He had all of Clover’s attention now. Big blue eyes focused on him as if Tank had offered to feed him ambrosia. So Drake hadn’t shared details of how he’d met Tank with the boy either.
“What?”
Tank hummed, unsure if he should be completely truthful, but Clover knew Drake well enough to take it the right way. “He tried to distract me”—with a blowjob—“but he had a blade on him. And I noticed it in the last moment. This nice, handsome guy was there to kill me.”
Clover stared, gripping Tank’s hand as if the story was about to become his next TV addiction. “Why? And what happened?”
Tank snorted. “I stepped on the toes of the wrong person, and he sent Drake to assassinate me, since I was gay. I didn’t expect this. I did not know Drake was shady. But when I overpowered him, I also found out he wasn’t just any honeypot. He wasn’t there because he wanted to be. He wasn’t even getting paid for taking me out. My first thought was to get rid of him. Send a message. But he didn’t deserve that, so I offered him help instead. And seven years later, look where we are. If I trusted my gut, not my brain, Drake wouldn’t be here. Do you see my point? Killing isn’t a computer game. Every person carries a story, and sure, sometimes doing bad shit is necessary, but you can’t just randomly decide who to off based on a feeling.”
Clover listened. He finally stopped interrupting or making those silly, stubborn faces. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have lashed out like an idiot. He put me on the spot. But it’s not an excuse,” he added quickly. “I should have known better.”
Tank hesitated, still angry about the whole mess, but eventually pulled Clover to his chest. “I forgive you, but it’s more important to me that you actually think next time. Make it so there’s no need for excuses, okay?” he asked, sliding his hands to Clover’s face before kissing the warm, quivering lips.
He wasn’t even angry anymore, just worried what consequences time might bring. Hadn’t they killed the hag who wanted Clover in her collection?
“You think it could be Jerry? Looking for revenge or something?” Clover looked to Tank for answers he didn’t have.
“Does he use the codename Darwin?”
Clover shook his head. “Not that I know.”
Tank wasn’t sure what to tell him, but a strange, dull roar made him step from behind the van instead. And he wasn’t the only one to hear it, because even the policeman taking Boar’s testimony leaned back, staring at Pete’s truck.
“Did it come from there?” Clover asked, pointing to the back door.
Tank squeezed Clover’s shoulder and walked toward the police car, but when Pyro gravitated to the rear of the black truck, Clover followed him like a curious puppy itching to join his most courageous brother on an adventure. Tank shook his head at them and approached the officer.
“I don’t want to make your job harder, but there’s some strange noise coming from the victim’s car.”
The policeman took a deep breath, his fresh cop face struggling against the scowl threatening to surface, and Tank knew exactly what he was thinking. That the damn civilians were making his job harder for no reason. Everything had its place, and the truck and its contents could wait.
“We’ll get to it. Might have been the wind.”
There was hardly any breeze, but Tank wasn’t going to argue. It was none of his business. Without Pete, they had no contact with whoever wanted the cargo moved, so it was out of his hands anyway. As was the cash he’d been promised. Could this night get any worse?
Metal smashed against flesh with a dull thud, and when Tank turned around, about to chastise whoever caused unnecessary mayhem with cops around, his feet froze to the ground.
The back of the black truck was wide open, its doors still swinging from the sudden impact while Clover scrambled to his side, mouth agape as he looked at the huge animal wobbling on its legs right next to him.
Tank couldn’t believe his eyes, so he had to do a double take when the lion roared. His legs were already moving Clover’s way, but Boar was closer, and he threw himself between the animal and their boy, as if he were striving for a touchdown.
It must have only angered the beast further, because it lashed out with its paw at the bodies rolling away.
“Don’t just stand there!” Tank yelled to the cop, while Pyro aimed his gun at the lion, which must have woken from sedation and wasn’t happy about it.
Its legs didn’t seem as steady as they should’ve been, but the beast still growled, sinking lower when Pyro scrambled to his feet, eyes so wide they were about to pop out of his sockets. The wild cat moved toward him with its tail swishing, and when the cop pushed past Tank, the firearm in Pyro’s hand went off.
Clover let out a choked scream, but so did the cop, who fell over, holding on to his own shoulder.
And the lion? It shot into the darkness in a loud rustle of the tall grass that made up the landscape.
“The fuck!?” The cop screeched in a high-pitched voice, already scrambling to take the safety off his gun. “You shot me! Everybody on the ground!”
Tank gritted his teeth, but even though Pyro followed the order, he still had to talk.
“Must have been the lion, officer.”
Tank didn’t question the orders and lay down, smelling the dirt. Just great. What a successful return to the only job he was good at. “He panicked. Must have been a ricochet.”
“Stay where you are. You can explain yourself at the station,” the other cop said, though he didn’t even look at Tank, his eyes trained on the silvery expanse of grass. His knees were shaking as if he were about to shit himself.
Really? That’s what they were about to do when there was a lion on the loose in fucking Oregon?
But what could he expect when those officers likely had more experience with traffic violations and illegal lumbering in Christmas time?
“Backup. We need backup,” the cop stuttered before running over to the patrol car. At least Clover was all right.
“You can’t leave us here! There’s a lion nearby!” Tank yelled in frustration. The wild cat was frightened and disoriented, so it would hopefully not be a threat, but maybe the cops would let them go.
Boar shuffled closer. “We’re still in Oregon, right?”
“Yes…” Tank said through gritting teeth because he knew where this was going.
“Is it time to call your brother?”
Chapter 5 – Clover
“Can’t believe we have to wait two more hours,” Boar moaned, rocking back and forth on the yoga mat laid out at the back of the van. They’d moved the motorcycle outside to provide more space and were now stuck in the parking lot by the small-town police station, waiting for something to happen.
Local news, on the other hand, were having a field day, with journalists and reporters alike showering the chief of police with endless questions. The guy took it on board like a professional entertainer, and while every cop in the county was out on a lion hunt—including the one Pyro accidentally shot, since the bullet only grazed him—the chief was all smiles and assurances.
And in the meanwhile, Pyro was stuck in a cell until further notice, because there was no one available to deal with his case. Clover sat next to Tank, and they went through endless text messages on Pete’s phone, his browsing history, and photos, looking for anything that could prove useful. If anything, the search proved Pete had not been gay, but that no longer mattered anyway, since they already knew the reason for his interest in Clover.
Drake sat opposite them, tense and muttering mean answers to Boar’s jokes. Boar must have been able to sense that Drake was in a foul mood because he wouldn’t give it a rest. Tank wasn’t chattier, mostly silent and in the world of his own mind, behind tall walls Clover wasn’t able to climb over.
“Did we miss out on a lot of money?” Clover tried in the game of ‘what’s-wrong bingo’. He’d been surprised to hear Tank grew up dirt poor, considering the house he owned now, but maybe his past was the reason behind his ob
session with earning more than he needed? For him, poverty might always lurk behind the corner.
Tank rubbed his eyes, ignoring Drake and Boar. It was as if he wanted to be on his own yet unwilling to leave everyone else to their own devices. “There’s no point discussing this. We’re not getting any.”
Boar sighed. “There will be another job.”
“Well, this one was a real fuck-up. There’s no taking back what happened,” Tank snapped in response.
Drake spread his arms with a scowl. “Can this stop? We need to regroup, not blame each other for something that can no longer be reversed.”
“I told you this was a bad idea, but you decided to go against my advice.”
Drake crooked his head. “Whatever you might think, Tank, you’re not our boss.”
Tank frowned and sat up straight. “Since when?”
Boar raised his hands. “What Drake means is that it’s not just you who is responsible for tonight. We’ve all agreed to—”
Drake stopped Boar with a gesture. “What I mean is that we’re partners. That’s why we share everything equally. You don’t get to make important decisions for us.”
Tank’s entire body stiffened at Clover’s side. “Do you see what happens when you make your own decisions? Their eyes are now back on Clover. How are you gonna keep him safe, Einstein?”
Clover swallowed and stroked Tank’s arm, gently taking the phone he’d been swinging around. “I’ll just stay with you at all times?” he asked, daring to smile.
“It’s not a time for being cute, boy!”
Clover took Tank’s mood in stride and kept his fingers on the muscular arm, but shut up. There was nothing he could say to make things better. Tank’s attitude came from a place of care, but it was still a struggle to deal with him when he lost his cool like this.
“We’ll just have to smoke them out, like before,” Boar suggested, but Tank shook his head even before he was done talking.
“Whoever is looking for him now likely has some kind of connection to that bitch. So my guess is he has an idea what we did last time. The same strategy won’t work. It’s not a computer game.”
Clover opened the message that contained his photo again. There was no answer from the mysterious ‘Darwin’. “What if we call them?” he suggested, with his slouched over the screen with helplessness growing in his stomach.
Tank snorted. “Sure, why not let them know the lion’s on the loose while we’re at it?”
Drake reached out for the phone though. “Do you want me to do it?”
Boar’s eyes widened. “We could go on speakerphone!”
Tank shook his head, but at least he wasn’t outright throwing a fit, so that was an improvement. Clover turned his head to give Tank’s bicep a kiss. Despite this continuous argument, Clover had no doubt his man would be a wall between him and a freaking bazooka if need be.
“Wait,” Clover said, frowning at the details of Darwin’s number. How had he not noticed it before? It had been over a year, but it finally hit him. He got up. “I know this number. It’s Jerry. It actually is fucking Jerry!”
Hot air filled his head, lifting him and muting the questions thrown at him. Tank was moving his lips as he squeezed Clover’s wrist, gently tugging him back down. It was only once Clover slumped into his arms that reality fell back into place.
Jerry, his old boss, his ex-friend, was still after him, as if it hadn’t been enough that he sold Clover off to a human trafficking agent.
“Are you sure? I thought he wasn’t a big player,” Drake said, his mouth set.
“He doesn’t have to be. He might be the middleman again. Whoever is behind this might be using him to protect their identity,” Boar added, unusually serious.
Clover nodded, stewing in a soup of anger and bitterness. “Un-fucking-believable.” The hurt bled into his voice, so he bit his lips hard in an attempt to suppress his emotions. “Looks like I had no idea who I was actually dealing with.”
Tank didn’t have any more chastising for him and pulled him close, his thick arm like armor protecting Clover’s soft insides. “We’ll investigate. He must know something.”
“I can’t wait to get my hands on him,” Clover growled, his teeth itching for blood. When he trained, the goals were abstract, as were the enemies. This time, the slight was personal, and it boiled in him with a whole new intensity.
Drake nodded, expressive as the Grim Reaper. “I’ll show you how to handle a knife without killing him too fast, because we will have many questions for Jerry.”
Tank pulled Clover even harder against him. “He can’t be seen now! Hasn’t this mess taught you a lesson yet?”
Drake took a deep breath. “He said he wants to go.”
Blood throbbed in Clover’s temples, creating a vise around his brain. “I do, Tank. I spent two years working for that guy. I know him, I know the area, I know his friends. I’d be an asset.”
“Looks like you didn’t know him at all,” Tank said.
Drake shook his head. “We need to act now. We can’t afford driving Clover back to yours and then leaving one of us behind to guard him. If anything, he’s safer with all of us.”
It was a bit of a stretch, but Clover appreciated the rhetoric, because it might actually convince Tank.
A pickup truck rolled into the parking lot, and Tank seemed to forget all about the conversation at hand, staring at the vehicle until it stopped nearby.
“Is it him?” Boar asked.
“Who?” Clover hugged Tank’s arm, chilled to the bone. He knew it was impossible, but his stupid mind still suggested it could be Jerry. He clung to Tank, stopping him when he tried to rise.
Tank blinked, as if this situation was somehow confusing, but then a tall man with salt-and-pepper hair left the pickup and headed straight for their van, greeting them with a gesture.
“His brother,” Drake whispered.
Clover unglued himself from Tank so fast he stumbled into Drake. When Tank switched on a small lamp in the ceiling, illuminating the inside and the area a few meters into the night, Clover became even more confused as he studied the man discreetly.
“Your brother’s a cop?” he whispered, eyeing the guy’s uniform. He seemed much older than Tank and was less buff, but now that he knew what to look for, the family resemblance was definitely there in the shape of the stranger’s nose and jaw, as well as in the dusky color of his skin.
Tank rolled out of the van and squeezed his brother’s palm, but the older guy’s gaze kept straying to Clover. “Have I seen something you didn’t want me to, Adam?”
Clover stood there, torn between backing off into the shadows and stepping closer. In the end, curiosity won, and he followed Boar and Drake into the cool air outside.
Tank groaned. “We’ve got more important shit to handle.”
His brother’s mouth curled into a small smile. “I hear there’s a lion on the loose. Hope you didn’t have anything to do with it.”
Tank offered him a curt, heavily censored version of the story, before glancing at the station, where the chief of police was giving yet another interview. “I swear I wouldn’t have gotten you out of bed if it wasn’t important. He was trying to protect himself, and the bullet accidentally grazed one of the cops. Please, can you put in a good word? My friend’s a decent guy, but has a… turbulent past. It wouldn’t look good for him on paper.”
“Friend? Is he the kind of friend you live with?” Tank’s brother asked with a smirk, and it was hard to say if he was being mean, homophobic, or just loved grilling his younger brother.
“No. Jacob, can you stop?” Tank asked, but his brother wasn’t done yet and gestured at Clover.
“So is this your boyfriend? Can’t keep up with all those modern family models.”
Clover rubbed his forehead and looked away, unsure how to diffuse this weird situation. Tank wanted Jacob’s help and couldn’t simply tell him to fuck off.
“It’s not like that,” Clover mumbled in th
e end, too intimidated by Jacob’s presence to meet his eyes, but Tank put his arm over his shoulders and pulled him close.
“Yes, this is my boyfriend, Clover. Happy now? Are you gonna report it to everyone at Christmas, so you can speculate who’s the man in the relationship?”
Clover’s cheeks flushed, but the heat spread all the way to his chest when the weight of Tank’s declaration dawned on him. He’d actually told his brother they were a couple.
Jacob whistled. “Wow. That was a coming out long in the making. I don’t really need to speculate in this case, do I? It’s pretty obvious.”
Clover had to bite his tongue hard at the insult, because he’d promised to keep his cool. But the conversation went even more off the rails after that.
“You should introduce him to Grandma Jolene. You know how she is, always worried that you’re on your own.”
Tank was definitely not on his own in any sense of the word, but the truth about their polyamorous relationship might have been too difficult for Jacob to handle.
Tank cleared his throat. “And, uh, how’re Jane and the kids?”
Clover played with Tank’s fingers, lost in the awkwardness yet needing to show Tank his love and support.
“Same old,” Jacob said, shrugging. “Though Rob’s been acting up lately. I keep warning him I’ll send him to Uncle Adam for boot camp if he doesn’t get his shit together.”
Tank’s home was definitely no place for a minor—another thing Jacob didn’t need to know. On the upside, he wasn’t afraid his son could ‘catch the gay’, so Clover supposed that was progress.
“Yeah, I might come by sometime. We’re only passing through now,” Tank said, his arm tightening around Clover.
Jacob exhaled and took in Boar and Drake as well. “You could even bring friends, as long as you let us know. You know Jane loves to throw a party. You’re all welcome as long as you agree to say grace for her sake.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks. It’s just been a long night,” Tank said after a moment of tense silence.
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