Page 91 of Reinventing Cato
Cato managed a smile at Devan’s exasperated sigh.
“Hi, Cato.”
“Hi, Jonty. Are you both sitting comfortably?”
“I’m on Devan’s lap. There’s a little something poking me, but I can put up with it.”
Cato told them all of it, from Vigge giving him a lift from the airport, to the recent conversation with the police.Well, not absolutely all of it.Not that Vigge was a policeman. Not what they’d done and not done. Very little about him at all.
“Shit,” was what his brother finally said.
“Vigge’s not out as gay. Whatever happens, I don’t want him dragged out, okay?”
“You should have gone straight to the police,” Devan said.
“Hey!” Jonty said. “Are you telling me that if you’d had a text message threatening to hurt me if you bought some particular hotel, that the first thing you’d have done was call the police?”
“After I’d made sure you were safe.”
“Easy with me, but how could Cato do that with your bloody huge family? If there really is some dickhead out there who’s serious about all this, then no one’s safe. If it was me who’d had the text and they threatened you, I’d do anything they wanted and I wouldn’t have called the police. Though I would have recorded a video outlining everything, and left it with someone just in case the worst happened. Now Cato’s given a statement, at least the police have a record. Don’t tell anyone else, Cato.”
“No.” He wasn’t planning to.
“Whoever this is wants to hurt you,” Devan said. “Did you give the police a list of people who might want to cause trouble for you?”
“No.”
“Then what was the point in speaking to them?” Devan sounded exasperated.
Just so they know. Because Vigge wanted me to. Because it would make him feel better.
“What about Max and Louise?” Devan asked.
Cato hesitated then told them about the request for a baby. “But once I’d wanked off into a jar, they wouldn’t need me anymore, so me getting a job in America would have suited them fine. Louise at least.”
“But not Max?” Devan asked.
“Possibly not. His interest is…lingering. What about the family? Do I tell them to be careful? How can I do that without upsetting or scaring them? I just tried to call Mum, but she didn’t answer, maybe because she didn’t recognise the number.”
“I’ll call her,” Devan said. “What time’s this concert on Wednesday?”
“Seven thirty.”
“Jonty and I will come. We’ll drive to Lower Wotton and take them to and from the venue. Leave tickets for us at the desk.”
“Thank you. Do you think I should tell them I didn’t send the tickets?”
“I’ll tell them,” Devan said. “And I’ll make sure they don’t say a thing and act as if everything is normal.”
“Okay.”
“We can meet Vigge,” Jonty said. “He is going to the concert, right? Bags I sit next to him.”
“You can’t talk while we’re playing,” Cato said quickly.
“I’ll mime.”
And despite everything, Cato laughed.
