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The car slowed to a crawl beside where Danny hurried down the street, but he wasn’t surprised in the slightest. He had clocked it as soon as it had turned onto the street in the first place – its headlights had sent Danny’s shadow stretching out in front of him and the sight of it had filled him with the kind of dread that told him nothing good would come of it. His suspicions had only been further confirmed when the car had remained behind him, catching up to him at an agonisingly slow pace. Danny had had to use all of his self control on not breaking into a run; now that the car was keeping pace with him, he was more tempted than ever.
There was a sound over the engine; the electronic buzz as a window was put down. Danny didn’t look to see who it was. He figured if they were going to kill him, they would have probably done it by now.
“Danny!”
He recognised the voice immediately, but pretended not to. Looking at his shoes, Danny picked up his pace a little more, the most he could afford before he knew he would break into a run. There was an alleyway coming up on his right, and if he ducked down it he could probably lose them in the streets behind the houses.
“Danny! Come over here.”
Ignoring was clearly not going to work, and Danny was afraid that if he didn’t acknowledge the man, he would simply get out and block off his escape route. He glanced at the car, confirming what he already knew when he saw the face peering out of the window at him.
“I’m a little busy right now, Rich.”
“Yeah, I’d say. Got yourself in a right pickle, didn’t you? Get in the car.”
“No.”
“Don’t be an idiot. Get in the fucking car.”
“I’m not interested, Rich.”
“That’s a shame, because you’re getting in the car anyway.”
Danny stopped, turning to look at him properly, and the car stopped with him. Rich stared at him for a moment, and then opened the door, pushing it wide open and staring at him. Danny remained where he was, his breath suddenly short.
“Come on,” Rich said, signalling to the open door. “You’re letting all the heat out.”
“Rich –”
“Look, if I remember correctly, the last time we talked I did you a bit of a favour,” Rich said, staring at Danny with a look that made him shiver. “So really, you’d think you’d be interested in what I had to say, because the way I see it is that this hasn’t exactly cleared itself up, and do you not think I might have a little more information for you?”
“Then why can’t you tell me here?”
“Smart. Do it here where everyone can listen in. For fuck’s sake, Danny, did you know you’re being tailed?”
Unable to help himself, Danny glanced back up the street. It was completely deserted, and as far as he knew, it had been that way for the entire time he had been walking, with the exception of Rich and whoever was driving. Danny swallowed, slowly turning back to where Rich was watching him, an eyebrow raised.
“There’s no one there,” Danny said, but he knew he sounded unconvinced.
“There’s no one there now,” Rich corrected. “Probably because they saw us, and decided murdering you with witnesses would be a messy job. Get in the fucking car.”
Danny didn’t want to, but he didn’t doubt Rich’s story enough to resist. He knew the man was a liar, and it wouldn’t be the first time Rich had lied about something to get Danny where he wanted him, but unfortunately Danny wasn’t really in the position to take that chance. Rich probably knew that, of course, and Danny felt more than just slightly defeated as he glanced around the street one final time and then, reluctantly, walked over to the car.
“In,” Rich said, not moving, resulting in an awkward moment where Danny had to practically crawl over him to get in the back. He heard Rich say something, probably lewd, and decided to ignore it. The door slammed shut and the car pulled away, now travelling at a normal speed.
“You’ve been awful quiet lately,” Rich said, after several minutes of silence had passed. Danny stared out of his window, his hand clutching the seatbelt with unnecessary force. “That’s unusual for you.”
“I didn’t realise you were keeping an eye on me,” Danny said, still not looking at him.
“I wouldn’t call it keeping tabs,” Rich said. “But I notice when people aren’t around. Not that you were around much for a while, because you never are when you get all loved up, but I’d still see you sometimes. I’d at least hear about you. But there was nothing this time… radio silence. Where you been?”
“Around,” Danny said shortly. His chest was beginning to feel tight and he was becoming more convinced than ever that he had walked right into a trap. He should have just made a run for it. Now he was stuck in this car and Rich could be taking him anywhere. It didn’t mean anything to Danny that the man had helped him out before; Rich was the last person that Danny would call morally consistent, and if someone had paid him off enough…
“Around,” Rich repeated, laughing. “You’ve grown so cryptic, Danny. Remember when you used to tell everyone everything? You were the life of the party, some of those stories you would tell.”
“They were all lies,” Danny said, quickly, suddenly. He had no idea where it had come from, and he was glad the back of the car was dark and he was facing away from Rich. He swallowed, feeling the anger burning away some of the tightness in his chest. “None of you were interested in anything about me, so I just told you what you wanted to hear. It kept you away from the things I didn’t want you to know.”
Rich snorted. “That’s why you acted in accordance to everything I knew about you, huh?”
“Did I?” Danny asked, barely biting back a snap. “Because I don’t recall ever sleeping with you, not once, no matter how many times you tried. Not very characteristic for a slut, is it?”
There was a long and satisfying silence, despite the frustration Danny could feel radiating off of Rich in waves. He knew he had at least cast doubt on what the man thought he knew about him. Danny had never been a very convincing liar, but in the dark, with someone he hated, when he was this angry… he found it a little easier. Maybe even satisfying.
“That would be a lot of effort to go through,” Rich eventually said.
“Can you blame me?” Danny asked drily. “Considering I’ve just discovered you keep tabs on me, I think I made a wise decision.”
“But the rest of it is true, isn’t it?” Rich asked. “I always got the impression you were telling the truth when implied you always fell for the wrong men.”
Danny continued to glare out of the window, refusing to give Rich an answer.
“Well, am I wrong?” Rich asked, when the silence stretched on. Danny let out a harsh sigh.
“What is this about?” he demanded. “If you’ve got information for me, hurry up and tell me. If not, stop the car and let me out. I don’t have time for this, and I honestly couldn’t care less about your games right now.”
“When did I ever say I had information?” Rich asked. “I thought I merely pointed out it was a possibility.”
Danny barely let the words register. “Then let me out.”
“I don’t believe that was part of the deal, either.”
Turning from the window, Danny glared across the car at Rich. The other man was facing forward, staring at the back of the seat in front of him, and in the light from the streetlights his features were thrown into enough shadow that Danny couldn’t work out what was on his face. He usually had a good idea of what Rich was up to – if he was genuinely angry or if he was just messing him around – but right now he didn’t have a clue. Danny swallowed, trying not to let the anxiety cloud his thoughts. This wasn’t the first unpredictable and potentially dangerous situation he had been in. He would deal with it, the same way he had dealt with all the others.
“Then what do you want?” he asked shortly. “You’re just wasting my time. You’re not scary, Rich. You’re not even slightly intimidating. Whatever games you think you can play with me won’t work anymore. I’ve met much worse than you.”
“I know you have,” Rich said, finally turning to look at Danny. His face was in even more shadow now, and Danny forced himself to stare back. “I met several of them. They wanted to know what you had asked me, wanted to know all about what answers you might be getting. I told them to fuck off, did you know? I thought they looked like cops. Not them street cops, neither, nah, them suited ones you get at Scotland Yard, who do all the big investigations. You know me, Danny. I got enough drugs in there to make the equivalent of a small country’s national debt. I didn’t want them sniffing around, so I just told them some bullshit about you being an ex who can’t get over the breakup or something. Pretty funny, actually. I liked spinning that one.”
“Get to the point.”
“Well,” Rich said, shifting in his seat slightly so he could stretch his legs out a little more. “They didn’t believe me, obviously, because they knew the answers before they started asking the questions. I don’t know why people do that, you know? Really pisses me off. Anyway, cut a long story short they knew what you were asking me, and all about the escort service and whatnot, and they told me to let you know. I was bullshitting you, you know. I didn’t have a fucking clue what that symbol meant. I was just gonna bullshit you around a bit, see if I could finally get you to suck my dick for it. Maybe more, if you were desperate enough. What happened to that, anyway? I heard you’d do that kind of thing if you wanted something enough. Whatever. I didn’t have a clue and they handed me the information and told me to let you know but pretend I knew all along. In exchange, they wouldn’t say anything about all the drugs in my house. Fair deal, don’t you think?”
“I don’t see why this has anything to do with me,” Danny said, deliberately ignoring Rich’s comments. “I hardly organised that myself. I was just trying to find out what happened to Alex.”
“Ah, Alex. That was what it all came down to, wasn’t it? You always were like that… you’d fall in love and you’d forget that anyone else existed. I always wondered what it would be like to be on the receiving end of that.”
“Did you want to date me, or fuck me?”
Danny asked the question harshly, his anger beginning to creep through. He stared at Rich through the darkness, catching the hint of a smile on his face as the streetlights lit up the car. He was beginning to get the impression that they were getting close to the real reason Rich had called him into the car; Danny would recognise the look on the man’s face anywhere, and it made him feel suddenly cold. Whatever Rich had to say, he knew it would hold something over Danny.
“That’s irrelevant now,” Rich eventually said, waving a hand. “What I want to know is how much you’d be willing to do for more information. Some pretty good stuff, too, if I say so myself.”
“Two minutes ago you were telling me you never said you had anything,” Danny said shortly. “Either tell me or don’t, but stop all this messing around. It’s annoying.”
“Say I did have information,” Rich said, raising an eyebrow. “Say it was really good. Say I promised it was really good. What would you do?”
“I’d tell you to tell me,” Danny said. “Because I wouldn’t trust your judgement for a moment.”
“What if you knew it was really good?” Rich asked. “And, you do know, don’t you? You do know it’s good, because I can hear it in your voice.”
“I wouldn’t fuck you, if that’s what you’re talking about,” Danny said, and Rich turned back to him, leaning a little closer.
“Not even if it was really good?” he asked, and Danny was suddenly aware of the fact that Rich’s hand was on his leg, squeezing it just above the knee. Danny tried to shift away, but Rich only squeezed tighter. “What if I told you Alex was alive?”
Danny’s breath hitched in his throat and he felt his eyes abruptly begin to burn. He wanted to say something, wanted to tell Rich exactly where to go, but his throat was too tight and he found himself incapable of speaking. Instead, he reached down and gripped Rich’s wrist, digging his nails into the skin and trying to wrench him away. He felt Rich react to the pain, but the man stubbornly held on.
“What would you do for information about that?” Rich asked, now much too close to him, and Danny pressed himself against the door, his heart thudding in his chest.
“This isn’t funny,” he managed to say, every word forced. “This is sick. You’re sick.”
“But what if?”
“He’s dead!” Danny suddenly yelled, and to his horror he could feel warm tracks on his face. “He’s dead, and you know it! Why would you say something like that? Why would you – get off me!”
“Give and take,” Rich said, and Danny reached down and unbuckled his seatbelt in an attempt to try and twist out of his grip, but it only enabled Rich to pull him across the seat and pin him in place. “That’s life, Danny!”
“Get – the fuck –”
“Listen,” Rich said, and Danny shoved at him again but Rich had crawled over him by now, one leg bracing himself against the floor of the car, and Danny knew he had nowhere to go. “The way I see it, we both get something good out of this. I promise you won’t be disappointed, Danny. You’re gonna love the payoff. You might even love this, too, if you let yourself.”
Danny was too breathless to speak. He glanced towards the front of the car, unable to believe that the driver could possibly be pretending that this wasn’t happening, but that was precisely what he was doing. The car weaved down the street at a steady pace, and Danny turned back to look up at Rich, realising he was on his own.
“You’re sick,” he said again, and Rich just laughed.
“You said that earlier,” he said. “I disagree. I think this is perfectly fair.”
“On what planet is raping me a fair exchange for whatever information you have?”
Rich let out a low whistle. “That’s a harsh word to use.”
“But it’s the correct one.”
“Danny,” Rich said, sighing. “You simply can’t get on like this and expect anything else. You demand things constantly from me – money, answers, drugs, whatever it was – and I let you. You even put me in danger of going to prison, and I still kept my toe on the line. You have to understand there’s only so much I can take. It isn’t fair. You’ll fuck everyone else for answers, for drugs, for a place to sleep, but not me? It’s hurtful.”
Danny felt Rich’s hand tugging at the front of his trousers and instead of struggling like he had expected to, he found an odd calm had come over him. He let himself flop back against the seat and laughed.
“Alright,” he said, his voice suddenly light. “Fuck me. Have fun. I hope it’s worth it.”
There must have been something in his voice, because Danny felt Rich’s hand still.
“That was a change of tune.”
“What?” Danny asked. “I decide I’m alright with it and you’re not interested anymore? That says some messed up things about you, Rich. Go on. Have at it. See if I care. You’re not the first person who thinks you can help yourself. Like I said, I hope it’s worth it.”
“Going to go to the police?” Rich asked, sneering. “Gonna tell them that I assaulted you? Think they’re gonna help you?”
Danny didn’t say anything. He lay still, feeling his heart keeping up its frantic pace, a sudden mixture of hatred and guilt making him feel sick. Rich seemed unsure, and for a long moment there was nothing but the sound of the tires on the road.
“Are you going to do it, then?” Danny eventually asked, his voice sounding distant, and Rich suddenly reached out and grabbed him by the front of his coat, pulling him up to face him.
“What are you playing at?” he demanded, and Danny just stared back at him.
“I was just asking a question,” he said. “Really, I don’t think I’m the one with the issue here.”
“You’re not telling me something.”
“I doubt you’d care anyway. You knew you were going to do this the second you got that information, if it even exists. I’d hate to ruin your fun.”
“The old Danny was a lot easier to handle, before this mess,” Rich said, before smiling and shaking his head. “I kind of miss him.”
“Really? I don’t.”
Another pause, and then a swift movement out of the corner of Danny’s eye and a sudden stinging pain at his mouth. It took him a moment to realise that Rich had hit him; it was only when he tasted metal that he realised fully what had happened, and he felt a brief flash of panic before he forced himself to steady his nerves. His head had been knocked to the side by the force of the hit, and he turned back to look at Rich, taking several steadying breaths.
“You better hope you don’t have any open cuts on that hand,” he said, slowly licking the blood off his lips to draw Rich’s attention to it. “I’ve heard all it takes is the smallest cut, and then it’s too late.”
Rich stared at him. “What the fuck are you on about?”
“Your hand,” Danny said, nodding to where he could see a smear of blood on Rich’s skin. “It’s got my blood on it. You better hope it can’t get past your skin.”
Rich stared at him for a solid ten seconds, silent. Danny saw his expression go from confusion, to annoyance, to sudden realisation and then, finally, disgust. Despite the flicker of satisfaction Danny got from it, the last look still hurt; Rich curled his lip and shoved Danny hard, sending him back across the seat and into a painful collision with the door.
“I should have known,” Rich practically spat, wiping his hand on his trousers hard enough to make the skin redden. “Of course it would be you, of course you would be stupid enough— Jack, hurry up, it’s just around this corner. Get a move on.”
Danny spared a glance at the driver, but he didn’t say anything. Danny felt the car increase in speed slightly; the next thirty seconds passed in silence before the car came to an abrupt halt.
“Get out,” Rich said, not looking at him, and Danny found himself suddenly confused.
“Get—what about Alex?” he asked, speaking quickly. “You said – unless that was a lie as well but you said –”
“Get the fuck out of this car,” Rich said loudly, turning to look at him. “Get the fuck out, and if I find anything wrong after tonight I will hunt you down and I will fuck you up. Get out. Did you hear me? Get out, you disgusting --”
Fumbling with the door, Danny pushed it open and stumbled out onto the street. He turned quickly to face the car again, but Rich had already leaned over the seat and slammed the door closed, giving him a final disgusted look as he did so. The car pulled away before Danny could get a word out, and he turned back around, looking up and down the street and trying to work out where he was. The rows of shops and houses weren’t familiar, and the street was empty.
Danny swallowed, his heart still thudding in his chest, and realised that nothing good would come of standing here. There was a telephone box nearby – he could call a taxi, get home, and then he could worry about this. Still, even with a relatively solid plan, Danny felt on edge. What was it Rich had said? Wherever he had been taking Danny, it was apparently right here. Danny found himself scanning the upper windows of the flats, wondering if someone was crouching there, ready to take him out, or if they were waiting down the nearby alley or about to arrive in a car of their own.
Danny hurried over to the phone box, his heart in his throat. He was pulling the door open when the phone began ringing. Danny froze, looking around himself wildly and then back to the phone, hardly able to breathe. It rang and rang, and, just when Danny thought it would stop, he reached out and grabbed it in a sudden panic, as though letting the caller ring off was suddenly the worst possible thing he could do.
“Hello?” he asked, his voice barely a croak. The line was completely silent, no sign of the usual noise or static he would expect to hear, and Danny’s anxiety only grew. “Hello? Who is this?”
Finally, there was an answer. Danny had expected the line to be bad, or for there to be some kind of distortion – he wasn’t prepared to hear that familiar voice as clearly as he were standing right next to him.
“Danny.”
Danny fell against the side of the telephone box, suddenly glad for how it seemed to press in on him. He would have fallen to the ground otherwise.
“Alex,” he whispered, and then the tears were coming thick and fast and he was powerless to stop them. “Alex. Alex, where are you? Is this real? What—how—”
“Listen to me,” Alex said quickly, and there was an urgency in his voice that made Danny force himself to focus. “I need to know you’ll understand what I’m going to tell you.”
“OK,” Danny said, taking a deep breath.
“Do you trust me?” Alex asked, and even before he had finished the sentence, Danny was rapidly going through the events of the last several weeks, everything that he had learned and everything that had been done to him. Even with the memories, his answer was immediate.
“Yes.”
“I’m going to give you some instructions,” Alex said, and Danny listened closely to his voice, trying to work out if it was still just urgency he could hear, or panic as well. “You cannot write them down anywhere. You must commit them to memory. I’m going to tell you, and you’re going to repeat them back until you know them word for word. Are you ready?”
“I’m ready,” Danny said, feeling himself beginning to shake. He tensed his muscles, glaring determinedly at the graffiti scrawled all over the sides of the telephone box.
“I’ll explain everything later,” Alex told him, and Danny swallowed back another sob. “For now, pay close attention.”
Danny tightened his grip on the phone and listened.