Page 119 of Everything That Kills Me
“A couple of weeks, then Thomas flew me to Switzerland to recover.”
“Did the explosion have anything to do with why you’re in hiding? Did the people who were looking for you, find you?”
“Yes.” Jack didn’t like lying, but it was an easier and more acceptable explanation.
“Oh God. I’m so sorry.”
“I survived.” Jack shrugged.
“And did you manage to do the job you’d gone to do for Thomas before it happened?”
“I did.”
“You might have died,” Zeph whispered.
“I’m hard to kill.”
“If you were in hospital for a couple of weeks, then you were badly hurt. What injuries did you have?”
Jack told him and watched Zeph’s face pale.
“All this time I’ve been annoyed with you…and you were recuperating. I feel terrible. But you could have got in touch. You know my number.”
“If they’d found you through my phone… I’d never have forgiven myself. I’m not supposed to see you anymore.”
“But here you are.” Zeph snuggled against him.
Here I am.
Moments later, Zeph was asleep again, tucked into Jack’s side.
He worried he’d told him too much. But even if he managed to find out about the explosion in Cannes, Zeph had no idea about the house in the small village in Switzerland. It was one of the few places where Thomas felt reasonably safe. The chalet was in an isolated spot without a conventional alarm system because Thomas didn’t want the police snooping around if it was set off.
But the security system was extensive. Motion sensor linked cameras and microphones that only began recording four minutes after being tripped, so an intruder sweeping with electronic devices wouldn’t find any and assume they were free to continue. The building was constructed with reinforced steel, the glass was bulletproof and there was an escape tunnel. It was as near as Thomas could get to a last retreat. To Jack it felt like a self-imposed prison. There was a starkness to it. Practical but bunkerlike. Even so, Jack had recovered there in comfort, walking a little further every day until he was able to run, then climb and last week, ski on a glacier.
Thomas had spared no expense in putting him back together.
When Zeph woke, he smiled. “You’re still here.”
“Very observant.”
“I have some questions.”
“Okay.”
“How long can you stay?”
“Thomas is expecting me for Christmas. I assume Martin and Paulo are expecting you too.”
“Yes. I’ve had an extension on the time I can stay in college though, because I need to use the computer lab. So you can’t whisk me off to Barbados. I have to work.” Zeph gave a tentative grin.
“I’ll get a refund on the tickets. I’d booked business class as well. I assume you won’t work all day, every day?”
“I might be able to squeeze you in.”
Jack laughed. “That’s good to know.”
“Did you pay my tuition fees?”
