Page 92 of Callous Shot

Anton nodded, accepting the dismissal. He melted into the shadows, and Ryker disappeared inside his room, leaving me standing alone on the walkway.

The door was suddenly flung wide open, and a fist swung through the air, straight into my stomach. I doubled over, gasping, the breath punched from my lungs.

Ryker stood over me, his eyes dark and glittering with malice. “Stay away from Dan, or I will fucking end you. That’s not an idle threat.”

I straightened up, clasping my stomach as I swallowed around the lump in my throat. “Let me explain⁠—”

“I’ve heard enough. Stay the fuck away from my best friend.” He jerked his head in the direction of the stairs. “You’ve outstayed your welcome. Get the hell out of Cranham. Now.”

40

DAN

“Dan, love, what’s wrong?”

I took one look at my mum’s face, and I just…crumpled. Tears burned my eyes, falling down my face unchecked, and it was fucking ridiculous. I hadn’t cried like this since I was a child. My heart felt as if it was ripping itself out of my chest, and I couldn’t breathe through the pain.

I couldn’t. Fucking. Breathe.

“Dan? Dan! Neil!”

My mum’s voice came from so far away. Was I imagining it? I closed my eyes, letting myself crumble.

Strong arms caught me, and I was dimly aware of a low voice speaking in my ear, although I couldn’t make out the words.

“Shhh. It’s okay, darling.” Gentle fingers stroked through my hair, and another, much larger hand closed over the top of my trembling one. I blinked, rubbing at my eyes, and took a deep, shuddering breath. I was on the huge sofa in the Hoyton lounge with my mum on one side, cuddling me into her while she continued her soothing strokes through my hair, and my uncle on the other side, his bruised face full of concern.

“It hurts too much.” My lip trembled, my eyes stinging all over again. “I can’t make it stop.”

“Who hurt you? I will kill them.” Neil’s expression turned murderous. “Give me a name.”

“No. Please.” I rubbed at my chest. “It’s not— Keys. Passenger seat.”

Neil exchanged glances with my mum over the top of my head, and then he carefully fished my car keys from my pocket. Picking up his phone, he tapped at the screen, and a few moments later, the call connected. “Sid? Make sure no one disturbs us. We’re in the lounge. Get the team on orange alert. We might have a situation, and we might need to mobilise on short notice.” Ending the call, he squeezed my hand. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

When he was gone, my mum pressed a kiss to the top of my head. “What do you need?”

“I need it to stop hurting,” I whispered, rubbing at my chest. “Why does it hurt so much?”

“Oh, love.” She pulled me closer, and I didn’t even care about the awkward angle, given that I was much taller than her. I was just a boy who needed his mum to make it all better.

“I-I don’t understand why it hurts so much. I hated him. He hated me. I knew who his family was, and I knew that he was never going to choose m-me over them.” Tears obscured my vision again.

My mum inhaled sharply. “I take it you’re talking about Lincoln Bellingham?”

My head shot up, and I scrubbed at my eyes until my vision cleared, sucking in deep, shuddering breaths. “H-how?”

She sighed. “Oh, Dan. There’s no one else you could possibly be talking about.”

“How?” I repeated.

“Dan, love.” Shaking her head, she sighed again. “You’ve—” She cut herself off as the door opened, my uncle reappearing with a sheaf of papers.

The papers I’d taken from Lincoln’s room.

“Right.” Neil’s expression was grim. “I need to pay a visit to Michael Bellingham.” He crossed the room, crouching down in front of me, and his voice gentled. “Can you tell me where you got these?”

“L-Linc— Bellingham’s uni apartment,” I croaked. “T-there’s a photo I took too. He had—” I inhaled another shuddering breath. “He had a whole fucking file on us.”