Seductive Truths (Seductive Trilogy) (26 page)

    
‘
I’m sorry Alex, but your brother wouldn’t have been there in the first place if it weren’t for William.
’

    
‘
William?
’
I twist back to face him. 
‘
What has this got to do with him?
’

     A huge sigh expels from his lips and he looks to the ground.  A second later he reaches inside his trouser pocket and pulls out a packet of cigarettes and it isn’t long before he’s puffing away, slowly damaging his lungs further.  

    
‘
On the night your brother died,
’
he continues without looking at me,
‘
Thomas was in pursuit of William wherein they both ended up in a back alley in Soho.
’

    
‘
No, no, it’s all lies.  Neither of them would enter a place like that.  You’re lying!
’

    
‘
A few weeks before your brother’s death, he got suspicious about your fiancé.  I don’t know what set him off or what conclusions he came to, but whatever it was, he obviously decided to keep it to himself, as far as I’m aware of.  He may have spoken to Maggie, but that is something you’ll have to take up with her.

    
‘
Anyway, your brother decided to take matters into his own hands and follow William.  So that night, he left the safety of his house and family and took to the streets.  The poor guy was
way
out of his depth.  He should have left
it
well alone.  He followed William all the way to the seedy parts of Soho, where you’ll find strip joints barley legal, drunken slobs falling over their feet, and addicts so drugged up to their eyeballs they can’t tell whether
they’re
dead or alive.  Your brother took a disastrous risk that night.

    
‘
Thomas must have lost track of William along the way, because your fiancé was in discussion with a man for at least five minutes before your brother turned up.  But what he saw when he eventually showed his face would have changed everything.

    
‘
Your brother witnessed the exchange of two brown packages.  In one was a wodge of money.  In the other was a gun.  A gun your fiancé ordered specifically from...from me.
’

    
WHAT!
 
‘
This isn’t happening.  This, this has got to be some sort of nightmare.  He wouldn’t, you, he, he’s not like that, he’s not…
’

     I try shaking the thoughts away to no avail.  My breathing becomes shallower and more erratic.  My head begins to spin and fingers tingle.  Chest is tighter.  I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe and I stumble back against the wall then slide to the floor, too weak to hold my body upright any longer. 

     Knees bent, I hug them to my chest in an attempt to control my trembling.

    
‘
Part of what I do is, well, basically go fetch to put it bluntly,
’
Gareth forges on. 
‘
They come to me if they are in need of something.  They ask, I collect.  I give them the object they require in exchange for a hefty amount of money.  William required a gun.  I don’t know what for and I don’t care.  I don’t know how he found out about me, but the fact that he did means he’s no stranger to the life I lead.  He’s been in the game long before he met you.  I just never heard of him until recently.  This may have been what Thomas had discovered.

    
‘
When it comes to guys like William or I, there’s only two ways to go once being discovered.  Run into hiding or…or have the discoverer killed to avoid further people finding out.  Your brother’s fate was already sealed I’m afraid.
’

    
I can’t believe I’m hearing this!  I will wake up soon, I will, I must.

    
‘
Once William spotted Thomas making his way over to us, he disappeared into the alley out of sight.  I remained.  He tried to reason with me, asked me a few questions, but when he realised he wasn’t getting anywhere he began to walk away.   I thought that was it.  I was so wrong.  That night changed the fate of more than one person.

    
‘
I was about to disappear down the same alley your fiancé did when the screeching of tyres caught my attention.  A black Mercedes Benz came careening around the corner and was heading straight towards your brother with no intention of stopping.  There was nothing I could do.  There was nothing anyone could do.  Your brother was dead before he came crashing to the ground.
’

    
No, no, no, no, all lies, all lies.  He wouldn’t, William couldn’t…it’s not happening, this isn’t happening!  It’s, it’s….no, oh God no.  Please let this be a nightmare, please. 

     I remember William said his car got nicked when I questioned him where it was.  He never did find it.

     I begin to shake uncontrollably as things start to slot into place.  William’s odd snapping behaviour when I first told him about the note.  The way Thomas suddenly started to act strangely around him.  Several times a week William snuck into bed in the early hours of the morning after
“
a late night in the office
”
he used to say.  And then there is the missing car.

     No, it can’t be, not, I won’t believe it.  He’s not, no, no, he’s not.  My fiancé is not.   William is not…

    
‘
Alex…
’

    
‘
No, don’t say it!  Don’t say it!
’

    
‘
William murdered your brother.
’

    
‘
No!  No!  You lie!
’
  I push myself away from the wall with strength I do not have and storm towards Gareth, anger firing off all cylinders of my body. 
‘
Where’s the evidence for this?  Where’s your proof?
’

    
‘
It’s all on the wall behind you.  Amongst the photos and newspaper clippings, there is also documentation of his autopsy.  Evidence found at the scene.  Eyewitness statements, if you can call them that.  They were probably classed as unreliable evidence they were so high off their faces on crack.  Everything is there except a conviction.  There’s nothing that puts your
darling
William at the scene of the crime.  There was no hope in hell that the police would suspect pretty boy.  He has a squeaky clean record.  He’s top of the game in the business world, a loving person who adores all his friends and family.  He was in the clear and he knew it. 

    
‘
Safe?  That’s one thing he isn’t and he realised that when you went missing.  That day we went to see Dougie, the day we got shot at.  That was William.  He was on to me.  You remember what Dougie told me.  He said,
“
Hunt you down like the dog you are.
”
   Your beloved fiancé wants me dead.  There’s no question about that.
’

     Looking off into the distance, over Gareth’s shoulder to be precise, anywhere than at him, I ask,
‘
Where did you get them?  The documents I mean.
’

    
‘
They are copies.  The originals are still filed away.  They are from a contact.
’

    
‘
A bent copper in other words.
’

    
‘
Contact.
’

    
‘
I thought you despised coppers?
’

    
‘
I do.  They’d jump at the chance to bang me away if they ever got wind of who I am.  However, this
“
contact
”
, knows the rules.  I have something on him and if he ever breathes a word, if he ever thinks of shoving me in the deep end, his career would be over.  His
life
would be over.  I do not associate with him often, but when I need something only he can obtain, he’s the one I call on.
’

    
‘
I thought I was beginning to understand you.  You’re, you’re…I…I don’t know what to think anymore.
’
  Anger mixing with frustration and denial are not the best combinations. 
‘
You’re no better than your father!
’

    
‘
Don’t.  Don’t you
dare
say that.  I’m ten times the man he ever was.
’

    
‘
Are you?  Are you really?  Where’s your heart?  Do you have one?  Are you actually capable of loving?
’

    
‘
I…I…
’

    
‘
To me you are no better.
’

    
‘
Please
don’t say that,
’
his voice softens.

    
‘
You watched it happen!  You could have stopped it from happening!
’

    
‘
There was nothing I could…
’

    
‘
That’s bull and you know it.  If you wanted to you could have stopped it, but you didn’t.  My brother died because of you!
’

    
‘
I’m not the one that killed your brother!
’

    
‘
No, but you killed your own!
’

     Silence fills the air around us.  If a pin were to drop it would be deafening.  Gareth’s expression is crestfallen and unbearable pain is etched into his eyes.  A wash of guilt inflames inside at my accusation.

     In a voice that is not his own he croaks,
‘
And I have to live with that for the rest of my life.  I have to live with the fact that I killed my own flesh and blood.  Every time I look at his pictures, my heart aches.  Every time I see his smiling face, I remember the person he used to be.  I’ve lost count the amount of times I wish I were dead too.  My life has been nothing but disappointment after disappointment causing my heart to fill with hatred at everything and anything.  The only light at this dark, dark tunnel is you.  When you entered my life, nothing was the same again.  No amount of whiskey drove you from my thoughts.  I hungered for you constantly.  My intentions were to tell you the truth, nothing more.  But now…now it’s something out of my control.  I don’t know what to do anymore, Alex.  I don’t know what to do.
’

     His head flops down in despair, causing his blonde locks to fall across his face, hiding his eyes in the process, but there is no denying his fatigue.  He looks drained, lost and the fight he used to excel at is extinguished.  He’s a broken man.  This is who Gareth is now.  There is no going back.

     I can’t do this anymore.  I don’t know what to think, what to feel.  I don’t know who to trust or where I belong.  How can I take this all in?  How am I ever going to get past it?  This…this is all…it is one massive screwed up world.

     Tired, lost and confused, I want nothing more than to leave.  I can’t stand this room any longer, can’t stand the truth staring me in the face.                 

    
‘
Get me out of here.
’

    
‘
And go where?
’

    
‘
Anywhere, I don’t care anymore just get me away from this hell you decided to drag me to.
’

    
‘
Fine.
’

     Gareth goes to reach for my arm.

    
‘
Don’t touch me,
’
and with one last look at Thomas’s gorgeous, full of life photo, I make my way out to the van leaving Gareth to follow at his own will.




     The journey back felt longer and tedious.  Silence all the way.  It was a horrible feeling.  I kept on trying to process everything he told, what I saw, but every time I thought I felt sick.  Even now it feels like there’s a tiny animal inside eating away at my gut. 

     Nothing makes sense.  It’s just a load of…
stuff
in my head that I can’t process.  William is not capable of killing, especially one so close.  It’s impossible, it can’t be true.  It can’t be! 

     I shiver.

     The evening grows cold as the sun disappears and the moon rises.  Another day has gone.  It’s another day I find myself trapped in this distasteful life.

     Hills turn into towering building blocks and fresh air is replaced with the stench of
sewage
as we return to dank London back alleys.