Page 12 of Two for Joy

Fred and Paul on the other hand…

“Why?” Chad said softly.

“Why what?”

“Will you always be here for me.”

“I’m here because I killed four people and kidnap—

“No, that’s not what I meant…”

Romeo blinked when he understood. He hadn’t been expecting Chad to ask him why. He hadn’t been expecting his smile to fall. If anything, he thought it would get bigger, and lift his watering eyes.

“Because you’re special to me.”

“Yeah?”

“Of course you are, you know you are—right?”

Chad swallowed, then nodded. “Yeah, but it’s nice to hear you say it.”

The case must’ve been really bad. Romeo looked at Chad’s hands on the table, the odd scrunching, relaxing routine. He wanted to reach out and take them, squeeze them as he said his next words.

“You are the most important person in my life. The only person who saw the monster and liked me anyway. Who understood me the way I understood them. No one comes close, no one will ever come close.”

Chad looked as if he was about to speak, but Paul cleared his throat, ending their moment, and Chad closed his mouth.

Instead of replying, he smiled, a big smile that lifted his watering eyes, and rounded his cheeks. The smile Romeo had needed to see since Chad had stepped through the door.

Now that’s my magpie, he thought, but never said. Everyone knew he was a monster, but no one knew Chad was the monster’s magpie.

That was between them, their secret.

“You disgust me.”

Romeo froze at Paul’s voice, then slowly turned his head. His eyes weren’t on Romeo, but Chad. When Romeo turned back to face Chad again, his smile was gone, and the haunted look had taken over his face.

His hand scrunched and relaxed on the table in a manic manner for the rest of the visit.

****

There was nothing on the news about a gruesome murder, no clue to why Chad had looked and acted so oddly. Romeo turned off the TV, thought about re-reading his book selection, but couldn’t stomach rereading the diseases section of the A-Z medical dictionary or the endless preaching in the bible. Once he was done living in prison hell, he was destined forHellhell, that’s all it taught him.

“Hey,” he shouted.

Will struck his bars. “Yep.”

“There been any murders lately?”

“Are you always blood thirsty?”

“I just wondered whether I’d missed anything.”

“No, no murders, some poor bloke electrocuted himself—

“Not interested.”

“I can tell you about stabbing those police officers.”

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