Hikers - The Collection (Complete Box Set of 5 Books)

by Lauren Algeo

  ‘Quit whining,’ Richards told Adders. ‘At least we’re not stuck in the cars with the drivers.’

  Brewer would have preferred to be parked out the front, further away from Daniel. He pictured the boy sitting at the table in between his parents. Brewer had taken the first check so he could survey the hall. The room was laid out with round tables of ten people and there was a stage at one end. When he’d peeked in, most people had been seated and dozens of waiting staff were bringing around wine.

  Connors and his family were at table three, near the front of the hall, close to the stage. They were sitting with the Deputy Prime Minister, the Mayor of London, and their families. The Mayor was due to present one of the awards and give a speech.

  Brewer had taken a copy of the event programme from one of the tables near the entrance to see if there were any prime opportunities for Daniel to make a spectacle. The evening seemed fairly tame – there would be awards given out between each course and then a charity auction after dessert. People were silently bidding throughout the meal on the iPads that had been placed on each table. At the end of the night there would be some singing from the Royal Opera.

  Brewer hadn’t been able to see any temptation for Daniel. An event like this would surely be boring for the boy and not worth his time. Brewer drank more of his coffee and glanced at his watch. In a couple of hours this would all be over and he could head home to Ellen. She’d sent him a few texts but he hadn’t replied yet. What could he say? That Daniel terrified him and he wanted nothing more than to leave the event?

  He could still feel the boy’s small hand in his own and see his dark eyes swimming in front of him. That little smirk that Daniel had given after Connors made the team trail behind gave him chills. Had he done that deliberately? Brewer tried to clear his mind and concentrated on refilling his mug.

  ‘She’s having an affair.’

  Daniel’s voice was suddenly clear in his head. Brewer jolted in shock and the coffee pot clattered loudly to the table.

  ‘Jesus!’ Adders flinched at the noise.

  ‘Sorry.’ Brewer barely heard the automatic apology he muttered.

  Daniel had found a vessel. Who? Who was the ‘she’ who was having an affair? A wife or a girlfriend?

  ‘It’s all that coffee that’s making you jittery.’ Richards leaned over with a napkin to mop up the drops Brewer had splashed across the table.

  ‘That much coffee and I’m normally running for the toilet!’ Adders laughed.

  Brewer smiled tightly although he wasn’t really listening – he was too busy trying to hear Daniel again. The boy must have been passing the evening flitting through people’s minds and now he’d found something to amuse him. He presumed that Connors wasn’t the target and the woman having an affair wasn’t Marie. Perhaps it was another couple on their table, or someone close to them.

  ‘She was with him last night,’ Daniel whispered.

  His taunting voice sent cold ice through Brewer’s veins. His tone was light and still that of a young boy. He shouldn’t be saying things like that. He shouldn’t know about affairs.

  The team were discussing their football league again and Brewer zoned out. His legs were itching to get up and run away from the sound in his head but he forced himself to stay still in the chair. The guys were suspicious enough about his nervy behaviour over the last few days. There were only so many excuses they could brush it off with. Him bolting from the room wasn’t going to help.

  Ellen. She was the only one who would understand his pain. Brewer took his phone out of his jacket pocket and read back over her last two text messages. She’d wanted to know if he’d met Daniel yet and whether they were safely at the event. He tapped a quick message back to her: ‘I met the boy. He’s petrifying. At the dinner and I fear he has someone in his sights’.

  At least she could offer him some words of support and encouragement while he was stuck there. He stared at the wooden desktop as he waited for her to reply. Someone had cleared the computer screen and files to a sideboard so the desk was clear for them. They were sitting around each side as though it was a small dining table. Brewer willed the guys to keep focussed on their game and not try to draw him into any conversations for a while. He didn’t trust himself to keep up the mask of normality; his mind was racing too much.

  What was he going to do if Daniel actually started to hatch a plan to hurt someone? Should he try to get the Connors family to leave in order to stop it? What possible reason could he give to make that happen?

  ‘Yes, she has.’ Daniel was more insistent now. No doubt his chosen vessel had tried to put up some resistance. ‘She wasn’t working late – she was having sex with him.’

  Brewer imagined some poor man sitting at one of the tables, next to the woman he was being told was having an affair.

  ‘How could she cheat on you after everything you’ve done for her?’ Daniel tutted, suddenly sounding older than his years. ‘She wouldn’t be where she was today if it wasn’t for you. She deserves to pay.’

  The icy fear tightened its grip on Brewer’s body. He could feel the colour draining from his cheeks and he took shallow breaths. Something was going to happen in there.

  ‘I guess it’s my turn to do the rounds.’ Richards started to get up.

  ‘No, I’ll go,’ Brewer cut him off sharply.

  He shot to his feet, scraping back the chair so fast it almost tipped over. He was aware of the curious look on Richards’ face.

  ‘I need to go to the loo anyway,’ he added quickly. ‘I might as well check on them on the way back.’

  ‘Suit yourself.’ Richards sat down again and picked up his phone. ‘I’ll get the next one.’

  Brewer walked from the room as calmly as he could. His phone buzzed in his pocket with Ellen’s reply but he didn’t pause to read it. Daniel had temporarily gone quiet although he wouldn’t stay that way for long, not while he had a vessel.

  As soon as he was out of sight of the office, his pace quickened. The main hall was along the corridor to the right. He could see a couple of people heading through the grand wooden doors. They were guests, judging by their formal wear, and had most likely been to the toilets or out for a cigarette.

  Brewer considered ducking into the hall behind them then changed his mind. What was he going to do if he went in there? He couldn’t loiter around at the side – if Connors noticed him, he’d want to know why he was there. Instead, Brewer continued past the closing doors, heading towards the adjoining catering room. The staff were busy going back and forth from the kitchen to the hall with empty plates and fresh bottles of wine.

  No one paid any attention to him – he just looked like someone else who was working the event. The double doors that the waiting staff were using to enter the hall were propped open and Brewer caught a glimpse of the full tables beyond. He could hear the talking and laughing, and light classical music playing in the background. No one in there had any clue there was a child hiker among them.

  He couldn’t see the table the Connors family were sitting at from his angle; they were closer to the stage at the front end. Brewer scanned the room and saw two more sets of doors further down. One was down a corridor at the end of the room and presumably acted as a back entrance from behind the stage. The other was close enough to open out into the main hall too.

  Brewer walked stiffly down to the nearer doors. He just needed a peek to figure out who Daniel was whispering too. He glanced over his shoulder as he reached them and no one was watching him. He gently pulled the right-hand door towards him until there was a thin crack to look through. Luckily the noise from the room swallowed up the horrible creak of protest from the heavy door. He held on to the brass handle and put his head to the sliver of light.

  There was a table close to him but it was number four. He could see the back of the Connors family at table three beyond it. Daniel was to the left and he could only make out the side profile of his face. Connors had his back fully to Brewer and he couldn’t s
ee the PM’s expression but Marie was chatting animatedly to the woman beside her so Daniel couldn’t be taunting his parents.

  Brewer quickly scanned the rest of the people on their table. They were all talking and sipping wine while the waiters cleared their plates. There was nothing out of the ordinary on table three.

  ‘You’re going to have to stand up there with her in a minute and pretend to play happy families again.’

  Brewer’s eyes snapped to Daniel. The boy had barely moved. He was sitting quietly and appeared to be listening intently to his mother’s conversation but Brewer knew better. It was unnerving to think that the small, polite-seeming boy was really so sadistic.

  His gaze roamed over the other tables, looking for anyone who appeared agitated and on edge. Daniel had said they would be on stage in a moment so that narrowed it down. Presumably his targets were a celebrity couple who were going to present the next award before dessert.

  He found them sitting at table seven, two down from where he was standing. ‘Leggy Jenny’, Adders had referred to her as and Brewer couldn’t recall her last name either. She was a popular TV presenter and he’d seen her on the cover of magazines in his local shop. She was a beautiful woman however her face was creased into a frown. Brewer watched her tuck a strand of her long, brown hair behind her ear and once again try to speak to the man beside her. He angled his head away with a scowl and reached for his wine glass.

  Under normal circumstances, Brewer would have dismissed them as a young couple having a minor row, but he could hear Daniel in his mind. The boy was still hammering home the point of her sleeping with someone else. Brewer wasn’t sure if he’d picked that up from her thoughts and was simply relaying the truth to her boyfriend, or if the boyfriend was prone to jealousy and he’d made it up for fun. Either way, Daniel wasn’t going to leave them alone.

  Brewer studied the man at the table. His name was David Faulkner and he was a well-known TV personality too. He fronted a comedy panel show and often hosted award ceremonies. Brewer knew that he’d been with Jenny for a while from numerous photos in the papers and he thought they’d had a loving relationship. The couple were both in their early thirties and David matched his girlfriend in the looks department. He had short, brown hair and a chiselled jaw. He often had women fawning over him on his show.

  They were dressed to complement each other – David in a navy suit and tie, and Jenny in a pale blue and silver dress. She reached out to touch David’s arm but he pulled it away swiftly. He glanced over in Brewer’s direction with his furrowed brow and got to his feet. For one awful second, Brewer thought the man was going to walk towards him then at the last moment, he veered towards the side steps to the stage. It was time to present their award.

  Brewer opened the left door a crack so he could get a better view. He saw the host of the evening – a short, round man in a suit that was too tight – beckoning insistently to Jenny. She reluctantly got up and headed to the stage too. Brewer saw that her dress was quite short and she did indeed live up to her nickname of ‘Leggy Jenny’. He felt a stab of pity as he saw the hurt expression on her face when she passed closer to him. She had no idea why her boyfriend was suddenly behaving that way. They stood silently beside the stage, the tension between them clearly visible to Brewer.

  His arms were aching with the effort of holding the doors open an inch but he had to keep watching. He glanced over his shoulder to confirm that no one was paying him any attention still. The catering staff were busy lining up desserts to take out for the next course and the waiters were buzzing to and fro with wine bottles. He was still invisible further along the dim room.

  He turned his attention back to the hall and prayed that Daniel wouldn’t do something drastic. He couldn’t see any visible weapons on the stage but the boy could do anything when the couple were up there. He hadn’t planted any seeds in David’s head yet, only taunted him about the ‘affair’, that didn’t mean that he couldn’t take control though. The awards themselves were chunky plastic, what if he hit Jenny with one in front of the crowd? Or he could use his own strength to attack her. Even with her high heels on, David was a good five inches taller than Jenny and he clearly worked out.

  The host was on the stage already and he babbled on about the delicious food. After a moment, he enthusiastically introduced David and Jenny. They began to climb the steps to the stage with fake smiles on their faces. Daniel murmured something softly only the noise of the audience applauding loudly drowned out his words. What had he said to David?

  Brewer’s palms were sweaty and he tried to get a firmer hold on the door handles to keep them from closing. He didn’t like the not knowing but there was nothing he could do to intervene.

  ‘People deserve to know what a whore she is.’ Daniel’s mocking tone was clearer as the clapping died down.

  Jenny beamed at the crowd and David smiled beside her, only there was something sinister about how his lips were stretched so wide. It was more manic than happy.

  ‘Good evening everyone.’ David’s voice was a little too high as he leaned close to the microphone. ‘Thank you for coming to such an important night. The Hunter’s charity is one that has touched so many of us.’

  There was another smattering of applause, including from Jenny beside him.

  ‘My beautiful girlfriend will tell you about this next award.’ He gestured sharply. ‘Doesn’t Jenny look stunning?’

  There were a few wolf whistles from the audience and Jenny giggled as she stepped up to the microphone. David was doing a great job of acting like the adoring boyfriend but Brewer could see how wild his eyes were. He was poised to explode at any moment.

  ‘Thank you, David,’ Jenny gushed. ‘You don’t look too bad yourself.’

  The audience were quiet as Jenny went on to explain that the next award was for someone who had been an active fundraiser for over thirty years. Brewer tore his eyes away from the stage as she spoke and tried to get a read on Daniel. The boy was angled towards the stage, like most of the people in the room, and Brewer could no longer see the side of his face. Was he smirking at his handiwork?

  Brewer had no way of knowing. The boy was nodding politely along as though he was agreeing with the praise Jenny was heaping on the award winner. Marie turned her head briefly to smile at her son then people began to stand up at other tables and blocked Brewer’s view.

  ‘Without further ado,’ David took over from Jenny again. ‘It is our great honour to present this award to Sylvia Blackman.’

  Everyone was on their feet now, clapping and cheering loudly as a grey haired woman of about seventy stood up near the front of the room. Daniel’s next sentence was lost to Brewer over the racket but he saw David’s head cock to the side. He’d heard whatever Daniel had said to him.

  Sylvia climbed the stairs slowly and embraced Jenny first, then moved on to David to receive the award he was clutching.

  ‘Congratulations Sylvia.’ David’s tone was cold. ‘It’s a shame Jenny here couldn’t be as honourable as you.’ His eyes flipped angrily to his girlfriend. ‘She’s too busy spreading her legs for other men and fucking her way to the top.’

  The audience fell instantly silent as his words boomed out and there were a few gasps of shock. David marched off the stage, dropping the plastic award to the floor with a loud thud. Jenny looked as though she’d been slapped in the face. Her mouth opened and closed twice then Brewer saw her eyes fill with tears and she bolted from the stage too.

  Poor Sylvia was left standing on her own in shock. She bent down to pick up the award then began a stammering acceptance speech over the murmur of gossiping audience members. The host was red-faced and twitchy at the side of the stage as he debated whether to come on or not.

  Very faintly in the back of Brewer’s head, he thought he heard Daniel giggle. He leaned forward to try and get a better view of him but a firm hand clamped down on his shoulder.

  ‘There you are!’

  Brewer jumped and the doors slipped f
rom his grasp. He whirled around to see Adders right behind him.

  ‘You’d been gone for so long we thought something had happened. I just called your name but you didn’t hear me.’ Adders nodded at the closed doors. ‘What’s going on in there that’s so interesting?’

  ‘Sorry, I got distracted.’ Brewer felt giddy with relief.

  That had been it. Daniel had had the perfect opportunity to act out and he’d kept it tame. It was still humiliating for the couple, who would now be splashed over tomorrow’s papers and most likely break up over it, but no one had been physically hurt. Perhaps Daniel liked to indulge in mental torture as well.

  ‘You missed one hell of a show.’ Brewer stepped away from the doors and began to walk back along the room with Adders.

  ‘What happened?’ Adders seemed desperate for some excitement to be injected into their night.

  Brewer started to tell him about David’s on-stage outburst – leaving out all the details about hearing Daniel’s taunting beforehand. As they rounded the corner to the next corridor, a sobbing Jenny ducked past them and ran to the ladies toilets. Brewer felt another jolt of sympathy but he couldn’t fill her in on what had really happened. She might even have slept with someone else and Daniel had simply revealed the truth to David, which was her own fault.

  ‘Jesus!’ Adders gaped after her. ‘Do you think she really cheated?’

  Brewer shrugged noncommittally.

  ‘I can’t believe he outed her in front of the whole room.’ Adders shook his head. ‘That’s got to sting! I wish I’d seen it.’

  They got back to the office and Adders immediately blurted out the story to Seok and Richards. In his version, Jenny burst into tears on stage and David threw the award at her, rather than dropping it. Brewer didn’t bother to correct the exaggeration; his mind was racing. There wasn’t time for Daniel to do anything else if they were eating dessert now, soon he’d be able to go home and try to forget this hellish night.