Part 21 (1/2)

”Had you seen what was coming?”

”No.” Tyler shook his head. ”Dad took us for a meal and told us we were going on holiday. He made us happy for the last time. He did that deliberately, aware of what he was going to do. That night, after we got back, the first thing he did was kill our two dogs. He shot Noel and Claire in their bedrooms. He probably looked for me in my room, I heard him call me, but I'd snuck down to see why the dogs had made a strange noise. When I came back into the house, I went upstairs to tell my mum that Bruno and Matty were...dead, and she grabbed me and put her hand over my mouth, whispered for me to be quiet.”

Don't tell him all this. Don't... But the words poured out.

”I heard my dad calling me and calling me, and Mum pulled me into a guest room. She was all...wet. I didn't...I didn't realize what... She wrapped her dressing gown tie around my mouth because I never shut up. She knew I never shut up. I had to keep quiet. She kept whispering that I had to keep quiet no matter what anyone said. 'Keep quiet, baby. Keep quiet.'”

Haris stared at him without blinking.

”She pushed me into the bed and covered me with cus.h.i.+ons and pillows. I heard him come into the room. Mum begged him not to hurt her, pleaded with him, and he said, 'I'm sorry' and shot her again.”

”Tyler,” Haris whispered. ”I'm so sorry.”

He took a shaky breath. ”She fell on me and I couldn't move. But I knew I wasn't supposed to move. I wasn't supposed to speak so I lay still and waited. I heard him banging around, looking for me, shouting and I was getting wetter and wetter and I couldn't figure out why. I knew...the moment she died. She...breathed out for too long and she didn't breathe in again. Eventually, I heard another shot. There was no more noise after that. But I still didn't move, not even when the police came. I found out later that I lay under her body for twelve hours. They only discovered me when they lifted her up to take her away. I was red from head to toe with my mother's blood.”

”Oh G.o.d,” Haris murmured.

”So now I have a problem with blood and with being gagged. Well, I have a lot more issues than those but they're the big ones.”

”Why the h.e.l.l did he do it?”

”Pride.” He released a bitter laugh. ”As a little boy, I didn't understand, and in a way, I still don't. That pride could make him kill his family? He was in debt and about to lose the house, his business, everything. He was faced with having to take us out of our private schools. Bailiffs were coming to seize the contents of the house. We had no relatives to go and live with. No friends my father could face. I was told by my counselor that my father had been trying to spare his family the distress and grief that he was experiencing. What a f.u.c.king pile of s.h.i.+t.”

Tyler turned to him, the tension in his jaw making it hard to speak. ”He was a selfish w.a.n.ker and he should have killed himself and no one else. Noel had nearly died of cancer and we'd all been so f.u.c.king happy when the chemo worked. He had his life back and our father took it away again.”

He shook his head. ”I don't allow myself to think about this. I hadn't even remembered about Noel's cancer until tonight.” He turned a bleak gaze on Haris. ”I don't want to think about it anymore.” He slid his hand onto Haris's crotch.

Haris gripped his wrist. ”Tyler,” he whispered.

”Let me.”

Tyler pushed the b.u.t.ton free on his pants, carefully unzipped him and pulled his c.o.c.k out with both hands.

”Tyler, no,” Haris muttered.

”Please.” I can do this. I'm good at this. I can make myself forget, make you forget I told you.

He slid his thumbs up the side of Haris's c.o.c.k and Haris shuddered and threaded the fingers of one hand in Tyler's hair. He loved the way Haris's shaft hardened in his hand, swelling with blood, the veins snaking the length growing more prominent. Tyler dragged his finger across the slit and brought a pearl of silky pre-come to his lips. Staring into Haris's face, he slowly licked his finger.

Haris reached for the intercom b.u.t.ton. ”Wilson. Don't go straight home. Take us a roundabout route.” He slumped back on the seat, his gaze still fixed on Tyler.

Tyler laughed. ”How long do you think this is going to take?”

”As long as you want, I suspect.”

Tyler bent his head and sucked him all the way into his throat.

”Jesus Christ,” Haris muttered and his body stiffened.

Saliva leaked out of Tyler's mouth as he let the shaft slide back and forth between his lips. As Haris tightened his hold on his hair, Tyler sucked hard and hummed around him. He played the c.o.c.k like a musical instrument, fluttering, twisting and teasing with his tongue until Haris panted and groaned. He tasted good, sort of sharp and flat at the same time and he kept getting bigger. And doing this stopped Tyler thinking.

Haris pushed down on his head, gripping his hair with both hands now, and Tyler let him control the tempo. He kept his lips tight around him, maintaining the pressure and he didn't stop humming because he knew how good the vibration felt.

”Oh, oh, ah, fu...Je...oh...” The sounds that burst from Haris's mouth were cries of wonder, and Tyler felt a thrill of delight that he could bring this cla.s.sy guy to incoherency.

He brought his thumb to Haris's b.a.l.l.s and rubbed gently down the seam of his sac. His nuts were hard and swollen and he thought of all the little sperm swimming around in there. Four hundred million ejected every time a guy came. Fourteen gallons over a lifetime.

”Tyler,” Haris whispered.

Haris was coming. Tyler could feel it in his body, hear it in his voice, taste it in his c.o.c.k. He sucked harder, moved his mouth faster and a spurt of salty-sweet s.e.m.e.n hit the back of his throat. Haris shuddered as he emptied himself into Tyler's mouth. Tyler didn't let his c.o.c.k free until he'd swallowed every drop.

Haris yanked him back up onto the seat and wrapped his arms around him. ”What are you smiling about?”

”I just swallowed four hundred million potential Haris's. Oh no, half might be female.”

Haris laughed.

”I wonder what sperm think when they reach the stomach,” Tyler said. ”Are they programmed to look for an egg to fertilize even there?”

”As far as I remember from my s.e.x ed cla.s.ses, sperm have no sense of direction. Eggs send a chemical lure to guide them and only one in five swim the right way anyway. Hence the joke about men never taking directions from women.”

”Hey, do you think our sperm are gay?”

Haris chuckled. ”Probably. I know which direction yours are about to go.”

Tyler groaned as Haris unb.u.t.toned his pants.

Chapter Thirteen.

When Stan Deeds put a brown envelope on the coffee table in front of him, Haris's heart began to race.

”He's changed his name,” Stan said. ”Used to be Tyler Griffith.”

”He told me about his family.”

Stan raised his eyebrows. ”Yeah? Well, I remember the case. I was in the police then. Not my district but the idea that all those people coming and going at the crime scene could miss a kid hiding in the bed? Shocking.”

And it had left Tyler scarred. f.u.c.king understatement of the year.

”Anything else of significance?”

”Generally, he seems like your average student, up to his ears in debt. Though he's been reducing that over the last few months. On three out of four Mondays, he makes a cash deposit of five hundred pounds into his account. Last week he put five hundred in on Thursday as well. Details are in the envelope. Needless to say, you did not get this from me. If you want me to find out where he's getting the money, he'll need to be followed.”

Did he want to know? Yes and no. ”Not at the moment,” Haris said. ”But inform me if he deposits any cash today.”

”Fine. Now, the other matter. You are being followed. You were tailed to the Natural History Museum and back again last night. You need to have a word with your chauffeur. Driving in random circles isn't going to throw anyone off.”