Page 35 of Cry For Mercy

He laughed as he walked to the doorway opposite where I’d come in.

“Mr Teller, my dear friend, I see absolutely fucking everything. Bear that in mind, if you decide to try and hide anything.”

I stared at the empty doorway after he disappeared, realising that he could already know about Julie. Was I even capable of protecting her from them?

He reappeared suddenly. “You can show yourself out, Butch.”

His laugh followed me out of his home. Bastard.

As I drove away, I considered my options. I’d been about three seconds away from asking Nige how I could look into Julie’s medical records, albeit without giving her name. I now realised how close I’d already come to outing her to them. They couldn’t know, because if they did, she could get hurt by them in some way. And she needed to be nurtured, protected, and loved. By me.

And Nige’s comment about Lenore was bugging me. Why specifically were we protecting her? Did I want to know the reason? And wasn’t it kind of obvious at this point? Before I realised where I was going, I was down the street from Marco’s place again.

I sat in the car, parked a few doors down, and dialled his number, knowing if I just turned up again, I’d likely get my ass handed to me.

“You again.” It wasn’t the friendliest hello, but I had no option but to pretend otherwise.

“Oh hi Marco, how’s tricks?”

He uttered a curse. “Are you ringing just to piss me off?”

It occurred to me then that maybe I was going about this all wrong. If I needed help, maybe trying not to be a dick could work in my favour.

“Sorry, man. I, uh… do you have time for a visit? I need to talk to you about a sensitive matter.”

He groaned, falling quiet for a moment, and then he said. “You’re already fucking parked outside, aren’t you?”

He’s good. “Sorry. I didn’t want to just show up, but I’m… this can’t wait.”

“Fuck’s sake. Is this about the matter you mentioned on your last visit?”

“Yes.”

“You wait out there until you see me at the door. Got it? If you let her see you, I’ll kick your ass.”

Jesus. These people were just fucking nuts.

“Gotcha.” I rang off, and then stared at my phone for a minute. Opening a text screen, I couldn’t help myself.

Me: Hey. Just checking in to see if you’re okay.

I just couldn’t stay away from her. Maybe I was obsessed. My phone buzzed, and I shot a quick glance at Marco’s door, before I read it.

LittleAngel: I’m sorry I was so weird earlier.

Me: If you dare say you were tired, I’m going to lose my shit.

LittleAngel: I’ve been suffering worse with anxiety since Cassidy disappeared.

I couldn’t help but feel like an utter bastard, yet again. Because I knew that Cass was safe and well. Or at least she seemed well. No guarantees about being safe, with those two crazy fuckers.

If I could at least tell Julie this, maybe she’d stop suffering so badly. Maybe I could even put them in touch, so Cass could support her too.

My fucking issue was that I couldn’t just tell her, because I’d piss off the Bennetts, and probably put her in danger.

If I told Cass how badly she was suffering, I’d have to admit that I’d withheld information from the Bennetts, and that would probably be no better for either of us. Pretty much, whichever way you looked at it, I was fucked. And because of that, so was she.

I hated that it meant I was lying to her, about so much, when the truth could help her.

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