Page 84 of Tell No One
Men like Delaney didn’t have boyfriends.Especially not ones like me.
Delaney rolled his neck and closed his eyes as he pushed back from his laptop. There’d been a lot of data on that USB. Some of it he couldn’t make any sense of, though he’d kept trying. The stuff concerning the regular business at Harborne House was clear-ish: the weddings, wakes, mud races, murder-mystery weekends and the rest. But Delaney still read it all, just in case. Most of what happened on those occasions seemed above board, but the yearly planner had dates crossed off in black where nothing had been written. Since the weekend of the pony party was one that was crossed off, it wasn’t hard to figure out that what took place at those times wasn’t above board.
He hadn’t found any mention of Prince Ahsan. The details of all the guests who’d been at the pony play were there. He’d already been through it once, but went through it again.
This sort of investigative work wasn’t Delaney’s forte. He suspected that the Concorde House team had made easier work of it than him. He also suspected that Norbury wasn’t stupid enough to keep anything on a computer that could lead to him going to prison. Delaney was probably wasting his time. While Tag was out of the house, he lay on the couch where he could see the front door, and called Rafiq.
“Hi,” Rafiq said.
“Everything okay?” Delaney asked.
“Ahsan isn’t with me so no, but I went where you told me to go, did what you told me to do and I wasn’t followed. Has anything happened?”
“Not yet. I’ve not heard from Norbury or the Master.”
“They must still be looking for Tag. Are they likely to find him?”
“No.”
Rafiq sighed. “I know I should be happy for Tag’s sake but unless I can find out where Ahsan is being kept, I have no chance of rescuing him.”
Delaney didn’t give him much chance of managing that on his own anyway.
“I’ve bought a used car. I’m still worried that Saad’s just going to turn up and make me disappear. At least having a car gives me a chance.” Rafiq let out a shaky exhalation. “I miss Ahsan so much and I can’t stop thinking about what they might be doing to him.”
Delaney could offer little reassurance. The best he could manage was “Don’t give up hope.”
“I’ll never do that.”
The next call was to Feely.
“Vadim! How are you?”
“Busy, busy. Just wonder if you lay your hands on that little fucker yet?”
“No, but we’re considering doing something a little different. More than one target. Are you still interested?”
“I wish one was that little shit but yes. Interested. Where and when?”
“In the next week or so. Maybe we’ll be able to find Tag in the meantime. I’ll be in touch.”
The call ended.
He checked in with Henry, putting the call on speaker as he stretched.
“How are you?” Henry asked.
“Frustrated. I don’t like waiting for something to happen. I prefer to make it happen.”
Henry laughed.
“How’s the deconstruction of the USB going?” Delaney asked.
“Norbury’s been careful. His extracurricular activities would raise eyebrows but proving he strayed into illegality is looking tricky. Sex clubs aren’t illegal. Though some well-known figures ought to have had more sense. They’ve set themselves up for blackmail.”
“What about the hunts?”
“Obviously, they’re a different matter, but so far we’ve found nothing that mentions them. There’s some hidden, encrypted stuff that’s being gone through, but I’m not holding my breath. Have you heard from them?”
