“If this case gets fucked up on some bullshit technicality, I’ll lose my fucking mind.”
Drake put a hand on JD’s thigh, “Relax. Your case is airtight. The prosecutor is trying to decide which of the two men he’s going to offer the deal to because they’re both singing like canaries and blaming each other for everything.”
“Campbell needs to pay for it, Drake. He’s the mastermind behind the entire operation, I know he is.”
“Yeah, they know that. They’re also forming a task force to go through all of his computer records to try to track down every kid he’s sold.”
“Good, that’s good.”
The elevator doors opened and King stumbled out. He looked rough, really rough.
“He, uh, um, they just took Row down to surgery,” he mumbled as his eyes glanced at the locked surgical wing doors as if he hoped he could force them to open.
Drake jumped up, put his arm around King’s waist and pulled him towards the chairs, “Here, sit.”
Drake pulled out his phone and shot off a text then he stuck it back in his pocket, “Tell me”
“Three gunshot wounds, thigh, hip and chest.”
“Chest?”
“Yeah. Shallow. Ribcage. Collapsed his lung.”
“Is that what the surgery is for?”
“Yeah. Bullet lodged behind a rib so they’re removing that one and the one in his thigh. The hip was a graze. It grazed the bone though so that’s gonna hurt for a while.”
Drake and JD both winced, “Yeah, no shit,” Drake said.
Hunter walked through the door with a cardboard carrier with four large coffee cups in it. He passed them out, “Everyone gets mochas.”
“That’s fine,” JD said.
“Thanks.”
“Thanks, babe. Come, sit,” Drake said.
About ninety minutes later, all three of their heads popped up with the doors opened.
King shot to his feet when he saw Finn, who was pulling a cap off his head.
“How is he?”
“Good, good. Turns out there was a small bullet fragment that broke off and lodged in his hip bone so that was more extensive than we thought it would be,” his head turned as the doors opened again.
King watched as Finn frowned when his eyes locked with the other doctor from the warehouse.
He turned back and his voice shook a bit as he continued, “Um, so we were able to remove everything from his thigh and chest. They’re, uh, moving him to recovery now. As soon as he’s set up, somebody will come and get you.”
“It won’t be a problem, that we’re not married?”
“Do you live together?”
“Yeah.”
“Then, no, it’s not a problem,” Finn mumbled as his eyes kept darting to the man standing to the side, waiting for his time to talk without interrupting.
King reached out and touched Finn’s arm to get his attention, “Thank you, so much, Dr. Finn.”
“Oh, that’s no, well, it was my pleasure, King. He’s a lucky man. I’ll check back with you later,” he turned to leave but since he had to walk past the man next to him to do it, he mumbled, “Dr. Day.”
“Finn,” the man said and the longing in both his voice and his eyes as he watched Finn go hurt King’s heart. He knew what it felt like to not have the man who owned your heart.
“Dr. Day?” JD said.
The man blinked a few times as he turned back to face them, “Yeah, sorry about that. So, after flirting with everyone, making sure we all promised not to, and I quote, mess with his perfect penis, and asking if he would be getting some cool scars, we finally got him under anesthesia. The wound in his neck required a vascular surgeon. Luckily, we had one on site. Ron fixed him right up. The wound to his forearm was a through and through but it went right through the bone so after cleaning and stitching it, we casted it. It appears that all three wounds might have been done by the same bullet, one that ricocheted off the roof or metal shelf, down through his neck, arm and embedded in his knee. The fragment shattered when it hit the kneecap, but it appears that we got it all.”
JD reached out and shook the man’s hand, “Thanks, thank you so much, Day,” he mumbled and the he pulled the man into a hug, “It’s not my place but you should try to work this out with him. It’s obvious that you two love each other very much.”
“It’s, it’s not that easy, JD. I wish it were.”
JD stepped back. He pulled his wallet out and slid a card from it, “Well, if anybody knows how to work through complicated, it’s all of us. If you want to call, talk, come over, hang out, eat our food, anything, here’s our number.”
Day looked down at the card and then back up, “You, um, you all live together? All of you?”
“In the same house but not together, together. Brent is more than enough man for me.”
Day snorted a laugh, “I’ll bet he is. I’m sure he’ll demand to see you the moment he’s awake in recovery so it shouldn’t be too long now.”
“Okay, and thanks again, Day.”
“No problem, JD.”
JD watched him walk down the hall.
“I see your wheels turning,” Drake said with a grin.
“Well, did you see them? They belong together, Drake.”
“Yeah. But that’s up to them, not you.”
“Maybe, but if I can help, I’m going to. Sometimes people just need a little shove in the direction they’re supposed to be heading.”
Drake just chuckled and shook his head as he sat back down.
Forty-Six
“There he is. Hey, Morgan,” Colby said, waving as he and Jaden stepped up to a silver Cadillac GTS.
The blonde-haired man filled out his tailored suit to maximum capacity as he grinned at Colby. He seemed oblivious to the men and women who were currently drooling in his direction. This man belonged on the cover of a magazine, not guarding spoiled rich people.
Colby’s hand found its way to the small of Jaden’s back, “Morgan Doyle, this is Jaden Payne. Jaden, Morgan.”
The two men shook hands and then Morgan pushed away from the car and popped the trunk.
Colby put his bag inside then he grabbed Jaden’s and dropped it in next to his.
Colby slid into the passenger seat while Jaden climbed into the back. As Morgan pulled out into traffic, Colby said, “Where’s the hubs?”
“He’s back home monitoring the case.”
“The lawyer, Bas?”
Morgan’s jaw clenched as he nodded.
“Sorry, man. That’s rough.”
“Thanks. Yeah, it is. Bas and I go way back. But, since we can’t ignore what the two of you need, I called in a few favors. Someone else I used to serve with is going to take your case.”
“Yeah? Who?”
Morgan smiled, “Funny enough, his name is Case.”
“A lawyer with the name, Case?”
“Yeah. He’s at the house waiting to meet you.”
Colby glanced in the back seat and saw Jaden nervously biting his lip as he looked out the window, “Hey,” he whispered as he reached back and held his hand open.
Jaden clasped it with his own.
“This is for our future, remember?”
“I know. I’m just really scared, babe.”
“Hey, Jaden?” Morgan said as he looked at Jaden in the rearview mirror.
“Yeah?”
“I have a friend who did the same thing.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, Tenley’s husband was murdered right when he was due to get out. They tried to be assholes about him leaving to make arrangements and going to the funeral and he just said fuck it and left.”
“And, he’s okay now?”
“Yeah. He works for me. Clean record and all. Just had to stand up like a good soldier, plead his case, apologize, say he was wrong, basically give a verbal blow job and then all was good.”
Jaden’s knee stopped bouncing as he nodded.
Morgan stopped in a driveway, pressed a button on the
console above the windshield and the huge iron gates in front of them began opening, revealing a huge, stone house.
“Damn,” Jaden mumbled.
“Yeah, business is good.”
“Doesn’t hurt that my husband is loaded,” Morgan said with a smirk.
They walked in the front door and a man with short salt and pepper hair, a weathered but strong jaw and slate grey eyes that were shrewd and looked like they didn’t miss a thing, stood up.
“Case Donner, this is Jaden Payne and Colby French.”
Case shook both men’s hands, “Good, good. I have a few questions I need to ask you,” he said as he leaned down and began flipping through pages in a file.
Morgan smiled and put a hand on Case’s shoulder, “Case?”
Case frowned as he looked up, “Yeah?”
“They just got off a five-hour flight. Let’s give them a moment to stow their bags, use the restroom, get something to drink, you know, the things that regular humans do.”
Case’s eyes went wide, “Oh, right, right, of course. I’ll just, um, I’ll just wait here, yes?” he said to Morgan as if asking if it was the right thing to do.
“That sounds perfect, Case.”
Morgan led Colby and Jaden down the hall to one of the guest rooms, “Case is, um, well, he’s got a brilliant business mind but not so much when it comes to social interactions.”
Jaden and Colby put their things in the guest room, used the restroom to freshen up and then walked back out to the living room.
Colby went into the kitchen to get water for everyone while Jaden sat down in the chair next to the sofa that Case was sitting on.
Four hours later, Jaden was slumped into Colby’s side while Colby caressed his fingers through Jaden’s hair. Case had stepped out the front door to make a phone call. The man had really put Jaden through the ringer but in a way, that made it very clear that he was damn good at his job.
“Okay,” Case said as he stepped back into the room, “I’ve got us a slot on the docket for Tuesday at ten.”
Jaden shot upright, “What? You mean this Tuesday?”
Case’s feet slowed as he frowned, “Yes, was I not supposed to do that?”
“No, that’s fine. I just heard it could take months, maybe even years, to get your case heard.”
Case’s head tilted to the side, making him look like an adorable dog trying to understand the words coming from his alpha-male’s mouth, like a Doberman, Colby thought and then he grinned because, no, not a Doberman. Case was all Pitbull – tough as nails and capable in a fight but, when you dug below the surface, with a huge heart and loyal as fuck.
“Not for me,” Case mumbled as he walked back to the couch and sat down.
Colby chuckled, “You are amazing, Case.”
Case looked surprised when he heard that, “I, uh, I, um, thank you,” he mumbled as he blushed bright red.
“What do you do for fun, Case?”
Case frowned again and Colby noticed that he had this adorable line that formed in between his eyebrows when he did, “Fun? Um, I don’t, um, no, just no,” he mumbled as a shiver went through his body.
Was the man that terrified of socializing? How tragic, Colby thought.
“Is there anything outside of your home that you like to do?”
“Uh, I go to the gym, workout.”
“Okay. The gym can be fun. Do you ever talk to people there?”
Case’s mouth opened and closed a few times, “No,” he said and followed it up with a barely whispered, “I scare people.”
“You scare people? How?”
“I grunt a lot, loudly. I think it frightens people.”
“Oh. So too intense at the gym to meet people, I get it. Do you have someone at home? A spouse? A partner?” Colby said because he wasn’t about to assume the man was gay and Colby couldn’t get a read on him at all – neither straight nor gay vibes – because the man was locked up so tightly.
A sadness exuded around Case that Colby felt like a wave crashing over him, “Not anymore,” he whispered.
Colby, being the man he was, tried to reach out a friendly hand to this man who seemed so…..alone…..couldn’t stop himself from asking, “You did, though, have someone?”
Case paused as he was picking up his briefcase and stared at Colby. The man’s adams apple was going nuts in his throat, like he was trying to dislodge a lump that had formed there.
Now Colby felt bad, “I’m sorry, it’s none of my business.”
“No, it’s…..I did have someone but it was a very long time ago but…..I couldn’t save him.”
“Save him? From what?” Colby said before he could stop his stupid, meddling mouth from speaking.
“From himself,” Case mumbled as he yanked his briefcase into his hand and walked with purpose towards the door.
“I’m sorry, Case.”
“Not your fault.”
“Yeah, but there’s been nobody since?”
Case paused, his hand gripping the doorknob, his back to Jaden and Colby, “There is nobody else,” he whispered and then he disappeared out the door.
“That is so sad,” Jaden whispered as he stared at the closed door.
“It is.”
Jaden’s phone pinged with a text. “It’s from Case,” he said as he held the phone out for Colby to see:
Case: I’ll pick you up Tuesday morning at seven
We’ll be ready, Jaden responded.
Jaden looked back at the door again, as if he were expecting Case to walk back through it, “We should…..”
Colby smiled because he knew what his man was thinking but he still asked, “We should what, babe?”
Jaden shrugged, “I don’t know, maybe take him out to a club after the case is over? Or take him to dinner somewhere fun? Something, Colby. He’s so….sad.”
“He’s grieving, babe.”
“Yeah, but for how long?”
Colby pressed his lips to Jaden’s head, “For some, grief lasts a lifetime. For others it lasts until they meet that one person who holds the key to unlocking their grief-stricken hearts. I was damn lucky that I met you or I could’ve ended up like him.”
Forty-Seven
King’s legs were asleep, his back was cramping but nothing would get him to move from the chair next to Row’s hospital bed.
His head was resting in his hand as he tried to sleep, his other hand resting gently on top of Row’s, just waiting for that moment when the man’s fingers twitched, signaling that the man was waking up.
King frowned because he could feel eyes on him. He forced his eyes open and found Drake standing just on the other side of the glass door watching him. Drake’s head jerked slightly in a ‘come here’ motion.
King stood on shaky legs, wincing as the pins and needles brought his limbs back to life. He bent over and pressed a gentle kiss to Row’s forehead and then walked to the door.
“How is he?” Drake said as he passed King a coffee and they settled into the chairs against the wall.
“They’ve weaned him off of the drugs that were keeping him in a coma so he should wake up sometime today.”
“Good, that’s good,” Drake said and then he was quiet for a few seconds.
King could guess what the man was hesitating to say so he decided to spare the man, “I don’t think we’re right for this job, Drake. I appreciate you giving us a shot but the two of us obviously still have some shit to deal with from our time over there, this case and how it affected Row made that very apparent. I won’t put him through that again.”
“I completely understand. But I want you two to stay,” he said and then held up a hand when King opened his mouth to protest, “Hear me out, please?”
King nodded.
“We’ve got a psychologist on staff, Lucas Wolfe. He specializes in PTSD treatment. I’ve already called him and he’s agreed to treat Row, to treat both of you if you’d like. You can stay in the apartment, get the help you both need, maybe help out doing rese
arch only on cases for us and then, later on down the road, we’ll talk.”
“I really don’t think we’re cut out for this undercover stuff though, Drake. We’re MP’s. We guard, we protect, we don’t do…this.”
Drake nodded, “I know,” he said with a sigh, “Look, has anyone mentioned our friend Morgan to you?”
King frowned, “No, I don’t think so, why?”
“He runs one of the top personal security firms in the country – Doyle Global Securities. He’s a former Marine and he surrounds himself with good men, proud men, capable men. They mostly do private security for visiting VIPs.”
“Sounds awesome but why are you telling me?”
“His headquarters is in Denver but he’s been getting a lot more requests for jobs here on the east coast. He’s thinking about opening up a satellite office here.”
“Yeah, so?”
“I think you and Row would be perfect.”
“To work there?”
Drake shook his head, “No, to run it, manage it, staff it.”
King’s eyebrows shot up, “What? Why?”
“You two are born leaders and you work so well together. You’d be able to train, guide and nurture others below you.”
King’s fingers threaded through his hair, reminding him that he hadn’t showered in days, “I, um, I don’t know what to say.”
Drake patted him on the leg, “Just give it some thought. Like I said, it’s not anything set in stone but it feels like the right fit to me. If it does to you, just let me know,” he said and then he stood.
King stared up at him – basically awe-struck. This man took care of his team like they were his own – his family – his brothers. King would be out of his mind not to want to stay. But he needed to talk to Row first. “Thanks, man. I really appreciate all you’ve done for us.”
Drake smiled and nodded his head then he glanced at Row through the glass, “Let me know when he wakes up.”
“I will,” King said as he too pushed to his feet.
With one more pat to King’s shoulder, Drake walked out.
King returned to his place by Row and within minutes it felt like he had never left.
*********
Thunderstorms on the Horizon Page 20