It's Who You Know Ch. 05

Darren scowled back.

"Stop your grumpy shit and tell me what the fuck happened."

Darren explained the meeting again, and what had happened when the police turned up. Jackson took it in without batting an eyelid. All in a day's work, right?

"Aggravated assault? And it was self defence?"

"Yes."

"We're gonna get him out of this a breeze."

"Can you call up the department and make it fast?"

"Yes. And this unconscious man?"

"Long gone."

"You didn't get his wallet for me or anything?"

"No. For fuck sake, Jackson."

"I bet he's going to wake with amnesia and not tell me anything useful."

Darren let out a long sigh. "I suppose you can just stick needles under his fingernails and have him miraculously remember."

"Hey, now."

"I have information on them. It's all yours. You'll get your names. They even had to sign in at reception when they arrived."

"They could have given everything fake. Don't worry, I can make some calls and get myself an audience with this man. Zack's made this easy for me."

"Be warned that he willingly stayed behind so the others could escape."

"How very noble. Don't worry, they always talk."

Holy shit. What was I listening to? Was Jackson really a private investigator and not just some shady criminal? They sounded partly sarcastic with each other, but still. I was in a movie. I was in a fucking movie and I was going to wake up from a really weird dream very soon.

I had an escape to clear my head, because of the time.

"Darren, I need to go pick up David."

He looked at me for a split second with eyes that begged me not to go, but he nodded.

"You'll be okay?" I asked.

"Don't worry," Jackson said. "Your boyfriend is very safe with me." He leant his arms on the desk and studied Darren. "We should get you out of here, get you back to yours while I make some calls."

I gave Darren another hug, not giving a damn about the scrutinising eyes of Jackson, then headed for the door.

"Tyler. This stays zipped."

I looked around.

"Not a word to anybody, anywhere," Jackson continued.

"What do I say when I'm asked questions? I'm management."

"Somebody started a fight on Zack. That is all." His eyes were sharp. The creases of his frown were intimidating. He didn't feel like a man I would get on with under any normal circumstances.

I left with my head spinning.

*

I was late to the school. He was still at school, right? Not some daycare? His summer holidays hadn't started yet? At least I missed the mums' 4-by-4's bad traffic. Damn it, where would David be? He wasn't waiting in the playground, there was hardly anybody around anymore. They must have taken him inside into some after-school club.

I went in to the reception and tried to explain the situation. I felt shifty as fuck. I wasn't even a blood relative, were they going to hand this child over to me? Bet they wouldn't think twice if I was a woman. Luckily, they had my name and number down somewhere as an emergency contact to prove I was legitimate. The lady behind the glass never said anything to suggest that she was questioning it, but I watched her eyes looking through her computer screen.

"We tried ringing his mother," she said. "Her phone was off. Is everything all right?"

"Yes, yes. Just a hectic day. Things getting a bit muddled."

A teacher brought David in, who ran over and hugged my knee, gabbling away in excitement. I crouched down to answer his chatter. "Where's Mum?" he asked.

"She has to stay at work with Dad."

The receptionist gave me one of those smiles that women often give to men who're being cute with children, then I took my leave. David rushed out the door ahead of me.

He was one of those kids who never wanted to hold your hand. He didn't want you to tie his shoelaces, he didn't want you to help him put on his blazer, he didn't want you to carry his bags for him. He had to do everything himself. He was also one of those kids who liked running off ahead and nearly gave me heart attacks.

"Kid!" I barked. He charged blindly into the carpark with cars moving around. For fuck sake. He found my Camaro in an instant then came charging back to me, wanting my keys to unlock it.

Sitting inside with him doing his own seatbelt, I realised I didn't know what to do next. I had the kid. Now what? I didn't have a key to Zack and Amelia's house on me. Were they still at the police station? I really wanted to check up on Darren. I pulled out my phone and started texting him.

David was watching me quietly. The one thing I knew about kids was that they weren't as stupid as people thought. He was perfectly aware that things were unusual today, and I hoped he wasn't picking up on too many vibes from me. I had childhood memories of adults holding conversations around me which they thought I couldn't understand. I had understood just fine.

"You're at home with Jackson?" I texted Darren.

"Yes."

"Can I come around with David?"

"Yes."

I looked down into David's big green eyes. "Kid. You want to go around Uncle Darren's?"

He beamed, and looked at me with surprise. "You know Uncle Darren?!"

"Yeah."

He sat buzzing in his seat the whole drive. A little damn Amelia. So much energy. I explained to him how I knew Uncle Darren now, because I had started working at the same place as Mum and Dad. He was grinning ear to ear as I pulled up by the gates of the house. I leant out my window to enter the code on the number pad.

Jackson's car was parked beside the Lamborghini. A suave black saloon that couldn't have been more of a cliche for a man like him. David was better behaved when we got out and didn't go charging off ahead for once. Lucky, too, because as we approached the front door I saw it had already been opened and left ajar for us - the moment we stepped inside David tried to run off into the lounge, towards the voices.

"Hey, kid!" I barked again. "Uncle Darren's busy talking with someone. You can see him in a bit."

He frowned at me, but didn't protest. I wasn't sure if he was actually supposed to be seeing a black-eyed Uncle Darren at all, but what the hell. There was no way I was letting him within earshot of anything Jackson said. He followed me around the other side of the house. I let out Amanda, then took both of them into the gardens to play.

That dog was a life saver. I don't think anything else could have kept David entertained for so long and without question. It actually took my mind off things for a little while too. At some point my phone vibrated with a text from Darren.

"You can bring him inside now. It's okay."

"Your face?"

"Meh."

Wow. 'Meh'. Who were you and what had you done with Darren?

David bounded into the lounge beside Amanda. It both amused and disappointed me to see him behave a little more timid around Darren. There was no excited bundling and babbling like he did with me. He stood there a little shyly until Darren said hello. I wasn't sure if it was the black eye, or if this was normal. Maybe it was also Jackson's presence.

The difference was amplified when I sat down on the sofa beside Darren, and the kid jumped straight on me, trying to climb onto my lap. Knee in my balls like always.

"Doesn't he look like his parents?" Jackson said. "Holy-" He cut himself off.

David was uneasy. He pressed into my chest and gave Jackson an appraising look I was certain he'd learnt from Zack. I almost laughed. You don't expect to see that from a 5 year old. "Who're you?"

"I'm a friend of your Uncle Darren."

David looked around at Darren. "What happened to your eye? Are you hurt?"

"Yes," Darren said bluntly. "That's why Tyler's here to look after me."

That seemed to work. He shifted more comfortably on my lap and I tousled his hair.

"Anyways," Jackson said. "I'm off. I'll call you later."

With him gone, David clambered off me and moved across the sofa, curiously studying Darren. His little voice piped into usual chatter, Darren smiled and returned it. With the kid distracted I went into the kitchen to call Amelia, praying her phone was on and that she would pick up.

Yes. She did.

"Oh, Tyler," she started.

"What's going on there?"

"Do you have David?"

"Yeah, I got him, and we're round Darren's."

"How is Darren?"

"He's fine. Jackson just left here, I think he's coming to you. What's going on?"

"They want to keep Zack in overnight. It's ridiculous. They want me gone but I'm not going anywhere. I don't know what Jackson can do, but I hope he can do something."

"Do you actually know what happened?"

"Yes, I was right here as Zack told the police everything." She sighed. "Are you staying there tonight? Can you keep David with you?"

"Don't think it'll be a problem."

"Put me on speaker and let me talk to him."

I took the phone into the lounge and did so, and the kid looked visibly comforted to hear his mother's voice after the strange day he was having.

"David, honey, you're being good for Uncle Darren aren't you? No running in his house."

He giggled sheepishly. "Yes..."

"Would you like to sleep over there with Uncle Tyler?"

"Aren't you coming home?"

"Yes but me and Daddy are going to be very late. You'll have to be in bed by the time we're home."

"Okay."

"Be a good boy sweetie. Love you!"

So I ended up cooking for both Darren and David. Then we sat with him between us on the sofa, watching nature documentaries which were his favourite thing in the world. He especially loved anything to do with the Amazon Rainforest. It was a strange evening of us both being tense and distracted and trying to put on a normal face for the kid. His chatter quietened and he started falling asleep against my side around 9pm. I nudged him and stroked his hair.

"Hey, kid. Shouldn't you go to bed?"

Getting him to go to bed any time I babysat in his own house could be a performance. He would appear to do as he was told, but he'd sneak out and you'd find him somewhere random 10 minutes later.

"I'm not tired yet," he said, blinking bleary-eyed at the TV.

"But you get the room with the giant mirror," Darren said.

He bolted up and started to swing off the sofa, nearly landing on a sleeping Amanda.

"Why don't you go upstairs and get ready for bed," I said.

"I don't have my pyjamas."

"No, but you know what grown-ups do? They sleep in their boxer shorts."

He grinned and disappeared. I went into the kitchen with Darren on my tail.

"It won't kill him to not brush his teeth for one night, will it?" I asked.

"Can always give him some gum," Darren replied.

"Gum? As a substitute for brushing teeth? We're the worst fucking parents."

He chuckled. Jesus Christ, I think it was the first happy sound I'd heard from him all day. I turned to him and his hand slid around my neck, pulling me into a kiss. I pressed into him, gripped his waist. We finally had a moment alone.

"Uncle Tyler?"

Shit.

I pulled back in an instant, but David had seen. Staring with that confused kid-face. "Do you love each other?"

What the fuck was I supposed to do?

"Yes," Darren said, as bluntly as ever.

"But you're boys." David's eyes went a little wider. "Are you gonna get married?!"

Oh shit. No, no. This wasn't supposed to be happening. Were Zack and Amelia going to kill me? I had no idea how much David knew about things like this, but he was just too young.

"Maybe," Darren continued.

"Kid," I said, finally finding my voice. "You don't look ready for bed."

"But I'm thirsty."

"No, you know what Mum said, you can't have milk before bed anymore because it gives you bad dreams." No, don't pull the cute face. For fuck sake. This wasn't even my kid and he could make my heart melt. "Okay, fine. Just tonight, because it's a special night."

He beamed and ran upstairs. I took a glass up, kneeling beside the bed and trying to encourage him to drink faster while he just kept talking.

"Do I have to go to school tomorrow?"

"Yes."

He frowned at me over the rim of the glass. "Is Mum going to pick me up?"

"Yes."

"Is Mum okay? Is she hurt like Uncle Darren?"

"No, Mum's fine." Zack wasn't though, shit. What did he look like now? I took the empty glass, tucked David in, and kissed his forehead. "You call me if you need me."

"Okay."

I headed for the door.

"Uncle Tyler?"

"Yes?"

"Are you okay?"

Jesus Christ, this kid. "I'm fine." I flashed him a grin before I switched off the light. "Sleep tight."

Darren wasn't downstairs anymore. I found him in his room, laying on his back, hands over his face as if to block out the light. "Jackson still hasn't called," he said as he heard me coming in.

"Which means?"

"He's not been successful yet in whatever he's doing."

"Still some hours until the evening's over. Do you wanna sleep? You look exhausted. Give me your phone, I'll take it if he calls."

Darren gave it a feeble toss across the bed. "Don't answer a single other number unless it's Lia or Zack."

"Who might call?"

"Anybody and everybody if any word about this is already getting around." He started to unbutton his shirt and I watched each item of clothing come off. Black-eyed and tense with stress, he was still gorgeous. I clambered across the bed to rub his back and he rolled onto his stomach.

"You know how to open the gate from inside if Jackson comes again?" he asked.

"Yeah." His body was relaxing beneath my hands, and I leant down to kiss between his shoulder blades. "If you want some loving, if it'll help you feel better, let me know."

He let out a deep, contented sigh, but a faint voice was calling my name elsewhere in the house.

"Uncle Tyler!"

I swore and Darren bounced with a chuckle.

"Not tonight, Ty. You're too loud anyways and I don't want David hearing that."

I kissed down his spine, then went to see what the kid wanted.

---

Darren

My alarm went off, but I wasn't sure if I was getting up and going in. Tyler's body pressed against mine and I rolled over to bury my head in his chest. The stress and anxiety was filling me the moment I was awake. I only felt as though I'd shut my eyes for a few minutes, and the whole night had passed.

We laid there for a while before Tyler started to stir. "I gotta take David to school."

"Yeah. Did Jackson call?"

"No."

"Fucking hell."

He kissed me on the bruised side of my face. It hurt to the touch. How bad did I look?

I heard David's squeaky voice, sounds around the house, the front door shutting. Tyler's car engine growling outside. I must have dozed off again because I was awoken by a call. Finally.

"What's happening?" I asked Jackson.

"They kept Zack in overnight, couldn't stop that." He sounded even gruffer than normal. "I finally convinced Amelia to go home and she let me crash on her couch. I need you to come in and make a statement, and we can probably get Zack out. I want to get him to hospital, he took a battering, he's not all right but he's hiding it."

"You're posing as his lawyer?"

"Posing? I'm qualified. Little mister unconscious dickhead woke up and wants to press charges, so Zack is pressing charges back. Load of bollocks. I can probably talk to the man this afternoon and convince him to drop the charges so Zack can drop his, and then this will all blow over."

I rubbed my brow and checked the time. 09:40. Not as late as I thought.

"Do you need me to come pick you up or can your boyfriend bring you?" he asked.

"I wish you wouldn't say that like you're taking the piss."

"I'm sorry, I just think it's kinda cute."

"Don't."

"Okay."

"I think he can bring me. I'll call you back if not."

I didn't actually know where Tyler was, but when I went downstairs I could already smell something cooking. I still wasn't quite used to this - he had my keys, knew the security codes, could come and go as he pleased, in and out of my private space as he pleased. Normally it'd grate on me, feel like intrusion that I hadn't welcomed, but I didn't mind. I quite liked it.

"You're too good to me," I said, watching him toss some scrambled egg over the stove. His head spun to me in surprise.

"You were supposed to stay in bed. I was gonna bring this up."

"Jackson called. Can you take me down to the station?"

"Sure." He flashed me a grin. "Eat this fast."

I felt so incredibly drained during the drive. I was trying to conjure up everything to say in my statement, organising it in my head, hoping it would align with whatever Zack had told them. I needed to get Zack out of there. The raw loyalty of the man was stunning. He had put himself in the way of nearly every punch thrown at me. He had been knocked to the floor, thrown and battered around, and he had returned it onto his assailants just as much. There were only chaotic flashes of the fight in my mind and I almost couldn't remember what had happened.

Perhaps Zack's ferocious violence should have scared me, but I felt a strangely sick satisfaction that a man like him was on my side. Now I needed to do my part and pick up the pieces.

Jackson was waiting outside, grimacing with every inhale on his cigarette. He looked like shit. I think everyone looked like shit. Amelia was sitting on a bench inside, hair tied up in a messy ponytail, dark bags beneath her eyes. She leapt up and seized me in a hug when I entered.

Police officers accosted me and I was led away to a room to give my statement. Lots of Mr. Sörensen this, Mr. Sörensen that. Typical etiquette that they gave to a man in a suit, only marred by my glaring black eye. After I had told them about the fight, they started asking about Jackson, and if I could give them a description of the three men who had escaped. I offered them CCTV footage from my company's complex. It stopped the questions fast.

After a fifteen minute wait on the bench with Amelia and Tyler, whatever I said and whatever Jackson was doing, worked in getting Zack out. They brought him in to us and I inhaled sharply, struck with sudden guilt. He looked a state, still in the same bloody clothes from yesterday, bruises on his face and busted knuckles.

He wasn't walking quite right. He winced when Amelia held him. His breaths were shallow and there was a stoop to his posture.

"Lia," Jackson said. "Get him to hospital."

"Jackson,"' Zack growled.

"Your rib is fucking broken. You're not going anywhere else."

Tyler went livid. He started on the officers, voice getting louder and higher as his anger grew, erupting from his throat in an incredulous tone. "What the fuck is your problem? You kept him in a cell overnight when he's in this state?! How are you allowed to get away with this shit?!"

Jackson watched him with raised brows, then looked at me as if I was supposed to do something about it.

What a fucking mess. I nearly had to drag Tyler out the door while he shouted and swore. Amelia tried to assist Zack's staggering gait but he wouldn't accept any of it. He opened the passenger door to her car and sat inside with a loud snarl of pain. Tyler kicked over a bin and stormed off to his own car.

Jackson pinched the bridge of his nose at the scattered litter, then crossed his arms and stared at me. "Your boy's got a bit of a temper."

"Zack's his best friend," I replied.

"I see. Shared history, then?"

"Yes."

I think Jackson shook his head at me as I went over to Tyler's car. I couldn't be bothered with it, didn't want his judgements. Tyler and I needed to make a show at work that afternoon, try to sort some things out. I already had messages from Harry, asking where the four of us were, how bad things were, what was going on.

*

The worst was yet to come. Jackson needed to do his job, investigating the entire ordeal and finding out if it was in any way linked to the lead he had been chasing up.

He was a man who could act so open and friendly with you, yet keep every inch of information you could ever want to know entirely out of grasp. Sometimes I felt that he absolutely despised myself and my family, and only worked for us because we paid him so handsomely. He got a nice chunk from Amelia, too, for wiping Zack's slate clean so quickly and effectively.