Page 145 of The Making of Jonty Bloom
“I’ll get our scene of crime officers out here. Be careful what you touch. Wait until they’ve been before you come into the station.”
When he’d gone, Devan and Jonty took off their wet clothes in the utility room before they went upstairs. Devan checked for cameras and found one on top of the wardrobe.
“In our fucking bedroom?” Devan snapped.
“You shouldn’t touch it,” Jonty said.
Devan hung a T-shirt over it. He found nothing in the bathroom. He switched on the shower and they stood together under the hot water.
Jonty shuddered against him. “It’s all my fault. He did that to Tay and it’s my fault.”
Devan wrapped his arms around him. “It’s Brad’s fault. Don’t you dare blame yourself.”
“Tay didn’t like him. He only met him once and he told me to run. Why didn’t I listen? If I had, Tay wouldn’t be lying in that bed. Oh fuck.”
Jonty slid to the floor of the shower in tears, and Devan crouched beside him and tugged him into his arms.
IT TOOK A WHILE FOR JONTYto pull himself together, though he wasn’t sure he’d got the pieces in the right place. The thought that he’d been in any way responsible for what had happened to Tay had taken root inside him like a cancer. He couldn’t even talk to Tay inside his head now. He felt too ashamed.
Devan had tried to convince him to eat something, but he’d shaken his head and stayed curled up on the couch. The SOCO team had been and gone. They’d taken fingerprints from various surfaces and removed three cameras along with Brad’s car.
“How are you feeling?” Devan asked.
“I’m okay.”I’m nowhere near okay.
Devan settled next to him on the couch. “Shall we go to the police station and get it over with?”
Jonty nodded.
“I’m going to put that sandwich I made in a bag and I want you to eat it in the car.”
“I haven’t even asked how the meeting went.”
“I’ll tell you in the car.”
Jonty grabbed his coat and followed Devan out of the house. “Oh God.”
Devan spun round. “What?”
“If they let him go, how can I ever feel safe? And you won’t be safe either. He tried to kill Tay because I was friends with him. He’ll try to kill you because we’re…we’re fucking like bunnies.”
Devan clicked open the car. “Is this the point where you tell me I’d be better off if I walked away from you, pretended I’d never met you? Because I won’t do that.”
“Not if I wailed and gnashed my teeth?”
“I might if you do that. How hard can you gnash them?”
A smile slid across Jonty’s face, but Devan had read his mind. He ought to push Devan away, but he didn’t want to. Jonty climbed into the car and clipped on the seatbelt. Even if the police arrested Brad and he was charged, would he be allowed out on bail? He shivered.I have to go and tell Tay’s mum. Oh God.
“The meeting went well,” Devan said. “I don’t think anyone was shocked. I’d expected more of a reaction. Hamish had already told the residents so they weren’t there. I spoke to Marcus and he’s on board with what I proposed for him. He asked about the other kitchen staff, but I can’t promise to do the same for them. Maybe for Wayne, but I’ll have to look into that. They can apply for jobs next year closer to re-opening if they’re still looking. I have contact details for everyone.”
“What did Vincent say?”
“I explained about Ravi, what a little shit he was. Vincent said you can have your job back.”
Jonty’s already fragile world began to crumble. He didn’t want his job back. He wanted the job that Devan had said he’d give him. “Right.”
“Well, it’s something to think about,” Devan said.
