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I sat there in silence for a moment, while James and Callum looked at me with worried eyes. I wasn’t sure what they were expecting. Did they think I was going to go into a rage and plead my innocence? That perhaps I would throw my chair away in anger?
I felt no anger within me. Just numbness. I looked from James to Callum and gave them both a sad smile before I spoke.
“If you are expecting a reaction from me, you won’t get one. Not one of anger, anyway. What’s the point? It wouldn’t get me anywhere, now, would it? As you said, James, it won’t help my cause. I’m becoming resigned to the fact that unless Kings get the evidence I need, I will be spending the rest of my life alone in prison. Now, if you don’t mind taking me down to the cell, I’d like to spend some time alone.”
I got up from my chair and headed towards the door, waiting for Callum to either escort me down to the cells or get an officer to do it. I felt a hand rest on my shoulder as I desperately tried to hold back the pain I was feeling inside. I turned my head slightly to see Callum standing there.
“Daniel, I promise I will do everything I can to get you back to Richard. Like James, I will be calling Mason and giving him whatever help I can. Please don’t give up hope.”
I knew he was just trying to raise my spirits, but no matter what he said, the situation was still the same. I would be spending the night in a police cell and probably transported to a prison cell tomorrow. I was tired, both physically and mentally. The years I had put on a front for everyone around me to keep my father happy were taking its toll. I couldn’t fight anymore.
Callum removed his hand, realising his words gave me little comfort, and opened the door. To my surprise, it was him that took me down to the cells.
We walked in silence as he led me down the stairs to the custody suite. He stayed while I went through everything with the custody sergeant. I couldn’t tell you what he said to me—my mind was blank—but I must have answered all his questions, as I was never questioned or asked again. I was then led down to the cells and placed in the box that was going to be my life for however long it took. Possibly life, if convicted.
I walked over to the concrete bed and sat down on the mattress. It was obvious these cells weren’t built for comfort, but to make you realise the gravity of the situation you were in. I looked around the bare four walls of my new home for at least this evening. White walls, bars on the window, a lavatory, and a basin. That was it. That was all the comfort they provided you with. Not even a blanket. I guessed that was so you didn’t try to strangle yourself to death during the night. I was pulled from my melancholy thoughts when Callum spoke.
“I’m going to have to ask you to remove your shoes and belt, if you are wearing one.”
I didn’t need to ask why. Same reason for no blanket, I suspected. I bent down and undid the trainers I was wearing and passed them over to Callum, who took them from me.
“I’m not wearing a belt, but do you want the tie from my joggers? You know, just in case.”
I saw a look of realisation come over his face. Did he really think I would try to kill myself in here? To be fair, I wasn’t really sure.
“Do I need to worry?”
I gave him a shake of my head. If there was a remote chance that I could be proven innocent, I wanted to make sure I was still alive to get back to my Romeo, and I couldn’t do that if I was dead.
“Okay. I’ll make sure someone brings you some food and something to drink. I know you don’t feel it now, but please try not to worry. I promise, one way or another, we will get to the bottom of this.”
Again, his words brought me little comfort. I watched as he turned and walked out the door, glancing towards me one last time before closing the door. You saw the same thing happen on so many TV shows and films, but you didn’t realise how disconcerting it was to hear the bang of a steel door closing and locking you inside. You watched as you saw people jump at the sudden noise and look towards the door, all the time thinking you would never do that if you were in the same situation.
However, that was exactly what I did. I couldn’t stop myself as the realisation that I was now in the prison system and this was my life finally hit home.
I placed my back against the wall of the cell and pulled my knees up in front of me, placing my arms around them. I closed my eyes as the tears started to fall. I’d promised myself that I wouldn’t get upset. That I wouldn’t allow myself to cry, but here I was doing exactly that. I tried to go to a happy place, a wonderful time in my life when I was full of hope. The first night I held Richard in my arms. I hoped that it would bring me some peace, that I could pull myself out of my slump thinking of our time together. But all it did was cause more tears to fall.
There was a very good chance that I would never see him again. That this would now be my life forever. I started to shake as the pain I was feeling manifested itself into fear. Somewhere along the corridor, I could hear another prisoner kicking off. He sounded completely drunk as he argued and I assumed fought with the officers who had arrested him. The new soundtrack of my life fading into the background, I lay down, placing my head on the pillow. The day had been long and exhausting, and it wasn’t long before I fell asleep, thinking of my Romeo with tears pouring down my face.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Richard
It was Monday morning, and we were all sitting in the meeting room and the London office waiting for the guys down in Kings View to come onto the morning call. I had been up all night working with Tyler. I should have known that Maddie wouldn’t leave me here alone worrying about Daniel. She had sent Tyler up immediately after the call on Saturday afternoon. He arrived at around eight o’clock and had been here ever since.
It wasn’t that I was ungrateful that he had come to help me, but unlike when I had helped him to get Maddie and Rosie back, he now had a family. Someone to be with. I didn’t want to break that up. Didn’t want to take a father away from his two children. Time with your parents as a child was precious, and when they were gone, they were gone. There was no bringing them back. I didn’t want to be the one to take those memories away from them.
Part of me was glad that he was with me, though. I had been beside myself knowing that Daniel was sitting in a police cell and was going to be transported to prison this morning. Mason had mentioned to me that both Callum and James had contacted him, but didn’t tell me much about the conversation. Just that Daniel was doing okay and they were keeping an eye on him. The exact opposite of what I wanted to hear.
Why did they have to keep an eye on him? Did they think he would try to kill himself?
Thoughts had been going around my head from the time I left the office on Saturday afternoon until Tyler turned up that evening. If it hadn’t been for him, I wasn’t sure what state I would have been in today.
We had put our time to good use, though, on Sunday, once I’d had a few hours’ sleep. We had been trawling through the archives for Daniel’s security footage at his house and thought we had managed to find an archived version of the recordings. We couldn’t be sure if it had been untouched or if it was the same as provided to the police, but it was a start, and one we were going to get onto today after the meeting.
I sat in the meeting room with Tyler one side of me and Nathan the other. Both of them were trying to engage me in conversation, but I didn’t want to talk. I was so worried about Daniel. I just wanted to speak to him and know he was okay. I understood exactly how all the guys had felt now. I had lost the one person I wanted to call mine, but for me, there might not be a happy ending. Especially if we couldn’t prove his innocence.
I heard the door to the room open and expected to see Jayden, and possibly Kye, walk into the room. What I didn’t expect was to see Callum walking in behind Jayden. He looked over at me and gave me a slight smile.
