It was an ordinary looking living room with a couch, television, fireplace, and bookshelves. Even a chess board set up on a table with a game in progress.
“Diego, we need to talk to you about…”
“No.” The refusal silenced him for a moment.
“But, Diego…”
“There is no we, Drew. You’ve brought a stranger into my home. If you want to talk, we will, but one-on-one.”
“I trust Sam.” He needed Sam.
“Well, I don’t. If you want to talk, we’ll talk, but in private.”
“So you, what? Want me to go wait outside?” Sam questioned, looking peeved.
“I’m not inhospitable enough to kick you out into the rain just yet. You can relax here in the living room while I talk to Drew. Watch tv, read a book, play a game of chess. Plenty to keep you entertained.”
Drew turned to Sam.
“We should stick together.” Sam looked uneasy still, watching the doors and cameras.
“I’ll be okay. I told you, I trust Diego. And right now, we need him.”
Sam agreed, with clear reluctance.
“The door to the left of the bookshelf, Drew.” It didn’t have a handle, but it did have a keypad.
“Five digits. The first, third, fourth, seventh and eighth of your social security number.”
“Come on, Diego.” Even as he grumbled, he keyed them in. The door clicked open, the light turning on inside. Sam was standing just behind him, his sharp eyes scanning the room.
“You only over the threshold, Drew. Or we don’t have this conversation.”
Drew glanced over his shoulder at Sam.
“Be careful,” was all he said.
“I will,” Drew promised.
The room inside was more Diego’s style, containing a custom-built PC with two tower banks, five screens in two layers, an independent server, and a backup power supply. He closed the door before Diego could ask, catching one last glimpse of Sam’s concerned expression.
Three of the screens turned on as he took a seat, the first, on the left, showing his own image from the web camera directly in front of him. The second, on the right, was from the camera in the next room, showing Sam outside the door. The center screen was blank at first, then he was looking at Diego’s face through another webcam.
“Hey, Di.”
“Drew.” Diego was his usual distracted self, working on something else while he spoke. “I was expecting you to get in contact sooner.”
“It wasn’t so easy as all that.”
“Under Russell’s thumb, or Sam’s?” he queried.
“Russell’s. Sam’s not like that.”
“You brought him with you.”
“I need his help. Russell isn’t letting me go. I ran, and he tracked me down. Twice. There won’t be a third time.”
“What does Sam know about me?”
“That we’re old friends. That you used to be a hacker and now you’re legit.”
“So you didn’t tell him who I actually am?”
“A promise is a promise, Di. But he’s a cop, so he’s naturally suspicious and asks lots of questions.”
Diego choked at that, before smiling wryly. “Trust you to bring an officer of the law to my hideout.”
Drew made a face. “Yeah, sorry about that.”
“That’s pushing the bonds of friendship, Drew.” It was hard to tell how serious Diego was.
“Needs must.”
“Well, as long as you remember the important tenets of lying. Stick to the truth as much as humanly possible. You’ve done a good job so far. What can I help you with today?”
“The information I sent you.”
“It made for fascinating reading. And turned me off scuba-diving for life when I read the autopsy report. He was down at a hundred and twenty feet when his oxygen ran out. Massive equipment failure, no alarms going off. Between one breath and the next he just found himself running on empty.”
Drew shuddered at the words but they weren’t new to him. He’d read every newspaper article and tormented himself with the details, feeling guilty that somehow he hadn’t known what Russell was planning and put a stop to it.
“The information isn’t where you are, I’m afraid. I can get copies to you by tomorrow. What do you plan to do with it?”
“With Sam’s help, I’m going to get it to the right people, who can investigate Russ and put a stop to what he’s doing.”
“And you believe his influence won’t be enough for him to buy his way out?”
“A man is dead. Millions of dollars have been defrauded, his business practices are way out of line.”
“You haven’t answered my question. And what’s to stop him putting the full blame on you?”
“I didn’t have a hand in any of that.”
“You were his live-in IT specialist. You shared his penthouse, shared his bed. Do you really think they’ll believe you were ignorant of what he was doing?”
“Maybe not. But I can’t live like this. I can’t live with what I know. And Russell isn’t about to let me live my life in peace.”
Diego finally gave Drew his full attention.
“If you’re sure. I can send the additional information I’ve gathered alongside what you managed to pull from his computer. What will help your case is that his activities predate the two of you ever meeting. I would advise you to avail yourself of a lawyer and try to cut a deal. Immunity from prosecution in exchange for the information you’ve gathered. You need to protect yourself, Drew. Not even Sam will be able to save you from an overzealous prosecutor, not even with his extensive military record.”
It didn’t surprise Drew that Diego had done a background check on Sam in the space of a few minutes. He liked to know who he was interacting with. Speaking of Sam, the other man was pacing around the living room, like a caged bear.
“Is the information enough to take Russell down?” he wondered.
“Too hard to say,” Diego replied. “It will depend on how much they can verify. I do have one piece of good news. The diving equipment used by that unfortunate gentleman was preserved after the accident pending the coroner's report. I believe it had a technical examination to determine the fault but not a full forensic screen. It may shed some light on things.”
Diego didn’t sound optimistic and Drew wasn't feeling it either. The odds seemed stacked against him.
“If I have to throw myself on my sword to take Russell down, I will,” he said finally. “I need to do this. I can’t live in his shadow anymore.”
“Men like him cast long shadows, Drew. It won’t be easy.”
“Nothing ever is.” His wry smile covered his growing fears, but he knew Diego saw through it, the other man pausing in his work to really look at him once more.
“All of life feels like a battle when you’re young.” He glanced back at another screen. “I’ll have the information couriered to the town of Materdale, about fifty miles south of your location. It will be there by ten am tomorrow morning. The courier will meet you outside the old mill. You and Sam are welcome to stay the night. The kitchen is stocked, the bed is made. Oh, to have young love back again.”
Drew blushed at Diego’s words. “It’s not like that.”
“He hasn’t stopped pacing since you stepped through the door. He’s ready to put himself in harm’s way to protect you.”
“He’s a cop, it’s his job.”
“Perhaps. Goodbye, Drew. I’ll be in touch.” The screens went dark, and he sat there a moment, just thinking. Did he really have options? Russell had closed in on him, and would do so again. It was only a matter of time. At least one person was dead already. What if there were more? What other skeletons did Russ have in his closet, hanging amongst his expensive suits and ties?
Deciding it wasn’t fair to leave Sam alone any longer, he stumbled to the door and out. Sam crossed the room in two strides, catching hold of his arm. “Are you okay? You look pale.”
“I’m fine,” he replied weakly, le
tting Sam help him to the couch. “Diego said the information isn’t here. He’s sending it to us, by courier. Not here but to a town fifty miles away. It’ll be there tomorrow morning. He said we can stay here for the night. There’s food in the kitchen and a bedroom for us to get some sleep.”
It was only as he sat and spoke to Sam that he realized that not only was he still drenched from the rain but he was chilled, right down to the bone.
“Alright. But we have to get out priorities straight. Right now, that's getting out of these wet clothes and getting warm,” Sam said before glancing up at the camera in the corner. “He’s not still watching, is he?”
“Knowing Diego, all his cameras are still recording but I doubt he’s watching. Voyeurism isn’t his thing. Privacy and security are.”
Sam stood got to his feet. “Let’s see if we can’t get this place a bit warmer.” He approached the fireplace and flicked a switched. The hearth began to glow. “Electric fire. That’s a start.” He tried one of the other doors, surprised to find it opened easily. “This was locked before you came out. I tried it twice.”
“Diego must have opened it. He did say we could have access to the house. What’s through there?”
“A kitchen and dining area. Not what we’re looking for.”
Sam tried the next door. “Corridor with more doors. You hang here for a minute while I check it out.”
He was back not five minutes later.
“There’s a bathroom, bedroom, and a utility room. I propose we throw our clothes in the dryer, shower to warm up, and borrow some towels and clothes until ours dry.” Reaching out, he tugged Drew to his feet.
“Warm and dry sounds good,” Drew said with a sigh.
By the time he reached the bathroom, he was out-and-out shivering. Sam had already turned on the shower with its blessedly hot water and the room was filling with steam.
“Here, give me your clothes and get in. I’ll stick them in the wash.”
Drew’s fingers were numb as he tried in vain to shrug off his T-shirt. Sam had to intervene, batting his hands away gently before quickly and efficiently helping T-strip it from his body. It clung to his skin, damp all the way through. His pants and boxers were next, the material sticking painfully to him. That done, Sam turned him around and gave him a push towards the heat of the shower.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Throwing Drew’s clothes in the machine, he quickly stripped his own and shoved them in after. Of the two of them, he had fared better. He hadn’t stopped moving while he waited for Drew to reappear, plus his bigger muscle mass and overall strength meant he had more stamina. Drew, on the other hand, had been pale, cold, and shaking when he came out of the other room. The beginnings of hypothermia. Despite what Sam may have preferred, their safest option was to stay there for the night, dry off and warm up.
Returning to the bathroom, he found Drew in the shower, keeping to the edge out of the full force of the spray. Given how cold he was, the temperature of the water, which felt fine to Sam’s own hand, was probably hot enough to hurt. Hot water wasn’t the only way to combat hypothermia.
Stepping in next to Drew, he pulled the younger man to him, feeling the shivers wracking him. He shut the shower door behind him, trapping them in the steam, the heat building around them.
“Just give it a few minutes,” he said. “You’ll start to warm up.”
“I know the water’s not that hot,” Drew replied, his teeth chattering. “But it feels like it’s scalding.”
“That’s because your skin temperature has lowered. We need to warm you up slowly, so we’ll leave the shower temperature like this.”
“You feel just the right kind of warm. Not too hot, not too cold.”
“What are you, Goldilocks?” Sam joked. Drew’s hand came up, his fingers tugging at Sam’s hair. “Look who’s talking, blondie.”
“I think one of us is colorblind,” Sam retorted.
Drew latched on to him, his arms snaking around Sam’s back, his head resting against Sam’s shoulder, their chests pressed together.
“Body heat will work too,” Sam mumbled, returning Drew’s embrace, knowing the more physical contact the better.
“This is a pity,” Drew said with a sigh, his cheek rubbing back and forth across Sam’s skin. “I thought our first shower together would be something sexy and not something out of survival training.”
Sam snorted, letting the fingers of one hand trail along Drew’s spine, earning him a shiver that had nothing to do with the cold. When he reached Drew’s lower back, he kept going, sliding one finger between his cheeks and pressing firmly. He was rewarded by a gasp and a jerk of Drew’s hips.
“What kind of survival manual have you been reading?” Drew joked, his hands tightening around Sam as Sam’s finger stroked back and forth.
“You’re teasing me,” Drew grumbled.
“Of course.” Sam pressed a kiss to Drew’s neck. “Can’t give me all this skin to play with and expect me not to have some fun.”
His finger slid lower, finding that sensitive spot behind Drew’s balls. His hips jerked again as he sought friction against Sam’s body.
“Too much?” Sam whispered in his ear.
“No… just… like... that.” Drew let out a sigh and melted against him as Sam stroked his finger back and forth in longer teasing lines. “I wonder if Diego has condoms and lube.”
Sam raised eyebrows at that. There was no way he was searching through that man’s secret hideout so they could have sex.
“We don’t need them,” he said gently.
Drew lifted his head at that, the disappointment clear on his face. “Oh. Okay.”
“We don’t need them,” Sam said again, reaching a hand down to cup Drew’s groin, “because I have something a little lower key in mind. What with the hypothermia and all.”
Drew let his head fall again, groaning at the touch of Sam’s callused hand on him, bucking against it. One of Sam’s hands found the back of his neck, pressing his head to Sam’s chest. His other hand stroked slowly along him, ignoring how Drew squirmed and panted. Sam’s hand let go but only to turn his attention to himself. Drew looked down between their bodies, watching as he brought himself to full mast in a few quick strokes.
“Do you like a little something to help ease things along?” Sam asked.
“I don’t need it,” he replied hoarsely. “The water’s enough.”
Both their skins were damp, Sam’s hand too, as his hips pushed forward, grinding against Drew. His fingers wrapped around both their tips as they bumped and grinded, spurred on by the friction of Sam’s callused palm, holding them close.
Each breath was an effortful exhalation, the friction just the right side of pain. Drew turned his eyes away, burying his face in Sam’s skin as his warm palm worked their tips again. He knew just the right way to touch, to move, pulling a cry from Drew as his hands clung tighter to Sam, his nails digging into skin.
Sam pressed his mouth to Drew’s ear, his breath searing hot.
“Can you come from this? My hand on both of us, not letting go, keeping us together, my skin on yours, working you just the way you…”
A final firm stroke and Drew came with a groan, Sam a second behind him. His arm wrapped around Drew’s waist, holding him upright and drawing him back to rest against the shower wall. For a few minutes they held still, just feeling and breathing.
“When we get home, I’m borrowing that survival manual.”
“Sure,” he said smoothly into Drew’s ear. “It’ll show you all kind of tricks just like that. Or I can teach you firsthand, if you’re more of a tactile learner.”
Drew moaned again at the words. “You’re going to be the death of me.”
“But not from hypothermia,” Sam said, walking them both back towards the shower spray to wash off.
This time, Drew turned toward the water, letting it run across his skin. He hissed a little, the sound telling Sam that he was still chilled enough for it to b
e uncomfortably hot.
“We might have to stick to more traditional methods from here on out,” he said with regret.
Drew turned to face him, letting his hands roam down Sam’s arms. “Like skin to skin contact?”
With a laugh, Sam yanked him forward, so they were chest to chest again. “You’re insatiable.”
“Starved is more like it,” Drew mumbled.
Sam laid the back of his hand against Drew’s forehead then his palm again the nape of his neck. “You’re a little warmer. Let’s get out and dry off. The living room must be warm enough by now.”
They dried off briskly with towels. What Sam had found by way of clothes suggested Diego was closer to his height than Drew’s. Still, clothes were clothes, and they tugged on sweatpants and T-shirts.
Sam led Drew by the hand to the living room, pushing him to sit on the couch. He retrieved a pile of blankets from the bedroom, carrying them back to Drew. The heat from the fire was slowly filling the room but Drew’s skin was still cold to the touch and he had started to shiver again.
“How come you’re not so bothered by the cold?” Drew seemed put out at his imperviousness.
“I haven’t stopped moving since we left the car. And I’ve trained in all sorts of environments.”
“You must know the manual inside out,” Drew teased.
“Lie down.” Sam waited for Drew to settle before layering blankets on top of him.
“I thought body heat was best?” Drew complained.
“Shove over then.”
Drew pushed toward the back of the couch and Sam slipped under the covers to lie with him. The couch wasn’t big, so they were pushed close together, giving Drew the body heat he both needed and craved.
That was what Drew had meant when he’d said starved. Sam was probably equally so, given how long it had been since he’d had a relationship. He always had an excuse. Deployed, working too many hours, too tired to socialize. The truth was probably simpler. Every relationship he’d been in had started off just like this. Him, running to the rescue, being the hero they needed. Once they were safe, once he’d solved their problems, he never felt had anything left to give them. And when the tables turned, and he needed them, they were quick to disappear. For now, he could just enjoy this, even if it wouldn’t last.
Give and Take (Ties That Bind Book 1) Page 13