Page 91 of Two for Joy

Chapter Sixteen

Romeo woke up with a gasp, taking in his surroundings. The stuffy air around him itched his nose and he muffled a sneeze in his jacket. The morning sun shone through the window, and for the briefest of seconds, he thought he was back in the farmhouse. He thought if he rolled onto his other side, Chad would be there next to him.

He wasn’t in the farmhouse, but a shed in someone’s back yard. He tried to recall how he’d gotten there, but it was a blur, and when he closed his eyes, he could still hear the sirens, his rasping breath as he ran, not for his life, but for Chad’s.

The roads had been off limits, police cars screeched up and down, sirens blaring, lighting up the sky a hazy blue. Romeo was forced to walk—in some cases crawl—in a ditch beside the road. He listened to the whirl of a helicopter, and every time it sounded a little too close for comfort, he lay down in the ditch, sinking into the mud, as cold as ice that early in the morning.

He knew he needed to put as much distance as he could between himself and the hospital. The greater the distance, the less police presence. He didn’t stop despite the nausea, or the throbbing in his face, He had to get far enough away using the darkness. When the sun rose, he knew it would be much harder to stay hidden.

He saw a house where the occupants were still asleep, curtains drawn, and no light escaping around them. Romeo headed towards the shed as quietly as he could, easing the door open before stepping inside, feeling his way around. There was a work bench, and a coat hanging on the back of a chair. Romeo slipped his arms into it, then zipped it up.

Then he remembered feeling dizzy, swaying on his feet, before easing himself to the floor. He’d closed his eyes, meaning to do it for only a minute or so, but from the ache in his neck and hip, he could tell he’d been lying on his side for longer than that.

The sun shone through the small window, and Romeo could finally see the placed he’d scrambled into in the dark. He opened the can of cola he found on the work bench, and swallowed it down in record time, before pocketing a roll of duct tape, and a screwdriver.

One of the last people that had seen Chad was his ex-fiancé Neil.

Neil, the man that betrayed Chad’s trust and sold secrets to the Canster Times. He’d featured enough in the papers and on the news that Romeo knew where he lived. Farlow, a small village twenty minutes out from Hatton. He lived on a luxury street of detached properties with swimming pools, almost Tudor-like houses in their appearance. Neil had stood outside his place with a pitiful expression claiming he and Chad were thinking of starting a family.

Romeo eased open the door to the shed, then kept low as he ducked behind the hedgerow. He headed back to the safety of the trees, sparse patches of them he needed to rush between when there was no traffic on the roads. The sound of sirens carried on the wind, and a police car whizzed past, Romeo held his breath, praying it didn’t turn around and come up behind him.

He lay in the ditch, staring up at the sky with his pulse jutting at his throat. He could hear the sound of cars, near constant on the stretch of road nearby. He couldn’t move, it was far too risky. Instead dizziness spun his head again, and he closed his eyes.

His mind went back to the farmhouse. His two months with Chad. He’d always wondered whether killing someone would wake up his emotions. He half-expected it after he strangled Asher Campbell. He closed his eyes, waited for the onslaught of negativity, but it hadn’t come. It cemented what he already knew. He was a monster incapable of love, or empathy. His first kill filled him with such triumph and relief, the equivalent of a footballer winning the league, or the tennis player the grand slam. The wait, the frustration, the sacrifice had all been worth it for that one moment, that one dose of pleasure in his brain.

The two months with Chad changed him, unlocked him, freed a part of him he hadn’t been able to free. He couldn’t recall the exact day it happened, it creeped up on him, started as manipulation, and fun, and ended as something real.

He thought back to the moment he realized, when he knew it was too late to be indifferent to Chad.

He hadn’t been at the farmhouse, Chad hadn’t been anywhere near him, Romeo had been shopping.

He’d looked down fondly at his basket, then froze when the realization hit him.

He was looking forward to cooking dinner for Chad.

Romeo’s gaze had skimmed over the contents of his basket.

He was looking forward to filling out the crossword with him. Looking forward to settling in front of the TV for a movie, and then getting into bed beside him. He was looking forward to having breakfast the next morning, and having Chad watch him as he cut logs for the fire.

He wanted to be around Chad. Wanted to spend time with him.

Not to manipulate, or mask his true self, but because hewantedto. He’d been himself with Chad, not shielded him from his monstrous side, and Chad seemed to enjoy his company.

Romeo wanted to make him laugh, and smile, and moan his name. It was a first. The only thing he’d wanted before that moment had been to kill, and his monster craving was still there, but alongside it he had new ones, domestic ones.

“Shit.” He dropped the basket in the aisle, startling the old woman next to him.

He liked Chad.

Romeo forced his eyes open and stared up at the sky. He winced at the sun blaring down at him, then rolled with a groan onto his side. His head pounded worse than ever, his cheek hurt, even his teeth ached.

Chad had made him realize there was more to him than the monster after all.

The thoughts of Chad hurt, sad, lonely, scared were near enough unbearable. The thought of Chad happy, laughing, triumphant, filled Romeo’s chest with a warmness, a glowing feeling that made him feel good. Chad had unlocked emotions in him that he thought he didn’t have, he’d never experience, and he needed to keep going, not only to keep Chad alive, but himself as well.

Neil’s house, he reminded himself.

He needed to get to Neil’s house.

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