by Cara Dee
“If they see me as a threat, they’re more likely to see you as victims and go easy on you from the get.” Darius kept his voice down, stare stuck firmly on the approaching officers. “Just a little bit of psychology there.”
“You’re nuts,” Gray muttered under his breath. “Please don’t get yourself into trouble.”
“I land on my feet, knucklehead.”
“Okay, kitty.”
Darius let out a laugh and left the last step. His feet were officially on American soil, and it was only ironically poetic that he’d temporarily lose his freedom to these gentlemen—and women—in blue.
“Step over to the side, Mr. Quinn,” a female officer directed. “Hernandez, Thompson, Mitchell, check the passengers. Johnson, you’re with me.”
Darius kept his face composed, palms still showing, and studied the officers. The woman walking toward him was short and had her dark hair pulled back in a tight bun. She had kids, he bet. There was just a look about her. Compassion in her eyes, something maternal. Though, he had no doubt she had balls. But she radiated patience, which made her the best candidate to be an asshole with.
Sorry, ma’am.
“Hello, pretty lady.” Darius gave her a charming grin. The male officer got a nod. “Magnum PI.”
Magnum sneered and checked him for weapons, finding his Glock tucked into his sweats at the base of his spine.
“Don’t lose that,” Darius said. “I have a permit.” Somewhere.
“Shut up. Let’s book him—”
Darius let out an incredulous laugh as he got cuffed. “Book him? Buddy, I think your seventies ’stache is a bad influence on you.” He paused. “Or maybe it’s a Florida thing. You guys tend to be a couple decades behind.”
“That’s enough,” the woman snapped. “We’re bringing you in regardless.”
“So feisty.” Darius sucked his teeth. “That time of the month, eh?”
“Darius!” Gray barked in warning some thirty feet away. “Why are—”
“Shut the fuck up, kid!” Darius growled back.
And there we go. Momma Bear reared her head, and the female officer took on a new approach—at least with the boys. She hollered at the three men. “Check if they need to go to the hospital first thing, guys.” Then she narrowed her eyes at Darius, who winked. “I don’t know what’s going on here, but I always find out.”
“Female intuition is a myth, buttercup.”
She sighed and addressed Magnum. “Get him in the car.”
Claire Mendoza was the name of the female officer. At some point, she’d become responsible for taking Gray, Cole, Charlie, Lee, and Oscar straight to the hospital. It made sense; they had visible wounds, and Gray had been shot, to boot. But it infuriated Darius when the officers at the precinct refused to tell him which hospital they’d been taken to.
Darius’s cuffs had been removed. He was in a bullpen area where an Officer Cheng was interviewing him, seated comfortably behind his desk. An old Dunkin’ cup stood next to the keyboard of his computer, and Cheng had almost knocked it over twice already.
The station was buzzing with activity, phones ringing off the hook and police officers running around. The case had become top priority the second they’d arrived, and Darius was struggling to analyze every person who rushed past. Police officers were always easy to identify. The dozen or so civilians he’d seen, less so.
“Focus, Mr. Quinn.”
“In a minute,” Darius said, eyes narrowed on a woman coming through with stacks of Styrofoam containers. “Is that a late lunch for you guys or food for the boys?”
Food was a good indicator of how someone was being treated.
What he wanted to see were Feds and a team of counselors, but food was a good start.
“It’s for the boys,” Cheng replied, mildly impatient. “Now answer, please. Did you have any help escaping?”
“Yes. Won’t name him.” Twisting his upper body, Darius’s gaze followed a couple who’d just entered. They had to be parents. They fucking had to be. The woman was visibly distraught, and the man was on a mission to demand answers. “You called everyone’s parents, right?”
Cheng sighed heavily, officially annoyed. “Your concern has been noted, and the purpose of your little act earlier was admirable, but you need to pay attention now.” He took a sip of his coffee and grimaced. “Who helped you escape?”
“Like I said, I won’t name him.” Darius forced himself to face Cheng. “And technically, he didn’t help us escape.”
He cocked a brow, irritated. “That’s not how this works, Mr. Quinn. We won’t be strong-armed, and withholding information that can interfere with the investigation is a felony.”
“That gives you two options,” Darius replied. “Arrest me, or take the information I offer—that I know will help. Knowing his name won’t give you shit anyway. When we were picked up by two local fishermen, I only called my buddy for one reason. We needed to get home. He arranged it. That’s all.”
“If that’s all, why wouldn’t it be okay for us to talk to him?”
“Because he’s guilty of bribery on site to get everything done quick.”
The officer cranked up the sarcasm. “I assure you, we’re not interested in extraditing him to the Bahamas.”
Darius lifted a shoulder and leaned back. “Those are my terms. He played a minor role in this, and all he wants is to keep his name outta any records. In return, I can give you everything I dug up in the three months I was on this case. It’s called bargaining. You do it all the time.” He paused and leaned forward again, only slightly cocky, but what the hell. “I’m just not sure it matters. When do you think the Feds arrive to take over? Twenty minutes? An hour?”
Cheng glared and bit out, “This is why I hate interviewing law enforcement.”
Darius grinned. “I’m not law enforcement.”
“You have a history—oh, for chrissakes. We’re not discussing this.” He made some notes and moved on. “Tell me about the pilot.”
“He had nothing to do with this. A good Samaritan—he wanted to help to get the boys home.”
“I’m sure a bribe didn’t sway him.”
“He would never.” Darius smiled.
Officer Cheng snorted, adding more notes. “Keep in mind we’re on the same team, Mr. Quinn. It won’t do you any good to work against us.”
Both true and false. Of course, law enforcement would do better at solving this case. Or trying to solve it. They had the resources to kick up a storm and unsettle some dust around the slaving organization. As for protection…? No. The guys wouldn’t be safe if every truth came out.
“Do you think splitting us up will do you any good?” Darius wondered. “Some of these boys haven’t seen their families in over a year. All of them have lived through abuse and sexual assault. I swear to you, keeping them from their parents now will only give them anxiety, not answers to your fucking questions.”
That response rattled Officer Cheng. He went with defense first, though. “We’re not keeping them from seeing their—”
Darius jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “That couple over there has been here about five minutes, and they’re still waiting to see their son. A son who needs a medical evaluation before he tells you whether or not we were stranded on a big island or small, whether or not we swam there or had a boat.” He gritted his teeth, getting himself heated fast as fuck. “Get the kid to his goddamn parents.”
“Lower your voice, Mr. Quinn,” Cheng warned. “The EMTs established who needed—”
“They’re not trained to deal with this kind of trauma,” Darius snapped. “There’s not a single kid who got off that plane who isn’t suffering from severe PTSD. You made the wrong call. All of them should give their statements at the hospital where they’re surrounded by medical personnel and family—not nosy little pricks with badges.”
The glare Officer Cheng shot Darius was enough to shut him up, but he refused to take anything back.
Cheng didn’t it push it fu
rther either, though. To Darius’s surprise, the officer excused himself to talk to his captain.
Well, good. Okay, then—actually, fucking perfect. Darius didn’t waste a second. He got up too and stalked toward the exit where the parents were still waiting.
“Mr. Quinn!” Officer Cheng hollered from somewhere. “We’re not done!”
“I’m not leaving,” Darius griped. Upon reaching the parents, he cooled it and pretended he had patience. “Excuse me, ma’am. Who’s your son?”
She was too upset to speak, so the father replied. “Robert Alexander.”
Darius inclined his head. “I’ll take you to him.”
“Thank you, sir.” The father’s relief was palpable, his eyes getting misty, so Darius stepped on it. He got angrier too. Angry how the police department had handled this so far. Past the bullpen, down a couple corridors, he started opening doors that could—hell, that was fast. For once. The second door revealed Rob and a female police officer.
Having spent plenty of time with the frightened kid, Darius instantly recognized how tense Rob was. His already slight frame looked even smaller the way he was hunched over, as if he were trying to hide in his hoodie.
“Rob,” Darius said quietly. “There’s someone here who’d like to see you.”
The boy looked up as the officer uttered some protest, which was drowned out by Rob’s broken, “Mom! Dad!”
The family of three rushed together, the sight shooting determination through Darius. This was what they needed to focus on first and foremost—reuniting these kids with their families. The rest could fucking wait.
Fifteen
Forty minutes later, federal agents arrived.
Tai had been reunited with his dad, too.
Wanting everyone in the same place, the Feds ordered transport to take Darius and the other boys to the hospital, where they’d undergo exams and give their statements.
Darius was more than happy to oblige, and they were taken to the same hospital as the other boys. Soon, the same floor too. Where is he? He asked an agent where Gray was but got nothing of value in response. It irritated him. If he went along with this for long, he’d become a sheep and just go where they pointed.
He peered down a hallway as two agents spoke to a doctor by the nurses station, he waited somewhat patiently throughout the process of getting everyone admitted, and he sidestepped to get out of the way each time a doctor or nurse flitted past. But it was getting to be too much. The smell of the hospital, the beeping—distant and near—medical jargon, and all the people were punching a headache into Darius’s skull.
He ran a hand through his hair and took a deep breath.
Yesterday morning, he’d been stranded on an island.
Shit, even he had limits, and he was reaching them. Fast. Pressure in his chest was a solid giveaway, and he took a step back to find his composure.
What’re they doing to him?
As these things went…he guessed checking the healing process of old wounds. In the worst case, resetting bones, and definitely rape kits. He knew Cole’s fingers had been broken on the yacht. Oscar and Lee both had fractured ribs. Gray’s gunshot wound…
Darius had to see him. Now.
“Quinn,” one of the agents called. “Your doctor is—”
“Let me put it this way,” Darius interrupted. “Before I do anything, I’m gonna see Gray.”
The agent gave him an intent stare, studying, observing, maybe seeing something Darius wasn’t sure he wanted anyone to see. Who the fuck knew, but it didn’t matter when the agent agreed.
“Thank God,” Darius exhaled.
The agent turned to one of the nurses behind the desk. “Where can I find Patient Zero-Three?”
As soon as the directions left the nurse’s mouth, Darius was moving. He walked hurriedly down a hall, turned a corner, and was glad to see more agents. Three, to be exact, each one positioned outside a hospital room. They stuck out like a sore thumb, even in civilian clothing.
The first of the guarded rooms revealed Cole. Darius saw him through the window. He was being embraced by both his parents and who Darius assumed was Cole’s younger sister.
Fuck. Chances were Gray’s family had arrived too. Darius felt like an ass for hoping they hadn’t, but he really wanted a moment alone with him first.
He continued down the hall, feeling the edges of his vision blur. Voices around him mingled together in a garbled mess. Next window—a family was in there, so big that he couldn’t see who they were hugging. There was a hand on his shoulder, and he pushed it away. Where the fuck was Gray? Mr. Quinn… Are you okay? Darius sucked in a breath and reached the last door, and there…there. His breathing stuttered, his heart pounded.
Gray sat on the edge of his bed. Dressed in a hospital gown and an anxious expression.
“Sir, you’re not authoriz—”
“Let him pass, Kevin.”
Darius pushed open the door, entered, closed it quickly, and leaned back on it as he hauled more air into his lungs.
He hadn’t had a panic attack in years. He wasn’t fucking gonna start now.
“Dare.” The name left Gray in a whoosh.
Darius blinked. His brain was a foggy clusterfuck. Trailing through thoughts was like swimming through a goddamn tar pit. “I’m here.” Although, not quite. He was working on it. He blinked again, and he scrubbed at his face. Get it together. You were away from him for less than two hours.
“They wouldn’t tell me where you were.” The thickness in Gray’s voice cleared Darius’s head in a heartbeat, a heart that decided to jump up into his throat instead. Then at the sight of tears flooding Gray’s eyes…? No one had moved faster.
He stepped in between Gray’s legs and hugged him tightly.
Darius’s chest cracked wide open the second he felt Gray’s arms around his middle. Staring into the proverbial abyss, he saw everything he’d easily pushed away earlier—thoughts and internal warnings. He’d known he was fucked, just not this bad. And before, he hadn’t needed more than a stray thought to excuse the affection he’d given Gray. It was all comfort. They were coping. Nothing more, nothing less.
Except…
This was everything, and everything was gonna grow and grow until it consumed him.
With his luck, the abyss was gonna spit him right back out, leaving him fucking destroyed.
“I’m here,” he repeated thickly.
Gray sniffled and hugged Darius harder, face buried against his collarbone.
How the fuck was Darius gonna be able to take Ry’s advice and back off?
It wasn’t even advice. It was what was right. Eventually, he had to remove himself as a crutch.
“Did they arrest you?” Gray croaked.
Darius shook his head and kissed the top of Gray’s head. His hair smelled like ocean salt and the shampoo from the hotel.
He noticed someone had wrapped the markings across Gray’s neck in new gauze.
“I just had to answer questions and wait for the FBI to take over.” He shifted his hands to cup Gray’s face. “I’m sorry. I thought they would handle things differently.” He brushed away Gray’s tears with his thumbs. “Have they treated you all right?”
“They’ve treated us like kids—made of glass.” There was an eye-roll, along with another round of tears. “They reminded us that this was a safe space, and that if you’ve hurt us, we can tell them. I was like…bitch, he saved my life. He saved all our lives.”
Darius smiled despite it all. “They have to ask.”
“Whatever,” he mumbled. “You can stay here, right? I mean, you’re gonna go through a checkup too, aren’t you? And there’s another bed here…”
Darius threw a quick glance at the other bed, then back to his knucklehead. “I’d like to see them try putting me in another room.”
Gray sniffled and smiled at once. “Good.” Then he made a face and brushed his hand over Darius’s chest. “I cried all over you. Jeez.”
“Fabri
c dries. Did you know? It’s true.”
“Dick,” Gray chuckled. “Hey…” He squinted, coming off as both shy and smirky. “Can I demand a kiss?”
“You’re asking if you can make a demand?” Darius ignored the fluttering in his gut, lifted Gray’s chin, and dipped down and brushed their mouths together. With the abyss right in front of him, the warning bells sounded louder. Those were harder to ignore.
Gray hummed and snuck his hands—cold hands—underneath Darius’s hoodie to feel his stomach.
Darius’s abs tensed at the contact, and he deepened the kiss.
Christ, he was beyond screwed. He couldn’t explain why he had this need, or why Gray felt so fucking good. Why he felt right. Then Gray snaked his tongue around Darius’s, and he was losing the battle to stay away before it’d begun.
“You probably shouldn’t turn me on,” he muttered, out of breath.
“It’s interesting to me that I can,” Gray murmured with a quick grin. His hand shifted lower, which was a cue to put an end to this for the moment.
For the moment. You’re fucking weak.
Darius grunted and covered Gray’s hand with his own before it could reach a cock that was waking up way too fast.
“You’re dangerous, kid.” He finished with a soft kiss, then sat down next to Gray. “Fill me in on what’s happened.”
“Other than my ass is deliciously sore from last night?”
Darius smirked wryly and cuffed the kid lightly on the chin. “It’s a cute ass, I’ll give you that. But—”
“Yeah, yeah, I can be serious.”
It turned out Darius hadn’t missed much. The doctors had taken Gray for an X-ray, and they’d checked the healing of his thigh. A doctor specializing in malnutrition and, to quote Gray, “gastro stuff,” had stopped by to ask about their food habits since they’d been taken.
“Mostly how the last two weeks have been,” he went on. “Oh—and I gave a blood and urine sample. Other than that…” He shrugged. “They’re gonna come later to do more tests and…I don’t know, he said something about checking for nerve damage. I don’t know why, though. I don’t think I have any.”