Chapter Ten

Ethan

The stunned silence that followed Hugh’s shocking outburst was enough to almost floor me. Which was why it wasn’t surprising when Harry actually did collapse to the ground. The lack of surprise didn’t suppress the concern, fear, shock, horror or anger that drove through me, however. The onslaught of emotions was completely ovewhelming me.

I caught him just before he hit the ground, falling to my knees and resting his head in my lap. I felt my panic-mode switch on and I tried desperately to gather my thoughts and remain calm. Harry had just gone into extreme shock... he would be fine... I just needed to keep repeating this to myself.

Hugh rushed over too, kneeling at Harry’s feet – he was out like a light. I patted his cheek gently a few times, unable to make a sound. I couldn’t speak – it felt like a siren was screaming in my head and all coherent thoughts were shying away from the noise.

What the fuck was going on? I worried that if I opened my mouth I would start crying, and I hadn’t felt like that since Tom died – the mere possibility of that man going anywhere near Harry gave me thoughts so dark, I feared I would be imprisoned for even thinking them.

“Harry? Harry, come on – it’s all going to be fiiiine,” Hugh seemed to be drunker than I’d originally assumed and he was more of a hindrance than a help.

“Stop – stop!” I barked at him, holding my hands out over Harry protectively when he tried to shake his legs. I didn’t know who Hugh was or what his motives were. I just knew that I needed to bring Harry back to consciousness and get some answers from Hugh. I didn’t trust anyone, apart from Harry – Hugh would have a tough time getting a mere spectrum of trust from me.

“Harry? Harry please, please just open your eyes!” I patted his cheeks harder until one sharp accidental slap snapped his eyes open blearily.

He gazed around in a frenzied panic until he found my eyes, confusion and horror etched in them. “Please tell me it was a dream,” he whispered quietly after a couple of silent moments. I took his hand in mine before shaking my head, nodding towards Hugh, who had now fallen onto his ass and seemed to be holding onto Harry’s leg to keep himself upright.

I was about to angrily physically remove his hand from Harry but I didn’t have to. When Harry saw him he suddenly backed away as far as he could, putting himself behind me, a crazed, terrified look in his eye.

I only ever saw that look in his eye whenever I was in danger or injured. He never cared this much about himself – I’d never seen him look so scared. Then again, his father was enough to scare anyone, going by his files. And they only gave a brief overview of the hell he’d gone through.

Hugh had a pained look on his face and I knew he was trying to manage a coherent sentence. “No – no, Harry... no... You don’t have to be scared of me... I did this for you.” Hugh held his hands out as if that explained everything.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” I snapped, burying Harry further behind me. I had always wanted to protect him and it looked like he was finally letting me.

I shouldn’t have given Hugh that extra drink – it had set him off into a downward spiral of drunkenness. I couldn’t get a word out of him. We kept going round and round in circles, Hugh mumbling about how it had all been for Harry and that he would protect him.

Harry stayed completely silent throughout the entirety of the conversation, his hand clinging to mine. I was in charge now – nobody was going to get him unless they went through me.

Eventually, Hugh began nodding off against the banister of the stairs. We were all still in the same positions – Harry hidden behind me, his forehead pressed against my back. I assumed he was trying to control his breathing by the way I felt his chest rising and falling.

I knew I wouldn’t get any answers from Hugh tonight – he was too drunk and he could barely keep his eyes open, no matter how much I pestered.

“Harry, come on – I’ll talk to him in the morning. You need to get some rest,” I said gently, turning my body slowly so I could face him. I had to snap my mouth shut when I saw him, unsure if a gasp or a sob would escape once I saw the look in his eyes.

He was like a petrified deer with every headlight in the world shone upon him. I seemed to be the anchor keeping him above water as he clung to my hand tighter when I pulled back a little to look at him.

We couldn’t stay out here for the night but I certainly wasn’t giving Hugh the chance to get away.

“Look, you go into the master bedroom and get into bed – I’ll be into you in one second. I promise you. It’s all going to be okay,” I whispered with a slight wobble to my voice. He nodded faintly, his eyes stuck to mine.

He didn’t let go of my hand though. It seemed he was afraid to go anywhere alone.

We both stood, him not letting go of my hand until we were at the edge of the bed and he sunk into the mattress. His hands shook as he clung to the duvet I put over him. I smiled gently before turning to go back into the hallway and do something about Hugh.

“You’ll be back?” His voice was crackly and utterly broken. I felt my throat warm up and constrict as I pushed the lump back down it. I had to stay strong – he would stay strong for me, if the roles were reversed.

“I’d never leave, if that was what you wanted,” I replied, not a spectrum of a lie in my tone or my intention. That was the last time I would be soppy – I needed to be strong for Christ’s sake! I had to protect Harry at all costs.

Wordlessly, I walked to Hugh and slapped his face a few times, much harder than I had done to Harry. This guy was the reason the man I loved was shivering and shaking in bed right now – his reasons for telling us were not my concern at the moment, no matter how much he did it to ‘protect’ Harry.

When I realised he wouldn’t wake up even if I set off a machine gun by his ear, I decided on plan B.

Dragging him into the spare room in which I often slept, I lifted him onto the bed. I had a drawer in this room in which I kept a small amount of essentials. Opening it, I pushed aside the handgun and bullets, rooting in the back for what I wanted and what I knew I’d thrown in there, too.

When I found them I wasted no time – if Hugh woke up and found me with a pair of handcuffs, he would surely run. And I didn’t want to hurt him – not until I got every piece of information out of him, anyway.

I handcuffed his left hand to the strong steel railing of the bed, ensuring that he wouldn’t be able to escape. He never stirred and even started snoring. I locked the door to the bedroom, putting the key to the handcuffs and the door into my pocket. He was going nowhere.

I took a deep breath before re-entering the master bedroom. I knew that Hugh could be spewing total bullshit about Harry and his father – but I highly doubted it. The fact that he knew exactly who Harry was told me he had done his homework. There would be no reason to lie. If he’d wanted to hurt Harry, this was an extremely weird way to do it.

And he genuinely seemed to want to help Harry, which was strange. Help him against what? Was Harry’s father after him? I assumed so.

And that was the reality Harry and I needed to face.

I went to turn on the light to the bedroom but when I flicked the switch, nothing happened.

“The power is gone... I tried turning on the lamp,” Harry mumbled from the bed.

“What?” I strode over to the window and looked across the street, “Jennifer and Harvey’s lights are on. One second, I’ll be right back.”

“No, no stay – don’t go anywhere,” Harry said suddenly when I walked back to the door. He wasn’t hiding his fear and the fact that he wasn’t hiding how scared he was unnerved me.

“I have to check the fuse box. Harry, I promise I’ll be right back. Stay here.”

I couldn’t be emotional or soppy. I would be there for him undoubtedly, but when things needed to be done, I would do them. How could I protect him if I was snuggled up in bed with him, waiting for the bad guys to get us?

The power wouldn’t just go in this house – especially not if every other light was on in the street. There was something fishy going on.

The fuse box was located in the utility room at the back of the house. I grabbed the flashlight from the drawer in the hallway, shining it into every room. I had taken the handgun from the spare room drawer and it was nestled comfortingly in my back pocket.

I surveyed the utility room before heading for the box. When I opened it my blood turned cold. The power had been turned off.

I heard a creak behind me. The hair on the back of my neck stood upright, a nasty chill hugging my body. Somebody was behind me.

I stilled, numerous scenarios rushing through my mind and I knew I was running out of time.

Someone was edging their way towards me – I could hear their shaky breath.

There was no time to waste. Reaching for the gun in my pocket, I swung around quickly and pointed it, ready to fire.

I barely pulled my finger off of the trigger in time – I would have shot him had I not recognised the back of his head so well.

“Harry – what the fuck are you doing? I could have fucking shot you!” I exclaimed as Harry turned around to face me, a gun held in his hands too.

He had been backing into the room, his gun positioned and ready to shoot if, I assumed, anyone followed him.

“You can’t just take off like that – I didn’t know you had a fucking gun! I thought you came down here without protection... Look, we either go together or we don’t go at all. This shit is serious, Ethan. If someone had been down here, you were dead. Stop the heroics and just think, for fuck’s sake!” His voice was much steadier than when I had left him and I knew that his instincts were settling in, clouding his shock.

He was right, though. The power had been switched off and if I had been ambushed by a group of people, I wouldn’t have been able to escape alive.

“Okay – I’m sorry. I’ll be more careful,” I said quietly. Yes, I would protect Harry. But in order to do that, I did have to be more careful – he was right.

“Was it switched off?” he walked to the box.

“Don’t touch it – its evidence. My fingerprints have already compromised it enough. And yes, it’s switched off,” I said darkly. “We should leave it off and call the agency. If we tamper with the scene it could eliminate any fingerprints.”

We both headed upstairs again, but not after we both surveyed the house and ensured all alarms were working. I would have to contact Dawson immediately now that we had secured the location. There was no time for sleep.

Wait – Dawson...

Hadn’t the hidden microphones scattered around the house picked up the conversation we just had with Hugh? Why weren’t we receiving any phone calls? We had just been identified by our real names by a target – this always resulted in the operation being terminated.

Shouldn’t operatives be guiding us out through the back door and onto a hidden helicopter which would bring us back to base? Things weren’t happening the way they normally did... it had been an hour since our conversation with Hugh. There was a van parked up the street surveying the house – we should be in the sky right now.

I voiced this to Harry as we sat on the bed, our knees brushing off each other.

He looked puzzled for a minute until sudden realisation hit him. It was as if he had discovered the meaning of life.

“What?” I urged, unable to take my ignorance to the situation.

“There was no intruder.”

“What? How can you know this?”

He was swallowing hard and I knew that the shock was making a steady recovery. His face was paling by the second.

“It was Hugh. He turned off the power.”

When I still didn’t get it, he rolled his eyes in frustration and sighed.

“Think Ethan! No power means nothing was powering the cameras and microphones which means they weren’t working.”

Of course... No wonder we weren’t receiving any phone calls... They probably hadn’t even noticed they were off – probably assumed we were asleep and that was the reason for no noise?

No – that couldn’t be it.

Once the connection broke between the houses monitoring system and the computer base located in the van, the screens would all have gone blank from the cameras. Sure, you could excuse not noticing the microphones for a while. But the cameras?

Not unless the agent had fallen asleep on the job. It was pretty late – it was a plausible explanation?

Harry wasn’t convinced by it, though.

“We need to get some answers from Lawman,” his lip trembled slightly and I knew he was trying to be brave.

“Harry... I think you need to get on a helicopter back to base. I can deal with Hugh.” Things were getting too strange around here. First Grant killed himself, then the whole situation with Hugh happened and now, a breach in our system had gone unnoticed.

“No. Not until I get some answers.” He jutted his jaw out like he always did whenever he was determined on doing something. There was no convincing him – not until Hugh started talking, anyway.

“What about Dawson?” I asked. It was strange that I was asking Harry what to do – normally I took control of situations. But this situation was like no other. We would be playing by Harry’s rules for now... At least until I could get him safely back to the agency.

“If you ring them they won’t let me speak to Lawman. You know what their policy is on family members. No contact. I would never get any answers.” He gave me a pained look, “I know you might think it’s crazy but I have to know... I’m scared shitless, Ethan. I’d rather know my chances than just wait around for him to get me.”

There was a silence and I took his hand in mine again. He didn’t resist and even squeezed mine. “What if he isn’t back to kill you? What if he wants to make amends?” The section of the file on what happened after they found Harry all those years ago was inconclusive. Yes, he had been found injured. But why was he so sure his father was back to kill him?

Harry’s eyes went dark and his mouth tightened. “Trust me. If he got me, I wouldn’t be coming back.”

The thought made me shiver. Harry misunderstood it however and pulled the duvet over us. Tiredness hit me like a tonne of bricks once the warmth of the blanket covered me and it seemed to do the same to him. I knew I wouldn’t sleep, though.

“First thing we’ll talk to Hugh – waiting any longer would be too dangerous,” I stifled a yawn as I rested against the headboard, putting a pillow behind my back. Hugh wouldn’t have slept off his drunkenness for another few hours.

It was probably irresponsible to stay in the house knowing what we knew, but we had ensured the area was secure and all alarms worked independent of the power system in our home – we were safe for the time being.

Harry was lying next to me, his eyes wide open. I reached over to turn off the flashlight I had put on the bedside locker. It was probably futile trying to get him to sleep – I doubted Harry would feel safe closing his eyes anytime soon.

Once the darkness enveloped us, I heard a tiny gasp from Harry. I reached over to turn back on the flashlight but before I could, he edged over to me wordlessly and rested his head on my chest, laying his arm across my stomach.

The darkness must have shocked him.

My breath hitched in my throat and I couldn’t breathe or move for a while. My heartbeat started thumping loudly in my chest and my cheeks went rosy – I knew he could hear it.

I wanted to say something but I knew better. He was looking for the safety and comfort from his best friend – the person who loved him the most in this world. Saying something would make this into something it wasn’t.

“Night,” he whispered unexpectedly, his hot breath fanning against my chest. I could feel it through the thin layer of my shirt – we hadn’t bothered changing out of our clothes. It was the last thing on our minds.

I gulped and took a second to compose my voice. “Night, Taylor.”

After half an hour I heard small snores coming from him. I was shocked yet delighted that he managed to sleep. I didn’t sleep a wink, not moving a muscle as I kept my eyes on both the door and window. I had my hand resting on my gun beside me on the bed.

Nobody was going to harm him.

When Harry woke a few hours later, the early morning sun was filtering in through the curtains. I guessed it was about five in the morning.

“Shit – how long was I asleep?” Harry grumbled, sitting up and wiping his eyes. The breaking of contact between us left me feeling cold and lonely.

“About three hours,” I answered, getting up out of the bed.

Harry nodded and watched me take off my shirt, replacing it with a black t-shirt – time to get down to business. I needed to get my head in order. Three hours of watching Harry sleep whilst preparing to gun down any possible intruders had taken its toll on me.

But I didn’t have time for that. Hugh Lawman was sleeping in a room across the hall, handcuffed to the bed. And he had a lot of questions to answer.

“You ready?” I asked Harry after he had changed his clothes too, stuffing his shaking hands into his pockets. I wanted to reach out and take them in mine, hold them until the stilled.

He didn’t answer and instead nodded meekly.

“Okay – let’s do this.”

We barged into the room where Hugh was still sleeping.

I walked and kneeled beside him, placing my voice by his ear. “Rise and shine, Hugh – we’ve some things we need to ask you.”

-       -

It was another two hours after we’d questioned Hugh until we got a phone call about our power being off. I had expected Dawson himself to call us but instead, it was a Level-B agent who sounded like he had been on the job less than a week.

Obviously they weren’t taking the power outage seriously.

“Agent Moore, we’re receiving reports that your power has been switched off – we cannot receive any data from your residence.”

I laughed into the phone casually. “Are you serious? I just got up, I didn’t even notice! One second, let me check.”

I walked to the utility room where the power box was and opened it.

“You’re right, it’s off! I bet some drunk fool did it last night at our party as a prank – I have a feeling it was Harvey or Kyle,” I chuckled, “we had been talking about how much people relied on electricity these days and they probably did it as a joke... I’ll call them up and ask after this!”

“Are you sure, agent? We’re aware there was a high-profile suicide last night. One of the suspects – Grant Jefferson.” Finally they had mentioned Grant – I had begun to think the agency had forgotten all about him.

“Yes, very tragic. We’re looking into it.” I assured him.

“Okay, sir. If you could switch back on your power, things will begin to run smoothly again in a matter of minutes. We apologise for the delayed warning, we were only made aware of the broken connection minutes ago.”

“Why was that, as a matter of interest?” I questioned, trying to keep my tone casual and light as I flicked back on the power switch. I started walking back towards the kitchen.

The agent on the phone was silent for a moment and I could hear him ruffling through paper in the background.

“One of our guys fell asleep on the job – well, he’s not one of our guys anymore,” he laughed.

I frowned until I realised I should laugh along too. “Okay, well, have a good day.”

“You too, Agent. Stay safe.” The phone went silent.

That went easier than I’d expected.

I went back to where I had been sitting at the kitchen table before I took the phone call. We had all been waiting for it.

I nodded at Harry and Hugh who were sitting across from each other, drinking takeaway coffee Hugh had supposedly brought with him when he called over this morning.

Well, that was what the agency would think, anyway.

“So, Nate, when are we going to have that game of tennis? I’ve been asking for weeks, man!” Hugh grinned at Harry, reaching over and punching him playfully on the shoulder.

Harry smiled broadly and rolled his eyes. “Patience, Hugh. Patience! I’m a busy man, you know!”

They began bantering back and forth across the table – a truly remarkable sight.

It was strange hearing Harry call Hugh by his first name instead of ‘Lawman’ like he normally did. But from now on, things were going to be very different. Harry’s relationship with Hugh was only the beginning of the changes.

Knowing the things that we now knew, the mission had changed.

And so had our loyalties.

Hi guys, sorry for the delay in this chapter – I had an entirely different one written until I completely changed what I was going to do so I had to rewrite it.

Things are getting mysterious and shady... I’m hoping more exciting and interesting too?!

Anyway, vote and comment and thank you all so much for helping this story reach 20,000 reads!! I’m flabbergasted!

I've chosen the song 'I'll Stand by You' for this chapter as I feel like it fits their relationship perfectly at this point in time. Also, the image on the right shines a small light into the mind of Harry..

Happy reading!

-O.