Hitman's Creed Edward Kendrick
Published by Silver Publishing Publisher of Erotic Romance
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DEDICATION To Hales, who believed in me and convinced me believe as well *hugs*
TRADEMARK ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The author acknowledges the trademark status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction: Ruger MK II & Ruger 22/45: Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc. Gerber Mark II: Gerber Legendary Blades
Hitman's Creed
Edward Kendrick
PROLOGUE There comes a point in everyone's life when they wonder if they've made the right choices. Glenn was at that point as he rested his hands on the railing of the catwalk high above the stage. He had everything planned down to the nth degree, as always. The AR-7 rested between his legs, scope attached. He could make his way from where he stood to the exit he needed even in the dark. He knew this because he'd practiced it several times over the last two days. One of the advantages of being on the backstage crew was the freedom of movement it gave him. Freedom to roam the theater at will. While he watched the show in progress, waiting for the moment when it was time to put his plan into action, part of his mind was lamenting the fact that, as always, he would be on a plane heading off to nowhere as soon as he was finished. Such was his life, one anonymous hotel room after another, no place to call home, no one to go home to even if he had one. "Maybe it's time to find a new profession," he murmured under his breath. The sound of laughter from the audience broke his train of thought, bringing him back to the present. He 1
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brushed his hand through his hair, which was at the moment dark, the natural gray streaks at his temples invisible thanks to his expertise at dying it to suit whatever role he was playing while on the job. Then instinctively he ran a finger over his upper lip to smooth his moustache. It was no longer there, gone to make him look younger than his thirty-four plus years. 'I'm getting too old for the game,' he thought yet again as he had too often recently. He heard the actress speak the lines which told him it was almost time and picked up the rifle. A fast check around him told him what he already knew. He was alone on the catwalk. He knelt, resting the rifle against one of the railing bars. A
flash
of movement caught
his
attention
momentarily; a young actress was pacing nervously in the wings, awaiting her cue to enter. Ignoring her he calmly stared through the scope to sight in on his target. He had no idea why the woman he was looking at needed eliminating, or in this particular place. That was none of his business. It was his job to do it successfully, and in his own selfinterests not to be caught afterwards. The actress stood facing the actor playing her husband as they spoke their lines, her hands resting on his shoulders, the only two on stage at the moment. Glenn
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knew he had only a minute before she moved. He focused in on the top of her head and slowly pulled the trigger, once and then again. When the bullets tore through her skull there was a moment of dead silence and then the screams began as she fell to the stage floor. Even as people rushed to his victim's side a few of the stagehands paused to look up into the fly space trying to locate him. By then Glenn was disassembling the rifle. He put the parts into the bag at his feet, picked it up, and raced down the dark catwalk. When he reached the end, he paused just long enough to strip off the black jumpsuit he'd been wearing, stuffing it into the bag as well. Now he was in the dark jeans and a navy turtleneck he'd worn when he came to work earlier that evening. Slinging the bag over his shoulder, Glenn made his way up the ladder at the end of the catwalk to the grid at the top of the theater's fly space, his crepe-soled shoes making no sounds on the metal rungs. He knew he was virtually invisible from below but was taking no chances, especially when he heard the sound of feet coming up a ladder from the backstage area to the lighting grid. Obviously at least one crew member was willing to take the chance that they could find him before he got away. Just ahead of him now, at the top of a final short
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ladder, was the emergency exit he needed. He'd already disabled the alarm so there would be no worry it would go off and alert anyone as to his exact whereabouts. He pushed the trapdoor open and leapt onto the slanted roof. It was still slick from an earlier rain shower so Glenn was doubly careful as he made his way to the edge and then over it to the fire escape. Before he started down he checked to make certain the alley was vacant of any observers, including transients who might have sought shelter in one of the doorways. With no one in sight he sped down, jumping silently the last few feet to the pavement. Then he strolled casually toward the street, stopping long enough to light a cigarette, the brief glow of the lighter reflecting off his deadly serious hazel eyes. When Glenn reached the end of the alley he smiled tightly when he heard the blare of sirens then saw two patrol cars come to a screeching stop in front of the theater. He turned in the opposite direction and was soon just another pedestrian out for a night on the town.
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CHAPTER 1 "New in town?" Glenn looked up into a pair of startling blue eyes and nodded before he returned to the book he was reading. "I didn't think I'd seen you around before. I'd have remembered you if I had." Glenn nodded again, this time without as much as a glance in the speaker's direction. "All right, I get the hint. Sorry." He heard footsteps as the young man walked away and shook his head, slightly amused at his persistence, then picked up his coffee, took a sip, and continued to read. The kid had a point though. As small as the town was, chances were the kid knew everyone who belonged here. Everyone but Glenn, but that wasn't too surprising. Glenn made it a point not to come to town any more than was absolutely necessary since he'd moved into an old house a few miles outside the town limits. The only reason he was in the small coffeehouse right now was the fact that his car needed new tires before winter arrived. He could have waited at the garage but the noise and the small, grubby waiting area had been enough to drive him away. 5
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So he had walked half a block down, book tucked under his arm, found the coffeehouse, and decided it would do as a place to kill the time until his car was ready. The kid worked behind the counter, doling out coffee and sandwiches. Since Glenn was a purist who liked his coffee plain and black, it had taken only a few seconds to get and pay for it. Then he found a table at the back of the room and settled in. He was surprised and just a bit annoyed when the kid, who appeared to be barely out of his teens, tried to strike up a conversation. Thus he ignored him. Nice eye candy but Glenn wasn't what you would call the chatty type, especially with some kid. He finished his coffee, checked the time, and got up. When he reached the door the kid called out, "Come back again." Glenn nodded once as he pushed the door open and stepped onto the sidewalk. Under his breath he muttered, "Not likely."
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CHAPTER 2 Joey Fairburn watched the man walk out of the coffeehouse and shook his head. Wasn't it a law of some kind that in a small town everyone was supposed to be friendly? Well he'd done his best and been rebuffed. "You can't win them all," his mother said as she came out of the tiny kitchen. "But I can try," he replied with a laugh. "It could be he's just visiting, or passing through." "I don't think so. When I asked if he was new in town, he nodded." Miriam Fairburn chuckled. "Perhaps he wasn't paying attention to what you'd said, and just nodded to let you know he was aware that you were standing there." "Yeah, you're probably right." "Mother's always are," she told him with a laugh. "Ten minutes 'til closing so we might as well get this place cleaned up. Are you helping Harv this evening?" "Yeah. He's got some engine he's overhauling and he wants me to watch the garage so he can concentrate without interruptions." She shook her head in amusement. "Knowing my brother he wouldn't notice if anyone did try to interrupt 7
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him," she replied. That proved to be true, Joey found out, when he arrived at the garage. His uncle came close to banging his head on the open hood of the car when Joey tapped his shoulder to let him know he was there. "Damn boy, you scared the bejesus out of me," Harv growled as he wiped his grease stained hands on his coveralls. "Probably going to be a slow evening so get your books out and study." "I was planning on it, boss man." Joey pointed to his backpack on the counter, which was barely visible through the door to the waiting area. "Better have been. Your Mom expects you to graduate with honors." "Honors from an online college? I guess that's possible." "You'll do it just to make her happy," Harv replied with a smile. "Sure going to try." Joey went back to the waiting area then since he knew his uncle wanted to get back to the work he loved. As he opened his backpack his uncle called out, "Had a new customer today by the way." "Oh? Who?"
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"Name of, humm, Glenn something. Paid with cash. Guess from what he said he bought the old Williams house just outside of town. Needed new tires 'cause his old ones were too worn to be good in the snow come winter." "Tall, dark hair with some gray in it and a mustache?" "Yup, that'd be him. He stop by the coffeehouse?" "Yes. Not very friendly but…" Joey shrugged as he took the book he needed from his pack and smiled to himself. Now he had a name to go with the face. Not that he cared particularly but he did like knowing who was who in town. A trait he'd picked up from his father before he'd… Joey shook his head to dispel the memory.
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CHAPTER 3 Glenn turned off the main road onto a narrow one that wandered willy-nilly toward the low hills in the distance. Two miles farther on, he made another turn into the lane that lead to his house. Every time he thought my house, he couldn't help the small smile that lit his usually serious face. It had taken him almost a year to find this place after he'd decided to pull a vanishing act to get away from his life as he'd known it. Most of that time was spent erasing his tracks so that none of his former associates could find him. Not that there were that many to erase. He had lived for so long under radar that there was no real information about him per se, just as there was none about the anonymous hitman he had been. Nothing anyway that could have connected the hitman to himself. If there had been, he'd have been sitting in a federal penitentiary. His new identity was in truth his original one with a few alterations, thus his birth certificate and social security number were totally legitimate. He had however used the one contact he absolutely trusted, the woman who had set up his email account, to go in and alter enough information in the government files so the Glenn Tanner he was now 10
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could not be associated with the Glenn Tanner he had been before his parents died. With literally hundreds of men with his name around the world, it would take an extremely dedicated enemy to pin it down to the man who now owned this house in a small town somewhere between New York City and Los Angeles. The sun was low on the horizon as he pulled into the garage behind the house. There was a nip in the air that presaged the coming winter and he shivered a bit as he walked to the back door and into a small mudroom. After he'd hung his jacket on one of the pegs along one wall he went through into the kitchen. It was old, with whitewashed walls and dark wood trim, much like the rest of the rooms in the house. He knew some day in the future he'd probably redecorate but, at the moment, just knowing the place was his made him love every inch of it, flaws and all. He took a bottle of water from the refrigerator, walked into the living room, turned on the television and sat down to watch the news. He cracked a tight smile when the talking head reported on the death of a noted businessman eight-hundred miles across the country from where he was now. He'd been offered the job to take the man out six months ago, before he'd made the final break with his last contact. Apparently the need to get it done
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ASAP lost its urgency or his contact had a difficult time finding someone willing to do it. Considering who the target had been the latter was very possible. With the news over, Glenn flipped off the TV and went to fix some supper. When he finished he returned to the living room, a glass of whiskey in one hand, a lit cigarette in the other. He put the glass down on the table beside his favorite chair, picked up the book that sat there, and settled down to read.
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CHAPTER 4 "Your mysterious stranger is back," Joey's mother said. When he asked where, with feigned indifference, she pointed across the street to the hardware store. He leaned on the counter as he watched the man and one of the clerks load cans of paint into the trunk of his car. It had been three weeks, give or take, since he'd first seen the mysterious stranger and, truth be told, he really hadn't expected to again. "Must be doing some redecorating," his mother commented. "God only knows that house needs it from what I remember." Joey shrugged one shoulder. "Should keep him busy." As his mother finished wiping down the last table she frowned to herself. She knew her son well. When he pretended not to care about something it usually meant he was more interested than not. In this case that could be a problem. The man they'd been watching was apparently very reclusive which in her book meant he probably had something to hide. A man of his age, which she guesstimated was mid-thirties, didn't bury himself in the backwoods of nowhere without a good reason, or a bad 13
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one. If Joey started to pry… She sighed. 'Leave it be and maybe he'll find something else to pique his interest.' Aloud she asked, "When is your next exam?" "Tomorrow." "Then you'd best get on home and study." "Yes, Mom." Joey smiled at her. "Planning on it as soon as we close." "Go now. It's not like we're going to have any more business in the next twenty minutes." Joey didn't need telling twice. He whipped off his apron, grabbed his jacket from behind the kitchen door, and beat it out the back door before she changed her mind. Almost to the second, as the back door closed the front door opened and the man they'd been talking about walked in. "Can I get a large black coffee to go?" Glenn asked. "Absolutely." While she poured it, Joey's mother said, "I'm Miriam Fairburn. Would I be considered nosy if I asked your name?" Glenn smiled slightly. "Yes, but I'll tell you anyway, it's Glenn. And before you ask, I just moved here a few weeks ago." "Now that I knew," she admitted as she handed him his coffee. "My brother mentioned it. The old Williams
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place just outside of town." Glenn cocked an eyebrow. "Meaning the man who runs the garage I'd say as he's the only one I mentioned it to. I'm surprised he didn't tell you my name then." "I didn't ask, he didn't tell." She took his money and gave him his change. "My son's the inquisitive one. Takes after his…" her mouth tightened momentarily, "father in that respect. Well it's nice to meet you and I hope you come back again." "If and when I come to town, I might." That said Glenn nodded his thanks and left. "Definitely has something to hide," she said under her breath. If Glenn had been able to read minds he would have agreed with Mrs Fairburn, he did have much to hide. **** A year ago, in another anonymous hotel in another city, Glenn stared out of the window of his fourth-floor room. The money from the last hit sat in one of his bank accounts where it would probably stay, untouched. After all what did he have to spend it on? It wasn't as if he had a home somewhere, and his clothes were all geared to what
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was needed for the jobs. His only real expenses were the tools of his trade, which could cost a small fortune but that was just part of the game and what made him one of the best. The adrenaline rush and euphoria from the kill were long gone and he was restless. Not so restless that he'd go find himself a playmate for the night, but too much so to just sit there. Perhaps that was what he needed, a long walk along the shoreline. He put the thought into motion as he donned his warm jacket to protect him from the damp chill in the air and started to leave his room. After a moment's hesitation he went back, got his Gerber Mark II and attached it, in its sheath, to his belt at the small of his back. Now he was ready. The sun was just setting when he reached the lake. Hands in his pockets he strolled along the rocky shoreline. Cars passed on the highway a few yards to the right of him, the sound of their tires on the pavement making white noise that was surprisingly calming as it blended with the soft pound of the lake's water against the rocks. 'This I should do more often,' he thought, 'or perhaps not.' he added, a flash of pain crossing his face. His mind went back to another lake in another country and
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he remembered the 'accident' that had ended his parents' lives. That was the beginning of his life as it was now. He had been eighteen when they'd died in a horrific explosion that had annihilated them and their boat. At first the police believed it had been an accident but they changed their minds when it came out that certain of his father's associates had put out a hit on him. When Glenn learned about that he had made it his mission to find his parents' killers. He had approached a man he knew was trustworthy, one of his father's business partners, and told him what he needed to do. The man had tried his hardest to dissuade him, but in the end realized that would not happen and so put him in contact with another man who would train him in the fine art of how to kill and get away with it. Within two years Glenn had learned everything the man could teach him. Six months later the two men responsible for his parents' murder were dead as was the man who had hired them. The rest, as the saying goes, was history. Now, fourteen years later, Glenn was looked upon by those who knew what he did as the hitman to go to when the job had to be done quickly and efficiently. He had the unique ability to easily see the ins and outs of each job, avoid all pitfalls, and get the kill done rapidly with nothing that
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would point a finger at the people who hired him. His work was well known by all the law enforcement agencies around the world, but his face, his name and his whereabouts were not. Only one person knew who he was; him. Even his few contacts, the men who were intermediaries between him and the person who was hiring him, had no idea how to find him unless he was on a job for them. Contact was by email, through an account so well protected even the best hacker couldn't access it. His intermediaries used it to let him know there was a job, he would send back a phone number where he could be reached, and things were set up from there. The only weakness in the system, he knew, was that at some point one of them might decide to sell him out. But that was life. He had to trust someone and he had picked them very carefully. Glenn looked around and realized he had walked much further than he'd planned to. The shoreline was smoother than before, the rocks few and far between but larger. He picked one that looked as if it would be semicomfortable and sat down, resting his elbows on his knees. It struck him with unexpected force that he had some decisions to make.
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That he liked what he did was to some extent a given, otherwise he would have stopped after the first, revenge-laden kills. However, recently, he felt that something was missing in his life. Something that made him wonder if he'd actually made the right choice once his parents' deaths had been avenged. There was a challenge to what he had spent the last fourteen years doing. It was like a complicated jigsaw puzzle and if all the pieces for each job didn't fit perfectly then he lost. He'd never lost. But in not losing, he had begun to realize he had lost. He'd lost his life while taking the lives of others. Not literally. He was physically alive; he ate, he slept, he… existed. Therein lay the problem, as all he did was exist. He was thirty-four and had nothing to show for his life except money in the bank. He slid off the rock and used it as a backrest while he lit a cigarette then stared up at the starlit sky. The lights of an airplane went by and he wondered where it was headed.
Undoubtedly wherever
it
was
going
was
somewhere where he had been, where he had spent a day, a week, a month in some anonymous hotel. The days of his life were written in hotel ledgers. From the moment his parents were murdered, he hadn't had a normal life. Not in the way normal was
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considered by most people. He had no friends. He had momentary relationships, for lack of a better word, with whatever female or male caught his fancy when his libido required he find sexual release. But he had no one who cared about him come morning. No one who cared for him, to say the least of someone who could or would love him the way his parents had loved each other. And that was how he'd wanted it at first. No ties. No one to betray him. What he did fed his need for recognition, albeit a very strange sort of recognition. He was famous, infamous, and for years that had been enough. Now… he was uncertain that it had been worth it. No, not uncertain anymore. He realized that it had not been worth it, not in the long run. He wanted out. The question was could he get out? He didn't know, but he knew he was going to try. **** "I aced the exam, Mom," Joey said elatedly right after he'd raced into the living room. She hugged him as she said, "Well I would hope so; you're smart enough when you put your mind to it." "Yeah, yeah, I know," he replied in mock
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annoyance before he admitted, "Sometimes I slack off." "As long as you're aware of that." She watched him grab his jacket, tempted to remind him to remember his hat and gloves as it was snowing lightly outside. She was a mother after all, even if at twenty-one he was more than old enough to make his own decisions about things like that. "Where are you off to?" "I've been sitting too long so I'm going to walk, or run maybe to work it off." He checked his pockets then held up his gloves with a knowing grin that rated him a chuckle from his mother. When he got outside, he tipped his head back to let the snow hit his face. Its cool touch felt good after being in a warm house for so long. Then he stretched, bent to touch his toes a couple of times, and took off down the short path from the house to the street. Since there were no sidewalks in their part of town he walked along the edge of the road, one ear cocked for the sound of traffic from behind him. He didn't know exactly where he was headed, not that it mattered. He loved to walk and run just for the hell of it. It gave him the freedom to think and plan without interruption. He knew what he wanted to do with his life, he just didn't know where he wanted to do it, or how. The idea of leaving his mother to fend for herself while he
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moved to some large city across the state or the country worried him. Sure, her brother and his family lived and worked in town but that wasn't the same as his being there if anything should happen. Joey sped up, his walk turning into a run as he turned off the street onto a well-worn riding trail that weaved away from the town into the lightly forested area to the north. The trees kept the worst of the thickening snow from making the path treacherous but it was still no picnic to race along. At least with the weather worsening, he figured no one would be out on a horse so he stayed in the center where it was smoother. Twenty minutes later a quick check of the time, plus the fact that the snow had really begun to come down very hard, made him decide to turn around and head home. He wished as he did that he'd been smart enough to stick his hat in his pocket. With one gloved hand he brushed the snow out of his hair while muttering about lousy weathermen who hadn't predicted this. The snow that accumulated on the trail made it virtually invisible now so he was glad he knew it like the back of his hand. If he hadn't he wouldn't have known which twists and turns to take. As it was there came a time when he started to wonder if he'd made a wrong one
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somewhere. He paused to look around while he pulled his jacket tighter around him. Not that that did much to warm him. He tried to get his bearings and muttered, "Damn it." One thing he knew for certain once he thought about it, he had definitely gone diagonal to the town because the waning sun as it began to drop below the horizon sent his pale shadow out in front of him. That meant he had been heading east, not south. Making a quarter turn, he set off again.
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CHAPTER 5 Glenn watched the snow fall through the living room window and thanked his lucky stars he'd gotten new tires when he had. Not that he minded the idea of being snowed in but he had sense enough to get that he didn't know the area well enough yet to make the trek into town on foot should an emergency arise. Of course having a car that could make it on snowcovered side roads did no good if he couldn't drive along the lane to get to them. Therefore, even though the snow was still coming down heavily he decided it seemed logical to get out the snow blower and take a stab at clearing the first layer off the lane. At least that way if the snow kept up he'd have some idea where the hell it was come morning. He dressed in layers, sweatshirt, sweater, and a thick coat, then added the boots and gloves he'd had the forethought to buy the last time he was in town, pulled on a ski mask he'd acquired many years ago, and trudged to the garage. Half an hour later, he wondered if the effort had been worth it as he put away the snow-blower and stepped out of the garage. The lane was visible since there was less snow on it, but it already had at least an inch of the white 24
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stuff covering it again. He let out a few choice words and grabbed the shovel when he realized the walkway to the back door was ankle-deep with snow. He got it cleared then went around the house to do that same for the front walk. "Damned exercise in futility," he growled out loud when he finished. "Sometimes I wonder what the hell I use for brains." "Hey," a voice called out from the trees several yards to the west of the house. "Is someone there?" "Yeah," Glenn called back as he started in that direction. "Holy shit," he said seconds later when the kid from the coffeehouse came into view, covered in snow and obviously freezing from the look of him. "Not exactly dressed for the weather, are you?" "No, sir," Joey agreed through chattering teeth. "Come on. Let's get you inside where it's warm." Glenn nodded toward the house then waited for the kid to move. When he didn't, Glenn said tersely, "I don't bite, but if you want to stand out here and become more of a snowman than you are, be my guest." Then he started toward the front porch. "I… don't…" "You don't what?" Glenn asked without stopping.
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"Want to… impose…" "For the love of all that's holy, you're freezing your ass off. Consider this a rescue mission of sorts and get in here." Glenn opened the front door and shot the kid a look of annoyance. "Now, before all the heat leaks out." Joey hurried past him into the house. "Thank… you." Glenn closed the door firmly behind them. "Yeah. Welcome. What's your name, kid?" "Joey." He kept his arms wrapped around himself while he wondered if the man would be pissed if he went to stand in front of the fireplace to warm up. "A name for the snowman. I'm Glenn. Get out of those clothes. You're dripping all over the floor." "What?" Joey looked at him in shock. "Oh hell." Glenn shook his head in amusement. "Not all of them, just the jacket, your shoes." As he spoke Glenn took his own coat and the rest of his outerwear off and hung them on the hooks by the front door with his boots underneath. "Yes, sir." Joey toed off his shoes, took off his jacket and put it on a hook. "Could I…?" He nodded toward the fireplace. Glenn eyed him and noted that his jeans were
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soaked up to the knees and the shoulders of his shirt were damp as well. "Yeah, go ahead." While Joey did, Glenn went upstairs. He returned a few moments later to hand the kid a set of sweats. "You'll swim in them. Go change." He pointed to a door off the living room. "Take a left and you'll find the restroom." Joey did as he'd been told. When he came back Glenn chuckled in amusement. "Now you look like a kid in his big brother's hand-me-downs." But truth be told, there was something about seeing the handsome boy with Glenn's sweats hanging from his hips that brought on a predatory urge. One that Glenn decided needed to be ignored. Joey smiled ruefully. "Better than a snowman, and thanks for the clothes." "Better than you catching pneumonia. What the hell were you doing out in this weather dressed as you were?" "It was barely snowing when I left the house. I was going for a run and, well…" Joey shrugged. "All snowy hell broke loose. Gotcha. Maybe you should call your mother and let her know you're all right." "Yeah. Let me…" Joey started toward the door to the kitchen. "Here, use mine." Glenn took his cell from its
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holster and handed it to Joey. "You hungry?" When Joey nodded, Glenn went into the kitchen, as much to give Joey privacy to talk as to find something to fix for supper. He looked up from the stove a few minutes later when he heard the door open. "Was she glad to know you found a safe haven?" "Oh yeah, big time. She was really worried." "Big shock there. Sit down, this should be ready soon." "Can I help?" "Sure. Grab plates from the cupboard," Glenn pointed, "and get out silverware." He nodded to one of the drawers. "You getting warmed up?" he asked as an afterthought. "Yes, thank you." Joey got everything and set the table. His stomach began growling from the aroma of whatever Glenn was making. "Smells good." "It is." Glenn put the pan on the table. "Pot roast on the second day is always better than the first. Dig in." Joey had to agree the food was good, even more than good. When he finished his first helping, he glanced at Glenn for permission to take more. Glenn nodded that he could and smiled when Joey filled his plate again. "You're at the age when you're a
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bottomless pit, I think. What are you, nineteen, twenty maybe?" "Twenty-one," Joey told him, trying not to huff. "Ah, then you're legal." "I was legal at sixteen," Joey replied with great seriousness. Glenn laughed. "Hopefully your girlfriend was as well." "Yeah, well," Joey looked at him, said, "Never had one of those… and why the hell did I just admit that?" He turned red with embarrassment. "That's what happens if you're tired, the brain to mouth filter shuts down." Joey snorted. "It'll do that sometimes even when I'm not tired." Glenn decided to give him a break instead of teasing him more. "Are you in school, college or whatever?" "I'm taking courses online. There's no college close enough to commute and I don't want to move away until… well, not yet." Glenn filed the last half of that away for the moment to ask, "What are you studying?" "Criminal Justice. I hope to be a cop when I've
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finished, or on the way to being one." "Really? Here or some big city?" "That depends." Joey studied his empty plate. "Probably here if there's an opening when I'm ready, at least until I get my feet wet. The chief's a… well, a friend of the family so I have an in. Can I ask what you do that you can live out here and…? Okay, not my business, sorry." "It's not, but I'll tell you anyhow," Glenn replied with a slight smile. "I inherited some money and decided to retire." "From what?" "Security work." This was at least the partial truth. Glenn figured since he had spent his life making certain that his clients were secure from the problems posed by the people they wanted out of the way that he consider his work to be in the security field. "So you were sort of a cop." Glenn nodded. "Sort of, although the cops probably didn't look at it like that." He decided it was time to change the subject before Joey started to probe deeper. "Does your family own the coffeehouse?" Joey nodded. "My mother does. She owns it and I work for her, or I guess with her, and for my uncle who has
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the garage down the street." "So your family owns half the town," Glenn replied with a chuckle. "Does your father have a business here too?" "My father's out of the picture," Joey said tightly. Glenn felt the anger and something else that radiated from Joey's suddenly tense body and figured there was more to it than just the man having divorced Joey's mother. Especially considering that Joey had as much as said there was something keeping him here in the town, something that sounded like more than just love of family. "That happens sometimes. Any brothers or sisters? Okay, now I'm being too nosy, I suspect. Next I'll be asking about your friends and acquaintances. I suppose that's a hangover from what I used to do." Joey took a deep breath then chuckled. "It could be, and no, I'm an only child." "That makes two of us. Have you had enough to eat?" "More than, thank you." Joey stood and began to clear the table. When Glenn cocked an eyebrow, Joey explained, "Mom trained me well. She cooks, I clear and wash up." "Then I'll just sit here and let you. When you're
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finished, I'll see if I can get the car down to the road and take you home." Joey looked out the window over the sink. "It's stopped snowing finally so maybe, if your car's a tank." "Not quite, but it's snow-worthy enough I think if I run the snow blower one more time first." "I can do that if you want," Joey told him as he finished rinsing the dishes and put them in the dishwasher. "Are you always this eager to help people?" "When they help me, sure. Is that so strange?" "Sometimes it is, yeah. All right, you want to help, you can, but better get dressed more than you were when you got here." Glenn went into the mudroom. When he came back he handed Joey a thick jacket, boots and gloves. "You might need extra socks in the boots. Hang on." When Glenn left, Joey went into the bathroom to see if his clothes were anywhere close to dry enough to wear, which they weren't. He heard Glenn come back into the kitchen and went to join him. "My stuff is still sopping wet." "And that's a problem why?" Glenn gave him two pairs of thick socks. "You can return my stuff to me next time I come into town." "The twelfth of never?" Joey said, chuckling.
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Glenn smiled in amusement. "Maybe a bit sooner than that." **** Between them Glenn and Joey got the lane dug out enough that the car made it down to the narrow side road that led to the main one. It was rough going but Glenn was correct, his car was snow-worthy. By the time they made it to the road into town Joey was asleep, his head resting against the side window. "Kids, no stamina," Glenn murmured to himself in amusement. When they reached town, he shook Joey awake. "Where to from here?" Joey looked a bit bemused until he got his bearings then told Glenn which way to go. When they got to his house, Joey thanked Glenn profusely for everything and promised he'd try to get his clothes back to him sooner than later. "I told you I'd pick them up next time I'm in town," Glenn reminded him. "Yeah, but…" "It won't be that long. Now get inside before your
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mother wonders what's taking you so long." Joey got out, bending to thank Glenn one more time before racing into the house. 'Nice kid,' Glenn thought as he drove off. 'It'd be interesting to find out what the deal is with his father.'
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CHAPTER 6 "So," Joey's mother said as soon as he came through the door, "how did you end up there?" "I told you when I called, I got lost." "You don't get lost. You know this area like the back of your hand." Joey looked at the back of his hand once he took the borrowed jacket off. "I never could figure what that saying meant. I don't know the back of my hand." "Joey, answer the question," she said in mock exasperation. "Okay. I really was lost for a while, or at least way off course. But I figured out where I was more or less and started back. Then, well, I was freezing my ass off and I thought I was close to his place and so…" "You decided to take advantage of the situation and do a little snooping." "Make friends with a neighbor," he replied with an innocent stare in her direction. "He's hardly a neighbor, so you were snooping." "I was getting out of the snow and cold!" "Joey Fairburn, you were snooping. So what did you find out about the elusive Mr Glenn whatever?" 35
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"Nothing really," Joey admitted once he'd finished stuffing the borrowed socks into the borrowed boots. "He makes a mean pot roast, from the smell of it he smokes though he didn't while I was there, and his place is totally neat." "A neat male; I didn't know they existed," she said with a laugh. "Hey, my room's neat, mostly, usually." "Sometimes." She glanced at the clock then nodded toward the stairs. "It's late so maybe you should get to bed now? Put everything in the hamper and I'll do a load of laundry in the morning so his sweats are clean when you take them back to him." Joey was about to tell her that Glenn would pick them up… someday. He thought better of that. After all if his mother wanted him to return them then return them he would.
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CHAPTER 7 "This is a man who belongs on someone's hit list," Glenn muttered angrily as he read through the information he'd gathered. "No wonder the kid wants to stick around." He stared at the news report again, shaking his head. Local man escapes after being arrested for attempted murder of girlfriend and abuse of the girlfriend's daughter. Steven Fairburn was stopped in the process of beating his erstwhile girlfriend when his wife returned home unexpectedly from an out-of-town visit with her parents. According to police reports Miriam Fairburn and her son walked into their home to find Mr Fairburn with his son's baseball bat in one hand. A woman later determined to be the mother of his nine-year-old daughter lay on the floor with his foot holding her down. Mrs Fairburn
screamed
for
help
while
attempting to take the bat from her husband. A male neighbor heard her screams and came to the rescue. Between them they 37
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managed to subdue Mr Fairburn then call the police. Mr Fairburn escaped custody as he was being taken to court to be arraigned on charges of abusing a minor child and attempted murder. Glenn had accessed the police reports. He found out that Mrs Fairburn had had no idea that her husband had a mistress and another child. Joey had been fourteen at the time of the incident, old enough to understand what had happened. It might have ended there if Fairburn hadn't escaped. The police in the town where they'd lived had suggested that Mrs Fairburn might be safer if she took her son and moved somewhere else. Obviously she'd taken their suggestion seriously. Glenn suspected they'd chosen this town because her brother lived here. Not a smart move if Fairburn really did want to pay her back for what had happened, but understandable on her part. 'I wonder if Fairburn has made contact with her or if Joey's just afraid that he might at some point in time,' Glenn thought. He'd found no reports that Fairburn had been seen at any time since his escape, but that didn't mean anything. He was undoubtedly in hiding even after seven years but that didn't preclude his wanting to do something
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to his wife as payback for her part in his arrest. Glenn lit a cigarette and leaned back to stare up at the ceiling as he wondered if there was anything he could do about the situation. Then he shook his head. 'Why the hell would I want to? It's not my damned business one way or the other. I'm sure the police here are well aware of the situation and are keeping an eye open for him, as is her brother.' With that thought in mind he closed the file he'd started, and went into the kitchen to fix supper.
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CHAPTER 8 Very early Sunday morning, two days after the freak snowstorm, Joey was standing at the foot of the lane leading up to Glenn's house. He'd gotten a ride to the side road from a friend then walked up here. He wasn't certain now that this was his brightest move but, for whatever reason, he wanted to see the man again, somewhere where he couldn't turn around and walk away from him. 'Which is damned well insane. All he has to do is ignore my knocking, or tell me to leave the stuff on the porch. And why does it matter if he does let me inside? I'm a kid as far as he's concerned. A stupid kid who managed to get lost in a storm like a tourist.' The problem was he found Glenn interesting in ways he never had any other male he'd met. Not that he hadn't looked at other men. Hell, he'd done more than look a time or three. The old barn at the far edge of Mr Tallon's property had been the make-out site for half the teens in town at one point or another and he'd been no exception. The only difference was he'd made out with a couple of the boys at school who didn't want anyone to know they liked guys more than girls. He didn't know why Glenn had become the subject 40
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of his nighttime fantasies. Hell, he was old enough to be his… well not father, never that. But an uncle or… or something. Whichever, he had to be ten years older than Joey, or so he figured. And yet fantasize he did… in very graphic detail. Joey sighed, clamped down on where his thoughts were headed, and started up the lane. **** From his bedroom window on the second floor, Glenn watched as Joey came closer to the house. The young man had a backpack and from what Glenn could see of it, it seemed to be crammed to the gills, probably with all the clothes he'd lent Joey other than the jacket, which Joey had slung over one shoulder. He shook his head, not quite certain whether he was annoyed or amused by the fact that Joey had gone against his express wishes and come here to return everything. Still, if nothing else it might give Glenn a chance to probe a little into the story of Joey's father, if he could figure out how to do that without raising red flags. After putting on a shirt, Glenn headed downstairs. He reached the living room just as Joey rapped on the door. He opened to say sternly in lieu of a greeting, "I am quite certain I told you I'd pick everything up when I came into
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town." "Yeah, well, I was in the neighborhood and figured what the hell." "That is the lamest excuse I think I've ever heard. I'm in no one's neighborhood, by choice." Glenn regretted he'd said the last two words seconds later but it was too late to take them back. Joey tapped a knuckle against his lips as he looked up at Glenn. "Why by choice? You said you used to work security. Did you piss someone off and they're after you now?" "Yep, the Mafia. I had the goods on one of them and the man's associates didn't appreciate it," Glenn replied, deciding to play along. "So get your ass in here in case they're in the trees trying to get a good shot at me. I'd hate for them to hit you instead." Joey flinched even though he was certain Glenn was teasing, he hoped. He walked quickly past the man into the living room then stood there, not sure what to do now that he'd achieved his objective. Glenn solved part of the problem. He held out his hand for his jacket and told Joey, "You can dump the rest of the things on that chair." Joey did as he'd been told, piling the clothes neatly
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on the chair with the boots carefully placed in front of it. Then he hung his own jacket on one of the hooks by the front door. "Aren't you the tidy one," Glenn commented with a chuckle. "Not according to mom, but… I mean look at this room. Not a thing out of place." Glenn did look, and saw it through Joey's eyes. Everything was perfectly placed, books aligned on shelves by author, the television perfectly centered on its table, no knick-knacks, nothing just lying around other than the book he was reading which sat on the seat of his favorite chair. "Habit, I guess." "From when you were a kid?" Joey sat down on the sofa and looked up at Glenn in question. "Yeah, I suppose." "Are your folks still alive and like retired in Florida or something?" Schooling his face not to show the pain the thought of his parents death still evoked, Glenn replied, "They died a few years ago in an accident before Dad got a chance to retire." "I'm sorry," Joey said sincerely. "Thanks."
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Glenn hesitated, something he rarely did, before he sat down at the other end of the sofa from Joey. "What about you? Obviously I know your mother's still around because I've talked to her, but what about your father? You seemed a bit reluctant to talk about him last time you were here." "He's not around," was Joey's tight reply. "And good riddance from the tone of your voice. You and he didn't get along?" When Joey's face closed down, Glenn said quietly, "Sorry, I'll quit probing." "Thanks." Stymied as what to say or do next, Glenn remained silent. Apparently that was the right thing to do because Joey sighed. Glenn cocked an eyebrow in question. "I…" Joey looked at him then away, saying almost inaudibly, "You'll probably hear about it one way or the other somewhere along the line if you're planning on staying here. My father's on the run because he assaulted his girlfriend and abused their daughter." "Damn." Glenn reached out a hand with the intention of… he wasn't quite certain what, and drew it back again. "They didn't arrest him?" he asked, knowing the answer but not wanting Joey to know that. "Yeah they did, but he escaped somehow. Stupid
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cops." "No one knows where he ran to I take it." "No." Joey scrubbed a hand over his face. "We moved away after that because the cops figured it would be safer, in case he blamed mom, because she's the one who stopped him before he killed his girlfriend." "That must have been something else, her walking in on that. I presume that's what happened." "It was… awful." Joey's face shut down again as he whispered, "Awful." "You saw it?" Glenn asked in apparent surprise. "Yeah." "Hell, how old were you?" "Fourteen." "So he's been on the run for seven years. Not too good. The statute of limitations may well have run out for both charges if it was simple assault on the girlfriend, which means he'd have no fear of reappearing," Glenn said pensively. "He tried to murder her," Joey said angrily. "He might have killed mom too if she hadn't called for help and someone heard her." "That puts a different light on it. Has she heard anything from him since then, or have you for that matter,
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since you witnessed it?" Joey shook his head. "I haven't, and she's never said she has. But…" He chewed his lip. "But you're afraid he could show up sometime?" Glenn said, and Joey nodded. "And that's why you didn't want to go away to school?" Joey nodded again. "I presume both your uncle and the police know about him." "Yeah, but what good does that do? Maybe I'm jumping at shadows but what if he decides to try to get back at mom? What if he finds out where we are? He could just sneak into town and… well, you know." "Does he know that you have family here?" "How the hell would I know?" Joey replied angrily. "If your mother has said something, for one thing." "Well she hasn't. She never talks about it or him. It's like she's put it in some box in the back of her mind and locked it in there." Glenn remembered Mrs Fairburn's reaction when she mentioned Joey being like his father in his inquisitiveness and he seriously doubted she'd locked everything away. More than likely she didn't want Joey to worry. Not that her approach was working. "One thing to think about, Joey, he hasn't tried anything in seven years, so why would he start now?"
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"'Cause like you said he might think he can come out of hiding now." Joey scrubbed a hand over his face. "And if he does…" "Then we have to figure out a way to keep both of you safe. I presume you moving somewhere else would be out of the question." "We?" Joey looked at him in surprise. "I've worked in security, I know a bit about how to do that," Glenn pointed out, sticking with the story he'd told Joey. "Yeah, but… I mean do you want to get involved, and why would you?" "You're a good kid so I'd hate to see anything happen to you, or your mother." "I'm not a kid!" "Joey, you're thirteen years younger than me. You're a kid." Glenn watched as Joey's face fell at his words. "Why does it matter?" "It doesn't," Joey replied, denial of those two words reflected in the way he dropped his eyes and in the downward cast of his mouth. Glenn was about to say more when it hit him. He remembered Joey's saying, or hinting, that there had never been a girl in his life. Maybe a big jump in logic, but he'd
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bet his bottom dollar the kid was gay. This made Glenn wonder if he'd had any boyfriends or if he kept that part of his life deeply closeted. He leaned back as he studied Joey. Joey felt Glenn's eyes on him and looked up. "What?" he asked with a frown. Glenn took the oblique track. "Does your mother know?" "Know what?" "Okay, don't shoot me if I'm way off base here. Does she know you're gay?" "Umm humm, and she's okay…" Joey stopped, shocked at himself for what had just come out of his mouth. "Sorry," he muttered. "I shouldn't have admitted that." "Why not? Not a damned thing wrong with it." "Says the straight man trying to be all 'I don't do prejudice'." Glenn chuckled. "Says the bi man who doesn't do prejudice." "You? Seriously?" "Yeah I hate prejudice," Glenn replied, deliberately misunderstanding Joey's question. "That's not what I meant." "I know, and, yes, I'm bi. I have been since I first figured out the differences between men and women. Well,
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maybe not that long ago but you get what I'm saying." "But… you're living out here all by yourself… All right, I suppose that didn't make much sense. I mean, you're older and you don't have someone in your life, especially since you can have your choice and… Damn! I'm going to shut up now." Glenn smiled, patting Joey's arm. "It's okay; I get what you're trying to say. I'm just not one for relationships. I've never really had time for them." "Well you do now. Oh shit!" "Going to try to match me up with your mom?" Glenn asked with a perfectly straight face. "She's too old for you." Glenn kept up his teasing, saying "Maybe I like older women." "Oh, well, yeah then…" Because Joey looked so woebegone, Glenn relented. "I have no idea if I do or not since I've never even gone out with one. I'm bi, yes, but I lean more toward men than women on the whole when I'm… Okay, I don't know you well enough to be playing true confessions about my life so how about we drop this subject?" It seemed as if Joey was going to protest but then changed his mind and he nodded.
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"Do you think there's some way to keep us safe from my father if he does show up?" "There are things we can do but I won't know what until I take a good look at your place and the coffeehouse. Will your mother allow that?" "Maybe. I can ask. Even if she doesn't I have no problem with letting you inside to check out the house when she's not there. I don't want anything to happen to her." Glenn nodded seriously. "I got that idea. You're a good kid to worry about her." "She's my mom. Of course, I do." Joey glanced at the clock on one wall of the living room and jumped to his feet. "I didn't realize it was getting so late. She's going to kill me." "You're late for work? Come on, I'll drive you back." "Yeah, not horribly late but, yeah, I'd appreciate that if you don't mind." "I wouldn't have offered if I did. Let me get my stuff and I'll be ready to go." When Glenn headed up the stairs Joey watched wistfully. He wished this was like his dreams and he was beside Glenn or even already in the bedroom, sprawled
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provocatively on the bed. "Yeah, right, like that would ever happen," he muttered under his breath as he got his jacket. "When pigs fly." "Where are they flying to?" Glenn asked as he came down the stairs. "No where. Pigs don't have wings," Joey replied with a small smile. "Now you never know." Glenn put on his jacket and headed toward the kitchen and the back door with Joey in tow. "Maybe Farmer Jones owns a private airstrip and the pigs have learned how to pilot airplanes." "And they travel to… where?" "Humm, Bacon, Georgia; Bacon, Missouri. Bacon Cove or Bacon Ridge, Canada." "Hamburg,
Germany;
Hampton,
Virginia;
Hamilton, Ohio…" Joey responded, getting into the game. "Eggs and Bacon Bay in Tasmania." "You're putting me on, that's not a real place." Glenn nodded as he unlocked the car to let Joey get in. "Honest, it is. There's also Pigtown, Ohio and Hog Mountain, Georgia." "Or they could fly to… I think they call them hogbacks, outside of Denver, a kind of rock formation." "There are hogbacks a lot of places. Then there's…"
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The game continued until Glenn pulled the car up in front of the coffeehouse. "Want me to alibi you with your mom?" he asked as Joey got out. "Naw, it'll be okay. Thanks for the ride and, well, everything." Glenn nodded. "I'll give you a call and we can set up a time when I can go over to your house. What's your number?" Joey gave it to him then raced through the coffeehouse door. Glenn smiled as he pulled away. He hadn't had that much just plain fun in… well he couldn't even remember when the last time had been. 'And that's just sad,' he thought morosely as he headed back to his house.
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CHAPTER 9 Joey knew he needed to be careful how he approached his mother to get her permission for Glenn to come over and work on what was needed to secure their home and the coffeehouse. He figured he could, and would, go behind her back if necessary but, in the end, he'd still have to tell her. After all real security meant more than the alarm box they had by the back door at the coffeehouse. So after Sunday supper, as soon as he'd finished with the dishes, he sat down beside her at the table. She looked up in question as he usually went off to study when he was done. "Can I talk to you about something?" he asked. "Of course. Anything, you know that." "All right. Promise not to get mad until I've finished?" That question made her look at him with a frown. "How bad is it, whatever it is?" "It's not bad, just…" He took a deep breath. "Glenn was in security before he retired and, well, we got to talking about father and he said we should have really good security if we don't, which we don't, and he offered to give us some suggestions but he has to look at both places first 53
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and… well… you know." Miriam clasped her hands together and rested her chin on them as she stared at him. Finally, after a long drawn out pause she nodded slowly. "He's probably right, but it seems, it's always seemed like we'd be asking for trouble if we did something like that, like tempting fate. Besides, how would your father know where to find us, and if he does, well he hasn't done anything so far so why would he start now?" "Glenn said because he might think that the statute of limitations is up so he'd be free to come out of hiding." "I guess that's a possibility, but in that case it seems to me he'd go after Miss Nye first. After all she's the one he was trying to kill." "Mom, can I ask a question?" When she nodded, Joey said, "Why were they at our house? Do you know?" She nodded again. "According to what she told the police, and this is only her story of course, he said he was going to ask me for a divorce and they were there to pick up some of his things. Then the little girl started acting out, he hit her to shut her up, and things escalated from there." "Damn." Joey shuddered then frowned. "He was never… he never hit me." "Because I told him if he ever laid a hand on you
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that would be the end of it and he believed me." "Why would you… Oh hell, did he beat on you?" Joey's eyes flashed with anger when she nodded slowly. "I'll kill him. He comes near here and I'll kill him, I swear." "You will do nothing of the sort," she told him firmly. "He's ruined our lives enough as it is. If he comes here, and I really don't think he will, but if he does we will let the police handle it. Do you understand?" "Yes, mom, I understand." But his hands fisted. She reached out, putting hers over them. "I mean it, Joey. Promise me you won't try to do anything on your own." He looked at her then said. "I promise, if you promise to let Glenn set up whatever security he thinks we need here." She smiled slightly. "I promise."
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CHAPTER 10 As soon as he arrived home after dropping Joey off at the coffeehouse Glenn got onto the computer. It had occurred to him that he should try to track down the mistress and her daughter. It was possible she might have heard from Mr Fairburn either directly or because he might have tried to go after her first before coming to town to take his anger out on Joey's mother. That was, of course, if the man was insane enough to come out of hiding in the first place. One could hope his sense of self-preservation would override any need for vengeance. But Glenn wasn't about to take that chance. It didn't take him long to discover that Miss Nye had left the city where the attack had taken place almost immediately after she was released from the hospital. Very cautiously, because the last thing Glenn wanted was for any of his past associates to find him, he put out feelers as to the whereabouts of Miss Nye and her daughter. One of the first people he contacted was his hacker friend. He sent her a fully encoded inquiry with all the details that he had about Mr Fairburn and the others. He had no expectations of hearing back quickly from her or anyone else and so shut down his computer. 56
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Next on his agenda, and it had nothing to do with the Fairburn problem, was to finally start to repaint the living room, a task he had put off because of all that had happened since he'd bought the paint. He set to it with no expectation of getting more than one wall painted before he got bored with the job. However he became so involved in what he was doing that he kept on going. When his phone rang he glanced at the time and was shocked to realize it was evening and he was almost finished with the whole room. He answered the phone with, "I didn't give you this number," when his caller ID told him who was calling. "Yes you did, obliquely," Joey told him. "It was on our caller ID from when you let me use your phone." "All right, makes sense. But I thought I told you I'd do the calling." "Yeah, and so? I talked with mom and she's good with you seeing what protection we need, so tomorrow?" "You're not working?" "I am, but I can give you keys to the house if that would work." "It works. I'll be there at eight. Be ready." Joey chuckled. "We open at six on weekdays so that's not a problem."
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"All right, I'll be at the coffeehouse at eight. Anything else?" There was a long moment of silence then Joey said, "No that's it," and hung up. As Glenn did the same he wondered what Joey wanted to say but hadn't.
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CHAPTER 11 After Joey closed his cell, he sighed. His mother looked at him and asked what was wrong. "Nothing, just being stupid is all," he told her somewhat dejectedly. "Joey, are you, well, interested in him?" Joey shrugged. "Maybe, not that it would do any good if I were. He's already made it clear that he's way older than me. Hell, he joked about me wanting to fix him up with you." She looked at him in shock. "Now why would he think you'd want to do that?" "I was, well, we were talking about how he had never been in a relationship because he didn't have time and I said he did now and he asked that and…" "And?" "And I said you were too old and he said maybe he liked older women, then well…" "Older women?" his mother said while she tried not to laugh, adding, "So I gather he's straight." "No, he's bi." She nodded, tapping a finger on her lips. "You asked?" 59
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"He told me, after he wanted to know if you knew I was gay." "That must have been quite the conversation." She looked at him worriedly. "So he knows you're gay, you know he's bi. Has he shown any interest in you, made any, well, advances? And as far as that goes have you, now that you know?" "No, no, not at all. Like I said he pointed out he was much older than me. To him, I'm just a kid." "He has a very good point, Joey. He's at least ten years older than you, I'd say. That's a very big age difference." Joey nodded. "I know, but I can't help how I feel." "How do you feel exactly?" With an embarrassed smile he said, "I've been dreaming about him." "I would take it they were somewhat erotic?" "Oh yeah, and I shouldn't have admitted that, should I?" "I did ask," she told him with a soft chuckle. "Look, I'm not one to give advice on love, if that's what you think you're feeling, or even lust which is much more likely, but you have to be very careful not to come on to him in any way. I don't want him taking advantage of you just because
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he knows he could." "Do you think he would?" "I can't say, but older men sometimes feel a sense of pride when a younger person finds them interesting and they'll take advantage of that." "He's not like that," Joey protested. "You know this how?" "I… I just do." His mother nodded. "All I'm asking is please be careful. I don't want to see you hurt." "I will be, mom. I promise." He hugged her quickly. "Now I better go study."
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CHAPTER 12 Glenn walked into the coffeehouse on the dot of eight to find that it was filled with customers with not one vacant table and a line at the counter eight people long. Not wanting to interfere with what was obviously the morning rush, he wended his way over to the corner of the pastry case to wait. Joey looked over and smiled before he turned back to take the next order. It took twenty minutes before things calmed down enough that Glenn felt he wouldn't be interrupting and went over to talk to the kid. Joey took a key ring from his pocket and gave it to Glenn. As their fingers touched Joey felt a momentary rush of desire that he quickly tamped down. "This one's for the front door," he said, not quite looking at Glenn, "and this one goes to the back door." Glenn, being by necessity a student of human nature, picked up on Joey's feelings and bit back a smile even though it wasn't a smiling matter. The last thing he needed was what he thought was happening, that Joey was becoming too interested in him. 'Or is that just my ego speaking?' he thought with wry amusement as he thanked Joey and told him he'd bring the keys back when he was finished. 62
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Fifteen minutes later he let himself into the house and began doing a walk-through. "This place is about as safe as Central Park at midnight," he muttered while he took notes on what had to be done to make it secure. When he went into what was obviously Joey's room he got a bit of a jolt. He knew the kid was studying criminal justice but apparently he hadn't really processed that fact. The bookshelves were filled with relevant research material and there were a couple of posters decorating the wall over Joey's bed. He walked over to look more closely at them. Both were prints of photos taken maybe seventy to onehundred years ago of police officers in action. "History buff too, huh?" he murmured with a smile. Unable to quell his nosiness he crossed to the computer sitting on the desk opposite the bed and booted it up. It didn't take him long to decide that it was primarily used for Joey's class work. The kid didn't seem to do any web-surfing other than what was related to his studies. Or maybe he did, Glenn discovered as he scrolled though the history file of Joey's homepage. He was not happy with what he found there. Joey had done a search for 'Glenn Tanner'. 'How the hell do you know my last name? I didn't tell you.' It took only a minute for him to find out. Joey had done a search of the county assessor rolls. 'Clever, kid, and
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stupid on my part. I'll have to have my friendly hacker change that.' Glenn did smile when he saw the long list of 'Glenn Tanners' Joey had come up with. There were even more than Glenn thought. Why Joey was doing this was something Glenn wasn't ready to think about right now, however, especially after the way the kid had reacted at the coffeehouse this morning. He shut down the computer and got back to the business at hand. **** "I really hate this," Joey's mother told Glenn as they sat at a table in the back of the coffeehouse. They'd taken advantage of a lull to have Glenn tell her what he felt was needed to keep her and Joey safe in the event that Mr Fairburn decided to put in an appearance. "I'm sure you do, I would too if I were in your place." He paused, tapping a finger on his notes. "One could almost hope he would show up and soon. Then this would be over and done with." "Bite your tongue," she growled in reply. "But, yes, I suppose you've got a point. Tell me honestly, do you think he will?"
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"Honestly, I have no idea. I will tell you that I've put out feelers to try and find out where Miss Nye went. In my opinion, she would be the first one he'd go after if he's holding any sort of grudge." She frowned deeply. "If he can find her then he can find us." "That was my thought as well, although his finding her depends on how well she went undercover so to speak." Then he asked her, "Does he know you've got family here?" "Yes, and I know it was probably stupid for me to bring us here but I thought it might be safer because I'd have Harv to protect us and he's good friends with the police chief so… well you understand, don't you?" "I do." He reached across the table to pat her hand. "And in some ways it was a very logical move on your part." She quickly pulled her hand away which caused him to raise an eyebrow in surprise. Her mouth tightened as she glanced over to the counter and saw Joey watching them with unfeigned interest, then she looked hard at Glenn. "This may not be the time to ask but I want to know, are you interested in my son?" Glenn smiled slightly. "I take it he said something
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to you so I'll tell you straight out that I'm not going to try to have my wicked way with him, as it were. He's just a kid no matter what he thinks." "That did not answer my question. Are you interested in him?" Glenn started to reply then stopped as he seriously considered what she was asking. A frown furrowed his brow for a long minute then faded away. "I don't know how to reply to that," he finally said with some hesitation. "I enjoy his company, what little of it I've had. He makes me smile, which I'll readily admit is something I'm not used to doing. If he was older, or I was younger, I might try to see if something could happen between us. But we're not. I suspect he might be seeing me as," he winced slightly, "the father he wished he'd had." "Believe me, Glenn, he is not looking at you as a father figure by any stretch of the imagination." "I'm curious. What exactly did he say to make you think that?" She chuckled. "He blurted out that he's been dreaming about you, and I gather it was not about baseball games in the park or you taking him to the county fair or helping him with homework." "Oh man," Glenn said softly.
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"Exactly. Which is why I started this conversation in the first place. I won't let you hurt him, Glenn." "I have no intention of doing that." "Of doing what?" Joey asked when he suddenly appeared beside the table. He poured fresh coffee for them, telling them he thought they might have needed more. "Of bringing in someone from outside to act as a bodyguard," Glenn said. It was the first thing he could think of that made sense. As he leaned back, hoping that would satisfy the kid, he took the opportunity to look at Joey in light of the information his mother had given him. Although young, He realized Joey couldn't really be described as a 'kid'. He was a young man and a very handsome one at that. Brown curly hair, perhaps a bit too long but somehow it seemed to accent his high cheekbones. And his mouth, that very sensual mouth which begged to be kissed. Glenn could imagine devouring those soft pouty lips, his tongue delving within to tangle with Joey's. With a shock he realized what he was doing and prayed Joey, and Joey's mother, had been oblivious to it. "Why would you want to; you can do it, can't you?" Joey's eyes locked on Glenn's mouth for a moment before he looked guilelessly at him, saying, "It is what you used to do, right?"
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'Hoisted by my own petard,' Glenn thought ruefully. "Yes, it is," he replied out loud. "Then there we go, one more problem solved." Joey smiled and walked back behind the counter. "Oh boy," Glenn and Miriam whispered at the same time. **** Glenn left the coffeehouse in a very pensive mood. As he drove home he thought about his conversation with Joey's mother. Despite what he'd implied he actually was well aware that Joey was becoming more than a bit, well, infatuated, he supposed, with him. If he really thought about it he might have found it amusing up until this morning. Miriam Fairburn's quizzing him now made him think about how he felt about Joey. Joey was just a kid in a lot of ways, young man or not. With that said, Glenn had to wonder exactly why that should make a difference. It wasn't as if there was some sort of law, written or unwritten, that said an older man couldn't care about a much younger one. And much to his shock he had begun to realize that in his own way he did care for Joey.
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"Not that I'll do anything about that," he muttered aloud. "Even if there could be something between us I could not, would not, endanger him by letting it happen." 'But isn't that part of the reason you left the life you'd been living and came here, so you could find someone and have a real life?' a voice in his head said, playing the devil's advocate. "Not some kid though," he replied to himself. "And especially not one who is going to be a cop." He stopped his dialogue long enough to turn onto the main road leading out of town. "I can see it now—'Guess what Joey, you're a cop and I'm the kind of scum you've vowed to hunt down and imprison'." 'You wouldn't have to tell him,' the voice pointed out. 'You're not that person now.' "Aren't I? Maybe not as far as the people here are concerned, but the reality is that I'm a wanted criminal in just about any part of the world I can think of. Besides, what sort of relationship would it be if it was built on lies?" 'Maybe a good one. But you won't know unless you try.' Glenn shook his head. "And that is not going to happen," he growled. He forced the annoying voice to shut down by turning his thoughts to what he needed to get in
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order to make the security on the Fairburn house as invulnerable as possible. By the time he parked his car in the garage behind his home he had a mental shopping list. He hurried into the house, tossing his jacket at the hook in the mudroom, not caring that it missed and landed on the floor. When he got upstairs to his computer he booted it up and went shopping, using a credit card that had no connection to the man he now was. Everything he ordered would be sent overnight to a blind address in another city. Then he opened his email account and sent his hacker friend a message asking her to arrange for the goods to be sent from there to Miriam Fairburn's brother's garage. He knew she would do it and leave no footprints in the process. Next he checked his email. There was only one, from his hacker. He opened it quickly with the hope that she had found out at least something about Miss Nye. He sighed deeply as he read it. What she had discovered was not good. Two years ago, one Virginia Nye had been rushed to a hospital, severely beaten and with a gunshot wound
to
the
head.
She
died
without
regaining
consciousness. The police report termed the death murder by person or persons unknown. Her then fourteen-year old daughter, who lived with her, was placed in a foster home
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in a neighboring city. She ran away from there a year later and had not been seen since. 'Ran or was taken by her father?' Glenn wondered angrily as he closed out the email. Then he made a blind deposit to the hacker's bank account for an amount that was three times her normal rate. She'd earned it and then some, he figured.
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CHAPTER 13 "How do you find someone who doesn't want to be found?" Joey asked that evening after Glenn came by to tell him and his mother what preparations were in the works to secure their house, and what he had found out about Miss Nye and her daughter. Joey's mother was more worried about the daughter, asking, "Do you think he took her then killed her?" "While I have no facts to back it up, my gut feeling is that she's alive and with him, although I doubt she went willingly," Glenn replied, answering Miriam's question first. "If he'd wanted her dead he'd have killed her as soon as he found her. As for what you asked, Joey, if the person knows what they're doing then finding them can be virtually impossible." "How would my father have learned to do that?" "Possibly trial and error, maybe with help from someone. Money in the right hands can get you just about any kind of help you need." "But he didn't have any money," Miriam told Glenn. "Perhaps it's more a case of not having any that you knew about. He was, after all, planning on running away with his mistress before everything went south. That would 72
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take funds of some sort." Joey nodded slowly, his eyes flicking to the windows and back again. "He could be out there somewhere right now, watching and waiting." "I'm not going to say that isn't a possibility. He could also be off in Timbuktu or somewhere equally remote if he feels he's accomplished what he wanted to do." "If you're right about his daughter, why would he kidnap her?" Joey's mother asked. "It seems to me that would make it even harder for him to hide out." "Or," Joey put in, "it would make the perfect cover. A single father with a teenaged child, who would think he was a wanted killer?" "Very true, Joey, if she went with him willingly. But as I said, I rather doubt she would have, so that would be harder to pull off." "You don't think…" Joey shivered. "They, the police, said he abused her. What if…" "He took her to continue doing that? Sick, but then he's not exactly a sane man now, if he ever was." "He wasn't. He beat mom," Joey spat out angrily. "I wouldn't put anything past him." "Joey!" his mother said, pain lacing her voice. Joey bit his lip, muttering, "Sorry, I didn't mean to
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tell that." "I know," she told him. "I suppose it's something Glenn should know about anyway." "It helps me get a better picture of him, yes," Glenn said. "And it goes no further than this room as far as I'm concerned." It also hardened his resolve to find and eliminate Mr Fairburn.
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CHAPTER 14 Two days after he'd ordered what he needed to secure the Fairburn house and add to the security at the coffeehouse, Glenn was at Harv's garage. He was tired because he had spent much of the last forty-eight hours keeping an eye on the Fairburn house, just in case. What sleep he'd gotten had been while Joey and his mother were in the relative safety of the coffeehouse with customers always around. Joey had called him to say that two packages arrived at the garage, addressed to his uncle. It hadn't taken his uncle long to figure out they weren't really for him, or to figure out why they were there. Now Harv looked at Glenn warily as he asked, "Do you actually know what to do with this stuff?" "I do." "And you really believe that bastard might show up here?" "I do, don't you?" "Well," Harv said slowly, "it's been seven years. Why wait so long?" "I take it your sister and/or Joey hasn't talked to you about that." When Harv shook his head, Glenn gave him a 75
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brief rundown of why he thought Mr Fairburn might come looking for them now. "He killed Miss Nye, and kidnapped her kid?" Harv said in a horrified voice. "Why didn't they tell me? And more to the point if you don't mind my asking, how the hell did you get mixed up in this?" It took a few more minutes for Glenn to fill him in on the rest of it, and his reasons for being involved. When he finished, Harv said adamantly, "I'll help you keep an eye on them. You can't stay awake twenty-four, seven. And I'll let the chief know so he can assign some of his people as well." Glenn shook his head. "That would be too obvious. I'll accept your help but that's it." Harv didn't look happy about that but he knew when to accept defeat, especially as Glenn was the expert as far as security went. "Right now though I need to get this stuff," Glenn pointed at the boxes, "up and running." "With my help—and before you shoot me down I'm reasonably bright and I do know mechanics and electronics." Glenn smiled tightly and nodded. "Then let's get to it."
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**** "I'm going to run home and see how Glenn's doing," Joey told his mother as soon as the noon rush was over. "I'm quite certain he and Harv have everything under control," she replied with an amused smile. "Yeah, but…" His words were cut off when the phone rang. He answered, saying "M and J's Coffeehouse, how may I help you?" There was a long pause then a girl's voice asked, "Is this Joey?" "Yes. Who are you?" "I'm Mary, your sister… half-sister. I… I need… I need help." One look at Joey's face and his mother was right beside him seconds later mouthing 'What?' He grabbed an order pad and wrote A girl who claims to be my half-sister as he said into the phone, "Why should I believe you?" "Because
it's
true,"
she
replied
plaintively.
"Please… help me." "How?" he asked. "I… I ran… I got away from… him. But he's… if
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he finds me…" While Joey talked, his mother took out her cell and called the house. She prayed Glenn or Harv would pick up the phone. Glenn did and she quickly explained in a low voice what was happening then nodded. "Keep her talking," she whispered to Joey. "Glenn's on his way." Joey nodded. "Where are you?" he asked the girl. "I think… he said we were heading to your town… I'm at a payphone beside a gas station." "Is he around there?" "God I hope not. Please can you come get me? Please." "You're going to have to figure out where you are first, you know. You could be half way across the state for all you know," he told her, keeping his voice calm. "Go into the gas station and ask." "What if he…" "If he knows you're there he'd have gotten you already. Don't hang up the phone, just lay it on the shelf and go ask someone." He heard a clunk and knew she had at least done that much of what he'd asked. As he waited for her to return he told his mother what little the girl had said to him. "The question is, is she telling the truth or is this
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some kind of setup?" his mother said, a look of fear in her eyes that was reflected to a lesser degree in his. There was a screech of car tires outside the coffeehouse then Glenn pushed through the door, walking swiftly over to Joey. Two seconds later the door opened again and a pair of customers came in. "I'll take care of them," Joey's mother told him. "You wait for her to get back to the phone." Joey nodded, stepped away from the counter with the cordless phone still pressed to his ear, and followed Glenn when he moved to the rear of the room. He was about to tell Glenn what the girl had said when she came back on the line. He held the phone so Glenn could hear as well. "He said the station is on highway 14, just past exit 5. He said that was the best way to tell you to come get me." Her voice still trembled but she sounded a bit more in control of herself. "Can you… come get me?" Joey looked at Glenn and got a nod in return. "You're in the right place so I can," Joey told the girl. "How will I know you?" There was a brief pause then she told him, "I'll be in back of the station. There's a… a bunch of trees…" "All right, you get to them. I'll be there as soon as
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possible." "Thank you," she whispered then the phone went dead as she hung up. "Do you think she's for real?" Joey asked. "I'd say the odds are fifty-fifty," Glenn replied. "This could be a ruse to get you away from your mother so your father can get to her, which considering where the girl says she is, is a very strong possibility. Or the girl really could have gotten away from him if she was his prisoner. We won't know until we get out there." "No way am I leaving mom alone here by herself," Joey said adamantly. "Not with that girl so close. Even if she did escape, it still means he's somewhere nearby." "Of course we're not." Glenn walked back to the counter, where Miriam had just given the two customers their order. "I'm sorry, folks," Glenn said to them. "There's an emergency and the coffeehouse has to close early." "What sort of emergency?" one of the women said. She looked worriedly at Joey's mother. "It's Harv," Glenn replied before Miriam could. "He's all right but…" "He wants me there, I'm sure," Miriam finished up. "I'm sorry Annabella, Gracie." "It's okay, Miriam honey. You just go see to him,"
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one of the women said, patting her arm. "And let us know how he is later." "I will, I promise." As soon as the women left, Glenn turned the deadbolt lock on the front door and switched the sign to let people know the place was closed. Then he said to Miriam, "Harv should be out back by now. He's going to take you to the police station, just in case." "Oh no, he's not," Joey's mother said firmly. "I'm coming with you. If that child really did escape from my… from him, she's got to be terrified. She'll feel better off if a woman's there, which would be me." "Mom," Joey protested. "Don't 'Mom' me. Now we should get going. You can tell me the details on the way." **** "All right, here's how we're going to play this," Glenn said. They were parked on a side road about a quarter of a mile from where girl told them the gas station was. Harv, who had followed in his own car, was now crouched by the open door of Glenn's car as he listened intently.
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Miriam, you and Harv will stay here in his car for now." He turned to Harv. "Turn it around and leave it running. If you even think that something is wrong get her the hell away from here. Joey, you do know how to drive I hope." Joey rolled his eyes. "Of course." Glenn chuckled low and patted his leg. "Just had to be certain. I'll do recon first. Give me twenty minutes. I'll call you to let you know whether it's safe or not. If it is you drive up, park by the side of the station and go get the girl. I'll be watching. Once she's in the car, I'll join you and we'll come back here." "And if it's not safe?" "Then the three of you head…" Glenn thought for a moment. "Go back to my place and I'll meet you there. Once you turn onto the side road you'll be able to see if he follows you. Just keep going in that case, get back to town, and go to the police station." "Why not do that from the git-go?" Harv asked. "Because we'll need to make contingency plans and that won't happen if the cops are involved." Harv cocked an eyebrow. "Not a big fan of the police, are you?" Glenn shrugged. "I just think we can do better on
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our own. The less people involved the more likely Fairburn is to try something else, if the thing with the girl turns out to be a set-up." Joey wanted to defend the police since he intended to become one, but thought better of it. Now was not the time for some philosophical argument on that subject. Later however, because Glenn's attitude about them bothered him, he would try to find out why he distrusted them. "All right, let's get this show on the road," Glenn said. Harv stood and opened the back door of the car, waited for Miriam to get out, and the two of them went to his car. Glenn looked a Joey. "Twenty minutes. If I haven't called by then, get the hell out of Dodge." "I… all right." Joey tried to smile. "Be careful?" "Always am. It's what I do best." Glenn patted Joey's leg again then got out. "See you in twenty." **** Joey drummed his fingers on the steering wheel while he waited for Glenn to call. He hated to admit it, even to himself, but his mind was more on the two brief touches Glenn had given his leg than on the problem at hand. He
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wondered, hoped, that maybe they were meant as more than just to be reassuring. He rubbed his leg as he imagined Glenn's hand moving higher. His thoughts drifted off toward the erotic and he began to harden. So when his cell rang he jumped and growled before he came back to reality. He sighed in relief when Glenn told him it was safe, tamped down on his libido, and put the car in gear. As he drove past Harv's car he gave them a thumbs-up. Three minutes later he was parked by the side of the gas station. He got out of the car, walked to the back of the station, and zeroed in on the stand of trees where the girl was supposed to be waiting. He saw a brief movement in the shadows. As he started toward the trees he kept his hands at his sides, palms facing outwards. He figured she might feel safer if she knew he was empty handed. When he got to the edge of the trees he saw her peek out from behind the trunk of one of them. "I'm Joey," he said softly. She stepped into view. For a brief moment she looked at him before she lowered her eyes in what to him seemed a very submissive gesture. "I'm Mary," she whispered. Then her eyes darted around as if she was terrified that someone was listening.
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"Come on, Mary. It's safe, I promise. I'm here and so is a friend of mine. He checked things out. Your… our father isn't around." He held out his hand and she moved closer, so fearfully that she made him think of a feral cat that wasn't certain it could trust the person standing there. Then, tentatively, she reached out and took his hand. He smiled, closed his gently around hers, and led her back to the car. Once she was seated, Glenn appeared. He smiled at her as he told her, "I'm a friend of Joey's." She looked at Joey for confirmation and he nodded. "This is Glenn. He's one of the good guys, I guess." "You guess?" Glenn chuckled as he got into the backseat of the car. "Yeah, well." Joey smiled at Mary as he slid into the driver's seat and turned the car on again. "He says he is so I'm taking his word for it," he told her. She smiled back shyly. "A joke?" "Yeah, a joke." As Joey pulled out onto the road, he glanced at Glenn in the rear view mirror and held his hand up in the classic phone call gesture. Glenn nodded, took out his cell, and texted Harv that he should follow them. As they drove past the side road where they had parked earlier Harv pulled into view.
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Fifteen minutes later the two cars pulled up behind Glenn's house. **** Glenn watched with admiration as Joey's mother took over without hesitation. She introduced herself to Mary while she carefully put one arm around the girl's shoulders. When she said something that was obviously meant for Mary's ears only the girl nodded as she replied. "Glenn," Joey's mother said as she turned to him, "it might be more comfortable inside, if you don't mind." "Mom," Joey muttered. "Well it would be." She walked toward the back porch with her arm now around Mary's waist as she urged her forward. Glenn had the door open by the time they got there. Soon they were all ensconced in the living room, Miriam on the sofa with Mary, and Joey and Harv in chairs. Glenn stood by the fireplace with his hands behind his back. It took him a moment to realize that Mary was shivering and not just from nerves. She wore only a thin shirt and worn jeans. "Joey, would you go upstairs and get my robe off
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the hook on the back of the door, please." Joey looked at him in surprise and jumped to his feet. He was halfway up the stairs when he turned to look at Glenn. "First door on the right," Glenn told him with a small grin. "Thanks." Joey disappeared. He returned a minute later with a heavy wool robe which he handed to Mary. "Thank you," she whispered as she stood, wrapped it around her, and sat again. "Now, down to business," Glenn said, looking sharply at Mary, "I don't want you to take this wrong but so far we only have your word for it that you're Mary Nye." "I… I don't know how to prove it to you," she replied. She stared down at the floor as she twisted her hands together. Joey's mother put her fingers under the girl's chin to make her look up. Then she studied her face before she said to Glenn, "She is definitely Steven's child. I can see it in the eyes and set of her jaw. And she looks like what little I remember of her from the attack, only older of course." Glenn nodded. "I'll take your word for it. Now we need to know why she," he looked back at Mary, "why you were with Fairburn."
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"Because he found me and made me go with him." "Why didn't he take you with him when he killed your mother?" Glenn put a tone of questioning disbelief in his voice as he asked. He knew the answer but needed to see what her reply would be. "I was upstairs in my room. I… I heard loud words then mama screamed… and screamed. I was so scared… so I ran to her room and crawled into her closet and prayed whatever was happening would stop." She wiped one fist across her damp eyes. "All I could think of was the… the way she screamed when he was going to… when he hit me and she tried to stop him then they showed up and…" "Why didn't you call the police?" "Because I was scared he'd hear me. I did call when he left." She chewed her lip as she looked up at Glenn. "He searched for me, I heard him. But he didn't come into mama's room." Glenn nodded. "You were quite lucky." "I guess. For a while I thought so even though mama was… was dead." Again she wiped away tears. "How did he get you to go with him once he found out where they had placed you after your mother's murder?" Glenn asked a moment later. "He just took me. I was walking home from school,
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sort of slow 'cause I'd had a fight with my foster mother." She smiled weakly. "Well that's not quite true, I wasn't going home. I went to the park. I was going to sit there and make her worry. This man came up and I didn't recognize him at first. He told me he was a cop and that my foster mom had sent him to find me. I was pissed but…" She shrugged. "You don't argue with a cop. We got to his car and no one was around and he opened the door and pushed me in and told me to be quiet or he'd kill me like he killed mama and I was scared he would 'cause then I knew it was him and he jumped in and… and…" She scrubbed away a tear from her cheek. "And then I was… he kept me…" She began to cry. Joey's mother immediately wrapped her arms around her and held her until she stopped. Once she had, Glenn came over to kneel in front of her. "He kept you prisoner I take it." "Yes. We traveled around," she whispered. "We would stay at motels and if he left he would tie me to the bed like a dog. He told me if I tried to escape he would find me again and that… that what he had done so far would seem like child's play." A shudder ran through her thin frame. "I knew he meant it." Glenn nodded. "Why did you finally decide to run from him?"
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She dropped her eyes to stare at his feet. "He… he forced me… He said I was legal now and his and…" "Legal," Joey whispered under his breath as he remembered his first meeting with Glenn and their using that word. "The bastard," he said aloud, angrily. "No question about that," his mother agreed with equal fervor. "Glenn, we need to find her a safe place to stay until we catch… the bastard." "She can stay with me and the family," Harv said. "Julia would mother her to death but I don't think you'd mind that, would you, Mary?" Mary lifted her eyes to look at him. "Do you mean that?" "Yes, of course. You'd be safe enough because he wouldn't have any reason to think you were there. Besides," Harv chuckled as he glanced at Glenn, "the police chief lives two doors down from me so the neighborhood is very safe." "Of course he does," Glenn muttered. "It probably would be the best place for her for the moment." "Then that's settled," Joey's mother said, giving Mary a hug. "It is, but I need to get more information from her before we disband." Glenn stood again, rubbing his knees.
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"I'm getting too old to kneel like that for so long." Joey snorted softly but kept his peace. When Glenn shot him a look, he smiled back innocently. Glenn shook his head before he began quizzing Mary about the make and model of Fairburn's car, what the man looked like now, and for any other details she could give them that might help them find him. Finally satisfied that she'd told him everything she knew, he suggested that Harv take her back to his house. "I should have gone with them; I have things I have to do at home," Joey's mother commented as she watched Harv's car pull down the lane. "Absolutely not," Glenn told her firmly. "Even though your house is as safe as I could make it, if he doesn't want to be up close and personal and if he has a decent gun he could shoot you through one of the windows." "So we're not really all that protected after all," she replied with a worried glance at Joey. "You're safe from him getting into the house, which he did when he beat then shot Miss Nye. I think he likes proving that he has control over the situation that way. However if he finds that he can't get inside I have no doubts that he'll come up with another solution to his
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'problem'. And he is going to be furious that Mary managed to escape his clutches." "Do you think he suspects she got in touch with us?" Joey asked. "Let's put it this way, he's not a stupid man. He managed to avoid capture for the last seven years, even after he took Mary prisoner. Given how close to here they were when she got away he probably will at least consider that she might try to find you all." Joey nodded slowly then frowned as he thought of something. "Isn't it a bit odd that she wasn't able to get away from him until they were almost here? Maybe," his frown deepened, "maybe he let her go. Maybe he's brainwashed her so badly that even though she's free she's still under his control. If he thought that mom would take her in then he'd have a way to get into the house with no problem." "You're going to make a good cop one day," Glenn replied a bit wryly. "That never even occurred to me." "I can't believe that child would do such a thing," Joey's mother stated, but her tone of voice said she wasn't all that certain. "She is young, and vulnerable and obviously terrified," Joey pointed out, "the perfect subject for
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someone like father to manipulate." "We have to warn Harv!" She looked panicked as she took her phone from her purse. "Allow me," Glenn said, holding out his hand for the phone. She hesitated then gave it to him once she had dialed the number. As soon as Harv answered, Glenn told him what they were thinking then said Harv should bring Mary back. Joey listened to Glenn and when he'd hung up said, "She could let him in here as easily as at our place." Glenn smiled tightly. "She could if we don't keep a good eye on her, which we will. If that's his scenario then she must have some way to communicate with him so he'll know that she's with you two. Ergo, you all are going to remain here, at least for the next twenty-four hours. We might as well make things as easy as possible for him. Or at least he'll think it's going to be easy." "And if it isn't the scenario? If she actually did manage to get away from him on her own?" Joey asked. "Then we all get a good night's sleep, and come up with a plan in the morning," Glenn replied with a chuckle. ****
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"Why did you want me back here?" Mary asked. "I thought you wanted me somewhere safe." She looked both puzzled and afraid as she huddled again in the corner of Glenn's sofa. "We do, and after thinking more about it I decided that your father probably does know about Harv. It would explain why he decided Miriam and Joey are here." "It was 'cause of the coffee place," Mary said. "Oh?" Glenn cocked an eyebrow. She chewed her lip as her eyes flicked from person to person. "He said that their stupidity in calling it 'M and J's' was their undoing. He said it took him some time to figure that out but when he did he knew this was where they were." Joey grimaced. "And that's how you knew where to call to find me?" "Umm humm. I looked in the phonebook at the pay phone at the gas station." Joey stared at her. "Then you already knew you were close when you called because it wouldn't have been listed in a phonebook in any other city." "I… I was…" Her eyes dropped down to her lap as she twisted her hands together. Joey's mother, who was seated at the other end of
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the sofa, slid over beside Mary. She took hold of her hands, gripping them when the girl tried to pull away. "He let you go, didn't he?" "No!" Mary shook her head wildly. "I escaped when he… he…" "Mary," Glenn said grimly, "you won't be free of him if you don't tell us the truth." "I am telling the truth. I got away and found that gas station and… and found the coffee place in the phonebook and called." "Glenn's right, Mary, without our help he'll take you again when he's finished with us," Joey told her. "Do you really think he'll let you go if you're a witness to his killing us?" "He promised…" Mary clamped her mouth tightly shut when she realized what she'd just said. "Mary," Joey's mother said softly, "we understand that you believe he'll let you go, Steven can be very manipulative. I should know, I lived with him in spite of how he treated me. But he's lying; he has no intention of letting you go. He thinks he owns you. Is that what you want, to spend the rest of your life being his personal punching bag and plaything?" "No," Mary whispered.
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"I didn't think so. So please, please, tell us how he's going to use you to find us. If you do then we can stop him." "What if you can't?" Hope and doubt played across Mary's face. "We can," Glenn told her adamantly. "I know what I'm doing. I just have to know how to find him." "He'll come here if she tells him we're here," Joey pointed out. "I want to get to him before that happens." When Joey frowned and seemed ready to protest, Glenn glared at him. "Don't argue with me. I'm the expert here, not you." Joey glared back. "Now just a second here, I have some training. It is what I'm studying." "Schoolbook knowledge means shit right now. I'm not going to let him get within miles of this place if I can help it." Glenn turned his attention to Mary. "How are you supposed to get in contact with him?" She ran her hands through her already tangled hair. "I'm supposed to sneak one of their phones and call him." "I don't suppose you know where he's gone to ground around here." "No. He said that was none of my business when I… when I asked him."
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Glenn nodded. "All right. I need a few minutes to get some equipment. Joey, if you'll come with me. Miriam, your phone please, Mary, what's the number you're calling?" Joey stared stonily at him. "Are you sure you want some novice helping you?" "Get over it, kid. You know what I said was the truth." Glenn pocketed Miriam's phone when she handed it to him, wrote down the number Mary gave him and said to Joey, "Now move it. The sooner we get this done the sooner Fairburn will be out of our hair." Joey followed Glenn upstairs, still pissed as hell but at the same time very interested in what Glenn was planning. The wood-paneled room they entered was obviously used as Glenn's office, with shelves along one wall and catty-corner from them a large desk with a computer and all the necessary peripherals. "Nice," Joey said almost enviously with a nod toward the computer. Glenn shrugged as he sat down and booted it up. He then logged in, hit the internet, worked through several screens until he got to the email account he needed. He sent a message to his hacker then while he waited for a reply he turned to look at Joey.
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"I know you're angry with me and I'm sorry but this isn't a game or a textbook exercise. Your father needs to be stopped and I intend to do just that." "I understand that but you're talking like a gunslinger going off to a shootout on Main Street or something," Joey replied, leaning against the wall by the desk as he stared at Glenn. "Exactly." Glenn cracked a small grin for a second. "Maybe not on Main Street, but your father is a bastard and killer who seems to have no boundaries. I plan to find out where he's gone to ground and deal with him." "Kill him?" "If necessary, yes." "There are laws against that, you know," Joey told him somewhat snarkily. Glenn nodded. "I'm well aware of that. I'll try avoid it but if it comes down to him or me then I'm not going to wait for some lawyer to tell me if I'm in the right or not." "I can help." "How? Could you shoot a man if you had to?" Joey's mouth tightened. "To save a life, I think so." "Have you ever fired a gun?" "I've gone hunting a few times with friends." "Kill anything?"
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Joey shook his head. "Why not?" "We didn't come across any deer, which is what we were hunting," Joey admitted. "But I could have, if we had," he added somewhat defiantly. Glenn rubbed his forehead between his fingers. "You've held a hunting rifle, probably practice shot it at a few trees, never even killed a rabbit or a bird to say the least of anything bigger. Like I said earlier, right now you're all book-learning with nothing practical to back it up. No way in hell do I want you to have my back in a situation like this. You'd probably end up either as a hostage or dead." "You don't know that," Joey spat out angrily. "You're right, I don't, but now's not the time to test your mettle. I don't want to be worrying about you when all my concentration should be on him." "As if you would," Joey muttered, then said quietly seconds later, "Sorry, that was uncalled for." "Yeah it was because I would. Even if you were just, well, any old someone I would, but you're not." He sighed to himself when Joey's eyes lit up. "And don't take that as some kind of romantic declaration, kid. I'm fond of you, I don't want to see something happen to you."
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"Fond?" Joey scowled. "Mothers are fond of their kids; kids are fond of their pets." "Bad analogies. Mothers love their kids and kids love their pets and… fuck…" "And?" Joey said, pushing for what he wished Glenn would say and knew he wouldn't. "Forget it, you're too damned young," Glenn growled, heaving a sigh of relief when the computer dinged to tell him he had mail. He read the message, made notes, took Miriam's cell from his pocket then opened one of the desk drawers. He took out a sim card reader/writer, then took the sim card out of the cell phone, put it into the reader/writer and plugged that into one of the USB ports. When that was done he read from the notes he'd made, typing out the information he needed then sent it to the reader/writer. After he'd finished, he replaced the sim card in the phone. "That will keep your father from finding our location." "Why not just have her do it from somewhere else?" Joey asked, understanding that Glenn planned on having Mary use his mother's phone for her call. "Because we don't know where he is, yet, but we will once she calls him." Glenn explained. "And I need to be here and on the computer when she does."
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"Whoever's helping you will triangulate where he is when he answers?" "Yep, unless he's smart enough to have done what I just did, which we can hope he isn't." Glenn got up and went to the wall across from the bookshelves. He turned to look at Joey. "You can go back downstairs now if you want or," he cracked a small smile that didn't reach his eyes, "you can stay here and see what's behind the secret panel— the lady or the tiger—to speak metaphorically." Joey bit his lip as he glanced from Glenn to the door and back again. "Am I going to wish I'd left?" "Possibly. Just know that, god only knows why, I trust you enough to have offered to let you stay." He meant that quite literally, he had no clue why he wanted Joey to see what amounted to a part of his life which to all intents and purposes he'd left behind him. Perhaps he hoped to scare the kid away, perhaps he wanted him to know exactly what he'd be getting into if… and it was a huge if… the connection that seemed to be developing between them happened. "I'll stay." With a nod, Glenn touched a spot on the wall and a panel slid to one side to reveal a door with a touchpad mounted on it. He tapped the buttons then pushed and the
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door swung open. He stepped through, beckoning for Joey to join him. When he was inside, Joey looked around then up at Glenn. "So what's so special in here? You use it for storage from the look of it." He was correct. It did look like a storage room lined with shelves. Some held a variety of camping gear; others had neatly stacked pants and shirts that ran the gamut from primarily black to a couple of sets of white. On the shelves on the short wall opposite the door there were several metal cases with security locks. "Yes, it's for storage." Glenn went to one of the cases, spun the dial on the front to unlock it then handed a pistol to Joey. "All right," Joey said hesitantly. "What is this? I mean it's a gun, but…?" "Ruger MK III." Glenn opened a second case and handed Joey another pistol. "Ruger 22/45 with a picatinny rail instead of a fixed sight." Joey weighed them in his hands and commented, "The 22/45 is lighter and you can add a scope." He looked at Glenn, one eyebrow cocked. "Which one is more accurate?" "I prefer the 22/45 because of the threaded barrel
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and it is lighter, but the MK III is a bit more accurate if you're new to them both." "The other cases are for guns as well?" When Glenn nodded, Joey asked, "Why? Why all the firepower?" "I like guns." Glenn replied with a slight smile. "And they were part of what I did before I retired." Joey handed the guns back, chewing on his lip. "Guns, probably knives somewhere here, survival gear," he nodded to what he'd at first thought was just camping gear. "What the hell kind of security did you do?" "Let's just say it was more than going around rattling shop doorknobs and leave it at that for now." As he talked, Glenn put the MK III back in its case. From the other case he took out a custom made side holster for the 22/45 and a scope. Once he'd attached the scope he put the pistol into the holster and clipped it to his belt. Then he reached for another case, unlocked it, took out two sheathed knives and closed it again. Finally he chose pants and a shirt, picked up a bag from another shelf and said, "That should do it for now. Take the phone down to Mary, wait five minutes, then have her make the call. She's to tell Fairburn that you picked her up at the gas station and now you've stopped at a fast food place to get something to eat before you take her to meet your mother."
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"He won't like that." "No, but he will wait for her to call again." As soon as Joey left the room Glenn went back to the computer. He put what he was carrying down on the edge of the desk then logged into a website. While he waited for Mary to make the call he stripped and redressed in his working clothes. One of the knives he strapped to his calf, the other to his forearm. The holstered gun went onto the waistband of his sweatpants. He finished just as the site let him know that it had located Fairburn. "Now if you just stay there," Glenn muttered. He shut down the computer, put on his jacket, grabbed the bag and headed back to the living room. When he got there he was faced with three sets of eyes that looked at him with varying degrees of concern. "Will you… can you find him?" Mary asked. "Should be able to now. You stay here with them. I'll let you know how things pan out," he replied tersely as he walked toward the kitchen. Before he got through it to the back door, Joey came up beside him. "Be careful," he said quietly. "Plan on it. You make sure Mary doesn't get her hands on a phone, just in case. Okay?" Joey nodded. He looked as if he wanted to say or do
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something more. Then with a swift shake of his head he turned away. Glenn put a hand on his arm to stop him. "I'll be back, I promise." "I… yeah." Joey stared at him for a long moment then turned on his heel and left the room. "I will," Glenn said softly. Once he was at the car Glenn became the man he had been, not the one he was now, cold killer instincts overriding everything else. He had no intention of trying to negotiate with Fairburn. The man had chosen to hide a few miles outside of town. The location, according to the tracking system, turned out to be farm property. Glenn checked a satellite map via his phone and found that there was a house, a barn and some outbuildings. He presumed they were abandoned. He hoped they were and that Fairburn hadn't holed up in a barn or shed somewhere on the property without the owner's knowledge. By the time he got onto the road that would bring him close to the farm it was dusk and a three-quarter moon hung low in the sky ahead of him. There was still enough snow on the ground to work to Glenn's advantage. Twenty minutes had passed since Mary had called Fairburn. Four minutes later he was at the access road that led
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to the farm. He turned and pulled off beside a small tract of trees that would keep the car from being noticed by anyone coming down the main road. Before getting out of the car he took off his jacket, reversed it so that the white would be on the outside and donned it again. Then he opened the bag and put the gear that he'd need into the jacket's deep pockets. He left the car, closing the door silently, put the bag into the trunk, locked up, and turned to face the farm half a mile ahead of him. The side facing him had a thick row of trees that would serve him well once he got there. He walked quickly but cautiously along the side of the road, looking for any signs that Fairburn might have already left the farm. He saw nothing to indicate that the man had. From the splash back of snow caused by the only tire tracks he saw he could tell they lead toward the farm, not away from it, and Glenn knew this was the only way a vehicle could get to the main road. That didn't mean the man hadn't walked out but Glenn seriously doubted he'd leave until he got the second phone call from Mary. When he reached the trees he inched through them. The farmhouse was in front of him to his right. From what he could see of it through trees that lined its driveway, it appeared abandoned since there were no lights on and the
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snow on the driveway was unbroken by either tire tracks or footprints. A few hundred yards to his left was the large barn. The access road curved around to the front which was out of his sight at the moment. Very carefully he inched his way toward the side closest to him.
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CHAPTER 15 "She's asleep," Joey's mother said softly. Then she eased Mary's feet off her lap and stood up, pointing to the kitchen. Joey nodded and followed her. Once the door to the living room was closed she went to the refrigerator to see what she could use to make them something to eat. When Joey frowned she said, "We're stuck here so I doubt Glenn will mind." She found the makings for sandwiches and put together three, one for herself, two for Joey, then sat down at the table. Joey took one of the sandwiches and after the first bite he realized he was definitely hungry. He finished it and was halfway through the second when his mother said, "So?" "Umm, what?" "What were you and Glenn doing when you went upstairs?" Joey smiled ruefully. "Not what you might be thinking. He was showing me the, umm… well…" He blew out a breath and took another bite of his sandwich. "Yes?" she said, not willing to let it drop. "He's got a whole damned arsenal up there." "For hunting? He doesn't seem the type, or at least 108
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not the way we think of hunting, although maybe he does in his own way. He is going to try and capture your father." "Mom, I think… Damn it, I don't think he's planning on capturing him." Joey told her how Glenn had armed himself. "Really?" she replied with apparent unconcern "Mom, he's going off to kill him!" "In case it escaped your notice the bastard has murdered at least one person, held his own daughter captive and repeatedly molested her, and he abused me before he decided to move on to someone else. Whatever happens to him he's earned fair and square." "But what Glenn plans to do is against the law. If he gets caught…" Joey scrubbed a hand over his forehead. "I doubt that will happen. Glenn seems to know what he's doing." "But why? I mean why does he know and why does he have enough firepower to take out a small army?" "He says he used to work security," Joey's mother pointed out. "Perhaps it was more than just being a door shaker." Joey smiled slightly. "That's what he said; only he called it rattling door handles. I suppose he could have been something Federal, or military."
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"That would be my guess. So when it comes down to it, he's not much different than what you're planning on being, only maybe, probably, much deadlier." "It will still be considered murder if he kills him. He doesn't have any legal authority to do that." He pounded a fist down on the tabletop angrily. "I should have, he should have let me go with him. I'm not completely helpless no matter what he thinks." She took his hand with a shake of her head. "I doubt he really thinks you're helpless. My guess would be he feels very protective of you, well of all of us from what he's doing, but especially of you." "Yeah right. He thinks I'm a kid who needs looking after. I'm not, damn it! I'm an adult. Why doesn't he see that?" "Give him time. If he's at all interested in you then eventually he will. You have to realize that he really is a good deal older than you. And, if we're right, he's spent his life doing things most people can't even imagine outside of whatever thrillers they happen to read." "Yeah, I suppose," he replied with a sigh. "I don't …" he sighed again. "You don't what?" "I don't get why I care about him, but I do."
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She patted his hand. "If anyone could really explain why one person falls for another they could make a small fortune. Just don't let your heart get broken if he doesn't reciprocate your feelings." "Bit late for that but…" He stared off into space for a long moment before he said, "If he doesn't, I'll survive." "You will. We all do in the end. Now finish your sandwich while I go check on Mary." When she left the kitchen, Joey did as she'd asked even though he didn't really feel like eating the rest of it. "Caring for someone sucks," he muttered dispiritedly. "At least, damn it, come back here in one piece, Glenn. Please."
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CHAPTER 16 First and foremost Glenn needed to pin down exactly where on the property Fairburn was. When he reached the side of the barn he worked his way to the back. There a low shed abutted the back wall with two padlocked doors. Above the shed, he could see a pair of windows in the barn's back wall. Glenn moved back far enough to take a good look at the roof of the shed and smiled to himself. Thanks to the dim moonlight he was able to see footprints in the snow on the roof. They led to one of the windows. 'What's good for the goose…' he thought as he looked for a way to get onto the shed roof. 'A stupid goose,' he added to himself when he saw the tail end of a rope dangling in the corner between the side of the shed and the back wall of the barn. He reached up and tugged it to be certain it was well secured then used it to scale the wall. When he was on the shed's slanted roof he moved cautiously so as not to slip or make any noise that might alert whoever had been on the roof before him. He presumed it had been Fairburn. When he got to the window he hunkered down beside it to peer cautiously inside. The faint moonlight showed him that there was a loft that appeared to run the length of the back wall. 112
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With extreme care he leaned in just enough to try to open the window. It slid up easily until there was approximately a two-foot opening then stopped with a small squeal of protest. Glenn froze, waiting for any indication that the noise had been heard. When there was no sign that it had he inched his way through the opening into the dark interior of the barn. He took his infrared binoculars from one pocket of his jacket, moved to the edge of the loft and looked down onto the barn floor. 'Got you.' Fairburn, if it was him, stood out in stark relief, his back to Glenn. Glenn fully intended to take him out but wanted to be certain that the man was indeed his prey. He marked the man's position, pocketed the binoculars and moved silently to the stairs which led down from the loft. When he reached the bottom he un-holstered his pistol, lifted it and took aim. The night scope on the gun showed him that the man was still where he had been moments before. "Fairburn," Glenn called out. The man spun around and dropped to one knee, a rifle pointed in Glenn's direction. "Wondered if that phone call was a trap," he shouted back at the same instant that he fired.
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'I'm fucking out of practice,' Glenn thought as he dropped to the ground and fired back. 'At least he's working on sound, not sight.' Fairburn fired two more shots then sprinted to the front of the barn, ducking behind a low wall that ran half the length of it. "You a cop?" he asked seconds later. "Friend of the family," Glenn replied. He regretted it seconds later when a bullet grazed his arm. 'Lucky shot but keep your yap shut,' he admonished himself. Knowing Fairburn couldn't see him, he moved rapidly forward. He felt dampness on his sleeve and ignored it and the accompanying pain. When he was a yard away from the low wall he stopped to listen intently for any sign of Fairburn's position. There was total silence. Long minutes passed while each man waited for the other to make a move. Then Glenn heard it, the slightest brushing of something against the wall. He immediately fired. The bullet hit the thin paneling and went through. Fairburn gave a shout then there was silence. Glenn fired again, then twice more, to either side of his first shot. He knew he'd hit his target when Fairburn cried out in pain. Without hesitation Glenn stood and raced around the end of the wall. Glenn could see Fairburn through the scope. He was
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lying on the ground ahead of him, one hand held tightly to his abdomen. As Glenn moved slowly closer Fairburn raised his other hand and fired one last shot.
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CHAPTER 17 "Where the hell is he? What's taking so long?" Joey growled as he checked the time again. "He wasn't exactly running to the store for milk," his mother said in a futile attempt to ease his tension. He glared at her, resisting the very strong urge to flip her off even though she was his mother. Mary, who had been awake for the past twenty minutes, said softly, "He has to be all right because if he isn't…" "Then we're all dead." Joey glared at her as well. "He… my father… he doesn't know where we are." "We can damned well hope so but if… if something happened to Glenn. He must have ID on him and your, our, that bastard isn't stupid." "Both of you stop!" Joey's mother said firmly. "You're scaring each other even more and that does not help the situation in the least." Joey nodded. "Sorry." "I know." She got up from the sofa. "Maybe you need…" "If you say hot chocolate." "Now would I do that?" 116
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Joey actually chuckled. "It's what you always used to give me when I was sad or upset, so yeah, you would." "Well this time I was going to offer coffee. So there, smarty." She headed to the kitchen to make some. "She's very nice," Mary said. "Yes she is. That's why I keep her around." Mary looked at him in shock and pulled back further into the corner of the sofa. He immediately told her, "That was a joke." "Oh." She smiled weakly. Joey sat down on the sofa beside her. "You don't have to be afraid of us. We're not going to hurt you." "I know, I think. It's just… I'm not used to someone treating me good." "Your mother didn't, and your foster parents?" "I guess my foster parents did. I mean they tried but I was older. They were used to little kids. My mother," she shrugged, "She never was mean but I think somehow she blamed me for what happened. When she got angry or upset with me she'd say 'If you'd have behaved he wouldn't have hit you and I wouldn't have lipped off to him'." "Damn." "It's okay. I got used to it after a while and most of the time we got along and she treated me fine. I guess."
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"Well now you're here and safe and I know mom will make sure you have a home with good people." "Can't I stay with her, with you?" "Umm, well, I suppose that's up to her, you know. We'll figure something out. Honest." She looked at him and nodded, and in the silence that followed he thought he heard a noise on the front porch. In an instant he was at the front door. He pulled it open just a crack; ready to slam it shut again, peered out and said, "Oh hell." "Not quite the greeting I was hoping for," Glenn said, pain limning his voice as he leaned against the wall next to the front door. Joey took another shocked look then quickly wrapped an arm around him to help him into the house. Joey's mother was beside them in an instant to help get Glenn to the sofa. His right pants leg wasn't white any more, it was soaked with blood, and the rest of his clothes were stained with blood and dirt. "It's probably not as bad as it looks," Glenn said through clenched teeth. Joey's mother shook her head then sent Mary to the kitchen to find scissors or a sharp knife. The girl came back almost immediately with a paring knife. Glenn managed a tight chuckle. "Under my sleeve."
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Joey pulled the sleeve up, not in the least surprised to find a knife in a sheath. He took it out and handed it to his mother. She knelt beside Glenn and proceeded to slice open the snow and blood soaked sweatpants from the waistband down the front to the knee as she muttered, "It's a wonder you haven't bled to death." She discovered why he hadn't when she found a thickly folded piece of cotton lashed over the wound with a belt. "My husband's?" she asked and received a slight nod in return. "Dead?" She got another nod from Glenn. "Pity. I'd have liked to have had a few words with him first." As she talked she gently removed the makeshift bandage. "Nasty," she pronounced. Joey had to agree. It looked horrible, a gaping wound on the outer edge of Glenn's thigh that began bleeding again as soon as the bandage was removed. "I hope to hell you've got a first aid kit here," she said as she pressed the cloth back onto the wound. "Kitchen. Bottom cupboard." Joey dashed to find it, returning moments later. He opened it and set it on the floor next to his mother. She nodded in approval when she saw the contents then sent Mary back to the kitchen to fetch a pan of water and whatever clean towels she could find. When the girl
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returned with them, Joey's mother started to warn Glenn that cleaning the wound would hurt but realized he had passed out. "Did it hit an artery or bone?" Joey asked as he helped his mother. "If it hit an artery he'd be dead now," she told him. "I don't think it hit bone but I can't swear to it." Mary asked as she took a blood soaked towel Joey handed her, "Shouldn't we call an ambulance?" Joey's mother glanced up at her with a shake of her head. "If he'd wanted that kind of help he'd have taken himself to the hospital. Until he says otherwise we'll deal with this here unless things worsen." "How do you know what to do?" Mary wanted to know. "I was a nurse before I met Steven. That was a long time ago but some things you don't forget." By the time Joey's mother finished with the wound and re-bandaged it, it was closing in on midnight. Glenn was still unconscious and very pale and she decided that moving him would not be a good idea. She told Joey to get some blankets while she and Mary cleaned up. He returned with three that he'd found in a closet. Before covering Glenn, he and his mother carefully removed the rest of
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Glenn's clothes, and the two sheathes, but not his shorts which neither of them wanted to take off him despite the fact that they were very bloodstained. As he laid the blankets over Glenn, Joey paused for a moment to admire the man's well-defined chest. Then he blushed as he realized what he'd done. His mother chuckled and patted his shoulder. "If you hadn't I'd have wondered about you," she told him, which made him blush an even deeper shade of red. She laughed softly before pronouncing it time for all of them to get some sleep. "I have the feeling we'll have a long day ahead of us tomorrow," she said as she led the way up the stairs to the second floor.
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CHAPTER 18 Glenn woke to pain so intense he had to bite his lip to keep from crying out. A quiet voice told him to stay still while a hand brushed his hair back from his forehead. He turned his head just enough to see Joey seated on a chair beside him. "How long…?" Glenn asked. "Have you been out? About five hours." Joey pulled the blankets up to cover him. "No. How long have you been sitting there?" "About five hours," Joey admitted with a small smile. Glenn looked at him and growled, "Idiot, you should be sleeping." "I did, on and off." "Joey, damn…" Glenn's eyes closed again. "You don't have to…" His words faded away. "Yeah I do," Joey said quietly. Three hours later Glenn woke again. This time when the pain made him groan deeply Joey's mother was the one to respond. "I have some painkillers I found in the first aid kit but you'll have to sit up a bit if you don't want the water to soak you. Do you think you can handle that?" 122
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Glenn nodded and with her help he raised up enough to drink from the glass of water once she'd given him the pills. "Where's Joey?" he asked when he'd finished. "I told him if he didn't get upstairs and sleep I'd tie him to the bed," she told him with a smile. "I guess he believed me because he went up about half an hour ago." "Stupid kid," Glenn muttered. "Concerned young man, Glenn. Don't fault him for that. He cares." Once he was prone again she pulled back the blanket so she could check the wound in his thigh. He gritted his teeth hard while she cleaned it again and dosed it with more antibiotic cream. After she'd rewrapped it, she let him know that so far it wasn't infected. "But I will be keeping an eye on it and as soon as Joey's awake we'll get you upstairs so you can have a real bed to recuperate in." She stared hard at him for a long moment then asked, "Where is the body?" "Safely hidden away. No one will find it unless they know it's there. Well," he smiled tightly, "at least not unless someone goes into the barn while it's decomposing, which is unlikely since the place looks like it's been deserted for quite a while now." "Where is it?" she asked. When he told her, she nodded her head. "Mr Grant died two years ago. He had no
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heirs so it's been sitting vacant. Occasionally someone goes by to look at it since it's on the market but," she chuckled low. "It's rumored that he haunts it because he doesn't want anyone there. He was a very reclusive man who hated almost everyone, so most people around here wouldn't be in the least surprised if his ghost really did hang out there." "So Fairburn picked a good place to hide out." Glenn glanced around before asking, "Where's Mary by the way?" "Still asleep as far as I can tell. Or not," she added when they heard footsteps on the stairs. Mary came to stand shyly by Glenn. "Thank you," she whispered. "I don't bite," he told her with a smile. "And you're welcome." He turned to look at Miriam. "I don't suppose I could have something to eat?" "Of course. Mary, come with me and help." When the two females disappeared into the kitchen Glenn closed his eyes. He wasn't certain how he felt about the fact that Joey spent most of the night at his side watching over him. On the one hand he liked the idea, much more than he knew he should. A great deal more. On the other hand he knew that he had to quell any hopes Joey had that there could be something between them. 'It would
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never work,' he thought with some remorse. He liked the kid, more than he should, but last night's episode with Fairburn brought it home to him that they were from two different worlds. 'So now how do I handle that?' He sighed deeply. He had no idea but he knew that he'd have to, somehow. **** "And that's how I ended up getting shot," Glenn told the others late that afternoon. He'd eaten the light meal Miriam prepared, put on the cutoff shorts she had Joey dig out of his dresser, slept some more, and awakened to find Joey sitting beside him again. This time it was Joey who helped him sit up and take his pills. Glenn felt well enough that he'd refused to lie back down again. With Joey's help he moved to the corner of the sofa and leaned back with one of the blankets covering him, muttering as he did, "I need to get more than these shorts on sometime." "You need a shower sometime too," Joey replied as he wrinkled his nose, although he liked seeing Glenn like that, in just shorts and the blanket that was now down around his waist. That earned him a lifted middle finger
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and a chuckle from Glenn. Joey's mother and Mary appeared a few minutes later, the former wanting to know all the details now that Glenn was feeling somewhat better. "I was on such an adrenaline rush at that point I was able to get Fairburn's body into a corner of the barn where there was a large pile of rotten hay. That's where he is, at least for now. Before I got him under it I stripped him of any ID as well as his shirt and belt because by then I knew I was bleeding too much. I fixed up a compression bandage of sorts then made my way from the barn back to my car." "I'm amazed you made it that far," Joey's mother commented. "It wasn't easy but I really had no choice. The drive from there to here was, shall we say, interesting. I had to fight to keep from passing out and I was damned glad the car is an automatic not stick as I could only use my left leg. I'd just turned onto the lane to here when I really did pass out for a few minutes." He shook his head. "The car's front bumper is resting against a tree trunk, or in it, I didn't really check. I'm glad I was wearing my seatbelt and going slow. So, anyway, I came to, crawled out of the car and the rest of the way back here. The stair railing helped me get onto the porch and I staggered to the door. The rest you know."
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"At least you made it back," Joey said quietly. He shrugged a shoulder when Glenn looked at him. "I knew you would, of course." Glenn chuckled. "Umm humm, then why did you act like you'd seen a ghost when I got here?" "I did not!" Joey protested. "I was just… you looked like death warmed over as mom says. So anyway, umm, what now? What happens when someone finds the body?" "With
luck
that
won't
happen
until
he's
unrecognizable." "But if he is? They, the police will figure out who he is and that someone shot him and when that happens you know they'll come to see us." He glanced at his mother. "If they do, I'm going to take the blame." "Why can't Glenn?" Mary asked, puzzled. "I mean, well, wasn't it self-defense?" "He can't, that's all there is to it," Joey said adamantly without looking at Glenn. "I can claim that, and that I was afraid because… because I'd followed him when I saw him in town. I was going to find out where he was staying and, well, we ended up at that farm and he attacked me. Yeah, that would work." "Joey," Glenn said firmly before anyone else could talk, "that is not going to happen. I'm not going to see you
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ruin your life and your dreams." "It's my choice," Joey replied just as firmly. "No, it's mine." Glenn put a hand on Joey's arm. "Actually, once I'm up and mobile again I'll find somewhere better to dispose of the body. That was after all just a stopgap measure now that I think about it." Joey opened his mouth to protest that going back there wasn't safe then closed it again when Glenn shook his head. "All right," he said instead, "I'll go with you." "Damn it, what am I going to do with you?" Glenn growled. "That was a rhetorical question by the way so don't answer." Joey's mother broke in before the conversation could go any further to say she had to check Glenn's wound again. "While I'm doing that the two of you can get supper started," she added with a look at Joey and Mary that brooked no argument, smiling when they both obeyed without argument. After supper, which they ate picnic style in the living room to keep Glenn company, Joey and his mother helped Glenn up to his bedroom. Once there he stubbornly refused to get into bed until he had a chance to finally get the dirt and sweat off of him that Joey's mom hadn't sponged off when she tried to clean him up some the
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previous evening. "You are not to get that bandage wet," she admonished him sternly. "Yes ma'am. I wasn't planning on anything more than sitting on the edge of the tub with a wet rag and scrubbing down, without the shower on." "All right. Joey, help him in. He's in no condition to walk far on that leg whether he believes it or not." "Miriam," Glenn growled. "Shush. He's helping you in there, not helping you wash up." "Mom!" "Just get him in there. Men, honestly." Glenn put an arm around Joey's shoulders, using him as a makeshift crutch, and hobbled into the bathroom. After he helped Glenn sit on the edge of the tub with his good leg inside, the bad one stretched outside, Joey leaned over to turn the water on and handed Glenn the soap and a wet washrag, leaving a towel on the edge of the tub. "Do you need anything else?" he asked as he wished Glenn would ask him to wash his back or something. "No, I'm good. Or not." He realized he still had the shorts on. "Out, kid, I need to get these off." He began to
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unbutton the shorts. When Joey hesitated, Glenn shook his head. "I mean it, out. I've been undressing myself since I was a kid in diapers; I think I can handle this." "In diapers?" Joey snorted. "Okay, so maybe not quite that young," Glenn admitted with amusement. When Joey headed to the door Glenn pulled the zipper down and tried to leverage himself up so he get the shorts off. It wasn't as easy as he'd thought it would be and he swore in frustration. Joey turned around, shook his head, and went back to help. "Eyes up," Glenn growled. "As if." "Joey!" "I'm not going to attack you, but…" He studied Glenn for a long moment, liking what he saw… a lot. "Okay, now I have the right image for my fantasies." "Kid, damn." Joey smiled sweetly as he turned away. "Just saying." Unfortunately his 'just saying', plus the look on his face, had Glenn thinking things he rather wished he hadn't. Things like what would happen if he took Joey's face in his hands and devoured those smiling lips until the young man
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begged for more than just the kisses. His cock started to harden and he growled, "Out, now." "Going." Joey took one more glance, licked his lips, and left, closing the bathroom door behind him. When Glenn finished washing up as best he could he dried off and wrapped the towel around him. Then he tried to stand. He managed to get up but by that time his leg hurt so badly he sat down on the toilet seat, swearing under his breath. "Joey, Miriam, I need…" "Help?" Joey's mother asked as she opened the bathroom door. "Yes, please." She nodded, coming in with a pair of sweatpants in her hand. After she took another look at the wound in his thigh and re-bandaged it, he managed to get the sweats on and she helped him out to his bed. "Did we lose Joey?" he asked as he lay back. "I sent him downstairs to get your pills." She chuckled. "He seemed a bit discombobulated when he came out of the bathroom." Glenn snorted. "He wasn't the only one." "I figured as much." She turned when the bedroom door opened, smiling at Mary who stood there with a glass
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of milk and the bottle of pills. "He sent you with them," she said, stating the obvious. "Yes. He said, well actually he didn't say anything, just handed them to me." She looked at Glenn with a shake of her head. "He likes you. Do you like him?" "Umm, well…" Glenn said, somewhat nonplussed. "Sorry, I know it's none of my business and all." She blushed, handed Joey's mother the glass and the pills and hurried out of the room. Miriam took them over to him, waited until he'd taken two pills and gulped down some of the milk, then asked, "Are you going to do anything about it?" He understood what she meant and shook his head. "I'm not sure. I honestly have no idea. He's a good kid, well young man I guess, and before you ask yet again, yes I like him, a lot more than I should." He smiled slightly. "I have a lot of thinking to do before I can make any decision." "Don't you think he should have some say in things, since he's involved?" Glenn sighed. "Probably, maybe, but…" He looked up at her. "Just, please, give me time to think. Then I'll talk with him." "Glenn, you can take all the time you need as long as you do talk to him when you've made a decision. So help
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me, if you don't I will make your life miserable." He nodded. "Believe me I have a feeling you'd do just that." Then he yawned hard. "Get some sleep, you need it." "Somehow I don't think I have a choice in the matter," he murmured as his eyes closed.
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CHAPTER 19 In the morning Miriam deemed Glenn well enough to spend the day on his own as long as he remained on the sofa. When he pointed out that he might actually need to get off it occasionally to use the downstairs bathroom, she called Harv to bring the pair of crutches he had from when he'd broken his leg a few years ago. After Harv brought them he took Joey, Miriam, and Mary back to town with him. Harv promised to bring them back in his tow truck once the coffeehouse was closed for the day, and take Glenn's car to the garage so he could repair it. Left to his own devices, Glenn tried to read but after fifteen minutes he realized his mind wasn't on it. Television held no appeal to him, 'and,' he thought with a rueful chuckle, 'I don't knit'. That left thinking about what was uppermost in his mind, Joey and whether there was a chance in hell of there being anything meaningful between the two of them. He was aware that given half a chance they could have a sexual relationship that would relieve their physical needs. And in a time well past, Glenn would have settled for that and moved on without a qualm. 'What the hell is it about this kid that makes that a 134
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no-go as an option?' First he supposed he had to stop thinking about Joey as a kid. He was a young man, emphasis on the young but still a man in every way, not a kid anymore. 'Do I find him interesting because he is the only one around here who might be willing to return my interest? Am I so damned alone that I'll jump on any chance to have someone to keep me company? Damn I hope I'm not that shallow.' But he wondered if he was so shallow that he'd use Joey for his own purposes because he knew Joey was infatuated with him—if it was just infatuation. And that still begged the question about his own feelings. He really did care for Joey, more than he had for anyone else he could remember. 'But you don't fall for someone after what, a few days, a couple of weeks?' "I've just been without for too long. I need to find someone to fuck and get it out of my system," he muttered. 'But if that's true why haven't I taken advantage of what he seems to be offering? Because that's not what he's offering, stupid. At least I don't think it is but then how the hell would I know, I never asked. Well that ends this evening when he gets back here. If he comes back, which he
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might not. He'll have time to think about everything today, especially about what I did to his father, and how I did it. Hell he might just run the other direction now. Better for him if he does. Better for me.' Glenn stared up at the ceiling. 'Or I run before we both get hurt.'
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CHAPTER 20 Joey was doing his own thinking between bouts of waiting on customers. He wanted nothing more than to return to Glenn's house, the sooner the better, and was chafing under the need to be here and working. His mother had looked at him a few times with raised eyebrows and he'd just shrugged and gone back to what he had to do. But he couldn't get his mind off of Glenn. 'I do care for him, and I don't give a damn what he was before he moved here. That's in the past. He's a good man with a good heart or he wouldn't have helped us. I just have to make him see that I want him and want to be with him.' He smiled slightly at that. 'In more ways than one.' With a shake of his head to clear it of the memories of his dreams involving Glenn that rose unbidden to the top of his mind, he returned his attention to the customer on the other side of the counter when they asked if he was out of whatever it was they wanted because he'd shaken his head. The rest of the day went like that, with his thoughts more on Glenn than the job. Several times his mother cautioned him with a slight smile to get his mind back where it belonged. Finally, the day ended. Mary, who'd been helping 137
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out as much as she could, seemed a bit put out at the idea they were going to spend another night at Glenn's even though she understood why. So she asked Joey's mother, "Can't Joey go up there to take care of him? Do we all need to?" "I do need to check up on him," Joey's mother replied, "but then I guess you and I can come back here, or you can wait at our house if you want to." Mary practically glowed with happiness. "Please. I'd like that." "Then that's how we'll do it." "You know," Joey said quietly when Mary went into the kitchen to get ready to leave, "she's hoping that you'll let her live with us." "I know, and it's something I've been considering. However I'm not going to make a decision until I've talked with Harv, and you of course." She saw Harv pull up in front of the coffeehouse and added, "And now is not the time for that." Twenty minutes later, with Mary happily ensconced in their house with the permission to explore as long as she stayed out of their bedrooms, then get supper started, Harv was driving Joey and his mother up to Glenn's house. Harv commented as they turned onto the side road,
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"You know, Glenn must be feeling a bit better. I saw him late this afternoon in Johnny's cab. Or at least I think it was him." "I doubt it," Joey's mother said. "Even with the crutches he's hardly mobile enough to be out and about yet." "Yeah, it was probably just some tourist or someone visiting family." He turned up the lane to Glenn's house and parked in front of it a couple of minutes later. Then, while Joey and his mother went up to knock on the front door, he drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and waited. He turned in surprise when Joey opened the truck door and asked if he had something that he could use to pry open one of the windows. "He's not answering," Joey said when Harv asked. "Something must have happened; maybe he started bleeding out or something and…" Panic limned Joey's face. Harv jumped out, grabbed a pry-bar from the back of the truck and followed Joey back to the house. It was obvious from what he could see through a couple of windows that Glenn was not downstairs. "He might be sleeping, you know," he pointed out to his sister. "If he is, we'll deal with his being upset that we broke in," she told him as she watched him leverage the
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front window open. They all jumped in surprise when the security system's alarms started blaring. That didn't stop Joey, followed by the others, from climbing into the living room. "If he was sleeping, he's not anymore," Harv said over the noise. When Glenn didn't appear they began to search, certain that something must have gone wrong. It was Joey's mother who first concluded he wasn't there when she entered Glenn's bedroom and saw the closet standing open, the bar bare of clothes. A quick check showed her that he'd packed up whatever personal items were in the bathroom, as well as the clothes in the dresser. She walked quickly to the hall in time to see Joey going into another room. He returned moments later frowning deeply. "His… he had some things in a closet. They're not there now." Joey's mom sighed deeply. "I'm afraid he's gone." "He can't be!" Joey exclaimed angrily. "He wouldn't…" he whispered. Without a word she wrapped her arms around him, feeling him shudder. "For whatever reason, and we may never know what it was, he did."
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CHAPTER 21 Glenn watched in silence from the shadows at the back of the auditorium. It had been almost two years since he'd cut and run, leaving his second life behind just as he had the first one. Only this time he'd left more than just his new life, he'd left the one person he'd ever truly cared about since the death of his parents eighteen years ago. Now, at the age of thirty-six and counting, he was once again wondering if he'd made the right choice. He smiled to himself when he saw Joey standing with the rest of the police academy graduates, head bowed for the ceremony's opening invocation. Glenn's heart beat a little faster when the invocation was finished and Joey glanced around for a brief moment, undoubtedly looking for his family who were seated three rows back among all the other friends and families of the graduates. Joey had matured during the last two years. Now he was definitely a young man, not the kid that Glenn had considered him to be when they'd first met. But then he knew that already, he had followed Joey's progress from afar. For a while the young man had seemed to bury himself in the town and the coffeehouse after Glenn's departure. 141
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'Departure my ass, I ran like the hounds of Hell were after me.' Glenn though, angry at himself when he once again tried to blunt what he'd done, as he always did. 'It was for the best, but I was still a coward.' He pulled his attention back to the proceedings, smiling with pride when Joey's name was called and he walked forward to get his diploma and shake the commissioner's hand. "You'll be a damned good cop," he whispered, and grinned when Mary jumped up to cheer. Apparently she agreed with him. Then, silently, he slipped out of the auditorium. He had things to take care of which meant there was a plane to catch. A quick check told him he didn't have much time so he was glad when a cab appeared to drop off a passenger. He grabbed it, gave his destination, then rested his head back and closed his eyes. **** Joey shook his head in amusement when he heard Mary's voice above the applause. He dearly loved his halfsister but there were times when she seemed to do her best to embarrass him. She had definitely come out of her shell in the last two years. It had taken time and his mother's
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wholehearted attention but slowly and surely Mary had been able to put the past, and the terrible things that their father had done to her, into perspective now that the man was dead and buried; buried by Joey after Glenn's inexplicable disappearance. With his heart in pieces, Joey had transferred his despair into action. No matter what, no matter how much he hated Glenn in the days that followed his disappearance, Joey still had to follow through and bring a final end to the bastard who had been his father. He'd gone out to the farm late the following night and put all his pain and rage into digging a grave to hide his father's body. When he dragged the corpse from where Glenn had secreted it and dumped it into the grave he imagined there were two bodies, his father's and Glenn's. That was how deep his anguish and pain went. Now, two years later, he had come to accept that Glenn was no longer. Not literally, he was certain the man was somewhere in the world, doing… well he had no idea actually. Perhaps the security work he had given up when he moved to Joey's hometown, if that really was what he had done before. Joey finally believed that he'd never see Glenn again and had moved on. Now he had become what he'd always dreamed of being, a police officer. Not only
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that but he would be one in the town where he'd grown up. He needed that; he needed to be with the family who loved him. Life was perfect. Almost. He shoved the almost back where it belonged, deep in his mind where all his emotions were buried. 'Life IS perfect!' he told himself as he walked over to where his mother and Mary, and the rest of his family were waiting.
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CHAPTER 22 "Mr Talbot, it's a pleasure to meet you." The man held out his hand and Glenn shook as he said, "Please just call me Grant, Mr Talbot is so formal." "Grant it is then." The man sat again and looked across the desk at Glenn. "You know what is needed?" "Indeed." Glenn sat as well, stroking the mustache that for the moment adorned his upper lip. "However before I do what you've hired me for I need to see proof that you have what I asked for as payment." The
man
frowned
deeply.
"You
saw
the
photographs, isn't that enough proof?" "Photographs can be doctored," was Glenn's rather pointed reply. It was apparent the man was not happy as his mouth tightened. Nonetheless he stood to cross the room to a large file cabinet. Instead of opening a drawer he pressed one corner and the entire front swung out to reveal a safe. He spun the dial, opened the safe to take out a metal box that he brought back to hand to Glenn. Glenn checked the contents, smiled, and lifted the hand that had been resting in his lap. The pistol he held spat twice, silently, and the man fell forward. After he re145
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holstered the gun Glenn moved around the desk to lift the man's body and put it on the sofa along one wall. He arranged it, stepped back and nodded in approval. Anyone taking a cursory glance would think the man was resting. With that done Glenn put the contents of the box into his pockets, replaced it in the safe and closed it and the fake front that hid it. Then he looked around to make certain he hadn't missed anything before he went into the front office where he stopped long enough to inform the secretary that the man had felt ill, was now resting, and asked not to be disturbed. Then he left the office suite. On his way down the hall to the elevators he stripped off the mustache and wig he'd been wearing. As he waited for the elevator he removed the contact lenses that had turned his hazel eyes to a dark green then took off his jacket. When he arrived at the ground floor of the office building he appeared to be an entirely different man than the one who had entered half an hour earlier. Grant Talbot was no more. Glenn Tanner caught a cab and returned to his hotel room.
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CHAPTER 23 "Welcome home," the police chief said and held out his hand. Joey shook it as he responded, "It's good to be home. I've missed it." When they both were seated the chief continued, "I understand you're not planning on living at your mother's place." "You've been talking to Uncle Harv I take it," Joey replied with a small chuckle. "And no I'm not. I have a small apartment now just off of Main Street within easy walking distance of here." "Excellent. I'd offer to show you around the station house but as it hasn't changed all that much in the last twenty-some years I suspect you know it just about as well as I do." "Probably. God knows I spent enough time here as a kid." The two men continued to chat, the chief filling Joey in on what was going on around the town and telling him his schedule for the next few weeks. "Once you get totally acclimated you'll be on your own but for now I'm putting you with Eck Paulis. You remember him?" 147
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"Yes. He was two years ahead of me in high school." He smiled a bit. "Luckily that's the only way I know him. He never had to arrest me." "I suspect if he had, your mother would have made your life living hell for a while in her own way." "Oh yeah," Joey agreed. "I never did understand why she stayed with that bastard so long," the chief mused, "a strong woman like her. At least he hasn't shown his face around here since he escaped, not that he would." Joey nodded. "Not if he's smart." He flashed briefly on that saga and hoped it didn't show in his face before he said, "At least Mary found us." The story that Joey's mother had given out after Mary came into their lives followed reality up to a point. According to what she told anyone who asked, Mary had run away from her foster home just as the authorities surmised. The twist was that Mary had decided to come look for them because Joey was the only blood kin she had other than her father, who of course she wanted nothing to do with after he'd murdered her mother. When she finally found him, Joey's mother had taken her in. End of story. It worked, no one questioned it. "She's
a
lucky
young
148
woman,"
the
chief
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acknowledged as he stood. "Now I have things to do. I'll see you in the morning, Joey." "Yes, sir. I'll be here with bells on." The chief laughed. "I think the uniform will be sufficient."
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CHAPTER 24 Glenn leaned back as he watched the man rifle through what Glenn had brought him. Finally he looked up with a small smile on his face. "Excellent. You did well." "Thanks." Glenn nodded but stayed seated. "You have something for me, I believe." "Indeed. You can pick it up when you leave. I also have another job for you." "Details?" Glenn replied succinctly. For the next few minutes the man explained precisely what he needed Glenn to do. When he'd finished Glenn nodded. Only then did he stand. "Usual payment?" "Of course." Glenn nodded sharply, turned and left the office. On his way out the woman at the front desk gave him an envelope which he pocketed. "Another city, another hotel," he muttered as he waited for the elevator. Two days later he was indeed in another city, in another anonymous hotel. His personal security system was set up, the case holding the tools of his trade was hidden behind the headboard of one of the single beds, and he was hungry and restless. 150
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After he'd dressed in a casual shirt and a pair of jeans, Glenn left the hotel. This was a city he had been to before and he knew just where he wanted to eat. The diner was small, barely a hole in the wall, the meals simple but excellently prepared. He ordered then leaned back in the booth as he watched the passing foot traffic through the plate-glass window. 'Pissed at her boyfriend,' he thought as one young woman walked by, keeping a good distance for the man beside her. 'Took something from a shop up the street,' was his opinion when a teen moved hurriedly down the street with one hand in his pocket, his eyes darting around as if he expected a cop to pull up beside him at any second. When he reached an alley he darted down it and disappeared from sight. As he thought of cops it immediately brought Joey to mind. Glenn smiled to himself briefly as he remembered the last time he'd seen him. He realized what he was doing and firmly pushed that to the back of his mind. Or at least he tried to. Unfortunately that was easier said than done. He pictured his house, the one he'd lived in for such a brief time, and Joey sitting at the table across from him that first, snowy night, wearing Glenn's sweats because his own clothes were soaking wet. From there his thoughts went to
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the last night at the house and Joey staring at him as Glenn sat on the edge of the tub, naked, in pain and still wanting the young man even though he was well aware he shouldn't. One look at Joey's face that night and Glenn knew he would have given in to his desires if it had been possible. Glenn sighed deeply and scrubbed a hand through his hair. The arrival of the waitress with his dinner helped to bring him out of his suddenly melancholy mood. He smiled at her, thanked her, and put all his concentration into eating. 'After all,' he thought, 'dwelling on what never could have been is stupid. I've moved on and so has he. Deal.'
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CHAPTER 25 "Something?" Eck asked when he saw Joey stare down one of the side streets with intense concentration. They had been riding patrol together for the last month and Eck had discovered that Joey had a knack for picking up on things that he himself might have missed. "Two kids who should be in school right now," Joey replied. "They seem to be way too interested in Mrs Smith's house." "And since we just saw her go into the grocery store that doesn't bode well." Eck turned onto the side street and drove slowly toward the kids. They saw the patrol car and took off running. Eck sped up then from the corner of his eye he saw Joey shake his head. "Even if we catch up with them we have no legit reason to roust them," Joey pointed out. "They should be in school." "True, but that's not our job, we're not truant officers. Figure we saved whatever Mrs Smith has that they might have taken and call it good." "You're too softhearted, Joey." Joey smiled slightly at what he would take as a compliment even though he suspected Eck didn't mean it 153
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that way. "I hope when the chips are down and it's important, I won't be." "You'll do fine. It's not like much happens around here other than traffic stops and bar fights. You've seen that. Or bored kids looking for some excitement like those two were." Eck chuckled. "Sometimes I'd give my bottom dollar for a nice murder just for a little excitement." "Bite your tongue. Besides even if there was one, we wouldn't be involved. The chief would probably bring in experts from outside." "Yeah." Eck pulled the car to a stop outside one of the two affordable restaurants in town and called in that they were breaking for lunch. "Sorry," he said after the fact, "I probably should have asked if this was okay with you. I'm just tired of take-out burgers." "It's fine." Joey got out, quickly followed by his partner, and they went inside. They found an empty table and ordered lunch. "So…" Eck studied Joey. "Found a pretty lady to keep you company yet? Not that there's a lot of choices around here." Joey shook his head. "Not really looking for one. I did take Kathy out last weekend but, well it was sort of a bust." That was true on both counts. Since only a couple of
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guys from high school knew he was gay, and they had both left town as soon as they'd graduated, he'd decided it might be better to date women occasionally to forestall any questions. Kathy was a girl he'd known in high school, nice enough and not nosy. They'd gone to a movie and for ice cream before he drove her home. They'd had fun but both admitted the spark wasn't there. "Know what you mean on that," Eck said wryly. He drummed his fingers on the table. "I play around but none of them are… it I guess. Eh, someday the right one will show up." "I suppose." Joey chuckled. "If not we'll end up a couple of old-maid bachelors." "I don't think that's what they're called," Eck told him, laughing. Joey laughed too. "Yeah, well you get what I mean."
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CHAPTER 26 "So what are you doing tonight?" Eck asked a couple of days later as he and Joey returned to the station to sign out for the day. "Nothing planned, why?" "I've got a date with Judy. You know her, the chick who works at the convenience store just outside of town." Joey nodded. "So anyway she called me, seems her cousin came in from out of town all of a sudden and, well…" Eck looked hopefully at Joey. Joey laughed. "You want me to come along to entertain her." "Okay, don't take this wrong because I know you like girls and all, but this cousin's a dude and just a kid, like just turned twenty-one a couple of weeks ago. I figured since we're going bowling maybe you could come along and like be his bowling buddy while I romance Judy." Joey thought about it, then shrugged. "Sure, why not, beats sitting in my apartment watching bad reality shows." "Thanks man, I owe you one. You want to meet us at the bowling alley at, say eight?" As he walked home twenty minutes later Joey was 156
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wondering what the hell had possessed him to tell Eck he'd come along. He hated bowling. Then he had a brainstorm. The minute he got into the apartment he tossed his jacket on the sofa, put his gun and the rest of his equipment away and took out his cell. "Mom, is Mary there?" He asked as soon as his mother picked up the phone. When she said yes, he asked to talk to her. "Hey," he said when his mother put her on the phone, "you doing anything tonight?" She wasn't but it still took some fast talking to get her to agree to come along, which included his promising to cover for her at the coffeehouse on his day off. At eight on the dot he pulled into the bowling alley parking lot. He figured he'd introduce Mary to Eck, who'd introduce her to the cousin, then he'd be free to leave, or at least sit at the bar with a beer and people-watch instead of making a fool of himself on the lanes. When they got inside Joey saw that Eck had already gotten a lane. He sat in the booth with Judy, who was a reasonably pretty blonde, on one side and a rather studious looking young man on the other. Eck greeted Joey with a cocked eyebrow when he saw Mary. Joey immediately introduced her then Eck introduced the young man, whose name was Nate.
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"Ready to rumble?" Eck asked with a grin once the introductions were finished. Joey chuckled and said that since he was a lousy bowler he'd be happy just to watch or run for food and drinks when needed. Immediately everyone gave him their orders, laughing when he rolled his eyes. "What do you think, that I have two sets of hands?" "You did offer," Eck pointed out, waving him away. "So go." With a mocking salute, Joey did. He came back a few minutes later laden down with drinks and snacks. Mary was up at that point and he winced when she rolled a gutter ball, before he went back to settle at the bar where he took out the book he'd brought with him to keep him busy. When he glanced up a while later he was surprised to see Eck right behind Mary, apparently showing her how to hold the ball. A quick glance at Judy showed she was less than pleased with how close he was standing. Joey thought about going back to join the group if for no other reason than to keep a good eye on things just in case. Then Eck went back to sit beside Judy and whisper something to her. Whatever he said seemed to appease her because she smiled. Joey was deep into his book again when he heard
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Nate say from beside him, "That must be an interesting read." Joey showed him the cover and the younger man nodded. "I read it a couple of months ago," which immediately set off a discussion on the pros and cons of what the author was putting forward on the subject. The debate might have continued if Eck hadn't called Nate's name to let him know it was his turn. "I'll be back in a minute," Nate said with a shake of his head. When Joey cocked an eyebrow Nate told him, "This is much more interesting than throwing a ball at a bunch of pins." As good as his word Nate was back as soon as he'd bowled his turn. As he sat down again there was a cheer from the others. Joey laughed at their excitement. "Looks like your cousin made a strike." Nate looked puzzled. "My cousin?" "Judy?" "Why do you think she's my cousin?" "That's what Eck said she told him, and that you just came in from out of town. I take it you aren't." "Ah, that explains it. I wondered why he kept calling me 'cuz'. I figured it was like 'man', 'Hey man', 'Hey cuz'. And no I'm not her cousin. I'm just her friend from upstairs."
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"Then why…?" Joey asked. "Knowing Judy, I bet I'm supposed to be deflecting any females that might show an interest in Eck though she didn't say that in so many words. He's got a reputation as a lady's man and she definitely does not like competition. I guess telling him I'm her out of town cousin made a better excuse for dragging me along," Nate explained. Joey shook his head in amusement. "You're shirking on your job then." "It's more fun talking books than trying to convince some woman I'm more interesting than Eck, which I'm not." "I'm sure there are women that would debate that; you're rather cute you know." "Yeah, well…" Nate shrugged. "Now, where were we before…" He sighed when he heard his name called again. "Sorry, duty calls." "I've got a feeling this time Judy wants you to take over helping Mary," Joey commented as he watched Eck again giving Mary a lesson in how to throw the ball. "He does seem to enjoy doing that," Nate agreed with a chuckle. "Be right back, again." Joey's eyes followed Nate as he crossed to the lane, then he dropped them quickly when he realized he'd been
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admiring the younger man's ass. 'Get a grip,' he thought with a touch of asperity. 'Even if I were looking, which I'm not, he's undoubtedly straight.' He shook his head and opened his book again since it looked as if Nate was going to be longer than he'd planned if the fact that Judy had corralled him and seemed to be having a deep conversation with him was any indication. "I'm in deep shit with her." Nate's voice interrupted Joey's concentration. "Judy?" "Yeah, well with both of them." Nate plopped down beside him. "I pointed out that Eck might pay more attention to her than Mary if she stopped sitting there and pouting. Judy wasn't a happy camper. So when it was Mary's turn again I stepped in before Eck could to adjust her stance. Mary just about bit my head off. Said she knew what she was doing." Joey laughed. "Well on that point she's right, she's an excellent bowler." "She is?" Nate looked at him in surprise. "Oh yeah, big time, so I'd say she's just having fun acting like a novice to catch Eck's attention. And I bet if you'd stepped in first to help her she'd have been just as happy."
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"Women," Nate muttered. "Half the human race, so I guess we're stuck with them." Nate nodded. To Joey it looked as if he was going to say something more then decided against it. When Joey looked at him in question Nate just shrugged and turned the conversation back to the book Joey was reading.
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CHAPTER 27 "Job well done, as always." The man looked across the desk at Glenn. "You can take some time off if you want. If not I have something else I could use you for." "Which is?" "One of the people I deal with needs a man eliminated. I had it all set up but things went south. The man who was supposed to do it managed to get himself arrested." "Stupid." "Agreed. So anyway I'm obviously in need of someone else to do the job if you're interested." "Where, when and how much?" "Manhattan, Kansas not New York, ASAP and the usual." Glenn frowned as he thought about it. That would take him to the one part of the country he'd tried his best to stay away from for the last two years. Not close to the town where Joey lived, but still too close for his own personal comfort. He knew if he took the job he'd have to resist the temptation to make a side trip when he'd finished. On the other hand he really couldn't afford to say no to the man. Being asked if he was interested was just a formality and 163
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both of them knew it. "All right, I'll do it." "Excellent." The man opened a desk drawer, took out a folder and slid it across the desk. After scanning it quickly Glenn asked, "What's he doing there?" "That's not something you need to know, you just have to make certain it's the last place he ever goes." "Understood. Now if there's nothing more you need I should get a move on." The man nodded. "Stay in touch." "Yeah." "I mean it, Tanner, this is too important." "I said I would." Glenn bit back the rest of what he wanted to say to the man and strode quickly out of the office.
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CHAPTER 28 "So," Eck said with studied casualness after he and Joey pulled out of the station house parking lot. "Is Mary… you know… seeing anyone?" Joey tensed as he looked at his partner. "Not that I know of," he replied casually. "But then she's still pretty young to be getting serious about someone." Eck nodded. "She's eighteen, right?" "And you're twenty-five if that's where you're going." "It's only seven year's difference." Joey would have smiled at that if it didn't immediately remind him that he'd once wanted someone who was much older than him, someone who had major issues with the age difference. But that was well in the past; now he had to deal with Eck's apparent interest in Mary. "If you were thirty and she was twenty-three it might not make such a big difference…" Joey began. "And when I'm fifty she'd be forty three which hardly counts at all." "True, but neither of those is the case. She's barely out of high school." "She acts much older, well from what little I've seen 165
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of her. She sure does when she's working." "You've been there?" Joey wondered why his mother hadn't said anything, although he supposed it was because he hadn't seen much of her or Mary since he'd started his own job. Eck shrugged casually. "I stop by there sometimes for coffee, just like everyone else in town." Joey nodded, looking at his partner whose eyes were focused on the road. "Does Mary know she's the reason you're there?" "Hell no. I mean, well no. I just talk to her sometimes when she brings my coffee over to me. Last night was the first time I've ever really, you know, been around her for so long." "What about Judy?" "It was just a date, not a commitment. And when she dragged her cousin along it wasn't really even that anymore." "If I hadn't brought Mary would you have thought differently?" Eck frowned. It took him a minute to answer. "Maybe. I probably would have made a move on Judy when I took her home, after we'd ditched Nate." "So you're not really all that interested in Mary
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other than as another conquest." "Hang on there, when did I say that?" "When you admitted you'd have made a move on Judy." Eck sighed as he steered the patrol car around the corner. "You're right, I did. But a man's got needs, you know that, and Judy would have put out in a second." With a scowl Joey told him, "You stay away from my sister, got that?" "Damn Joey, I wouldn't come on to her. She's… well… different." "Eck, you barely know her." "Yeah. So see if I'm going to get to know her I have to ask her out." "You're asking my permission?" Eck nodded. "Weird, huh?" "Very." Joey chuckled. "What the hell, go ahead and ask her. But so help me if I find out you've even thought about trying something I'll… I'll set mom on you." Eck grinned. "Now that's a threat I respect."
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CHAPTER 29 Glenn sat in the restaurant off of the hotel's lobby, his nose buried in a book. At least that's what it would have looked like to anyone who saw him. His concentration appeared to be totally on what he was reading. In point of fact he was barely aware of what was on the page. Instead he watched a man who was in the small bar sectioned off from the rest of the restaurant. He was his target and probably one of the most dangerous men Glenn had ever gone after. Dangerous because he was exactly like Glenn. 'So who's your target?' Glenn wondered. If he could find that out it could give him the edge he needed. So far Glenn had been in the city for twenty-four hours and the man he was after hadn't even left the hotel. 'Someone here or someone who hasn't arrived yet?' When the man turned on the barstool to glance toward the lobby Glenn cautiously checked to see what had captured his attention. There were four people on their way to the check-in desk, each one with luggage, none apparently with any of the others. The man returned his gaze to his drink but Glenn saw his eyes flick to the back bar mirror which would give him a decent view of the 168
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elevators. Two of the new arrivals finished signing in and headed to the elevators. Glenn's target shifted but stayed where he was. Glenn knew he was tracking which floors the elevator stopped at. Then the man finished his drink and ordered another, apparently not interested in the remaining pair still at the desk. 'That narrowed it down a bit.' Glenn closed his book, and left the restaurant after he'd stopped to pay for his meal. In need of a smoke, he stepped outside and lit up. Then he strolled far enough from the entrance that he wouldn't be hassled by the doorman and leaned against a pillar, ostensibly just enjoying the cigarette and the cool night air. In actuality he had a good view of the elevators from where he stood. He knew which floor his target was staying on, so if the man stopped at another one he'd know where to find the person he was after. It took twenty minutes and another cigarette before the man left the bar and headed to the elevators. Just as Glenn had hoped, the man was alone when he got on, and he rode up two floors above what would have been his normal stop. Five minutes later the light for that floor lit up again and the elevator went down two floors and stopped. Glenn headed back to his room to send an encoded
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email to his friendly hacker with the name of the hotel, the time the two men had arrived and the floor he was interested in. Ten minutes later he got his reply. "Well professor," he murmured under his breath, "let's see if I can keep you alive and still deal with the man I'm after." The man who hired Glenn had worked quickly once Glenn came up with a plan. The ID Glenn needed, plus two other items, arrived by private courier just after two am, along with the keys to a university security car which had been left in a parking garage a block away from the hotel. Glenn picked the car up, drove it to the hotel's front entrance then told the doorman that he would be back as soon as he'd collected his charge. 'If it were me I'd take him out on his way to the lab.' Glenn smiled tightly. 'But then he's not me and he likes to show off. So, where would make the biggest impact, and how? At the lab. Yes.' Those were Glenn's thoughts when he rapped on the professor's hotel room door, He adjusted the dark glasses he was wearing as the professor opened it and introduced himself as a member of the security team from the lab. "We may be acting overcautious," Glenn said as he showed the professor his ID, "but better that than having
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some disgruntled dissident trying to take a potshot at you." "Absolutely," the professor agreed haughtily. "I shall be ready to leave in ten minutes." Glenn paced impatiently as the professor took his time making certain he had everything he needed. Finally the man said he was ready. Glenn nodded, held up his hand, and stepped into the hall. When he determined it was clear he beckoned the professor to follow him. Three minutes later they were in the car. The drive to the lab was uneventful. When they arrived Glenn handed the professor over to the real security people who stood at the front entrance. Then he drove the car to the side of the building, parked and got out. Two minutes later he was back inside the building although no one was aware of it thanks to the back door access card that had been sent to him along with the ID. He paused just long enough to secure the door so that no one else could use it and to orient himself. Then he moved stealthily down the hallway. When he passed a door marked 'Janitor' he took off his jacket and left it inside the closet. Now all that was left to do was find his target. He was more than certain that the man was somewhere in the building.
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The professor, one of the foremost experts in his field Glenn had found out from his hacker, was at the lab to meet with the director and his people. That meant they were probably in a conference room. To take the professor out in a public venue in front of his colleagues would tickle the fancy of Glenn's target. Glenn knew there were three conference rooms on the second floor of the lab so he made his way up there using the fire stairwell. A long hallway greeted him, several doors flanking it on either side. He was about to check out the room behind the first one when he saw another at the far end of the hall open. Quickly he moved back to the stairwell, leaving the door open just enough to watch. His target stepped out of the room, all of his concentration on the elevator doors at the moment. 'You're slipping, you didn't make certain there wasn't anyone else here,' Glenn thought as he freed his gun from its holster. He could see, as his target finally turned slightly then to check the hall, that the man held a pistol by his side. The ding of the elevator announced its arrival. The man raised his pistol. The elevator doors began to slide open. Glenn stepped silently into the hall and fired. His target swung around from the impact of the bullet, saw
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Glenn, and shot at him. Glenn flinched as the bullet dug into his side and fired again. The target fell forward onto his knees just as two security guards stepped off the elevator, their guns drawn. They were beside the man seconds later, one of them kicking his gun away while the other ordered him not to move. Glenn snorted softly, closing the stairwell door on the scene. The only moving the target would be doing was to collapse the rest of the way onto the carpeted floor. A bullet to the heart did that to people. Glenn pressed his hand to his side as he ran down the stairs, feeling dampness where the bullet had grazed him. By the time he reached the basement of the lab, alarms were sounding. He raced to the exit, hit the panic bar to open the door, and sped up the short flight of stairs that led to the side of the building where he'd left the car. Twenty minutes later he stood in the bathroom of his hotel room while he assessed the damage to his side then bandaged it. "Twenty to one," he grumbled as he put on a clean shirt, "I'll get a 'Job well done' and a new assignment as soon as I get back." Now he had only one decision to make, was he going directly back or would he make a brief side trip first. Taking a coin from his pocket, he flipped it, caught it, and nodded.
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CHAPTER 30 'Well, well,' Joey thought as the door to the coffeehouse opened and Nate came in. Joey was doing as he'd promised, covering Mary's shift for the day in exchange for going with him to the bowling alley. He smiled when Nate came up to the counter. "Coffee, tea…?" "You?" Nate smiled shyly. "You didn't finish the statement." "Well if I had it would have been me not you," Joey pointed out. "True. And I'll take coffee, just plain, no fancy stuff." Joey nodded. "I think I'd have figured that. Something to eat?" Nate looked at the pastries in the case. "A bearclaw, please." "You got it." Joey filled his order before saying, almost as an afterthought, "I've never seen you in here before, not that I usually am these days, of course." There was another shy smile from Nate. "This is my first time here believe it or not." "Be still my heart, you came because you knew I was here," Joey said, laughing so Nate would know he was 174
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teasing, straight guy to straight guy style. Nate looked around then said softly, "I did." One eyebrow shot up in surprise as Joey replied, "For real?" "Look, I may be way off base here but I honestly hope not. Yes, I did because… well…" Nate chewed his lip. Joey hesitated for a long moment. "You're not off base," he finally admitted so quietly he wondered if Nate would even hear him. "Thank God." Nate smiled yet again, this time not as shyly as before. "Of course, just because… I'd better go." He picked up his order. "Phone number?" Joey blurted out. "Oh, I have one." He tore a strip off the top of the bag holding the pastry and wrote it down. "I'll call and maybe…?" Joey slipped the number into his shirt pocket. "I think so, yes." Nate smiled broadly before he headed out of the coffeehouse. 'Well… damn.' Joey's mother watched Nate leave then she looked at Joey and gave him a thumbs-up. He nodded, chuckled, and got back to work.
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CHAPTER 31 "Job well done." Glenn refrained from snorting when the man across the desk said that. "Better than well done actually because the lab's security guards took the responsibility for the kill." He studied Glenn thoughtfully. "You've done much better than I'd envisioned." "No faith in my skills?" Glenn smiled slightly. "Believe me Mr Tanner, your skills were never in question, but your loyalty was." With a shrug, Glenn replied, "I came to you, not vice versa." "True. Several of my compatriots were, shall we say, less than enthusiastic about your request, as you know well. You're very lucky you're not sitting in a federal penitentiary right now." "A trade off, my expertise for my freedom. It was worth it to me to take that chance." The man nodded. "I understood that from the day you first contacted me. Now I have something I need to discuss with you. Before you say anything, hear me out. As of this last job, your contract with us is fulfilled. You're 176
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free to walk away knowing that you can never be arrested for your past crimes. I know," he held up a hand to stop Glenn from stating the obvious, "tying you to what you used to do would be virtually impossible but as you pointed out when you asked for my help, there are people who could have turned on you and ratted you out as you put it. If they tried that now they'd be laughed at to put it mildly. And that said, I have a proposition for you, continue to work for us, freelance and on your own terms." Glenn leaned back, tapping his fingers on his thighs. "An interesting offer," he finally said. "No strings?" "No strings." "I can turn down a job if I want to?" "I said freelance. Off the books, no way to tie you to us, so of course you may." "I don't work for peanuts." "How 'bout cashews?" the man asked with a chuckle. "Macadamias." The man laughed. "Macadamias it is, figuratively speaking. Will you consider it?" Glenn nodded. "I have, and I will, as long as there are no written, auditory or visual records of our agreement. This is between you and me, how you arrange payment is
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your problem." "This room is secure." With a tight smile Glenn said, "I know. I've checked it several times." The man's eyebrows rose in amusement. "Why am I not surprised?" He held out his hand. "So we have a deal?" Glenn shook it. "We do."
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CHAPTER 32 Joey bent to touch his toes then straightened again to look at Nate with a grin. "Your turn." "So you can watch my ass?" Nate replied. "Well you just watched mine." "Supposition." "True enough. You ready?" Joey pointed to the trail ahead of them. This was their first date for lack of a better description. Since neither of them was out except to their families, and in Nate's case a very few close friends, they'd come to the mutual decision that seeing each other should be done in such a way that no one would question it. Going running was a logical choice. "Ready." Nate took off with Joey just behind him for a moment before he drew up beside him. "Cheater," Joey grumbled. "You're in good shape, I'm not so much. I need every advantage I can get." "You're younger than me, that gives you an edge right there." "Only a year younger and you're a cop, I'm a desk jockey," Nate protested with a laugh. 179
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Joey picked up the pace a bit just to be ornery. They made it half a mile up the slope beside the riding trail before Nate stopped, bending over hands on his knees, panting. "You okay," Joey asked, slightly worried. Nate stood up again, grinned, and took off at a fast pace. "You are so dead," Joey called after him. "First you have to catch me," Nate shouted over his shoulder. Joey didn't waste any breath on talking as he went after Nate. Seeing a soft patch of grass just ahead he sped up and tackled Nate just as he reached it. They landed in a tangle of arms and legs, their laughter echoing through the trees. Joey recovered first. He looked down at Nate who was half under him with a smile. "I win." "Like hell." "No," Joey smiled. "I win because I captured you." "So now I'm your prisoner." "Umm humm." "And your wish is my command." Nate looked up into Joey's startling blue eyes and said softly, "I can live with that."
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"I can too," Joey whispered while he traced his finger over Nate's lips. Then he kissed him.
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CHAPTER 33 Glenn sprawled back on the hotel bed, relieved that the job was finished. It had been three months since he'd become a legitimate freelance…liquidator he supposed was the best word for it. Hitman sounded so tacky now and he wasn't really an assassin. The only problem with the whole thing, legit or not, was that he was back at square one. It had been a little over three years since he'd decided to get out of the business and here he was, still in it and no closer to having the sort of life he longed for than he had been back then. If anything he was even further away from it. 'Or am I?' he pondered. 'There's no reason why I can't have my own place now and still do what I do, as long as no one knows where it is. And that means no one. Not the boss-man or the people he works for. No one.' That took his thoughts to the one place that he had, however briefly, called home. It was still his; he'd bought it outright and kept up on the taxes, all in some perverse hope that someday he'd return. 'So why shouldn't I? There's not a person in my world that knows about the place, past or present. The only ones who do couldn't care less by now I'm sure.' 182
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That thought hurt but he was certain it was the truth. Joey would have moved on by now. He was young and there had to be someone in his life now that meant more to him than Glenn ever had. 'It was a passing infatuation, nothing more. For him, for me, for both of us.' He sighed. 'If that's the truth then why is he still on my mind? Why doesn't a day pass when I don't think about him? Damn, I'm like some love-struck teenager and it's been forever and a day since I was even close to that.' God knew he'd done his best to put that behind him. He'd had more quick, down and dirty one night stands than should be allowed for a man of his age. And not one of them helped relieve the real ache, the one in his heart. 'It's insane! And the only way I'll get over it, over him, is to go back there and face my demons. When I see that he's happy with someone else I can move on, make a real life for myself. Hell, maybe find a man or woman of my own who'll care for me.' He sat up and looked at his reflection in the mirror on the dresser across from the bed. 'I'm old. Well, older. It's time to put the past behind me.' He smiled wryly at his reflection. 'Look out world, the new me is about to make an appearance.'
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CHAPTER 34 "So Mary and Eck…?" Nate leaned back in his chair, toying with his coffee cup as he looked at Joey. "I think so. They seem to be forming some sort of bond despite the age difference." They were at the coffeehouse, Joey just having gotten off shift. He was working nights now, patrolling the quiet town. Nate was on his way to work, with the stop to get coffee and a pastry on the way. At least that was the ostensible reason. In reality, with Joey's new hours, the two young men took any chance they could get to see each other. They were still getting to know each other, their likes and dislikes and all the other details that melded into a relationship. On a physical level they were still exploring, which involved a lot of kissing and touching but nothing more… yet. Joey was hoping to change that sometime soon. He thought Nate was as well. They were still dancing around it though, Nate out of shyness. Joey, well he wasn't certain why it had taken him so long to want to make the final step. He just knew that something had been holding him back. "She certainly looks happy," Nate commented. With a laugh, Joey told him, "According to mom, if 184
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Mary were any more bubbly she'd be floating on the ceiling. Eck's changed too. Last time I rode patrol with him all he could talk about was how sweet she was. And he never even looked at any of the girls on the street. It was like they didn't exist to him." "It's serious then," Nate opined with a laugh. Joey's thoughts turned inward for a moment as he remembered what Mary had been through. "As long as he doesn't push her there's a chance for them," he said under his breath. Nate looked at him in question. Joey shook his head. "Just an observation, nothing more, since he is older." "Sometimes age makes no difference." "To some people, yeah," Joey replied, hoping the bitterness that suddenly hit him didn't show. He smiled to cover it, reaching over to take Nate's hand. "Not a problem for us, unless you consider a year's difference a problem," he joked. "My God yes, you're positively ancient. You must feel like you're robbing the cradle," Nate said with a straight face. Joey replied with equal seriousness. "I sure do, and the diapers are a pain." Then they broke into laughter. After a fast look around to make certain no one was watching, Joey gave
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Nate a quick kiss. Then he looked at his watch and sighed. "You'd better get a move on or you'll be late." "Clock-watcher," Nate growled as he swallowed the last of his coffee and stood up. "Comes
with
being
the
elder,
I take
my
responsibility for you very seriously." "Uh huh, sure." Taking his own look around, Nate bent to drop a fast kiss on Joey's lips before telling him he'd call as soon as he was off work.
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CHAPTER 35 When Glenn drove up the lane he felt as if he was coming home. In truth he realized that he was. No matter what had happened in the past, no matter what might happen in the future, this house was his home and he had missed it. He had a sneaking suspicion, as he drove slowly around the side and parked in back, that he'd have a lot of cleaning up to do before it was truly habitable again. It had after all been standing vacant for over two years. But he didn't give a damn. He'd taken a month's leave and fully intended to use every second of that time to turn the place into a real home, one he would come back to whenever he wasn't on a job. After he'd parked he opened the back of the van to take out the two bags that held the clothes he'd brought with him and carry them onto the porch. Next he got the two cases that held his tools; one held those of his trade, the other those that he'd need to start fixing the place up again. Then he unlocked the back door and immediately checked the alarm box, disarming the system since he'd called the previous afternoon to have the electricity turned on. He took in what was on the porch, made two more 187
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trips for the rest of what he'd brought with him, and began a walk-through to see how well the place had survived his two-year absence. Surprisingly well as it turned out. There had been no vandalism which he had to admit surprised him. A couple of windows were cracked, probably the result of windstorms tossing debris around or birds hitting them. There was water damage in one of the upstairs rooms which meant he'd have to check the roof above it for a leak. All in all he was happily surprised that the house was in such good condition other than a thick layer of dust on everything. He set to work dealing with that amid much sneezing and coughing. He carried one of the boxes upstairs to his bedroom and after he turned the mattress and made certain nothing had managed to sneak in and make its nest in the stuffing he made the bed and put out towels in the bathroom. 'Damn, I'm almost domestic,' he thought when he finished and went back downstairs with towels and dishrags for the kitchen. Clothes were next and he hung them up neatly in the closet. Then he went into what had been his office. With the electricity on, he was able to open the storage closet. Before he'd left he had put the electronics on the shelves. Now he took them out, replaced them with his
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weapons cases, and locked the door again. He set up the computer, checked that it was working, with the thought that he really needed to get a newer one, and took the television down to the living room. 'All the comforts of home.' He chuckled softly. Not all, but a beginning. Among other things there was no food other than what he'd brought with him. He had a sudden thought and went to open the refrigerator. "Oh hell," he growled. In his hurry to get out of there two years earlier he hadn't even thought about clearing out the food. Now he had what amounted to major science experiments in there, rancid, stinky ones whose smell turned his stomach. He slammed the door closed. 'Blood and guts I can deal with, that…' He shuddered, very glad he'd only picked up canned goods, cold cereals and bread that could stay on the counter for the time being, once he'd washed said counters down. By the time he'd finished it was dark out and he was hungry. He found a pan, opened a can of stew, heated it, and with bowl in hand he went out to sit on the front porch. The evening was still warm and a three-quarter moon lit the front yard. 'Another thing to do in the next couple of days, turn the wilderness back into a lawn.' He smiled as he leaned
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back against the stair railing and savored being home. 'Yes, this is indeed home.'
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CHAPTER 36 "Hey, you know the old William's place," Eck said while he waited for Mary to finish up with closing chores at the coffeehouse. "Looks like the man who used to live there is back. Or else he sold it and the new owners have moved in." Joey, who had stopped in to pick up coffee on his way to work, felt his heart stutter. Mary on the other hand let out a whoop. "Glenn's back." She turned to Joey's mother. "Did you hear that? He's back." Miriam nodded, her eyes focused on Joey. "Like Eck said, it's probably someone who bought the place. I doubt he'd come back after all this time." "Who's Glenn?" Eck wanted to know. "Just a man we sort of knew," Joey told him. "He lived there for a short time then moved. Guess he didn't like small town life." Mary looked like she would refute that until Miriam shot a look at her. "Yeah," she said instead as she linked her arm with Eck's, "he was sort of a friend for a while. He was nice," she added almost defiantly. "Nicer than me?" Eck teased. "Well…" Mary pretended to think about it then 191
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grinned. "Not even." With a kiss to her forehead, Eck suggested they'd better leave or they'd miss the movie. When they were gone Joey ran a hand through his hair and sighed deeply. "Why now?" "You don't know it's him," his mother pointed out. "And even if it is why does it matter? You have Nate and you care about him. Don't go looking for trouble, Joey." He gave a slight nod. "I know, mom. But why is he… why would he come back?" "The house does belong to him. Perhaps he's there to pick up whatever he left behind?" "After more than two years? Come on." She walked over to stand in front of him, her eyes searching his face. "Do you still care about him?" "I never stopped," he said sadly. "I put him out of my mind, as much as possible, but not out of here," he touched his chest. "But you and Nate…" "I like Nate, I really do. We're good together. We mesh, if you know what I mean. But…" Joey turned away, looking toward the window. "The passion isn't there," his mother said, understanding.
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"Yes, I suppose that's it. I don't feel as if it would be devastating if he… well, if he suddenly decided to move on, or move away. I'd miss him but… but not like I missed Glenn. And that's so stupid." He spun back to look at his mother. "I hardly knew Glenn, not really." She smiled softly. "No, but you were attracted to him from the first moment you saw him. I remember how you tried to pretend you weren't but a mother knows. The question is what are you going to do if he shows up in town? Because if it is him, and if he has moved back, it's inevitable that he will." "Run like hell in the other direction?" Joey replied with a small quirk of his lips. "Honestly, mom, I have no idea. I just know that when Eck said what he did it felt as if somehow my prayers had been answered. Stupid, huh?" "No, not at all. Whether or not there was more between the two of you than just being momentarily attracted to each other because of the circumstances, you never had closure so of course you still feel that he's… important for lack of a better word." "He didn't feel the way I did, I know that, so why am I still hanging on to the dream?" She looked at him, debating the wisdom of revealing what she knew of Glenn's feelings for him.
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He returned her gaze, saw something in it, and asked, "What?" "He did care. I think, no I'm certain, that's why he left." She smiled slightly. "I did the mother thing and talked to him. I needed to know… I didn't want you hurt so I had to find out if there was any chance that he might have felt something for you." "Why didn't you ever tell me?" Joey asked, anger surfacing. "It wasn't my place to at the time, and afterward what good would it have done? It would have just made you put your life on hold while you hoped he'd come back to you, for you. Something about his life, and I don't think it was entirely the age thing, made him fight the idea that he could be what you needed." Joey scrubbed a hand over his face. "So now what do I do?" "That I can't tell you, it's your decision to make." He nodded slowly. "Yeah, I guess it is." **** Nate pulled out of Joey's embrace to look at him. "What's wrong?"
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"What makes you think anything is?" "Your mind wasn't on what you were doing." Joey smiled, touching Nate's lips with a fingertip. "I was kissing you and believe me my mind was definitely on that." "No it wasn't." Nate leaned back against the arm of the sofa, pulled his legs up to wrap his arms around his knees, and shook his head. "Is something wrong at work, or with your family?" "All right, yes something is bothering me. I keep worrying about Mary. She's so young compared to Eck," Joey replied, lying through his teeth. No way would he say anything to Nate about Glenn. After all what was there to say? He hadn't even seen Glenn since his rumored return. He could have checked it out, could have made a run up to the house while he was on patrol with the excuse that he was there to make certain the place hadn't been broken into. He'd even contemplated doing that, and chickened out. He came back to the moment to hear Nate say, "…is only a number." Nate sighed when Joey looked puzzled. "Pay attention. I was saying that age is only a number; it's what they feel in their hearts that counts. If you were ten years older than me instead of just one would that make a
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difference as far as you're concerned? I know it wouldn't to me." "I… no. No of course it wouldn't. I'd still feel the same way for you that I do now. At least I guess I would." Joey smiled at him. "I mean how can I say for certain? I'm not ten years older. I suppose I'm worrying because she's my sister and I don't want to see her get hurt." "Which makes you a good brother. That's one of the things I really like about you, you care about everyone." "Especially you." Joey grinned at Nate because he needed to get back into the moment, not remain in the past. He took Nate's hand to pull him back beside him. "Now where were we?" he teased. "I was about here…" Nate shifted, "your arms were here…" He wrapped Joey's arms around him again then shook his head and moved away again. "What now?" Joey asked with a frustrated groan. "If you do care about me then tell me what's really going on in your head. Perhaps Mary is part of it, but I don't think that's all." Nate watched Joey's face as he said that and saw it shut down. He stood and walked away from the sofa then turned back to look at Joey. "Is there someone else?" Joey wanted to deny that there was, especially since
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there really wasn't except in his own mind. He owed Nate the truth however. "This is hard to explain," he began. "Then there is." Hurt flashed across Nate's face. "Not in the way that you're thinking." Joey patted the sofa but Nate shook his head and stayed where he was, his arms crossed over his chest. Joey nodded and continued. "A little over two years ago I met a man, a much older man, who…" He blew out a long breath. "I thought we had made a connection even though he kept trying to push me away. I thought that I loved him." "That explains why you're worried about Mary and Eck," Nate murmured, avoiding the last part of what Joey had said because it hurt too much. "Yes, in a way, even though they seem to be making it work. I couldn't… make it work that is. If he cared for me he wasn't willing to admit it, at least to me. Instead, he… ran." "And you've been pining after him ever since. That doesn't say much for how you feel about me." "No! No. It took time but I finally got him out of my head then I met you." Joey smiled at him. "I do care for you, don't doubt that for an instant." "You care… but. I can feel there's a big one coming."
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Joey chewed his lip and nodded slowly. "I think he's back in town." "You think, you don't know? How is that possible?" "He's got a house but it's not in town. Eck said someone was living there now." "The man." Nate sighed deeply. "Why haven't you gone to see him, or have you and you just don't want to tell me?" "I haven't. Nate, damn it… I want to, I think, but I don't know. We, you and I, have something between us. It wouldn't be fair to you…" "Screw fair," Nate spat out angrily. "What's not fair is my wondering if at any moment you will go to him and that just maybe whatever you thought might have been happening before…" He sighed again. "Joey, you need to find out. Maybe he's back just because it's his house, or maybe he returned because you're here." Slowly he walked back to the sofa and sat, but not too close to Joey even though he did reach across to take his hand. "You and I can't move on until you face this man. If he, if you," he dropped his eyes, "if you do love him and he loves you…" "And if we don't?" Joey squeezed Nate's hand. "Now that you know, how could you be willing to be with me anymore?"
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"Because I do care for you. It's not love, yet, but I do care." He looked at Joey, his face as serious as his voice. "Go talk to him. If it works and you want to be with him I'll understand. If it doesn't," he smiled slightly, "I'll be here for you however you want me, as a friend or more." "You're damned amazing," Joey said with heartfelt sincerity. Nate shrugged. "I'm just me." Then he leaned close enough to kiss Joey softly. "Now go. See what happens, for all our sakes." Joey stood slowly, bent to brush the softest of kisses across Nate's lips, and started to say something. Nate shook his head. "Just go." Joey nodded, touched Nate's cheek, then left.
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CHAPTER 37 Glenn looked at his handiwork and nodded. 'That should end that problem, I hope.' He'd just finished the repairs to the place on the roof where wind or maybe a squirrel had torn up two of the shingles. As long as he was up there he decided to check the rest of them for damage so he made his way to the peak of the roof where he could see it in its entirety. The back side looked fine. He turned his attention to the front and paused when he thought he saw a car on the road that ran past his place. When it vanished from view behind the trees he shrugged and went back to what he was doing. Then he froze when he heard it pull onto the lane. Seconds later it came into view. The sun hit the windshield so he couldn't see who was driving. 'Just a nosy parker, better get rid of them.' He slid down the back side of the roof, detached the safety rope tied to the chimney from around his waist, climbed down the ladder and went around to the front yard. "Well, well, what brings you to my neck of the woods?" Glenn said, trying for casualness he definitely didn't feel when he saw Joey get out of the car. "Just checking to make certain someone hadn't 200
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decided to break in here." Joey replied. The excuse he'd finally decided to put to use sounded lame even to him. "Someone reported they thought someone was up here and…" He shrugged. "And it never occurred to you that I might have come back? It is after all my house." "Yeah, well…" Joey looked down at the ground, mumbling, "Now that I know it's just you I should get going." "Don't go." Glenn immediately regretted the harsh and yet pleading tone in those two words but he couldn't retract them now so he amended it. "Stick around. We have a lot to catch up on." Joey bit down on his lip as he considered the wisdom of doing just that. It was why he was here and yet… Finally he looked up and nodded. "Might as well." Glenn thumbed toward the front porch stairs. Joey nodded again and followed him, sitting guardedly on the edge of one. "So you're a cop now," Glenn said with the hope that statement might make Joey relax a bit, if it were possible for either of them to do such a thing. Joey nodded. "I am." "I knew you'd make it."
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Joey lifted his eyes to look at Glenn. "Yeah, you did have that kind of faith in me at least. And you? Are you still running around rescuing people from bad guys?" "Nowadays, yeah, sort of. Wasn't really doing that back then. Helping all of you was just… it just happened." "A lot of things 'just happened' back then," Joey replied somewhat snarkily. "At least that part ended… successfully?" "All things considered, yes it was successful. How's Mary doing now?" "She's alright, seeing a guy on the force, he's older but they seem to be making it work." "Does he know…?" "What happened to her? I have no idea. That's her story to tell when the time comes." "And your mom?" Joey smiled. "Mom is mom. She's good." "And Harv? And hell I don't care about how he's doing. How are you doing? Do you… are you…?" Glenn looked away, not wanting to see Joey's face if he said he was involved with someone. Joey pretended not to understand what he knew Glenn was asking. "Do I like being a cop? You better believe it. And am I still living at home? Nope, I've got a
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place of my own." "With a roommate?" "No, all to myself." "Ahh." Glenn essayed a small smile. "Like me." "No one in your life?" Joey resisted crossing his fingers in hopes that there wasn't even though he knew it would be for the best if there was. "No. Never been that lucky, though there was a time when I hoped…" Glenn's face closed down. "No you didn't," Joey said harshly. "You did all you could to push me away." "What makes you think I was talking about you?" "Oh, yeah, well I guess…" Joey stood suddenly. "I have to leave." "Sit. Please." When Joey didn't, Glenn sighed. "Yes, I was talking about you." Slowly, hesitantly, Joey resumed his seat on the stair. "Did you really hope?" "In my own way, yeah, when I was willing to admit it to myself. Which wasn't often. I knew it wouldn't have worked but that didn't stop me from wishing." "Why wouldn't it have worked? Because you thought I was way too young for you I get, but…" Joey studied him. "There was more, wasn't there?"
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Glenn nodded, returning Joey's look. "We were diametrically opposite in too many ways. The age thing and, well you wanting to be a cop, which by the way was, is a good thing in my book." Joey leaned back against the railing and asked, "If that made us, as you put it 'diametrically opposite', then would I be wrong in thinking you were on the other side of the legal fence?" "Way on the other side. I can tell you this now without fear of any repercussions." When Glenn said nothing more Joey cocked an eyebrow. "How far on the other side?" Glenn shrugged. "I was a contract killer, a hitman." After a very long pause during which several emotions crossed Joey's face, including shock, some surprise then acceptance, Joey said, "That explains a lot." He chuckled. "I was sort of thinking you were a spy or some sort of black-ops." "Not even close back then." That's when something Glenn said hit him. "You keep talking about that being in the past but aren't you… I mean even if you quit doing that, the police still have to be looking for you." "I took a chance, made a trade-off with people who
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have the power to make me a person of non-interest now. Not that anyone ever knew who I was except for a few middlemen." "You must have been damned good at what you did and how you did it." Joey was surprised at how calmly he was taking all of this. So was Glenn when it came down to it. "Why aren't you walking away as fast as you can now that you know?" he asked. "Hell if I know," Joey admitted. "Partly because I find that part of you… interesting? It explains a lot. Partly I suppose because you've implied that you don't do that anymore." "Not true. I do it, just for the…" Glenn made quotes with his fingers, "the good guys." "That was the trade-off; they wiped the slate clean in exchange for your becoming their private hitman." "I prefer the term liquidator, and, yes, for two years I was exactly that. Now I'm freelance." "Freelance?" "They have jobs for me, I can say yea or nay, depending." "Why not just totally walk away now that it's safe?" Glenn smiled a bit. "I guess because now I am
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working for people who are trying to keep the world safe, as cliché as that might sound. I'm one of the best around, and that's no brag, so why not put it to use in some positive way to make up for how I was before." "I suppose it would be naive of me if I didn't get that what you're doing is necessary." "But you don't like the idea. Understood." "Did I say that? Don't go putting words in my mouth. I'm a cop, maybe just a small town one but I do know there are people out there who don't deserve to be left alive. Unfortunately there's nothing I can do about it, being what I am, how I am. That doesn't mean someone else shouldn't." Glenn cocked his head in agreement. "So now you know what I am, and why, well part of the reason why, I did my best to keep you at arm's length." Joey nodded slowly. "When you ran… umm, was it after that you decided to talk to those people?" "Yes. At that point I really had nothing to lose. I could have stayed, no one knew who I was and I'd made damned sure no one from my past could ever find me. But I didn't see that as an option. I…" Glenn pressed his lips together as if trying to keep the words in. "Even if you had been willing to be with me, as old as I am, everything we
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might have had together would have been based on a lie." "Damn it," Joey growled, "will you drop it with the age thing. I've had that up to here." He touched the top of his forehead. "I can see what you were thinking however. At that point, if you'd admitted what you had been, I would have run like hell, and if I found out later that would have been the end of it because you hadn't trusted me enough to tell me." "Exactly. So as I said, I had nothing to lose by trying to get my life onto the track I wanted. I had something to offer them if they were interested, in exchange for my… freedom, I guess." Joey frowned. "You could be sitting in the penitentiary right now." "True, that was a definite risk but at that point I really didn't care. Well…" he added with a small grin, "not too much anyway." Joey looked around then, taking in the house and the property that surrounded it, before returning his gaze to Glenn. "Why did you come back?" "Because this is my home." "Oh." Joey tried to hide the hurt he felt. "Well, welcome home. Thanks for being honest with me about… everything. Now I guess I should leave and let you get back
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to whatever you were doing." "Fixing the roof." Glenn watched as Joey stood. "I also came back because you were here," he said very softly. "Against my better judgment, but I did." Although Joey felt unbelievable elation when the meaning of Glenn's words sank in, he showed none of it on his face. In fact he frowned, his hands tightening into fists. "And what if there's someone else in my life now? What then?" Glenn flinched but didn't drop his gaze. "I'd hoped there wasn't, but if there is then all I can say is he's a lucky man to have won your love. You deserve someone you can love who loves you in return." A long silence ensued after Glenn's words, neither man looking away from the other. "That's the problem," Joey finally said, "I don't love him." He looked away then. "I like him, he's a good man, we have a lot in common." He shook his head slowly. "But… as my mother put it, the passion isn't there." "There's more to loving someone than just passion," Glenn replied even though he felt he was cutting his own throat by pointing that out. Joey sank down onto the stairs. "I'm not a callow fool, I know that. But there still has to be more to love than
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just enjoying each other's company." He smiled bleakly, catching Glenn's eyes. "Doesn't there?" "You're asking the wrong man here. I've never been in a situation where I could even ask that question. However, I'd say yes, there does have to be more, for me at least. Have the two of you… you said you didn't have a roommate but does he spend the night?" Joey couldn't help but smile. "You can kill someone without a second thought, but you're afraid to ask in so many words if I'm sleeping with him. Well the answer is that I'm not. We've known each other for a while now but we've never gotten beyond kissing and a bit of touching." "Thank God," Glenn muttered before he could stop himself. "Sorry, that was unnecessary." "Maybe, but it was an honest response. If I'd said that I was sleeping with him I doubt you'd have reacted the same way, or I hope you wouldn't have." "Believe me, if you'd said you were my first impulse would have been to find that man and…" He chuckled softly. "I wouldn't have though. If I thought you were happy with him I'd back off and… back off." Joey cocked an eyebrow. "That's it, you'd just back off." "It would hurt, but yeah. I want to see you have
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what's best for you and if he's it, I have no right to interfere." "Well that's a damned noble statement." "It was rather, wasn't it?" Glenn replied with a slight smile. "Doesn't mean it's not the truth though." "So you wouldn't fight for me? I think I'm hurt." "If I thought I stood a chance, damned straight I would, but no one can fight love." "Well, Mr Tanner, you're right about that. Oh, that is your real name isn't it, I hope." "Yeah, Glenn Tanner is me, the real me." "Good. Now as I was saying, Mr Tanner, you're right, you can't fight love so will you please for once stop trying to?" "Meaning?" "Ever since the day we met you've done all in your power to push me away. Well it's time that stopped." Joey inched a bit closer to Glenn as he said that. "What about… what's his face?" "Nate? We've talked and he… knows about you. He said he understands and I pray that he does, as callous as that may sound. You on the other hand…" He moved another inch closer. "Are going to be stuck with you?"
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"I hope you don't really think of it that way, but yeah, you are. I'm tired of the games. You're not too old, I know what you do, and what you did, and I can deal with it. Are there any other barriers you can think of that I need to knock down?" "Umm, no." Glenn eyed him with cautious amusement. "Good. Then damn it will you kiss me. I've been waiting for over two years to see what it would be like." "I'm still too old for you," Glenn muttered as he closed the distance between them. "We'll see about that once I get you to bed," Joey replied with a broad grin. He wrapped his arms around Glenn's neck. "But I think you can keep up." "Damned straight I can," Glenn growled. And then he kissed him.
The End
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Born and bred in the wilds of suburban Cleveland, I went to college, earning a degree in technical theatre and soon afterwards headed to NYC. Waiter was me, well aside from a brief stint at an off-Broadway theater. Finally seeing the futility of trying to become rich and famous in the Big Apple, I joined VISTA and ended up in Chicago working at a home for troubled boys. From there it was on to Denver where I've been ever since, working as a designer at a costume shop until just recently. I started writing about five years ago when I joined an on-line fanfic group and discovered I truly enjoyed it. Since then, I started my own loop with two friends and have branched out into writing primarily m/m stories, both erotic and just romantic. Blogs: http://edwardkendrick.blogspot.com/ http://edwardkendrick.multiply.com/ Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=10000115958833 1 Email:
[email protected]
ALSO BY EDWARD KENDRICK: Available at Silver Publishing: Everyone's Man Lies and Misunderstandings Hitman's Creed
