Chapter 10 #2
Ciaran nudged Sawyer, giving him an angry, pointed glare. He hadn’t meant to stare, and it wasn’t as if Sawyer would ever be interested in another man, and Hadeom, thankfully, had his back to them, leaning over a glass counter to see inside.
“What?” Sawyer mouthed with a shrug. “I’m surprised, not impressed.”
Ciaran’s eyes burned with jealous fire—
“Interesting place you have here,” Hadeom said, finally turning around to make eye contact.
Then his gaze scanned past the brass compasses and faded naval charts to the old map of Tenebrae Cove.
He strode over to it, studying it for a long moment before facing them again, this time with what Sawyer thought might be an actual smile. “I like this,” he said.
“It’s an old mining map,” Sawyer said.
“Mm.” Hadeom stared at Ciaran. “You’re a salvage diver, yes?”
“Yes,” Ciaran replied.
“Interesting,” he said, nodding slowly. Then he looked at Sawyer. “And you two are, what, exactly?” Then he nodded to Sawyer’s left hand. “You stood together last time I was here, and that’s a very interesting piece of jewellery on your ring finger.”
Sawyer contemplated in that split second how to best respond, and he went with the whole truth. “We are bonded mates. Ciaran is my...” He shrugged. “Partner. Husband, for the want of a better term.”
Hadeom stared at him and almost smiled, though Sawyer wasn’t sure if he’d call it that. “Interesting,” he said again.
“Permanent,” Sawyer added. “Non-negotiable. If we’re throwing around adjectives.”
Ciaran chuckled and gave Sawyer a bit of a nudge. A reminder to not repeat the Cern incident yesterday.
“Not something we chose,” Sawyer went on. “But something I wouldn’t change, even if I could.”
“Mmm.” Hadeom nodded slowly again, looking around the room. “So, you haven’t forwarded any updates on Salem, as I requested.”
There it was. Straight to the nitty-gritty.
“There’s nothing to update.” Sawyer shrugged. “Salem was gravely injured by Lusca, and he was taken by Cern. Though I’m assuming you know that already, given he called you to come get her...”
Sawyer watched for a reaction. Hadeom sighed dramatically as if this was an entire waste of his time.
Not what Sawyer had been expecting.
“How did he call you, by the way?” Sawyer pressed. “And how is Lusca?” He held up his broken arm. “Tell her I said hi.”
Sawyer didn’t expect an answer, and he didn’t get one.
“Anyway, we haven’t seen Salem since,” Sawyer added. “We did go up and see Cern yesterday. I might have overstayed my welcome.” Sawyer shrugged. “He didn’t appreciate my questions.”
Hadeom’s eyes caught Sawyer’s then. Was he amused? Annoyed? Sawyer wasn’t sure. “The water sure seems dark, though,” Hadeom finally said, with an air of indifference like he was discussing a change in the weather. “Don’t you think, Detective?”
Oh yeah. He fucking knew.
“The water here has always been dark. Since the first white settlers, I’d say,” Sawyer said, trying not to sound sarcastic. “You know, given they named it Tenebrae. It’s Latin for dark and shadowy, yes?”
Hadeom met Sawyer’s gaze and held it. “Hm,” he said, then proceeded to browse the glass cabinets as if he was looking to buy something. “So, how does it work with you two?” he asked casually. “Given your... differences.”
Our differences...
“It works very well,” Sawyer replied, his tone as casual as he could manage. “Like, exceptionally well, if you get my drift.”
“Is this appropriate questioning?” Ciaran asked Hadeom. “How is that relevant?”
“Oh, it’s relevant,” Sawyer answered. “Now he knows where my loyalty lies. He knows what you are, Ciaran, like he knows what Cern is. He’s working with Cern, after all.”
Hadeom stared at him, smirking, and Sawyer was just done. He was done with the subterfuge and hedging around what everyone in the room knew but wouldn’t say.
“I mean let’s just stop with the bullshit, shall we?
” he demanded. “I thought when you assigned me to Tenebrae, you wanted intel on Ciaran’s consortium.
But it’s not these guys you want, is it?
Because then Lusca happened, and Cern put in a call.
You turned up and took her, and Cern took Salem.
You want Salem. That’s why Cern took him. To protect him from you.”
Now that Sawyer had put the pieces together and said it out loud, he knew it was true.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about, Sawyer,” Hadeom said.
“Then why don’t you tell me. Let’s put it all out there and see whose side we’re all on.
” Sawyer wasn’t backing down. “Who am I actually working for? And what is the end goal? Are we in the business of protecting or persecuting? Because I really ought to know if we’re the good guys or the bad guys. ”
Hadeom’s jaw ticked and his eyes hardened. He clearly had no intention of answering.
“Okay, so let me ask you this,” Sawyer said.
“I’m just gonna assume the special division unit you run isn’t part of the Tasmanian police department at all, so tell me.
Does the Australian government know about our division, or are we some Men in Black shit?
Because if we are—and I’d be totally cool with that—maybe you could have given me a bit of a heads-up and possibly the kinds of weapons that could actually have taken Lusca down.
That would have been a good start. You know, because she didn’t bleed.
Which to me means she’s not from this planet, right?
” He stared at Hadeom, unflinching, and Hadeom stared right back.
“That’s what I thought. She didn’t come through any rifts or fissure in the depths of the Trench. She came through a portal.”
Hadeom’s nostrils flared and one corner of his mouth lifted in a half-smile. “You have quite the imagination, Detective.”
“I’m fucking right, and you know it,” Sawyer said. He looked at Ciaran, who was staring at him, eyes a fraction too wide. “I knew it.” Then he looked back at Hadeom. “What I don’t know is what that makes Cern. Or any of his—”
“Enough,” Ciaran said, his eyes now narrowed at him.
And then Sawyer remembered...
The treaty.
“Any of his what, Detective?” Hadeom pressed with a smile.
He’d just been about to say “any of his forest friends”...
“Any of his crazy ideas,” Sawyer replied lamely. He ignored the way his face burned and decided to just go all in. “Look. We’d save each other a helluva lot of time and effort if we were all on the same page.”
“You want honesty,” Hadeom said as if it were a joke. “Starting with you, Detective. Where is Salem?”
Sawyer raised his chin. “Tell me what you want with him.”
Ciaran cleared his throat and nodded to the storefront window. “Company incoming.”
Fray and Tobin were coming across the street when Hudson and Beau met them on the footpath just outside the shop. Of course Fray said something that made them laugh.
“It’s stopped raining,” Ciaran said. “How about we get some fresh air. Inspector Hadeom, I think Beau and Hudson wanted to show you the vegetable garden they’ve been working on.”