Manchester Ménage 01 - Saving Samuel (6 page)

M
ilo slammed the car door behind him. He’d wasted the first hour of his shift visiting the hospital to interview Sleeping Beauty. It wasn’t a total surprise hearing he’d run, but he thought Daniel would have at least called to let him know.

Milo paused outside Daniel’s house and took a deep breath. He wanted to come round after he’d finished his shift, not on duty when he was pressed for time and worked up. He liked to keep his private life separate from work, but the last twenty four hours had been a constant struggle.

All he wanted to do when he finished work last night was to drive over and talk to Daniel, but then he wouldn’t be there, would he? He’d spent all night at the hospital and the next day running around after the little prick.

Okay, so Milo was jealous and that wasn’t going to help him keep calm. He got jealous over Daniel all the time, but he very rarely showed it to him. He kept that inside, because if he showed Daniel how possessive he was then it would open up a whole different can of worms. Like how Milo felt for him, and until yesterday, Milo had no plans to ever tell Daniel just how much he loved him.

He didn’t think he should have to. Six years was a long time, how could he not be in love with him? Anyone who spent a day in Daniel’s presence fell for him. Milo was only human, he had feelings. He hid them well, but they were there. How cruel and cold did Daniel think he was?

He strode around to the kitchen door at the back of the house, opening it without knocking like he always did, and took off his cap, resting it on the table. The TV was on and the kitchen was in a real state. That was one thing which grated on Milo’s nerves. How difficult was it to keep the place clean? Honestly. Daniel was hardly ever at home, but he could make an effort a few hours a week to keep up with the housework.

Milo’s own house was clinical and clean, just the way he liked it
.
Living here… It made him shudder. No matter how many times he and Daniel talked about the housework, they always hit a brick wall. Milo didn’t clean. He was happy keeping up to it, like rinsing his plates off and putting them in the dishwasher, or ironing a shirt for work, but this went way beyond a simple dusting and straightening up.

“I see the cleaner took the week off.” Milo stopped when he came face to face with the blond runaway sitting on the sofa and looking like he was about to pass out from blood loss. “Oh right. Yeah, of course. The runaway.” Milo walked up to him, standing firmly in front of him and putting all six feet two of his height to good use by towering over the little thing curled up on the sofa. “Where’s Daniel Harris?”

“Out.” His little voice made Milo feel ever so slightly sorry for him, but not enough.

“I’ve been looking for you. I just got back from the hospital and found out you’d run away. We’re talking, young man. And don’t even think about—”

The blond was just a blur of hair as he sped past him, making it out of the front door with Milo fast on his heels. Milo paused when a car narrowly missed the runaway. “Shit!” He didn’t want him dead, just sitting still while he got some answers.

“Samuel, stop running. I just want to talk to you.” Milo jumped over a short fence, speeding after him as fast as he could, but the kid was running like his life depended on it.

Milo almost had him in his grasp, but Samuel jumped over a wall, dropping ten feet to the ground, not even pausing before he started running again. Milo wasn’t eighteen, and he wasn’t jumping down there.

“Samuel! Stop!” Milo watched him run into a small shopping plaza as he took off down the path and followed him—blaming Daniel all the way for his morning run.

One short talk with the building’s security manager, and Milo had Samuel’s position on the closed circuit surveillance cameras. He’d made it outside at the rear of the building, but he wasn’t alone. Daniel was with him. What the fuck? Milo made his way through the small shopping centre, making it outside and heading for the last position they were seen in the parking lot. He spotted them easily. Daniel was holding him, whispering into his ear and trying to calm him.

“Daniel!”

They looked at each other, then Samuel turned to see him and tried to run again, but Daniel held him against him.

“For Christ’s sake. What the fuck is going on here, Danny? This kid’s staying with you and you didn’t think to tell me?”

“I'm sorry, Milo. Just keep calm, okay?”

Milo threw his arms in the air. “Keep calm? He just took off. He didn’t have to do that. I'm not here to arrest him. Shit! I'm not here for him at all, I came to see you.”

“He got scared, okay. Stop going on at him. You freaked him out. What the hell did you do to him back there?”

“Do to him? Are you mental? I did my job. I need to question him, Danny. That hasn’t changed. And what the hell is he doing with you anyway? Is this what it looks like? Because I'm pretty sure you know how wrong that is.”

“It’s not like that,” Daniel hissed out at him. “He feels safe with me. You need to go. Come back later when you’ve calmed down. Or, I’ll come to you if Samuel prefers not to see you again.”

“You don’t get to decide what I do. This is police work. You can’t stop that from happening. He’s a suspect in a huge arson investigation. Someone died in that fire. Do you even get how serious this is? You’re harboring a potential criminal. I have to speak to him or arrest him. It’s up to you, but if you obstruct this investigation, you could be arrested yourself. I don’t want it to come that, and it won’t be me who does it, but… Please, Danny. Don’t put me in this position.”

Daniel leaned forward, glaring at him in a way he only did when he was about to blow. “I'm not putting him in a position where he feels scared. I'm trying to help him. He didn’t start that fire. He was locked up in a bloody room no bigger than a prison cell with the door so jammed
I
struggled to open it. There’s no way someone of his size could have slammed it shut like that. You’d know that if you just questioned me before you dived straight in and jumped to conclusions.”

“Then if someone did lock him in there, he knows who they are. I need that information.”

“When he’s ready.”

“Urgh.” Milo placed his hands on his hips and turned from him, walking away and putting some distance between them. “Fine! But I need to get an official statement from you, and I need to give your address as his permanent residence so we know where he is.”

“That’s fine. I have no problems with either of those things.” Daniel turned and they shared a stern look before Daniel moved Samuel’s hair from his face and whispered some soft words into his ear which Milo couldn’t hear before looking back to him. “We’re going back to my place. We can do this there. I'm not leaving him alone, not like this.”

Milo kept a few paces behind as they walked back to the house. He didn’t want to scare Samuel any more than he already had. It wasn’t his aim to make him afraid, all he’d wanted was to question him. Milo should have known better than to approach him like that, but it was a shock to see him sitting in Danny’s house. It surprised him and he’d let his own personal feelings get in the way of acting like a professional.

He was still pissed off. Daniel was putting them both in a shitty position by bringing him home. “You could have called me, Danny.”

Daniel looked back and Milo could see he was feeling sorry about the situation. “I know. It just slipped my mind.”

“
I
slipped your mind?” Milo quickened his pace, walking just behind him. “That’s a first.”

Daniel frowned and turned away from him. “Makes a change it being
me
forgetting
you
.”

“That’s not happened, not once. I don’t forget about you.”

Daniel shook his head. “Considering what you get up to while you’re away, that doesn’t make it any better, Milo.”

“You have no idea what I get up to.”

“I know more than you think.”

Milo fisted his hands beside him and clamped his mouth shut, just watching Daniel walk, Samuel plastered to his side the whole time, his head pushed into his neck and letting Daniel lead him back to the house.

It was good Samuel trusted Danny so much. Milo repeated the reasons why in his head. How it would help with the investigation, how Samuel would stay put while they searched his past, found the possible arsonists who started the fire—if indeed there were other people. Milo still wasn’t convinced the kid didn’t set the place on fire. He didn’t trust easily and the young blond set off all his alarms. No matter how innocent and angelic he looked, that wouldn’t change Milo’s mind.

Only the evidence would do that. That’s what Milo believed, hard evidence. Concrete proof their Sleeping Beauty was telling the truth.

When they reached the house, Milo took some time alone in the squad car, contacting Dalton and filling him in on the situation. He wanted Dalton here when he interviewed Daniel. He knew any kind of contact they had together about this would need clarifying. They had a personal relationship which would complicate things, and he wanted to be sure nothing could come back later and bite him in the arse.

He stepped out of the car ten minutes later with a calmer state of mind and a more professional edge to him. Even though he was so involved personally, he couldn’t let that affect his judgement on what he and Daniel were about to talk about. 

When he got inside, he found Daniel just returning from upstairs. “I'm sorry I made him run. That was the last thing I wanted to happen. I only wanted to question him. I was just as shocked as he was when we first saw each other.” Milo ran his fingers through his dark hair and sat down on the edge of the sofa. “Before I could say much, he was out of the door.”

Daniel perched on the arm of the chair opposite him, playing with his shirt cuff while he looked at the floor. “He’s really jumpy. I had to take him in, Milo. He ran from the hospital before I could talk him into staying in a shelter. I was out of options and I just offered him my place. He’s been through a lot. I just want to help him.”

Milo huffed loudly. He knew there was more. It was plain to see what Daniel wanted from the runaway. “Danny…” Milo leaned forward and smiled softly. “I’ve asked Dalton to be here when we talk officially, but before he comes, just tell me something, just for me, not for the report. Have you been with him physically in any way?”

Daniel glared at him, but Milo shook his head, holding up his palms.

“I'm not asking for personal reasons, just as a friend trying to help you out. I'm not blind, I see how you look at him. I did the first time you saw him laid in the hospital. I just need to know you haven’t acted on those feelings.”

Daniel slammed his mouth shut and looked out of the window while he thought for a few tense moments. “I haven’t acted on them. I wouldn’t do that, Milo, and it pisses me off you’d think I would have done anything to him. Yeah, I want to.” Daniel pulled his fingers through his hair.

This was a conversation they’d never had before. They both dealt with the other people they saw in the same way—they discussed nothing and kept that part of their lives separate.

“He hasn’t told me much of what happened to him, only a brief history up to the age of fifteen. That’s when he said things changed for him. It’s also the age the doctor thinks most of those fucking scars on his body happened, so…” Daniel stood up, thrusting his hands in his pockets while he paced around in front of Milo. “You’ve read those files, you know more than I do about what’s happened to him over the years. I don’t think the scars I've seen are the only ones.”

Milo and Daniel stared at each other for a few silent moments, then Milo broke and he shook his head. “He has more.”

“Something really bad happened to him, Milo. You and I know that. How could I let him go when I knew he would be in danger? Someone’s following him around, searching for him wherever he goes. He’s been running for six months I think from what he told me this morning. Six months of living in fear and not being able to trust anyone. I'm the first person he’s let in, and I won’t just abandon him. I won’t do that, no matter what.”

“I know you won’t, fool. That’s not who you are.” Milo dropped his head and looked at his hands clasped in between his thighs. “If there are people trying to get him for some unknown and mysterious reason, if they did set fire to that warehouse and lock him in…” He met Daniel’s gaze and sighed. “Danny, if they did all that, if they’re the same people who hurt him years ago… These people, they’re going to come for you. They’re not going to stop. I don’t want you to be in any danger. You’re thinking about him, and I'm thinking about you. We’re both trying to protect those we care about. Just imagine how I feel about all this. You think I want your life to be in the balance over some stranger you just met two days ago? Let me take him into custody. He’ll be safer there.”

“No way.” Daniel rubbed his eyes and took a deep breath. “I know you want to keep me safe. I understand that—I’d feel the same way about you if you were in my position. But I know if you take him in, if he leaves here, he won’t talk, Milo. He’ll just shut down again. He trusts me.”

“Yeah, he trusts you. He sees you as his knight in shining armour. You know all about this shit. People who you’ve saved from anything in their life, they see you as their savior, as the hero. Whatever he’s feeling or telling you right now—”