Aden trudged along the lane with his bag on his shoulder. When he heard a vehicle behind him, he moved to the side of the road. Setting out on a journey to nowhere when it was starting to snow wasn’t one of his brightest moves, but when had he ever done the smart thing? The vehicle passed without stopping, not Brody’s car, and Aden’s spirits fell further.

He might be regretting it now, but he’d decided to leave for the right reasons—aside from the not minor detail of Brody telling him to fuck off. It had always been a long shot that Brody would believe him, but Aden hadn’t wanted to lie, not anymore.

Better that Brody hadn’t come after him, even if his tired, cold body disagreed. He had no idea what had happened at the vet practice on Sunday. Animals had got better because of him? Rita thought so and if the TV people were nosing around and decided he was some sort of miracle worker, Aden’s command to stay unnoticed was shot to pieces. His name and face would be plastered all over the TV and he’d be heading for hell faster than he could blink.

The only thing he could do was disappear. The story would die down. Another explanation would be found for the pets that recovered, and Aden could slip back into obscurity for the days he had left. Alternatively, he could use whatever power he’d been given and try and help as many people and animals as he could. Maybe he could slip into hospitals and work miracles. Or were his good deeds something that Raphael had engineered to keep him with Brody? Aden didn’t know how much of what had happened since he’d returned had been down to chance or a result of two bickering guys trying to best the other. How much was real? He had no idea.

Aden had thought that telling Brody he’d killed his mother would have raised questions, but Brody hadn’t asked anything, just pressed him about the job. Despite Brody pushing him away, Aden couldn’t walk out of the guy’s life because there was still a problem to deal with. The teacher. Until Aden was sure Matt was no threat, he wasn’t going far. If he managed nothing else, he wanted to leave Brody with a bright future.

When he reached the main road, he turned right toward Caterham. The snow was settling and he pulled his coat tighter around his neck. He had gloves, but no hat and his ears were cold. When he found a sheltered spot, he’d call Matt on Brody’s phone, though he needed to think carefully about what to say. Leave him the fuck alone or I’ll… What? Aden had no money to bribe him though he knew that wouldn’t have worked. Threatening revelation to the right people might.

Gently falling snow suddenly switched to a swirling blizzard and Aden gasped for breath as biting wind and icy flakes struck him head on. Shit, it’s like the arctic. Not that he’d been to the arctic. He’d never been out of the country. After struggling for a few hundred yards in near white-out conditions, he was exhausted and frozen. He climbed over a gate into a field and crouched shivering in a sheltered spot at the bottom of a hedge, his back to the vicious wind.

When he pulled the phone from his pocket, the feathers flying out too, he saw five missed calls from Brody and ignored them, one from Des and he ignored that too. Brody said he’d changed his number so Matt wouldn’t recognize it, but Aden suspected the guy would answer any call from a number he didn’t know in case it was Brody. Aden had a plan, not much of one, but something.

Matt answered almost instantly. “Hello?”

“This is the guy you tried to kill. The one in the bath, in case there are others.” Oh shit. Maybe there were others.

Matt laughed. “I assumed I’d failed when I saw nothing in the paper.”

“The police could be monitoring this call.”

“But they’re not. If you thought you could have me arrested, you’d have reported me. Didn’t Brody believe you? Ahh, never mind.”

Fucking arsehole. “I’d like to meet you. Well, maybe like is a bit strong. I need to meet you.”

“I don’t think so.”

“I want to talk about Brody.”

“Does he know?”

“No. I’m calling from his phone. I’ve borrowed it.” Please make the jump. You’re a bright guy.

“So he kept my number?”

Thank you. “Yes.” Aden tried to put a note of disappointment in his voice. “Christ knows why.”

Matt exhaled.

“Will you meet me?” Aden asked.

“I’m not coming out on a night like this. You can come to me.”

“I don’t have transport until tomorrow.”

“I’ll call you in the morning.”

Aden switched off the phone, put it in his pocket and pulled the gloves back on. It was surprisingly sheltered in the lee of the hedge. At least he wasn’t getting snow-blasted. Faced with a long walk into Caterham and nowhere to stay when he got there, Aden was reluctant to move, though for a few minutes he pulled feathers out of his pockets and scattered them over him. When he realised it would take him hours to get any depth of protective covering, he gave in and snuggled deeper into the hedge. While this blizzard raged, he was better off where he was. As soon as it died down, he’d set off again and when he reached the edge of the town, he’d find a garage or outhouse to break into.

The snowflakes settled on Aden’s coat and legs. They were as big as pound coins and didn’t melt. He curled up tighter, leaning against his bag, shivering as icy splinters licked at his cheeks, the chill gradually creeping through his coat and shirt onto his skin, into his body, into his heart.

He opened his bag, took out a T-shirt from under the crumpled Armani jacket, and wrapped it around his head. He wished he’d never seen the damn suit. He’d been tempted and fallen. Fucking Dante.

Aden had changed since he’d come back, but had he changed enough? Dante said he was selfish, conceited, conniving, a liar, a thief. That he drank too much, took too many drugs and fucked too many guys. Aden had hardly drunk anything. Not taken any drugs. He’d only fucked Brody. He’d let Brody fuck him. That wasn’t being selfish. Okay, he’d stolen the phone and told some lies but in the grand scale of things, he’d done it for the right reasons. When he did tell the truth, he wasn’t believed.

He’d been patient and kind. He could have refused to hold Leah, but he hadn’t. If wishes counted, he really wished he could make her better. He’d learned something about caring and love though probably not enough to satisfy Raphael. But he hadn’t used Brody. He couldn’t stop worrying about him. He was glad Brody hadn’t fallen in love with him. It alarmed Aden to think that after all Brody had been through, these last eleven days might have added to his problems.

At this moment, Brody was probably wishing he’d never met him. Maybe that was for the best. Given time, on another planet, in another universe, they could have had something that might have lasted. Maybe they’d even have come to love one another. Aden bit his lip. He cared more for Brody than he’d ever cared for anyone or anything. That had to stand for something.

His gloves were soaked now. So was his T-shirt hat. He ought to get up and keep moving, but he was so tired. Funny that he didn’t feel cold anymore, his shivers gone. He was just sleepy and exhausted and aching. Maybe if he closed his eyes for a while…

 

When Brody’s neighbours returned, he shot outside to see where they’d taken Aden only to discover they hadn’t driven him anywhere. Brody cursed himself for wasting time, climbed into his car and drove around in worsening conditions. When he couldn’t see more than a few yards in front of him, and he was in danger of getting stuck, or sliding into a ditch, he returned to the cottage.

He kept calling Aden from Karen’s phone, but it went straight to voicemail. Brody had lost count of how many messages he’d sent, how many voicemails he’d left. He tried to sleep, but images of Aden struggling in the snow kept sliding into his mind. Anger and guilt swirled tighter and faster inside him with each passing hour. His own personal tornado. He was pissed off with Aden for leaving and pissed off with himself for what he’d said, and the way he’d acted. But to drop a bombshell like that—I killed my mother—and then fuck off… But Brody knew he’d cocked up his response to what Aden had said. He ought to have asked him more and instead he’d veered off into that stuff about the job.

How can I put everything right?

Brody dozed off and on, and woke the next morning to a white world. As he stared out of the bedroom window at the heavy fall of snow, Karen’s phone played its little jingle. He snatched it from his pocket, then sighed in disappointment.

“Hi, Henrik.”

“At last. When you didn’t answer, I called Des. He gave me this number. What’s happened to your phone?”

“Aden has it.”

“What the fuck did you give it to him for? How am I supposed to contact you? Have you seen the TV? Where is Aden?”

“Slow down. What’s happened?”

“Watch the local news and call me back.”

Brody went into the living area, put on the TV and turned on his laptop. He’d just typed Tandridge news into Google when the BBC news moved from national to local, and he listened with growing dismay. A clip of him and Henrik was shown, taken from the TV series. There was no shot of Aden but he was described as the one who’d made the animals well. The word miracle was used. An outside broadcast team stood in the snow outside the practice. He called Henrik.

“Shit,” Brody said.

“Yeah. Shit. I’m standing upstairs looking down at the vultures. Only Cindy’s arrived so far and she had to run a gauntlet of questions. I’ve called the others to tell them if they manage to get here through the snow, to say nothing. If I find they have, I’ll sack them. It’s almost fortunate the roads are bad. You should stay away. I’m going to cancel all non-urgent appointments. I don’t want people arriving and expecting a wonder-cure.”

“How’s Odin?”

“Acting like a two year old. I know it’s impossible. I know Aden isn’t Dr. Dolittle, but something happened. Not just to Odin. So where is Aden?”

“I don’t know. We had words and he left last night.”

“Bad words?”

“Nothing that can’t be put right, but he’s not given me the chance.”

“Expect to get besieged. I warned Des. The press will be on their way to you whether they think you’re there or not. They want Aden and they won’t stop until they find him.”

Brody groaned. “Is Rita coming in, by any chance?”

“No. She called to say she couldn’t get her car out of the drive. Why?”

Brody hesitated.

“Why did you ask?”

“She came here last night with her husband and her daughter. She wanted Aden to hold Leah.”

Henrik gave a heavy sigh. “She thought he could cure her cystic fibrosis?”

“Yes.”

“And did he?”

“I’ve no idea.”

“If she gets better, he’ll never be left alone. Contact me if anything changes.”

Brody ended the call and switched off the TV. Had Aden done all that? What if Leah got better? None of this made sense. He put on his coat and boots, grabbed his hat and gloves, locked up and headed across to the farmhouse.

Karen opened the door. “Are you okay?”

“You’ve seen the news?” he asked.

She nodded. “Where is he?”

“I don’t know. He’s not answering my calls.”

“Come in. Have you had breakfast?”

“Not hungry.”

“You have to eat. I’ll feed you with the boys. No school for them. It’s a snow day.”

“Where’s Des? With the horses?”

“Yep.”

“I want to talk to him. I’ll go and give him a hand. I need to keep your phone, okay?”

She nodded. When Brody walked into the barn Des was shutting Twinkle back in his stall.

“See to Captain,” Des said.

Brody rolled his eyes and headed for the stall at the far end. The moment he was in reach, Captain sank his teeth into Brody’s sleeve.

“Hey. Give over.” Brody yanked back his arm. “Are you turning any of them out?” he called to his brother.

“Yep. Captain can go in the paddock.”

“There could be reporters coming.”

“I’ve locked the bottom gate. They’ll have to climb over and walk if they want to get up here.”

“Right.” Was that all Des was going to say?

They worked alongside each other, turning out the horses that liked the snow. Brody wheeled endless barrow loads of soiled straw to the pile outside.

“Not going to work?” Des asked.

“No.”

“Not going to search for Aden?”

“I would if I knew where to look. He’s not answering the phone.”

Des turned and glared at him. “Why did you let him leave?”

“I told him to fuck off.”

Des snorted. “The best thing that’s happened to you for years and you tell him to fuck off? What were you thinking?”

“It’s complicated.”

His brother huffed. “Your entire life is complicated. Does this have anything to do with Matt?”

“No.”

Des rolled his eyes.

“I’m worried about Aden. He left in that snowstorm. I think he came here to hide.”

“Bit late for that. His name at least is all over the TV. No photo yet. What happened? Did he really make some dogs and cats better?”

Brody leaned against a stall door. “Yeah, he did. Henrik’s dog had cardiomyopathy. Now he doesn’t. I don’t have any way to explain that.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I have no fucking idea.”

 

When Aden woke, all he could see was white and for a moment, he thought he was back in the ether…whatever it was. But the white was snow, not mist. He stirred and the covering fell away from his face. Why hadn’t it melted? Christ, I’m almost buried in the stuff. He shook it off and pushed awkwardly to his feet. It had stopped snowing and there was light in the sky as though dawn was about to break. He’d been asleep all night? He shuddered. Oh fuck. That wasn’t good.

He brushed as much snow as he could from his clothes, pulled the frozen T-shirt off his head and tossed it in the hedge bottom. He was really cold. Hypothermic cold. Aden suspected he’d used up another life. Was that it? Were they all gone? Much as he hadn’t wanted to before, now he felt compelled to count. Hit by Brody’s car. Fall from the barn. The flood. Thrown over the hedge by Twinkle—twice. Drowned by Matt. Died under this snow. Seven. Maybe six if the second throw by Twinkle hadn’t killed him.

Fuck. What did it matter? If his chances were gone, they were gone. It didn’t change what he planned to do. He picked up his bag, shook off the snow and slung it over his shoulder. He didn’t know why he was taking anything with him, but he thought about Brody’s face when he’d seen in him the suit and Aden groaned. Maybe he’d get a chance to wear it again. Plus there was one item in the bag that he might need.

A check of the phone told him it was just after seven. Brody had left two more voice mails and more texts. As Aden walked down the road, he listened to the messages with Brody growing more and more concerned, and hardened his heart to stop himself calling him.

When a car pulled up at his side, Aden spun round. Silas, Des’s neighbour, lowered his window.

“Thought it was you. Want a lift?” Silas asked.

“Yes, please.” Aden put his bag in the back.

Silas’s wallet was sticking out of his jacket pocket on the back seat and Aden wasn’t even tempted. He climbed in the front of the old Land Rover.

“Going to town?”

“Yep.”

“Bit of an early start. Couldn’t you get Des to give you a ride?”

“Des is busy and I didn’t want Karen to drive in these conditions.”

“I’m only going to Caterham-on-the-hill. I’ll drop you at the end of Stanstead Road. You can walk down from there.”

“Thank you.”

They didn’t see another vehicle. Snow had covered everything with a thick white blanket. There weren’t even any tracks in front of them. The bushes and shrubs at the side of the road were laden with four or five inches of powder. Snow lined all the branches of the trees, weighing them down. Everywhere looked clean and beautiful.

“Could you lend me a fiver?” Aden asked.

“You intending to pay me back?”

“Give me a fiver, then. Please.”

“You saw my wallet on the backseat. Reach over and help yourself.”

“Thank you.” Had Silas seen him look at the wallet? Aden was doubly glad he’d not decided to nick it.

They were the only words they spoke until Silas dropped him off. Aden waved to him and set off down the hill. By the time he’d reached the town only two vehicles had passed him, both going up, both four wheel drive. Maybe Matt wouldn’t be able to meet him if the roads were bad.

The phone rang a few times, but it wasn’t Matt. Henrik left a message asking Brody to call him. So did Brody, asking Aden to get in touch urgently. Aden hoped Matt called soon so that he could get this over with and die.

Maybe he didn’t have to die but it would solve a lot of problems if he did.

Aden was shivering within yards of exiting Silas’s vehicle, and had hardly warmed up by the time he’d walked down to the town. He crossed the road and made for the precinct, heading straight for the cafe he’d spotted the previous day. One fucking day? It felt a lot more than that. His previous life had been boring, a succession of dull days under cars or behind a bar punctuated by sex with random strangers. He couldn’t believe so much had happened in such a short space of time. It was like he was living in a film.

Once he was pressed up against a radiator, his gloves drying on the top and his hands wrapped around a large mug of coffee, with two slices of hot buttered toast in front of him, tension seeped from his body. He checked Brody’s phone and saw he’d called again, but there was still no message from Matt. In a way, Aden was glad because he didn’t want to talk to him until he’d sorted a few things out. If Aden managed nothing else, he had to ensure Brody was free of that dickhead.

The waitress must have thought he looked pathetic because she topped up his coffee without charge. That never happened. The toast was gone in a flash and he wished she felt inclined to bring him more but she didn’t.

Aden ran through his options, which were limited. After a bout of soul-searching, it didn’t feel as if he had much choice. It would mean betraying Brody’s confidence about what Matt had done, but it was the only way Aden could think of to keep the guy safe. Well, apart from killing Matt and he had considered it, was still considering it, but so much could go wrong. Matt might kill him, get away with it, and Brody would be back under the guy’s radar.

The police station wasn’t hard to find. All he needed was one sympathetic copper. Aden approached the desk and waited.

“Can I help you?” asked a slim uniformed guy in his thirties with thinning fair hair and wire glasses.

“I want to report a crime.” Plus one that’s not happened yet.

“Is it an emergency?”

“No.”

“Your name?”

“Aden North.”

“Come through, Mr. North.”

“Aden will do.”

“I’m PC Danny Willets. PC Willets will do.” He smiled and somehow Aden managed to smile back.

Once they were sitting down in an interview room, Aden took a deep breath. “Will you take a statement?”

“Well, why don’t you talk to me first and I can decide whether that’s the appropriate thing to do.”

“Okay.”

Aden started with the night Brody had hit him with the car. He left out a lot. There really was no point telling the cop Brody had killed him. He’d just gotten to where Silas had given him a lift that morning when his phone rang. He took it out and looked at the caller.

“It’s him,” he told the PC. “Matt.”

“Put it on speakerphone.”

Aden nodded. “Hi, Matt. Ready to talk to me?”

“I see you’re a celebrity.”

The policeman raised his eyebrows. Aden was as puzzled as him.

“Quite the miracle worker from what I hear. A regular St. Francis. You’re going to show Brody up if all you have to do to make animals better is lay on hands.”

Oh fuck. “I want you to leave Brody alone,” Aden said. “He doesn’t want anything more to do with you. Stop harassing him.”

“Was it you who rang my wife?” There was hard snap to Matt’s voice. “She thought it was Brody, but he never broke the rules, never called her.”

“She threw you out. It wasn’t a matter of you leaving her for Brody. You lied to him.”

Matt huffed. “I finally told her the truth because I was leaving. If she chooses to believe she pushed me out, that’s fine. I don’t care. Brody and I will be together once I get rid of you.”

Aden glanced at the policeman. “And how to do you propose to do that?”

“By convincing Brody I’m the one he needs.”

It had probably been too much to hope Matt would say something incriminating like—by hitting you over the head with a hammer.

“I’m not going to let you catch me in the bath again.” Aden mentally crossed his fingers.

“Then you shouldn’t have left the door open.”

“It wasn’t an invitation to drown me.”

“Yeah, why aren’t you dead? I was so sure you were no longer breathing. Can’t you just do the world a favour and die?”

“Can’t you?” Aden snapped.

“What? And miss out on the pleasure of pissing on your grave?”

“I want to talk face to face. Sort this out once and for all.”

“What is there to sort out? Brody will come back to me. He always does.”

“Not this time. I’ve made him see sense. He wants me not you.”

Matt let out a low growl. “Meet me in the car park at Woodbane Common. Four thirty.”

The policeman frowned. Aden had no idea why.

“Can’t we meet before then?”

“Some of us have jobs to go to.” Matt ended the call.

“There’s nothing there,” the PC said. “It’s a car park that services the walking routes around the common.”

“Is it far?”

“A few miles.”

“Could you take me?”

The policeman laughed. “I’m sorry, I’m not a taxi service. I’ve listened to you and all I can see is that you’re tangled up in a love triangle. Yes, there was a crime committed when the teacher started the relationship, but it’s unlikely the Crown Prosecution Service would wish to pursue it after this length of time, not unless others were involved, and not without testimony from Brody. And you say he doesn’t even know you’ve come to tell me this.”

Aden hadn’t given Brody’s surname. His intention in speaking to the police had never been that Brody’s past would be dragged up, though he knew if this cop checked, he’d find Brody’s surname from the emergency call he’d made the night he’d hit Aden. Aden’s real agenda in this meeting was so that if anything happened to him, the police knew who he was going to meet and Matt would be a person of interest. Not if anything happened. It would.

“There’s no proof Matt tried to drown you,” the policeman said. “You know that. Asking why you aren’t dead isn’t an admission of guilt. There’s no one to corroborate your story. I can see there’s no love lost between the pair of you, but this isn’t something the police need to be involved with.”

Aden had pushed hard enough. He’d done what he set out to do.