by Jade Astor
Without Victor zipping along in front of him, the journey seemed to take twice as long. From this direction, the road seemed full of dangerous serpentine turns and deep, mud-filled potholes. He was glad when he got back to town without blowing a tire.
When he got home, he found a business card wedged in the crack of his front door. It bore the name of the victim’s advocate Cutler had told him about. One of Argo’s deputies had left it for him, he assumed. As soon as he stepped inside his cottage, Argo finally called him back.
“Are you okay?” Darian asked, not bothering with a greeting. “I tried to call, but you didn’t pick up.”
“Yeah, sorry about that. I didn’t mean to make you worry. Maddy and I were talking and I didn’t hear the phone.”
Darian questioned that, since Argo was always on call for the sheriff’s department and kept his phone beside him at all times. He definitely would have been watching for updates on the guy who’d shot him. He decided not to make an issue of it, though.
“I thought it might be something like that. Feeling okay?”
“My arm feels like a T-rex chewed on it, but Maddy’s looking after me. She’s trying to trick me into taking the painkillers, but I’ve outsmarted her so far.”
“You should take them. Why suffer?”
“I don’t like the way they make me feel. I can’t stand being fuzzy-headed. Never mind that. What did you do all day? Cutler went by your place and said your car was gone.”
“Yeah, I found the card he left. Tell him thanks. I went to town for a while. Jake and Patricia made me breakfast. They wanted to hear all about what happened.”
Argo exhaled heavily. “I’ll bet they did.”
“Don’t worry. I kept my account general. I didn’t reveal any state secrets.”
“Good. Because Cutler wasn’t kidding about not jeopardizing our case. I hope none of those reporters thought to look for you there. They’re not above following you home.”
“They didn’t. And besides…I didn’t go right home afterward. While I was in town, I ran into Victor Reece. You know, Bryce’s friend. We met him at the Wilde play.”
Argo’s pause gave Darian a burst of satisfaction he immediately felt remorseful about. “The rich actor with the manor house. Yeah, I remember. What was he doing there?”
“Nothing, really. He’s a Birchwood alum, so he was just taking a nostalgic walk around town.”
“Uh-huh.” Argo grunted out both syllables. “So I guess you two took a stroll down the street. Did he tell you all about his soap opera career?”
“Jamie London is the soap star, not Victor. Victor did the infomercial. And yes, we did have a pleasant conversation. After that he gave me a tour of his house in the mountains. I had lunch there, as a matter of fact. I’m just getting home now.”
“I see. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday afternoon. I suppose he had servants waiting on the two of you?”
“No,” Darian said, hating both himself and the haughty tone he assumed. He couldn’t stop, though. “It was just the two of us.”
“Ah. How cozy.”
An uncomfortable silence stretched between them. Darian pretended to clear his throat.
“I can come over now if you want.”
“No, that’s okay. What I mean is, Maddy’s heading home tomorrow afternoon. They need her back at her job, and Warren is…well, you know. He doesn’t like to be alone. So why don’t you come over afterward? Maddy made some lasagna we can heat up.”
Darian frowned. It would have been easy enough for him to swing by and hang out with Argo and Maddy for a few hours. But he decided not to argue. “Okay. See you then.”
Mumbling something that sounded like goodbye, Argo disconnected. For a few moments, Darian stared at the dark screen on his phone as though it could tell him what had changed. Something had. He felt it—like moisture in the air before a storm, or like time moving on and feelings inevitably changing.
Chapter 4
Darian pulled up at Argo’s house on Sunday afternoon just in time to catch Maddy walking out. He’d spent the hours since their phone conversation catching up on schoolwork and aimlessly surfing the internet. He’d even gone for a quick jog around his neighborhood. By then, thankfully, the reporters had given up and moved on to other scandals.
“It’s good to see you,” Maddy said when they met on the front step. She gave him a quick hug. “Hell of a weekend so far.”
“Tell me about it. Things will get better, though.” They’d almost have to, Darian thought. Couldn’t get much worse. “How’s the patient?”
The feeble smile she flashed in return sent Darian’s mind racing all over again. What was she not telling him?
“He’s fine,” she hastened to assure him. “Don’t be too hard on him, Darian. He’s been through a lot. We have to be understanding.”
Darian blinked, momentarily struck speechless. Was she accusing him of being insensitive? Did she not realize Argo had practically ordered him to stay away?
“The cops were here,” Maddy went on. “They haven’t tracked down the shooter yet. There’s talk of posting a reward for information.”
“That’s a good idea,” Darian said. “They need to get him before he hurts someone else.”
“Cutler and another guy are taking care of all that. They don’t want Argo working the case, though of course he doesn’t want to hear it. I hope you won’t let him, no matter what excuses he gives you. It’s really for his own good.”
“Don’t worry about that. I plan to make sure he takes it easy.”
“Good. I wish I could stay, but…it’s better for you to be here. Take care, Darian.”
After patting his arm, she continued on to her car. Somewhat bewildered by her manner, Darian went inside.
From the moment he entered, he felt something was off. It was nothing he could actually point to. On the contrary, the room felt warm and smelled pleasantly of the fire snapping in the grate. Argo lounged on the couch in sweatpants and a t-shirt, his arm still bandaged up and pressed against his side. At his feet lay a metal poker—the kind characters in classic murder mysteries often used as murder weapons, Darian thought. He didn’t say so out loud, though. Argo didn’t look like he was in the mood for humor.
“I hope you didn’t carry firewood with one arm in a sling,” Darian said, eyeing the logs stacked near the hearth.
“Maddy helped me get the fire going,” Argo said without turning around. “She’s used to doing things like that, living out in the sticks. It’s not like Warren does any more than he has to.”
Darian took a seat beside him and spotted a pair of pill bottles on the coffee table. Argo followed his gaze and grimaced.
“Antibiotics and painkillers. I’m going to need them, Maddy said.”
“I’m sure she’s right.”
“Nuisance,” Argo grumbled. Darian wasn’t sure if he meant Maddy, the pills, or him. “I’m off duty now until I heal up. I’ve got a ton of paperwork on my desk and it’s just going to get worse while I’m out.”
“Sorry to hear that.”
“Yeah, well, it can’t be helped. I’ll deal with it. In fact, you can help with that.” Argo patted the cushion beside him. “Why are you so far away?”
“I didn’t want to crowd you,” Darian said. “Your arm….”
“My arm’s still attached. They wrapped it up tight enough to withstand a whack from a hammer. Nothing to worry about there.”
Moving slowly, Darian slid sideways on the couch until he was curled up against Argo’s side. He felt his back and shoulder muscles loosen with relief as they settled down together.
“Much better,” Argo said.
“Yeah. It is.” Gingerly, Darian slid one arm across Argo’s chest and leaned into his embrace. When they kissed, Darian detected nothing out of the ordinary. No doubt Argo just needed to get past the shock of his injury, he reassured himself. Maybe talking things out with Maddy had done him some good. Darian was glad now that he’d left the sib
lings alone to hash things out.
“Did you have a nice visit with Maddy?” he asked when they moved apart.
“It was good to see her. She drove me nuts with her fussing, though.”
“Hey, don’t knock free professional care.”
“I don’t. But in a strange way I’m grateful to Warren. I suspect she left early because of him, not just because of the hospital needing her. Sometimes I wish she’d leave him. But her family’s important to her, and I guess she must love him. Who am I to judge?”
“No telling why people love who they do.” It came out wrong, and Darian wished he hadn’t said it. But taking it back or commenting further would have made things worse.
Sure enough, Argo scowled. “Yeah. Tell me about it.”
Darian forged ahead. “I’m glad you two had a chance to talk. After everything that happened last month, you probably needed some closure.”
“I think we’ve accomplished that. It’s fine. Onward and upward, as they say.”
“Right.”
Once again the silence grew awkward.
“How’s Victor? Hear from him since your grand tour yesterday?” Argo asked as he watched the fire gain momentum in the grate. Darian was sure he saw Argo’s shoulders stiffen.
“Argo, it was just a friendly visit. You’re making too big a deal out of it.”
“Next time, huh? Are you really that naïve, or are you deliberately soft-pedalling this? I’m a cop, Darian—I see past people’s words to their actual meaning. He couldn’t have been more obvious that he was interested in showing you a lot more than his house, impressive though it might be.”
“That’s not fair. Even if he did imply that he might be open to more than simple friendship, I made it clear to him that I’m not. He knows I’m with you. He even invited me to bring you next time.”
“Ah. I guess I should be glad about that.” Argo didn’t seem relieved by this information. “Plenty to see at that house, isn’t there? Lots of rooms, from what I hear. Acres of woods around it, too.”
“Sure are. Victor says there was even a monastery there at one time. Can you imagine? Monks wandering around in your backyard, swinging lanterns and chanting? Kind of creepy in a way.” When he saw Argo’s eyes narrow, Darian realized he might sound too enthusiastic. He shrugged a little too obviously. “It’s a bit isolated for my tastes, though. I’m not surprised Victor spends most of his time in New York.”
“People grow to appreciate being alone. The point of having a big house is that you can invite other people to share it.”
Darian decided not to mention that Victor had said the same thing to him—and implied that Darian might be the perfect person to share the house with. “That brings its own problems.”
“It can,” Argo replied cryptically. “Yeah.”
Darian found himself growing frustrated with Argo’s attitude. He’d done nothing but push Darian away since the disaster of Friday night, and now he was resentful that Darian had accepted the offer of a platonic lunch with a new friend.
“Okay, I’m just going to say it. You made it perfectly clear to me that my presence wasn’t wanted or required here. Did you expect me to sit around and pine away for you while you were entertaining your sister?”
“Entertaining…?” Grimacing with the effort, Argo lifted his bandaged arm as far as he could. “With this?”
“You’re right. I’m sorry. That was too strong a word to use. It’s just that you’re making way too big a deal over Victor Reece.”
Argo opened his mouth as though he were about to bark out something else. Then he thought better of it and shook his head “No. You’re the one who’s right. I’m not being fair to you. You didn’t do anything wrong. I’m just frustrated and venting.”
“I know. I get it. But I’m on your side, Argo. Don’t forget that.”
“Thanks.” Reaching out, Argo pulled Darian closer and kissed him again. It was a quick, distracted kiss, though. Argo wasn’t over his bad mood, no matter what he said. But Darian didn’t know what to do. For now, he decided to ignore the tension. Time was probably the best medicine, along with the two bottles Maddy had left on the end table for her brother.
“You know…we had some plans that got tragically short-circuited on Friday. We lost out on half the weekend, but maybe it’s not too late to salvage a few of them?”
“I can’t move around much,” Argo grumbled.
Darian’s fingers strayed over the front of his sweatpants. He was gratified to feel a bulge growing there—one that surged in response to his light stroking.
“You might not have to. I can pretty much handle things on my own, if you know what I mean.”
When he pressed down, Argo shifted his hips so Darian’s hand dropped away. “Maybe later. Right now I just want to take my meds and close my eyes for a while.”
“Okay, Sure.” His arm must hurt more than he was willing to let on. At least physical pain was easy to deal with. Easier than what Darian felt tickling at the edge of his heart. “Sorry.”
He waited for Argo to say he had nothing to be sorry about, to offer at least some sort of excuse or explanation for his behavior, but instead Argo’s cell phone chirped. He reached past Darian and the two pill bottles to retrieve it.
“Bryce,” Argo mouthed when he picked it up, though he didn’t need to. Darian recognized the familiar pattern of enthusiastic chatter even from a distance. From what he could make out, Bryce had heard about the holdup on the news.
Darian listened as Argo filled him in on the details, correcting some misconceptions Bryce obviously had. Then Argo repeated the same story almost word for word as Bryce apparently handed the phone to Hanson. His voice became gruffer when he confirmed that his deputies had not, as yet, rounded up the person responsible for his injury.
“No,” Argo said firmly after listening for a few moments, “we definitely don’t want a reception at the theater celebrating our heroism. The whole thing was a bad experience and we’d prefer to forget it.”
Darian raised a brow. He wouldn’t in theory have objected to a party, though he could see why Argo might be hesitant to relive the moment he was shot.
Argo startled him by leaning over and pressing the phone in to Darian’s hand. “Bryce wants to talk to you.”
As soon as Darian said hello, Bryce again launched into a recitation of all the local gossip. Darian marveled at the exaggerations. Bryce had heard that the robber had tried to take a large group of late-night shoppers hostage, that a gun battle had nearly destroyed the front counter of the convenience store, and that Darian had disarmed the guy with a martial-arts move that had simultaneously disarmed and disabled him. Afterward, Argo had supposedly crawled over broken glass and, despite bleeding profusely, tried to apply handcuffs. The guy had fought him off and fled into the night after pumping several bullets into the walls, the floor, and Argo.
“That’s not even close to what happened. All I did was push the guy so his shot went wide. No marital arts involved at all.”
He heard Bryce suck in a breath. “Well, that’s even worse! You both could have been killed!”
“Yes, I know that. Argo’s been reminding me pretty much hourly.”
“By the way,” Bryce lowered his voice, and Darian instinctively angled the phone so that Argo wouldn’t hear him. “I had another inquiry about you after the news came on last night. Victor Reece. He was shocked to hear about what happened. Says he spent the whole day with you and you never mentioned it once.”
“That’s true. I didn’t bring it up. Like Argo said, I think it’s better to move on.”
“The shooting isn’t half as juicy as the fact that you and Victor were roaming around Reece Hall together all afternoon. I hope Argo knows about that.”
“Yes. It’s not a problem.” Darian flicked his eyes to Argo. He knew Argo couldn’t hear what Bryce was saying, but nonetheless Argo scowled. Darian’s guilty look must have tipped him off. He had to stop forgetting that Argo was a cop.
Now that Bryce mentioned it, Darian had to agree. “Well, Argo’s sister came to visit,” he said with forced nonchalance. He didn’t like the way Argo’s face clouded over when he said it. “She’s a nurse and didn’t trust me to look after him properly. I thought it wiser to get out of her way.”
“Ah, in-law drama. That does explain everything. I can see why you’d need to escape that, trust me. Hanson’s mother is an absolute dragon. When she shows up I always head for the hills.”
Darian heard Hanson protesting in the background.
“Stop it, Hanson, you know it’s true. You’re more like her than you realize sometimes.” Bryce sighed. “Well, now I’ve done it. He’s going to pout all evening. I’ll talk to you two again later. Heads up, though, Darian—I have a strong suspicion you’ll be hearing from Victor again. He tried to downplay it, but he only called me to talk about you. I’ve been around the block long enough to recognize that ploy when I see it. Trust me, he’s not that good an actor.”
Darian struggled not to blush. “Okay. Talk soon. We’ll be more careful from now on, I promise. No more late nights at the convenience store.”
Bryce paused as though he’d just thought of something and gasped. “You don’t think this whole sorry mess was my fault, I hope. I’m the one who kept you boys up past your bedtime with my play.”