Bad Guys

by Sarah Michelle Lynch

  “She told me you were a freak,” I murmur, “but she said it was virgins you like.”

  “Exactly,” he agrees. “BDSM virgins.”

  My jaw falls and I stop breathing for a few seconds, shocked and beyond amazed.

  “I don’t want the woman I marry to have been owned by anyone before. That may seem a little old-fashioned or macho, but it’s easier for both if that’s true. Until you have been owned, you don’t know what it means or what it involves or how the bond complicates things. Trust me, I haven’t got to the stage of owning anyone. I’ve dabbled… got a bit of practise in… but something tells me with you and I, it would feel right. Plus, you’re beautiful and exactly my type.”

  “Type?” I gasp, my lungs tight, my heart banging against my ribcage.

  “Needy and looking for a daddy. I see it a mile off. Trust me, if you were to throw everything away to be with me, you would never regret it.”

  I lift my eyes to his and see his expression, dark with lust and promise. “How can you say that without any doubt?”

  “Because it’s exactly what you’ve always wanted. You just need to take a leap of faith.”

  I sit staring, gobsmacked. Is this guy for real?

  “When you know, you know, baby,” he says. “And I know. I’ve known for two years. But I’m also patient. You’ll learn that about me. You’ll also learn I can be forgiving… especially where Adam’s concerned.”

  I feel sick and push my plate away. “How do you know about that?”

  “Susan.”

  My heart pounds even harder. “How? When?”

  “She sent me pictures of you two walking together at some country place in Kent. She also sent me a note saying you and he hadn’t spent any time together at Christmas.”

  “She has him followed? That’s not right, Robert.” What the actual fuck?

  “Like I said,” he grins, “things get complicated once someone has been owned.”

  The way he says it… plus the curdled acid in my stomach… I can’t help but react.

  “I’ve gotta go… I’m not staying.” I push back my chair and grab my handbag.

  He puts his hands on my shoulders and I’m forced to look up into his eyes. “Let me kiss you goodbye?”

  He stares at my mouth and something about his expression, the greed in his eyes… I don’t pull away when he moves in.

  He presses the lightest kiss to my lips and my stomach bubbles with intense yearning, but as I’m about to kiss him back, he pulls away.

  “Come with me,” he says, holding out his hand.

  And what do I do?

  I let him lead me away, even though deep down, I know this is so wrong.

  We’re leaving the pub and about to hail a taxi on the main road to get to his place when my phone rings. He puts his hand on my bag and insists, “Leave it.”

  It’s his change of tone that makes me suspicious, because his attitude tonight is so different to the one he had two years ago. Also, now he thinks he’s got me and is taking me home, he thinks he can tell me not to answer my phone?

  In the middle of the freezing street I break away from his arms and make a point of warning him with my eyes that I will damn well answer my phone.

  It’s Theo.

  What’s going on?

  “Hello?”

  “Saskia, where are you? Are you in Leeds?”

  “Yeah, what’s going on?”

  “Okay, listen to me very carefully. Are you with someone? If you are, say okay for yes and unlikely for no.”

  “Okay.” My heart is clapping but I pretend to Robert I’m not panicking.

  “Who is it? Robert?”

  “Okay.” How would he know I’m with fucking Robert?

  “Okay? Good. Now, listen. Say you’ve come down with an illness. Go somewhere safe and tell me when you’ve arrived there, okay?”

  I take a deep breath. “Is this really necessary?”

  “Do you trust me, Saskia?”

  I look at Robert, then I think about Theo…

  “Okay,” I tell him.

  “You’ll do as I’ve said? No question?”

  “Okay.”

  “Good. I’m hanging up. Promise me, Saskia.”

  “Okay.”

  I hang up the phone and Robert’s standing there, arms folded. He won’t believe me if I suddenly say I’m not well, plus he will foist himself on me to make sure I get to wherever it is I’m going safely.

  “Who was that?” he asks.

  “Chloe,” I chuckle. “She and Cole are poorly apparently and need me to drop round and make them something to eat and grab them some stuff.”

  “Oh, maybe I should come? Check them over.”

  “Nah,” I half-laugh. “It’s probably just a cold Cole caught on his travels here. But listen, once I’m done, why don’t I grab another taxi across town and come to yours? You could set the mood before I get there.”

  His eyes light up. “Alright then. Wonderful.”

  “Just text me your address,” I tell him, and kiss his cheek briefly before dashing for a cab.

  Robert waves goodbye as the cab driver asks me, “Where do you want to go?”

  I take a few moments to think. Then I tell him my parent’s address.

  It would be the last place anyone would expect me to go and also if I know my parents, they will be out playing bingo on a Wednesday night. Plus, I still have my key.

  I arrive at their four-bedroom bungalow and see no car in the driveway. I go to the front door and knock. When nobody answers, I let myself inside. The alarm beeps but even their code hasn’t changed.

  Safely stowed, and definitely having not been followed due to my death-defying cab ride, I take a breath and walk into the living room.

  Wow, they’ve replaced the sofas. I remember the old ones… orange with the plastic covers on. I thought Mother would never replace those. Now they have a duck-egg corner group.

  There are lots of things that haven’t changed, however. All their photos are in the same frames… even a couple of me. So, they haven’t forgotten me after all.

  I check Mum’s stationery cabinet and rifle through her letters and cards, discovering she has been getting mine and keeping them. I guess the lack of reciprocation is just her way of trying to force me home. Well, good luck with that, Mum. I swipe a tear from under my eye and then proceed with my next pressing task – calling Theo back.

  “Saskia?” he says.

  “What is going on, Theo?”

  “Listen, I haven’t got much time. I’m in my dressing room, it’s the intermission.”

  “This is insane, Theo.”

  “What’s insane is that I’ve employed a private detective because I’m afraid for my wife’s life and I’ve had to keep it a secret until now. Now, are you listening?” He speaks quickly and succinctly.

  “Yes, of course.” Fuck.

  “My man told me tonight Susan had left London and travelled to Leeds, then she was spotted with Robert Shah a couple of hours ago. That’s Adam’s cousin, right?”

  “Yes… fuck.”

  “And then they parted and he went to a bar. Then he was spotted with a scantily clad dark beauty, I was told.”

  “Great.”

  “Yup, well, anyway… listen to me.”

  “What the fuck do you think I’m doing, Theo?”

  “Look, I’m sorry, but not only do I have stage nerves right now but also this bollocks as well.”

  “And I was just heading to his place with him as well, although… god, I don’t know if anything would’ve happened, to be fair. He was speaking strangely tonight.”

  “He and Susan are in cahoots, I know it,” Theo tells me, “I just know it. Don’t ask me how I know, mostly it’s a hunch, but I just know it.”

  “What do you think they would do? Tie me up and do stuff to me? Come on, Theo.”

  “Who knows, Sass. Who the heck knows. But I’ve had someone watching her a while now. Call it paranoia or common sense or me
having a ton of money to throw around, but after those hideous texts she sent Lily I just had to make sure I kept an eye on her. And let me tell you, that woman is crooked through and through. We have enough to throw the book at her.”

  “Drugs,” I guess.

  “How did you know?”

  “Tom told me, weren’t you there when he mentioned it?”

  “I must have been distracted by my bride the last time I saw Tom,” he growls.

  “Yeah, alright, easy now. It wasn’t your wedding by the way. She offered him drugs at your mother’s fucking funeral.”

  “You’re joking.”

  “Well, you’re the one who said we could do with her back to get rid of Paul.”

  “Maybe it takes evil to fight evil,” he laughs.

  “Well employing someone to track Susan is certainly not your best work, Theo.”

  “Tell me about it,” he groans. “You’re somewhere safe, at least?”

  “I’m at my mother and father’s. They will be out for a while yet. I’ve only had a bit of vodka and a glass of wine. I’ll stay here for a while and then go back to my car and get the fuck back to London. I’d given myself tomorrow morning off but sod it.”

  “Don’t do that. Meet me in town and I’ll tell you everything. Leicester Square, around ten?”

  I take a deep breath. “If you really think that’s necessary?”

  “Yep. And Robert accepted the lie?”

  I shake my head, even though Theo can’t see. “I don’t know, but he sent me his address while I was in the cab. I’d told him I was off over to Chloe’s to tend to her while she’s sick and that I’d catch up with him at his after.”

  “Good, send me the address and text him that Chloe’s too sick to leave. Okay?”

  “If you say so.”

  “Text me when you get home later.”

  “Sure, no worries.”

  “Good, okay. See ya later.”

  “Sure you’re alright, Theo?”

  “Yep, don’t worry about me. Seriously.”

  “If you’re sure.”

  “Absolutely.”

  “Okay. Bye now.”

  “Bye.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Theo meets me the next day outside the tube on Leicester Square. He gives me a big bear hug and I ask him, “Where are we going?” when he starts to lead me away, his hand on my shoulder.

  “Garrick,” he says, “we can grab coffee there and nobody will bother us.”

  “Oh, you back there performing?”

  “Yeah,” he says, “I’m doing something different this time.”

  He looks pleased as punch.

  “Oh, yeah?”

  Once we get closer, I see all the posters outside the theatre. Wow.

  “Rocky Horror. Really? You can sing, too?”

  “Hey. I’m playing the good-looking fiancé, not Frank-N-Furter.”

  I toss my head back, grinning. “Shame, you’d look amazing in fishnets.”

  “So Lily tells me,” he agrees, wriggling his eyebrows.

  God, he’s aware of it, isn’t he?

  When we reach the theatre, Theo taps on a door at the end of a row of doors and it quickly opens, allowing us inside.

  Once in the foyer, Theo gestures at the man who let us in and says, “This is Gustav, my father.”

  I’m taken aback a little as I watch the dude lock the door he just opened for us. Aside from the same stature etc, the two of them aren’t very similar. Theo definitely got his good looks from his mother.

  “Can I get you a drink,” Gustav asks once we’re in the bar area. “Coffee?”

  “Cappuccino, thanks.”

  We enter the bar and Gustav goes behind it, helps himself and watches as Theo leads me to a booth. Theo smiles while we wait for Gustav to join us.

  He brings a tray over with our drinks and also some hot croissant which I immediately rip into, having got home late last night and not having had breakfast yet.

  We all get cosy and Theo says, “So, you must be wondering.”

  “Very much so,” I admit, trying to ignore Gustav’s lingering gaze.

  Today I’m in my office clothes because I’m on my way there after I’m done here. Still, he seems to have more than an eye for the ladies… a roving imagination I would say.

  “I know Susan,” Gustav admits.

  I shake my head. “How?”

  “Oh, everyone on the scene knows her, everyone.”

  I look at Theo who manages a tight grin, though it’s pretty clear he feels awkward about all this.

  “That’s funny because Robert said it like that, too. He mentioned about clubs he goes to… Susan being unmistakable… everyone knows her.”

  Gustav’s craggy face scrunches up. “I’m a casual grazer, if you like. More voyeur than participant. She’s so well-known though because of the things she wears.”

  I watch Theo’s eyes darken, but he’s not giving anything away.

  “What, things?”

  “Costumes,” Gustav chuckles. “Nothing whatsoever tatty. Oh, she likes to dress up regularly in different guises. Catwoman. Black Widow. Anything tight… black…”

  I look at Theo. “Robert said he and Susan don’t socialise, but that’s not true, is it?”

  “No,” Gustav says. “She and Robert are in a relationship.”

  “You’re joking!” I shake my head wildly, but the two men are wearing mirrored expressions that let me know they’re deadly serious.

  “He’s her submissive,” Gustav whispers, looking sheepish, like he may have been there himself, once upon a time.

  “Best just to get right to the point and not fanny about, don’t you think?” I demand, looking them both in the eye.

  Gustav looks at Theo, then Theo pulls a strained expression. I feel like I’m faced with a wall of reluctance, these men treading on eggshells trying not to upset me.

  Finally, Theo looks me right in the eye. “She must somehow know about you and Adam. She’s just using Robert to lure you.”

  I take a deep breath and sigh impatiently, folding my arms. “This is ridiculous.”

  “Yes,” admits Gustav, “she is ridiculous. She lives for drama, darling and I should know this personality when I come across it. Believe me, she doesn’t live in the real world.”

  “It’s a lot of effort… don’t you think? What has she been doing in London, anyway?”

  “Nothing much,” Theo says. “She’s got a flat in Belgravia she comes and goes from.”

  “Oh. My. God.”

  “Yep,” Theo says. “Yep. You could say Robert’s just a toy. Some other guy put her up there.”

  “And the drugs?” I ask quickly.

  “People drop off the raw material, she likely measures it out, other people come and get it… and nobody expects a nice girl in Belgravia,” Gustav tells me wearily, like it’s so predictable.

  “How novel,” I say nodding, feeling the same as him.

  What’s better is to make it on your own steam, but people like Susan don’t give a shit for trying to make something of themselves. She’s given up on that since splitting with Adam, clearly.

  “Robert said she knew about mine and Adam’s trip to Kent in December last year… that there were pictures, or something?”

  They look at one another, like they didn’t account for this and dropped the ball for such an eventuality.

  When they say nothing, I demand, “Come on, you must have some sort of plan.”

  Gustav lifts his chin in Theo’s direction, like he’s giving his son the go-ahead.

  “We think if it comes from you, it’ll shock her more. You just have to be brave enough to get inside,” says Theo, scratching his chin.

  From his lap, Gustav lifts a brown envelope and puts it in front of me.

  I open it and pull out its contents. There are pictures of people going in and out of a property in Belgravia, then Susan’s pictured leaving the same house in a chauffeur-driven car.

  “All
this tells me is that when she was with Adam, she must have either been really trying to go straight or she did actually love him.”

  “People like her never go straight,” Gustav tells me in his Slavic tones, “just hide it better, that’s all.”

  I put the photos back in the envelope. “What does any of this prove?”

  “Not much,” admits Theo, “but if you show up with this lot, she’ll know she’s being watched, that she isn’t impenetrable. Plus, a couple of these characters aren’t people you’d want to be openly associated with, that’s for sure. Just as long as you don’t tell her it was us. It will drive her mad trying to figure out how you managed this, and maybe, she will leave you alone… maybe Adam, too.”

  Theo still cares enough to protect Adam, as well. Even with Paul back in his life.

  “Give me the address and it’s done. I’ll go right away,” I tell them both, but then I see an awkward look pass between them.

  “She’s still with Robert right now,” I guess. “And when do we think she will be back?”

  “Later,” Gustav says, “she normally gets a couple of visitors at five, then she’s alone all evening before her performance later, most nights after eleven.

  “Okay, fine.” They both sit back in unison, relief evident in their similar expressions. “And one more thing, why did you even start up with this in the first place? Private detectives and shady shit like this.” I tap the envelope against the table, annoyed.

  Theo leans forward. “It wasn’t me; it was Adam who prompted this. And well, Lily had mentioned a couple of times she’d felt unsafe on her own at night when I was away in London. A few of her little pots in the front yard had been vandalised… and that’s just not the area we live in.”

  My chest feels like it’s going to cave in and the envelope slips from my grip to the table and I put my head in my hands.

  That’s why…

  …at Christmas…

  Paul’s unexpected arrival…

  …it was just a great excuse to get rid of me.

  “He knew he’d been followed to Kent.”

  Theo smiles sadly at the thought of his friends being tormented…

  I feel even sadder at the thought of this person never going away. Ever.

  I know what I have to do.