Page 99 of Natural-Born Cullers

Face a little flustered, Ray came on through, and looking Gray’s way, he came over and showed him something on his phone.

“I filled Jack in, and he took the walk to the summerhouse.” Ray tapped his phone. “I guess he figured that if anyone would know where Light would bolt to, it would be Martin, considering Light doesn’t know London and Martin’s been the one feeding him everything else.”

Gray frowned as he ran a look over the address there, then swiped a hand over his face. Fuck… Jack.

“A safehouse?” Simon came over and took Ray’s phone. “How the hell would Martin have set that up?”

“He’s had months to plan all of this with Light,” said Gray. “We gave him access to Jack’s bank account under Halliday’s advice he have a right to financial stability. After that, it would have only taken a few calls to rent somewhere, like it did to get a car in place for when Light was ready to bolt.”

“You didn’t pick this up on Jack’s tax returns?” Simon looked at Jan. “You’re his accountant.”

Jan flicked him a look, but not before Gray held Simon in place for biting into Jan.

“I’m betting he made some of the transactions before Jack took me on,” said Jan. “As for any new transactions? We’re only a few weeks into the new tax year. Martin would have buried the paper receipts Jack loves to keep.”

“Jack still should have picked up money being moved out of his account,” Simon said, his tone more even but struggling with it. “I’ve not seen him favour spending above his weight.”

“Maybe,” said Jan as he eased against Gray’s desk with a wince. He was down and out. “But Greg usually handles Jack’s in and outgoings when Martin’s around, and for all he knew, what went out of his account could have been something his old man had arranged, especially with the hiring of a courtesy car.”

“The renting of an apartment is slightly different to a car.”

Jan flicked a look Gray’s way despite Simon saying that. “Almost as different as someone buying a villa when they’d said they’d sold it.” Jan gave him a small smile, and Gray shook the meaning behind it off.

“Secrets can be kept and details massaged for the best and worst of reasons,” added Jan. “But besides that, you’ve seen the hours Jack’s been putting in at work to catch up with his own workload, Gray. Added to the change in meds when Halliday balanced the switches between him and Martin last year, not to mention how frequent the shifts have been between them since…? He’s been off sex and crashing when he does get time here. He knew he was slipping, which is why he asked me to step in this year with the accounts.” Jan gave a heavy sigh. “And you know Martin. He’ll look for the holes to exploit, no matter how good someone is.I think we’re all going to be kicking ourselves when we get chance to really sort all this shit out.”

Gray looked at Ray as Simon typed the address into his phone. “Get him in here,” he said as he reached for his car keys. “Now.”

“Gray,” warned Jan, but Gray shook his head.

“He’s all Light trusts.”

Jan frowned and maybe saw where Gray was going here.

Noise back by the door drew them apart, and Martin came in despite Ray not having moved. He stayed back by the door, not coming closer, but not backing away either, something in his eyes making Gray lose his thread of anger just for a moment with the distance he infused between them all.

It wasn’t fear, not anger, just… justMartinin that moment.

“He better be there,” said Gray, pointing at him.

“Or what?”

Gray paused as he reached for his jacket. “What?”

“Or you’ll do…what?” Martin said flatly, his look not leaving Gray’s.

Gray went over. “I don’t need to do anything to you, do I? You wanna know why?”

“Oh I have a feeling you’re going to tell me, princess. So lay it on me.”

Gray did. “You’re nothing but a concept. Deus ex machina. If Jack stepped away from you for just a minute and saw how strong his fucking head is, you know you’d have no place or use here.”

Martin snorted a smile, an echo of that bittersweet reaction in the hall. “Okay, we’re into hitting below the belt, so let’s run with those literary techniques, shall we?” He tilted his head slightly. “Jack keeps walking these halls, with you, so he’ll always need me because you are part of the poison. Catch-22, as you’d say. You want to see his head in all its full beauty, the door’s there.” He shifted his head back to the reception hall. “Do the decent thing, take the walk. Give him peace. But you won’t, will you? Despite that text you sent him a moment ago that calls out you’ve no doubt been a cunt to him, you keep coming back, needing him, but also feeding his and your need for… me, infusing the poison from all of us. So we’re back to the whole catch-22 vicious cycle because you can’t walk away from him nor your… deus ex machina.”

“Fucking eighteen,” Gray snarled in his face. “Light’s just a bloody kid. Come talk to me about me, you, and cunts after you see exactly what you played cheerleader to. How you nearly killed Jan let alone you and Jack in the fucking process.”

Now Martin’s smile fell, and he stepped up to Gray, nose-to-nose close.

“Eighteen, just a kid. Fuckingyours,” Martin said flatly. “A bloody good one that you wanted to train and leave alone to face the cullers if he did get out. Because, let’s take a look at all of this, shall we? Thatiswhat you were training him for, right? That if he ever got out, he’d know how to ‘survive’ your cullers?” He looked him up and down. “Don’t talk to me about cunts, Gray, not when you already have all the fucking skill sets and should have taken them outforhim. What the fuck did you think you were doing, huh? Light never once asked for the father as a culler; he never once asked the culler for help—he just needed the fucking psychopath of a father hidden beneath it all on his side. And you wanna know why?”

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