by D. J. Manly
Tyler let go then, going deeper, going faster and there was no pain, no discomfort. There was only pleasure as Quincy looked up into Tyler’s face, distorted with concentrated effort and something else… happiness? Dare he believe that only he could make Tyler this happy?
Pleasure filled him. The sounds in that small room seemed more animal than human, then Tyler’s body went into spasms as he filled Quincy with his warm come, his body going limp on top of him as his hand jerked Quincy into the little death.
They were both breathing hard, their sweatdrenched bodies clinging to each other as they lay drained and satisfied.
Quincy arms tightened around Tyler, his eyes filling with tears as he kissed his damp hair. “I love you so much,” he whispered. “You must know that.”
Tyler didn’t speak. A few seconds later, he rolled off of him and lay on his back. Quincy waited for him to say something but only silence filled the space between them.
When Tyler crawled over him and got off the bed, Quincy sat up and looked at him. “Are we getting out of here alive?”
Tyler nodded. “Damn right we are. I need to clean up.”
“Go ahead, I’ll go after,” Quincy said.
Tyler left the room.
He turned his face into the pillow. They’d just had great sex after all those years of being apart, sex born of circumstances, being naked together, fearing for their lives. He guessed maybe it would have never happened otherwise. Was Tyler going to just pretend it hadn’t happened, or ignore what he’d said to him?
Tyler walked back in. “Go ahead. Clean up. Then we need to talk. I’ve got an idea.”
Quincy looked at him.
Tyler glanced at the floor, his hands in front of him.
Quincy went into the bathroom. When he came back out Tyler was sitting on the sofa. “We have to get Sidney in here.”
“How?” Quincy sat beside him.
Tyler met his gaze. “You and I are going to get into a fight, and I’m going to threaten to kill you.”
“Seriously?”
“Sidney believes he needs you alive to collect his money, right?”
Quincy nodded.
“We need to make this convincing.”
“Okay,” Quincy said. “What do you want me to do?”
* * * * * * Tyler was happy to focus on something other than Quincy, or what he and Quincy had been up to earlier. Every time he’d tried to rationalise what had happened between them, he came up with a lot of plausible explanations. They were afraid they’d die, they were naked, they were having sex one more time for old time’s sake. All a little bit true, most was bullshit.
He’d heard Quincy say he loved him. He didn’t know what to say back because at that moment, his own feelings were confused. He loved him back, but the last thing he needed in his life was an ex-con who seemed to still be neck deep into it.
For now, he had to put all this aside if they were going to survive this. He’d sort it all out later. He didn’t trust Quincy one hundred percent. Maybe he did know where that money was, but right now, they had to get out of here.
Once Tyler started the loud, heated argument with Quincy, they both realised that some of what they were saying was coming quite naturally.
Tyler began by voicing what he’d suspected all along. “You know where that fuckin’ money is! You came all the way out here, got me involved in your shit, and now you’re going to get me killed.”
Quincy stared at him. Tyler noticed the look that crossed his face. No actor could have put on a performance like that. “You really do think I’m lying! You never believed I didn’t know what Bruce was up to. You think I threw away everything for that!”
“Damn right I do. No one could have been that stupid. And you didn’t trust me enough, the man you loved, to tell me what Bruce asked you to do!”
“He asked me on the spot. I had no time to talk to you. And you were working the night shift, out on patrol! What was I supposed to do, call you on the job and ask your advice?”
“You must have had your doubts, and yes, damn it, I would have told you not to do it. So, where is the money? Why don’t you just turn it over and get me out of this mess? You don’t love me. You never loved me.”
Quincy’s mouth opened. “How can you say that? How can you even think that?”
“Oh, fuck off, Quincy…just…” Tyler grabbed him and threw a punch. Quincy threw one back. Tyler grabbed a chair and threw it at the door, making as much noise as possible. Quincy yelled.
Tyler jumped him. When the door opened, Tyler was pretending to choke him. That was, at least, part of the act.
Sidney burst in and took hold of Tyler. Tyler nodded at Quincy and they both jumped Sidney.
Tyler struggled with Sidney and Quincy got the gun away from him. Tyler hit Sidney hard in the mouth and knocked him out cold.
“Help me drag him into the other room,” Tyler urged. “There’s a rope there, we’ll tie him up.”
Together they dragged Sidney into the bedroom, and tied his hands and ankles together.
“Now, what do we do about the girl?” Quincy asked, his heart beating hard.
Tyler met his gaze. “When Sidney doesn’t come back, she’ll get nervous and come in here looking for him. All we have to do is wait a few minutes. Sit over there so she’ll see you when she comes in and I’ll stay behind the door.”
It didn’t take long until Cher began to call out to Sidney. “Where you at, honey bug?”
Tyler looked at Quincy. “Here she comes.”
When the door opened, Tyler stepped in behind her and grabbed her. She struggled, but Quincy stood up with Sidney’s rifle in his hand.
“What did you do with Sidney?” She demanded.
“He’s fine,” Tyler said, pulling her into the living room. “Now unless you want to join him in the closet, you’re going to sit there and be quiet.”
Quincy pushed her down on the sofa.
“You watch her,” Tyler told Quincy. “I’m going to get our clothes and find my gun. Hopefully there are more weapons in the trailer.”
Quincy nodded. “Go on.”
Tyler looked around cautiously as he stepped outside and ran over to the trailer. He found several guns and some ammunition along with the clothes. He got dressed, then shoved everything else into a bag he found on the seat and went back to the cabin.
He tossed Quincy his clothes. “Come on, get dressed. We’re getting out of here.”
Quincy quickly threw on his clothes while Tyler watched the girl.
“What do we do with her?” Quincy raised an eyebrow pulling on his shoes.
“We’ll take her with us, drop her off at the police station when we get back,” Tyler said.
“What about Sidney?” She protested.
Tyler dragged her to her feet. “Let his buddies take care of him.” Tyler pulled her to the door.
He opened it, and hurried the girl down the steps, Quincy at his heels. Just as they got to the trailer, they heard the sounds of vehicles coming up the road. “Shit!” Tyler hollered. “What fuckin’ great timing! Quincy. Back inside, now!”
Inside, Tyler bolted the door closed and pushed the girl onto the floor. “Stay down.”
Cher crawled into the corner, whimpering.
Quincy placed a hand on Tyler’s shoulder. “It’s me they want, not you.”
Tyler shook his head. “Look, we have weapons, and…”
“Tyler,” Quincy said. “You were right about everything. I shouldn’t have come here, gotten you involved. It was my decision to go along with Bruce, even though I--”
A rain of gunfire hit the cabin.
Tyler went down, dragging Quincy with him. “You’re not going out there. We can…”
“What? We can what, Tyler? We’re outnumbered. They’re coming in. And if anything happened to you, I…”
Tyler swallowed. “Quince.”
Quincy dragged Tyler forward and kissed his forehead. “I love you. No matter what I’ve don
e, I swear I never wanted to--”
“Come on, Quincy,” a voice called out. “Come out! Tell us where your brother put the dough, and it can all be over.”
“Okay!” Quincy yelled back. “I’ll lead you to the money on one condition.”
Tyler’s eyes widened. “You do know?”
Quincy didn’t answer. “You leave here with me now, and no one else gets hurt.”
“You got a deal! Where’s Sidney?”
“He’s in here. We took care of him so you don’t need to pay him. Okay, I’m unarmed. I’m coming out.”
“Quincy, no,” Tyler grabbed him, crouching on his haunches.
Quincy gave Tyler a shove, and he toppled back. Then he opened the door and walked outside, slamming it behind him.
Tyler sprang to his feet and went to the window. There were three cars. One man, dressed in a suit and dark glasses, took Quincy by the arm and shoved him into the car. No one came to check on Sidney.
Tyler wanted to shoot, but that wasn’t the best decision. He was out-gunned, and shooting at them would do nothing for Quincy. Instead, he grabbed some paper and a pen and scribbled down all he could see of their plates and the make of the vehicles.
He waited until he saw the dust kick up and they were driving off, then raced outside and got into the trailer.
Cher ran after him. “Don’t leave me here!”
“I’ll send someone for you,” he shouted back and hopped into the trailer. He started the motor, scanning for a cell phone. He spotted a phone on the passenger seat. As he headed down the road, he frantically tried to get a signal. He knew that as soon as he saw houses he’d be able to call out, but that wasn’t for miles yet.
Where would Quincy lead them? Did he really know where that money was, or had he been bluffing? It didn’t really matter anymore. “Quincy, I love you. Shit, I love you. If anything happens…” He pressed on the phone. No Signal.“Please baby, stay alive long enough for me to get there.”
* * * * * * Two men sat on either side of Quincy. They were both heavily armed. One had a jagged red scar on the left side of his face and a filmy eye. It freaked him out a little when the man fixed him with that eye.
“Can I ask you a question?” Quincy braved. “No,” the scarred one said. “No questions. You save the questions for the boss.”
Quincy nodded, his heart pounding in his chest. They drove a while longer, then turned off onto a deserted road. Up ahead was a big house covered in stone and moss, overlooking an artificial lake. He suddenly pictured himself at the bottom of it.
A hand reached in and pulled Quincy out of the car, and pushed him up the path. There were wilted roses everywhere, and as he entered the front door, he gasped. Several dead bodies were lined up on the floor, a woman and two men.
He was urged to walk on as he swallowed bile. They led him into a huge living room with oriental rugs and gold candle sticks. The furnishings were white leather and there was a huge picture window off to one side.
Someone sat in a padded leather chair behind a desk at the far end. “Quincy Ulverton,” the voice said.
When the chair wheeled around, Quincy gasped. He recognised the man, a suntanned man with a lined face and a shock of white hair. “Mr. Kole?”
He smiled. “Yes, but call me Dennis. Nice to see you again, Mr. Ulverton. I believe I met you once at the Elgin and Kole company party with your brother and sister-in-law.”
“I…don’t…” Quincy shook his head, confused. “I don’t understand.”
“No, you wouldn’t, poor boy. You and Bruce served your purpose. It didn’t leave us much time to socialize, unfortunately.”
Quincy gasped. “You were involved in swindling your own company! Bruce was a…pawn!”
He shrugged. “I wouldn’t quite put it that way. You see, we were in trouble. Your brother was kind enough to help me out. He didn’t think he was doing anything wrong.”
“Oh God,” Quincy moaned, “you set Bruce up to take the fall for your own…fraud.”
“Yes. That’s one interpretation, of course. I’d already made a few miscalculations with company investments, you see. Some friends of mine offered me a way out.”
“You masterminded the entire thing to keep the company from going bankrupt and keep yourself out of prison for stealing from your investors! It was all a setup, a bunch of lies. Bruce was killed because he was going to--”
Kole put up a hand. “Yes. But now we need to recover that nonexistent money, Quincy. You see, we’ve hit a glitch. Mr. Elgin has retired, and his daughter is now in his place. There have been some questions about what happened to those funds, and the uppity bitch has had the case reopened. There have been some fingers pointing in my direction. Now, we need to find the money you hid for your brother.”
“But there was never any money,” Quince shook his head.
Kole smiled. He picked up a bag off the floor and set it on the desk. “No. There wasn’t. But now there is.”
Quincy shook his head. “You used Bruce to…rob your own company! And now you want me to take the fall for your crime by setting me up…telling the authorities I hid this money? You bastard! You ruined my life. You ruined my brother’s life, got him killed.” Quincy jumped from his seat, but the two men held him back. “You’ve taken everything from me!”
“It was a brilliant plan. Now, that money is nothing, a pittance you see. I’ve made one hundred times that amount, and with its recovery, all suspicion is removed and this matter goes away.”
“I’m not going back to prison!”
“No,” he said. “You’re not. You see, Mr. Ulverton, the local sheriff had to shoot you before you were arrested.” He pushed the money at him. “I suggest you get going. We’ll give you a head start.”
Quincy pushed the bag of money on the floor. The two men stepped forward, pulled him to his feet and pointed their weapons at him. They dragged him outside where a police car sat, siren turning. A police officer got out, and one of the men threw the money bag to him.
“You have ten minutes,” the officer called out. “There’s an all-points bulletin out for your arrest. I suggest you get going. I’ll catch up.”
Chapter Six
Tyler was driving at full speed down the mountain road, pressing on the phone until he finally got a signal. He called Billy straight away and told him the situation. “Did you get all the info on the make of the cars and the plate numbers?”
“Yeah,” Billy said, “got it. I’ll send someone to pick up Bengal and the girl. I wouldn’t worry too much about Ulverton, though. I just got a fax saying that the police are looking for him. He’s wanted for…”
“No,” Tyler said. “He didn’t do it.”
“Tyler?”
“He’s a pawn. He has to be…a pawn. There’s an
explanation, and this time I plan to hear it because… well…my heart won’t believe it this time.”
There was silence.
“Tyler? What are you saying?”
“I have to find him. Just send someone up to the cabin.” Tyler hung up. This time, he had to believe in Quincy. If he was wrong, then he’d go down with him, but something wasn’t right.
Suddenly he spotted something or someone dash across the road directly in front of him. Quincy?He swung the trailer to the left and parked. Cautiously he got out, gun drawn and raced down the road. He spotted Quincy a few feet away hiding behind some bushes. Then he heard the police siren. “Quincy!” Tyler shouted.
Quincy paused and looked up at him.
“Don’t move!” He raced down the road.
Quincy was bent double, breathing hard, covered in sweat. “Shit, Quincy, are you all right?”
“What are doing here? Get out of here,” Quincy grunted.
“No. Tell me what’s happening? How did you get away?”
“It’s their plan. It was Kole. It was all a setup. Damn it, they killed my brother. He didn’t do anything wrong. Kole told him to make the transaction. He wasn’t lying to me
, Ty. He didn’t… shit…” Quincy was close to tears. “And I just…”
Tyler took him by the shoulders. “Listen. You can’t fall apart on me now. We got to go. We got to get out of…”
Suddenly a shot rang out. “Shit, why is everyone fucking shooting at me? Come on, we need to get back to the trailer.” Tyler grabbed Quincy’s hand. He looked up and fired back.
Several more shots rang out before they got in the trailer. Tyler pushed Quincy behind the wheel and pressed the keys into his hand. “Drive.”
Quincy started the engine with shaking hands and pulled away from the curb.
Tyler smashed the window and kept watch from the side, then moved to the back.
The police siren began to wail behind them, and Tyler swore. “Are the fucking police on Kole’s payroll?”
“The sheriff is,” Quincy said, glancing in the mirror.
Tyler got on the phone and called for backup. “Let’s hope it’s just the sheriff.”
When another vehicle swept up beside them on the narrow road and hit the trailer, Tyler couldn’t believe it. “These guys are nuts. Keep your head down!”
A bullet rang through the window, cracking the plastic table in two. Tyler took his chance to aim at the driver. He fired, missed then fired again.
The car slowed and went off to the side.
“You got him,” Quincy shouted.
“Yeah, but the sheriff is still behind us.”
A bullet fired through the back and then Quincy yelled. “We’re losing gas big time.”
“Shit. He hit the gas tank,” Tyler reloaded his gun and glanced out the back. The car had lagged back. He was waiting.
“We’re not going to last much longer, Ty. What do I do?”
“Coast until you get to the bottom of the hill, then stop.”
When Quincy stopped the trailer, Tyler handed him the shotgun. “Get on the floor. If he gets me, you shoot him when he comes through. Stay here.” Tyler went to the door.
“I’m coming with you.”
“No,” Tyler said. “Stay down. Backup should be here soon.” Tyler paused. “Quincy?”
Quincy looked at him.
“I love you too. Always have. Always will.” He opened the door and snuck down alongside the trailer, waiting.