“I’m stuck,” Danny replied in a tight voice. “The seat belt is jammed.”
Jake reached down, going by touch since he couldn’t see anything in the dark, and tried to get it undone but didn’t have any better luck.
Jake found his hand instead, taking it gently in his. “Okay, it’s okay. Someone will have something we can cut it with. Then we’ll get out of here. Who knows, maybe the nurses at the hospital will give you the good drugs again.”
Danny managed an eye roll. “Great, just what I wanted, another trip to the hospital.”
“Look on the bright side. This time I’m going with you.”
Danny gave a quick laugh but then cut himself off with a pained gasp. “Shit, my head is killing me.”
“Perez?”
He turned, glancing out of the wreck to see Peggy looking through the empty window space, a flashlight in her hand.
“We’re okay, for the most part. But we’re going to need something to get Danny out. Seat belt is jammed.”
Peggy nodded, looking pale in the harsh light. “The fire department are on their way.”
She stepped back as a paramedic approached, and Jake told them to check Danny first. He sat back, keeping a tight hold on Danny’s hand, listening as he answered the paramedic’s questions.
Everything started playing through his mind—tonight’s crash and the dead body in the car earlier today. The crossbow and the accident the first day he’d met Danny. Somehow, they were all linked. And at the moment there was only thing connecting all those separate things.
Danny Jones.
Chapter Sixteen
DANNY COULDN’T believe it—back at the hospital in Conroe yet again. Jake had managed to sweet-talk the nurses into finding them beds next to each other, not that Jake had stayed in his for very long. He’d only had minor, superficial bruising, so it wasn’t like he had any serious injuries that required him to stay in bed. As soon as they’d been left alone, Jake had gotten off his gurney and come over to sit in the chair next to Danny’s bed, holding his hand almost tight enough to make his fingers ache.
Like last time, Sheriff Hayes had turned up, but when the man had stepped through the curtains, Jake hadn’t relinquished his hold, and Danny hadn’t bothered trying to pull away. It was probably pointless anyway. Jake hadn’t let him go the entire time they’d been sitting in the wreck, waiting for the fire department to free him. Peggy, three other officers, both the paramedics, and at least half a dozen firefighters had seen them holding hands. And while the fire department had been doing their thing, the paramedics had tried to keep him and Jake distracted by asking them what they’d been doing before the accident. Even though the word date hadn’t come up, no doubt from the way he and Jake had spoken, it would have been pretty obvious what their dinner and movie had been for.
This was going to get back to his parents. It was too late to take it back or hide it, but his head was throbbing and he still struggled with the lingering echo of fear from the seconds before Jake had lost control of the car, being absolutely convinced that he and Jake were about to die. They were lucky they’d only gone into a ditch. He hated to think what would have become of them if they’d gone into a tree or the Jeep had flipped over. Right now, he needed the small comfort of Jake holding his hand more than he cared about how his dad was going to react.
If Sheriff Hayes noticed or thought it was odd he and Jake were holding hands the entire time he was questioning them about the accident, he didn’t say anything about it.
“That’ll about do it for tonight,” Hayes said, flipping his notebook closed and then slipping it away into a pocket. “But when you’re feeling up to it, I’ll need both of you in at the station for official statements.”
Ugh, more police statements. And he still hadn’t given one about the car dumped outside the garage earlier that afternoon.
Jake cut him an odd look before turning his attention back to the sheriff. “Sir, can I speak with you before you leave?”
Hayes nodded before leaning forward to pat him affectionately on the leg. “You take care, now, Daniel. You’ve found yourself in trouble a few too many times lately.”
“Believe me, I’d like to avoid it myself.”
The sheriff sent him a reassuring smile. “You need anything, you’ve got my number.”
He nodded, slouching against the pillows. Unlike last time, the nurses hadn’t given him enough drugs to make him loopy. He had a mild concussion, so they’d given him the equivalent of Tylenol, which had taken the edge off, but not made him completely numb. His skull was still aching in a constant, dull throb.
As the sheriff stepped past the curtains, Jake lifted his hand to his mouth and quickly kissed his knuckles. “I’ll be right back.”
“Not planning on going anywhere,” he murmured as Jake got up and went after Hayes for whatever he needed to speak with his boss about.
He closed his eyes and must have dozed, because next thing he knew, Jake was nudging him awake.
“I don’t think you’re meant to sleep if you have a head injury.”
“It’s not a head injury,” he muttered in annoyance, wishing Jake had let him be. At least when he was dozing, he forgot how it hurt. “It’s just a mild concussion. I had one when I fell off my bike once and I’m pretty sure I was allowed to sleep after.”
Jake took his hand once again, this time sitting on the edge of the bed. “And when you’ve got the initials MD after your name, I’ll totally listen to you.”
“Don’t get sassy with me,” he replied grumpily. But he figured he had enough reason to be a little irritable considering how many times he’d gotten hurt lately.
Talk about being on a serious streak of bad luck. Except it was starting to feel like more than that. The first accident, the day he’d met Jake, he could write off as being in the wrong place at the wrong time. But the crossbow and the dead body and now someone running Jake’s car off the road? That seemed like something. He just didn’t know what. Why would anyone want to hurt the two of them? Unless it was something to do with them being gay in a small town? Had someone figured it out and wanted to scare them… or worse?
“Hey, what’s wrong?” Jake gently touched his chin, bringing his face up.
“Just thinking about it all.” He caught Jake’s hazel eyes and could see shadows in his gaze. Something was going on with him. Did he know something? Was that why he’d gone to speak with the sheriff? But then why keep it from him? Or was this just the paranoia he’d been fighting all week? Even knowing it was probably going to sound crazy, he couldn’t keep it bottled up any longer. “It wasn’t just some random accident, was it? Whoever it was knew exactly who they were running off the road, didn’t they?”
Jake’s expression tightened and for a second, Danny didn’t think he was going to answer. But then he forked a hand through his dark hair with an agitated sigh.
“No, I don’t think it was some random accident. But don’t worry about it tonight. I’m going to take care of it.”
He didn’t know if he should be impressed or worried about Jake’s vow to take care of it—whatever that meant. Should he be concerned about someone targeting him when he left the hospital? But the accident tonight and the thing with the crossbow had happened when he and Jake had been together. The body in the car had been after he’d had lunch with Jake in the diner. Maybe he was only in danger when he was around Jake? His head started hurting, and he suddenly realized why Jake had told him not to worry about it tonight. He grimaced and pressed the heel of his palm against his temple.
“You were thinking about it, weren’t you?” Jake didn’t even bother trying to hide his amusement.
“Shut it,” he muttered, though he couldn’t quite contain the grin trying to escape.
Jake smiled softly and then leaned down closer, releasing a long breath as he gently rested his forehead against Danny’s. “I’m so glad you’re okay. I don’t know what I would have done if you’d gotten seriously hurt. Or worse.�
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Danny reached up, cupping a hand to the side of Jake’s face, closing his eyes for a moment as he enjoyed the ease of having him so close and the fact they were both fine—for the most part.
“I don’t know what I would have done either. I hate the thought of anything happening to you,” he murmured in return, pushing away the remaining apprehension.
Danny tipped his chin up a little, and Jake closed the distance between them, lips coming to rest lightly against his. Jake lingered, clearly not in a hurry, but Danny shared the sentiment. In that second, there was something so reassuring, so soothing in the simplicity of their mouths unhurriedly and tenderly exploring. He had no idea what he’d done before now without Jake. The only thing he knew for sure was that he didn’t want to go back to being without him.
Jake pulled back from the kiss but stayed close, their cheeks brushing, both of them breathing a little unevenly, taking quiet comfort from each other.
“Daniel?” At the sound of his mom’s voice, he dropped his hand and pushed straighter in the bed, a cold flash surging through his body like his blood had turned to ice water in his veins.
Jake quickly stood to face his parents, who were standing where the curtain had been left open after Jake had spoken with the sheriff. His mom was looking confused and concerned, but his dad seemed on the verge of rage… more so than usual. Danny had never really been able to read him or predict his moods, which was half the reason he was so wary of him. He never knew when his dad was going to be reasonable or surly or downright terrifying in shouting the house down.
“The doctors said we can take you home,” his mom said, her attention shifting to Jake. “Maybe next time you decide to spend an evening in Houston, you can at least tell us where you’re going and with whom.”
“There won’t be a next time,” his dad said in a tight, angry voice.
His heart dropped into his stomach. They knew. They had to know. And the last thing he wanted to do was go home. But what was he going to do—refuse? He didn’t have anywhere else to go. Well, he supposed he could go to Jake’s, but their relationship was so new and this wasn’t his problem. Jake had said he’d be there for him, but he didn’t want Jake to get dragged into whatever happened between him and his parents. Didn’t want to taint something that’d been so good between them.
“Hurry up,” his dad snapped. “Some of us have got to be up early for work tomorrow.”
Danny slid off the bed, glancing at Jake, who was staring at him in concern, obviously wanting to say something.
“I’ll come see you in the morning,” Jake told him, though it obviously wasn’t what he had on his mind.
“You’re not welcome at our house, Deputy Perez,” his dad cut in, voice menacing.
“Dad!”
His father pointed a finger at him. “You’re lucky I’m even taking you home. You’ve got your mother to thank for that. Now shut up and get over here.”
Danny couldn’t look at Jake, an odd mixture of shame and rage churning through him. He felt like he was twelve years old all over again and had done something to disappoint and frustrate his father, who was nearly impossible to please. Distantly, he told himself he was an adult and he sure as hell shouldn’t let anyone speak to him that way, not even his father. But that was the problem, wasn’t it? They were his parents, the only family he had. If he didn’t have them, he didn’t have anyone. And no matter how much of a bastard his father was toward him, there was still a part deep inside Danny desperate to make him proud, even just once. Unfortunately, he got the feeling after tonight—now his father knew the truth about him—it was never going to happen.
“Danny—” Jake reached for him, but he shook him off.
He started to turn away, but Jake wouldn’t be deterred so easily. He grabbed his upper arm in a tight hold.
“Danny, remember what Gina told you. And if you need me, call and I’ll be right there.”
He nodded numbly, wanting nothing more than to tell his dad to go to hell and then ask Jake to take him away from everything. But he couldn’t hide from his parents any longer. They were going to have to have this out at some point and getting it over and done with—like ripping off a Band-Aid—seemed the best way to deal with it.
Jake leaned in and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you?”
He released a breath, Jake’s protectiveness working to unwind him just a little. He still had Jake. Both him and Gina, no matter what happened with his parents.
“No, I think it’d only make things harder. I’ll be okay.” Maybe not tonight, but eventually.
When Jake finally let him go and he turned to face his parents, his mom was pointedly avoiding his gaze and his dad’s face was dark red, though whether it was from anger, indignation, disgust, or embarrassment, he couldn’t tell.
He fortified himself with a short breath and then followed his parents out of the hospital.
No one said a single word all the way back to Everness. They got home and Danny reluctantly went into the house, thinking maybe he was going to escape having the conversation tonight after all. Maybe they’d never have it. Maybe his parents just wanted to not talk about it and pretend he wasn’t gay.
Except just as he’d started thinking he might be able to head up to bed without any kind of confrontation, his dad stepped into his path.
“So you’re a fag now, is that it?”
“Dad!” Though he’d heard his dad say the word a few times over the years, it still shocked him to hear his father directing the slur at him.
“Some of the nurses were talking to the paramedics who took you in. About the two boys who held hands in the car wreck and wouldn’t let each other go. They’re just as sick as you. They actually thought it was romantic.”
His dad’s voice kept getting louder, his anger becoming more and more evident.
“There’s nothing sick about it!” he shot back. He’d guessed he was going to feel a lot of things when they eventually had this talk, but absolute rage hadn’t been one of them. “This isn’t the 1950s anymore! Guess what? Gay people are everywhere.”
“That doesn’t make it right!” his father bellowed. “I’m not having it, you hear me? You go out and find a girl and get your head on straight.”
He actually laughed at the absurdity of that. “You think if I go out and fuck the first girl I find, that’ll cure me of being gay?”
“Language, Daniel,” his mother interjected weakly.
“You weren’t before, not until that Perez came to town.”
“Oh my God, Dad.” He threw up his hands in disbelief. “Jake didn’t turn me gay. I’ve known since I was fourteen. In case you didn’t notice, I never had a girlfriend in high school. And when I went to college, I spent half the time screwing a guy named Adam.”
His mom gasped and shifted to sit heavily on the hall chair next to the old-fashioned telephone stand they still had by the bottom of the stairs.
“I’m sorry, but this is who I am, and if you can’t accept it—”
“I don’t accept it!” his father returned furiously. “My only son is not going to be some faggot!”
“You don’t get a choice. I like men. I like Jake. I’m not going to pretend for you anymore. And that’s the last time you get to call me a faggot.”
“What are you going to do about it?” his father sneered.
“Leave. If you don’t want to accept me for who I am, then I’m going to leave.” Because if this was what his parents thought of him, then he sure as hell wasn’t going to stay here. He felt sick. He’d known his parents would never be all right with this, but for some stupid reason, he still felt a deep stab of disappointment they were rejecting him.
“After everything we’ve done for you, this is the thanks we get?” There was quiet menace in his father’s voice now.
“Everything you’ve done for me?” he repeated incredulously. It was suddenly like everything he’d ever felt about his dad was bubbling
up uncontrollably. He couldn’t stop it. Everything just rushed to the surface and burst free. “You mean belittle me and make it impossible for me to ever please you or do the right thing no matter how hard I try? You mean make me feel like a piece of shit for even existing?”
“You ungrateful little bastard!” His dad advanced on him, and Danny guessed his intentions too late.
His dad caught him with a backhand across the face, sending him stumbling into the wall. A second hit made pain and dizziness explode through his skull. He could hear his mom crying and yelling, but it sounded like it was coming from far away. He caught himself against the wall and pushed himself straight, a white-hot rage like nothing he’d ever felt unfurling through him with the intensity of a wildfire. He surged forward, swinging a fist with absolutely no conscious thought, existing as nothing but pain and rage.
Chapter Seventeen
JAKE STOMPED over to the coffee machine set up in a corner of the station, more to give his hands something to do, rather than any desire to drink the coffee. Considering how wired he was, caffeine was probably the last thing he needed.
He’d tried talking to Hayes at the hospital about his concerns for Danny’s safety, and while the sheriff had admitted that all the incidences together were too strange to be a coincidence, he wasn’t sure it made a case for Danny being in any kind of danger. He’d then pointed out that it’d been his car run off the road and then asked if he’d dealt with anyone in the past days who might have a grudge about him handing out a ticket or something. The incident was going to be investigated—not to mention the paperwork for discharging his firearm—but it was low down on the list of several more pressing cases since most of the station’s resources were going toward the murders.
Then he’d found out Stevens was planning to bring in Danny first thing in the morning and officially question him as a suspect. Logically he told himself Stevens was just doing his job and ruling Danny out because he’d managed to stumble across two dead bodies in just over a week. But emotionally he was pissed on Danny’s behalf and debated yet again whether to come clean about Leroy Hobbs so they’d have another suspect to focus on.
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