Chapter 1: Semi Hard And Clearly Very Large

Danny looked at him, ‘You know that I have a good working relationship with the police?’ he asked. ‘Yes.’ Jake agreed. ‘But I’m not a policeman.’ Danny said, ‘So I’m not bound by their rules. If I was counselling you, or anyone else for that matter, my allegiance would be to them totally, no one else.’

‘As for counselling, yes, I have counselled a lot of people. Up to now with great success. The trouble with most problems,’ Danny told him, ‘Is that the victim doesn’t feel able to tell anyone about it to get the help they need.’

‘That’s because they consider what happened is far too embarrassing, or because they are worried that the person they tell might not keep it to himself. I don’t know why, but people have found it fairly easy to overcome those worries with me.’

‘Once a problem is shared, it’s often surprisingly easy to deal with it. Would you say that your problem fits into that description?’ Danny asked. ‘Yes.’ Jake replied. ‘Then here’s my suggestion,’ Danny said. ‘We can’t do it here because you need to be in a surrounding where no one will see or hear you.’

‘You also need somewhere where you can relax knowing no one will disturb us. I have the use of an empty house on the edge of town. Danny told him. The gardens are being used by the university agricultural department.’

‘So, there might be people from the university in the garden when we arrive. They would probably not see us arrive but it’s possible. In any case, they will not come to the house. I will be finished at six tonight, so if I meet you here, we can walk over there, it’s only twenty minutes away.’

‘Then we can see what we can do working together.’ Jake looked so relieved. ‘And remember,’ Danny said, ‘It doesn’t matter what you tell me, nothing you say, no matter what it is, will ever be passed on to anyone else without your approval.’

‘Thank you,’ Jake said, ‘I’ll see you later.’ He shook Dannys hand as they got up. When Dannys handshake felt as warm and friendly as ever, Jake asked, ‘Aren’t you worried you might be shaking hands with a killer?’ ‘I’m shaking hands with a man I respect, like and trust.’ Danny told him. ‘I don’t believe that anything in your past is going to alter that.’

At six fifteen Danny arrived at the reception desk. Jake was ready and they said goodnight to Don as they left. They walked out of the hospital in silence. Then as they walked through town, they each tried to keep a bit of conversation going.

Arriving at the safe house, they could hear some machinery working in the garden, but as they walked up to the front door, they saw no one. Danny opened the front door and deactivated the alarm. Closing the door, he locked the mortice lock and left his key in it.

He explained to Jake that he’d done that so no one could get in, even if they had a key, but if Jake wanted to leave, he could just unlock it, open the door and go. Then he led the way through to the kitchen. Danny made them each a coffee and they sat at the table.

As they drank, Danny explained that to be able to give him the best help possible, he would not only need to know all about the problem, but before that he needed to know about Jake himself, his life, his loves, his hopes, his dreams and his experiences.

‘Remember,’ Danny told him, ‘I’m not here to laugh at you or to judge you, just to help you. I often become good friends with people I counsel,’ he said, ‘But as we are already good friends, hopefully that will make it much easier for you.’

‘When we’ve finished our coffees, we’ll go through to the lounge. There I want you to take your shoes off and lie down on the settee. I’ll sit beside you, ask you questions and also try to get you relaxed. If you change your mind, you can get up and leave at any time.’

‘If you leave, it doesn’t affect the confidentiality rule in any way. You are also welcome to return at any time in the future.’ Jake had taken to Danny the first time they met. The few things he’d helped him with and discovered about him since had only strengthened the feeling.

He had always thought he could never risk telling anyone what was bothering him, but he had a feeling deep inside that telling Danny might just be a possibility. Particularly as he had decided that Danny had some involvement with the secret side of the military.