by A. J. Thomas
“How did you—”
“He grabbed it when Hendricks knocked you out,” Nate said quickly.
“It seems Jeff was so distraught about losing his job over Sean’s case that he followed Sean here from the docks. I rushed over here to try to help, but I was too late to stop him from shooting the both of you. I managed to get ahold of the gun and kill him, though,” Cory added helpfully.
Sean shifted to the side, stepping around the breakfast bar and shifting his grip on his cane. “You don’t have to do this, Cory.”
Cory raised the pistol again, this time pointing the barrel straight at Sean. “It really isn’t personal,” he said again. “This whole situation got fucked-up, and I just don’t see any other solution.”
A thud exploded through the house, followed by the sound of splintering wood. Cory flinched toward the front door. Sean charged toward Cory, trying to run and heedless of the pain. In a graceless shamble, Sean dived. His cane was nothing more than a thick aluminum alloy, but he put all his weight behind it and swung, hitting the underside of Cory’s forearm with a sickening thwack. The gun discharged once, and a shower of white Sheetrock fell around them as the bullet lodged in the ceiling.
Cory stumbled back, fumbling with the gun, but grabbing on to Sean, pulling him off balance as they fell.
Sean’s right calf spasmed as he twisted and tried to push himself upright, sending a jolt of pain up his leg and into his hip. He struggled to catch himself on his prosthetic leg and dropped his cane when Cory grabbed on to his arms as they tumbled. Sean could either end up flopped on the couch with Cory on top of him, or push further into the spiraling fall and hope that Cory was more dazed than him by the impact.
Desperate, Sean pulled his prosthetic leg back and pushed with his upper body, letting gravity and their rotational velocity drive Cory past him into the coffee table. Sean heard Cory’s nose crack as blood sprayed across the smooth wood surface.
Before Sean could brace himself on the couch, Nate was there, hauling him to his feet once more and pressing the gun into his hands.
“Nate, you okay?” Sean asked, limping backward and leveling the gun at Cory.
“I’m fine,” Nate growled, tugging Sean away from where Cory lay groaning. “You?”
“I’ll survive. You’re bleeding.”
Nate looked like he wanted to roll his eyes. “Yeah, no shit.” Nate bent to pick up his phone. He poked it wearily, but the screen was shattered and dark.
“Hand my phone over,” Sean said, keeping his gaze fixed on Cory.
“You little asshole!” Cory choked, holding his broken nose tenderly. “Who the hell was at the front door?”
“I’m an asshole? You tried to kill me! You tried to kill Nate! But I’m the asshole?” Sean yelled, gesturing with the gun. He wasn’t sure when he’d started shaking again, but his entire body was trembling. He didn’t know whether it was the result of fear or an adrenaline crash, but he couldn’t stop it.
“Sean,” Nate said, gently setting his bandaged hand on Sean’s wrist. He very carefully shifted Sean’s finger off the trigger and onto the metal guard surrounding it. “Don’t kill him.”
Nate stepped away, rushing to the door. Before he got there, it burst open, the frame around it shattering.
Sean gaped at the three men in yellow polo shirts, confused. “You’re not the cops.”
Gallagher, looking even more severe than he had the day they’d met at Harrison and Poole’s offices, took in the situation quickly. “The police are on their way. Y’all in one piece?”
Nate shook his head, gesturing to the kitchen. “Alden shot Jeff Hendricks.”
Gallagher looked confused, but then nodded, seeming to take everything in stride.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Sean demanded.
“Go check on Mr. Hendricks,” Gallagher said to one of the CPG employees. “Get on the horn with the police and let them know they need to send an ambulance too.”
“Answer me!” Sean shouted, wavering between keeping the gun trained on Cory and the CPG employees at the door.
“I’m going to kill you,” Cory growled, pushing himself back up to his feet.
“Don’t move,” Sean said, turning back to Cory and trying to keep himself from freaking out.
“You’re not going to touch him, Alden,” Gallagher declared, as if his word alone could compel Cory to obey.
Cory smirked and took a step toward Sean. “You think you can order me around like the rest of your Confederated peons?”
Sean was breathing fast, panicking. He stumbled backward. “Stay back!”
Sean thought he saw more people cross the yard, closer to the window this time, but the world was growing dark. No one was touching him, no one was strangling him, but he felt like he couldn’t breathe, like Cory was trying to crush his throat again. The world spun around him, and he couldn’t summon the willpower to stay on his feet.
“Sean!”
He felt Nate’s arms around him, strong and warm, lowering him to the ground.
Cory shifted a few feet in front of them, glaring at Sean with a blood-covered sneer. “You’re such a pathetic sap,” he said, moving closer. “You aren’t going to shoot me.”
The darkness around the edges of his vision thickened. His chest ached, and his arms began to tingle, feeling numb. He tried to move his finger off the trigger guard, but his hands were clenched tight, each digit locked in place.
“Alden, sit your ass down,” Gallagher tried again. At his direction, two CPG employees grabbed Cory by his shirt and flung him back onto the couch.
Sean squeezed his eyes shut, trying to push past the tingling numbness that was crawling from his fingers up his arms. He could feel Nate pulling at his torso, trying to tug him away from Cory.
“Breathe slow,” Nate whispered, wrenching the gun from his hands.
With everyone’s attention focused on Sean, Cory moved. He dived toward Nate, reaching for the gun Nate held haphazardly by the barrel. Sean’s hands were still tingling, but he pried his fingers open and wrapped them around the grip again, bringing the gun up as Cory’s hands closed around the weapon.
The kickback from the gun hurt, but Sean’s pain faded as the world closed in around him. Cory collapsed across Sean’s legs, gasping as Gallagher himself pulled Cory off.
Sean couldn’t even catch his breath enough to curse.
“Sean, listen to me,” Nate said, prying the pistol out of his hand again. “Close your eyes, okay? Listen to the sound of my voice. Can you do that for me?”
He managed a shaky nod.
“Take a deep breath for me, okay? A slow, deep breath.”
Sean’s chest ached, his arms and shoulders completely numb.
“Slow down,” Nate whispered, his breath warm against the side of Sean’s neck. “Focus on my breathing,” he said, his voice impossibly slow. “Try to match the pace.”
“It hurts….”
“Babe, you’re hyperventilating. It’ll stop hurting if you breathe slowly. Close your eyes and breathe. You’re with me. You’re okay.”
An eternity passed while he sat there in Nate’s arms, his chest aching like a vise had locked around his heart and lungs. But he focused on Nate’s voice, on the slow, steady rise and fall of his chest, and soon the numbness and pain began to fade. The tunnel vision went away, and he found himself sprawled on the floor, staring at Cory Alden’s body.
“God, what have I done?” he asked, flexing his fingers into a tight fist and loosening them again.
Nate grabbed his chin and forced him to look away from Cory’s body. “You saved my life. You saved us both. It’s okay. We’re both okay.”
“That means the world is falling apart,” he whispered.
Nate pressed his forehead against Sean’s and shut his eyes. “I love you so much,” he whispered, chuckling “Yes. The world is falling apart. But we’re together, we’re safe, and we can handle it.”
“I panicked.”
; “So did I.”
Sean felt his heart skip a beat as a dozen police officers swarmed into Nate’s tiny living room. He knew he should stand up, he should talk to them, try to take control of the situation before Gallagher could turn it to CPG’s advantage, but he couldn’t move. He was vaguely aware of more time passing, of Cory’s body being carried away, but nothing came into focus until a massive hand settled on his shoulder.
“Hawk?”
“Jesus Christ.” Hawk surveyed the situation with a deep frown. “Come here.” Hawk pulled him out of Nate’s grip, off the ground, and into a hug that pushed all of the air from his lungs.
“What are you doing here?” Sean asked, clinging to Hawk.
“Taking care of you. Some CPG lackey called and told me you were in trouble.”
“That lackey would be our CEO,” Gallagher chimed in. “I wasn’t sure who else could get the number for your emergency contact quickly.”
“Why are you even here?” Sean asked, looking at Gallagher wearily. “I figured you were with him, but….”
“Lord, this is a mess. I was worried when you bugged out on us, so I had one of my boys follow you in case you needed help. And since the gentleman you showed up with was nowhere to be found, I thought I’d play with the new security cameras to find him. Needless to say, when I saw that Hendricks had attacked him, I had to follow up. Civil liability nightmares aside, we owe you.”
“You followed me here?”
“You needed help. Son, you’ve suffered enough because people working for my company failed to look out for you. Despite everything that’s happened, you came out today and worked right beside us. Not because you had to, but because you saw something that was broken and wanted to help fix it. Men like you and me built this company. It might have grown beyond the size where ideals matter much, but we still look after our own.” Gallagher glared at Nathan. “Although trying to communicate that through all these damn lawyers doesn’t seem to have worked worth a damn.”
“You can say that again,” Hawk grumbled.
“You can put me down, Hawk,” Sean muttered. “What—” He huffed as he was plopped back onto his feet. “What do we do now?”
He glanced at Nate, Hawk, and Gallagher. Even the older engineer looked flustered as he took in the buzz of police and paramedics who were beginning to shift their attention away from Jeff and Cory.
“There’s… I mean, there’s evidence, and medical stuff, and police statements,” Nate said, obviously struggling himself. “But I’m…. I don’t…. It’s going to be fine.” Nate gazed over the mess and swallowed hard. “It’ll be all right.”
“So we should call your dad and beg for help navigating the apocalypse?”
Nate looked at him sheepishly and shrugged. “Yes.”
Epilogue
NATE HAD needed a chance to be himself after escaping the high-class rehearsal dinner for Steve and Cheryl’s supposedly low-key Valentine’s Day wedding, so he’d dragged Sean and Tonya out for a drink. The night had ended with Tonya and Nate throwing themselves wholeheartedly into karaoke at a gay bar down on the beach, while Sean had lain down in the sand and drunkenly rambled about stars and the beauty of nuclear fusion.
Nate had managed to get Sean back to the hotel room that had become his temporary home and tuck him in before he fell asleep beside him. When he tried to wake Sean up in the morning, he’d gotten nothing but grumbling for his trouble. He’d tried again after he’d showered, and again once he was dressed and ready to go, but by ten, he’d been forced to give up and go without him. So Nate wasn’t too surprised when his phone rang as Steven and Cheryl’s reception was drawing to a close.
“Good morning, Sunshine,” he said with an enthusiasm that was probably unfair, given how hung over Sean had to be.
“I’m sorry,” Sean said immediately. “I slept through the entire ceremony, didn’t I?”
Even though Sean hadn’t been on the official guest list that Nate’s mother had drawn up, Steve and Cheryl had made him promise he’d be there.
“It’s fine, Sean. I covered for you,” Nate assured him.
“Are they angry?”
“Only by design. Steve let Cheryl think you were too uncomfortable to attend, so she’s furious at Mom and Matt for making you feel unwanted. It might be the Bloody Marys talking, but it’s been fun to watch my mom walking on eggshells around her.”
“I’d almost prefer she know that I overslept. Tell her the truth for me?”
“I’ll get around to it eventually. Are you heading to the shopping center later today? Or staying in bed?”
“Uh… I’m supposed to be there to let in the guys bringing the furniture and shit. But Tonya said she’d be there early, so she might have it covered.”
“Well, no one’s called me freaking out about the place being empty, so I’m guessing she’s there already. You really need to appoint somebody to do things like this for you. Somebody who’s not me, I mean.”
“That’s why I’ve got Tonya,” Sean pointed out.
“You need to find someone,” Nate reminded him.
The settlement, insurance claims from his Jeep, and the criminal investigation that had followed Cory’s death had taken months to sort out. With Gallagher working beside him as he drew out schematics, machined new parts, and compiled a new control module for the Republic Sea, taking the settlement felt less like giving in and more like moving on. Apparently months of simulations run on computer modeling software were on the agenda, but after that Gallagher had agreed to pay Sean an annual licensing fee for every ship they installed the oscillating pump system on.
The trial Nate had been counting on never even began, but being single-handedly responsible for a ludicrous settlement from CPG had gotten Nate’s law practice off to an auspicious start, regardless. With the settlement finalized and Sean’s medical bills paid in full, Nate had helped him tuck the rest of the money into trusts and bank accounts and then tried to back off completely. The royalties CPG had promised to pay Sean for the pump system would ensure Sean never needed to touch most of the money anyway, but Nate still felt like anything he did that involved managing Sean’s assets blurred too many ethical lines in the sand.
And Nate wanted his job as Sean’s lawyer to be finished. Nate had been pushing Sean to keep a new attorney on retainer indefinitely, but Sean couldn’t see the point. He had no intention of conducting massive financial transactions, becoming a real-estate mogul, or hiding from the world behind an army of stoic men in suits. Not after the new shop was opened and the LGBT youth center he was planning on was up and running, anyway.
Nate couldn’t keep representing Sean forever. “You promised me you’d at least interview a few more candidates.”
“I don’t want to hire someone else,” Sean complained. “You’re not a dick, and you’re better at legal shit than everybody else I talk to. And it’s not like there’s anything else to deal with. The deed is filed, we’ve got the keys, equipment’s showing up over the next few days. Once the deed for the youth center property is transferred and they’ve got funding, it’s done. What else is there?”
Nate chuckled. “Taxes.”
“Which you deducted and paid already,” Sean pointed out.
“You’ll have to pay taxes on the interest every year. There are six long-term leases in your shopping center that still have to be transferred over, and the city needs a copy of the deed once it’s filed to rezone it for mixed use. Then there are still tenant notification issues, because you obviously don’t want them to keep paying rent to the former owner. I’ve got five sets of keys for the vacant shops and three more for the second-floor offices, but I’ve only got a garage code for the warehouse across the back alley. And a warning that we’ll have to change the locks. The building for the youth center is a mess, and it would be cheaper to build a new one than to bring it up to code, and either way it’ll require permits and approval from the city. And that doesn’t even touch on setting up the endowment to fund it.”
“Okay, so there’s a little more to deal with,” Sean admitted. “Did the wedding go off without a hitch? I can still try to make it for the rest of the reception.”
Nate chuckled. “Oh, it’s fine. It’s about Steve and Cheryl, and they’re having a great time. I’ve been hanging out with Cheryl’s family since the ceremony, so it hasn’t been that bad. Of course, if you need my help,” he said, suddenly hopeful, “I’m sure Steve would understand if I had to run.”
Sean ran his left hand through his hair, annoyed by the sand that tumbled out onto the sheets and carpet. “The only things on the agenda today were the wedding and setting stuff up.”
“You sure? Because there’s a chance all your fancy new equipment was left out on the sidewalk this morning….”
“And I can call Tonya as easily as you can,” Sean reminded him. “But if you want to come over, you’re welcome to make up something legalish and come have lunch with me.”
“The unfortunate thing about being at a family event is that if I try to make up some kind of legal emergency, Dad’s going to get all excited and offer to help.”
“Oh, good point.”
“The owner of the hardware store you’ll be sharing the parking lot with has already left me a couple of messages. He’s a smidge concerned about how a tattoo parlor might impact the neighborhood.”
“It’s the beach. A tattoo parlor shouldn’t have any more of an impact than the three massage parlors that were there for the last couple years,” Sean grumbled. “Hell, if anything, we’ll bring in a more diverse set of clients.”
“You won’t get any argument from me. Although I did have a suggestion….”
“Hmm?”
“I spoke with a dermatologist who does laser tattoo removal. He wants to open a clinic, but he’s only recently certified and having trouble finding a business partner. He thought it might be a profitable direction to expand, and it might help the whole ‘professional atmosphere’ thing.”