Page 69 of Deep Waters

But alive, he told himself.The most important thing is that he’s alive.

When the consultant came along on his morning rounds and checked Harry over, he was discharged with painkillers for the broken rib. His parents arrived with clean clothes.

“I want to stay a while,” he told them, once he had dressed. “Just until he wakes up. I don’t want him to be alone.”

They understood and left him in the chair beside Christian’s bed. The nurses informed him they’d made contact with Christian’s brother, and he would arrive later that morning.

Not long after ten, Christian opened his eyes. He blinked and looked around in confusion before he saw Harry.

Harry took his good hand. “Hey. Welcome back. How do you feel?”

“Sore as hell.” But there was relief in his voice. “Did they fix me up?”

Harry nodded. “You’ll have a few more scars to show for it, but you’ll survive.”

Christian slowly licked his lips. “My mouth is dry.”

Harry poured him a glass of water and held it to his lips. “Just sips, okay. Take your time. It’s probably an after-effect of the anaesthetic.”

Christian did as he asked and swallowed carefully. “Stew? What happened to him?”

“Missing, presumed dead. According to my dad, the lifeboat is still searching this morning, but there is no expectation that they’ll find him alive—not after so long in the water.”

“Did he hurt you?”

“He got a few kicks in. Nothing to worry about. When the police arrived, he jumped into the sea rather than let them take him. You saw the conditions last night. There’s no chance that he survived.”

“Shit.” Christian exhaled and starved at the ceiling. After a while, he looked back at Harry and asked, “Why did he do it? Does anyone know?”

“They are still putting the pieces together. I think he just lost it.” He told Christian what he’d learned from Antoni—about Niko’s online sex business and the scenes he’d filmed with Tom and Reece.

“He killed three men because his son shot a few jerk-off videos with other guys?” Christian sounded incredulous. “What about the second victim? Ike. Was he also in the videos?”

“Nobody really knows. The investigation is ongoing. According to my parents, the police are talking to Reece right now. Maybe he’ll be able to fill in some of the gaps. Stew has always been a strange one. He was always there, wanting to revel in gossip and other people’s misfortunes, but he didn’t like it when attention was turned the other way. He kept his own life very private. His wife, Beverley, barely went out. He never took her to the club, or for a meal. I suspect he was extremely controlling—misogynistic, racist, homophobic. He must have lost it when he learned what Reece had been up to.”

“Bastard.” Christian’s voice was little more than a whisper. “He murdered three men and was prepared to kill you, Antoni and anyone else who might know about it.”

“Whatever his reasons were in the beginning, I suspect he’d lost all rationale by yesterday. He was crazy when he came for me. And to chuck himself in the sea rather than be caught? Something inside him had snapped.”

Christian entwined his fingers with Harry’s. “You fought him off, though. You were a hero.”

He had to stop himself from laughing. It hurt too much. “I wouldn’t say that. I did what I had to do for all of us to survive.”

“What about Antoni?” Christian asked, jerking upwards in bed and then lowering back down in obvious pain. “Is he okay?”

“They’ve got him on another ward. I haven’t seen him yet, but the nurse told me he’ll pull through, too. He had surgery just like you did. I’m starting to feel left out. The pair of you will have your battle scars and I’ve got a broken rib, which will heal with no obvious signs.”

Christian gripped his hand even tighter. “You’ll be scarred by this experience in other ways—and sometimes the ones that don’t show are the worst.”

* * * *

Antoni’s brother, Roger, came onto the ward later in the morning. There were black shadows beneath his eyes. He looked like he hadn’t slept all night. Harry rose to hug him, careful to keep his injured side turned away.

“How is he?” Harry asked.

“Doing okay?” Roger replied. “He asked me to check on you both before I go home. They have performed some kind of surgery on his abdomen, but the doctor says he’s been very lucky. If Wallace had used a thicker knife or stabbed him half an inch higher, it would have been a far worse situation.”

Harry gasped. “Shit. I still can’t get my head around this.”

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