Chapter Seventeen

Ice swept through Chad.

It accumulated in his chest, stalling his lungs before shattering. His breath hitched, and he clutched the t-shirt he wore in front of his heart, twisting the fabric as his fingers shook.

"Chad?" Josh flapped a piece of paper at him. His happy smile dimmed slightly as Chad forced himself to breathe normally. Chad swallowed a few times, but a cold lump had formed in his throat, and he couldn't get air or saliva past it. He choked.

"Shit, the pizza isn't repeating on you, is it?"

"No," Chad said, reaching for the sheet of paper without looking. He knocked it from Josh's fingers. It fluttered to the floor, landing by Chad's feet, and there he was, Graham Brennan, except he didn't look as ill as when Chad and Romeo had seen him. He sat in an armchair with a walking stick across his lap.

A woman with red hair crouched beside him, hand over one of his as they beamed at the camera.

Chad's fingers twitched. He hovered his hand above the print off, before snatching it back and grabbing his throat. "Actually," he croaked, "I'm just gonna get some water."

Josh stooped down to grab the sheet instead. "Okay."

Chad swayed as he got up from the sofa, but Josh didn't notice, neatly slipping the piece of paper back into the folder. One folder of many. Chad stumbled from the room and into the kitchen, crashing into the sink. He gripped the edge of it, breathing hard before spinning on the taps.

He didn't drink anything. He was pretty sure the lump of sharp ice in his throat would've stopped him, but he did run his hand under the tap before sweeping it through his hair. The harsh shock to his scalp stopped the room from spinning.

Chad straightened, taking a deep breath. He inhaled on one, and exhaled on five until he could breathe evenly again.

"You good?" Josh asked when he stepped back into the living room a few minutes later.

Chad nodded and sat back down on the sofa. Josh waited until he'd settled before reopening the folder and handing over the printout of Graham. If Josh noticed Chad's fingers trembling, he didn't comment.

"That's Graham, and the woman kneeling beside him is Charlotte."

"Pretty girl."

"I know, right?" Josh snorted. "Her eyes are emerald-green—no—don't distract me, I've got to focus. Where was I?"

"Graham has disappeared without a trace," Chad said.

"Yes," Josh pointed at the folder he held in Chad's direction. "Vanished. So, I asked the neighbors, and one of them tells me someone was snooping around the area before he died. He saw this mystery person leave Graham's property through the back door, but when he asked Graham about it, he hadn't even known someone had been in his house. He'd been out at the time."

"Strange," Chad murmured. "Did he report this mystery man?"

"No," he shrugged. "I guess Graham hadn't seen him for himself, and according to Charlotte he didn't always see eye to eye with his neighbor, but whatever. It's strange, and a few days later, Graham vanishes."

"No family he could've gone to?"

"Nope. He never remarried after his first wife. His daughter, Amelia, moved to Canada, and his only close relative is Charlotte, his granddaughter. She hasn't heard from him. I started looking at other disappearances." Josh set Graham's folder on the table. "And I found a pattern. Mystery guy lurking, breaking and entering, not taking anything. Dressed all in black, face covered, then … a few days later, a person vanishes."

"Who has vanished?" Chad asked.

Josh pulled out three more folders. He held up one. "Julius Tipper," He slapped it down on the table, and held up the next, "Ellie Burner." It joined the other folders on the table.

Chad hid his hands beneath a cushion. "Three."

Josh hummed, "We'll get to that." He smiled. "They're all missing people, so I started to look for CCTV. I've been going through it every spare second I get, given up video games and everything and I found something."

He turned his back on Chad and arranged the folders on the table. He pulled a page from each one, sorted them in a stack, then handed them over.

By some miracle, Chad didn't drop them.

He looked through them all, keeping his expression neutral. They were printed out CCTV images of a car. A black Ford Focus with a dent in one side. It was old, twenty years old, and had been sent to the scrap heap to be destroyed.

Chad closed his eyes in a long blink.

It was his car, the one hidden in the outhouse. The one he had bought soon after they'd moved into the house for Romeo to use. The same one Chad used when he drove off in the night to collect their victims.

Josh had found it.

"This car." Josh said, glee shone in his eyes. "It's around every location the night they go missing. The windows have been blacked out, and I got Angel to run the plate and it's fake. It's a ghost car that doesn't belong to anyone."

Chad didn't trust himself to speak. He handed the pages back.

"But that's not the best part," Josh beamed. He delved his hand back into his rucksack. "You know that creepy building Dr Carter owned where he was chopping up bodies?"

"How can I forget," Chad deadpanned.

Josh retrieved yet another file. "This car was captured on a dash cam parked up outside that place the day before Dr Carter went missing. It's the same car."

He handed over a sheet of grainy stills from the dash cam footage. Chad nodded. "Looks like the same car. What's your theory? The car belongs to Dr Carter? He's been kidnapping and killing people?"

His heart thumped in his chest, but he didn't have time for subtly, if he could shift the blame onto Dr Carter, he would.

Josh scrunched up his nose. "At first, I thought it might be something like that, Dr Carter being responsible, but then I asked Angel for help finding the car."

"Is that how you two started … fooling around?"

"Yes, but shhh, I'm on a roll, don't distract me. I told her about the car, and the distinctive dent in the side, and she recognized it from a few years back."

"Recognized it?"

Josh nodded. "It was involved in a serious traffic collision and was used in the enquiry. The driver, Chloe Ellis, died. She was hit by a drunk driver, spun off the road and collided into a tree. The car still worked, but her parents wanted it to be destroyed, and that's the last anyone heard of it, until Angel recognized the dent, the make, the model. She found out where it went to be scrapped, and me and her visited the site, put pressure on the owner until he told us he sold the car to someone for far more money than the vehicle was worth."

Chad fidgeted, Josh's eyes were so bright and excited it made them impossible to look at, so Chad ran his gaze back and forth over the folders instead.

"The owner said he doesn't remember much about the guy who bought it, said he paid in cash, wore a black beanie hat, and a black scarf that obscured half his face. Said he was shorter than me, slimmer, too," Josh sighed. "He thinks he had brown eyes, but can't be sure. Then I showed him a picture of Dr Carter, asked if it was him, and he was adamant he wasn't the guy I was looking for. This is someone new."

"You didn't tell me," Chad's voice came out strangled. He tried again. "You didn't tell me about this … about what you'd been doing. I could've … I could've helped."

"I know you would have, but I wanted to be sure I was on to something. I didn't want to mess up and be embarrassed, especially in front of you."

"Josh—"

"I want to impress you, that's all," he frowned, then laughed, "but not in a gay way. I want you to take me seriously. You are taking me seriously, right?"

So much hope shone in Josh's eyes, Chad couldn't bear to crush it.

"Yes," Chad nodded. "I'm taking this really seriously."

"Phew," Josh wiped the back of his hand across his brow.

"What … is your theory? What do you think this is?"

"Murder," Josh smiled. "I think this is murder."

"Murder?"

"Yeah. Dr Carter, Graham, Julius, Ellie. They've vanished. No one had seen them. They didn't pack anything up, they haven't withdrawn any money. They've gone, and I'll bet my life on this driver in the black car being involved. He's our killer."

"Our?"

"Yeah," Josh leaned forward to punch Chad lightly on the shoulder. "You're part of this now. You, me, and Angel, you're my dream team. I need you to back me up when I take this to the DI."

Chad lowered his head. "What's the killer's motive?"

"Haven't worked that out yet, but whoever it is must be the same person spotted in the days preceding the disappearance. These aren't spontaneous, they're targeted. We've just got to work out what criteria these victims fit in to, but for now, Angel's alerted the traffic cops to the dodgy plate. If our killer is driving around, they'll find him sooner or later."

"You and Angel are quite the team."

Josh blushed. "Yeah, we get on pretty good. She's been amazing."

"She likes you."

"Focus, Chad." Josh snorted. "We're talking serial killers, not our love lives. I'm going to present all this to the DI and the chief tomorrow, and then, fingers crossed, they'll let me lead this investigation and not pass it on to someone else. So … what do you think?"

"What do I think?"

Josh ran his teeth over his bottom lip. "Did I do good?" He leaned forward, waiting.

Josh was the light to the dark. A big blond haired, blue eyed man whose warmth Chad needed to feel human.

As he waited for Chad's verdict, his smile dimmed, his eyes lost their hero worship shine, and he clutched one hand over the other.

"This is," Chad waved a hand at all the folders, all the damning evidence laid out in front of him. "It's great, Josh. You've done amazing."

"Really? Because you kinda look like you're about to be sick."

"That's the pizza," Chad said. He looked up at Josh. "This is… I'm proud of you, Josh."

Josh tipped back on his feet as if the words had completely overwhelmed him. Then he smiled, the biggest, brightest smile Chad had ever seen, before launching at Chad on the sofa. Merc yipped and clambered off as Josh squeezed Chad in a hug.

"You have no idea how much that means to me."

And Josh had no idea how much he meant to Chad, how much his last dregs of humanity relied on him, but as he hugged Josh back, he sunk his teeth into his sore cheek as reality caught up with him.

One day, Josh wouldn't smile at him like that anymore.

One day, he'd learn the truth.

Chad had always thought that day would be years into the future, decades if he was lucky, but he'd been wrong.

It was right on his doorstep.

****

Chad managed to keep the swirling pizza in his stomach until Josh had left, then he sprinted upstairs with Merc on his heels. He ended up on his knees in front of the toilet, vomiting until his throat burned and his sides ached. Merc kept nudging Chad with his nose, but Chad was too preoccupied to reassure him.

"Mercutio," Romeo said.

Chad closed his eyes and listened to the click-clack of paws. Romeo stepped into the bathroom and shut Merc out. Merc whined and scratched the door, but one shout of ‘no' from Romeo and he fell silent.

Romeo sighed and rubbed between Chad's shoulders. "That's what you get for eating greasy pizza."

"Romeo," Chad shook his head. He pressed his mouth against his shoulder when he thought he might be sick again.

Romeo crouched down beside him, and wrapped a warm hand around the back of Chad's neck. "Get it all out and you'll feel better."

"Josh knows." Chad croaked.

"Know what?"

"He knows what our car looks like. He knows where I got it from. He knows that it's involved in people disappearing."

Panic clawed at Chad's chest. He fisted his hand in his t-shirt again, panting until black dots danced in his vison. Romeo pulled Chad away from the toilet and sat him on his lap. He wrapped his arms around Chad's middle and rested his chin on Chad's shoulder.

"Breathe, Chad."

Chad pressed back into Romeo, shutting his eyes. Romeo breathed by his ear. Chad turned his head towards him, copying his breaths.

"Nothing Josh knows leads him to us," Romeo said quietly.

"It's only a matter of time. Once he goes to the DI with this, everyone will be involved. What if we weren't careful enough? What if someone saw my face? Or yours?"

"Josh hasn't gone to your DI with what he knows?"

"Not yet."

"Who knows about the car?"

Chad eased out a slow breath. "Him, and a dispatch controller called Angel."

"Just them two…"

Chad stiffened at the wistful way Romeo spoke. As if he'd stumbled across the obvious answer. The panic Chad had managed to beat back flooded him once again, making his pulse pound in his ears. He struggled out of Romeo's arms, then swiveled on his knees until he faced Romeo. The monster. It lurked in Romeo's green eyes, ready to be let loose.

"No. That isn't an option."

"It is." The muscle in Romeo's jaw jumped as he clenched it, then he sighed. "But fine."

Chad blinked back the sting in his eyes.

"We need to get rid of the car," He nodded to himself, more in control now Romeo had backed down from wanting to kill Josh and Angel "That's what we need to do."

"I'll drive it away and torch it."

"Not yet," Chad said. "It will be too suspicious. We need to wait a while. I knew, I knew someone would start linking these disappearances, but Josh … and he wants me to work with him and Angel and hunt this killer. What if it's already too late?"

"What do you mean?"

"What if there's a piece of evidence out there, waiting to be discovered. I thought I was careful, but it's inevitable I would've been caught on CCTV. What if someone looked out their window and saw me on their neighbor's doorstep. What if they can identify me? What if they saw me lead Graham, Ellie, or Julius into that car. Then it's all over."

"Stop," Romeo gripped Chad's shoulder.

"They'll come here, they'll search the house, find the car, dig up the field."

"Chad," Romeo growled. "You need to calm down."

"We'll be arrested. They'll take you away from me. I won't see you again."

"Never. You hear me?" Romeo shook him. "No one will take me from you. I won't let that happen," he pressed his forehead to Chad's. "It's us, together, for as long as we're given on this earth. I won't be without you."

Chad grabbed Romeo's t-shirt in both hands. "But what if—"

"Then we go out together. You and me. Like we've always said."

Chad nodded weakly against him. "Romeo and Juliet."

"Exactly, and wherever we end up, we'll end up there together, too." Romeo leaned back. "Josh will find out the truth…"

Chad's mouth hung open.

"A long, long time in the future," Romeo finished. "He wants you to work on the case, right?"

Chad nodded.

"That's puts you in the perfect position."

"Position?"

"To sabotage it, to push Josh in a certain direction, to protect us."

"Sabotage," Chad whispered. "You mean be a dirty cop."

The detective in him recoiled at such an idea.

Romeo laughed. He stroked his thumb against the top of Chad's spine. "I think you're long past that."

"Yeah, I know." Chad squeezed his eyes shut. There were literal bodies in the field. "But I've never sabotaged a case, never," he shrugged, "I've never tampered with evidence or deliberately misled officers."

"I seem to remember you planting evidence, a pair of sunglasses if I remember correctly, to make sure Dr Carter was well and truly implicated."

"Dr Carter was guilty."

Romeo shrugged. "I know."

"And this is Josh." Chad said, pushing Romeo's hand off his neck. "We're friends. I don't want to lie to him."

"You lie to him every day."

"It's different."

Romeo hummed. "He's important to you?"

"Yes."

"More important than me?"

Chad twisted to Romeo. He widened his eyes, shaking his head.

"I need to hear you say it." Romeo said.

"No one is more important than you, Romeo."

Romeo nodded. "Then will you lie for me, Chad? Will you lie to Josh? Will you lead him astray?"

"Yes. For you. Yes."