Thunderstorms on the Horizon

by Kendel Duncan

  Now they came in very handy.

  Brent adjusted the sound so that the thump of the music faded into the background, “Whisky and coke,” Row said as he sat down at the bar. With drink in hand, Row’s head turned and he scanned the room.

  “You looking to play?” a feminine voice said from next to him.

  “Sorry but I’m gay,” he said as he scanned the curvy woman from head to toe.

  “Honey,” she said as she hiked up her dress to reveal that she not only wasn’t wearing underwear but that she had a cock, a very impressive cock, “I’ve got all the equipment you could ever want.”

  “I see that. And thank you for the offer but I think I’m just going to hang out here for a bit, okay?”

  She shrugged, “Suit yourself, handsome. But if you change your mind, I’ll be around.”

  Row watched her ass sway as she walked off then he brought his glass up to his lips, “Calm down, King,” he whispered.

  King’s eyes went wide. How did Row know that he was seeing red as jealousy threatened to take over his brain.

  “You’re growling, babe,” Row whispered.

  Oh.

  King blushed, “Sorry,” he mumbled both to Row and to the men in the van with him.

  Brent and JD’s eyes sparkled at him as they smiled.

  King took a deep breath and let it out. Calm, he thought to himself, relax, chill, don’t fuck this up.

  All good advice.

  He only hoped he could heed it.

  Row picked up his drink and slid off the stool. As he began to wander around the club and King heard the comments, the offers, the suggestions and he saw all of the heated looks, he knew that heeding his own advice was going to be difficult….really, really difficult.

  His fists clenched at his sides as he fought his urge to race into that club and pound some faces.

  But then he saw him.

  And everything he saw became red.

  “Campbell,” both he and Row said at the same time. Well, Row said it. King growled it.

  The man smiled at Row, well, it was more of a sneer, smile. It was creepy as fuck.

  “Bates,” he said as his eyes dipped, checking out Rowan’s body, “Never thought I’d see a vanilla guy like you in my club.”

  “How would you know what I like in the bedroom?” Row said.

  “Oh, come on. You don’t really think that I didn’t have eyes everywhere on that base, did you? You and Fisher were so…..cute.”

  Cute? Did he really just fucking say they were cute? King’s vision went from red to I’m going to burn you to the ground, if that had a color.

  “Do not say his name,” Row said with a growl.

  “Aw, still not over his betrayal? You’ve got to admit that blow job he gave was hot as hell. The way he took Shooter’s dick into the back of his throat, mmmm, kind makes me want to fuck his mouth too,” Campbell said.

  Row’s eyes whipped back around to Campbell.

  They had him. They fucking had him. The identities of both men had never been revealed or proven. The speculation was there but never the actual proof. And Campbell had just let it slip that one of the men in that video was definitely Shooter.

  “You’re up,” Brent said, shocking King back into the here and now.

  He swallowed hard as he nodded and pushed open the back door. As he jumped down and closed the door behind him, he gave himself a pep talk.

  You can do this King. You can walk in there and keep your focus on Row and not punch Campbell in his big, fucking nose.

  As he pulled open the door to the club, he just hoped that he could stick to that plan.

  He scanned the dark interior and then strode up behind Row, “I’ve been looking for you,” he growled.

  Campbell’s eyes went wide. Row flinched.

  “Yeah? Congratulations. You found me. Now fucking leave,” Row said with an equally angry growl.

  A smile broke out on Campbell’s face, “So sad to see you two fighting,” he said, not keeping the sound of sarcasm out of his voice, “You used to be so syrupy sweet together.”

  King glared at Campbell over Row’s shoulder, “We were never sweet and we were never together, other than friends, asshole.”

  Now it was Campbell who glared, “I still out rank you, Sergeant.”

  “I’m no longer a Sergeant thanks to you, Chief. And I don’t answer to assholes.”

  “Why you little….” Campbell growled as he lunged for King but with Row between the two men, he put his hands on both men’s chests, stopping them. “You,” he said as he glared at Campbell, “Chill the fuck out. And you,” he growled as his eyes pinned on King’s, “leave.”

  “Row, please just let me talk to you.”

  King watched Row’s entire body tense and he knew the man was struggling with this assignment. King’s hand, hidden from Campbell’s view, reached up to caress Row’s lower back, his way of saying, say what you need to, it’s okay, I won’t take it to heart.

  Row let out a relieved breath, “You said everything you needed to say that night when you were down on your fucking knees, King. The moment that you took another man’s dick into your mouth was the moment you lost the right to speak to me anymore,” Row said with a growl.

  “I, I understand, Row,” King whispered, “Just…before I go….I’m sorry. Please know that I’m sorry for everything.”

  Row’s glare pinned him, “Sorry for cheating on me? Or sorry for getting caught?”

  The two men stared. Tears swam in both their eyes. Maybe they weren’t cut out for this undercover shit.

  “Come back to the van, King,” Brent’s soothing voice rumbled in his ear.

  He nodded, both to the voice in his ear and to the man in front of him, the man he longed to pull into his arms, the man who held his heart in his hand and then he turned away and walked out of the club.

  He felt like he might shatter as he climbed into the van, “You did good, King,” JD said when he stepped inside, “I know how hard that was for you.”

  “Do you?” King snapped, “Because I feel like I just tore out his heart and threw it on the floor.”

  JD looked back at Brent and the pain that flickered in Brent’s eyes let King know that these two men had gone through something horrific – and they had come out the other side together.

  JD’s gaze came back to King’s, “I, when my past reared its ugly head, old family shit that I had hoped was dead and buried, I abandoned Brent to try to deal with it on my own. I never should’ve done that. I got hurt. He was….well….hurt, devastated, pissed, crushed…pick an adjective. I did that to him. Me. I own that. We got through it and he knows that I will never do anything like that again. Every trial we go through as a couple makes us stronger, King. Row knows in his heart that what you two just said was all an act. Does it make it hurt less? No. But what makes it tolerable, what makes it somewhat okay, is the knowledge that you’re doing this to help other people. You’re doing this to stop someone who’s doing horrible things to people, he’s ruining their careers, he’s making them doubt themselves…and for what? Simply because he’s too much of a chicken shit to come out of the closet? No. It’s wrong what he does, King. And you’re helping to stop that.”

  King looked down at his feet, “Yeah, well, it better be worth it because right now, doing the right thing really blows fucking chunks,” he mumbled as his toe slid back and forth on the carpet.

  “Have a look,” Brent said as he nodded at the monitors.

  King stepped forward. He frowned as he watched Row following Campbell as they weaved their way through the crowds, down a narrow hallway and into….

  “Where’s he taking him?”

  King’s heart was pounding in his chest. He trusted Row, he always had, but he also knew that sometimes in this business lines had to be crossed.

  “It’s not a private playroom, King. He’s taking him to his office.”

  “Yeah, but he’s got no backup in there. What if Campbell….tries something
.”

  Brent glanced at JD for a moment.

  “I’ll tell you what,” JD said as he put one hand on King’s shoulder and reached down and tucked a small listening device in his ear, “I’ll go sit at the bar. That’s like ten feet from the office. I’ll get to him before Campbell hurts him, okay?”

  King nodded as he visibly relaxed, “Yeah, okay, thanks.”

  King sat in JD’s vacated seat next to Brent and watched both monitors, one showing the inside of Campbell’s office from Row’s camera, the other bouncing slightly as JD walked inside and took a seat at the bar. Brent’s hand patted King’s thigh, “He’ll be fine, King, I swear.”

  “I know. It’s just hard because I just got him back. This past year has been so fucking hard. My lungs feel like I’ve been drowning forever and now I can finally breathe again. Maybe going into this now was just too soon.”

  “If you still feel that way after tonight then we’ll brainstorm and try to come up with new ideas, okay?”

  King nodded, “Thanks.”

  “Hey handsome, what can I get you?” the bartender said to JD as he placed a napkin on the shiny bar in front of him.

  “Anything on tap is fine. Maybe something local?”

  The bartender winked, “Coming right up, sugar.”

  “Stop staring at his ass, babe,” Brent said into his microphone as he grinned.

  “Look at it though, all round and just begging to be….” JD whispered.

  “Ah, ah, ah. You’re going to damage my fragile ego babe, make me think my ass isn’t good enough.”

  JD snorted a laugh just as the bartender appeared with his beer. The man set the glass down as he stared at JD with a raised eyebrow in question.

  JD held up his hand, “Sorry. I’m not laughing at you, I swear. Just thinking of something ridiculous that my husband said earlier.”

  “Nice segue babe,” Brent said with a chuckle.

  The bartender’s face fell, “Damn. I should’ve known. All you gorgeous studs are either taken or straight, although the straight part doesn’t always stop me. A blow job is a blow job, right, sugar?” he said with a grin and a waggle of his eyebrows.

  “I hear that,” JD said as he brought his glass up to his lips and took a sip.

  “So, Bates, tell me what you’ve being doing since I last saw you,” Campbell said, bringing King and Brent’s focus back to Row.

  “You mean, since you ruined my fucking life?”

  Campbell glared at him, “Oh please, you did that to yourself. All you had to do was tell us who was on that tape and your career would’ve been saved.”

  “Really, Chief? All I had to do was become a rat and everything would’ve been fine? How would the men react to me if I had? No one would’ve trusted me ever again.”

  “You’re better off out, anyways,” Campbell said with a wave of his hand.

  “Am I? I’ve been driving a taxi, Chief. A fucking taxi. How is that better?”

  “I can make things better,” Campbell said.

  Row was barely able to suppress the disgusted shiver that tried to snake down his spine at the disgusting inuendo behind Campbell’s statement.

  He swallowed hard and then somehow managed to mumble, “How?” without throwing up.

  “That, my old friend, is the million-dollar question, literally.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Campbell’s eyes narrowed and he chewed on his lower lip as he stared at Row, “Can I trust you?” he finally said.

  “Um, yeah?”

  “I want to trust you, Bates. I feel like I can, since you refused to give up Fisher before. Can I trust you?”

  “Yeah, Campbell, you can trust me. What’s this about?”

  “Recruiting.”

  Row frowned, “Recruiting? For the service?”

  “No. Better. This club is only part of what I do, Bates.”

  “Really?”

  Campbell opened up his laptop, “The real money is in……matching.”

  “Matching?”

  Campbell spun his laptop around.

  Rowan clamped his mouth shut to keep from throwing up when he saw the split screen, one half with older, creepy looking men, the other side with boys, kids, many with the word Matched across their photo.

  “Fuck,” Brent said in the quiet of the van.

  Child trafficking, abuse, rape.

  This was what they suspected but now that it was literally staring them in the face….this case just took a sharp turn right into fucked-up-ville.

  Twenty-One

  Colby sat on the edge of the bed in the RV unpacking his bag while Jaden lounged in the middle of it. They’d been on the road for two days. They both felt dirty and gross but so far neither had the energy to stand in the shower.

  “When did you start looking for me?” Jaden casually said.

  Colby’s reaction was anything but casual. He bristled, every muscle in his body pulling tight.

  “The day I got out of prison,” he whispered.

  Jaden sat up, slid his palm up Colby’s spine and then leaned into him, kissing him on the shoulder, “It’s okay, you don’t have to tell me.”

  Colby’s hand came up and clasped Jaden’s, “No, it’s not that. I want to tell you, it’s just, the shit that happened when I was inside, the stuff I had to do just to survive….I’ve never talked about it…with anyone. I don’t know if I can.”

  “And I respect that, Colby, I really do. But I also know that if you hold things like that inside and don’t talk about it at all, it creates a darkness in you, like this black sun that spins and grows from the inside until it takes over who you are.”

  Colby’s head dipped down as he blew out a breath, “You’re right, I know you are, I just,” he turned to look at Jaden and he had so much pain in his expression, tears swimming in his eyes, “what if it changes this, us. What if you look at me differently. We’re so new, so fresh, so raw that I’m worried that it will warp all these new feelings you have for me into pity. You said you were worried that I was attracted to you because I was trying to replace your brother. Well, I’m worried that if I tell you this shit you’ll stay with me because you feel sorry for me.”

  Jaden pressed on Colby’s shoulder, forcing the man to lie back on the bed and then he straddled his lap. He clasped Colby’s cheeks between his hands, “No, Colby, no!” he said, “You’re a survivor. You survived the accident that killed my brother, you survived despite your guilt and anything you did in that prison you did to survive. That makes me admire you, not pity you,” he said as he leaned forward and pressed their foreheads together.

  Colby’s arms tightened behind Jaden’s back and pulled him closer as he inhaled through his nose, breathing in Jaden’s scent….pulling in everything that was Jaden into his lungs, “You are an amazing man, Jaden Payne. Don’t let anyone ever tell you anything different.”

  Jaden sighed, “You make me feel that way, Colby. I just hope that I can do the same for you.”

  Colby turned his head and pressed his lips to Jaden’s temple, “You do, babe. Every time your eyes meet mine I feel special.”

  Jaden sighed as his head rested on Colby’s chest. Colby’s hand slid up to cradle the back of it, like it was the most precious thing he’d ever held….because it was.

  He realized as he lay there that what he felt for the man in his arms, the man that he was just starting to get to know but who already blew him away with his strength and his huge heart, yes, he realized that what he felt for Jaden was on entirely new level from what he had ever felt for his brother, Wes. Did he love Wes? Absolutely. As much as a teenage boy could love another person. But he never felt his love for Wes down into the marrow of his bones, he never felt like he needed it in order to survive, he never felt like it was a part of him that, if taken away would rip a hole in him so large that he might not survive.

  This was deeper, this was better, this was….more.

  And Jaden deserved more from Colby. He deserved all of him – both
the good and the bad.

  Colby took a deep breath as his fingers sifted through Jaden’s soft hair.

  “There was this guard,” he whispered.

  When Jaden started to move his head, Colby tightened his fingers. Jaden stopped because he understood: Colby needed to get this out without looking into Jaden’s eyes. He relaxed back onto Colby’s chest, his fingers softly caressing over his heart, and he waited.

  “His name was Jory. He was there when I stepped off the bus and he seemed to sense that I was completely out of my depths there.”

  His fingers continued to sift through Jaden’s hair. Between the soft strands sliding through his fingertips and the feeling of Jaden’s fingers over his heart – he felt grounded, content….whole.

  “He, Jory, he took me off to the side, away from the other inmates and sort of shielded my body with his when he told me to strip for inspection. I heard some of the other guys hiss in pain when the other guards shoved their fingers roughly inside them but Jory was gentle. And then he kept me hidden until I could get that ugly orange jumper on. He took me around, showing me where the cafeteria was, the showers, the library. He told me how the schedule worked, how I could earn more outside time. He was nice to me. And at first, that’s all he was. Nice. He never asked for anything in return…at least not at first.

  The first time he asked me to blow him was after I’d been there a month. I was kind of surprised because he never really came across as gay, he’d even talked about a wife a few times. But I did feel sort of indebted to him for keeping an eye on me so I didn’t really mind doing it. But then….”

  His voice trailed off and his fingers stopped moving in Jaden’s hair.

  Jaden continued to caress his fingers over Colby’s heart as he waited.

  When he wasn’t sure if Colby was going to continue or not, he whispered, “But then, what, Colby?”

  “He started wanting……more.”

  “More, you mean, like sex?”

  “For a while, yeah….but then….”

  Jaden gave the man a minute to gather his thoughts.

  “He, um, one day he came and got me from my cell and brought me to a room behind the library. The second I walked in I knew something bad was going to happen. There were three other guards in there and two cameras were set on tripods. They, he, um, Jory told me he was going to film us having sex. My first thought was weird but okay but that didn’t explain the other guards in the room. When I asked Jory about them, he waved them off and told me not to worry about them. I’d never had sex in front of other people before but up until that point Jory had been nothing but nice. It wasn’t until he and I started going at it that things got….weird. I was on my knees, sucking Jory off when someone or something tapped my cheek. I glanced over and one of the guards had pulled his dick out. As soon as I saw it, I tried to move, I t-t-t-tried to push to my feet, but the other two guards were behind me and they held me and pinned my arms behind my b-b-b-back,” he said as a quiet sob leapt from his chest.