“As a favour to Julian, and because I don’t need your money.” His features softened. “I realise the job situation makes it awkward, but I believe you’ll look back in a few months and be grateful to Spencer, and that you took this step.”
“Maybe. I guess they’ll have to fire me. I mean, if Tony’s getting the boot. I haven’t even finished probation.”
“Very likely they will want to let you go just to draw a line under this episode, and frankly, I think it’s the best for you. However, there’s no reason at all we can’t make that departure as favourable to you as possible. When Mr Stern contacts you, I would suggest you have me attend the meeting with you, if you permit it. At the very least, I strongly advise you not to accept anything he offers until you discuss it with me or another solicitor, and make sure it’s all put in writing. Your company put you at risk, and you suffered directly as a result. I don’t see why they shouldn’t pay handsomely for that.”
“Sue?” Daniel’s voice came out in a squeak. Kani copied him, which only made it more mortifying.
“I doubt that will be necessary. Mr Stern is very embarrassed about this, and what Julian discovered regarding the other staff members. At the very least, we can obtain a cushion for you while you look elsewhere, and very likely the cost of any counselling you wish to undertake. If you spend any money at all regarding this, keep receipts.”
“Okay.” Daniel couldn’t think about this at all. He barely cared. He just wanted to go home...oh but Dee and Alex wouldn’t be there. He’d be in the house alone. Just great.
Zachary had the taxi drop him off at home first. “Here’s my card, and on the back is Julian’s number. He asked me specifically to tell you to call him if you want any help at all. He and Leo have taken this very much to heart, on my account, and on Spencer’s.”
“No need,” Daniel mumbled.
“I’ve learned arguing with either of them is a waste of time,” Zachary said with a slight smile. “Good night...and good luck.”
“Thanks.”
The taxi drove off. Daniel walked up the dimly lit path. The porch light came on as he took his key out.
“Daniel?”
He dropped the key in shock and whirled, hand in his pocket on his mobile phone ready to call the police. “Who’s there? Come out!”
Chapter 12
“You should talk to him.”
“He’s furious with me, Jules. I went behind his back.”
“Yeah but...talk to him, Beanie. The poor sod needs a friend. Even Zachary noticed.”
“You dissing your husband?”
“Hey, I love him more than life but he doesn’t exactly do nuance, you know? Beanie, go over there. The worst thing that can happen is that he’ll yell at you again, and maybe he needs to. You know you did what you had to do. So...be strong for him.”
“Why don’t you talk to him, Julian? He likes you.”
Spen’s friend sighed. “He likes you more. That’s why he’s upset.”
“He’s upset because I lied to him and lost him his bloody job. And you know, I don’t blame him.”
“Then tell him.”
Spen’s turn to sigh. “Okay. I should check on him anyway.” He walked towards the stairs, and down them, still holding the phone to his ear.
“You do that. And Leo wants you both to come for supper. He wants to talk to Daniel about his future, and he wants you to back him up.”
“Your boss is really making him a project, isn’t he?”
“He feels a little guilty at tricking him. But mostly he hates to see talent wasted, and Daniel is that in spades.”
“He is. Let me know when, but don’t be surprised if he says no.”
“I won’t. Leo won’t let it go, though. He doesn’t know the word.”
“Hah, makes two of you.”
“Taught me all I know. Talk soon, Spen.”
“Thanks, Julian. For everything.”
“You’re welcome. Now go!”
“Going, going....” He snatched up the keys to his mother’s car as he disconnected in the kitchen. “Heading over to Daniel’s,” he told her as she looked at him. Dee and Alex were in the living room, talking to Spen’s Dad. Both his parents had known well in advance what was likely to happen this evening, and their support had helped Spen through this. “Do you need your car in the morning?”
“No, love, I can take the bus in, if you pick me up in the afternoon. Stay with him or bring him back, Spencer. The child shouldn’t be alone.”
“No, he shouldn’t. Thanks, Mum.” He kissed her cheek. “At some point, the kids will have to be told. He might need our help for that.”
“Of course. He doesn’t have to do this on his own. You make sure you tell him.”
“I will.”
Spen pulled up near the front of Daniel’s house just a minute or so before a taxi stopped outside. He wasn’t completely sure it was Daniel and Zachary’s, until Daniel climbed out and walked up the path. His shoulders were hunched, and he looked defeated and tired as he approached the front door. Spen climbed out of the car and walked quickly to catch his friend up. “Daniel?”
He’d assumed Daniel would have heard his footsteps, but mentally slapped himself for stupidity as Daniel turned in fright, dropping his key ring. “Who’s there? Come out!”
“It’s only me. Calm down.”
Daniel collapsed against the front door. Spen picked the fallen keys and handed them to him. Daniel snatched the keys away. “What the hell are you doing here, Spen?”
“Checking on you. Why don’t you let yourself in?”
“Why don’t you bugger off?” Daniel said, but without any great force behind it.
When he opened the door, and Spen followed him in, he didn’t actually protest. “I’m going to change. You’re not welcome, you realise.”
“Yeah, I do. I’ll make something for you to eat while you change.”
Daniel made a face and headed towards the stairs. So far things weren’t as horrible as they could be, but there was plenty of time for them to deteriorate. Spen didn’t really have a plan, or know the first thing about how to handle someone in Daniel’s situation. Or how to get past the fact that he’d been hiding and lying to the kid about some important stuff, and now Daniel would know just how far those lies and omissions went.
There were proper meals in the freezer, but Spen decided scrambled eggs were as inoffensive and easy to digest as anything else in the fridge. He was just serving up as Daniel came back, now dressed in T-shirt and jeans. Kani ran over and jumped up onto the kitchen counter so he could lick Myko, but Kani’s human was a lot less friendly. “I don’t need you to cook for me. I’m not hungry.”
“Too bad.” Spen set the plate in front of him. “Eat. If you want to be angry, at least do it with food in your stomach.”
Daniel narrowed his eyes at him, and stabbed the eggs with a fork. “Why are you here?”
Spen sat down. “You eat, I’ll talk. Then you can yell. Deal?” Daniel gave him a disgusted look. “There’s a lot to talk about. Eat. Please, Daniel.”
Daniel rolled his eyes, but ate a forkful of food. He winced a little, but a second forkful followed. Spen got up and poured him some milk, which went down easily too. After a few more mouthfuls, Daniel muttered, “Okay, talk.”
“First of all, I’m sorry. I knew you’d be angry, and you’re right to be. I lied to you, we tricked you, and I screwed things up so far as working there is concerned. I don’t blame you a bit. But,” he added, folding his arms, “I wouldn’t change a damn thing. Noble’s a dangerous criminal, and he needs to be stopped.”
“You already said all this,” Daniel said, before drinking more milk. “I’m not stupid. But now I have to deal with the mess you left me in.”
“Yes, but not alone. We all want to help. Julian, Leo, Zachary, Mum, Dad....”
“You?” Daniel finally asked when Spen didn’t continue.
“Yeah, of course.”
“Why? I’m nothi
ng to you.”
“Didn’t we already have this conversation?”
“Yeah. You lied to me. You already had Tony’s number. You were already investigating him. I was just...collateral damage.”
“You think this is about him?” Daniel shrugged. “Why would I give a damn about him if it wasn’t for you?”
“Why wouldn’t you trust me with the truth if sticking it to him wasn’t the most important thing? You hurt me because I might damage your lovely set up. Well, nice work. Now the world knows my business, I have to dump a load of crap on my sister the week of her exams, every man and his mutt wants to inspect my arse and counsel my poor victimised mind, and...that’s all I am to you. Poor little orphan rape victim Daniel.”
Spen sat there, stunned by the volume and ferocity of Daniel’s complaint. Daniel’s cheeks had high spots of colour in them, and his green eyes blazed with fury. “You’ve got it all wrong,” Spen murmured.
“Really. I don’t care. I’ve managed just fine without anyone’s help since Mum and Dad died, and I’ll get through this too. Everyone wants me to fall apart because Tony stuck his dick up my arse without permission. I’m telling you, that’s nothing compared to getting a call from the police to tell you your parents are unrecognisable smears of bloody meat under three tons of concrete. Nothing.”
“Daniel—”
“Shut up. My turn.” He pushed his plate away. “Why didn’t you tell me you were investigating him? About the drugs?”
“Because you’d made it clear you didn’t want to know. I didn’t know what we had until we had it, and then I didn’t have a choice any more. I had to go to the police.”
“And today? With Julian? Why not just tell me what you were doing, what the police were doing?”
“Because...we didn’t want you to accidentally tip him off.”
Daniel’s lips thinned dangerously. “And why the hell would I do that to someone planning to rape me, Spen?”
“I...didn’t think you were acting all that rationally. You were in denial. You were,” he insisted as Daniel glared. “You wouldn’t bring the police before....”
“For perfectly good reasons.”
Spen made a “well, okay, then” gesture. “What do you want me to do? What can I say to make it better?”
“You can’t.”
Daniel took his plate and glass to the sink and started to wash them up with what seemed like a good deal more splash and noise than was strictly necessary. Spen waited, out of his depth and not at all sure coming over hadn’t made it worse.
When Daniel finished, he threw the tea towel at the hook and turned around to glare at Spen. “Okay, you apologised. I think you’ve done enough for one night, don’t you? Go home.”
“What about you?”
“I’m fine.”
“Mum said I should bring you back.”
“No thanks. I’ve been coping on my own, and I can keep on doing that.”
He scooped up Kani and walked out. Since he didn’t come back after five minutes, Spen figured he was dismissed. Okay, so now things were as horrible as they could be. He hadn’t done enough. He hadn’t done anything like enough. He couldn’t leave Daniel like this, so brittle and furious and with so much hurt in his eyes. He wasn’t the right person to help but there wasn’t anyone else who could. Julian would be better than this. His mum would be better. But they weren’t here.
So, knowing he wasn’t wanted, he went in search of his friend. He found him in the living room, on the sofa, his knees under his chin and giving the world a thousand yard stare. Kani lay alongside Daniel’s thigh, ignored but refusing to abandon his human. Spen sat down beside the two of them. Myko climbed down his arm and gave Kani a cuddle. Spen wished he could do the same for Daniel.
“You’re wrong about one thing, you know. I don’t see you as a victim. Not just as a victim.” Daniel didn’t react. “You really are a friend. I’d do this for anyone I thought was being set up for assault. But I wouldn’t be so upset that they were angry at me.”
Daniel glanced sidelong at him. “Only what you deserve.”
“I guess. So, how have you been, really?”
“None of your business.”
“For God’s sake, Daniel. Throw me a bone here. You’re behaving like it’s been a ball of laughs for me to find out what Noble’s been doing to you and the others.”
“You never liked him.”
“No. But that’s different from knowing he was drugging and raping people.”
Daniel buried his chin lower. “Poor Spen.”
“Yeah, poor, poor, pitiful me. And now someone I really like, who my mother really likes, who one of my closest friends really likes, thinks I’m a shit because I give a damn about him. Sucks to be me.”
“Yeah, doesn’t it.”
Spen shook his head. “Right. Well, when you’re ready to talk, you know my number. I want to help you, but I guess you really don’t need it. See you around, Daniel.”
He stood up. Myko protested, and kept his possessive hold on Kani. Daniel said nothing, didn’t even move. “’Night,” Spen said, and headed towards the door. Myko didn’t go with him, but Spen trusted him to do what was right, even if no one else knew what it was.
He heard Daniel say something. “What?” he asked without turning.
“I don’t hate you. I just...wish....”
Spen turned. Daniel was still in the curled up position, face half-buried by his knees. “What do you wish, kiddo?”
He half-expected Daniel to gripe about the nickname, but he didn’t. “I wish I could go back to before.”
Spen came closer. “Before...?”
Daniel looked up, his eyes brimming with tears. “To when I didn’t know,” he whispered.
Spen knelt in front of him, and put his hands over Daniel’s. “I know. Damn it, I wanted to be wrong. I wanted not to find what we did. I wanted...it almost sounds worse...but I wanted you to have slipped out of the hotel for an anonymous shag or something. I knew that wasn’t likely, but the truth was worse.”
“Yeah.” Daniel wiped his eyes on his knees, then looked up again, not really at Spen, but something in his inner thoughts. “He seemed so kind. I mean, annoying, but he seemed to care about...you know. I wanted to believe it wasn’t him, but part of me must have known. When you told me what they’d found, I wasn’t really surprised. I was just angry.”
“At me.”
“Yeah. But I should have been angrier at him. I can’t seem to get that angry at him. I’m numb. I believe it was him but I don’t....”
“Know it?”
“No. I wasn’t there. I didn’t see it for myself.”
“No.” He squeezed Daniel’s hands. “Want me to hang around for a bit?”
Daniel shrugged, so Spen climbed up on the sofa. He kept a small but distinct space between them, not wanting to appear intrusive. “Daniel, there are people who can—”
“I don’t want people. I don’t want to tell some stranger about this. I don’t want to talk about it at all. I want to get past it.”
“Pretend it never happened?”
“If I have to.”
“That’ll be hard with the court case coming up.”
“Maybe they won’t charge him with rape. The inspector said they might not be able to.”
“Right. What did Zachary say?”
“The same. He wants the company to pay compensation for putting me in danger. I don’t really care.”
“You might later. Listen to his advice. They want to help.”
“Yeah. Now people want to help. Where were they—” He stopped short and covered his face with his hand. “Sorry. Wrong tragedy.”
Instinctively, Spen reached for Daniel’s unoccupied hand. “It’s all wrapped up together, Danny. Noball targeted you because you were vulnerable and needed the job. If your parents hadn’t died, you wouldn’t have been there.”
Daniel jerked his hand away. “Don’t you dare blame them!”
Fuck. “
I’m not. I just mean...you can’t separate the two like that. You don’t have to. Noble’s a predator. He looks for young guys like you. Jan’s mother was dying of cancer when Noble hired him. The one before that? Had been in a car accident in which his boyfriend was killed.”
“Lovely.”
“Yeah, only not. So if you need to talk about your parents—”
“I don’t. I don’t need anything. I manage just fine.”
Spen’s temper snapped. “Did it ever occur to you that the reason people didn’t help you when they died is because every time someone tries, you slap them away? I keep telling you there are people who want to help you—people like Mum and Dad who aren’t just offering, but who are doing—and still you’re whining about no one helping you. Even a saint would get sick of that shit after a while.”
Daniel gave him a teary, startled look. “I never...no one offered, except our grandparents. Not practical offers we could use. You and your Mum...you’re the first.”
“And the last, if you keep pushing me away. Danny, I’m here. I want to help. I care.”
“You think I’m a pathetic kid.”
“No. I think you’ve had a hell of a lot of bad luck, but you’ve done more than most could have. You’re not pathetic. Annoying, ungrateful, rude and contradictory, yeah, but not pathetic.”
Daniel’s eyes widened in surprise. “Wow, I’m really feeling the sympathy.”
“You don’t want sympathy. You want it all to go away. Well, I can’t make that happen. I can talk, I can sit with you, even all night if you want. I can listen to you yell or cry or talk or whatever you want. I can make you coffee or cocoa or tea. I can get you drunk, or keep an eye on you while you sleep. I can do a lot of things, Danny, but making the bad shit not happen isn’t one of them. I don’t think you’re weak or pathetic or stupid or that you did anything to bring this on yourself, but it happened, and pretending it didn’t won’t work.”
“No, I suppose not.” Daniel rubbed his eyes again. “I’m so tired,” he murmured. “It’s funny. I’d almost been looking forward to going to the hotel because I might sleep.”
“Not sleeping here?”
“No. Not in my bed. Down here sometimes.”
A Fluffy Tale 2: Warm & Fuzzy Page 12