Page 1 of The Quarterlands (Dark Water #4)

Chapter One

Josiah

But let justice roll down like waters

Josiah woke the next morning invigorated by a new mission.

Alex needed time, space, and help to heal – and he was going to give him all that and more.

Maybe, one day, they could be together on equal terms without all this hanging over them, but until then, he’d do his utmost to be the friend Alex needed.

Finding Alex fast asleep when he peeked around his bedroom door, he tiptoed out of the house, leaving a note in the kitchen.

Gone to run some errands. Be back later. Call me if you want anything. J

As hard as he’d tried, Josiah knew he wasn’t enough.

Ted had been a good start, but what Alex needed most right now was his family.

Noah might refuse a reconciliation, but Josiah knew he had to at least attempt to bring father and son together again.

He called Charles first, just to make sure it wasn’t a wasted journey, then set off.

There were no media outside the gate this time, and no rain, either, so he took a moment to notice the small details he’d missed last time he was here.

The Orchard looked pretty in the watery autumn sun, and the golden bricks were warm and homely.

But the house also exuded a shabby quality; the front garden was unkempt and the driveway covered in potholes.

Charles opened the door, looking unchanged since Josiah’s last visit, even down to his sporty tracksuit. The jacket was covered in little logos; even though his moment of glory was long gone, he was clearly still a valuable sporting commodity to his sponsors.

Now he knew Alex better, Josiah searched Charles’s face for a family resemblance but came up with a blank.

Charles was big and blond, Alex slight and dark.

Charles was handsome in a big, friendly, puppyish kind of way, but Alex, with his sharp cheekbones and deep grey eyes, was the more striking of the two brothers.

“To what do we owe this honour, Investigator Raine?” Charles asked as he shuffled slowly into the living room, holding on to his walker. “Not more questions, I hope. Please tell me you’ve eliminated us from your enquiries.”

“More or less.” Josiah inclined his head in a non-committal way.

“Goodness – we’ll try to be on our best behaviour, then!” Charles laughed.

Noah Lytton was awake this time and looked a little better than on Josiah’s previous visit.

His face was less haggard, his eyes more alert.

Josiah was struck by the difference between him and Tyler.

They were the same age, but Noah could have been ten years older and Tyler ten years younger, as if they belonged to different generations entirely.

“Investigator Raine, Charles told me you were on your way.” Noah stood up, less shakily than last time but still with some effort. “Here, let me shake your hand. Thank you, sir! Thank you!”

“For what?” Josiah asked, surprised. Noah’s handshake was firm and heartfelt.

“Arresting George Tyler, of course! It’s been all over the news. Please, sit down.” Noah gestured at the threadbare sofa.

Josiah took the offered seat, and Charles plonked himself down next to him with a sigh, while Noah settled in his armchair opposite. Tea was offered and declined. The niceties over, Josiah launched straight in .

“My intention in coming here today isn’t to alarm or upset you.” He directed most of this to Noah – he was the one he really needed to win over. “But inevitably, you will find what I have to say distressing.”

“I see.” Noah’s lips tightened. “I’m assuming this is about Alex, then?”

“Yes.”

“What’s he done now?” Noah asked wearily.

“It’s less what he’s done than what’s been done to him, most of which, I think, you do not know,” Josiah said sombrely. Now he was here, he could see how difficult this task would be. How did you tell a father that his son had been manipulated, trapped, tortured, and prostituted?

“Last time I saw Alex in person, Tyler brought him to my factory and paraded him around in an obscene costume,” Noah said tightly. “I doubt there’s much you can tell me that would shock me.”

“Alex told me about that. You have to know he had no choice that day. Tyler used a young woman to coerce him. She’d have suffered terribly if he’d refused to do Tyler’s bidding.”

Noah frowned. “I didn’t know that.”

“Honestly, sir, there’s much you don’t know. Forgive me, but once Tyler’s trial starts, this will become common knowledge, a talking point, freely discussed in the media. I would rather you heard it from me first.”

Noah exchanged a puzzled glance with his son.

“What is it, Investigator Raine?” Charles asked anxiously. “What has Alex told you?”

“A good deal, although not, I think, everything.” Josiah shot him a cool glance.

There was something about Charles that irritated him, but he wasn’t sure what.

Was it the easy smile and vacuous charm, which Josiah perceived as hiding a certain weakness of character?

Or something else, something less tangible?

He turned his attention back to Noah, who he warmed to a great deal more, despite his stubbornness and the wounded pride that pervaded his every word and gesture.

There was something honest about the man.

“Mr Lytton, did you know that George Tyler manipulated Alex into stealing that money from Lytton AV? That Tyler orchestrated his downfall?”

“No.” Noah looked sceptical. “Why? To get back at me? But why pick Alex to do that? All he really had against us was that Isobel chose me and not him, and that was years ago!”

“Oh, George Tyler had a great deal of resentment towards the Lyttons, and it didn’t begin or end with you.

It started with how he perceived your family had treated his father and then himself.

Yes, he hated you for stealing Isobel from him, but he saved the worst of his hatred for Alex.

In his desire for revenge, he wove a very tight web around him.

Alex was just a kid and – forgive me – one without the protection and support of his father. He didn’t stand a chance.”

Noah looked genuinely confused. “But why?”

“You know, because of that day at the factory, that your wife was having an affair with Tyler?”

Noah took a sharp intake of breath. “Please… I know, of course, but I didn’t tell Charles.” He looked anxiously at his eldest son, who appeared… not exactly shocked.

Josiah frowned. “Did you know about your mother’s affair with Tyler, Charles?”

“Well, I suppose… yes, I did,” Charles blustered. He glanced at his father, shamefaced.

“How?” Noah looked genuinely surprised.

“Tyler used to come to some of my training sessions. I saw them holding hands and even, occasionally, kissing.” Charles grimaced. “Sorry, Dad. Mum said not to tell you.”

“I thought you didn’t know,” Noah said quietly. “I didn’t, until that day in my office when Tyler brought in Alex to throw it in my face. I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want your image of your mother tarnished. You and she were so close.”

“I should have told you,” Charles stammered. “But I didn’t think it was important because it was all a pretence.”

Josiah turned to him, startled. “What makes you say that?”

“Well, running an Olympic bid is expensive, and Tyler was sort of my unofficial sponsor. ”

“I gave your mother plenty of money for your training,” Noah interjected, looking confused.

“Well, she said you didn’t. She didn’t want to ask for more in case…” Charles looked as if he was searching for the right words. “In case you decided not to support me in chasing the gold medal anymore. Mum said she’d find a way to make sure we had enough money – that’s where Tyler came in.”

“Isobel was using Tyler to ensure you had enough money for your training?” Josiah asked. Now it was his turn to be surprised.

“Well, yes. She was always terrible with money. Dad insisted on good record-keeping to make sure she was spending what he gave her wisely. She had to hand over all her receipts to him, and he totted everything up.” That tallied with what Alex had said about how his father had made him account for every penny of his allowance while he was at university.

“Mum said you weren’t giving us enough, so she approached Mr Tyler.

That’s when their affair began,” Charles explained.

“She told me it didn’t mean anything, that she was just using him for his money, so I didn’t tell you, because it didn’t seem important. ”

Not important? Was Charles this blasé about everything? Josiah suspected he was. He was the kind of man who liked to bumble happily through life, unbothered by details.

Noah was staring at Charles blankly. “There was more money, if she’d asked for it. I would have given her anything. I wanted you to win that gold medal every bit as much as she did. I can’t believe she ever thought I didn’t.”

“Well, that’s what she said.” Charles shrugged.

This put a new spin on the affair. Had Tyler known he was being used? Or did he not care, given that at least part of his motivation in having an affair with Isobel was to get back at Noah?

“Isobel assured Tyler that she was going to leave you for him after Alex turned eighteen,” Josiah continued. “That’s why he hated Alex so much – she died before that could happen.”

“Oh, my word,” Charles exclaimed. “I didn’t know that. Like I said, I thought she was just using him. I didn’t know it was serious.”

“We don’t know that it was, for her at least,” Josiah said sharply. “ However, it certainly was for him. He always loved her – maybe in part because he hated the Lyttons, and he felt you’d stolen her from him, Mr Lytton.”