“Why haven’t you called them?”
Chad rolled his eyes.“Your question is getting boring.”
“Maybe if you’d answer it...”
“I don’t want to call them,” Chad snapped.“Is that enough of an answer for you?”
“Not really.What’s going on in that head of yours?What do you feel when you look at me?”
Chad’s eye twitched.“A lot.”
“A lot?”
“I feel a lot, but none of it makes sense.”
“You have a brain injury.”
“Do I really?”Chad asked in mock surprise.“Thanks for cluing me in.”
“You can’t remember me, not yet, but you will.”
“Is that a threat?”
“It’s a promise.”
Chad smiled but it didn’t lift his cheeks let alone reach his eyes.“They tried to keep it from me for as long as they could, but I found out.One quick google of my name, and I found out, not just about you, but Marc, Tate, Lucinda, Vincent Whitehall.I mean, I only have to look at my chest to realize something happened to me. There’s so much hatred directed at me and I look at you and I think maybe ...maybe you could be my redemption.”
“What do you mean?”
“I hand you over, and maybe it’ll satisfy the mob.I’ve made mistakes.People have died because of me, but maybe being the one who not only discovers ‘The Countdown Killer’ is still alive, but brings him to justice, I could win them over, be left alone.”
“It’s a possibility.”
Chad nodded.“But then I think.Why?I don’t owe them anything.I don’t need to please them, prove myself to them.If they’re so eager to turn their back on me, then I should be able to do the same to them without judgement.I’m not a police officer anymore.I’m just Chad and I have a serial killer chained up in my outhouse.”
He smiled, and this time it met his eyes.They shone as he got to his feet.
“And what are you planning on doing with me?”
Chad shrugged.“I don’t know yet.”
He crouched down then reached beneath his chair.Chad slid out a green zipped up bag.He pushed it across the floor, and it knocked into Romeo’s ankle.
It was a first aid kit.
More than a magpie, but definitely not a monster.
Romeo placed it on his lap and managed to unzip it one handed.There were bandages and wipes, and a pair of scissors.
“My hand ...it needs to be stitched.”Romeo said, but when he glanced up, Chad was leaving.“Hey!”he shouted, just as Chad slammed the door behind him.
Slammed it and locked it.
****
Along time ago, Romeohad tied Chad up in a barn.He’d left him there all night in the cold, and only returned in the morning after he’d soiled himself.
Romeo had not given much thought for how that must’ve felt for Chad until he was in the exact same situation, helpless, at the mercy of someone else.
