“You drove me madder with that Vaseline tub…”
“I drove myself mad. You weren’t the only one suffering through that, I couldn’t get you out of my head, and knowing you were doing it above me, and at any moment I wanted … let’s just say it was a massive turn on.”
Rory glanced at the road sign. “We’re leaving the city. Where do you want me to go now?”
“The sea.”
“The sea?”
“Rashford Pier, remember I told you about it?”
Rory nodded. “I remember. What we gonna do there?”
“We’re gonna get this over and done with.”
****
Rory parked the car in the rest stop, then looked out at the sea. It was the same dreary grey color as the sky, and instead of flawless golden sand, there were pebbles, and piles of seaweed. Rory stared at the pier and questioned its stability. He was sure it was rocking as the waves hit it.
“Nothing beats our murky looking sea…” Sebastian murmured.
Rory snorted. “Won’t sell any holidays looking like that.”
Sebastian reached into the back for his belongings. He emptied everything on the backseat, rooted through until he found what he’d been looking for. Rory side-eyed Sebastian and watched him put on his gloves. Somehow being strangled with gloves, rather than without, made it seem colder, clinical, heartless.
Sebastian pulled the clear plastic bag into the front, folded it up, then shoved it in his pocket. “Come on.”
Rory took a deep breath, then got out of the car. The bitter sea air blasted his face, and he shivered.
“This way.” Sebastian mumbled. “Do you know the time?”
Rory checked his watch. “It’s 11:45.”
There was only a narrow strip of pebbles and seaweed, the tide was in, and Sebastian headed towards the pier. Rory stared down at the ground as he followed, and only looked up when Sebastian clapped, and laughed.
“Well, the arcade’s looking a sorry state, but the chip shop’s still there … and it’s open.”
Rory hesitated before he followed. Sebastian held open the door, and Rory ducked under his arm then glanced up at the server. She would be the last one to see him alive other than Sebastian.
“Want something?” Sebastian asked.
“No, thanks.”
Rory knew he wouldn’t be able to keep anything down, and he didn’t want the last thing he tasted to be vomit at the back of his throat.
“Suit yourself.”
Sebastian strode forward and ordered a large bag of chips. Any other time, Rory would’ve thought they smelled good, but the vinegar twang made him grimace.
Sebastian tried to pay, but the woman shook her head, said the shop didn’t accept those notes. He turned back and raised his eyebrow at Rory.
“Oh, they don’t take those anymore. That’s an old five-pound note.”
“It’s the money I had in my pocket the day I was booked in.”
Rory flipped open his wallet and handed Sebastian a new five-pound note.
He scrunched his face and rubbed it in his fingers. “It feels horrible.”
“It’s a bit odd at first.”
“Just fives?”
“Tens, too.”
“Never thought money would change.”
Sebastian hummed, then turned back to the woman. Rory snorted at his feet, he was buying lunch for the man about to kill him.
Sebastian popped a chip in his mouth, then groaned.
“That taste, that’s exactly how I remember it.”
The door dinged when they left, and Sebastian walked down the stone steps to get to the beach. “What time is it now?”
“12:00.”
Sebastian nodded, then gestured for Rory to come to him. “Let’s have a walk.”
“A walk?”
“Yeah.”
Rory joined him, and they strolled side by side along the beach. Sebastian offered him a chip, but he shook his head, and looked away.
“Sebastian I—”
“Not yet.”
Rory pressed his lips together, catching his words. The wait was torture, but he imagined that was Sebastian’s point. He wanted Rory to suffer, to fill him with so much tension, and fear he wouldn’t fight or run when the moment came.
“Can we stop here…”
Sebastian pointed his chip ahead. “Not yet.”
“I can’t take it, just do it.”
Sebastian sighed. “Over there.”
“Please,” Rory said, stepping closer. He smacked the chip from Sebastian’s fingers, then grabbed his hand and held it to his throat. “Go on.”
Sebastian glared, but the look wasn’t intimidating, or like ice, it was full on horror. Rory closed his eyes and pushed Sebastian’s hand into his throat.
“Do it.”
He jolted when he heard a dull thump on the pebbles, the chips hitting them.
“I can’t wait any more, I can’t have this dragged out. Do it.”
“Do what?”
“Please end this.”
Sebastian held his throat, and he tilted his head back, exposing it, giving Sebastian more space to work with, a better grip. He knew it would hurt, he might even panic and try to stop it from happening, claw at Sebastian’s hand, but in the end, he’d get weaker, he’d accept the inevitable, and let go.
Sebastian didn’t apply any pressure, he didn’t squeeze, or suddenly clutch with force. He’d didn’t do anything, and it made Rory’s heart pound, and his head spin. He listened to the wind, could taste salt on his lips, and smell the sea. He waited for it, bobbed his head in encouragement, pleaded with the twitch of his brow, and the wobble of his lip.
He wanted Sebastian to do it.
Chapter Twenty-One
The pressure on his throat vanished, and Rory slowly opened his eyes.
Sebastian was still looking at him in the same horror-struck manner. Eyes huge, frown denting his brow, and lips slightly parted as he panted for breath.
“You think I’m gonna kill you?”
“That’s why we’re here, isn’t it?”
“No!”
“The gloves, the bag, the secluded area out of sight of the road… You hate me.”
“I don’t hate you. I put the gloves on because it’s cold…”
Rory licked his lips. “You’ve bought me down here, out of sight.”
“There’s a bench over there, quiet, where we can talk.”
“The bag?”
“It’s been raining Rory, the bench will be wet. I bought the bag so we could sit on it.”
“You keep asking to know the time?”
Sebastian scrunched up his nose. “And why do you think that is?”
Rory ducked his head. “So you know when the tide’s going out—”
“So I can what? Make sure it takes your body away? You think I’m gonna strangle you, shove you in a bag, and throw you in the sea?”
“I dunno—”
“Jesus Christ!” Sebastian took a few steps away and clutched his head. “Are you serious right now? You thought I was gonna kill you, and you went along with it?”
“I don’t blame you for wanting me dead. I keep trying to apologize, to explain, but you cut me off.”
“I don’t want an apology.”
“Then what do you want?”
Sebastian cursed at the sky, then advanced on Rory. He snagged his wrist hard, then dragged him up the beach. “I want you to come here.”
Rory spotted the bench ahead. “To talk?”
“For me to talk. For me to explain.” Sebastian sighed.
“I don’t understand.”
“That’s the problem.”
He pulled the plastic bag out of his pocket and covered a patch on the bench. “Now sit.”
Rory sat down and stared at his lap. “Why did you keep asking for the time?”
“You’ll see in a minute.”
Sebastian sat down, then yanked off his gloves. He huffed, waited a minute
, then turned to Rory.
“I’m sorry about your sister.”
Rory widened his eyes and pressed his back to the bench, then he remembered the letter he’d written. “You read it?”
“No.”
“Then how do you know about her?”
Sebastian pursed his lips and exhaled. “Not yet. I need to tell you about Lester first.”
Rory swallowed the lump in his throat. “Lester? What about him.”
“I deserved every second of that sixteen years, I’m the only one in that prison who thinks their time was lenient, who thinks they deserved more.”
“You said he betrayed you.”
“He did. I hadn’t seen him for a year, and when he called me out of the blue, he sounded odd. He wanted me to help him get money, and fast, and I did what I do best…”
Rory frowned. “Which is?”
“I set up a con, had no idea I was being watched, followed, stabbed in the back, by one of my dearest friends, and when I found out, I lost it. I couldn’t understand why he’d come back after a year and try to ruin me. And in a moment of anger, I killed him. I know you’ve listened to that recording…”
“How do you know—
“I also know you didn’t hear all of it.”
“What do you mean?”
“I tried to bring him back, I called for help, phoned an ambulance and did everything they told me to, but it was too late, I’d done too much.”
Sebastian stared down at his hand and shook his head. “I went down for murder, I didn’t dispute it, I didn’t plead not-guilty, or beg for leniency, I accepted it, but what I couldn’t accept was him turning on me. For years I’ve wondered why.”
“Did you ever find out?”
Sebastian lifted his head and stared passed Rory. His lips twitched into a sad smile.
“William Hamish.”
“What?”
“He harassed Lester, put pressure on him, paid people to loiter outside his house, and threaten him. He made Lester’s life hell for a year. His wife got fed up and left, and Lester started drinking, gambling, and got himself into a shit load of debt. He was facing jail time for several charges until Hamish offered him a deal. The bastard that had put him in that state, was offering to save him, bail him out. All he had to do was expose me for the con artist I am.”
Rory licked his lips. “You did deals on the dark-web. Hamish gave me a file about you … you’ve sold bombs to terrorists, weapons to gangs—”
Sebastian shook his head. “I once sold a bottle of air to this guy for a hundred thousand pound, convinced him it was full of this deadly gas, and another, a vial of pink liquid, told him it was so unstable, a single drop in water could make a nuclear explosion. I even had a gun that could vanish in thin air after a shooting, I called it the ghost gun. I’m a con man, and I conned assholes, the lowest of the low.”
“How?”
“I was clever about it, I spent money, set up small experiments, faked video footage. Had meetings, I wined, and dined, and looked legit. I pushed people’s buttons, found out their weaknesses, their desires, convinced them I had the answer to all their problems.” Sebastian pointed at the pier. “The skills I learned here only got better. I seduce, I manipulate, I convince, I play people, and I did it to you.”
Rory shook his head. “I don’t understand.”
“I knew you were a police officer the second I saw you. Some young, attractive guy who thought he could con me, seduce me, manipulate me for Hamish and at first I was angry, and I wanted you gone.”
Rory’s side prickled, and his breath caught in his chest. “You stabbed me.”
“I wanted to scare you, hurt you, make sure you left, and I didn’t know whether you were suicidal, or just stupid, but you came back. So I thought I’d have fun with you, mess you about, and mess with Hamish’s head in the process, but the lines started to blur. I stopped pretending to like you and did like you. I stopped pretending to want you and did.”
Rory heard pebbles crunching behind him, someone walking up the beach. Sebastian was looking at them and shot them a sad smile.
“How did you know about me?” Rory whispered.
Sebastian gestured to the person. “Rory the Rat, meet Morris the Mole.”
Rory turned, linked eyes with Morris, then leapt off the bench. Sebastian caught him around the middle, pinned his arms to his sides, and hauled him back.
“Sorry, I’m fifteen minutes early…”
Sebastian snorted. “As long as you’re here.”
“Let go of me!”
“Wait, okay, hear us out.”
Morris stopped by the bench, and twisted her face in an uncomfortable frown. “Hi, Rory.”
“Who are you? Are you even a police officer?” he blurted, struggling with Sebastian.
“Yes, have been for twenty years, but I don’t say no to some extra money.”
Sebastian hushed in his ear. “Calm down, okay. Morris and I are friends, she used to warn me when the police were looking into me, getting too close. She told me about Lester, but I didn’t believe her. I didn’t believe that he’d do that, but then I saw him in William Hamish’s car.”
Morris raised her eyebrows. “And after you killed him, I wanted nothing more to do with you, but you kept writing to me, phoning me, and all you wanted to know was why Lester betrayed you. One day I gave in, I did some digging, got close to Hamish, got him to open up to me. He was targeting Lester, using his power to make his life hell, and giving him only one way out. He thought he’d only put Sebastian away for a few years, but your anger gifted him sixteen.”
Sebastian rested his chin on Rory’s head, and murmured, “I can’t take back what I did, but I can punish the guy that made Lester’s life crumble around him. On my last year I wrote to Hamish, I said I’d make his life hell, the same way he made Lester’s. It was supposed to be an empty threat, stir him up, unsettle him.”
Morris nodded. “The letter got him paranoid, worried, and he asked me to work with him. He wanted to know what Sebastian was planning. That’s when he decided to send someone into the prison.” She looked at Rory. “I didn’t know he was blackmailing you. I thought you were just some cocky police officer who wanted to make a name for himself.”
“I didn’t want to be in there.” Rory whispered.
“I know that now, and after you stuck it out for a few weeks, Sebastian and I thought we could use you to get to Hamish.”
Sebastian clutched Rory tighter. “I tried to justify it, tell myself the end result would be worth it, I’d get revenge on Hamish, and you’d leave the prison, go back to being a police officer, put it behind you, but then I got that call in the middle of the night from Morris. She told me about your sister, and I didn’t know what to do.”
“You knew?”
“I avoided you, blocked you out, tried to go back to being indifferent, and waited for the governor to get you, to call you into his office, but he never did.”
Morris stepped closer. “I thought Hamish would tell you, I really did, but he sat there and kept saying how proud your dad would be, and I felt sick. I wanted to tell you—”
“But you didn’t, none of you did. I found out when I read that newspaper. It was like someone had cut out my heart, I couldn’t … I still can’t…” he shook his head and wriggled against Sebastian’s arms.
“I’m sorry.” Sebastian whispered.
“Don’t!”
“I didn’t think you’d come back to the prison, I didn’t think I’d see you again. But you did, and told me how you’ve got no one, you’re on your own, and it’s not true. I was going to tell you everything that night, but then you asked for a kiss, and I couldn’t resist.”
“You—You played me?”
“No more games. I won’t mess with your head, or your heart again, and if you never want to see me again, or hear from me, I’ll understand, I will vanish.”
Rory scrunched up his face. “I thought I’d be begging for your forgiveness today
. Telling you that I loved you, but I understood why you had to kill me.”
“Kill you?” Morris mumbled.
“He thought I was gonna strangle him.”
“That’s messed up.”
“I know,” Sebastian snapped. “It’s a fucking huge mess, and it was me that caused it.”
“But Pauly … you denied what he said in the prison?”
“He was outing you in front of everyone. I knew you’d hate for Ollie and Captain to find out like that, so I provoked him.”
Rory stopped fighting and relaxed in Sebastian’s arms. “I don’t even know who I am anymore. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do, it was easier when I thought you were gonna kill me.”
“I’ll never kill you, and I’ll never hurt you again.”
“The farm … the barrels?”
“I’ll explain later.” Sebastian murmured, “for now, let’s just sit.”
Rory nodded. He was incapable of doing anything else, and it was only due to Sebastian’s arms he hadn’t fallen forward and landed in the pebbles.
“I’ll see you later, Morris,” Sebastian mumbled.
She went to walk away, but stopped and turned back to Rory. “There’s something else…”
“I don’t think I can handle any more.”
“You didn’t fail.”
“I can confidently say I failed at being an undercover officer.”
Morris shook her head. “That’s not what I meant.”
“Then what?”
“Those entrance exams, you didn’t fail any of them.”
Rory snorted. “Yeah, I did, three times, Hamish—
“Marked you down repeatedly, he failed you. You’re not the first person he’s done it to. He likes people to feel they owe him.”
“What?”
“That bastard.” Sebastian growled.
“I passed?”
Morris shot him a small smile. “Yeah…”
They watched her walk back up the beach, then Rory shook his head.
“It doesn’t even matter, I dunno who I am. All I know is I’m broken.”
“Then let me help put you back together again. I’ll help you work this out. I’ll help you make bridges with Captain and Ollie. I’ll be a support for you.”
The Rat Page 18