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Something in his face shifted. “What things?”
“Why don’t we take a seat in the living room and have a chat?” Tucker said in his low, easy tone.
Nathan’s eyes flicked to him. The momentary aggression he’d displayed when he confronted them with the gun had evaporated. He looked confused and scared.
“Okay.”
Barbara cleared her throat. “And perhaps leave the gun out here, sir.”
—
Barbara and Nathan sat on the sofa and Tucker squeezed uncomfortably on to the armchair.
Nathan hadn’t offered any drinks and Barbara wasn’t sure she would have accepted anyway, after seeing the state of the kitchen. He placed his phone on the coffee table alongside a crumpled pack of Marlboro Lights and a battered silver Zippo.
“You mind if I smoke?” he asked.
Barbara did mind, but if it helped to relax him then it might help him talk.
“You go ahead, sir.” She smiled and pushed the ashtray closer.
He was already reaching for the pack. As he did, Barbara noticed his knuckles. Each had a rough black square tattooed on it. Like he had tried to crudely cover up some old tattoos underneath.
Nathan caught her looking. “Never got a tattoo you regretted?”
“No, sir, can’t say I have. Mind me asking what it was?”
Nathan flicked open the Zippo and lit a cigarette. “Yeah, I do.”
Tucker stared at him. “When d’you take up smoking?” he asked.
“Can’t really say.” He squinted at Tucker through a cloud of smoke.
“So,” Barbara said, “did you get my message about Jacob?”
Nathan nodded. “Got himself into some trouble up at the Doc’s yesterday.”
“That’s right, sir. I’m sure you’ll be relieved to know that he is not being charged with anything and is currently staying at his friend Stephen’s.”
Nathan scowled. “Boys will be boys. And word is that the Doc didn’t only dish out prescription drugs, if you know what I mean. That’s probably why Jacob was up there. Lot of kids get their dope from the Doc.”
Seemed the Doc’s drug-dealing was pretty well known. Barbara wondered again about Rita’s plausible deniability.
“Well, the Doc also had a side line supplying blood to the Colony,” she said. “And Jacob was his mule. You know anything about that?”
Nathan dragged harder on his cigarette. “No.”
“Never wonder where he went at night?”
“He’s fifteen. They get to that age, you can’t keep ’em in.” He gestured around the room. “You think he wants to be stuck here, staring at the TV? He wants to be out with his friends…hell, it’s not as if there’s much for kids to do in a dump like this. Not much for anyone to do.”
“Dalton also paid the boys to fake the video of the vampyr attack. I guess you didn’t know about that either?”
“No, and it seems like you should be talking to the Doc, not me.”
“He’s dead.”
“What?”
