“The ones on the left.”
Lucas’s hands clenched into fists. “They’re gone. No one is there.”
“What?”
“They’re snowbirds. They’ve got a place down in West Palm and left just before Thanksgiving like they do every year. Snow usually checks the place every week or so until they come back, which won’t be until Easter.”
“Shit,” Hollis hissed, jumping to his feet. “That must be where he’s been staying since we found all the other hideouts.”
Rowe stood. They’d found him. If the cops were closing in on Gratton and he knew it was only a matter of time before he was caught, he’d feel the need to go after one last target. He’d go for the one man that nearly killed him. Snow.
Lucas grabbed his phone and started to punch in numbers then stopped, obviously reading a text.
“Oh fuck!” Lucas ground out between clenched teeth. “Snow got his house back today. He’s heading over there with Jude now before coming here.”
“Call him!” Hollis shouted, starting to backpedal toward the front door. “Call him and tell him to come straight here. Don’t let him go in there!”
Rowe grabbed a handful of Hollis’s coat, pulling the taller man to a sharp halt. He leaned in close so that Hollis couldn’t look anywhere but into his face. “I’m going with you.”
“No! I…No!” he stammered, trying to push Rowe off of him but Rowe wouldn’t budge.
“This isn’t a debate. You take me with you or I knock you out and leave you here.” Rowe’s voice was deceptively calm, but his hands were shaking as they twisted in the worn leather.
“Ward—”
“He killed my wife, Banner. My fucking wife. He nearly killed Ian. He’s trying to kill Snow. I’m going with you.”
Hollis stared at him for a second, though it felt like much longer, his dark eyes reading something that Rowe wasn’t sure he wanted this man to see. But it didn’t matter. He didn’t care what the cop saw so long as it got him closer to Gratton.
A long, heavy sigh slipped from Hollis and his shoulders slumped. “We’re going to pick up Snow and Jude for breakfast,” Hollis said in a low voice. “Now you repeat it.”
His brow wrinkled as he looked at Hollis like he’d lost his mind, but he repeated it as instructed.
“Might as well work on our story now,” Hollis muttered and then added under his breath, “I’m so going to get my ass handed to me for this.”
Rowe wanted to feel bad for the cop as he followed him out of Lucas’s, but he couldn’t. He was finally going to get his hands on the man who killed Mel, who was bent on destroying his family. It wouldn’t fill the gaping hole in his chest, but maybe this would help him sleep at night.
Chapter 24
“I was thinking.”
Snow glanced at Jude, who sat mostly facing him in the passenger seat of his car. He started to crack a joke, but Jude’s drawn brows and tight lips let him know whatever he was about to say was serious. He didn’t speak right away, so Snow kept his mouth shut and waited, keeping his eyes on the road. The sun couldn’t make a dent in this blustery day and he wished that neither he nor Jude had to work later. That they could crawl back into Jude’s warm bed and watch movies while Cincinnati was hit with another snow storm. Luckily, Jude’s heater was working again and though having two of them in the tiny studio was cramped, it had been cozy, too. And fucking hot.
He’d never had so much sex in his life.
They’d been like teenagers discovering sex for the first time for weeks now. Then, after being officially released as a suspect in the murder of Wilson Davis, Snow had been called back to work. They still got together as much as possible when their shifts coincided. This morning, Sarah had called to say his house had now been freed. The police had everything they needed, especially after they’d found plenty of photographic evidence that Gratton had killed the man in his home.
Wilson Davis.
It was actually harder knowing his name. Wilson had been a local high school teacher who did not have a reputation as a hot head, so his fight with Snow had been out of character. Seemed Snow had just pissed him off.
It was his gift.
He glanced at Jude, lifting one brow when he saw the man still seemed to be struggling with what he wanted to say. Snow had been staying a lot of nights with Jude and it had nothing to do with feeling like a third wheel with Lucas and Andrei. No, he actually had trouble dragging himself away from Jude. He stared at him all the time, even waking early to watch him sleep like some lovesick fool.
And he was most certainly that. Lovesick. And a fool.
He was practically living with the man in that tiny apartment and when he’d received the call from Sarah, his first gut reaction had been sadness that he didn’t have an excuse to stay there. Of course, his place wouldn’t be livable for some time, but this was a step back into his real world.
If he could even stand to live there. He wasn’t sure he could.
“You won’t be able to live in your place yet,” Jude finally said, echoing his thoughts. “So I was thinking you could just bring more stuff to my place instead of taking it to Lucas’s.”
“You going to make room for my suits in that little closet of yours, Torres?” Snow threw him a wink.
“Yeah, I am. I like sleeping with you, General.” He cleared his throat, his coat rasping against the leather seat as he shifted.
“I like sleeping with you, too.” Snow knew he sounded hesitant and he didn’t mean to. It was just that he could tell what Jude was leading up to and his heart had started to race. He tightened his hands on the wheel, glad a red light was forcing him to stop. He looked straight at Jude. “But, I think it’s too early for us to move in together.”
Jude’s smiled and nodded. “Oh, it’s definitely too soon for that, but I think, no I believe, we’re headed that direction. Don’t you?”
Snow held his breath, then jumped when someone in the car behind them honked. “Shit,” he murmured, glancing in the rearview mirror before pulling through the intersection.
Soft, deep chuckles came from the passenger seat. “Did I fluster you?”
“No.” Snow sighed. “Yes.”
The chuckles turned into laughter, before Jude shook his head. “I’m not asking you to move in with me. For one thing, my place was never meant for more than one person. I only live there so I can save money while still helping out my mother and Jordan. But I can afford to find a bigger place, one that would be more comfortable for two—when you want to stay over.” He paused, took an audible, deep breath. “And for another, what we have is still pretty new. However…it is something. Something big. Can you admit that?”
Snow scowled. “Of course I can admit that. I feel it. I—” He cursed as he realized he’d been about to blurt out his true feelings. In a car. He turned into his driveway and hit the remote on the garage door. Jude had totally distracted him with the conversation and he hadn’t even had time to get nervous about going back into his place. He parked his car, turned it off, and twisted in his seat. He was in love with this man. Completely. But he didn’t want to tell him like this. Not here when there was still another man’s blood soaking his carpet upstairs.
“You?” Jude prompted slowly, dark eyes locked on Snow’s.
“I…want to continue this conversation after we pick up my things.”
Jude smiled. “Coward,” he murmured softly.
Snow’s hands snapped out, grabbed Jude and hauled him close. “I just don’t want to fucking tell you that I love you in the front seat of my car, dammit.”
Jude blinked at him. His mouth fell open, then closed.
Snow’s gut turned into a mass of painful knots, his heart still beat like it had joined a marathon, and he felt heat crawling up his neck and face. He closed his eyes. “Did I ever tell you that I hate being called a coward?”
“Snow.”
Jude’s tone made Snow’s eyes snap open. The man was looking at him with a sort of fierce joy
lighting his features.
“I wasn’t trying to goad you into a confession you didn’t mean.”
“I meant it. I just, you know, wanted to wait until we weren’t here. Someplace nicer. Maybe with some candles and shit.”
Jude threw his head back, laughter spilling from his throat. “Oh, General, I don’t need candles. Or shit. I just need you.” He stopped laughing and framed Snow’s face with his warm hands. “I love you, too.”
He pressed his lips to Snow’s and the warmth that flooded through his body was unlike anything he’d felt in his life. It swept through and lifted a weight off his soul that he hadn’t even realized was so heavy. He felt that maybe, just maybe, he was really going to build a life with this man. Make him a part of his family…and become a part of Jude’s.
“Come on,” Jude said against his lips. “Let’s grab your stuff and get out of here. The faster we do, the faster we can eat breakfast at your friends’, and get back to my place. I want us to spend the few hours before our shifts naked.”
Snow nodded, forced himself to let the man go and got out of his car. He felt like a mass of nerves. He’d just made a commitment and he knew damn good and well, he’d be spending most of his nights in that little apartment because he wanted to sleep next to him. And wake next to him. He wanted to do everything with Jude.
And they’d be looking for a place together soon because just standing at the door leading into his home made him realized he couldn’t live here. That he’d never feel safe in this place again.
Jude’s touch on his shoulder jerked Snow from the dark thoughts trying to crowd his brain. A smile, soft and all too understanding, tugged at Jude’s lips. Snow was safe with Jude. On a whim, he leaned in and snatched another quick kiss, causing Jude’s eyes to widen in surprise. Snow vowed that would be the last time Jude would be surprised by affection from him. This man deserved to know he was cherished. He would receive the affection and devotion Snow had always longed for.
Starting as soon as they got the fuck out of this house. It wasn’t a home any longer. The place was contaminated. Tainted.
“I’m going to run upstairs and pack my suitcases. I think I left my running shoes by the couch. Will you grab those and meet me on the third floor?”
“You sure? Sure you want to go up there alone first?”
The concern filling Jude’s face shot right through him. “Yeah.” Snow paused and cleared his clogged throat. When the hell did he get so damn sentimental? “Yeah. I’m in a hurry. And not just for Ian’s Belgian waffles. I want the naked you mentioned.”
“Then get to it, General.”
Grinning, Snow jogged up the stairs, but his steps slowed as he reached the second floor. He hadn’t intended to stop; was supposed to pass right by it to the master bedroom on the third floor. But the dried blood had caught his eye. Sarah had warned him that the cleaning company hired by CPD wouldn’t be able to stop by for another two days. He could have waited to get his things, but he’d needed to see it again. Needed to know that they were getting close to the end. That Gratton would be caught and they would be able to go back to their lives.
This chapter of his life would be over. No more reckless, one-night stands. No more self-destruction and dependence on Lucas and Rowe to pull him back together.
A loud thump echoed from the first floor. Snow twisted around, looked down the stairs, expecting to see Jude coming up, but the stairwell was empty. How long had he been standing there? A couple minutes at least. Jude should have found the shoes and joined him already.
“Jude?” he called but only silence answered him.
The hair on Snow’s arms stood on end as he turned back to the stairs, taking the first one as quietly as possible. He lifted his right hand, brushing his waist, but no weapon hung there. He’d left Rowe’s gun in the car. Fuck.
As he got within a few stairs of the first floor, his heart tripped at his first clear view of the living room. Jude was on his knees facing the rear window of the house, his fingers threaded together behind his head, while Gratton loomed above him, a gun pressed into the back of Jude’s head.
It was the first time that Snow had gotten a good look at Gratton since this game of cat and mouse had started. Time hadn’t been kind to him. His face was bloated and ravaged with lines along with the ugly scar across his cheek. His thinning brown hair, threaded with gray, stood up in all directions as if he’d been harried — maybe by the cops or maybe he just knew that his freedom was dwindling and this was a final act of desperation and revenge.
“Come join us, doctor,” Gratton called, not looking over his shoulder at Snow. “I’ve been waiting for you. I just didn’t think you’d be nice enough to bring me a gift.”
Snow descended the last few stairs, his hands hanging loose at his sides as he weighed his options, searching for an opening that would get Jude safe and free from this madman. The sound of Snow’s hard-soled shoe hitting the ground floor caused Jude to turn his head just a little bit to see him. His right eye was cut and starting to swell. There was another smear of blood across his bottom lip from a cut.
The thump he’d heard…Gratton had surprised Jude, hurt him. And it was only the beginning.
The fear that had gripped him instantly burned away in a wall of anger rushing through his veins, torching the last tendrils of doubt. Snow took a step toward Gratton and the man shifted just the tiniest bit, taking his finger off the trigger to place it on the guard, as if out of habit while he moved. The opening was slim but Snow wasn’t going to wait for this fucker to kill Jude.
Pushing off from his back foot, Snow launched himself at Gratton. The man started to scramble back a step and raise the gun toward Snow to protect himself, but it was already too late. Snow’s larger body slammed into Gratton, tackling him to the ground hard enough that a shock of pain reverberated through his body from the impact. The gun flew out of Gratton’s grip, but Snow didn’t see where it landed and he didn’t care. Rage blazed through him along with memories of Ian battered and terrified, memories of Mel and her beautiful, smiling face. Straddling Gratton across the waist, he threw wild punches at the man’s face. The first two landed, pummeling his jaw and scraping his cheekbone. Gratton got his arms up, catching his next wild punch so that he could shove Snow off of him.
Clipping the coffee table with the side of his head, Snow blinked, slightly dazed as he got back to his feet. He moved too slowly and Gratton was up off his back, delivering a hard right, snapping his head back and sending him stumbling a couple steps. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Jude lunge at Gratton, trying to pin him back to the ground, but Gratton used Jude’s momentum, tossing him over his shoulder to land on the coffee table. The crash echoed through the house as the table crumpled under Jude’s weight.
Snow swore and tried to rush Gratton again, but the fucker speared him in the middle of the chest, tackling him to the ground. He tried to get his arms up as Gratton knelt at his side, pounding down on him with his elbows and fists. He blocked some but one hit him just right, rattling his brain as the back of his head slammed against the floor when he tried to rise.
And then suddenly Gratton was gone. He blinked rapidly, clearing the swimming in his head. Pain throbbed through his ribs and head. His vision doubled and grayed at the edges. Groaning, he rolled onto his side and crawled to his feet again. His eyes focused just in time to see Gratton drop his foot on the gun Jude had been trying to reach. The paramedic lifted his face to look up at Gratton and the bastard brought his beefy fist down to Jude’s temple, knocking him flat. He didn’t move.
Snow roared, trying to get to his feet, desperate to get to Jude. But it was too late. Gratton scooped up the gun and brought it around so Snow was staring down the barrel just inches from his face.
“Enough foreplay, Frost,” Gratton panted out, sounding somewhat winded. “I say it’s time for the real fun to start. Jagger certainly didn’t invite me back to Cincy for a quick romp in your bedroom.” Gratton paused, a low laugh ratt
ling up his chest and a grin spread across his thin lips. “No, when I’m done today, you and your fucking friends will be dead, and Ian will be mine again.”
###
Rowe swallowed back a snarl. He wanted to just kick in the goddamn backdoor and mow Gratton down with the Glock that was sitting heavy against the small of his back. Just one bullet to the forehead and it would all be over. But he couldn’t risk Snow and Jude. They lay in the middle of the living room, their hands and legs tightly bound. If he didn’t time it just right, Gratton could kill one or both men before Rowe could get him. He couldn’t risk the doc. They’d lost so much already.
A loud bang rattled the house from Hollis kicking in the front door. Even through the back door, Rowe could hear his barked order.
“Police!”
At the yell, Gratton started forward to meet the cop. The second he was away from Snow and Jude, Rowe used his key to Snow’s place and silently unlocked the backdoor. As he hurried over to Snow, his knife drawn, Rowe was tempted to just pull his Glock and put two in the back of Gratton’s head.
No. Legal. They needed to do this by the book. Mel wouldn’t approve of cold-blooded murder. She had believed in Rowe. He had to save Snow first. He knelt behind Snow and the doc jerked at the first touch of his hand, trying to twist around to see who was suddenly behind him. A small gasp left his parted lips, his eyes starting to tear up when they grazed Rowe’s haggard face.
“Free in just a sec, doc,” Rowe murmured as Hollis yelled for Gratton to throw down his weapon and put his hands behind his head. Rowe sawed through the heavy rope that bound Snow’s wrists and legs. But as Snow started to reach for Jude, the world went to hell.
Out of the corner of his eye, Rowe saw Gratton throw his head back as Hollis attempted to cuff the man, smashing into his nose. The surprise was enough for Gratton to break free and throw the cop into the wall, almost forcing his head through the drywall, before delivering a series of punches that left the cop an unconscious lump on the floor.
Shatter (Unbreakable Bonds Series Book 2) Page 30