Another Taxi - Chapter 1

-O-

DISCLAIMER: I am not connected to Emmerdale and its characters, which belong to ITV

-O-

Aaron was dreaming. It was a recurring dream and one which brought him pleasure whenever he remembered it after waking up. He was on a beach somewhere; it could have been Lanzarote but, as this was a dream, the exact location was not really recognisable. As he soaked up the sun, he looked at the sea through his dark glasses to see Jackson emerging from the waves, wearing just a pair of skimpy Speedos; his body bronzed from long sunbathing sessions on the sands. Aaron smiled as he took in the sight of his husband's almost-naked, athletic frame approaching him.

"BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!"

Aaron came to with a start; the alarm had wrenched him away from his dream. He sighed and he stretched out his hand, expecting to feel Jackson's warm skin against his fingers. But the other side of the bed was empty and, as he regained consciousness, he remembered that his husband was away in Scotland, working on one of Declan's 'holiday village' building projects. He missed Jackson, every moment of every day. He picked up his mobile phone and, as always, a message was there waiting for him and he pressed the button to read it; "Morning gorgeous. 5 days to go. Luv U. x."

Aaron smiled, his husband always texted; without fail, every morning. It was not the same as having him there in person, but, the little messages brought him closer somehow. The young mechanic wiped away a tear with his hand and scolded himself, "Livesy-Walsh, you are a soft git!"

He texted back; "Morning sexy, luv U 2. x."

As Aaron sat, eating his breakfast alone, he reflected on his life. He had been married for nearly a year now; and in the past few months he had never been happier. He could not believe that being with Jackson would give him such contentment, or that he would settle into a 'quiet' life with his husband but, that was exactly what he had done. Jackson had, quite literally, saved his life; he had loved him enough to give him the kidney he needed to lead a normal life and he owed him everything. Not that he was with Jackson for that reason; on the contrary, he was with him because he loved the guy right back; utterly and completely. He smiled to himself as he left for the garage.

"Aaron!" Debbie was on his case as soon as he arrived, "You've got to finish that Fiesta this morning! The punter wants it back by lunchtime!"

"Good morning to you too!" Aaron replied, cheekily.

"Whatever!" Debbie replied, "When's Jackson back then?"

"On Saturday; he's got next week off."

"Good! Maybe then you'll stop daydreaming all day!"

"Oi! Shut up!" Aaron scowled and set to work on the waiting car.

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The days passed and Aaron was beginning to think that Saturday would never come. He received his usual message from Jackson on the Friday morning, confirming that his husband would be driving down from Scotland the next day. He replied; telling him to drive carefully and safely and sending his love as always.

However, when Saturday came, Aaron began to get an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. He felt that something was wrong. Jackson had not been in touch since the Friday morning text. He tried ringing his mobile phone, but there was no reply; which was extremely odd.

When Saturday afternoon arrived and there was no sign of Jackson and no word from him, alarm bells began to ring in his head. He tried, time and time again, to get in touch, but Jackson's phone continually went to voicemail. Aaron decided to go and see Paddy at Smithy Cottage; he always sought Paddy's advice in times of crisis and he was now out of his mind with worry.

Paddy sat Aaron down in the kitchen and made them a cup of tea, "I'm sure there's nothing to worry about," Paddy attempted to calm Aaron down, "he's probably just got held up somewhere."

"But, it's not like him, Paddy. He always lets me know where he is, I'm really scared that something's happened to him."

Paddy looked at Aaron's face, full of anxiety and fear; and his heart went out to his surrogate son.

"Have you tried ringing the lodgings where he's staying?" Paddy asked.

"Yeah; but there was no answer there, either."

"When did you last try?"

"About two hours ago."

"Try again, from here; save on your mobile bill!" Paddy suggested.

Aaron dialled the number in Scotland and, this time, there was an answer. Paddy looked on while Aaron spoke to the person on the other end of the line, but he could see that Aaron was just as agitated after he finished the call as he was before he started.

"Well?" Paddy could not stand the suspense.

"That's odd," Aaron gave an account of the call, "I spoke to a guy called Hamish. He's the son of Mr and Mrs McBride, the couple that run the guest house; they've gone away for the weekend. He said that Jackson's van is still parked outside the house, but there's no sign of Jackson. What's happened to him Paddy?"

Aaron's tears began to flow, despite his attempts to stop them. Paddy embraced him and tried to soothe his nerves, "Calm down, I expect there's a perfectly reasonable explanation."

"I'll have to go there," Aaron said with a sob in his voice, "something's wrong, I've got to find out what's going on!"

Paddy could see how upset Aaron was and wanted to help him in any way he could, "Look, I'll take you. It's not that far over the border; we can be there in a few hours."

"That's very good of you Paddy," Aaron said with a concerned look, "but won't Rhona mind?"

"It'll be fine!" Paddy assured him, "She'll understand."

Paddy and Aaron spoke to Rhona. She convinced Aaron that she was OK with Paddy abandoning her and Leo for the weekend and was just as concerned for Jackson's wellbeing as they were. She told them that she would ring them immediately if Jackson turned up or if there was any word on his whereabouts. So, the pair set off in Paddy's car towards the town of Dunlonach on the Scottish coast.

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The roads were reasonably clear and they had an uneventful journey north, but Aaron was on tenterhooks all the way. He was completely unnerved that Jackson seemed to have vanished and had not made contact; it was so out of character.

On arrival in Dunlonach, they drove along a smart, neatly-kept road, full of old stone-built houses. Some were painted white, but many retained their grey, stonework exteriors. Paddy parked his car and they went to knock at the door of the 'Rowan Crest' guest house where Jackson had been staying. Jackson's van was parked right outside in the road, just as Hamish had said on the telephone. Hamish answered the door and invited them in; he was a tall, stocky young man with curly brown hair and was wearing a chunky-knit, dark green sweater and blue jeans. Aaron had half-expected him to make an appearance in a kilt, but he told himself that he was being unfair to stereotype Scotsmen in such a way.

They sat, drinking tea in a cosy living room on the ground floor of the house.

"I'm sorry I canna' throw any light on Jackson's whereabouts," Hamish seemed genuinely apologetic, "I've been away on the oil rig, you see. My parents told me there was a Mr Livesy-Walsh staying, but that he would ha' left by the time I got here this morning, so I wasn't expecting any guests to be in residence when I arrived. I thought it was a wee bit odd that his van was still here though. I checked his room, but he wasn't in there so I assumed he might have taken a train back to his hame."

"Would your parents know where he might be?" asked Paddy.

"I did try to ring them, but I just got voicemail. I left a message, so they might ring back later. I checked with Mrs Dickson next door; she holds a spare door key in case of emergencies, but she hasna' seen Jackson either."

"Maybe we could go out looking?" Aaron suggested.

"Well, it's way too dark now," Hamish replied, "Anyway, we wouldna' know where to start!"

"Hamish is right," Paddy addressed Aaron, "We can't do much until morning. We may as well see if we can get some sleep so we'll be fresh for tomorrow."

"But, I'll never be able to sleep, knowing that Jackson is out there somewhere," Aaron moved his arms in a sweeping gesture, "He could be in trouble!"

"I know," Paddy looked at Aaron fondly, "but we can't go stumbling around in the dark! Look, you're worried, I understand that, so am I, but we'll have to wait until first light before we can do anything."

They had arranged with Hamish to stay the night in the guest house. Being 'out of season' there were plenty of vacant rooms. Aaron paced the floor in his room; he had tried to sleep but could not close his eyes. He was so concerned for Jackson's welfare that he knew that he could never sleep a wink while he was in this state. Once or twice, he did lie down on the bed, but he just tossed and turned and kept fretting all the time. He did eventually doze off into a light slumber, but he was far too agitated to really sleep soundly.

In the morning, Hamish prepared a breakfast of bacon and eggs and Paddy cajoled Aaron into eating something. As Paddy and Aaron sat in the dining room, the telephone rang and Hamish went to answer it. A little while later, he returned and addressed the two of them.

"Well, according to my parents, Jackson put his stuff in his van on Friday, ready to drive back yesterday, at first light. He went for a walk on Friday afternoon. He often did that, apparently."

"Did they say where he went?" Aaron asked.

"Well, they weren't sure; but they said that he often used to enjoy taking a walk along the coast path, up near the headland. It's a favourite spot for joggers and walkers in the summer, but not many people venture along there this time of year."

"Didn't they become suspicious when he didn't return?" Paddy enquired.

"Well, they were going away, so they wouldn't have known if he didn't come back. They expected me to arrive on Friday afternoon but I was delayed and didn't get here until yesterday morning. So, we all thought that Jackson would be gone by yesterday...I suppose nobody thought any more of it until now."

"Let's go!" Aaron jumped up, "Can you show us where this path is?"

"Hold on!" Paddy stopped Aaron in his tracks, "We'd better call the authorities: I think we might need some professional help!"

Aaron was beside himself with worry now. One thing was certain beyond all doubt: his husband was missing. Where the hell was Jackson?