Page 21 of The Question of Us (Fisher & Church #2)

CHAPTER TEN

Nick

I checked my phone for the millionth time. Nothing. I’d been waiting in the corridor outside the bathroom for twenty minutes, my eyes glued to the door and slowly losing my mind. I was going to kill him, slowly and painfully.

Come on, Mads.

A woman with a toddler wandered down the hall, her gaze flicking toward the accessible bathroom. She shot a questioning look my way and I shook my head.

“Sorry, it’s busy.”

She sighed and steered her child into the regular bathroom opposite.

I paced the corridor for another minute or two, then hovered outside the door, trying to understand the hum of voices coming from within. I debated whether to knock and was still standing there when the door suddenly swung open and Lee burst into the hall, almost running me down in the process.

He came to an abrupt stop, his narrow-eyed gaze rolling angrily over my face. “Are you with him?” He flicked his head back toward the bathroom.

I nodded. “He only wants to help.”

Lee scowled. “Well, he can’t. Now leave me the fuck alone.” He fled up the corridor and back into the supermarket.

Mads followed him out, looking pale and troubled.

“I take it that didn’t go so well?” I wrapped an arm around his waist and led him outside into the car park.

“You might say that.” He let me steer him toward the closest shade, a picnic table under a beech tree outside a gelato shop.

“Wait here.” I went inside and ordered a couple of green apple gelatos, then joined Mads back at the table.

Mads took the gelato without even asking its flavour. “We left our shopping sitting in the supermarket. It’s probably gone by now,” he said absently, licking the icy treat. “Mmm, this is good.”

“We’ll do another round before we head back. Now, tell me everything.” I leaned back and crossed my legs, waiting.

Mads talked as he ate, slowly filling me in on his conversation with Lee.

“There was bruising on his arms,” he finished.

“Nasty stuff. But when I asked him about it, he wouldn’t answer.

He doesn’t want us interfering, so he’s playing it down.

I’m sure of it.” Mads tugged his wig back into place from where it was slipping sideways on his forehead.

“I’m sweating so much under this thing it’s like a slip ’n’ slide. ”

I batted his hand away and adjusted it myself. “Rethinking the buzz cut?”

He looked up, horrified. “Hell no. It might suit you, but I’d look like a demented hedgehog.”

I chuckled. “I quite like hedgehogs.” A comment that earned me a withering look. “So, the brother is staying there as well. How did that happen?”

Mads blew out a long sigh. “According to Lee, they have similar stories. When Lee was outed by a Bible-banging classmate at sixteen, who’d seen Lee kissing another guy, their zealot Christian parents booted him out.

He couch-surfed for a while with friends in Adelaide until he finished school, then made his way to Melbourne at eighteen.

He skipped from job to job, doing bit work for the most part.

Lord knows why he didn’t try modelling. The man has cheekbones to die for.

Anyway, he was bartending in the owners’ VIP tent at Caulfield Racetrack when he first met Marty.

Marty was charming and interested and showered Lee with gifts.

.. at the start. By the time things started to change between them, Lee was already in too deep.

And the rest, he says, is history. That’s as much as he’d say. ”

“What does too deep mean?”

Mads shrugged. “He wouldn’t elaborate.”

I blew out a sigh. “That still doesn’t explain his brother.”

“Aaron is also gay as it turns out,” Mads explained.

“Lee didn’t know because there’s nine years between them and Aaron was only seven when Lee left home, and their parents didn’t allow any contact.

They told Aaron that Graham slash Lee had run away and didn’t want to be found.

Aaron didn’t know what to believe, but he took his parents’ word for it at first.”

“I take it things changed when he came out?”

Mads nodded. “That was only last year. Aaron was seventeen and the parents wanted to send him to conversion therapy. Aaron took off instead. A friend of Lee slash Graham told Aaron that he’d heard Lee was living with some fancy horse breeder guy in Victoria and that Aaron should look him up.

That was just before Christmas. Davis had died and Marty was turning the heat up on his search for Lee. ”

“Talk about timing.” I gathered the used paper serviettes and deposited them in the trash.

Mads huffed. “I know, right? I’m guessing that when Aaron knocked on Marty’s door, Marty saw an opportunity for leverage.

He spun Aaron some line about him and Graham being very much in love but that Graham had struggled with depression and decided to go for a trip overseas before settling down.

Marty told Aaron that he hoped they would end up together when Lee came back, and in the meantime, he commiserated with Aaron’s situation and offered the kid a job in his stables. Shit work but good pay.”

“And Aaron, being unqualified and destitute, jumped at the offer, I imagine.”

Mads nodded. “Of course he did. Money and accommodation and his brother likely coming back? It was too hard to pass up.”

I shook my head. “So, Aaron doesn’t know what really happened?”

“No.” Mads picked at a splinter on the picnic table. “Aaron thinks Lee came back to settle down exactly as Marty predicted. He has no idea he’s only safe as long as Lee behaves.”

I frowned. “Safe from what?” I wasn’t sure I really wanted to know.

“Marty said if Lee causes any problems, Marty will find Aaron alternative accommodation with one of his friends and that Aaron already had some enthusiastic admirers.”

My blood ran cold. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

Mads shrugged. “Lee wouldn’t explain further, but I think we can guess.”

“Fucking hell.” My fists clenched on the table. “Who the fuck is this guy?”

Mads caught my eye and held it. “Someone a lot more dangerous than we thought.”

My mind spun in circles, trying to put everything together. “But how did Lee explain the name change to Aaron?”

“He told Aaron that he hated having a name associated with his parents.”

I frowned. “And Aaron believed him?”

Mads shrugged. “Why wouldn’t he? The kid is just thankful to have somewhere to live, a steady job, and his brother back.

And according to Lee, Aaron is totally infatuated with Marty.

He looks on the guy as some kind of hero and won’t hear anything bad said against him.

It will take some persuading to change his mind that Marty isn’t all rainbows and unicorns, and that’s assuming Lee could get him alone long enough to tell him. ”

“Marty keeps them apart?” It made sense.

Mads nodded. “Aaron doesn’t live in the main house with Lee and Marty.

That’s off limits to all employees except Marty’s PA, Freddie.

Instead, Aaron lives in accommodation above the stables along with lots of other workers.

It’s a big complex and a long way from the main house.

Any time Lee and Aaron are together, someone else, mostly Freddie, is always hovering in the background, keeping an eye on them.

Lee thinks some of the guys probably have suspicions about what goes on at the house, but on the whole, Marty keeps things pretty locked down.

Plus, he’s a good boss and a generally well-liked guy.

In the end, people see what they want to, right? ”

I rolled my eyes. “So, Lee’s just gonna stay there? He must know it’ll all turn to shit eventually. And I doubt his brother’s as safe as Lee thinks.”

Mads nodded. “He’s aware. I think he’s playing for time until he can come up with a plan to get both of them out safely.” Mads stood and reached out a hand for me to take. “Come on, let’s collect the food we need and head back to the motel. We’ve been gone ages. Gazza is not going to be happy.”

Unhappy was an understatement. Gazza was monumentally pissed off and understandably so.

“Two hours.” He glared at us. “You’ve been gone two fucking hours.

Hello? Diabetic here. You’re lucky I always have my snacks.

Give me those.” He grabbed the supermarket bags and started unloading them in the tiny kitchenette.

Mads threw his wig on the couch and approached Gazza like you would a rabid dog. He ran a hand gently up Gazza’s back. “I’m sorry. We ran into Lee and figured we couldn’t let the chance go to talk to him.”

Gazza spun around, his eyes darting between us. “You saw Lee? Really? What happened?”

“Food first,” Mads countered. “You need to eat. Nick and I had something in the bar.”

Gazza’s eyes narrowed and he grumbled, “Of course you bloody did.” He then proceeded to make a lot of unnecessary noise getting a sandwich together for himself while we watched on in silence. He deserved to be angry, so we let him be.

When he was done, Gazza brought his sandwich to the table and took a seat. He looked sheepishly between us. “Okay. So, I might be a teeny tiny bit hangry. You know how I get when my blood sugar rollercoasters. I hate flying. It always screws up my metabolism.”

“Don’t apologise,” I told him. “You were right. We should’ve been more thoughtful. We could’ve called you at the very least.”

“Yes, you damn well could’ve.” Gazza’s jaw tightened for a moment, then he sighed. “But I survived, and at least you brought me some decent options I can work with. Now, talk.”

Mads patted Gazza’s shoulder. “As soon as you’ve got some food in you.”

A few mouthfuls later, we started in on what we’d learned. Gazza’s expression became more concerned the longer we talked. By the time we finished, he was wide-eyed with disbelief.

“What the hell did he mean about setting him up with a friend? Is that... surely it doesn’t mean... shit.” Gazza palmed his forehead. “We have to do something. We can’t just walk away from this arsehole.”