Page 67 of Now Comes the Dark

“How?” Roman asked. “Just because he attacked us, what makes you sure he killed all those other men?”

Benito bit his lip and gazed at his hands, seeming to consider his answer. “This is off the record. It can’t go any further. I’m only telling you this to allay any fears you might have that the killer is still out there. I could get fired if this comes out.” He took a deep breath. “But fuck it. We found photos of all the victims on his phone. Post-mortem images. There’s no doubt that it’s him.”

“Shit.” Nausea brimmed in Roman’s stomach.I slept with him. I went to bed with a killer. That fucking piece of shit.

“As I said, Will Hadley is an alias,” Benito continued. “One of many, but it seems to be the one he favoured whenever he was here. Lewis Braemar lives in Birmingham. He’s married, has no children and is a rep for a pharmaceutical company. His work takes him all over the Northeast and Northwest.”

“Fuck.”

“What I have just told you cannot leave this room. Understand?”

Roman had already made the connection. “You think he’s done it elsewhere, don’t you? There could be other victims, all over the fucking country.”

Benito nodded grimly. “Which is why you can’t tell anyone. I’ve already said too much. If this gets out, it could jeopardise other investigations.”

“We understand,” Mallon said, putting a hand on top of Roman’s, squeezing.

“But why us?” Roman asked. “What made us his target? And only days after Phil.”

“We don’t know. We’re still putting together a picture of his methods. But from what we can ascertain, he chose his victims in advance, sometimes months ahead. He seduced them and gained their trust. Then later, he broke into their homes and killed them.

“The truth is I planned to kill you last October.” Roman remembered the words Will had said in this very room a few nights ago. He’d been biding his time, waiting for the right moment. He blinked back tears as the full horror dawned on him. “How did he get in? How did he go undetected?”

“We don’t have all the answers. He’s ex-army, served five years before leaving the service. You witnessed yourself how physically fit he is…and cunning. If we keep digging, we’re sure to unearth some burglaries in his past. I think he’s been getting away with this kind of thing for much longer than we know about.”

* * * *

“It’s me,” Roman said. “I’m the reason he came after you.”

They were in bed later that afternoon. The curtains were closed against the low winter sun. They lay side by side beneath the covers, staring at the ceiling. They had recently had sex. It had been an act of urgency and defiance, two men taking comfort from each other’s bodies and the fact that they were both alive.

“He came after me because he was fucked,” Mallon said, tapping his forehead. “In here. You can’t blame yourself what he did.”

“You heard what Benito said. He chose his victims in advance and slept with them. I had sex with him last year, weeks before I met you. He must have planned to kill me way back then.”

“But he didn’t,” Mallon said softy. “You’re here with me, and he’s in prison. And he’s going to rot in there for the rest of his life, unless someone ends it for him first.”

Roman struggled to remember much of his time with Will. They had met at The Viaduct and had gone back to Roman’s flat. “I don’t even remember much about the night he picked me up.”

“What does it matter now?”

“It matters. I’ll have to give evidence at his trial, and I need to be clear about the facts. I can’t give his defence a single reason to shred my version of events.”

Mallon rolled onto his side, moving carefully. The injury to his chest still caused him a lot of discomfort. Mallon slid his hand across Roman’s torso and rested it on his rib cage, right above his heart. “He’s a liar and a killer. The police have enough to put him away already. What you remember about a one-night last year won’t make much difference. They’ll nail the bastard.”

“I hope you’re right.” The idea that Mallon could be dead because of a madman’s obsession with Roman sickened him. Beneath the covers, he linked his fingers with Mallon’s upon his chest. “I came so close to losing you.”

Mallon squeezed him back. “I almost lost you, too,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. “But I didn’t.”

Gently Roman rolled onto his side to face him. His drew his fingertips along the side of Mallon’s face before leaning in to kiss him on the mouth, and the jaw, then he carefully eased Mallon onto his back and climbed on top of him. Mallon snaked his hands around his waist, and Roman felt the sudden hardness of his cock. He reached between his legs to guide him into position then lowered himself, taking him inside.

He moved slowly, barely at all to begin with, not wanting to put a strain on Mallon’s injuries. Roman leaned forward, pressing his body against him, while bearing the weight. Mallon ground upwards, burying his cock deeper until they were overcome with urgency once more. They thrust against each other until Mallon released a gentle growl, his brow furrowing. Roman stroked his own cock and timed his swelling climax close to perfection.

The afternoon grew dark outside. Mallon turned on the sidelights, but they remained in bed, curled on their sides and facing each other once more.

“What happens now?” Roman asked at last. “Before Will attacked you, we were facing a different kind of problem.”

Mallon’s pale eyes glistened in the low light. “Coming close to death puts other issues in perspective.” He shuffled closer. “I love you,” he said breathlessly.

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