Romeo eased down the top of Chad’s sweater.The purple bruises were hard to stomach, but the red hickey he’d sucked into Chad’s skin made him shift and stroke a finger over the soft skin.Chad captured the finger in his hand and pulled it away.
“As you know, Josh has been investigating Keeley’s involvement in several suicides all over the UK.He had enough evidence to issue an arrest warrant, but so far, she has somehow evaded capture.”
Romeo snorted.“I reckon the worms have started on her now...”
Chad closed his eyes.“What a lovely image,” he shook his head.“Josh got permission to search her house where he found a sizable amount of powdered drugs in her garage.They were sent for testing, and guess what...”
“Zolpidem and LSD?”
“Yep.”Chad bit his lip.
“That was to be expected right?”
Chad nodded.“Josh also found a few laptops and on them...”his shoulder slumped.“She’d been recording the sessions.Recording her intended victims while they were, you know ...passed out on her couch—”
Romeo stiffened.“She recorded you.”
Chad sunk even lower.“Yeah.She recorded me, Romeo.She recorded me out of it.She recorded what she was saying to me and my reaction.”
Romeo pointed to the laptop.“You have the footage?”
“Josh sent me a file, only the one.Him and Ally were worried I might find them triggering, but to be honest, it felt like I was watching someone else.The man in the footage didn’t feel like me.I guess that’s because I can’t remember any of it.”
“I want to see—”
“What good will that do?”
Romeo closed his eyes in a long blink.“If you don’t want me to watch it, I won’t.”
Chad exhaled through his nose.“I don’t want to keep anything from you, but it’s only going to make you want to kill her all over again.”
“I know.”
Chad opened a file up on the laptop.He double clicked on the video but paused it before it started playing.
“She must’ve had a camera on the bookcase,” Chad murmured.“I knew she had speakers, she’d play these tracks, thunder, crashing water, it was part of it.I remember the tracks more than what she was saying to me,” he shuddered, gripping the back of his neck.“I still hear them sometimes.Waves hitting rock.The rush of water.I don’t know whether its from her office or from when I was standing on that bridge.”
Romeo pressed his shoulder to Chad’s.He took Chad’s hand in his, linking their fingers.
“I’m fine,” Chad said.
“You’re not.”
Chad rolled his eyes.“I’m going to be fine.Ready?”
“Ready.”
Chad took a deep breath, then pressed play.
Romeo watched.As he did, he squeezed Chad’s hand tighter and tighter until Chad grunted, then flashed him an apologetic look and let go.
The footage started with a close up of Keeley’s face as she turned the camera on.Chad could be seen over her shoulder, slumped over on the couch.Romeo’s heart sped up.He knew it was coming, but still, seeing Chad like that, vulnerable, at Keeley’s mercy, it made his blood itch.
“Okay?”Chad whispered close to his ear.
“No,” Romeo answered honestly.
“Want me to stop it?”
