Chapter Nineteen

Chad waited outside Vincent's room.

The doctor and nurses went in and out, but Ally remained by Vincent's side.

Chad slipped his phone from his pocket and typed out a message to Romeo to let him know he was okay. He received a one word reply of ‘good' followed by another message asking if Vincent had said anything.

He didn't kill Harriet.

That much was obvious x

The door opened, and Chad looked up from his phone. Ally walked over and sat down on the seat beside him. She placed her hand on Chad's knee and squeezed.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but you look like shit," she said.

"Thanks."

"When was the last time you slept?"

"I've been sleeping, just not well."

Ally reached for his face, hesitated for a moment, then brushed her thumb underneath Chad's eye. "Doctor Blake." She nodded. "I recommend him. He'll sort you out."

"I don't need to take—"

"It's not a weakness you know, asking for help."

Chad pressed his lips together. "Keeley helps me."

"Doctor Blake helps me." Ally replied. "Words can only do so much."

She pressed her thumb to the slug of black beneath Chad's eye, then lowered her hand to her lap.

Ally's smile was small. "I think tonight will be the best sleep I've had in years."

"Is Vincent…?" Chad asked.

"Yes. The doctor called it. The devil left this world at 4:42."

"Want to get out of here, grab a coffee?"

She shook her head sadly. "I'm going to follow him down to the morgue and watch as they zip him into a body bag."

"I'm sorry," Chad whispered.

"For what?"

Chad waved a flippant hand at the door. "For him. For what he did."

Ally stilled. "You worked it out?"

"Yes."

"He isn't your fault, and you don't ever need to apologize for him. I'm the lucky one. I escaped, the others … well, you know about the others." She caught Chad's eye. "Are you upset I didn't tell you?"

He shook his head. "If I could've kept what happened to me with Romeo a secret, I would've."

"I know."

"Why become a police officer? Why stay in Bardhum?"

"I wanted to make a difference, I wanted to catch and cage killers like him, and have done. As for why stay in Bardhum? I didn't. I left with my parents, but I came back. This place is my home, and I wanted to retire here, but then I heard about you."

"Everyone's heard about me."

"I found it so admirable that you were determined to carry on being a detective, but after everything that happened with Romeo you couldn't get a job."

"No station wanted me."

"I wanted you in Bardhum. I came out of retirement, begged the DI to put in a good word for you and get you a job. You got kidnapped by a serial killer while doing your duty and serving the public, and everyone was prepared to cast you out." She shook her head. "It was unacceptable. I had my parents after I escaped Vincent, but you had no one. The whole country turned its back on you, but I knew I could help."

Chad lowered his gaze. "You have. You've done so much for me, Ally."

"We've both been through shit at the hands of monsters, and we've both come through it. We're the same, you and I, and I'm sorry I've blocked you out the last few weeks. But my monster was pulling you into his game and there was nothing I could do about it. If it wasn't for me getting you a job in Bardhum, you would've never had to deal with Vincent Whitehall."

"None of this was your fault."

"Maybe if I told you from the start you wouldn't have visited him."

Chad bit his lip. "I still would have. To save Shawn, I would have."

"What did he say to you in there?"

"Not much."

"Chad…"

He sighed. "He told me he didn't kill Harriet."

Ally snorted. "It's funny. He said the same to me. I didn't kill Harriet. Those were his last words to me. Trust him to leave this world with more questions than answers."

"But what if he didn't kill her?"

"He admitted it."

"I know, but what if, Ally?" Chad twisted his body to face her. "He told detectives he killed her in his van—"

"He probably did."

"But he didn't kill you."

Ally took a deep breath. "No. He apprehended me. Tied my wrists and gagged me. Drove me back to his house and locked me in a bedroom, but I am one out of ten victims, Chad. The last one. He might've wanted to try something new … he might've grown lax with over-confidence. I managed to cut my wrists free on a broken bottle, and I escaped through the window."

"The room he locked you in, were there signs the other girls had been there?"

Ally frowned. "If there were, I didn't look for them. I wanted to get out."

The door to Vincent's room opened on the doctor, still grim-faced.

He nodded towards Ally. "We're ready to take him down."

"Good." She got to her feet, and held out a hand to Chad. "Will you come with me?"

"Of course."

Ally gave him a watery smile as she slotted her fingers through Chad's.

True to her word, Ally stayed and watched Vincent be transferred to the morgue, and true to Chad's word, he stayed, silently observing Vincent being tagged, and zipped into a black body bag.

"I wish you could've had this, too," Ally whispered.

Chad frowned. "Had what?"

"Romeo's body laid out on a slab."

Chad's gut tightened. He couldn't imagine anything worse than seeing Romeo dead, being zipped up with no compassion.

"Sometimes I wish his body would wash up." Ally said. "Give you … this moment."

She squeezed his hand tight.

"He's gone." Chad said, speaking past the lump in his throat.

"I know, but you're owed a body."

"I don't want one."

Ally sighed. "Does your offer of a coffee still stand?"

"Of course." Chad replied, pulling on her hand. He led her over to the door. Ally shot one last glance back at Vincent, then she dropped Chad's hand and led the way.

****

Four hours after Vincent was pronounced dead, Superintendent Peter Watts addressed the press outside St. John's hospital. His suit was immaculate, his hair neatly swept, and his eyes were bright and round with a practiced sincerity. James Poole stood beside him, disheveled, with his head bowed as Peter offered his sympathy to the Hastings family and informed the baying mob that they'd tried for two weeks to find out what happened to Harriet's remains, but their attempts had been thwarted by Vincent's failing health.

Chad didn't get the invite to attend—there was no need to present a united front with Vincent dead.

The brief statement made by the superintendent had been playing on every news channel for the past twelve hours, repeated with commentary from body language experts. According to them, Peter was strained yet resilient, but James was crushed by the lack of a result.

"I didn't kill Harriet."

Romeo repeated Vincent's words, rubbing his chin as he gazed out the window. Chad looked, too, but not even the magpies hopped around the muddy field—it lay barren and empty.

"Those were the four words he thought would cause you the most harm."

"You were right." Chad said. "He wanted to protect whoever the real killer is, hoped they'd get a taste for murder and go off on a spree."

"Who knows, maybe they did."

"Maybe," Chad collapsed back onto the sofa. "Maybe not. Maybe they did it the once and didn't again—"

"How anyone can stop at one is beyond me."

"Some murders are accidental, some are heat of the moment."

Romeo shrugged.

"So all this, this game… Vincent's revenge was to have us fail and leave me with an unsolved case?"

"You didn't fail."

"And I quote, ‘Officers working with Vincent failed to get a location in the lead up to his death, devastating the Hastings family.'"

"Not your fault," Romeo said firmly.

"I know, but that's what's being written," he pointed at the TV, the superintendent and James were making their exit pursued by shouts and camera flashes. "That's what they're saying on the news."

"Well, they don't know the truth, do they, and you're not to take notice of anything written or spoken about you."

Chad widened his eyes. He saluted. "Yes, sir."

"I'm serious, Chad. The press, the public, they're toxic."

"I know that firsthand, remember Holly Stevenson and her smear campaign against me?"

Romeo made an unhappy noise, still gazing out the window. "That's ongoing."

"Huh?"

"She moved to America, has a blog, several social media accounts."

"This," he gestured at the screen, "isn't going to be pleasant, but I've had worse, and with you by my side…"

"In private," Romeo didn't mask his bitterness well enough, "never in public."

"That's the way it has to be."

Romeo continued to frown at the window.

"What's wrong?" Chad asked, struggling to sit up.

"I don't know," Romeo's brow folded. "The magpies aren't eating their seeds."

Chad leaned up just enough to spy the full bird feeders, rocking on their posts in the slight wind. He rolled his eyes, slumping back into the sofa.

"Try a different seed mix."

"I've been throwing them this one since I started feeding them."

Chad nodded. "Exactly … maybe they're bored of it."

"Maybe," Romeo said in a tone that suggested he didn't agree.

"Why are you more bothered about the magpies then Vincent and his deathbed revelation?"

"Vincent not killing Harriet isn't a surprise, but the magpies off their food…"

"I'm sure they're fine."

"And I am bothered about Vincent. Him … dying seems pretty unclimactic to me." Romeo raised his eyebrow. "Are you sure he was dead?"

"He was definitely dead."

Chad shuddered.

Romeo's questioning eyebrow was joined by his other one.

He stared at Chad, waiting.

"It's nothing. Ally just made a comment about how she wishes I could have that moment with you … that closure. I couldn't imagine anything worse than you dead."

"I can."

"What?"

"You dead."

Chad grabbed a pillow and hit Romeo's arm. "Sappy bastard."

"I always wondered why Ally had an unhealthy obsession with you. Now I know."

"It's not an unhealthy obsession. We're friends … she sees herself in me I think."

"Kindred spirits."

"Something like that."

Chad grabbed Romeo's hand, and tugged until he gave up vigil on the birdfeeders and dropped onto the cushion beside him.

"They're probably not hungry."

"They're always hungry," Romeo huffed. "Maybe they got fed up with Mercutio's ugly face."

Chad poked him. "You did not just call Merc ugly."

Merc gazed up at them from his bed. One of Peter Rabbit's ears had disappeared, and a cloud of plush stuffing poked out of the hole.

"I did."

"Look at his face and say it." Chad challenged.

Romeo glanced at Merc, then away again.

"I can't," he sighed.

"Knew it," Chad laughed, pressing into Romeo's side. "Knew you'd love him eventually."

"It is not love. I'm fond of him, and you're right, he doesn't have an ugly face."

"Do you feel guilty for saying that?"

"Not in the slightest."

Chad snorted and dug his phone from his pocket as it vibrated against him. Josh's name flashed onscreen, no doubt about to celebrate Vincent's death and demand Chad return to work as soon as possible.

Chad's smile fell as he stared at Josh's name. Vincent had assumed he'd be responsible for Chad's downfall, but it was Josh who stood on the cusp, about to begin chipping away at the foundations of his and Romeo's life.

"You going to answer that or what?" Romeo asked.

"No." Chad said, placing his phone on his knee.

The call went to voicemail.

He'd listen to Josh's message later—but Josh didn't leave one, he called again, and again.

"Chad…"

"He must just be eager to talk about Vincent's death."

Romeo's eyes were dark and searching. "Then why not answer?"

"In case it's not the reason."

The call ran to voicemail, then Josh dialed again. Chad chewed on his lip, staring down at Josh's name until his phone stopped vibrating. He tensed, waiting for Josh to ring again, but he didn't.

"I'll call him back later," Chad said, forcing cheer into his voice.

"Sure…" Romeo said, unimpressed.

Chad jumped at his phone ringing again, no longer Josh, but Ally tried to get through.

"Answer it." Romeo said, slipping off the sofa. He stood up, crossed his arms, and looked down at Chad. "For god's sake, Chad, just answer it."

Chad squeezed his eyes shut and answered the call. "Hey, Ally—"

"Josh has been trying to get through to you. He's with the DI and Faye. They've been called to James's house. He's dead, Chad. Gunshot wound."

"Self-inflicted?"

"No. The neighbor was at the scene, tried to treat James where he was gunned down in his doorway, but it was pointblank to the face. She didn't see who'd done it, but she heard James's shouting, heard the gunshot and came over to investigate. She took down the plate. Josh told me the vehicle leaving the scene belongs to Lucy Hastings."

Chad met Romeo's gaze. "Fuck."

"Josh is in a panic, he seems to think you could be in danger, said you'd been investigating both Lucy and James. What the hell is going on?"

"Fuck," Romeo muttered, moving away. He stepped out into the hallway and peered through the small spyhole in the door.

"Chad! Are you there?"

"Yeah, I'm here," he said, climbing to his feet on stiff legs to follow Romeo. He peered through the spyhole, too. "And so is Lucy."

"What?"

"She's driving up the road. I can see her red truck."

"I didn't kill Harriet." Ally hissed. "Those were Vincent's words, he said to me, he said them to you."

"And he said them to Lucy and to James." Chad's eyes widened. "Vincent set the board, he brought in the players, but it was me rolling the dice."

Lucy's truck wheels scraped against the concrete as she slammed her foot on the brake. She flung her door open, not bothering to shut it as she climbed out with the gun clutched to her chest.

"You need to hide," Ally said. Her voice pitched with desperation. "You need to hide now."

Romeo gripped Chad by the arm and yanked him away from the door. He lost his grip on the phone. Ally shouted his name, but Romeo didn't give him a chance to catch it. It clattered to the floor.

"Wait—"

The window exploded. A shard ripped open Chad's chin as Romeo dragged him through the house. Merc barked at the door, but one whistle from Romeo and he bounded towards the kitchen.

"Vincent told me he didn't do it," Lucy shouted, "He told me the police made him confess to Harriet's murder. He didn't kill her. James did. James had gotten away with it for far too long, but not anymore."

"Out the back," Romeo growled, pushing Chad at the door.

"What the hell are you going to do?"

"Grab her from behind as she goes after you."

"Are you mad!"

Romeo flexed his arm. "I'll subdue her."

"She's got a goddamn gun."

The front door swung open.

"Now, Chad," Romeo growled, giving him a shove. "Out."

"But—"

"Out."

Chad shot Romeo one last look, crouched down behind the table, out of sight of the door. He didn't hear Lucy inside, he didn't hear much of anything until he was outside, rounding the corner of the house.

Lucy stood waiting.

"Rule one of shooting rats, scare them in the direction you want them to go."

"Lucy…" Chad held up his hands.

Merc appeared at his side, growling as his hair stood on end.

"Listen to me," Chad tried. "I spoke to Vincent, too. He told me he didn't do it—"

"The difference is you knew that from the beginning. I found out at the end. All that time you were looking at ways of pinning it on me, protecting James."

"No," Chad shook his head. "I was after the truth."

"And what was the truth?"

"I don't know, but what I do know is Vincent was playing us. We were his puppets, and we were dancing on his strings. Just like you said. Your mom, she wrote to him. She told him things about Harriet, like how she'd fallen off her bike at fourteen, how she was really excited about having sheep on the farm, she even told him about the tattoo."

"My mother didn't know about Harriet's tattoo."

"She did. Years later, she spoke to Gavin, he told her about it, he even showed her his matching one. That's how Vincent knew. He never saw it himself."

"Then who killed my sister?"

"I don't know," Chad pressed his hand to his heart. "But I swear, I'll do all in my power to find out. It'll be easier once we go public with this."

"We?"

"Yes. We can still find out what happened to your sister."

Lucy's eyes tracked the ground. "It's too late for that."

"It's not too late."

"I don't need you, Chad, I've killed the only person it could've possibly been, and you either want to protect that bastard or … you believed him over me."

"No—"

"You believed him over my own sister, too."

"That's not true."

"And that, in my eyes, makes you as bad as him." Lucy lifted the gun. It didn't shake in her grasp. "You always stick together, the police, and that means you should die together, too."

"Lucy," Chad shook his head. "Think of your family."

"I am."

She pulled the trigger.

Chad gritted his teeth as he was body slammed to the dirt. He twisted onto his back, finding Romeo beside him, rocking back and forth as he clutched his arm.

"God damn it," Romeo snarled.

Blood dripped through his fingers and ran down his arm.

"Romeo?" Chad breathed. His eyes were wide, fixed on Romeo's bloody arm.

"Oh, my god," Lucy gasped staggering back.

She held the gun up again. This time it trembled. Chad put himself between Romeo and the muzzle despite Romeo attempting to shove him away.

Lucy pulled the trigger.

The gun misfired.

Lucy gasped again, hurrying back a few more steps as she fumbled with a cartridge, pulling it from her jeans. She slotted it into the chamber before snapping the gun shut.

Chad was on his feet, moving on autopilot as Lucy tried to take aim.

"Chad!" Romeo shouted, but he darted from his reach.

Chad grabbed the gun, too, not letting Lucy point it towards him or Romeo, it ended up between them.

Their feet slipped in the mud.

Lucy's eyes were wide, and a tear ran down her cheek. Chad felt one on his own face, hot as it trailed over his cool skin and clung to the edge of his jaw.

"You really shouldn't have done that."

The second she'd seen Romeo— it could only ever end one way. Lucy's bottom lip shook as she tried to pull the gun from Chad's grip, but he didn't let go. He was close enough to her that he could see the terror in her eyes, growing as his expression lost all emotion.

She'd hurt Romeo.

"You're … a detective."

Blood had soaked into her coat, straining the blue a dark grey.

Chad could see it on her throat and cheek too, speckled flakes like a spray had dried on her skin. He knew it was more likely James's blood than Romeo's, but just the thought of Romeo's blood.

Romeo, Romeo, Romeo.

The bright red of it filling the gaps of Romeo's fingers while he tried to cover the wound.

It made Chad dizzy.

Chad could smell Romeo's blood in the air. It made his heart pound, his veins fizzle and his mind fill with angry static.

She knew Romeo was alive. She'd seen him. She'd hurt him.

"The detective comes second."

Lucy had her forefinger hooked around the trigger, but she wasn't applying pressure with the gun pressed between them. Chad shoved the gun at her. It knocked her chin, her teeth clicked. The muzzle slid beneath, pressing into her soft flesh. Her eyes grew impossibly wide.

"I'm sorry." Chad squeezed his hand over hers, crushing her finger into teasing the trigger.

"I'm sorry," he whispered again, "this is my fault, I know it is, but Romeo will always come first."

Chad wrapped his free arm around Lucy's back, stopping her from escaping, then squeezed his fingers down on hers and closed his eyes.