Page 1 of Promises Kept

1.

The Things One Does for Clients

Alec leaned back in his chair in his office in the middle of the West End of London and sighed. Looking at his PC screen for too long gave him a headache. He frowned at the sudden commotion outside his office door. Standing up, he stretched and went to see what the hell all the fuss was about. Five minutes later, he wished he hadn’t.

Iggy Ferris—named after his favourite rock star—was the nineteen-year-old frontman for the boy band Alec represented, In Vitro. Iggy stood in the reception area waving around a pink gun and in a state of dishevelled panic. Alec took in the situation with a deep sense of dread then inhaled a deep breath, hoping to centre himself. Palms sweaty and his gut wrenched in fear, Alec tried to stay calm.

“Iggy, my man, what’s up?” Alec cast a swift look around at the scared office staff, all watching the scenario wide-eyed. He waved a hand at them. “You lot take your lunch hour and Iggy and I will go into my office and have a chat.”

Alec’s secretary, Evangeline, shifted behind her desk and he motioned her away into the other office. “Vangie, I think Iggy here is having a slight problem with his medication, so please all of you take off while we sort this out.” His voice grew steely. “Go on, move. And no police.”

Iggy was schizophrenic, and no doubt off his meds. It wouldn’t be the first time, but Alec had never seen him this unstable.

Vangie glanced at him uncertainly but did as he asked. She shooed the rest of the staff out of the reception and Alec smiled at Iggy with a confidence he didn’t feel.

“You want to come into my office, so we can talk?”

Iggy stared at him. “I thought you called me to come over and discuss the latest contract. I swear I spoke to you this morning.”

And why would you need a gun to chat? God, Iggy, this is a right pickle you’ve put us both in.

Alec shook his head. “No, Ig, I didn’t call you. But now that you’re here, let’s chat.”

Iggy stared at him. “It was you, I swear it was. Or maybe…” His brow furrowed, and he looked down at the floor. The gun pointed toward Alec, even as Iggy twitched where he stood. “Maybe it’s my brain doing stupid things, you know it does that sometimes.”

Alec kept a wary eye on the gun. “Come on, let’s go. It’s far more comfortable in there.” He gestured to his office.

Iggy nodded, his head jerking, eyes wide. Alec walked away, back tingling at the thought of feeling a bullet in his body as Iggy stumbled in behind him. Alec closed the door. His hands shook, and he offered up a fervent plea to his absent boyfriend.

Dylan, baby, you’d better hope this goes okay or that blowjob I promised you tonight is not going to happen.

Alec went behind his desk and then pulled a visitor chair toward him. He motioned to Iggy to sit. Iggy stared at Alec, whose heart was racing so loud it banged in his ears, Alec lowered himself in his chair behind the desk. Real safety, no. But he felt better nonetheless. “If you came here to talk, why did you think you needed the gun, Iggy? You know nobody here would hurt you.”

Iggy’s face grew animated as he nodded excitedly. “That’s just it, Alec. The bloke who called me this morning said my life was in danger, that someone was out to get me. He’s called me before. I took the gun to defend myself.”

He waved the weapon with abandon and Alec swallowed as it came to point exactly at his head. He closed his eyes briefly then felt a rush of air and opened them to see Iggy’s sweaty face only a foot away, the younger man’s thick, ink-black, gelled hair stuck to his face. He smelt rank and Alec guessed Iggy hadn’t bathed in a while. Alec stayed still as the gun was now pointed directly at his groin. He swallowed, the sensation of dribbling ice down his back making him shiver.

Spittle struck Alec’s face when Iggy spoke. “It’s not you I’m scared of, it’s the other guys, see? I like you, Alec, so this way I can protect us all.”

Alec breathed a slight sigh of relief seeing the gun move away from his nether regions. He knew that what Iggy clutched in his unsteady hand was a Pink Lady 38 Special. Coming from a family of policemen, Alec was well versed in armoury and police weapons. The thing that worried him most was the lack of a safety catch. Revolvers might need a firm trigger finger to shoot, but in Iggy’s current state, anything could happen.

“Iggy, how long have you been off your meds?” Alec asked quietly.

The boy blinked owlishly, his long, dark, mascara-caked lashes fluttering like caterpillar legs against his pale cheeks. Iggy was the Goth member of the In Vitro bunch and the one Alec liked the most. When Iggy was on his medication, he was a young man going places. He had a sunny disposition and a winning charm. Today was not one of those days.

“They were making me feel ill. I kept barfing, so I stopped taking them.” He frowned, his eyes vacant. “I don’t know when that was.”

Alec nodded. “They changed your tablets recently, didn’t they? Did you tell anyone they didn’t agree with you?”

“Nah. I stopped ‘em. Then that man told me someone was trying to kill me, and I knew I had to get out. To see you. You always know what to do, Alec.” Iggy’s voice trembled, and the gun dropped to his side, still not far enough away from Alec’s groin for him to be comfortable, but Alec rose and moved closer to the boy’s body, trying to stay as non-threatening as possible.

I have to get that bloody gun out of his hands.

“You were right to come to me. I know people. I can find out who did this to you and make them stop.”

The young man’s eyes flared in hope. Alec had studied psychology for two years before switching to media, and he wasn’t sure if pandering to the delusions of a schizophrenic off his meds was the right thing to do, but it was all he could think of.

“You do? You can get him to stop bothering me?” His eyes closed briefly. Alec saw exhaustion and confusion etched across the boy’s face. Alec’s heart ached. He had seen the ravages of this particular disease before in his best friend’s family, and he knew the tragedy it could and did cause.