by Kat Bellamy
A malevolent sneer crossed the Sheriff’s lips. “You got no idea what you’re dealing with, son. But you’re about to find out. One more chance. Let him go and we can pretend like this never happened.”
Andrew took a step forward, leaning in so he was all but nose-to-nose with Roland. “You may have gotten away with the whole wink-wink, nudge-nudge routine with Carver, but those days have come to an end. Soon, so will yours. You are up for re-election next year, aren’t you?”
Roland’s eyes narrowed and Colt saw them darken around the edges. “Watch yourself,” he growled. For a moment, Colt was sure he was going to have another body to clean up—and he would do it, as much as he disliked Roland’s handling of the matter, because at the end of the day, he was defending Stan and Andrew was holding him without any just cause—but instead, the Sheriff turned and left the room.
Colt stayed behind, watching Andrew as he collected his soaked papers. The DA looked up expectantly. “Well? Care to make anymore threats? I may not be able to put the Sheriff behind bars yet, but you’re fair game.”
“I’m not interested in threatening you, and believe it or not, neither was Roland. You really don’t understand what you’re doing.”
“And what am I doing?” Andrew challenged, standing to face Colt fully. “Please, do enlighten me. And while you’re at it, save us both some time and put it in writing. I’m sure you’ll be making a formal statement eventually.”
“We both know things in this city rarely go by the books, as much as I’m sure that just chafes your ass.”
Andrew snorted. It was the first sign of humor Colt had seen him display that wasn’t at someone else’s expense.
“This is purely off the record, but I’m not gonna gaslight you and pretend like there’s nothing going on here. You just need to believe me when I say you do not wanna meet the man behind the curtain,” Colt continued, knowing it might be his only chance to get through to Andrew, even if it was a slim one.
“You know the whole off the record thing applies to the press, but not the police, right?”
“Buddy, you ain’t the police,” Colt scoffed. “You’re just a guy who’s in over his head with no idea he’s swimming in shit water. We’re alike that way, you and me.”
“Is this down-home diatribe getting to a point?”
“My point is, there are bad people in this city and they do bad things. Worse things than even someone like you who spends his life putting scumbags away could imagine in your worst nightmares. Stan? He’s one of the good ones. You’re making a big mistake by keeping him locked up, not just because you’re barking up a tree with a grizzly bear in it but because men like Stan are a big part of the reason this city isn’t even worse.”
Colt wasn’t sure if his words had gotten through at all, but at least Andrew seemed to be listening. “Well, thank you, Colt. You’ve laid one question to rest, if nothing else.”
“What’s that?” he asked warily.
“For the longest time, it just didn’t make any sense,” Andrew said, tucking his hands into his pockets. “Why someone like Jason would be interested in a man like you, I mean.”
“Well, shucks. Tell me how you really feel.”
“No offense,” Andrew smirked. “But you’re not exactly the picture of high society at first glance, and Jason is nothing if not driven and upwardly mobile. But it appears I was wrong. Beneath that pseudo country boy charm, you’re every bit as conniving and connected as the rest of them. For Jason’s sake, I hope you’re better at covering your tracks than your friend is.”
Colt set his jaw, fighting the urge to deck Andrew right there. Was it a compound felony if it happened inside a police station? Something told him Roland’s boys would look the other way. He left before he could put that to the test.
Chapter 29
“Roland says we just have to wait and let the lawyers do their job,” Susan said, wringing her hands. She and Ronnie were seated on the couch while Miles and Colt stood around. The hunter’s constant shifting was making even Colt nervous.
“I can’t believe dad’s in prison,” Ronnie muttered.
“He’s not in prison, he’s in jail,” said Susan.
“What’s the difference?”
“A lot,” Miles snorted. “Your dad’ll be fine. He’s a tough old bird,” he said, putting a hand on Ronnie’s shoulder.
The younger ghoul shrugged away, turning back to his mother. “It’ll be okay, mom. There’s no way those charges will stick. Dad didn’t do anything wrong.”
Susan smiled and squeezed her son’s hand. “Well,” she said, standing, “we can’t let everything fall apart while he’s gone. There are supply runs to coordinate now that the hospital’s out of commission, and I should call the others who volunteered to pick up some of the slack.”
“I’m here for whatever you need,” said Colt.
“I appreciate that, sweetheart, and everything else you did today. I think we’re alright for the moment. Oh!” she said suddenly. “Ronnie does usually ride to school with Stan in the morning. It’s on the way to the hospital.”
“I’ll take him,” said Miles.
“No,” Ronnie said quickly. “I’ll walk, it’s not that far.”
Colt didn’t miss the panic in Ronnie’s tone, but decided not to question him on it in front of his family. “I’ll drive you. I’m gonna wanna come over to check on you guys anyway, and my place is right by the school. It’ll be good company.”
“Well, that works,” said Susan. “Thank you, Colt.”
“Thanks,” Ronnie said, shooting Colt a grateful look.
“No problem. Catch you guys later. I should go do some damage control with Jason. I’m sure Wilbur wasted no time telling him what happened down at the station.”
When Colt arrived at Jason’s dorm, his boyfriend didn’t answer. He figured that was what he got for not calling first, but he didn’t want to take the risk of calling while Jason was with the DA, so he waited. When Jason finally arrived almost an hour later, Colt could tell from the look on his face that he’d been with Andrew. The suspicion in his eyes stung.
“Colt. I was going to come find you after I put away my things.”
“Here I am,” Colt said, standing in front of Jason. “Assuming you still want to talk to me.”
“Why wouldn’t I?” Jason looked over his shoulder as a group of noisy soccer players stampeded down the hall. “Let’s go inside so we can talk.”
Colt followed him in and sat down on the edge of the bed. “I know your boss already gave you his version, so please just give me the chance to give you mine first.”
Jason put his bag on his desk and sat down in his chair, leaning over the back. He didn’t say a word in response, but Colt could see the wheels turning in his mind.
“Whatever Wilbur thinks Stan did, he didn’t do,” Colt said, deciding to lead with the most important part. “He had nothing to do with Carver’s death, but he’s trying to use Stan to get to the Sheriff and he thinks I’m involved.” Colt stopped talking when he realized Jason’s face was completely blank. “You can, uh, say something anytime, you know.”
“Do you even hear yourself? You’re talking about a murder investigation. Someone killed Liam Carver, and you’re two coincidences away from being a person of interest, but you’re talking about this like it’s normal. Oh, and you just disappeared for five days without notice for some fake work project, and who covers for you? That’s right, it’s the man who’s sitting in jail right now for covering up illicit body disposal practices and illegal prescribing, at the very least. Oh! And he works at the hospital my boss was investigating right before he was killed. Does any of that sound normal to you, Colt?”
The problem was, it did. Despite his best efforts to stay as far on the outskirts of the Kinship as possible, Colt knew he probably had more ghoul drama going on in his life than half the Assembly. “I can explain.” Another lie, but maybe it would buy him a few minutes to think.
“That�
�s just it! The fact that you’re involved enough in whatever the fuck this is to have an explanation is what scares me! You’re a construction worker, Colt. You watch the game on your day off with buddies and you drink beer. Not even imported beer in nice bottles, just whatever canned shit that happens to be on sale.”
“All true. Mildly hurtful, but true. I’m just not sure what it has to do with Stan.”
“That’s exactly my point!” Jason cried, folding his arms. “I’m friends with your mother on Facebook, Colt. Guess who isn’t?”
Colt felt like it was a trick question, and knew he had to tread carefully. Jason was right about one thing. He wasn’t cut out for this clandestine shit. “Drawing a blank here.”
“Susan Brown,” Jason said pointedly. “Your mother is friends with practically everyone in the state, and I’m supposed to believe she just conveniently forgot to add the ‘old friend’ who goes to the same synagogue?”
Colt had always known that lie would come back to bite him in the ass. He’d just hoped it would take a little longer. “So Susan isn’t the social media type.”
“This isn’t about Susan! It’s about the fact that ever since these people came into your life, you’ve been different. You’ve changed, and at first, I thought it was a good thing, but it’s not. Not if you’re involved in things I can’t protect you from.”
“Who the hell said I needed your protection?” Colt regretted the harshness of his words, but not what he’d said. “I’m the one who protects you, and maybe that’s not the PC thing to say, but it’s the truth. Like it or not, that’s just the way it’s always been, and you know what? I’m damn good at it, so you’re just gonna have to trust me on this.”
“I can’t do that,” Jason said, shaking his head. “Not this time. This isn’t something I can just ignore, Colt. I don’t know why you’re so wrapped up in this family’s drama, but it has to end before you become part of it.”
“I’m already part of it!” Colt snapped. “The Browns aren’t the ones who dragged me in, they’re the ones who kept my head above water when I didn’t even know how to tread it, so if you want me to turn on them so your work husband can continue his little witch hunt, I’m sorry, but it’s not gonna happen.”
Jason stared at him, wide-eyed. Whether he was angry or hurt, Colt couldn’t tell. “Colt,” he said in a pleading tone, crossing the room to sit next to Colt on the bed. “Talk to me. Please. I’ve known something was going on with you for a while, but I can’t help you if you won’t talk to me. We’ve never kept secrets from each other, and I hate this.”
“I hate it, too,” he gritted out. Jason’s touch when he grasped Colt’s hand almost burned. Colt knew he was in control now. Stan’s “test” had taught him that, if nothing else, but that didn’t make it easy. He hated that the second he lost his cool, even if he knew he would never actually hurt Jason, his instincts made him feel like he wanted to. He hated seeing the man he loved as prey, and no matter how in control he was or how good he got at fighting it, that would always be there under everything else.
“Then tell me the truth. Forget Andrew and the Browns and the Sheriff. Just talk to me and we’ll work this out together, like we always used to.”
There was so much certainty in Jason’s gaze that Colt found it hard to remember why he was keeping secrets at all. It went against his very nature, but so did putting Jason in danger. Colt knew that Jason thought his overprotectiveness stemmed from the belief that Jason was weak somehow, but that was so far from the truth. Jason might not have been as strong as Colt physically, even when they were both human, but he was so much stronger in every way that mattered. Keeping him safe was the least—the only thing—Colt could do for him.
Even if it meant driving them further apart.
“I love you,” he said quietly. “But I can’t. Not with this.”
The disappointment in Jason’s eyes was almost worse than the suspicion that had been there moments earlier. “Then I guess there’s nothing to talk about.” As Jason spoke, Colt could feel the temperature in the room drop a few degrees. Jason opened the door and folded his arms, an impassive expression on his face. “You should go. I’ve got to be at work early in the morning.”
“Yeah,” Colt said, standing to leave. “Wouldn’t want to leave Andrew waiting.”
Those were the first words Colt had said that night that he actually regretted. When the door slammed shut in his face, he knew that like so many other choices he’d made recently, it was too late to take them back.
Chapter 30
Colt hadn’t slept at all the night before, but he washed the “jerky” Evelyn had given him down with a pot of coffee and a few energy drinks so he’d be awake enough to drive Ronnie to class. The ghoul was waiting for him on the front steps when he pulled up in front of the Brown family home, and Colt forced a smile. Since spending the day holed up in bed wasn’t an option, Ronnie’s company was the next best thing.
After tossing his bag in the back, Ronnie climbed into the truck. “Man, you look like shit.”
“Fuck you, too,” Colt snorted, pulling out onto the road.
“I’m serious. I know what a sleepless night looks like and you just had one.” He smirked. “Let me guess. Jason came over and you either had a great night, or a shitty one.”
Colt didn’t respond at first, mostly because he wasn’t sure he wanted to bitch about something as petty as a fight with his boyfriend while the kid’s dad was in jail.
“Oh, shit,” Ronnie said, his face drained of color. “I’m sorry, man. I didn’t mean —“
“It’s fine. Really,” said Colt. “It’ll blow over.”
If only he could be as certain as he sounded.
“Is this about what happened with Wilbur?” Ronnie asked warily.
“Don’t worry about it. Seriously, it’s fine. Or it will be, eventually. That’s what I get for trying to date a human, you know? Especially one who wants to go into law enforcement. This was bound to happen.”
“Not if you didn’t get involved with us,” Ronnie said guiltily.
“Hey, this isn’t your fault. None of it is. What’s going on between me and Jason? That shit’s been brewing for a long time and it’s all on me. You just worry about taking care of your mom until we get your dad out.”
“Uncle Roland says it might take a while. The lawyers are doing everything they can to intimidate Wilbur into dropping the charges, but they can only do so much without it causing even more press, and if the Assembly gets wind of what’s going on…”
Colt grimaced. “Yeah. We get eighty-sixed.”
Ronnie sighed. After a few moments of mutually miserable silence, the younger ghoul leaned forward suddenly and pointed frantically down another street. “Turn there.”
“What? The college is on Broad street.”
“I know, but there’s somewhere else I wanna go. I didn’t study for my chem test anyway.”
Colt eyed him doubtfully, but he had a feeling Ronnie was about to reach for the wheel if he didn’t comply, so he turned down the backroad. “Alright, were to?”
“There’s just this place I go sometimes. It’s kinda lame, but it’s cool.”
Colt wasn’t entirely sure how something could be ‘lame’ and cool at once, but he wasn’t in a mood to question it. He followed Ronnie’s directions to a mostly empty parking lot in the middle of a row of tin buildings lined up along the wharf.
“This where you dump your bodies?” he asked, pulling on his jacket as they got out of the truck.
Ronnie ignored him and jogged down the row of buildings. “Come on.”
Colt followed him to the edge of a pier and looked around. Other than a few boats far enough out to be specks on the horizon line, there was no one around. “It’s nice,” he said, trying to be supportive.
Ronnie gave him a disbelieving look. “It’s more impressive at sunrise. Or sunset. Or when it’s not gray and overcast, but it’s still a nice place to think.”
“I
can see that. I’m just not much of a thinker.”
Ronnie sat down on the edge of the peer, taking off his shoes and socks so he could stick his toes in the water. “My dad used to take me fishing out here.”
“Why’d he stop?”
“I cried the one time I actually caught a fish and threw it back in.”
Colt laughed. “You started early, huh?”
“What, disappointing my parents? Yeah, I’ve been doing that my whole life.”
“Come on, they love you.”
“They love me, but I’m not what they expected their only child to be.”
“Yeah, but who is?”
“Uh, you? Are you kidding? You’re like every parent’s dream.”
Colt snorted. “Tell that to Jason’s dad, will you?”
“I’m serious. You’re twenty-five and you already know who you are and where you wanna go in life. You didn’t even know you were a fucking ghoul six months ago, and you just dealt with it on top of everyone else’s problems.”
“Yeah, well, finding out what I am ended up with a guy dead, so I won’t be bragging about that anytime soon.”
“You’re way too hard on yourself, and I say that as someone who hasn’t eaten meat since he was old enough to figure out what was in the Fourth of July hamburgers. I know you were raised by humans, but you’re not one and you’re never gonna be. If you hold yourself to human standards, you’re just going to end up feeling like a shitty person, but you’re not. You’re pretty much the only non-shitty person I’ve ever met, save for my parents.”
Colt couldn’t help but smile. “Thanks, Ronnie. I think I needed to hear that.”
Ronnie’s brow furrowed and he seemed to want to say something else. Before Colt could ask him what was wrong, Ronnie’s lips were pressed to his. It took him a second to recover from the shock enough to break the kiss. “Shit, Ronnie, I think there’s been a misunderstanding.”