legal representation, which Inquisitus can provide if you so wish.

” He turned to go and had almost reached the door when Neil spoke.

“I was with the boy I took to the show. Eric. I was with him when Dacre was killed.”

Josiah turned back. “Getting your money’s worth from him? I’m assuming he’s a rent boy?”

“Of course he’s a rent boy. I was upset after the show, and he hung around for a few days afterwards to be with me.”

“How kind.”