A red tainted Silence (36 page)

Sylvie was with him now. She’d been pale and shaking, but determined when she’d arrived at the hospital earlier in the morning with Jenny, coming over the minute she hit Durango’s airport.

Marisa walked into the room then, all businesslike, briefcase in her hand. I shut my laptop. I wasn’t going to work on it while she was around, though she’d actually been pretty civil with me since Nick’s disappearance. I guess having a kid had tempered her quite a bit.

That, and we’d both been so terrified Nicholas would never be found, we’d formed a tentative sort of bond. A truce, if you will, that I’d just as soon lasted.

I hoped she and Katie would get along all right.

“Hey, guys, good news. Everything’s a go,” she said, walking over to Nicholas.

Jenny stood and scooped the last of the letters off Nick’s bed. It looked like he’d had enough anyway. He lay back and stretched out, covering himself with a blanket.

“The house is ours?” Nicholas asked.

Marisa nodded and set her briefcase on the bed. I pushed up from my chair, grabbed my crutches, and joined them as Marisa opened the briefcase and began to pull out papers. I sat on the edge of the bed, feeling a thrill as his hand rested on my sweatpants-clad thigh. I grinned at Marisa’s pause as Nick’s thumb absently stroked my leg.

She cleared her throat. “Six month lease, fully furnished. Owner’s out of the country until August and is thrilled to have you guys. Brandon, what we talked about is okay with him.”

I smiled. “Good.”

Nicholas looked from me to Marisa. “What? What did you talk about?” Marisa shook her head. “None of your business, Nicholas.”

“It’s a surprise, Nick,” I said, kissing him on the cheek. He glared at me, pouting, and I held up a finger. “Now, now,” I said as he opened his mouth to protest, “don’t ask any more questions, or you won’t get your surprise.”

He crossed his arms over his chest and looked up at the ceiling. “Fine. Be that way.

Don’t tell me anything. I can take it.”

I stood over him, balancing on my good foot, grabbed him gently by the chin, and kissed him. “Hush, boy wonder. You’ll find out tomorrow.” 208

Carolyn Gray

He sighed into my mouth and kissed me back. I pulled away, grinning at him as he grinned at me. He reached up and pulled me back to him, crushing his lips against mine before playfully pushing me away. “You’d better, or there will be no more of that.” I laughed and sat down. “Message received.”

“Good. So, when do I get out of here? When when when?”

“Tomorrow, if your doctor says it’s okay,” I said.

Nicholas smiled at me as he settled back against his pillows. He looked content, but was a little pale against the white sheets. Tired, too tired. I shouldn’t have let him work with Jenny for so long. But his sigh was happy as he pulled the blankets up to his chest. It’d gotten a little chillier in the room, I noticed.

“Tomorrow. That sounds wonderful.” He yawned.

“If the doctor says it’s okay, Nicholas,” I said, tucking the blanket under his chin.

He rubbed his cheek against my hand and then kissed it. “She will. And I’ll bribe her if she doesn’t.”

I had no doubt he would.

Marisa cleared her throat. “Okay, guys. There’s a front gate, so no one will be able to come up to the house without authorization. A security company will be out to set that up.

Six bedrooms -- the master and one other bedroom downstairs, the rest upstairs. Here’s the plans.” She handed me an outline of the floor plan. “Two dining areas, a game room, living room, and media room downstairs. There’s another smaller room off a hallway by the kitchen.” She grinned. “Maid’s quarters, but I swear they’re bigger than my last apartment.

Perfect for Sylvie, and Tommy when he gets out.” I nodded, eyeing the master bedroom. Our bedroom. Mine and Nick’s, at least for a little while. I glanced at him, then handed the plans to him. Sam, Adam, and Jonathan would stay upstairs. Jenny and her husband weren’t planning on going home for another couple of weeks, so they could take the second room downstairs. Yes, things were falling into place.

“You did good, Marisa. Thanks.”

She looked at me in brief surprise, but nodded. “You’re welcome. There’s a pool house out back, where your bodyguards can stay. It’s a full apartment, very comfortable.”

“What about you, Marisa?” Nicholas asked. “Where are you staying?” She hesitated, glancing at me. “I’ll be going home.”

“You’re not staying?” he said. “Why not?”

“I need to get back home, Nicholas. I miss my son, you know.” Nicholas winced. “Of course you do. I’m sorry --” She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “Don’t worry about it. There was no question that I’d come until I was sure you’d be okay. I’ll fly back out here whenever A Red-Tainted Silence

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necessary.” She put everything back into the briefcase, closed it, and then handed it to me.

“Your local lawyer will meet with you guys in the morning to sign the papers.”

“Thanks. I --”

The door opened. I watched Nick’s eyes widen in wariness. Then he broke into a grin as a dark brown and tan object hurled itself into the room. “Barkley!” I laughed, moving over as the spaniel sprang onto the bed and into Nick’s arms, covering his face with doggy kisses. Barkley zoomed off the bed, whirled around the room, to everyone’s amusement, and back onto the bed again, where Nicholas captured him.

“Surprise!” a voice said at the door.

I moved away from the bed as my brother walked into the room, looking tired but well pleased with himself.

“Adam,” I said, hobbling over to him.

He grabbed me in a hug, holding me tight. “Little brother, damn, it’s good to see you.” He pushed me back, shaking his head at me, then chucking me on the chin. “Didn’t know you had it in you, tough guy. You are fucking amazing, doing what you did.” He surprised me by wiping a tear from his eye. He looked away, embarrassed. “Sorry. Said I wasn’t going to do that. It’s just damn good to see you. You feeling okay?”

“Yeah, I’m okay.”

“Hey, Adam,” Sam said, waving at my brother.

“Sam, damn good to see you again.”

Adam went over and shook his hand, met Katie and her mom, hugged both Marisa and Jenny, and nodded at Nicholas. Nicholas looked at me, hugging his dog. I could sense his tenseness, could see his fight to not let it show. I could tell, though. Adam simply wasn’t, nor ever would be, one of his favorite people. Not like Jonathan, who would be here before nightfall. I hoped so, anyway.

Adam motioned to me with his head toward my chair. I followed him, gratefully sinking back into my usual spot. Adam pulled up an empty chair and sat next to me.

He glanced back at Nicholas before facing me. “And how’s your little diva really doing?”

Nicholas was playing kissy-face with his dog, scratching him behind the ears. He glanced at me, his face expressionless. I looked at Adam. “Better, now that Barkley’s here.”

“He looks like hell.”

“You would, too, if you’d gone through what he did.” Adam studied his hands and nodded. “Yeah, I know. It’s amazing he survived at all.” I didn’t want to talk about what might have been. “How was the drive?”

“A bitch. Barkley likes cars even less than I like planes, I think. How’s Tommy doing?” he asked.

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I gave him a half-shrug. “Hanging in there. Still mostly out of it.”

“What do the docs say?”

“It’s going to take a long time. He’ll have to have more surgery on his knee. The burns were bad. They’ve already started skin grafts.”

“Ouch. Already?”

I nodded. “Could’ve been worse if it hadn’t happened right here.”

“And wouldn’t have happened at all if he hadn’t been here.” I took a deep breath, but nodded. “Yeah. True.” I looked pointedly at him. “You be damn careful, Adam. Whoever did this to Tommy is still out there. Might try something else.

All of us are in danger now.”

“I’ll be careful. They took my rental, parked it in a special spot. Any idea what’s going on yet? Who’s doing this shit?”

“No.” I closed my eyes, pinching the bridge of my nose before looking tiredly at my brother. “Fuck no.”

I felt Adam’s hand on my arm. “Sorry, little bro. If there’s anything I can do to help, I will.”

“Bringing Barkley for Nicholas, that helps.” I’d already told Adam on the phone all that had happened. About the tape, that Blevins was in jail in Los Angeles, that we had no idea who was really behind all this. “The detective’s said he’d like to talk to you. He’d like to ask you some questions.”

“No problem. Don’t know that I can be of much help, but I’ll be happy to try. I’d like to talk to Tommy, too.”

“He’s not said much yet, but I know he’d appreciate it, knowing you dropped by.” Adam ran a hand through his hair, then glanced at Nicholas. “Well, I’ll look in on him as soon as I can. So, tell me. Why’d you guys do it?” I frowned at him. “Do what?”

He glanced at Nicholas and back at me again, a glint of ... something ... showing in his eye so quickly I almost missed it. But then, this was Adam. When it came right down to it, I knew he’d be upset with our decision, no matter how close we’d gotten over the past few years.

“Come out. Tell the whole fucking world you guys are ... you know.”

“Lovers?”

“Geesh, Brandon, did you have to do that? I mean, aren’t you guys having enough trouble as it is without inviting more? I’d think you would’ve wanted to keep what should be private, private. Especially what with everything that’s going on.” I shook my head, grimacing. “We’re sick of hiding. Hiding is what got us into this mess in the first place. If you’re not comfortable with it, sorry.” A Red-Tainted Silence

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He took a deep breath, then let it out, spreading his hands. “No, no, I’m fine with it.

Might as well be, huh?”

He stood and shoved his hands into his pockets. “Well, guess I’d better go say goodbye to your boyfriend, then take Barkley back to the hotel before he gets caught. I had to smuggle him up the back stairs, then bribe Lurch outside to let him in here, you know.” I smiled. “His name is Jeff. He and Mutt,” I said, indicating the other man, “are our bodyguards.”

“Bodyguards. Really.” He grinned. “Mutt and Jeff, for real?”

“For real. I have no idea what Mutt’s real name is, though.”

“So why now? Been trying to get you to hire professional guards for years.”

“After everything’s that happened, we thought it necessary. They’ll stay with us until we leave Durango.”

“Smart move. Got a place to stay?”

“Leased a house today. There’s room for you, if you want.” He nodded, weighing my sincerity, I guess. “I’d like that, little bro, but I’ve got a hotel.

I’ll drop by, though. If you’re sure you want me around.” I hesitated. “I’d like you to come, but only if you’re comfortable around me and Nicholas. I won’t have him upset.”

“I know, I know, you’re no longer hiding anything. Does that mean I could come to the kitchen for a beer and find you two kissing each other?” I nodded, visions of doing just that flitting through my mind. “It’s possible. Highly probable, even.”

He pressed his lips together, then shrugged. “Well, I guess I’ll live with it, then. Who all’s going to be there?

“Me and Nicholas, Jonathan, Sam, Sylvie, Jenny and Rex, and hopefully as soon as possible, Tommy.”

“And Mutt and Jeff. And the dog.”

I nodded. “Yes.”

“One big happy family. What, no Marisa?”

“She’s going back home. Kid’s waiting and all that.”

“Damn. You actually got rid of her. There may be hope for you guys after all. Who’s the chick with Sam? Her name is Katie?”

I glanced at the table. “My new assistant. That’s her mom, Beth, a patient here. Met Katie and her sister downstairs and had lunch with them the other day.”

“And let me guess, you felt sorry for them and have taken them in, too. Damn, boy, you collect people like Barkley collects fleas.” 212

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I laughed. “Yeah, well, thanks for bringing Barkley to us. I know that was asking a lot.”

“I told you, it was no problem. Least I can do for all the hell I gave Nicholas all those years.” He grinned at that, though when it came down to it, I failed to see his amusement. He glanced away from me, sensing my displeasure. “Now, I’d better go say my goodbyes and sneak the mutt out of here. I’ll call you later.”

“Okay. Thanks, Adam.”

He headed for Nicholas. Yeah, it was the least he could do. I watched as he approached Nicholas, the way Nicholas held Barkley close as he looked up at Adam. Adam pulled a leash out of his pocket and clipped it to Barkley’s collar. He leaned down and whispered something into Nick’s ear that actually made him grin. I sat back in my chair, relieved. They’d never gotten along, Nicholas and Adam, but bringing Barkley had helped. At least Adam was trying, though his comments still rankled.

As Adam took Barkley out of the room, waving to me as he did so, Marisa also took her leave, followed by Jenny, who looked just as tired as Nicholas. Katie stood, taking “my” box with her, and, after promising to come back in the morning, wheeled her mom away. It didn’t escape me how Sam’s gaze followed Katie out.

“Guess I’ll go talk with Sylvie for a while, let you guys have a rest,” Sam said, clapping me on the shoulder. “Check on Tommy.”

“Tell him I’ll be by later,” I said.

“No problem.”

“Sam, come here a sec,” Nicholas said. Sam went over to him and bent down. Nicholas whispered something in his ear. Sam blushed, but nodded. Then he, too, left the room, pausing at the door to speak with Mutt a moment.

“I’ll be outside,” Mutt said, and then Nicholas and I were alone.

He lay back in the bed and flipped open his covers, patting the mattress in invitation.

“Coming?” he asked.

I hesitated. “You should get some rest, Nicholas. You’re exhausted.”

“I am, but I want you with me. Come here, Brandon. And take off your shirt.”

“Nicholas --”

His face set, determined. “Brandon, now.”

“All right, boss.” A familiar but long-missed thrill ran through me. I did as he told me to. I pulled off my shirt, then hopped on my good foot over to him. He grinned as I sat on the bed, catching my breath. “A little chilly to be without a shirt,” I said. “It’s getting colder in here.”