Asylum (Pride and Joy Book 2)

by Robert Winter

  “I’ll get someone out this afternoon to replace me, and come back on Sunday if nothing changes. Mel will stay until I return and then head to Boston for two days. That way we keep continuity. Hey, let’s move over to the side.”

  Colin heard the sounds of an approaching car from behind them. Nick maneuvered him to the curb and put a hand on his shoulder to stop him from running. Placing himself between Colin and the street, Nick angled his body toward the oncoming car. Colin noticed Mel doing the same thing with Hernán ahead.

  A blue Mercedes S55 moved smoothly along the road, driven by a Caucasian man who appeared to be middle-aged. Colin relaxed marginally at the sight, as did Nick. The face he could see through the car window looked familiar, but he couldn’t quite place it. The Mercedes passed Colin and had almost reached Hernán, similarly standing behind Melody, when it hit him.

  Gerald Nimble.

  There was no time to tell Hernán to hide his face. Through the rear window of the car, Colin saw Gerald glance at Hernán, and then do a double-take. A moment later, the car sped up.

  “Oh shit,” he breathed, and Nick looked at him quickly. His hand immediately dropped to the holster he wore under his running clothes. “No, nothing like that,” Colin said. “It was just someone I didn’t think we’d run into here in the off season.”

  They jogged to catch up with Hernán and Melody. “Nán, did you see?” Colin asked.

  Hernán nodded. “Gerald. I’m pretty sure he recognized me.”

  Melody asked, “Should we be concerned? Is he tied to the Cuernos people?”

  Hernán shook his head. “No, it isn’t connected. He’s just this asshole who we had a bad experience with a few weeks ago.”

  Colin grunted his agreement. “I wish he hadn’t seen us, but it doesn’t really affect the reason we’re here.”

  Nick’s temporary replacement, a heavily-muscled and curly-haired Latino named Jaime, arrived early in the evening. While Jaime received his instructions and briefing, Hernán whispered to Colin, “Rudy’s going to flirt with this guy even more than Nick.”

  Jaime looked around the main floor of the house to get his bearings, and observed tersely, “Not crazy about all the ways in and out of the ground floor.”

  Nick shrugged. “We keep the two doors onto the rear patio locked, and from the living room we have good sight-lines across the entire floor.”

  Shortly after the briefing, Nick drove away and Melody escorted Jaime up to the room where he would sleep.

  On Saturday afternoon, Rudy came by the cottage again. When Melody let him in, he flopped dramatically on a love seat in the living room, the back of one hand held to his forehead.

  Hernán chuckled. “A little hung-over today, primo?”

  “Sí, pero estoy aquí por tu novio.”

  “And just why are you here for my boyfriend?” Hernán asked, eyebrow arched.

  “I said I’d show him the art museum. Do you want to come with us?” Rudy asked.

  “I think I’d rather go for a run.” He turned to look at Jaime. “Is that all right? If you go watch Colin, and Mel takes me running?”

  The big guard nodded and Rudy’s face lit up. “I’ll feel so much better with you there,” Rudy cooed. “You look like you could take on four Cuernos single-handed.”

  Jaime blushed slightly but was saved from answering when Colin came downstairs. “Hi Rudy. Ready to go?” Colin bent to kiss Hernán’s cheek, and then let Rudy lead the way. Jaime followed a few steps behind.

  Melody came into the room and asked Hernán, “You ready for our run?” He grabbed his shoes, laced them up, and waited outside until Melody had secured the house again. They took off in the direction of Herring Cove beach.

  Colin laughed with Rudy for the entire twenty-minute walk to the museum. Rudy was full of stories, about Hernán as a child, about the waiters from Bulgaria who worked in P-town for the summers, about love affairs that crashed and burned.

  “What happened with the guy from Vermont?” Colin asked. “Hernán told me about him. Sounded like you were kind of hooked on him.”

  Rudy sighed dramatically. “Oh, I was. He came back to see me a few weekends later and oh my were we good together. Then he invited me to visit him at his college. We went to a faculty event the first night I was there. I tried to be demure and ladylike. No, I really did, Colin! But someone was playing the piano, and I simply had to perform my tribute to Adele. Anyway, I thought we were all having a good time but my professor was not amused. So that ended tragically, like all the others.” He winked. “The piano player came to see me the following weekend, though.”

  Colin made appropriate noises and said he would have loved to see Rudy’s routine. Walking up the path to enter the art museum while they chatted, the door opened and Gerald Nimble stepped out, eyes on the ground. He hadn’t yet noticed them.

  “And speaking of tragic endings,” Rudy said loudly.

  Gerald’s head snapped up. Colin watched multiple emotions surge across his face as he registered Rudy standing with Colin, flanked closely by a large man. What might have been a spark of longing as he looked at Rudy quickly turned cautious. A cold sneer twisted his features when his eyes landed again on Colin.

  “Don’t tell me you’ve moved on from Hernán already,” Gerald drawled. “What an interesting item that was in the Post. So, you spirited Hernán away to Washington, and now you’ve brought him back. Is that to trade him in? I do understand Rudy’s charms to the unwary.”

  Colin felt his ire grow, but he ordered himself to say nothing.

  Rudy had less restraint. He tossed his hair dramatically out of his eyes and leveled his gaze on Gerald. “Well, if it isn’t my ex. How awkward,” Rudy snapped. “Bought yourself any new boy toys lately? Blackmailed anyone else into your little sex games?”

  Gerald snarled, “Watch your mouth, Rudy. We have a contract.” Rudy snorted, and Gerald glared at him. “I don’t have to blackmail anyone into bed.”

  “Oh, yes? Like Hernán wanted to go to your house,” Rudy said dismissively.

  “There was no blackmail involved. I just told him what I wanted—”

  “And threatened to have him fired if he didn’t comply,” Colin said savagely. So much for staying out of it. “I was there, Nimble, at Veranda. I heard what you said to him.”

  Gerald’s gaze flickered between Colin and Rudy. A touch of uncertainty vanished in a burst of malice. More wheels turned behind his gray eyes, and he growled. “Ah, Jim Felton’s son. Jim’s a director on the board of the fund. That’s why I was…”

  He shook his head pityingly at Colin. “Couldn’t fight your own battles, could you? Had to call on daddy and his friends?” That struck Colin right in the gut, and Gerald showed a little tooth in his grimace. “I suppose it’s what comes to me for not doing the right thing in the first place,” he said.

  “What, learning no means no, and staying away from people who find you repulsive?” Rudy asked sarcastically.

  Colin saw a flash of pain cross Gerald’s face. “I suppose you mean you found me repulsive all those years, when you were taking my money and eating my food?” The tone was smug and dismissive, at odds with the wound showing in Gerald’s eyes.

  Rudy flared up indignantly. “I never asked for anything. You just threw things at me. I was stupid enough to think I meant something to you and that you wanted to give me gifts. Until you sent me away to bring in someone younger.”

  “Don’t deny it, you were bored with me,” Gerald hissed.

  “Bored with your snotty friends and you showing off your money.”

  Jaime broke in, his deep voice cutting through Rudy’s high-pitched squawk of outrage. “Mr. Felton, sir, we should go inside.”

  Colin nodded but before he could move, Gerald sneered at Rudy. “What I mean about doing the right thing is calling Immigration.”

  “What did you do?” Rudy demanded, his voice reaching even higher decibels.

  “Just what I said. I called ICE in Boston this mo
rning to alert them to an undocumented immigrant hiding in Provincetown.” Glaring up at Jaime, Gerald added, “He’s apparently here to cause trouble, given the thugs he brought with him.”

  Colin clenched his fists to keep from throwing a punch. He’d never hit a person in his life but Lord, he wanted to lay Gerald out.

  “You malicious piece of shit,” he said in a low, dangerous voice. “Is it any wonder no one will be with you unless you force them or buy them? Well, you’re too late to cause trouble that way at least. Hernán’s application for asylum is on file already.”

  Rudy gasped suddenly and grabbed Colin’s arm. “What Hernán said last night, from when his lawyer called.”

  “What do you mean?” Colin asked, frowning.

  “She said someone at CIS or maybe ICE accessed Hernán’s records improperly. What if it has to do with Cuernos?”

  “I don’t follow,” Colin said, but Gerald interrupted before Rudy could answer.

  “The Cuernos del Diablo gang? What could they possibly have to do with this situation?” he demanded with a snort.

  “It’s the reason Hernán came to this country in the first place,” Rudy said, glaring at Gerald. “He was running for his life because Cuernos targeted him in El Salvador.”

  “Because he’s gay? I knew it,” Gerald gloated.

  Colin almost let his fist fly but Rudy beat him to it. Grabbing Gerald’s jacket in his hands, he shoved him back against the door of the museum.

  Almost in tears, Rudy said, “How could I have ever felt anything for you? You are such a pig. Yes, Hernán is gay. He was nearly killed because he was gay and then you tried to force him to have sex with you. How are you any better than a rapist? I don’t care what our contract says or what you do to me. If anything happens to Hernán because of your evil bullshit I will let everyone know about the clothes in the trunk and the role-play. Do you understand me, pendejo?”

  He shoved Gerald to the side and flung open the doors of the museum. “Come on, Colin. I need some class after stepping into the gutter with this pinche idiota.”

  Colin followed warily after Rudy, aware of Jaime looming behind him. He turned slightly to see Jaime bend and whisper something in Gerald’s ear. Gerald turned pale and scurried off down the path to Commercial Street.

  Inside the museum, Rudy had stepped to the right of the door and leaned his back against the wall, his eyes glassy and his chest heaving. Colin put a hand on his arm.

  “That was perfect, Rudy. I wanted to punch him, but what you said was better.”

  Rudy tried to blink away tears but his eyes filled. “I used to think I loved Gerald,” he whispered. “I’m so stupid.”

  “No, just hopeful. You’ll find the man deserving of your love one day.” Colin pulled him into a hug. “Hernán’s going to be so proud of you, and I am too.”

  Chapter 32

  When Hernán got back from his run with Melody, the others had not yet returned from the museum. He took a shower and set about organizing food for dinner. Colin and Rudy walked into the kitchen about an hour later, faces closed and stormy. Colin glanced guiltily at Jaime.

  Gruffly, Jaime said, “He needs to know about the call. And you should tell the lawyers.”

  Colin sighed and had Hernán sit on a stool at the kitchen counter. He described the run-in with Gerald, what the man had done. With a glint in his eye, he added what Rudy said to Gerald. Rudy blushed and looked at the kitchen floor.

  Hernán stared up at Colin, aghast. Heart racing, he had trouble catching his breath suddenly. He’d worked so hard to keep his secrets, but even Gerald knew them now. He’d tried to stay far under the radar, yet Gerald had told ICE exactly where he was. Enforcement officers might be coming for him already.

  Despite what Sofia and David said, his asylum application was just that—an application. He didn’t know if it would be enough to save him from deportation, or if the right people would even listen.

  “I should have just slept with Gerald,” he whispered, swaying slightly on his stool. Rudy cried out his protest and Colin scooped up his hands.

  “No, mi ángel. It would have fixed nothing. Gerald might never have stopped demanding sex, and you could still have been caught by ICE at any time. Now at least we’re prepared. We’ve taken as many steps as we can to protect you.”

  The earnestness and sincerity in Colin’s eyes couldn’t keep Hernán from trembling. “You don’t know if it’s enough. You can’t know. I might be sent back to El Salvador.”

  Colin looked over his shoulder. “Can you give us a minute?” he begged.

  Melody nodded and led Jaime and Rudy into the living room, though she kept a clear path open to them in the kitchen.

  Colin put a finger and thumb on Hernán’s chin and tugged to get his attention. He leaned closer. “Listen to me, Hernán. I swear, no one will take you away from me. If the worst happens and ICE tries to deport you, we’ll leave the country together. I don’t care where we live. Or I’ll marry you so we can stay here.” He flushed horribly. “That isn’t… That’s not how I want to propose to you. But I’ll move heaven and earth to keep you safe and with me for as long as you want to be with me.”

  Hernán’s eyes filled. His throat ached terribly. What Colin suggested was so huge he couldn’t process it. Colin had everything in the States—his job, his family, his life. How could Hernán let him move to El Salvador?

  And marriage. The idea was terrifying and exhilarating at the same time. They’d known each other for such a short time. Yes, he’d thought about it. He could even imagine it happening, when they were ready. Marriage was huge and sacred and should bind them together for nothing less than love. How could he let Colin marry him for something as selfish as a green card?

  Yet how could he let Colin go, if the ruling went against them?

  Fighting back his tears, Hernán said in a gravelly tone, “I know you’ll do everything you can to help me. That means so much—” He had to stop when sobs threatened to take his voice. He shook his head abruptly. “Okay. I’m borrowing trouble. We have a plan and I need to have faith. Let’s tell Sofia what’s happened and see what she thinks.”

  They called her on Colin’s phone in speaker mode and asked her to patch in David. When all four were connected, Colin repeated what Gerald had done. He finished and there was a silence.

  David spoke first, sadness in his voice. “You know, Gerald used to be my friend. I can’t believe what he’s turned in to.” He sighed heavily. “Another time. Listen, Hernán, this is why we rushed the papers through. The asylum argument is strong. As long as the application is pending, there should be no risk of you being deported, even if you’re picked up by Immigration officers. It’s important you tell anyone who does try to arrest you that you’ve sought asylum. Keep the case number with you at all times, and provide it to everyone and anyone.”

  Sofia said, “I’m texting it to both of you now, along with every phone number for David and for me. If anything goes wrong, try to reach one of us. Since you aren’t a citizen, Hernán, you don’t necessarily have a Constitutional right to consult a lawyer, but keep asking.”

  They talked longer, with Colin, David and Sofia basically trying to calm Hernán’s nerves. Rudy joined them in the kitchen, for once standing quietly with his hand on Hernán’s shoulder, offering strength. Their earnestness and support gradually worked through the brittle shell that had sprung up around Hernán when he first heard what Gerald had done.

  You aren’t alone, he repeated to himself over and over. You aren’t alone.

  In a somber mood, Colin and Rudy prepared food while Hernán sat at the island, watching. The camaraderie of the days before was gone, replaced by tension and fear. Rudy left for his apartment soon after they finished eating, and Colin tried to entice Hernán into an episode of Doctor Who.

  He couldn’t focus on the plot—something about the Daleks and Winston Churchill—but he appreciated Colin’s warmth next to him on the sofa. Melody and Jaime periodically too
k turns walking around the neighborhood to make sure nothing unusual had developed.

  Colin and Hernán went to bed early, holding each other in the king-size bed, looking through the window at a full moon over Provincetown.

  Hernán slept badly, too full of tension to relax. Every creak in the antique cottage snapped him to alertness. By the time he started to drift off, exhausted, one of the guards went down the noisy stairs and out the front, probably heading for a run. Colin stirred when the front door closed. Though they lay pressed together, neither was in a state to pursue anything erotic.

  Eventually, Colin whispered, “Sorry, angelito. Gotta pee.” Once he slid out of bed and headed for the bathroom, Hernán decided he might as well get up too.

  They made coffee and breakfast, and then Colin settled in to do some work for the center. Hernán tried to read, but even that took more focus than he could muster. He looked out the window onto Pleasant Street instead.

  The sky was gray and pendulous, with thick clouds threatening rain. A strong wind stirred the trees he could see, stripping the last of the leaves to send them skittering up the street. He shivered.

  Melody passed through the living room just then, and paused to turn on the gas fireplace. Hernán smiled at her wanly. “Would you like some tea?” she asked. “I was about to make some for myself.” Hernán nodded and followed her to the kitchen. They talked about random things in a low voice so as not to disturb Colin.

  Jaime returned from a run, his cheeks red and chill pouring off his body. “It’s cold out there today,” he grunted. “Pretty typical for the Cape, but I’m not ready for winter yet.”

  “Do you want to go running?” Melody asked Hernán.

  “Thanks, but I’m not up for it this morning.”

  “You’re worried about the call to ICE,” she said.

  Hernán nodded. “I’ve never felt so exposed before. The one thing every undocumented person knows is to stay out of sight and off the radar. Between the gossip item, the asylum application, and Gerald turning me in to ICE, I feel like I’m standing in a spotlight.”