“Then theremustbe another explanation.” I stared blankly at him. “The question is, what?”
13
LUC
It didn’t lookgood for Charley, to be honest. I did believe he was innocent of offing Chip, but proving it would be an uphill task. Potentially an impossible one. Our only recourse was to keep him out of harm’s way for long enough for the real culprit to be uncovered. If the club was hell bent on either covering the death up and framing Charley, or couldn’t be arsed to look deeper out of laziness and a convenient security tape, he was fucked. Either way, I wanted to at least try and help. Sorting out the mystery of him not showing up on the security footage would have to wait for smarter minds than mine.
Heading back to Tratton was a no. There was no way of telling how long the bikers would keep Charley in their sights. And frankly we couldn’t stay here forever, nice as it was to be isolated in the countryside with a groaning larder and a hot guy who let me fuck him seven ways to Sunday.
So, we’d have to move on. I didn’t mind driving, or going somewhere new, but keeping Charley safe was imperative. I’d thought I’d felt protective that first night, but that was nothing compared with the way I was now. I’d burn a town down to keep those fuckers from getting to him and warm my hands on the blaze.
Which was, I admitted privately, a bit of an overreaction to a bloke I’d known a few days. But I couldn’t control my emotions. At best I could conceal them. It was annoying too, because I didn’t want my mind clouded by feelings; that’s when mistakes could happen.
We needed a solid plan to keep the others off our tail. I dug out my laptop and fired it up. Charley raised his eyebrows, and I gestured for him to come and sit next to me. “We need to throw the bad guys off our scent, so…I was thinking we should plan a trip for you, and ‘accidentally’ make those plans available if anyone’s keeping tabs on you, and more specifically, your bank account. You game?”
Charley sniggered. When I glanced at him, he looked sheepish, but also highly amused. “You said ‘bad guys’ like we’re in a trashy action film. And then ‘off our scent’. I don’t think they’re the ones who can track us by how we smell.” I could tell he was making a concerted effort to neutralise his smirk. “Sorry, I’m taking it seriously. It was just funny.”
An elbow to his ribs steered him back to look at the screen. I opened a map of the area and pondered our options. “You say it’s an open secret you’ve always wanted to visit the north, right? How north are we talking? Because Blackpool pleasure beach is going to be cold as balls at this time of year.”
He laughed. “Nutter. I’ve always dreamed about Scotland. I dunno. Seems like there could be a lot of possibilities up there. Not nearly so many people around.”
“True, if you avoid the cities,” I agreed. “Still going to be cold, but unlike Blackpool, we can probably avoid any illuminations. Can’t imagine they’d do much for your sensitive eyesight. So we need to make it look as if you’ve changed your mind because everyone will assume you’ll head north.”
“Hit me.” He hugged his knees to his chest and said, “You know, I should probably get a decent winter coat at some point. I know I don’tfeelthe cold much, but I’ve begun to wonder if maybe I should start looking after my body a bit better. Like, assume I’m human and act like it.”
“That’s a good idea. Mostly because you don’t want to stick out in shirt sleeves when everyone else is bitching about the snow and a wind chill of minus six.” I shot him what I hoped was a comforting grin. “I doubt you have to worry too much about frostbite though. If you were going to be vulnerable to the cold, it would be apparent by now.”
“Oh, all right. Good to know.” He stared at the map. “Where are we exactly?”
I waved a hand over the whole park. “If I don’t tell you, you can’t tell anyone else, okay? In there. Off the beaten track.”
“You don’t trust me?” Damn, and now he was giving me the wounded puppy dog eyes. I groaned.
“I don’t like thatIknow where we are. It’s not personal, believe me, I’m gonna be on the phone to Gethin as soon as we’re fifty miles away, letting him know we’re clear of the place.” I zoomed in, checking out roads, distances and travel times, while Charley watched.
Finally I tapped my finger over Anglesey. “Ever fancied Ireland?”
He gave me a strange look. “You know when you said you weren’t like a Twilight werewolf?” I nodded, not sure where he was headed. “Well, I ain’t no Edward Cullen either. I can swim, but bollocks to swimming the Irish Sea.”
I snorted. “Your general knowledge sucks, man. There’s a ferry from Holyhead. I’m not mean enough to just throw you in the sea.” I bared my teeth. “Unless you’ve got a very specific kink about it, in which case I’ll see what I can do.”
“Dick.” But he grinned back at me, so I don’t think he was overly offended. “So, what, we head to Ireland? Or just me? How does this help with laying a false trail?”
I explained that he should buy a ticket, one way, using his debit card, and if anyone was monitoring his account, it would flag up. Hopefully, and hope was a big risk but all we had right now, it would be assumed he’d crossed the sea to start a new life in Eire. Charley asked where we’d go instead.
“Why not Scotland?” I said. “You want to go there, and I’d rather put more distance between us and Tratton if we can. Find a base, then see who we can rope in to help you sort out the angry biker problem. I’ll make another couple of calls and see where we should head for. I know there are Council members north of the border. If we’re lucky we might even get to ogle hot men in kilts as a bonus. Sound good?”
“Yeah, it does,” he agreed. “But how much is a ticket? I’ve got to pay you back for petrol and food, and I’ll need to find some kind of a job as soon as I can. My savings are enough for a while but I need to be careful.”
“Don’t worry about the petrol money. I’ve got enough to cover it, and more besides. I don’t think you’re a sponger. Or after a sugar daddy,” I hastened to add as his mouth puckered. “Remember, poor lil rich boy here.” I swept one hand dramatically down my torso and Charley rolled his eyes, but his mouth relaxed, so it did the job. “I suggest we head towards Holyhead, with you doing a cash withdrawal en route, then buy the ferry ticket when we’re nearer. You’d have to be at the ferry terminal an hour before the sailing, so we’ll cut it as fine as we can to purchase the ticket, then we’ll leg it north. Fingers crossed they’ll think you actually got on the ferry.”
“Won’t they be able to check passenger lists?” Charley chewed his lip, and I had the urge to tie him to the bed again and lick it better. Or bite him somewhere else, to take his mind off whatever was bothering him. I hoped it wasn’t the money situation. I wasn’t about to go wild and blow my pension, but I could afford a sight more than a lot of guys my age, and have change.Thank you again, Great Grandpa.I mentally raised a glass to Milton’s Relish — not for the first time.
“I doubt it, not without a legal reason, and from everything you’ve said, I don’t see the Wyverns resorting to the police to track you down, do you?”
“Huh, no. Fair point. They did report the death, but I guess they’d have to.” After some more abuse of that poor lip, Charley got to his feet. “It is a bit weird I’ve not seen anything about the cops looking for me, but I guess Ledge has his reasons.” The set of his mouth told me I didn’t want to know what the club got up to. “If we’ve got time to stick a wash on, might as well. And I can get something out for dinner if you’d like.” He grinned, looking suddenly very young. “Long as you cook it. I’d probably burn it.”
He got the laundry clean and dry, and I made a beef casserole, and a lentil one when Mr ‘I only like my meat on the hoof’ winced at the first option. While we ate, Charley pointed his knife towards the utility room. “There’s one thing I don’t know how to plan for.”
