All Kinds of Tied Down (29 page)

“How?”

“We just needed to get away from those guys, and there was only one way to go.”

“Yeah, I know,” I said, coughing.

“I mean, we didn’t have enough guns to repel any real numbers, and not knowing how many they had and since our first priority was to secure our witness—”

“We had to go up, I get it.”

He crowded in, his lips against my ear, the warm puffs of air down the side of my neck making me shiver. “But by now, there are probably troopers on site, and I saw no evidence of anyone coming after us. There have been no lights on the side of the hill, so I’m pretty sure we’re clear.” I opened my mouth to say something, but he fisted his hand in my jacket. “If I’m wrong and there’s guys in cold-weather gear coming up behind us with night-vision goggles and machine guns—I’ll deal with it. But I’m gonna build a fire so you don’t freeze to death.”

I smiled. “Damn nice of you.”

His grin was wide and his hand slid around the side of my neck. “Stay—”

“—right by you,” I finished for him.

“Yeah.” He clipped the word before turning around.

“This is so cra-creeepy,” Cabot stuttered, having trouble walking, as wet and cold as he was. “Can I have a gun too?”

Drake picked him up, slung him over his shoulder, and walked toward what was left of the dilapidated cottage.

Ian went first, testing the strength of the rotting boards, and once he was confident the floor wouldn’t give, we all followed him up the four steps into what had once been the great room. The stone fireplace was all that remained on one side, with the stone chimney and large pieces of what had been a roof.

“I bet this was a great little cabin,” Ian said as he gathered pieces of wood into a pile.

I got up to help, but a cramp in my right calf made me sit back down hard. Ian was there beside me, fast.

“What?” he asked.

“My muscles are clenching up. I’m fine.”

He barked at Holley and Drake to help him and then pulled the matches from his pack. Bending over, he did the blowing and cupping his hands around the flame and tried to get something going, but the wood was too wet.

“Maybe there’s some dryer wood under the debris piles,” Drake suggested.

“Not with the rain,” Holley assured him.

“I’m so cold,” Cabot whispered.

“Drake, you need to get his jacket off and get him in yours with you.”

“I can do that,” Jenner barked at Ian.

“No,” he snapped back. “I want them wrapped around each other. The temperature is dropping fast, and even though it won’t drop much below 25, we’re all wet and it’s windy and we could all get hypothermia.”

I noticed Cabot was just sort of watching Drake.

“Oh crap,” Ian grumbled, getting up and going over to Cabot. He stripped him out of his jacket and then shoved him at Drake, who grabbed Cabot and tucked him against his chest, wrapping his arms and jacket around him.

“Hold on to him,” Ian ordered, grabbing both sides of the parka and zipping them up together. “Keep him as warm as you can.”

“Absolutely,” Drake promised, leaning his head on top of Cabot’s.

“That’s disgusting,” Jenner spat. “How can you let my boy be touched by that pervert?”

“I see two kids in love, you homophobic prick,” Ian snarled. “And if you don’t want to look, go over on the other side of the cabin. Hope you don’t fuckin’ freeze to death.”

“I’m going to have your—”

“Miro,” Ian said suddenly, rounding on me. “Are the road flares in your bag?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Get them out,” he directed. He turned to Holley. “I need kindling, small branches off the trees, pull them off, like you’re making a Christmas wreath.”

“Yes,” Holley said, letting Ian know he was listening.

“Keep watch,” Ian told me before he took the stairs and left.

I found the flares in my bag and waited, listening to Cabot whimper, watching Jenner glare at the two younger men, and keeping vigil.

When Ian returned, he ignited two of the four flares and stacked the branches and the smaller pieces with the needles on top of them. It seemed like it took forever, but in reality, probably only thirty minutes, give or take. Once the branches underneath caught fire, the twigs ignited, and the flames got bigger and bigger as Ian added more and more wood.

“Road flare,” I said, clapping him on the back.

“Forgot my training for a second there,” he rumbled, his voice brittle as his eyes flicked to mine.

“Which is very human.” I sighed, leaning against him, the warmth from the fire almost orgasmic. “Holy fuck, make it bigger.”

He laughed softly as Drake and Cabot got close, thanking him over and over. They were able to unzip the parka, and Cabot sat between Drake’s legs as they faced the fire. Ian got up and he and Holley went to fetch more branches, this time taking the hatchet Drake had carried in his bag.

I was surprised at how quickly my jeans dried out as I sat cross-legged beside the fire, and between that and the water, I felt okay. Starving, but I’d live. When Ian returned, his gloves covered in sap and smelling like pine, I took his hat off and put it on the ground beside me before taking off mine and shoving it down on his head.

“What’re you doing?”

“That one’s wet and covered in crap. Wear mine until you warm up. I’ll go cut branches next time.”

“You’ll chop your hand off, I know it.”

I arched an eyebrow in warning. “Your faith in me is
heartwarming.”

“Shut up.”

It was nice. The fire was really warm, and after a while, Cabot turned, curling up in Drake’s arms, and fell asleep after thanking Ian for the fire again. Drake wasn’t far behind. Jenner said he was only going to rest, but he was out as well, minutes later.

“I can feed the fire,” I insisted. “Why don’t you try and sleep a little. If I need you, I’ll wake you up.”

“Okay,” Ian agreed, lying down with his head in my lap. He was out in seconds.

“So,” Holley said, jolting me, which was good because I was dozing. “Tell me about being a marshal.”

“Tell me why you’re divorced?”

He smiled. “I think you can figure it out.”

I studied him.

“I really wanted to take you to dinner.”

“I’m very flattered, Chief, thank you.”

He grunted. “Though I would not have even entertained the thought had I known you were involved with your partner.”

It didn’t occur to me to deny it, to deny Ian. “It’s that obvious?”

“It wasn’t at first,” he mused, glancing at Ian with his head in my lap and my arm across his shoulder. “But once we got here, how protective he is, how gentle you are with him—it became apparent. And,” he said with a chuckle, “frankly he’s a bit too comfortable in your personal space.”

He always had been.

“You’re very well suited.”

“Thank you,” I said honestly, because I would take that observation all day long. “You should try and sleep too.”

“Thank you for saving my life, Marshal.”

“Sorry to have dragged you and your men into our mess.”

“It’s Mr. Jenner’s mess, Marshal, and everyone will know that come morning.”

When Holley, too, was asleep, I put some more wood on the fire to make sure we all stayed warm and toasty throughout the cold, dark night. I tried not to get used to having my partner sleeping on me, but I had a sneaking suspicion the damage was already done.

T
HE
SOUND
of thunder woke me the following morning, and when I lifted up, I realized I had been sleeping in Ian’s arms. We had switched places in the early morning hours, and I had lain beside him, next to the fire. But when my eyes opened to the gray day, I saw I had used his chest for a pillow.

There was no time to say anything, though. What I had thought was thunder was actually a helicopter that landed in the clearing a hundred yards away. First one off was Kage, and Ian and I got to our feet to greet him.

“Who’s that?” Cabot asked as he and Drake moved up beside me.

“Our boss,” I answered, watching Kage stride toward us.

“He’s big,” he remarked.

“And kinda scary looking,” Drake continued.

“Yeah,” I agreed, smiling suddenly. “I’m really happy to see
him.”

“Me too,” Cabot sighed.

Sam Kage reached the stairs and climbed up, stopping in front of
us.

“Sir, I—”

“Good job, Marshals,” he said, turning to lift a walkie-talkie to tell the others to bring a fire extinguisher.

He turned then and gestured us all down toward the helicopter. Inside, even the small change in temperature was comforting.

“Are you their boss?” Jenner snarled at Kage, the night not having mellowed him even a bit.

“I am,” Kage answered flatly, scowling.

“Well, I want them both in jail for kidnapping my son and—”

“Actually, it’s you who’ll be going there, sir,” Kage returned tersely. “Your actions led to the deaths of ten men, you kidnapped Drake Ford from federal custody, placed your own son in jeopardy, as well as an officer of the law—Chief Holley—and two of my marshals. You’ll be lucky to be back outside. Ever.”

“No, you—”

“I would take a moment and breathe the fresh air.”

Holley, Drake, and Cabot all looked to me with wide eyes.

Well, yeah, my boss was all kinds of scary.

I
T
WAS
a blur. We went first by helicopter to the chief’s car and collected our bags, then to Drake’s trailer, where he and Cabot hurriedly packed one bag of clothes and Drake’s most prized possessions, including a sketch Cabot had done of him. We were then flown to Wellmont Hancock County Hospital.

All of us suffered from a bit of hypothermia, but once we had fluids and glucose, we were ready to eat. Kage culled the pack, putting Jenner in federal custody, turning him over to the FBI agents. They took kidnapping very seriously. It was sad that even then, Jenner had to spit some more poison at his son, calling him a disappointment and an abomination. Drake folded his boyfriend in his arms as the agents, more than a little disgusted by Jenner’s vitriol, if the looks on their faces were any indication, took his father away.

We said good-bye to Holley, who thanked Ian and me for saving his life and hugged Drake and Cabot and wished them well. Two large Chevy Suburbans were parked at the entrance of the hospital, and Kage gave one set of keys to Ian and four plane tickets to me.

“You’re all flying back to Chicago tomorrow.”

“And you?” Ian asked.

“I have to fly to Arlington to bring charges against Mr. Jenner. I need your full reports no later than 0600 tomorrow morning. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yessir,” I said.

“Yes sir,” Ian echoed.

“And the rental car that you drove to the police station in Bowman is being returned as we speak.”

Big or small, my boss never missed anything. “Thank you, sir.”

Kage gave me a pat on the arm. “Good job, gentlemen.”

FBI agents accompanied him, and one held the door open so he could get into the SUV. They drove away quickly through the lightly falling snow.

“Who wants food?” Ian asked.

I raised my hand, with Drake and Cabot following.

“When does a shower happen?” Cabot wanted to know.

“You want that first?”

“No,” he said, shaking his head at the same time his stomach growled. “Food is definitely number one on my list.”

It was the same for all of us.

“After we eat,” Ian said, gesturing at the car. “We’ll all get nice hot showers.”

It sounded heavenly.

I called shotgun, and everyone thought that was funny, because really, who else would it have been with Ian driving?

“We should eat on the way,” Drake suggested. “It’s like an hour and a half to the Tri-Cities airport. That’s Blountville, right? Tennessee?”

“Yeah,” Ian said, fidgeting, like he wasn’t comfortable in his seat.

“You want me to drive?”

“No,” he snapped.

I suddenly had the oddest compulsion to take hold of his hand, but since I wasn’t sure how he would take that, I just looked out the window instead.

“What do you guys wanna eat?” I asked Drake and Cabot.

“Yes,” Cabot said, chuckling.

Meaning anything and everything.

“Okay,” I said playfully, patting Ian’s leg. “Drive.”

He caught my hand and held it against his thigh, taking a breath at the same time. “Who wants a steak? I feel like steak.”

Cabot whimpered.

“And all the fixins?” Drake asked hopefully.

“You got it, buddy.”

I turned to look at Ian, and after a minute, he let my hand go and put his on the wheel. “You all right?”

“Fine,” he answered softly.

“So get us steak, man.”

Moving my hand, I checked my e-mail on my phone, and when I put my phone down, leaned sideways and took hold of the back of his headrest.

Every now and then, out of the blue Ian smiled, and I could look at him and see the little boy he must have been. It was all sunshine and happiness and heartbreaking vulnerability. The smile annihilated me and also made me almost murderously protective. So when he turned his head and gifted me with it, I smiled stupidly back.