Chapter Eight

 

 

TERRY ARRIVED at Lavelle’s and parked behind Julie. They walked together toward the door. “So are you going to wear that sappy grin all evening?” Julie bumped his shoulder playfully. “You must be in love, because no one smiles like that otherwise.”

“Okay,” Terry said and stopped just outside the door. “Red told me that he loved me last night. It was so special to have him open up like that.”

“Men,” Julie said and rolled her eyes. “You’d rather take a bullet than say what you feel.” She reached for the door. “I hope you’ll both be happy.”

“I think we already are,” Terry quipped.

Julie opened the door, and they stepped inside. Lavelle rushed over. “Oh, am I glad to see you.” She seemed breathless. “One of the other delivery volunteers called in with the flu or something.” She wrung her hands on her apron. “I hate to ask, but could each of you do five extras? I already have other people out delivering, or I’d split it further, but….”

“Of course,” Terry said quickly. “Just give me the extra meals and the addresses, and I’ll add them. Don’t worry about it.”

“I really appreciate this,” Lavelle told Terry. “You’re a sweet boy.” She smiled at him. “I was about to do the deliveries myself.”

“Don’t worry about it. We’re glad to help,” Terry answered for both Julie and himself. “I need to get going, but I’ll call once I’m done.” Terry waved and hurried to his car.

His initial deliveries went without a hitch. They were all the people who knew him. He got each of the nine elderly people settled with their dinners and made sure they had something to drink before saying good-bye. Then he headed to the first of the new people. They were as nice as the ones he usually delivered to, and of course they all asked where Cassie was. Terry explained that she was ill and made sure they had everything they needed before moving on. As he exited each house, he looked around to make sure he wasn’t being followed or watched. Red would have been so proud of him. He’d actually changed routes a few times and circled blocks, just to confuse anyone who might be following. At his stop before Aunt Margie’s, Terry grabbed his last meal and headed to the door. He knocked and waited for it to be answered. He checked the name on the meal and the one on the list. One thing Lavelle had told him was to be particular about who got what. Some folks had dietary restrictions, and they did their best to make sure each meal met those requirements.

Terry knocked again, certain he had the right house and meal. Then he heard footsteps on the other side of the door. It was opened by a young woman, who seemed surprised to see him.

“I have Roger’s senior meal,” Terry said.

“Of course, come on in.” She pushed the door open, and Terry stepped inside.

“Where should I set this?” Terry asked.

“Anywhere is just fine,” she said.

Terry walked toward the kitchen and set the container on the counter. “Is Roger here?”

“He’s in the bathroom. He’ll be out soon. You probably have other deliveries to make, so I’ll take it from here.”

“If you’re sure,” Terry said and headed for the door. As he went to leave, he turned toward the kitchen. A man strode into the living room. Terry recognized him and yanked the door open. He didn’t try to think about what James was doing here. All he knew was that he needed to get the hell out of there.

Terry got the door open before he was engulfed in strong arms and pulled backward. “Let me go!” he yelled. The woman slammed the door closed, and James threw Terry onto the sofa. “What the hell, James?” Terry asked as he bounced off the cushions and ended up on the floor.

“I love it. We’ve been looking all over hell and creation for you, and you just waltz through the door,” James said with a smile. Terry picked himself up off the floor and took a step toward the door. “You aren’t going anywhere.”

“Jimmy, who is this?”

“No one you need worry about. Take what you’ve got coming and go.” James turned to her, and she raced to the kitchen, grabbed the Styrofoam container off the counter, and hurried through the house. Terry heard the back door open and close and then silence.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Terry asked. “I was just delivering a meal.” Terry looked toward James, and clarity descended on him. He realized what he’d just delivered, and it certainly wasn’t a senior meal. Holy crap. He did his best to keep his realization off his face and to appear innocent. It was probably the only way he would get out of here alive.

“Don’t play dumb with me. When we were together I thought you were as pretty and stupid as they come. I know different now. So sit there and don’t move while I figure out what I’m going to do with you.”

“Oh, please,” Terry teased, and James backhanded him across the face. It burned like hell, and he tumbled onto his side onto the sofa.

“I’ll beat the shit out of you if you look at me cross-eyed,” James growled and grabbed his wrists. “I spent way too fucking much time and energy on you. I should have shot you up and gotten you hooked when we were together. Then I wouldn’t have had any trouble with you.”

“Jesus, James,” Terry said as tears welled in his eyes.

“Jesus nothing, and that’s exactly what you were—nothing. A fun sex toy, nothing more.” He backhanded him again, and Terry saw stars. “Now shut the fuck up and don’t move an inch, or so help me, they’ll be scraping what’s left of you out of the carpet.” James moved away, and Terry cowered on the far edge of the sofa. He was afraid to move and watched as James stared at him. “Fuck, you are such a pain in the fucking ass.” James pulled out his phone as Terry rubbed his aching cheek.

“What are you going to do?” Terry figured James would act like a tiger when cornered. The problem was that James was cornered, and Terry prayed he didn’t realize it. Terry hoped that Red had figured out something was wrong. He should have been done with his deliveries by now, and he should have called him from Aunt Margie’s. Red was a good cop, and when Terry didn’t call in, Terry knew Red would act. He only hoped James hadn’t figured that out.

“It’s me,” James said into the phone. “Get over here. We have a real problem.” There was a pause, and Terry looked around the room, trying to find anything he could use as a weapon. He wasn’t sure if James was carrying a gun. He hadn’t in the past as far as Terry knew, but then, Terry hadn’t known that James was a drug-trafficking asshole either. “No, it’s worse.” Another pause. “Just get over here. An old friend has decided to pay us a visit, and we need to figure out what the hell to do.” Hope was fleeing quickly. James pressed the button on the phone and shoved it back into his pocket.

Terry swallowed hard when James turned to him. The chill in James’s eyes was enough to freeze the pipes in the kitchen. How he could ever have loved this man was beyond him.

“You always were so much more trouble than you were worth,” James sneered. He sounded like some old-time movie villain, except this wasn’t some stupid movie. It was fucking real.

Terry wasn’t sure what to do, so he broke eye contact and stared at the floor. Let James think him completely docile. If he figured a way out of this, he’d only get one chance, and it had to come as a surprise. Not that he had any ideas. It was probably best for him to try to stall for time to give Red a chance to figure out where he was. “I thought you loved me,” Terry said as pathetically as he could. “You told me you did all the time.”

His phone rang, and Terry jumped. The sound was loud and jarring in the largely quiet room. He knew it had to be Red. He didn’t reach for it, and James hurried over and jammed his hand into Terry’s pocket. He pulled out the phone, checked the display, and then threw it through the door and onto the kitchen floor. The phone shattered and silenced instantly. Terry jumped at the sound and felt some of his hope slip away. He should have tried to switch the thing to vibrate.

James laughed diabolically, like a Bond supervillain. Maybe James was becoming deranged, or maybe he’d been using the crap he’d been selling and it was starting to affect his mind. Either way, it scared the shit out of Terry. “I told you what you wanted to hear. You were pretty, and you looked good on my arm when we went out.” James stepped closer to him, and Terry braced himself for another slap. “You were a great fuck, I’ll give you that. But so were the dozens of other guys I screwed. You thought you were the only one? How cute. You weren’t that fucking good.” James stepped back.

Terry shifted on the sofa. “What did I ever do to you?”

“Nothing. You did nothing!” James yelled. “That’s the problem. You were supposed to stick around, not fucking leave like the rest of them.”

James wasn’t making a lot of sense to him. Terry wondered what the hell was happening, but he was too afraid to figure it out at the moment. James had always been a calm and together kind of guy. It was what had attracted Terry to him in the first place. He seemed like a guy who knew what he wanted and how to get it. That had been appealing to Terry. But this man—the James in front of him—was a mess.

James’s phone rang, and he yanked it out of his pocket. “What,” he snapped. “Just get your ass over here. The drop on Louther. We need to take care of this problem and fast.” James closed the phone. Terry looked toward the front window. The curtains were drawn, but there was a small gap, and he saw a flash of blue pass in front of it. For a second he hoped it was Red. He had no idea how the police would act. But nothing happened.

“Why all this, James? You’re a smart man and could have done anything.” He needed to keep James talking somehow, and James’s favorite subject was James.

“Yeah, I am. I built a whole business from scratch and made major cash with it. I drive expensive cars and live in a huge house. Everyone wants to be me.” He grinned. That was what James wanted to be—somebody.

“Everyone looks up to you,” Terry said.

James smiled, but there was no warmth or feeling in it. “Yeah. I saw the looks I got when I parked right out front at Fresco. Women wanted to be with me, straight men would offer me a chance at their ass to spend time with me. It was fucking hot and took a lot of money. More money than some delivery service was ever going to make. So I began to look around for other business. You know, diversified.” He sounded proud of himself.

It was all about image, and Terry knew he had been a part of that image. Set dressing so James could look good.

A knock sounded on the door. Terry jumped slightly, and James glared at him. “Don’t think of moving or I’ll break your fucking arm and beat your face so bad your fucking mother will need a DNA test to prove you’re her fucking kid.”

James went to the front door, parted the curtain slightly to peer out, and then opened the door. A man Terry didn’t know stepped in, and James closed and locked the door.

“Is this the problem?” The guy was fucking huge, with a missing tooth in his demented smile that sent an instant chill up Terry’s spine. He thought James had been cold, but this guy chilled the fucking room.

“Yeah. He knows way too much.”

“Then I’ll take care of it. No one will ever find anything.”

Terry’s blood ran cold, and he pulled his legs up closer to his body. He wasn’t going to last long with this unfeeling monster. He wasn’t as big as Red, but, fuck, he was scary as shit. That missing tooth, ratty hair, and muscles that bulged out of his shirtsleeves. His eyes were gray and cold as ice.

“It isn’t that simple. He’s dating a cop, and the guy is sure to come looking for him. You need to get him out of here and make sure there’s no trail to follow. There’s some rope in the basement. Use it to tie him up and then make him disappear.”

“Can I play with him?” the huge man asked.

“I don’t give a shit what you do to him once he’s gone,” James said.

Terry was in deep shit, and it seemed like there’d be no getting out of this. Time was running out. He wished to hell he knew what to do, but all he could think of was to make a run for it, though he knew he’d only be able to get about three feet before he was done for.

The man turned, and James motioned toward the kitchen. “Hurry up, and get what you need. His boyfriend is going to come looking for him, and we all need to be long gone before that happens.”

The muscle lumbered out of the room, and James turned to him. “It’s too bad I won’t be able to see what he has planned. He can be very entertaining.” James turned toward the kitchen. “He’s a master with pain. Loves to hear people scream.” James grinned, the bastard. “And you will scream by the time he’s done, and that will be the last anyone hears or sees of you. Even your cop boyfriend will wonder what the hell happened to you.”

Terry shivered, and that seemed to please James. “You should have been happy with what I had to give you. I treated you well and made sure you had everything you wanted. You should have been content. But now….” James shook his head. “I really hate to do this, but it’s the only way.” He stepped away and looked at Terry with pity.

Terry had no idea what to do. He kept hoping Red would come charging to the rescue. Occasionally he heard people passing by outside, but other than that, he heard nothing. No sign of rescue. Terry took a deep breath and sighed. He closed his eyes for a few minutes and thought of Red. He needed some sort of comfort, and that was all he could think of.

“Hurry up down there,” James called. Something crashed in the basement, followed by silence. “Grab the rope, and get the hell up here.” A few minutes later, Terry heard heavy footsteps on the stairs. He steadied himself, determined to fight. “What are you waiting for?” James turned, and a blur of blue raced toward him. James was pushed to the ground, and Terry gasped.

“Don’t move.” Terry held stock-still as other police officers swarmed into the room. “Is there anyone else here?”

Terry shook his head. “Just James and the man in the basement.” Police swarmed through the row house, checking every room, from the basement to the attic. Terry sat immobile, not sure what he should do. Calls of “Clear” rang through the house, and then Red rushed into the living room. Terry wasn’t sure what he should do for a second. Red hurried to him, and Terry got to his feet and fell into his arms.

“You scared the hell out of me,” Red whispered into his ear.

Terry didn’t know what to say and simply let the tears run down his cheeks. “They were going to kill me,” he managed to say eventually. “The guy downstairs was getting stuff to tie me up, and….” His voice became a squeak.

“It’s okay now. We have him in custody, along with James.”

“How?”

“Most of these houses have an outside basement entrance. We went in that way,” Red told him. “I’m sorry I didn’t get here earlier. It took us a while to track you down. Then we saw my old Taurus parked out front.”

“Lavelle?” Terry asked.

“She’s cooperating,” Red answered. Terry figured he wasn’t going to get much more information than that.

“They were using the meal program to deliver the drugs. A woman left with them as soon as I arrived.”

“Don’t worry. We’ll get her and everyone else. They aren’t going to be able to keep their secrets for very long.” Red looked toward the kitchen. James was facedown on the floor with a gun pointed at him.

“I want my lawyer,” James kept saying.

“You’ll get one,” one of the officers told him as he placed him in handcuffs. “You’ll need him.”

Terry hugged Red tighter. He had no intention of letting go for a second.

“Is he okay?” Officer Cloud asked as he approached.

“James slapped me a few times, but you got here before they really hurt me.” The thought of what James had said was going to happen sent fear racing through him. He closed his eyes and buried his face against Red’s uniform shirt, not wanting anyone to see him fall to pieces. “They said they were going to… and that… no one would find me.” Terry shook, and Red held him. He was vaguely aware of other people moving around them, but he just clung to Red. He was safe now and hadn’t been hurt. He was damned lucky, and he knew it. “You got here just in time.”

“I was frantic,” Red told him against his hair.

“He had half the force looking for you,” Officer Cloud said. “I always knew Red would make an incredible drill sergeant, and today he proved it. I swear he’d have said anything to anyone and moved heaven and earth to find you.”

“You did?” Terry asked, lifting his face from Red’s shirt.

“Of course I did,” he whispered. Terry heard a throat clear, and he reluctantly moved away from Red. “Just stay here. We need to assess this situation and gather all the evidence we can.”

“I should have listened to you,” Terry whispered shamefully. “You were concerned, and I insisted on doing this, and when Lavelle asked me to take extra deliveries, I didn’t think about it.”

“You couldn’t have known.”

“We just figured things out a little while ago,” Aaron said. “As soon as we did, Red was a madman to try to find you. He knew something was wrong.”

“I called your cell, and you didn’t answer, and you should have been at Aunt Margie’s, but you weren’t.”

“What’s left of my cell is on the floor of the kitchen,” Terry said, pointing behind the still prone James.

Slowly Terry walked to the kitchen doorway. James lifted his head and stared up at him, venom shooting from his eyes. “What do you want?” James snapped.

“Just looking at a sack of shit,” Terry said as calmly as he could. “A walking, talking sack of shit.”

“All you are is a fuckbag. All you’re good for is being fucked. Nothing else. You always were, and you’ll never be anything else. That’s all you were made to be, a warm fuckbag.” A steady stream of profanity and name-calling followed, which only made Terry’s anger rise higher and higher. He’d had enough of this asshole putting him down.

Terry bent down and backhanded James across the face with all his strength. His hand ached afterward, and James’s cheek reddened.

“Hey, he hit me. You saw it,” James cried to the nearest police officer. “I want to press charges!”

The officer turned to James and shrugged. “I didn’t see a thing, and neither did anyone else. So shut up and stay where you are before we add resisting arrest to the charges.”

Terry rubbed his hand as he turned and walked back to where Red sat wide-eyed and with what Terry was sure was a slight smile turning his lips upward just a little. He’d probably catch hell for doing what he did later, but it had felt way too good.

“We’re ready for him,” an officer said from the door. The officer closest to James bent down and roughly pulled him to his feet.

“I don’t give a crap what happens to you,” the officer said. “So you go easy or we’ll see just how clumsy you are on the way to the car. Maybe a trip down the curb will shut that yap of yours.” He turned and winked at Terry. The officer—Terry never got his name—led James outside. The door closed behind them, and Terry hoped like hell that was the last time he ever had to see that man for as long as he lived.

“I hope he rots in hell,” Terry said to no one in particular.

“If we can prove what we believe we should be able to now and connect him with those drugs, he’ll have a number of deaths to pay for,” Red said. “The courts aren’t likely to let him off easy. And everything he has will be confiscated. The cars, the house, all the ‘ugly art.’ Anything that might have been purchased with drug money will be sold and goes to law enforcement and drug task forces. So you see, James is going to get kicked in the pants no matter which way he cuts it.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, Harrisburg PD is already searching his business and house. The delivery schedules and what we found were enough for that. They’ll probably come up with enough to charge him with more than we can here, so they’ll impound everything he owns. He’s not going to have a pot to piss in by the end of the day.”

“Can they do that?”

“Yup.” Red grinned. “Like I said, he’s going to get kicked in ways he never imagined. So everything he wanted—the popularity, being center of attention, fast cars, and the big house—is going to be gone. Even if he gets out on bail, Harrisburg PD will have his bank accounts and any liquid assets frozen, so he’s not going to be able to pay the lawyer he’s trying to hire.” Red smiled. “I need to finish some things up, and Aaron needs to take your statement. Then once we’re done here, I’ll take you home.”

That sounded wonderful. He wanted to go home with Red. But then he stopped. What if Red meant that now that he was safe and this was all over, he should go back to his apartment? It was his home, after all. “That would be nice.” He didn’t think it was good for him to be asking what Red meant in the middle of a crime scene. He’d find out soon enough.

Red stood and touched his shoulder. Terry smiled at him and sat on the edge of the sofa cushion. “Is Lavelle involved?”

“We don’t know,” Aaron answered, and Terry wondered what was going to happen to the people who relied on her for their meals. “We’ll find out, though. If she is, she’ll be taken into custody with the rest, but if she’s not, we’ll do what we can to protect her. She has a long history of helping this community, and we do not want her dragged through the mud if she’s innocent.” Aaron seemed sincere, which Terry appreciated. Lavelle was a good person, he felt it deep down, and he didn’t want her to have been involved with this. He suspected she was going to be mortified that someone had been using her good work as a cover for something so evil, but he had to let the police do their jobs. It would be a real shame if he were wrong.

Aaron sat down next to him. “Why don’t you start at the beginning, and tell me everything that happened.”

Terry recounted everything he could think of from the time he arrived at Lavelle’s to the point the police got here. He recounted the threats and what James had revealed. He also explained what he believed they planned to do to him if his rescuers hadn’t arrived when they did. By the end, Terry was rocking back and forth slightly. When he explained what James had said to him, how little he’d meant to him, Terry found it hard to speak. “What did I do to make him hate me like that?”

“Some people can’t take rejection, so they morph whatever feeling they had into hate. It’s easier than dealing with the pain and moving on. If they hate you, then they’re in the right, and you’re in the wrong. It’s easy to see things like that, and then they don’t have to face the fact that they might have been the one at fault. It’s a defense mechanism.” Aaron’s explanation seemed rational enough. “And some people are just assholes. They will say anything to hurt someone else and protect their fragile egos. If I were you, I’d put James in the second category.”

Terry couldn’t suppress a smile, even one that was fleeting. “Thanks.”

“No problem.” Aaron returned his brief smile. “I’ll write up this statement, and once I have it ready, you can review it to make sure I have the details correct. We’re still trying to fit all the pieces together. For example, we still have to follow up about the break-ins at the apartment, so we may need more of your help.”

“I’ll try,” Terry said. He was beginning to feel put through the wringer with all this. It wasn’t the fault of the police, but he was reaching the end of his rope. “I want this to be over.”

“That will take a while. The investigation could drag on as we gather all the pieces and do our best to unravel the entire organization. There seem to be pieces of it all over the area, and the mop-up operation could take a while. Then, of course, there will be court, and you’ll probably be called to testify.” Terry hated the sound of that. “I know we all want things to happen quickly, but there are times when justice takes time. We will do our best to keep James in jail and prevent him from getting bail.”

Terry hadn’t thought of that. “I appreciate everything you’re doing. I just want to go home now.” He needed something familiar and comforting.

“Of course. I have what I need, and if something else comes up, I know how to reach you. The others should be finishing up here, and then Red can take you home.” Aaron stood up, all his gear creaking a little as he did. Terry loved the sound their belts made when they moved.

“Thanks.” He remained seated and out of the way while officers and technicians scoured the house. He wasn’t paying much attention, and since no one spoke to him, he simply sat and thought.

“Sweetheart, are you ready to go?” Red asked, pulling him out of his thoughts.

“Yeah,” Terry whispered. “Oh crap… I still have Aunt Margie’s dinner in your car. She’s probably starving and wondering where we are.”

“It’s all right. We’ll stop and get something and then see her. She’s a tough lady—she’ll understand.”

Terry stood up. “I just want her to like me.”

“I think she already does. Remember, she’s the one who made me check on you.” Red took his hand. “She fancies herself as a matchmaker of some sort.”

“She just wants you happy.” Terry squeezed Red’s hand.

“You make me happy.” Red smiled, and they left the house. “You can follow me, or we can pick up the car later.”

“I’ll go to your aunt’s, and you can get the food.” Terry smiled at Red’s soft growl. “It’s a block and a half.” He rolled his eyes. “Fine, follow me over to make sure I get there, and then you can get the food. I’ll sit with your aunt and keep her company.” That mollified Red. Terry weaved down the street, past the police vehicles with their still flashing lights, to the Taurus. He got in and waited until a cruiser pulled up behind him. He saw Red behind the wheel. He pulled into traffic and drove to Margie’s. He knocked on her door and waited for her to answer.

“It’s you. I was getting worried,” Aunt Margie said and stepped back to let him in. Terry turned and waved to Red before stepping inside. “My stomach is about to eat itself.”

“It’s a long story, and Red is going to get dinner. He’ll be back in a few minutes,” Terry explained. He closed and locked the door before helping Margie to her chair.

“I take it there was some excitement. Police cars have been streaming by for the past hour.”

“Yeah. My ex turned out to be Central PA’s version of a drug lord. I was being held until Red arrived to save the day.” He spoke of Red like a movie hero because in his mind that was what Red felt like. He was a hero, Terry’s own personal hero, and Terry liked the way that sounded. “I was at the stop before yours, so your food is cold in the car, and Red went to get something for us.” Not that Terry was particularly hungry.

“You poor dear,” she soothed. “Sit down and relax. Try to put it out of your mind for a few minutes. You’re safe here, and Red will be back soon.” She shuffled into the kitchen. “I’ll make some tea.”

“You don’t need to do that.”

“Nonsense. Nothing soothes raw nerves like a nice cup of tea.”

“You sound like my grandmother. When I was a kid, she always had a pot of tea on. Her friends would come over in the afternoon, and they’d sit in her sunroom and have tea and cakes. It was special when I’d visit.” Terry settled on the sofa and let her do her thing. She wanted to help, and this was her way of showing it.

“How so?” She filled the old-fashioned teakettle with water from the tap.

“Grandma used to insist that I dress for tea, and then I got to sit with her and her friends at the grown-up table. They talked about everyone they knew. It was gossip, really, but I didn’t know that at the time, and it was wonderful to hear what the grown-ups thought so important. It turned out to be the same stuff we think is important today. Who was sleeping with whom, mostly, although those things caused quite a scandal for the ladies. Of course, they either bragged about or ragged on their kids. They could be vicious.”

“People are the same. Times may change, but people don’t,” Aunt Margie said. “They still talk about each other and judge each other. Now, instead of over tea, they do it on that Facebook thingy.” The kettle banged on the stove as she set it on the burner. Then she came in and sat in her chair. “It’ll whistle when it’s ready.”

Terry had always loved that about being at his grandmother’s too. Things seemed simpler there, out of a different time. They seemed slower than at home. It had been nice not to have all the pressure he felt from his parents. Crap, he needed to call them and let them in on the latest developments.

He heard a key in the lock, and then the door opened. Red stepped inside, carrying two bags in his hand. He closed the door and set the bags on the counter. “I see the kettle is on.”

“Of course,” Aunt Margie said.

“Let me get things ready, and then we can eat.” Red smiled at Terry, and the knot in Terry’s stomach unraveled. He’d been out of sorts since he got here, as if he were seeing things through someone else’s eyes. It felt as though what had happened was real but had happened to someone else. It hadn’t really sunk in that he’d been held against his will. He was certain it would hit him, though, probably when he least expected it.

Red moved through the kitchen, setting the table. Terry watched him move and sighed a few times. Red was a good-looking man. Maybe not in the conventional sense, but he cared and showed it in the gentlest of ways, from the way he set the table to how he helped his aunt up and guided her in for dinner. Terry followed, and Red lightly took his hand for just a few seconds before he took his seat. The simple touch was reassuring enough that he was able to smile.

“Everything is going to be just fine,” Red said.

Terry wished he could fully believe him, but Aaron had described a process that would take a lot of time. “It’s hard to think about it all.”

“Then don’t. The cool thing is that there’s a process, and one thing happens after the other. It isn’t as though you will need to deal with it all at once. It’s one step at a time.”

“Yeah, well, I bet there are a lot of steps, and I’m going to have to tell what happened over and over again.”

“Yes, you will. But we’ll be with you the entire time. I’ve done this before, and Aaron has been through it a lot of times. We know what to expect and can help. The DA will also be there to help you. They know the process inside and out.” Red began opening containers and passing out Chinese food. He’d gotten enough to feed an army… again. “There isn’t anything to worry about. The first thing that will happen is the bail hearing. You won’t need to go to that. The lawyers will argue that one out.”

“So what happens now?”

“After dinner, we’ll go home. We can get your car for you.”

“Will they take that away from me?”

Red sighed. “That’s a good question. It’s possible James bought it with drug money. Since you didn’t know that and received it as a gift, you’ll probably get to keep it, but we’ll check to be sure.”

“I’m gonna sell it and have a huge garage sale to get rid of everything from James. I don’t want anything from him around me.” Terry picked at his food. He ate a few bites but wasn’t really hungry. “I took too much from him.”

“If you want, the police association has a huge rummage sale coming up next month. They take donations of household items, stuff like that, and sell it to raise money to support needy families at the holidays.”

“Perfect. I’ll get everything together, and they can take it all. Someone might as well benefit from it. I just want it all gone.”

Red placed one hand on his knee under the table, squeezing it slightly.

“Have you two made any plans, now that the drama is over?” Aunt Margie asked. Red shook his head, and Terry shrugged. They hadn’t talked about anything in the future, and Terry worried about what Red was expecting or what he might want. “Huh….” She shook her head and returned to her food. “Sometimes you men are blind to what’s right under your nose.”

Red smiled at his aunt and patted her age-spotted hand. “We have been busy making sure Terry is safe. He and I haven’t had a chance to talk about what we wanted after things settle down.” Red’s gaze lifted to his. “We will.”

Terry returned to eating. He took a few more bites and then decided he’d had enough, though Aunt Margie fussed over him and guilted him into eating a little more. Once Red had devoured his dinner in his typical “eat everything in sight” manner, the two of them cleaned up and said their good-byes. Terry returned to Red’s car and drove to the house, where he put the vehicle back in the garage. Red parked and was waiting for him as Terry locked the garage.

Red took him by the hand and gently guided him into the backyard and over to the bench. “I love it out here this time of year. The evenings are warm enough that we can sit out and not get chilled but not too hot that you sweat like a pig.”

Terry sat down. “What is it you want from me, Red?”

“What do you mean, what do I want? You said you loved me, and I love you. I….”

“It’s my clumsy way of asking if you still want to be with me. The danger is over. James is behind bars. I should be safe now. The case is what kept us together, so what happens now?”

“I didn’t realize that was what was happening.” Red sounded hurt.

“Of course it was. I wouldn’t have met and gotten to know you if it hadn’t been for this whole mess I created with James. I don’t regret a thing, nothing at all. But I need to know what you expect. Everyone I have ever dated has wanted or expected something from me. I didn’t find out what James wanted until it was nearly too late.” Terry shifted closer. “Just tell me what you want. Tell me what will make you happy.”

“I haven’t known a great deal of happiness since the accident. I figured I’d have to be happy with the simpler things in life. I was happy when I was accepted to the police academy, and I was happy when I graduated and got my first job. I love Aunt Margie….” Red stopped, and his gaze shifted from Terry to the yard. “I don’t talk much about how I feel. No one wants to hear about that crap. So I keep quiet.”

“I want to hear how you feel. Otherwise I won’t know. You school so much behind a stern police expression. But you smile and open up to me. I know what that means, and I love you for it. I’m thrilled that you care and trust me enough to show me the person you are on the inside.”

“Then what I want is for you to be my boyfriend, love me, and maybe move in here with me.”

Terry wrapped an arm around Red’s much larger one, feeling the muscle flex slightly. “That wasn’t so hard. You don’t have to be afraid to tell me what you want. I want the same thing. I need to find another apartment….” Terry squeezed Red’s arm. “I’m not going to move in here with you, not yet. It’s way too soon, and we need to get to know each other better first. I rushed into things with James and every other guy I’ve dated. I’m not going to do that with you. We’ll date, get to know each other, and then we can shack up.” Terry flashed Red a smile.

“I can live with that,” Red agreed, his expression darkening, and Terry shivered and swallowed hard, knowing what that meant. “Have you decided if you’re going to go into training?” Red asked. “Because I think you should. Reach for your dream, and don’t let anyone take it away from you.”

“I think I’d like to, yes.” Terry had given it a lot of thought, and the idea of being able to undo what James had done was majorly appealing. Red turned toward him and then wrapped Terry in his powerful arms. “It doesn’t matter if you win, only that it makes you happy. I’ll be there to cheer you the entire way.”

Terry loved Red’s strength. He felt it flowing in him, but he also loved how Red was gentle and careful. Red could easily hurt him, but he never would.

“Let’s go inside,” Red said.

Terry nodded and would have stood, but Red didn’t let go and didn’t seem like he was going to anytime soon. “Going inside was your idea, remember?” Terry brought his lips to Red’s. “Besides, there’s a bed in there, and I can make as much noise as I want to.” Red released him, and Terry stood. Red did the same and then ducked down, lifted Terry over one shoulder, and carried him toward the house. “Is this really necessary?”

“No,” Red retorted, but he didn’t put him down either. Somehow Red got the door unlocked and carried Terry inside, through the house, and up the stairs before bouncing him on the bed.

“Was that your caveman imitation?” Terry asked as Red pulled off his shirt and began working off his shoes. Within a few seconds, Terry faced his very naked caveman.

“Jesus,” Terry swore under his breath. Red worked at his clothes. Once his shirt was off, Red found a nipple with his tongue, and Terry stroked Red’s stubble-scratchy cheeks. The rest of his clothes joined the growing pile on the floor, and they made love—long, hot, and sweet—well into the night. More than once Red had him alternating between whimpers and outright screams of sheer bliss.

“I love you, Red.” Terry was happy beyond belief. He rolled onto his side and stared at Red, tracing his fingers lightly over his cheek. “You are the most beautiful man I have ever met.” Before Red could argue, he kissed him, because sometimes words just weren’t enough.