Breaking Out

by Samantha Wayland

  “Oh, right. This is David, my…uh…friend,” Reese said, cursing the stumble. Chaz’s eyes narrowed enough for Reese to be certain he’d caught the hesitation. “David, this is Chaz Bentley, an old friend from home.”

  Reese didn’t mention that Chaz was also his attorney. Or that they’d gone to school together from kindergarten until college. Or that Reese had once, very briefly, dated Chaz’s sister.

  There was a lot of history there.

  “Nice to meet you,” David said smoothly. He shook Chaz’s hand, his smile polite and fleeting.

  “Likewise.”

  “And you, of course, know Ms. Viveiros,” Reese said.

  Chaz smiled at her warmly. “Hello, Matilda.”

  “Chaz,” she returned. He’d never been her favorite person. She’d once described him as “a little too douchey and entitled.” Reese didn’t disagree. Chaz was a perfect example of why Reese had strict rules about addressing her formally around work associates. He didn’t have any reason to think Chaz wasn’t a good person, and there was plenty of evidence he was a solid lawyer, but he’d also always been spoiled.

  A chill went down Reese’s spine. Something was seriously not right. How could Chaz, of all people, be here in Boston? Now. Today. In their hotel.

  Chaz looked between the three of them expectantly, as if waiting for an invitation to join them. He seemed utterly unaware he was the center of so much attention.

  David’s hand pressed to Reese’s back. Reese leaned into his touch and focused on what needed to be done—get information and get out.

  “Tell me,” Reese blurted out, his voice too loud, “what brings you to Boston?”

  “Oh, you know, business and the like,” Chaz said with an airy wave.

  Reese mentally called bullshit. He was, by far, Chaz’s biggest client, and he almost never needed Chaz to leave town, let alone the country.

  Mati caught David’s eye and shook her head subtly.

  Apparently, Reese wasn’t the only one whose bullshit-meter was hitting full tilt.

  Marcus took a step closer. David loomed at Reese’s shoulder.

  “And you?” Chaz continued blithely. “What brings you down here?”

  “Work,” David said. “Which we need to get back to.”

  “Oh, yes, of course,” Chaz said, taking a half step back when he looked at David. He pinned his eyes back on Reese. “I wasn’t aware you had any business dealings down here. Will you be here long? Perhaps we can get dinner.”

  Mati made a thoughtful noise and tapped at her phone a few times. “We’re due to move on to our next set of meetings in the morning,” she said, pretending to read from her screen and managing to sound regretful.

  “Oh! That’s too bad. Where are you headed to next?” Chaz asked.

  David’s hand curled into a fist in the back of Reese’s shirt.

  “New York,” Mati said easily.

  “Great city,” Chaz began.

  “Yes, it is,” David said before Chaz could continue. “We have a lot to get done before then, though. We really should get going.”

  “It was good to see you, Chaz,” Reese said, and tried to smile, though it may have been more of a grimace.

  Chaz made understanding noises as he waved them off, but he never took his eyes off them. Was he looking for something?

  Mati and Reese turned toward the elevator. David waited a few seconds before following.

  Reese punched the call button, repeatedly, his back itching with the feel of Chaz’s eyes on them. Mati stood rigidly beside him with David a few paces behind, angled to watch the lobby. Marcus wandered up and watched the panel indicating what floor the elevator was on.

  Reese and Mati practically dove inside the elevator the moment the doors opened. David followed more slowly, stepping backward into the car.

  When the doors began to close, Marcus stepped back. “You know what, I think I’ll take the next one.”

  David nodded.

  No one said a word until the doors were completely shut.

  “Holy fuck,” Reese wheezed, his heart thumping.

  “That was weird, right? I mean, that can’t have been a coincidence,” Mati said, pressing her palms to her flushed cheeks.

  “No, it can’t.”

  David frowned. “You sure?”

  Reese didn’t think he was doubting them so much as seeking confirmation.

  “We live in a small town on the tip of a small island, on the tip of another small island, all of which is a twelve-hour drive from here. There are no direct flights, no trains, and barely a ferry—but we bump into my attorney, who I’ve known for years, from that island, not just in the same city, but in the same hotel, at the exact moment we’re crossing the lobby?”

  “Okay,” David said. “Let’s get to the room and then figure out what we’re going to do about it.”

  The elevator dinged, and Mati took Reese’s hand. David stepped off first, scanned the hallway, and waved for them to follow. They walked quickly, David holding the key in his left hand, his right hanging by his side. The Do Not Disturb sign still hung from the knob. David popped the door open and entered first, leaving them alone in the empty hallway. Reese realized he was checking the room.

  Reese’s brain swirled with the threat that suddenly seemed imminent. In Boston. And somehow related to Chaz.

  “Come on in, quick,” David said.

  Reese shut and deadbolted the door behind them. “Okay, what—mmph—”

  David kissed Reese, hard, hauling him close with his arms around Reese’s ribs. Reese sagged against him, the silent, endless scream in his head going silent for the first time since Chaz had called his name in the lobby.

  David released him and he staggered back against the door while David kissed Mati the same way. His solid presence and calm were a comfort. Reese felt safer when either of them was in David’s arms.

  “What was that for?” Mati asked as she attempted to regain her footing.

  David shrugged. “I needed to know you were okay.”

  “That’s an interesting way of checking,” Reese said with a glimmer of a smile.

  They all jumped when there was a knock at the door.

  David slid his hand under the back of his shirt, peeked through the peephole, and knocked back.

  “Marcus is in the hallway. The lobby is clear.”

  Clear of Chaz, Reese thought hysterically, a man he’d regularly invited into his home for most of his life.

  David’s phone rang and Reese jumped again. He was definitely losing what calm he’d found. He needed to kiss David again.

  David answered with a grunt, listened, and hung up again.

  “That was Chance. Someone is following Chaz.”

  This was getting a little surreal.

  “I cannot, for the life of me, imagine why Chaz would be involved in any of this. He’s just a spoiled kid I grew up with.”

  “Is he a friend?” David asked.

  “Yes, and my attorney,” Reese explained, noting Mati’s frown. “What is it?”

  “He’s your attorney,” Mati repeated.

  “Yes, I just said that.”

  “Because he inherited the firm.”

  Reese was confused, but he nodded. “That’s true.”

  “From his father.”

  “Right.”

  “Who was your father’s attorney.”

  “Yes, so? That doesn’t—”

  Reese figured out what Mati was thinking. His stomach churned.

  “No.”

  David had no idea what the hell Mati was talking about, but he didn’t have a good feeling. “You two want to clue me in about the conversation you’re having with your faces right now?”

  Mati sighed. “Chaz—Charles Bentley—is Reese’s attorney. His father, James, was Reese’s father’s attorney, and like Chaz and Reese, they knew each other most of their lives. It was James who Reese’s father trusted with his will and the letters. His are the only fingerprints, besides Reese�
��s father’s, on any of his businesses for the last decade of his life.”

  Oh shit.

  David looked at Reese. “Your father thought someone was trying to kill him. He said someone broke into the house, right?”

  “It can’t have been James. He was like an uncle to me,” Reese said, almost beseeching. “They were best friends.”

  But Reese clearly had doubts. Big ones.

  “And Chaz inherited the firm from his father,” David asked, making sure he had this right.

  “Yes,” Mati said.

  Reese’s gaze darted between them, and David hated the sadness in his eyes. “But why?”

  No one had an answer.

  Reese looked lost. “It doesn’t make sense. I can’t believe Chaz would try to hurt me.”

  “Maybe I’m wrong,” Mati said.

  “And I really can’t imagine Chaz trying to hurt my father. He would have been a kid when all that started.”

  “He is the right build for one of the guys who broke into your house. The taller one,” David said.

  “Fuck. You’re right,” Reese agreed, shoulders slumping.

  David sighed. “Okay. I’ll call Chance and get his investigators going on the Bentley family. Then we go home and lay low until we see what they come up with.”

  Reese nodded. Then he shook his head. “No.”

  David froze with his phone halfway to his ear. “No?”

  “I’m sorry. Yes, call Chance. Set him on that path. But I don’t think we should lay low. Not anymore.”

  “What are you suggesting?” David asked.

  Reese’s face settled into a determined expression. “I’m tired of running. And I’m tired of living under this goddamn cloud. I need to go back to Sydney and figure out what the hell is going on. I’m not doing any good here. If Chaz was looking for something in the house, and it had anything at all to do with his father, chances are it’s in the files. And if it’s not, then I’ll confront him and ask what the hell is going on. It’s been years. Maybe decades. It’s time.”

  Part of David was proud of Reese. He wasn’t thinking about hiding. He was charging in. Head first.

  And leaving David behind.

  “When do you want to leave?” Mati asked, her eyes darting to David.

  “I can go right now. You should stay here with David.”

  “Not a shot in hell,” she fired back.

  “Fine, then we should leave first thing in the morning. That way we don’t drive all night again.”

  David swallowed past the lump in his throat, his chest stupidly tight. He fought to keep his expression blank.

  Reese turned to him. “How much time do you need?”

  David forced himself not to say weeks, months, years. “For what?” he asked, his voice hoarse.

  “To pack. To do whatever you need to do to leave town. Oh—do you have a passport? Damn, I didn’t think of that. Well, if you don’t, we’ll have to see about expediting one. I bet Chance knows where we can do that here in the city.”

  David blinked, his brain blitzed. “I have a passport?”

  “Excellent.” Reese started enumerating a list of things they would need to do before departing, literally ticking tasks off on his fingers.

  “Reese,” Mati said, stopping Reese’s litany. “I think you’ve thrown David for a loop.”

  Reese drew up short. “Oh. I—I didn’t. You might not want—you could.” His arms went limp at his sides. “Would you like to come home with us?”

  Mati smiled fondly and looked at Reese like he was an idiot.

  David knew how he should respond. If he felt like this now, what would it be like when they sent him packing in a few days? A week? Maybe two? He’d been in a freefall for years, foolishly hoping that working for Chance would somehow bring him back to earth. Anchor him again. The last thing he needed to do was pull up stakes and take off for Canada for who knew how long. He wouldn’t be able to bring his gun. He’d have to sleep in strange beds. He’d have to extend his leave from McCormick.

  What was really shocking, though, was that he didn’t care. Not about any of it.

  He wasn’t ready to say goodbye.

  “Yes.”

  Reese sagged with relief. Mati laughed. David’s heart twisted in his chest, his hope growing.

  “Thank you,” Reese murmured, kissing him gently.

  David had no idea what Reese was thanking him for, but he was very, very welcome.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  David was in Canada.

  He’d been here once before, in high school. His senior class had claimed it was to ski, but as far as David knew, they’d all come to get the kind of education down on St. Catherine’s street you couldn’t get in school.

  Other than that, he’d only left the country twice—once to Cancun in college, and once to the Virgin Islands after graduation. This was the first time he was doing it with the expectation of staying sober most of the time.

  He still wasn’t sure Mati and Reese weren’t pranking him with this money. He’d seen the coins called loonies and toonies. Eleven-sided coins and two kinds of metal and bears stamped on it. It was cool, but also weird. But the paper money—or, not paper, since it was a rainbow of colors and plastic—felt cheaper than Monopoly money. Reese swore it was harder to counterfeit.

  Of course, David had known the money was going to be different, but there were other surprises. He hadn’t realized how he was used to seeing shingled roofs all the time until he was surrounded by metal ones. He’d thought Canada was basically like the United States, but colder and more French. Turns out, that was wrong all around. Mati explained about the snow and why some people liked metal roofs better, but it was still startling to see the bright silver, green, and red, shining in the sun. Reese explained about Francophones and Anglos, and David wondered how he could have lived a couple hundred miles away from all this and not known any of it.

  When Reese showed him pictures of Quebec City, David took the phone right out of his hand and flipped through image after image of the castle on the hill and the high walls. He wanted to see that.

  “We’ll take you there. As soon as we figure out what’s going on at home,” Reese said, making it sound so easy. David wanted to make him promise.

  Reese smiled, and he couldn’t help but smile back. Mostly because Reese was beautiful, but also because he looked like he was suffering from some kind of pox. His neck was covered in love bites. And what wasn’t freshly bitten was pink with beard burn.

  David might have gotten a little too enthusiastic last night in his bid to show how pleased he was to be invited along on this adventure. Sure, it was going to fuck him up something fierce in the long run, but he wouldn’t have slept a wink for weeks if he hadn’t come. Not because of his nightmares, but because he would have been worrying if they were safe, if Chaz or Frankie or god only knew who had somehow gotten to them.

  Yes, he would eventually go home with a broken heart and a burning desire to travel to Quebec City, but he’d know they were safe, and that he’d loved them as thoroughly as he could, while he could.

  That would have to be enough.

  He slid his hand onto Mati’s thigh and she laced her fingers with his. She’d been driving since the “fucking north woods of Maine” and he couldn’t imagine how she’d managed to make the drive all the way to Boston.

  Then again, she had to have some serious grit to survive her family and come out the other side as independent, resilient, and resourceful as she was. He’d caught her in his bathroom this morning, poking at the string of bruises down her thighs, each one carefully laid down and darkened by David and Reese over the course of the night. She didn’t like being marked up as much as Reese did, but she’d begged for more.

  David, for his part, only had one bruise, right on the butt cheek, where Mati had bitten him as she’d come. He wondered if she’d done it on purpose, so he couldn’t shift in his seat or pass over a pothole without thinking about it. About them.

>   Sweet torture.

  Reese’s phone rang, interrupting his suggestion that if they all liked Quebec City, they’d love some city in France David couldn’t begin to pronounce, let alone imagine visiting—though he wished he could.

  “It’s Hodges. Finally,” Reese said, exasperated.

  Reese had been trying to reach him all day. They weren’t particularly worried, because Hodges had told them that morning that he was going out with one of the investigators and that he’d call when he was back at the house. They just hadn’t expected it to be this late.

  Reese answered the phone on speaker. “Where the hell have you been?”

  “Nice to hear from you, too, Reese,” Hodges said mildly. “And I was out walking the property.”

  “Is that safe?” Mati asked, her eyes fixed on the road.

  “Well, that’s the question. I hate to say it, but someone was wandering around here last night. There are fresh footprints all through the snow around the house and in the woods, and a fairly clear path to a spot in the wall where a fallen tree made it relatively easy to get over.”

  “Along the road?” Mati asked.

  “Yes. About a quarter-mile from the gate, so not on any cameras.”

  David frowned, trying to picture it. “There’s a wall all the way around the property?”

  “There is,” Reese said. “Except along the shoreline.”

  “How big a piece of land is it?”

  “About one hundred and fifty acres.”

  David’s mind boggled. “You have a wall around a hundred and fifty acres? How long is it?”

  Mati snorted. “Endless.”

  “It’s about a mile and a half in total,” Reese said with a quelling look toward Mati. “Eight feet high, about a foot thick, mostly mason work.”

  “Holy shit,” David muttered.

  “Yes,” Reese agreed. “It took five years to complete, and I haven’t bothered to try to figure out how much my father spent on it because I’m sure I’d have a heart attack.” Reese cupped his hand over the mouthpiece of the phone. “Let’s not dwell on it with Hodges. He had to supervise the work. All five years of it. I think it’s the closest he’s ever come to quitting.”