Page 59 of Hold On

Col put his arm over his shoulders. “I want to strangle your Offender Supervisor. He had no right to say that to you.”

“Even so, it was said, and now I have to deal with the consequences.”

“You could go and stay with Mum and Dad.”

“I’m not going to risk their safety either.” Not that he thought they’d want him.

“How dangerousisthis guy?”

“I don’t know.” He’d stay the week he’d promised then catch a train to somewhere. And he’d take that tracking app off his phone.

“I don’t want you to leave.”

“I just want everyone to be safe.”

“But you’ve made a friend. You like Ren and he likes you. You told him about… He won’t want you to go. We can protect you. Please, Dominic!”

“All done.” Theo burst back into the room.

Dominic pushed to his feet. “I’ll pack a few things.”

“Are you going to eat with us tonight?” Col’s voice was subdued.

“I’ll get something with Ren.” Though he wouldn’t. He felt too anxious to eat. “Do you have any old clothes I could wear at the dig?”

“I can find you something,” Col told him.

“I’ll get you a bag you can use,” Theo said.

He came back with three. “Pick which you like. Take your towel too.”

Dominic chose the oldest-looking bag. “Thank you.”

He went into his lovely room for the last time and closed the door. The box of his belongings still sat in the wardrobe. He wasn’t ready to open it. Maybe he never would be. Dominic packed everything he’d bought along with his toiletries, then tidied the room so that it looked as if no one was staying there. He left his prison books in the wardrobe along with his laptop.

When he emerged, Col handed him old cargo shorts and a T-shirt and Dominic put them in the bag.

“You want a hand?” Col asked.

“I’ll be fine.”

“Maybe we should have a code word to use if we’re contacting each other under duress,” Theo said.

Dominic’s heart cramped.What had he done, dragging them into this?“If there’s trouble, call me Dom. I’ll call you Billy.”

Col nodded.

Dominic hugged him and felt his brother’s arms tighten around him. He had to wriggle free, because Col showed no signs of releasing him. Dominic made himself smile. “Everything will be fine.”

But that was as much as he could manage. He went down to the garage, gathered up the equipment and made his way towards the dig.

Before he reached it, he veered off in the direction of the river and found a secluded spot in a dip behind a tree. Fortunately, the tent was a pop-up and after he’d undone the ties, it only required a shake and twist for it to open up. Once it was securely pegged down, Dominic opened out the mattress and attached the foot pump.

It was harder work than he’d thought, but then this was something else he’d never done before. Once he’d manoeuvred it into the tent, it took up three-quarters of the space. Dominic put his bag inside, and the one Theo had left with the tent. In it were bottles of water, a packet of biscuits, a lantern, a roll of toilet paper, hand sanitiser, sleeping bag, mirror, condoms, lube, rope and duct tape. He chuckled. Theo had probably only included them to make him laugh, and it had worked.

He wasn’t sure if he’d be provided with food on the dig but he definitely didn’t want anything else to eat today. He tossed a book on top of the sleeping bag, a thriller he’d borrowed from Col and Theo, and hung the lantern from a cord at the apex of the tent. He didn’t want to use the light unless he had to because it would give away his location.

Am I being paranoid?Maybe, but when other people’s safety was at stake, he wasn’t prepared to take any chances.

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