Page 176 of In Too Deep

“No.”

Teddy chewed his lip. “Why’d you break down the door then?”

“I didn’t break down the door.” Harrison rubbed the back of his neck. “I have a key.”

“Do coppers get keys to everyone’s houses?”

“No. Jake gave me it.”

“Oh.”

Harrison stepped inside properly, shutting the door behind him. “I’ve been trying to reach him all day. Is he here?”

Teddy frowned, then he shook his head.

“Have you seen him?”

Teddy narrowed his eyes, as if trying to guess something. “You the bloke he’s been seeing?”

Given the alternatives, there wasn’t much point lying. “Yes.”

God, he fucking hoped so.

“So this in’t police stuff?”

“No.”

“Right.”

“Do you know where he is?”

Teddy swallowed hard, then suddenly it all tumbled out. “Ain’t seen owt of him since Saturday. Said he’d pick me up after rugby tonight.” He picked at his nails, chewing his lip. “Never showed. So I stole Gran’s spare key and came here cause I thought summat must be wrong.” He widened his eyes. “Is it?”

All the blood drained from Harrison at once. Because Jake Whitton might disappear for a few hours. He might miss calls. Damage his phone. Get distracted. But he’d never leave Teddy stranded.

Never.

Harrison took his phone out. Fuck. This was dangerously close to becoming personal rather than professional. But bollocks to it. He pressed call anyway as he moved instinctively back towards the door.

“Force Control.”

“This is DI Black. I need SPOC support and a live trace on a mobile linked to Operation Pike. Treat as immediate threat to life.”

If this turned out to be nothing, if Jake had simply lost track of time somewhere, Harrison could very easily end up explaining why he’d used police resources to trace the man he was sleeping with.

He found he didn’t particularly care.

Teddy sat up straighter on the bed. “What’s happened?”

Harrison forced down the panic clawing its way into his chest and mouthed, “Nothing. It’s fine.”

Control asked for Jake’s details while Harrison paced the tiny flat, his eyes catching on stupid things that suddenly made his chest ache. Jake’s hoodie hanging over the back of the chair. Drumsticks abandoned on the side. Two mugs still beside the sink from that morning.

All painfully, horribly normal.

Just as that morning with Chris had been normal. Harrison had got out of bed believing his husband had gone for a bike ride. There had been coffee to make. Work to think about. A whole ordinary day waiting to happen.

Until there hadn’t.