Page 20 of Brush with Death
Russell slid into one of the two empty chairs at the table and grabbed the pot of coffee.“I’m sorry for your loss.”
Russell stole Vale’s mug and refilled it.Vale scowled at him, so Cyril slid his own mug toward his boyfriend.He wasn’t hungry, but he’d already had a cup of coffee, and he should stop drinking it on an empty stomach.
“Thank you,” he told Russell.
“Vale called me to ask for help.What can you tell me about your friend?”
Did Russell have any experience as an investigator?Cyril didn’t know, but hopefully, between the three of them, they’d find a way to make this work.“I met Katie when I was hired by her mother to reanimate her aunt.Most people stay away from me unless they need me to do work for them, but Katie found me interesting, and she was the only one who talked to me that day at the funeral home.She had questions about the work I do, but she wasn’t pushy or anything like that, and I guess we became friends.By the time I was supposed to leave, she was giving me her number.Initially, I thought she was hitting on me.”
Cyril smiled at the memory.He’d been young, and he hadn’t known how to tell her that he wasn’t interested without pushing her away.He’d been desperate for a friend.He still was in many ways, but he wasn’t as lonely as he’d been back then.
“Turns out that she wasn’t.She already had a boyfriend, Sam.She introduced us when we met to get coffee.He was a little more wary, but eventually, he relaxed, and the three of us became friends.We didn’t see each other often because we were busy, but we’d talk on the phone and go out for dinner at least once every few months.”
Russell nodded.He looked serious, which was odd on him.Cyril was used to him laughing and joking.This was Russell in work mode, though.It was a bit scary, even though Cyril knew that Russell would never do anything to hurt him.
“So you were friends, but you weren’t extremely close,” Russell said.
“I guess not.We texted, but all three of us had our own lives.You know how hectic my schedule can be.It’s always hard to find time to see people, even when they’re willing to work around my job.”
“How do you know that Sam was afraid of water?”Vale asked.
From Russell’s expression, he didn’t understand the question.It made sense because it was weird.
“He wasn’t actually afraid of water, but of what was inside water.He was never diagnosed, but both Katie and I agreed that it sounded like thalassophobia.He refused to watch documentaries about the ocean, and one time we had a picnic at the lake, he didn’t go anywhere near it.”
Russell hummed.“I guess he wasn’t wrong.Do you know how big the squids living in the ocean can get?”
“We’re talking about a lake,” Vale reminded Russell.
“And you don’t know what’s at the bottom of the lake.Look at the Loch Ness monster.”
“It doesn’t exist.”
“You don’t know that.No one does.”
Cyril cleared his throat.He needed to intervene before these two could start bickering and lose themselves in an entirely different conversation.“The point is that Sam was afraid of what was in the lake.He never went to the lake on his own.Even when he was there with us, we had to almost drag him to the shore.He never went anywhere close to the water.He wouldn’t have done so on his own.”
“That doesn’t mean it couldn’t have been an accident,” Russell said gently.“Maybe he was meeting someone there, and he fell into the lake.”
“How would that work?”
“Could he have been on a boat?”
“Never.”
Russell nodded.“I suppose that makes sense since he was afraid of the water.He wouldn’t have gone on a boat.”
Cyril leaned forward.“Will you help us, then?I really don’t think this was an accident.If it was, that’s good, but I believe there’s more to it.”
“I don’t think you’re wrong.At the very least, someone should look into it.”
Vale groaned.“I called you to try and change Cyril’s mind, not to encourage him.”
Cyril wasn’t surprised that was why Russell was here.He also wasn’t offended.Vale was trying to keep him safe.He didn’t know Sam, and his loyalty wasn’t to him.It was to Cyril.
“I really do think this sounds weird,” Russell said as he poured himself another cup of coffee.“If Sam hadn’t been afraid of the lake, I wouldn’t have thought twice about it, but considering his fear, it doesn’t make sense for him to be there.I’m not saying we should run around trying to find his killer with no information, but we could ask Rachel to look into it.”
Vale looked grumpy.Cyril reached over the table and took his boyfriend’s hand, squeezing it and smiling at him when Vale looked up.For a moment, they stared at each other.He wanted Vale to agree, but he’d do this even if his boyfriend didn’t.It would be easier if Vale was okay with it, though.
