“Well, that’s reassuring.” Matt shoved a hand through his damp hair. “Why the games? He’s the closest thing I have to a brother. Okay, yeah, he was a dick to me, but he’s family, I can forgive him. Surely he knows that.”
Gabe settled a comforting hand on his shoulder, immediately anchoring his scattered emotions like always.
“What do you want to do? I’ll support you either way. But if we’re going to chase this message to the diner, I’m going to at least call Jake. And if Thomas does turn up, I don’t want you to get your hopes up considering his behavior toward you up to this point.”
“I want to go.” He didn’t need to think twice about it, even though maybe he probably should have been messaging back a big fat screw you.
He checked the time to see it’d just gone after nine thirty. An unaccountable surge of apprehension went through him. What if the message had come from someone else and Thomas was pissed when he saw him? What if his cousin still refused to come home or tried to hurt him again? Or what if it was some kind of elaborate trap?
More than anything, he wanted to ask Gabe to come with him. Having Gabe at his side would make whatever happened easier to handle. Except Gabe had a job to do and—his own personal safety aside after he’d been targeted in the past days—Yas was lying in a hospital bed and had almost died. FBI analyst Gabriel Lopez had far more important things to do than hold his hand while he fronted up to his cousin one last time.
“Hey.” Gabe’s fingers touched his chin, and until that moment, Matt hadn’t even realized he was staring pensively at his own shoes. “You want me to come with?”
Relief spiraled through him cool and sweet, but he didn’t immediately shout yes! like he wanted to.
“But Ferguson and the search warrant—”
“Will still be there later.” Gabe sent him a warm, reassuring smile, the clear affection in his gaze making Matt’s heart trip over itself. “Besides, I’m an analyst, not an agent. They’ll let me participate, but it’s not like I’ll be taking point on things. With Yas laid up, I’m sure there’s already half a dozen other special agents stomping around the sheriff’s office, complaining about the coffee and generally being a pain in the ass for all the poor deputies.”
“Only if you’re sure….” He didn’t know why he was still arguing against Gabe giving him exactly what he needed. He just hated being that guy. The needy boyfriend who couldn’t go anywhere alone and couldn’t even buy a cup of coffee without asking what his other half thought.
Of course, most people didn’t find themselves getting shot at and subjected to homophobia in the form of vandalism and offensive pamphlets.
Gabe tugged him forward into a brief but heartfelt kiss. “I’ve never been more sure about anything.”
As Gabe stepped back again, Matt swallowed against the sudden lump in his throat, since he knew Gabe was talking about more than just going to the diner with him. And he felt exactly the same way, no matter how suddenly it had happened or crazy it might be.
Neither of them said anything else as they collected their belongings and went out to Gabe’s bureau sedan. Gabe used a key from the hall table to lock up and pocketed the single keychain, telling him Jake had said he could return it later.
The drive to the diner took maybe three or four minutes at the most, but every single second seemed to drag by in slow motion as Matt battled second thoughts and changed his mind about twenty times. After all the shit Thomas had already put him through, part of him did just want to walk away and tell Aunt Katie he’d tried his best. Couldn’t help someone who didn’t want to help themselves, that was what his mom had always told him. Yet the last little shreds of family loyalty, of the blood that tied them, wouldn’t let him give up without one final attempt to make Thomas see reason.
This was the last time, however. After today, if Thomas still didn’t want his help or didn’t agree to come home to San Francisco, then he was washing his hands of it all. He had the four-hour flight back to figure out how he was going to tell his aunt that her son was a deadbeat, and an asshole, to be quite honest, and if he truly wanted to be a racist, misogynistic, homophobic douche bag, then they were probably better off without him.
Matt glanced at Gabe as they pulled into a parking spot outside the diner. At least if everything went his way, he wouldn’t be making the cross-country trip home by himself. And if he got a flat tire on the way to the Houston airport, he wouldn’t have to rely on the generosity of a hot stranger to save him.
“I suppose there’s no point in me saying you don’t have to do this.” Gabe turned slightly in the seat to face him.
“I was just thinking the same thing,” he muttered darkly.
“I know, I could tell.” Gabe reached up to smooth two fingers across his brow and down the side of his face. “You get these adorable creases in your expression when you’re thinking too hard.”
Despite himself, he gave a short laugh and playfully shoved at Gabe. “Gee, thanks. I wasn’t thinking that hard.”
Gabe grinned for a second, but then the smile slipped from his face as he regarded Matt with an intent gleam in his gaze. “The second he says anything disrespectful, anything at all that upsets you, we’re out of there.”
He nodded because it wasn’t like he wanted to sit around and be Thomas’s verbal punching bag. But then another thought struck him.
“Won’t you want to question him yourself? Last time we talked to him outside the motel the other morning, you said you’d help him if he gave you information about the ALP.”
Gabe gave a loose shrug. “He’d probably have some interesting insights into the workings of the group, but he wasn’t embedded long enough to find out anything of real use. And truthfully, my only interest in helping him was trying to protect you. He was useful when we didn’t know Ferguson was behind the attacks. Now, not so much. Sorry if that seems callous, but I don’t have time for people who hurt you, physically or emotionally.”
Instead of replying, Matt leaned forward and captured Gabe’s lips with his own, putting all his gratitude and appreciation into the kiss. Would he ever get used to the too-warm feeling in his chest whenever Gabe got all protective over him?
“Enough of that,” Gabe murmured in a low, gravelly voice against his mouth. “Or we’ll end up getting arrested for public indecency when I decide getting my mouth on your cock right here and now is an excellent idea.”
Gabe shot him a suave grin and then pulled completely away from him to get out of the car. Except all Matt could do was sit there and breathe through the instant hard-on those simple words had evoked.
By the time he got himself under control enough to leave the vehicle without making a spectacle of himself, Gabe was sitting on the nose of the sedan with his arms crossed and a wolfish smile spread across his gorgeous features.
“Everything okay?” Gabe asked innocently. Too innocently. The wicked gleam in his dark gaze said he knew exactly what he’d done.
Matt stopped in front of him and leaned in, making sure they were touching nowhere except where he let his lips graze the shell of Gabe’s ear. “You think I fucked you senseless in the shower before? Just wait until we’re alone later and I’ve got you naked in a bed.”
He straightened and turned, only glancing over his shoulder long enough to catch the stunned expression and darkening of Gabe’s eyes. Feeling extremely satisfied with himself, Matt walked into the diner, apprehension gone to the point he’d almost forgotten why he was even there. Gabe joined him a few seconds later, heated glare promising retribution. He stifled a laugh as he found an empty table to sit at, not even able to imagine what form of revenge Gabe might inflict on him, only that it’d likely be amazing for both of them.
Gabe went to the counter to order them both a coffee, and just as he started making his way across the diner, Danny appeared. The place was getting busy and there weren’t many tables free, so Matt waved him over when Danny caught his eye.
“Morning,” Danny greeted as
he sat down. “How’d you sleep? Your arm give you any trouble?”
Matt glanced at the slight bulge of the bandage under the sleeve of his T-shirt. Truthfully the graze barely hurt at all and he’d almost forgotten about it.
“No trouble at all,” he replied. “Thanks for letting us stay, and for the clothes.”
“It was no problem.” Danny sent him a genuinely friendly smile. It was a pity they lived so far away from each other, because Danny seemed like the kind of guy he could have been really good friends with.
Gabe arrived at the table and set the two coffees down. “Hey, Danny. Sorry, if I’d known you were coming, I would have ordered extra.”
“It’s fine.” Danny’s smile took on an almost dreamy edge. “Jake and I have a standing date on Friday mornings. A lot of weeks Jake starts early before I wake up and I always work late on Friday night, so we have brunch at 10:00 a.m., otherwise we usually don’t get to see each other until tomorrow. I did get to see him for breakfast this morning, but I guess it’s just one of those things, you know? Neither of us bothered to cancel.”
Something niggled in the back of Matt’s mind, but disappeared in another instant. Probably didn’t matter. He’d remember or work it out later if it was important.
“You guys seem really happy together, despite this town,” Gabe commented, sipping at his coffee.
“Actually, most people around town are fine with it. Helps that the mayor’s wife has publicly supported us at several town gatherings. There’re still a handful of people with old-fashioned ideas, and my dad hates my guts, but Jake is worth more than the opinions of a few people who don’t matter.”
“Your dad hates you for being gay?” Matt blurted out before he could decide whether it was any of his business to ask such a question.
Danny nodded, his expression open and honest, but with a hint of hurt in his light blue eyes.
“I spent half my life hiding who I really was because I thought it was more important to please him, make him proud. But then I met Jake and realized I was never going to make my father happy no matter what I did. He was already an asshole before he cut all ties with me when I finally came out. My mom is amazing, though, and the sheriff has been more of a father to me than my own dad ever was. They actually started dating a few weeks back.”
“Your mom and the sheriff?” Gabe clarified with a fond smile.
“Yeah, it’s great. Can’t say I was surprised. Alan has been there for her in a way no one else ever has. She definitely deserves it.” From the expression on Danny’s face, it seemed he really was over the moon about his mom and the sheriff getting together.
“That’s great, buddy,” Gabe said, clapping him on the shoulder. “I’m really happy for you guys.”
“Thanks. Oh, there’s Jake.” Danny waved as the deputy stepped through the doorway into the busy diner. Jake pointed at the counter with a questioning look and Danny nodded in response. Apparently, they could communicate without even talking to each other.
A tug of longing tinged with a hint of jealousy tightened Matt’s stomach as he glanced at Gabe, wishing they had what Danny and Jake had. Gabe was staring back at him, a small, intimate smile playing over his lips as if he was thinking the same thing.
“Anyway, I should let you two get on,” Danny said, starting to rise.
“You and Jake are welcome to join us,” he said before Danny could even finish standing.
Danny cast a look between him and Gabe as he slowly sat back down. “Are you sure? We won’t be intruding on anything?”
“We’re here to meet my cousin. I’m actually not even sure he’s going to show up,” Matt replied. Gabe reached over and took his hand in a tight, comforting grip. “Until then, I could use all the good company I can get.”
“Good company is easy to give good people,” Danny drawled with a wide smile.
Jake joined them, handing Danny his coffee and dropping down to sit next to his boyfriend, casually slinging an arm over the back of Danny’s chair, their bodies gravitating toward each other. They seemed to have the kind of relationship Matt had always dreamed of, but never quite been able to find.
“How’re things looking at the station?” Gabe asked Jake, launching them into a conversation about Ferguson refusing to answer any questions and the fact he’d called in some hotshot lawyer from Houston. The search warrant still hadn’t come through, but the dozen or so FBI agents who’d descended on the town in the wake of Yas being shot were geared up and ready to go on the expectation they’d be cleared for the search anytime now.
Matt only half paid attention to the conversation; the rest of his attention was taken up by the door, watching it swing open and closed as he waited for a familiar face to appear.
Just when he started thinking the whole thing was going to be a bust, the door opened again and a hunched figure wearing an oversized coat hurried inside. Matt was almost going to look right past him, but then he caught the man’s profile and realized it was his cousin.
He tightened his grip where Gabe was still holding his hand, cutting him off midsentence from talking to Jake.
Thomas hesitated just inside the doorway and alarm bells started going off in Matt’s head. He slowly pushed to his feet, not really hearing Gabe call his name, a note of concern in the tone.
It was already climbing into the mid-eighties outside, so why the hell was Thomas wearing such a long, heavy coat? Not only that, but sweat dotted his brow and his features were alarmingly pale. Something was clearly wrong with his cousin, and as he looked around as if searching for someone, Matt hurried across the diner toward him.
Had whoever beaten Thomas a few days ago hurt him again? Despite how his cousin had treated him, he was suddenly fuming over the idea that someone was repeatedly harming him.
“Thomas!” he called out, gaining his cousin’s attention when he was still a few strides away.
“Matt?” Thomas looked confused for a brief moment, but then his eyes widened and he took a few steps back, holding out a hand to ward Matt off, while the other hand stayed tucked into the heavy coat. “Stay back. What are you doing here? You left town after the shooting like you were supposed to. You weren’t meant to be here this morning!”
Matt stopped in confusion, both at Thomas’s words and his clear panic, but when he went to take another step closer, a hand closed tightly around his upper arm. Matt glanced over his shoulder to see Gabe holding him back, features tight and pensive.
“Thomas, what are you talking about?” He tried to voice the words calmly and evenly, not demanding, but it didn’t seem to make a difference.
Thomas shook his head, expression morphing into anger and determination. “It doesn’t matter. You deserve this as much as they do.”
Everything seemed to suddenly drag, things around him moving in slow motion even as his mind spun at lightning speed to process it all. Thomas pulled his hand free from the coat, revealing a compact assault rifle. Some people at the nearby tables screamed and Gabe yanked Matt hard, making him stumble backward a few steps before regaining his footing, only for Gabe to propel them both behind the long counter.
A spurt of gunfire echoed, the sound painfully ricocheting in his ears in the enclosed space. There was more screaming and confusion at a second tearing burst of ammo before Thomas yelled at everyone to keep quiet, making an uneasy silence fall.
“I’m not here to hurt any good Christian people,” Thomas announced into the tense quiet. “But we all know there’re people in this diner who aren’t right in the eyes of God. They’re sinners. But worse, they flaunt it and encourage others to do the same. They’re doing the devil’s work, and I’m here to stop them.”
Oh God. Thomas was so much more entrenched in his extreme religious beliefs than he’d realized. His religious father and that televangelist he was so obsessed with had clearly had a massive influence on him, and then coming here and trying to connect with the ALP only to be rejected must have spurred him into thinking he needed to make
some grand statement.
Matt snatched a wild glance at Gabe hunkered down next to him. Jake was crouched on his other side, calmly checking the rounds in his service weapon while keeping Danny close to him. A few other people were hiding along the length of the counter, most still and silent, some quietly crying. One or two were on their phones calling 911.
“All I want is Deputy Jake Perez and Danny Jones, the bartender. Instead of being upstanding citizens, they’ve chosen the path of corruption and want to lead good people down with them,” Thomas continued. “The rest of your can leave once I’ve made my point.”
It felt like there was a block of ice in Matt’s stomach as he stared at Jake, who outwardly hadn’t reacted to Thomas’s words at all. Just because Jake and Danny hadn’t bothered to hide their love for each other, had acted and lived like every normal couple should be allowed to, Thomas had fixated on them. Despite everything, Matt still couldn’t believe this was happening, that his own cousin was terrorizing innocent people.
“This is insane,” he muttered to no one in particular, but gained both Gabe and Jake’s attention. “Someone must have put him up to this.”
Gabe sent him an understanding look, but Jake’s expression was closer to pity.
“That your cousin?” Jake whispered.
He nodded in a jerking motion, not able to speak around the lump in his throat.
“Whether anyone put him up to it is irrelevant right now,” Gabe returned in a low tone.
Sirens sounded in the distance, sending a murmuring wave of relief and nervousness through the people hiding from Thomas.
“I know you’re hiding back there!” Thomas yelled, agitation clear in his voice, maybe because the nearing sirens had made him panic.
Another burst of gunfire slammed into the wall above them. Matt instinctively ducked against Gabe as the bullets shattered glass display jars, coffee cups, and other items on the rear counter, raining shards and debris down on them. A few people started crying in earnest, a couple even begging for Thomas to stop.
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