by Cameron Dane
“And you couldn’t have that,” Braden said, his voice conversational. “You were respected at the station and had the start of a promising career.”
Thomas nodded as if his reasoning made perfect sense. “And I had Karen. We’d just started dating, but I knew she would make the perfect wife. If she’d found out I’d been involved with another woman, and a man too, she would have left me. I would have had nothing.”
Rodrigo growled behind Abby. “So instead you killed two people and left a little girl with nobody to call her own.”
Thomas went very still, and his gaze locked on Abby. “If you’d gone with them, you never would have suffered.”
Everyone in the church gasped.
“You sick son of a bitch,” Braden hissed. “You just confessed that you’d intended to kill a child too.”
Karen grabbed her mouth and doubled over. “I think I’m going to be sick.” As she swayed to the side, she retched violently.
“Karen!” Thomas moved to grab his wife.
The second Zanger took his focus off his weapon, Braden and his partner rushed the man. Braden shouted, “Get down! Get down on the ground now!” The other man shoved Zanger onto his stomach with a boot to his shoulder blades. He kept it there, holding Zanger in place, and pointed his gun to the back of Zanger’s head as Braden yanked his boss’s arms behind his back and cuffed him. His cheek planted into the floor, Thomas pleaded with his wife to understand him, but she just wiped her mouth and turned away.
Father Kurt dropped to Karen Zanger’s side and propped her semilimp form up with an arm around her waist. Braden glanced in the wife’s direction, and the priest assured Braden he would make sure Karen had all the help she needed.
As Braden hauled Thomas Zanger to his feet and read him his rights, Rodrigo wrapped his arm around Abby and tugged her to his side. “It’s over now, Bit.” He pressed a kiss to the side of her head, holding his mouth there. “You don’t have to be afraid to go to sleep anymore.”
“Right,” Abby murmured. Her legs and arms suddenly trembled again terribly, and she wasn’t sure if they would ever stop. She leaned into Rodrigo’s big frame, feeling as weak as a baby bird. Together, in silence, they watched Braden do his job from the sidelines. At the exit, with Zanger cuffed in his custody in front of him, Braden looked back at them and gave them a brief nod.
Abby knew Braden would make sure Zanger put his confession down on paper and that there would be no loopholes through which the man could slip free.
No more nightmares. No more search for a motive and murderer.
Now I just have to figure out how to live with the truth.
* * *
Hours later, Rodrigo answered Braden’s knock on Abby’s door. Rodrigo was a sight for sore eyes, and Braden stepped into the man’s embrace, taking a good long moment to enjoy the security of a pair of big strong arms holding him tight. Braden had been able to do his job today because of Rodrigo. Not only by being able to take time away from Abby to take care of business at the station after everything had gone down, but also because it was Rodrigo who’d texted Braden a brief message 911 episcopal church that led Braden and Ben to Zanger’s location.
As he pulled away, Braden cupped his hand against Rodrigo’s chiseled cheek, needing to maintain the connection. “How’s she doing?” he asked, even though he’d already called twice tonight.
Rodrigo pressed a kiss to the inside of Braden’s wrist. “Same. Quiet.” He wound his hand in Braden’s and tugged him up the stairs. “She’s looking at a picture of her parents a lot.”
“That’s understandable.”
“Yeah. Chris and Jonah just left,” Rodrigo shared. “They wanted to help but didn’t really know what to do.” He looked back and met Braden’s gaze. “Not sure I do either.”
They reached the landing, and Abby appeared from her bedroom. Sadness absolutely drenched her eyes to the deepest, bluest midnight, and it broke Braden’s heart.
“How’d it go?” she asked, not moving any closer.
“Good, I think.” Braden held his position when everything in him wanted to scoop her up in his arms. “Zanger doesn’t want this being dragged out in public any more than it has to be, and that’s really motivating him to avoid a trial. He made his confession on the record, and now it’s just a matter of the lawyers and a judge hashing out the rest.”
“That’s good.” Abby rubbed her palms on her shirtsleeves and then her jeans, as if she didn’t quite know what to do. “I was hoping you would say that.”
“What can we do for you, Bit?” Rodrigo took one of those hands and kissed it. “Do you want me to make you some dinner? Or I can take us out to eat. Or we can just veg out in front of the TV and not think for the rest of the night. It’s up to you.”
Haggard as hell, Abby looked down at the floor. “I think I’m going to go for a walk.” She squeezed past them. “I need some time alone to process everything that went down today.”
Rodrigo kept hold of her hand, preventing her from taking more than one step. “We can come with you.”
“No.” She tugged against Rodrigo’s hold. “I promise I’ll be fine.” A tremulous smile briefly appeared. “I just need some air and a few minutes by myself. I’ll see you in a little while.”
Braden curled his hand around Rodrigo’s shoulder and squeezed. A moment later, Rodrigo released Abby.
She dipped her head then called out, “Bye,” as she rushed down the stairs.
One glance and Braden could read everything in Rodrigo’s dark eyes. “You’re thinking about following her.”
Rodrigo’s stare remained on the empty staircase. “I know I can’t, but it’s fucking hard not to chase her down.”
“I know,” Braden murmured. “She has to be able to do this in her own time and in her own way. If we push, we’ll screw everything up.”
“I know that too. Doesn’t stop me from wanting to grab her and hold her anyway.” Running his hands through his dark tresses, Rodrigo killed any sense of order or style to his hair. “This has to be what it feels like to be impotent.” His grimace looked feral. “I fucking hate it.”
Braden’s chest weighed heavily as he looked around at the colorful, empty hallway and rooms. Without Abby, the painted walls seemed dimmer and not quite right. “It’s not any easier for me, Rigo.” His stomach growled right then, as it had been doing for hours, and this prowling man next to him needed a distraction. “Are you open to cooking something for me? I haven’t eaten anything since you fed me breakfast.”
Rodrigo staggered to a stop only inches from Braden. “What do you want? I need something to do.”
“Surprise me.” Braden reached out and brushed his fingers through the tufts of Rodrigo’s disheveled hair. “You haven’t disappointed me yet.”
Rodrigo rolled his eyes. “You don’t have to flatter me.” Taking Braden’s hand, Rodrigo led him to the kitchen, adding, “You already know I love you.”
Braden staggered, and it didn’t much surprise him when he uttered Rodrigo’s favorite curse word.
Chapter Twenty
From bed, Abby stared out into Rodrigo’s courtyard, her thoughts and heart and beliefs a jumble she didn’t know how to fully reconcile. Twinkles of early-morning light filtered in through the wall of windows and danced across her purse where it sat in one of the two chairs in the room.
Abby scooted to the end of the mattress to get up, careful not to disturb either of her bedmates. A note sat inside her purse, one she’d read at least twenty times since receiving it at her store yesterday morning. She took out the envelope again and withdrew the cardstock to read what was written on it, although she’d already memorized every word.
They remained together with much love between them because they loved you, Abby. You were their treasure. In the end, nothing else matters.
The card was not signed, but the letterhead told her it was from Father Jim. Abby figured she would never learn exactly what information about her parents—or even about T
homas Zanger—the priest had possessed. She would have to figure out a way to live with that. As much as she didn’t condone Father Jim’s methods or some of his beliefs, something in his desire to preserve the memory of her parents for her had honor in it. Abby no longer believed he’d obstructed the investigation solely as a means to protect the image of his church.
So where does that leave me now?
Not back at the beginning. Abby felt that on a bone-deep level. She couldn’t return to who she’d been before she’d started having those dreams.
In her sight, two perfect men lay fast asleep in bed. Rodrigo on his stomach with the white sheet tangled around him, the brightness a sharp contrast against his beautiful tan skin. Braden was on his back with his arms and legs thrown wide, as naked and incredible as the way God sent him into this world. Abby’s heart ached with such love, admiration, and respect for both of these people that she sometimes thought it would burst inside her and visibly leak out of her pores.
As much as they had become the biggest part of her world, right now, Abby had somewhere to go. Something inside her needed exploring, and she couldn’t ignore it. As much as she wanted these two men at her side in absolutely everything, she knew she had no right to ask them to come with her. She treaded quietly to the walk-in closet, pulled out some clothes, and went out the other side to the bathroom to clean up.
A half hour later, she kissed each man on the cheek, propped a note against the alarm clock, and left Rodrigo’s house.
* * *
The scratchy, masculine utterance “son of a bitch” sank into Rodrigo’s brain and jerked him to consciousness. On top of that came “cutting the yard early on a fucking Sunday” much too close to Rodrigo’s ear.
“Go back to sleep, Bray,” Rodrigo muttered. Barely opening one eye, he reached out and pushed Braden’s head back to his pillow. “There are no lawn mowers around here except for mine.”
“It stopped now,” Braden said. “You heard it, Abby, didn’t you? Abby?” His voice rose in a way that perked up Rodrigo’s ears again. Then, “damn it.”
“Aaannnd”—Rodrigo bobbed into an upright position—“I’m awake.” He scrubbed the grit from his eyes so he could see. “What’s the matter?”
Braden shoved a note card into Rodrigo’s hands. “She’s gone again. Damn it.” Obvious frustration had him throwing a pillow against the wall. “I didn’t even hear her get up this time.”
“She’s getting stealthy.” Rodrigo reached out and rubbed at the tension knotting Braden’s shoulders.
Over the week and a half since capturing her parents’ murderer, Abby had slept less, not more, and she had slipped out to take walks by herself on multiple occasions. She wasn’t her usual mouthy self either. Rodrigo had tried poking at her in an attempt to get a rise out of her to no avail. It had looked like she’d wanted to go at him once or twice, but something stopped her. Rodrigo didn’t like it. Braden continued to hold himself back in order to give Abby the space they knew she needed, but Rodrigo could see the man’s need to help her fighting against his famous patience and cool.
Rodrigo took a second to read the note in Abby’s flowing script. Short and to the point, it told them not to worry and she should be back by lunchtime.
With a glance past Braden to the clock, Rodrigo brought his attention back to the other man, tapping the note against his chin. “I think I know where she is.”
“Me too,” Braden murmured.
One look between them conveyed their shared intent.
Okay, then. We have a plan.
Rodrigo shot out of bed. “We don’t have much time. Let’s go.”
Braden followed Rodrigo into the closet. “Do you have a tie you can lend me?”
“No lending.” Rodrigo handed Braden a length of silk that would match the work blazer he had with him. “If it’s mine, it’s yours.”
Braden grabbed Rodrigo to him and crushed their mouths together in a fast, hard kiss. With his forehead pressed to Rodrigo’s, Braden made eye contact, and such a burn lived there Rodrigo couldn’t look away.
“You know I love you too, right?” Braden said.
On the outside, Rodrigo kept a straight face, but on the inside, laughter lifted him. This was the first time Braden had directly referenced Rodrigo’s admission, and the man was so very intense and serious about it now.
So like his everyday self.
“Yep.” Rodrigo brushed their noses, nipped the man’s lips, and got back to gathering clothes. “I know.”
Braden’s chuckle carried softly between them. “I love how you’re so matter-of-fact now, Rigo. Like getting into this thing with me and Abby never messed with your head or was much of a big deal.”
“This has been one hell of a few weeks.” His heart somehow light and heavy at the same time, Rodrigo lifted his gaze to Braden’s, clothes draped over his arm. “At a certain point, you gotta stop worrying about everything and just start believing in what you feel. You have to trust that the people you’re with are for real and are going to keep you safe. I guess because of everything that happened, I ended up getting there a lot faster than I might have otherwise.”
“Yeah.” Clouds turned Braden’s eyes murky for a moment. Just as fast, that glint of focused determination Rodrigo had witnessed in him when he’d faced off against Zanger cleared the storm. “Let’s go get our girl.”
* * *
Abby sat at the back of the church, tucked away in the last pew, feeling like a virgin who hadn’t been given any instruction on what to expect from sex. Which was ridiculous. She’d gone to church every Sunday, and often on Wednesdays, for the first eight years of her life, so it wasn’t as if she’d never done this before.
But you never did it here.
She’d never sat through a service at an Episcopal church. She’d never had such an uplifting conversation with someone like Father Kurt—someone who certainly hadn’t signed up to meet the needs of her internal drama. A glimmer of her need for hope rested on his shoulders. He shouldn’t have that responsibility, yet Abby’s heart raced as she waited for the service to start, her expectations high. Nerves and second thoughts kept her hands clenching and her stare directed down on her feet.
Someone shuffled in front of her, murmuring a barely audible “excuse me.”
Before Abby even whispered an apology and shifted her legs out of the way, someone else said, “Scoot over, will you?”
Braden.
Abby snapped her gaze out of hiding and found not only Braden waiting for her to clear a space for him, but Rodrigo too. He’d been the one who’d pushed past her seconds ago.
She moved to give Braden room at the end of the pew, her mouth agape as she looked between them. Her heart now skittered into her throat for an entirely different reason than Father Kurt.
“How did you know where to find me?” she finally managed to ask.
Rodrigo quirked one of those thick brows at her. “We know you, Bit.” His hand found hers and stilled the nervous twisting. “That’s how.”
“You didn’t have to come.” Oh Jesus. She was going to fall into a puddle of tears in this building again. “You don’t have to feel obli—”
“Shh.” Braden took her other hand, squeezing it as he looked ahead. “I think it’s about to start.”
* * *
The service now complete, rather than exiting the church, Braden pushed through the throng of people leaving, making his way to the front row of pews. “There, I see her up ahead.” He had hold of Abby’s hand, and he knew she tugged Rodrigo along behind her. “I knew she was here somewhere.”
Just as Braden reached the front of the church, a stout woman in vibrant purple, wearing a matching hat, stood up and spotted him.
“Braden!” His aunt Ida rushed to him as fast as her short legs would carry her, and she engulfed him in a hug. “What are you doing here?”
“Hi, Aunt Ida.” Braden maneuvered under the brim of his aunt’s hat to peck a kiss on her cheek. “I’m here with m
y friends.” He took hold of Abby’s hand again and this time grabbed Rodrigo’s and pulled the man to his other side. “You know Abby and Rodrigo.” Braden’s aunt lived next door to Christian and Jonah and thus had met their friends on numerous occasions.
Ida touched her hands to Abby’s and Rodrigo’s cheeks. “Hello, my darlings.” Her gaze grew somber as it held on Abby. “How are you, my dear girl?”
“I’m getting there.” Abby offered Ida a small smile. “I have lots of good people looking out for me.” She squeezed Braden’s hand as she said that, and Braden wondered if she even realized she did it. “That’s all I can ask.”
“Indeed,” Ida replied.
“Auntie.” Braden knew his aunt’s ears would perk up at the affectionate form of address. “I need to share that Abby and Rodrigo are more than just friends.” Love for these people clutching his hands made Braden’s voice husky. “They’re my partners. Both of them. We’re all together now in one relationship.”
“Oh, my stubborn boy.” Ida’s eyes lit up, and she pinched his cheek with her bejeweled fingers. “It’s about time.”
Next to him, Rodrigo’s jaw dropped. “Seriously?”
Ida shrugged. “My Braden tells me about women friends, and he tells me about men, and I even met one of each. I liked them both, but I knew it would not last. This…” She waved her finger in front of all three of them, and her eyes sparkled as brightly as the ring adorning that finger. “The lightbulb finally went on for you. You love both, you need both, and I must just tell you that I sensed this interest in you for these two right from the start.” She pressed her hands together and lifted them in the direction of the altar. “I prayed they would come to feel the same.”