Page 70 of Deep Waters

“I’m glad your brother will be okay,” Christian said. “Let him know we are worried about him, too.”

Roger gave a grim-faced nod. “I think he’s taking it badly. He is blaming himself for all of it.”

“No,” Harry said firmly. “Tell him that’s bullshit. In fact, don’t tell him. When Christian’s brother arrives, I’ll go up and put him straight myself. There is only one person responsible for any of this, and it’s Stew.”

“Harry is right,” Christian said. “I don’t think Antoni could have done anything to stop him. He was set on his path. If the police had pulled his son in for questioning earlier in the week, it would likely just have triggered his final assault sooner.”

Roger’s shoulders visibly sagged. “I think you’re right, but Antoni will take some convincing.”

“Then we are the people to do it. Don’t worry. We won’t let him carry this alone,” Harry said.

“I spoke to the mother of the second victim, Ike Meeker,” Christian said. “She came in during the night, looking for news. The staff wouldn’t let her near any of you guys, but I saw her in the canteen while I waited for my brother to come out of surgery. I told her as much as the police had told me at the time, which was not a lot. She confirmed that the police believe Stew Wallace is responsible for Ike’s death, too.”

“Bastard,” Christian cursed.

“Any idea why? Was he involved in the videos, too?” Harry asked.

“Ike was Niko’s photographer and editor. He filmed the videos and put them together. For all he worked in a supermarket, he had a degree in media studies. Like Niko, the online business was a side-line.”

“And his laptop and phone were stolen? Right?” Christian asked.

Roger nodded again.

“Shit!” Harry gasped. He sat back down. “But I still don’t get why he came after me and Antoni. Why not go after the other boys who Niko worked with?”

Roger shook his head. “I have no idea.”

“He probably didn’t know who they were or where to find them,” Christian said. “Models don’t use their real names online, and unless he was clever enough to hack Niko’s personal records, which seems unlikely, he’d have no way of tracking them down. I think he was targeting the people he did know. His son must have told him about Antoni giving Niko advice about how to film and all the technical stuff. And he probably thought you were involved, or at least knew about it, because of Tom. He wasn’t thinking rationally. Certainly not by last night, he wasn’t.”

Harry signed again and shook his head. “I guess we’ll never really know, not now that the bastard is gone.”

“Yeah,” said Christian. “And good-fucking-riddance.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

Three months later

Christian arrived in Nyemouth late on Friday evening. The traffic out of Manchester had been the usual nightmare and little better on the M62 and A1. The journey had seemed like it would never end.

It had been a long week since he’d last seen Harry on Monday morning. They were taking it in turn to travel to each other on alternate weekends. It wasn’t ideal, but they had managed to make it work so far. He knew that wouldn’t last. Come the summer, Harry would have little free time to travel across the country to see him.

Other couples made it work over greater distances, but they were not like other couples. Christian didn’t want to spend so much time apart from the man he loved.

There were no parking spaces in front of Harry’s flat. He drove around to the alley behind and pulled in. It was dark and cold when he stepped out of the car. He grabbed his overcoat from the boot, along with his weekend bag, and opened the gate to the rear of the property.

The lights were on in the kitchen.

His heart leapt when he saw Harry through the window, looking gorgeous in a simple black T-shirt. Christian locked the gate behind him and hurried to the back door. He could barely contain his anticipation as he knocked.

Harry unlocked the door and welcomed him with a broad smile and open arms.

“Hello, sexy,” he said.

“I’ve missed you,” Christian said, stepping into his embrace and hugging him tight.

They kissed, long and deep, and Christian savoured every second.

“Sorry I’m so late. I wanted to get away early, but something came up. Then the bloody traffic was a nightmare.”

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