by Sam JD Hunt
“Shit,” I groaned as his thumb slid past, opening me, filling me as full as I’d ever been.
“There ya go,” I vaguely heard Rex mumble, but I was too far gone. My climax rocked me, my body trying to leave the bed as Nate’s fist inside me held me as I shook.
When I couldn’t take any more, Nate carefully withdrew his hand from me, his face resting on my thigh as Rex fucked him. Nate stroked his own ready-to-burst cock to orgasm as Rex came deep inside his tight ass. We collapsed together like that, exhausted both physically and emotionally—we were back together, and we would make it through anything life could throw at us. We’d face trials, but none that would ever tear our love apart again.
Chapter Eighteen
We sat together in bed, drinking the coffee Rex brought after his morning run. He was reclined into a plush chair, his bare feet on the edge of the bed where Nate and I sat huddled together.
“You’re sure it’s him?” Nate asked.
“Yeah, man, that nutcase Kip is in Miami for sure and was within feet of Amber and that new dude.” Nate exhaled and took another gulp of his hot coffee.
“Nathaniel,” Rex said carefully. “Do you know what Kip did to your father?” Nate turned an eerie shade of white as he shook his head.
“No, I-I left my phone in North Carolina. Well, it was stolen, actually. Is Dad okay?”
I wrapped around him and laid my head on his chest. His heart was pounding.
“He’s fine, but Kip knocked him around pretty good. I think Kip would have killed him if the next door neighbor didn’t show up with a shotgun.”
“Holy shit,” was all Nate could say.
“I left one of my guys there to make sure he’s safe while he recovers,” Rex explained. “But Nate, why the disappearing act? I get you wanted away from us, but why shut out your dad?”
Nate sat upright, pulling me from his chest to sit next to him. His steel blue eyes looked from Rex to me. “I made it back home—Amber wasn’t there. I was… My heart was shattered, just torn into a million pieces. Luther… While he was with us, Luther and I would talk while no one was around. He convinced me that the two of you needed to be alone, that Rex didn’t love me and only kept me around for you, Penny. Luther said that one night he heard the two of you…” Nate looked to Rex, his forehead breaking out in a glistening sweat. “Rex, he said that he heard you say to Penny that you couldn’t do the ‘gay thing’ much longer, that it was making you sick.”
“That’s a fucking lie!” Rex howled.
“Oh my God, that psycho! That’s what he does, plays with people’s minds,” I hissed.
“I-I get that now, now that I’ve had some space. I-I let him email me; he twisted things up. But when I left you two, I was really lost. I wanted to die. I went out with some old friends and got high one night. One night turned into another, then another. I was ashamed—I didn’t want Dad to know, or either of you to find out.” Tears ran down my cheeks—my beautiful, tortured Nate.
“Are you clean now,” Rex asked gently. “No,” Nate whispered. “We’re here now, you have us. How bad is it? What kind of withdrawals—”
“Not bad, no, I can stop cold turkey,” Nate interrupted.
“Can I go through your stuff?” Rex asked softly. Nate nodded.
“I should have asked this last night, before we… While you were high, any needles?”
“No, nothing like that, I swear,” Nate answered.
“Anyone else? We need to know,” Rex asked softly. I cringed at the thought of Nate touching someone else, but I knew why Rex was asking. We hadn’t used a condom the night before.
“God, no,” Nate said as his eyes narrowed, “it wasn’t like that.”
Rex stood up and joined us in bed. He leaned down and kissed Nate before saying, “I’m so sorry. I love you.” The three of us lay in bed until the coffee was cold, until we all knew we had to get moving. Amber was in danger.
“What brought you to Miami?” Rex asked as we headed to the shower.
“One night in Raleigh, I was nearly passed out on some dealer’s dirty motel room floor and my phone rang. It was Amber—she said she was fine, and with the man she loved in Miami. She told me where they were staying, but I passed out and don’t remember what she said. When I woke up the next morning, I was alone in the skanky motel room, my phone and the cash from my wallet gone.”
*****
Later that day, while Rex was off with his special ops buddies following a lead on a motel room where Kip was staying, Nate finally heard from Amber. “It’s her,” Nate said as his phone rang. “Amber, are you safe?”
He exhaled as he listened to the caller. I nervously looked on, sighing in relief when he gave me the thumbs up sign. “No, my old phone was um, lost. I’m glad you got my message about the new number. Where are you?” After a moment of listening, he answered, “Uh, sure, yeah. But listen, you two aren’t safe. Kip beat the shit out of Dad, and he’s here following you. Let us take you back to Colombia, just until we can find that maniac.” I walked over and stood next to him as he talked to his sister. “Of course, yeah, he can come with us. Do you know where you’re at?” Shaking his head in frustration, he said into the phone, “Why would I be mad? I don’t care who he is, text me the address and we’ll work it out.” He listened again before he said, “Don’t cry. It’ll be okay—I’m on my way. Be careful.”
He slipped the phone in his pocket and picked up the key card to the room from the desk.
“Thank God, she’s ready to see me. She said it all got twisted, but she feels this new boyfriend can take care of her. But, they’re ready to consider coming back.”
I felt relief wash over me. “I’ll go with you,” I said, sliding my feet into my shoes.
“No, babe, it’s still too dangerous. Her psycho husband is out there, and I can’t risk putting you in harm’s way. Stay here, keep the doors locked, and wait for Rex. I’ll send you both this address, but can you make the arrangements to get us out of Miami?”
I kissed him as long as I could before he pulled away—I couldn’t bear the idea of being parted from him so soon.
“It’ll be fine, Pen,” he said with one last hug. “We are three forever. I’ll never doubt our love again.” He opened the door and blew me one last kiss.
“Be safe—I miss you already,” I managed to say before he was out the door and down the hall.
Unable to shake the dark feeling that something was very wrong, I sat down at the computer, and after booking a private flight back to pickup Nate’s jet, I pulled up the video Rex had been pouring over before he left. The video was grainy, but Amber was walking through the lobby of the hotel with her new boyfriend, their arms intertwined. Behind them, in the darkness of a corner, stalked the thin frame of Kip, his signature hairstyle piled on top of his head. The hooded boyfriend was at an angle to the camera, his face obscured as he pulled Amber along. But then, something caught my eye. It was quick, and I wasn’t sure what I saw exactly, but something about the man’s movement was familiar.
I replayed the last thirty seconds of the surveillance video. I saw it again—a quick gesture, the flash of a hand to the man’s lips, a gesture that would ordinarily seem mundane, except… I had to remind myself to breathe as I watched those few seconds of the video one more time—his hand swiped across his face with an object from his pocket. I zoomed in—it was pixelated, hard to see, but the man was putting on lip balm. Carmex! Something in my brain clicked it all together. Luther! He was Amber’s new boyfriend!
I leapt for my phone and called Rex, nervously waiting for him to answer. “It’s Luther!” I blurted out the second I heard his voice.
“What about Luther? Penny, can it wait a minute? I’m on my way back. Kip knows he’s being chased—he’d already cleared out of the motel before we arrived. There was very alarming shit left behind, like serial killer type stuff. Amber is in serious danger. The agents here think that—”
“Rex, did you hear me? Luther is here—in Mi
ami. He’s the man on the video with Amber—I saw him swiping Carmex across his lips.” There was a long pause.
“Shit,” he said, fear creeping into his voice.
“I mean it is possible it’s innocent, right? She had a crush on him. Maybe they got together and he’s keeping her safe. Either way, Nate went to get her, so it’s over,” I tried to convince myself.
“Penny, listen, stay there and stay armed. Don’t open the door for anyone but the two of us—you could be in danger, too. I’ll be there in five minutes.”
He hung up, leaving me confused and afraid. I reached for my handbag and pulled out the pistol that Rex gave me shortly after we arrived in Miami—an untraceable weapon provided by his DEA contacts.
The ding of a text message from my phone caused me to jump. It was Nate, forwarding the address Amber gave him earlier. I looked back to the computer screen and stared at the paused image of Luther on the video until Rex knocked on our door.
“Penny, it’s me,” he said as I looked through the peephole before sliding the deadbolt open. Rex locked the door behind him, and glanced down at his phone. “An address from Nate?” he asked.
“Yeah, that’s where he went to meet Amber, I think she’s ready to come back. But listen, about Luther, I’m not sure what I saw was really—”
“It’s him. It all clicks now. Great eyes, baby. He’s lost it—completely off the rails. I should have trusted my instincts from the beginning.” Rex shook his head and glanced at his phone.
“Just because he’s with Amber doesn’t mean he’s doing anything sinister,” I reasoned, trying to convince us both. “She’s had a crush on him this whole time, maybe they just hooked up and he’s keeping her safe.”
Rex stood across from me and leaned in. “Luther’s not into Amber.”
“Why not? He could easily be bisexual like—”
“Penny, Luther isn’t into Amber—he didn’t put a camera in her room. It’s me that he wants.” I stood across from him, my legs feeling rubbery as I absorbed his words.
“He lured us here? Could that be possible?” I finally asked.
“It’s scarier than that. I think he lured Nate here, Amber is just bait. He hid himself from the cameras, but he made damn sure Amber was displayed clearly. I’d bet money he had her bring Nate here, and maybe assumed we’d follow, maybe not. Either way, we need to get them and get the fuck out of here.”
Rex reached for his phone again, tapping his fingers as he waited. “He’s not answering, let’s go,” Rex said. “I’ll call my buddies on the way and give them a heads up.” We got down to our rental car as quickly as we could. Traffic was heavy—it was a holiday weekend in Miami and everyone was flocking to the beach. We nervously inched along toward the address Nate sent. From my phone, I tried to call and text, but the messages were never read.
*****
“Oh fuck,” Rex said with a sharp inhale as we pulled up to the address where the GPS led us. “What? It’s like a mansion,” I said. Rex was visibly upset—his brow glistened with sweat that he wiped away with the back of his hand. He tapped out a text on his phone as I waited.
“Rex, where are we? What is it?”
He held the phone out to me. “This place, here… It’s where Luther and I… This is where that night happened, all those years ago. The night we kissed. He has Nate in there.” Rex shook as he pulled out his gun. “Stay here, in the car. I just sent the address to Monk and the guys. Keep my phone in case you need to contact them.”
Rex opened his door and stepped out. “I love you, Penny, you’re my life. I’m going to bring him back. Monk and the guys will be here any minute for backup, don’t worry.”
I felt panicked, my heart pounding as I told him I loved him, to be careful. I watched him walk around the side of the large house and scale a wall near a garden. I looked down at Rex’s phone—a text was causing it to vibrate. It was Monk, and the text said:
Bro, that’s fucked up. We’re on our way but we’re stuck in a damn traffic jam. We can’t send air support—this has to stay low key. At least Diego’s old pad is vacant, so you won’t have trouble with his goons. Don’t go in alone—we’re about 30 mins out.
Thirty minutes? I can’t leave Rex without backup for thirty minutes! Vacant, Monk said. I crept from the car, my own gun in my hand, and slinked around the wall. The place Rex went over proved to be too high for me—I didn’t have his height or his strength. Around the corner, on the side of the overgrown yard, there was a tree that hung low enough over the stone wall that I was able to use its low branches like a rope. After many bruises, I hoisted myself over the wall and into the yard.
I looked around, trying to think of where they would be. Rex said the kiss happened at a boathouse, I remembered. The phone buzzed again—but this time it was a call from Monk rather than a text. I answered with a hushed, “Hello, it’s Penny. Rex is inside.”
There was a pause on the line, then a man’s voice answered with, “Penny, yeah, he’s what? Inside? We’re still thirty minutes away.”
I fought the urge to panic. “Thirty minutes? You were thirty minutes away ten minutes ago!”
I looked around the grounds, spying the water and a run-down boathouse in the distance at the rear of the property. I walked toward it, gun in one hand, the phone in the other.
“Yeah, traffic hasn’t moved yet. There’s an accident on the road blocking both lanes. Oh wait, I think we’re rolling a little. Listen, you stay out of it. We’ll handle this.” The call ended without a goodbye.
I stood several feet outside the boathouse debating what to do. He’s right, there’s nothing I can do, I thought for a split second. Then I heard a noise, a thump, and I knew there was no way in hell I was going to sit in some safe place while my men were in danger. Not me; it was time to be badass.
I peered through a window at the side of the structure. I could see Rex, his legs braced in a wide V stance, his arms stretched out with his Glock pointed at Luther. Luther stood in the dim light, his own weapon not pointed at Rex, but instead aimed at the corner. He was eerily dressed in Rex’s clothes, the ones he’d borrowed after arriving at the compound. This can’t be happening, I thought as my eyes absorbed the horrific scene. Nate was in a wooden chair, tied with rope and gagged with a cloth. The barrel of Luther’s gun was less than a foot away from Nate’s head. Rex and Luther were in a classic stand-off, like you see in the movies. Amber lay dead on the floor at Nate’s feet. I fought the urge to cry for her—I didn’t have time. I had to focus on Rex and Nate.
I moved around to the rear of the small structure. There was another window and a roll-up type door for the missing boat to be loaded in through. With my ear to the door, I could hear them talking inside. The tone was remarkably calm for two men with guns drawn. Rex’s deep baritone was speaking softly, carefully.
“We can work this out, Luth. Let’s put the guns away and sit down and talk, okay? You don’t want to hurt Nate, and I really don’t want to hurt you.” There was silence for several tense moments before I heard Luther’s distinctive voice answer.
“It was not supposed to happen like this, Doc. I did not plan for you to have to perish,” he tried to convince Rex.
“Luther, you’d never hurt me. What was your plan, bro?”
Rex was trying to talk Luther down, but I remembered the last time Rex thought someone wouldn’t hurt him, the last time he tried to reason with someone who had a gun—his ex-wife, Evelyn, who shot him twice and nearly killed him.
Luther mumbled something I couldn’t hear through the door, then his voice became a little louder. “…when you rejected me, it broke my heart. Here, in this room, we really shared something. I was in love with you—I am in love with you. By the light of morning you acted like it never happened, and that is what hurt the most. I tried to get past it, but you were so cold, so distant after. Part of me wanted to kill you softly, like I tried to do with Mother, but I could not. I am so weak sometimes—I know what I must do, and yet, when it
comes time, I often fail to do it.”
“I’m sorry about that Luther—I was confused. But I know you won’t hurt me; you couldn’t hurt Evelyn or Penny, and now, I don’t believe you want to hurt Nate, either.”
“You will never forgive me for this, Doc. There is no going back now. You are the only person I have ever loved besides Mother.”
Rex spoke again, “Luther, I can forgive you, I will forgive you. Untie Nate, let him go, and we’ll work it out.”
Luther ignored Rex’s plea, and continued, “I had to push Mother, though. I had no choice—they were coming for her, trying to destroy us. After you rejected me, I did not plan to see you again. I left so that I would not harm you, but when we were brought together again that fateful night at your place in Colombia, you saved my life—a second time. Then, during my recovery, a magical thing happened—I found out that you were able to love a man. I thought if the beautiful Nathaniel and the golden Penelope were out of the way that I could comfort you through your grief and you would see that we belong together.”
In a slow, subtle movement, Rex moved closer to Nate. “I do love you,” Rex said, “Let me send Nate away to be with Penny and it’ll be just us, okay?”
“I am not that stupid, Doc,” Luther hissed. “I get it now—it was never about you not being into men in that way—it was about you not being into me. I am forever unlovable—and yes, I want to hurt Nathaniel right now, I want to hurt you, but once again, my will waivers.”
The room was silent other than footsteps, then Rex spoke again. “You used Amber to lure Nate here? To kill him?” I could hear rustling in the small room before Luther answered.
“I wanted to send the fair Nathaniel to eternal rest here, in the place where we shared the best night of my life. Amber was easy—I sent her flirty messages after you kicked me out, and it was effortless to start a relationship with her, to talk her into coming with me to Miami. Today I finally convinced her to call her brother, to bring him here. But, once again I failed—I cannot harm those you love, Rex. You may untie Nathaniel, Doc.” I heard Rex walk across the room, so I moved to the window. I heard Nate speak.