Finding Peace (Finding Series, Book 3) (15 page)

“We have a problem,” Jax announced as he strode back into the room. To Luke’s surprise, the man leaned down and grabbed a revolver from his ankle holster and handed it to Luke.

“911 just got a call from a guy claiming to be a reporter. He says he’s across the road from Gray’s place and he just heard a gunshot go off.”

Luke was moving before Jax even finished talking. He reached the sidewalk and began looking for a car to boost but then a hand settled on his arm. “You and Rhys take my car and I’ll follow you,” Jax said as he tossed some car keys to Rhys. Luke followed Rhys to a black SUV while Jax ran to the patrol car sitting in front of the station.

Terror sparked through Luke even as he tried to call up the coolness he would need to confront Shaw because he had no doubt in his mind that the man had finally found him and because of his stupidity, Gray was caught in the crosshairs.

Chapter Ten

Gray barely had time to spit out the mouthful of blood before the fist slammed into his face again. This time, the blow caught him along the cheek and he felt hot liquid running down the side of his face and then down his neck a second later.

The time from when he’d left the station and had arrived back at the cabin had been a complete blur except for the brief call he’d put in to his lawyer to tell him to catch the next flight to Montana. He hadn’t given the man any details other than to meet Luke at the Dare Police Department and to spare no expense in preparing the man’s defense. He had no memory of the drive after that because he’d been too numb to feel anything. His only thought had been to stop at home long enough to pack a bag so as soon as he’d pulled the truck to a stop in the driveway, he’d let Ripley out of the backseat and then hurried to the cabin. The dog had disappeared around back somewhere and Gray hadn’t bothered to call her back since the animal would need as much time as possible to stretch her legs before Gray got her back in the car and pointed his truck south. His goal had been to put as many miles between himself and Luke as possible. He’d been so distracted that he hadn’t even noticed that the cabin door was unlocked and he’d already been halfway to the kitchen before he realized he wasn’t alone.

He’d stopped dead at the sight of a man in military garb standing near the kitchen table pointing a gun at him but it was when another spoke up from behind him that he’d turned around and realized he was staring at the same man who’d tried to take Luke’s life not once, but twice. The man was as clean cut as they came and held himself with an air of confidence that bordered on swagger. His dark eyes had sized Gray up quickly and Gray had actually felt a shiver go through him at the cool dismissal. And in that moment, Gray had known he would be used as a tool and nothing more. So when Shaw had barked at him to tell him where Luke was, Gray had said the words he’d spent a lifetime perfecting.

Fuck off.

As he waffled between awareness and the promise of an imminent blackout, Gray could hear Ripley going crazy outside as she had been for the past ten minutes. From the dog’s wild barking, he could tell the animal was running back and forth between the front and back of the cabin in a vain effort to find a way inside. At first, Shaw had seemed amused when the dog’s huge face and paws would appear in the window by the kitchen as the other man worked Gray over, but at some point he’d gotten annoyed because he fired several times at the dog through the glass. Ripley’s incessant barking was the only evidence that the man had missed but Gray was terrified that it would only be a matter of time. And every time the man who Shaw had referred to only as Quincy had hit him, Ripley’s outcry only became more agitated.

While the first several punches had hurt like hell, a warmth had settled in Gray’s limbs after a while and he no longer felt the same level of pain as each blow fell. One of his eyes was swollen shut but he could still hear well enough and he took a perverse pleasure in the sound of Shaw’s growing frustration as Gray remained silent every time he asked where Luke was. From the beating he was taking, Gray knew either Shaw would soon tire of asking the same question or he’d realize Gray’s answer wasn’t going to differ from his original one and he’d take a bullet to the brain. Gray almost wanted to laugh at the irony of it all because Luke was finally in the safest place he could be even though he doubted that had been Luke’s intent when he’d gone to the station.

“Fucker must have a nice dick to earn himself this kind of loyalty,” he heard Shaw mutter in his ear. “Or does that faggot like taking it instead?”

Gray only managed to say “Fuck-” before a fist slammed into his face again and he had no doubt that his nose was broken because blood poured down into his already blood-filled mouth.

“We’re wasting our time here,” Shaw snapped as he straightened. “Finish it. Let’s leave our friend a message he won’t soon forget,” he added.

Gray moaned as a hand reached from behind him and yanked his head back to expose his throat. It wasn’t until he saw the flash of a knife that he realized Shaw wasn’t going to waste a bullet on him. He closed his good eye and searched his mind for an image of Luke and a ripple of pleasure went through him as he realized how many he had to choose from – Luke smiling at something on TV, Luke playing tug of war over a stick with Ripley, Luke’s lips hovering over his as Luke slipped into his body.

A feeling of peace settled over him as he drew what he assumed would be his last breath but the kiss of the knife never came because all of a sudden there was the sound of glass shattering behind him and he was thrown forward. With his hands tied behind his back and his ankles bound to the chair he was sitting in, Gray had no way to brace himself and he hit the ground hard but managed to stay conscious. He could hear a man swearing and the sound of Ripley snarling. Gray managed to turn himself enough to see Ripley had somehow managed to break through the bullet riddled window and had the guy with the knife on the floor and was biting him on the arm. The man’s struggles did nothing to dislodge the pissed off dog but it didn’t matter because Ripley suddenly howled in pain as a gunshot rang out and then fell to the floor.

“No!” Gray shouted as he tried to break free of the bindings.

“Fuck, my arm!” Quincy shouted as he struggled to his feet, blood pouring from his arm where both the sleeve and his skin were completely shredded.

“Shut up!” Shaw yelled. A second later he said, “He’s here – cover the back in case he’s not alone. Now!”

Quincy pulled his gun free from the holster at his side and he went towards the back of the cabin. Gray could only assume he was going towards the door that led into the backyard just off the small mud room.

An arm wrapped around Gray’s throat and dragged him up until the chair was upright once more. He felt the cold metal of a gun pressed to his head just as the front door slowly swung open.

“It’s me, Shaw.”

Gray’s denial at the sound of Luke’s voice got lost in his throat as he watched Luke step unarmed into the cabin.

***

It took every ounce of Luke’s training not to react at the sight of Gray. Between the blood streaming out of Gray’s nose and mouth, his blackened left eye that was swollen completely shut and the gun pressed to his temple, Luke was nearly overcome with his need to stride up to Shaw and beat him within an inch of his life just before he snapped his neck and relished the cracking sound.

“Lift your shirt and turn around,” Shaw brusquely ordered and Luke reined in his temper and did as he was told. He ignored Gray’s look of fear as he also slowly lifted the hem of each of his pant legs to show he wasn’t hiding a weapon there. While Shaw visibly relaxed when he confirmed Luke wasn’t carrying a gun, he kept his aimed at Gray’s head and Luke knew even the slightest twitch of Shaw’s finger could cause the gun to go off.

“What, no pleas to let him go now that you’re here?” Shaw sniped.

“Did begging do that mother any good before you slaughtered her kids?” Luke asked coldly. “Did Barnes beg you not to blow his brains out?”

Shaw laughed and the sound grated against Luke’s ears.

“Bastard didn’t even see it coming. Not a sharp one, that guy,” Shaw said.

“You trusted him enough to do your dirty work,” Luke responded.

Shaw laughed again. “If that were true, you’d be six feet under in a pine box, not him. Fucker was supposed to take care of you in the hospital – his penance for not being able to pull the trigger in that shithole.”

The news surprised Luke since he’d just assumed it was Barnes who had shot him.

“You should have seen how relieved he was when he told me you didn’t remember anything and probably never would – little fucker and his hero worship.” Shaw’s bitter tone drifted off as he suddenly began massaging the barrel of the gun back and forth against Gray’s temple, almost as if it were a caress.

“Now that I know you have a penchant for cock instead of pussy, makes me wonder if there wasn’t something else going on between the two of you.”

When Shaw pressed his gun into the open wound on Gray’s cheek, Luke saw Gray try to hold back his cry of pain but Shaw seemed unsatisfied with the lack of reaction and jammed his gun hard against the bloody injury. Gray moaned and closed his good eye.

“I was gone, Shaw. You won! Why the fuck did you come after me?” Luke yelled. His outburst got Shaw’s attention back on him enough so that the gun was no longer digging into Gray’s wound.

“You disrespectful son of a bitch – always thinking you were smarter than me. Always so high and mighty knowing the men looked to you for approval after I gave the order. You really think I’m stupid enough to think you wouldn’t try to screw me out of my future? The future I earned?”

Luke stared at the narcissistic son of a bitch in disbelief. “Is that what you call killing three little kids and an innocent woman? You’re a fucking murderer, Shaw. You didn’t earn anything! And what about Eddie?”

Shaw waved his gun briefly. “A casualty of war, just like that woman and her brats. You think this country will fault me for what happened? They ought to give me a fucking medal! How many lives did I save by eliminating three future terrorists? And that woman – what was to stop her from strapping on a suicide vest and walking up to our men pretending to be a friendly, huh?”

The man was fucking insane and that fact had Luke’s fear ratcheting up a notch. The mental count he had going on in his head was nearing its end so he focused his gaze on Gray. But the man’s one good eye was still closed and Luke wanted to shout in frustration because he had only seconds left. Luke heard the tell-tale pop he’d been waiting for and a second later Gray finally opened his eye. They locked gazes and then Luke quickly glanced at the ground before looking back up at Gray. He did the gesture again for good measure just as there was a commotion behind the cabin. A man’s hoarse shout was cut short and the second Shaw glanced behind him to see what had caused the sound, Gray threw all his weight to his left and he and the chair crashed to the floor. Luke launched himself at Shaw and grunted as he felt a sharp pain in his arm. Shaw was already pulling the trigger again when Luke’s weight hit him and the next bullet flew past Luke’s ear. He managed to get Shaw on his stomach and wrapped an arm around his neck as yet another gunshot rang out but then an image of Gray’s terrified, battered face flashed through his mind and he did exactly what he’d been wanting to do and snapped Shaw’s neck like it was a dry, rotted piece of wood.

***

“Luke, there’s a guy out here who says he’s Gray’s brother,” Rhys said from the doorway of Gray’s hospital room.

“Let him in,” Luke said as he glanced at Gray to see if Rhys’ voice had woken him up. Satisfied that Gray was still asleep, Luke settled back in his chair next to the bed. Roman was slow to enter the room and Luke guessed it was because he was struggling to take in his brother’s appearance.

After Luke had killed Shaw, he’d scrambled to Gray’s side only to find that Gray had struck his head on the floor hard enough to knock himself out. He’d woken up in the ambulance but he’d been confused and in a lot of pain so the ER doctor had given him a heavy dose of painkillers as well as a sedative. He’d been out ever since and Luke had been left to stare at his lover’s broken body as the guilt of knowing he was the cause of everything that had happened to the man he loved gnawed at him. And he’d ended up hurting Gray for nothing because Shaw had still gotten to him.

Roman’s dark blue gaze met his across the bed as he moved closer to his brother and Luke wasn’t surprised to see the fury in them. He just wasn’t sure if it was directed at him or not.

“Is he…”

“He’s sleeping,” Luke said softly. “The doctor gave him a sedative so he’ll be out for a little while but he’s going to be okay.”

Roman’s eyes stayed on Gray as he spoke. “I went by the cabin and they told me what happened.”

“He said you were going to try to stop by on your way back to L.A.”

Roman nodded. “I saw the picture of you and him on the Internet. I didn’t want him to think I told anyone…”

“We know it wasn’t you who told the press where he was, Roman. I’ll make sure he knows that.”

“The man who did this…”

“Dead.”

“He was someone you knew?”

“Yes. Gray’s here because of me…because of my past.”

Roman’s emotion filled gaze lifted to meet his. He hadn’t gotten much of a sense about the other man the first time they’d met but he definitely didn’t seem as detached as Gray seemed to think he was.

“You love him?” Roman asked.

“Very much.”

Roman merely nodded and then his dark eyes shifted back to Gray. “And the cancer…”

“Gone for now. He’ll have to get tested several times over the next year and then regularly after that but the doctor is hopeful he’ll stay in remission.”

“And if he doesn’t?”

Luke heard the unasked question and knew in that instant that whatever had happened between the two brothers, it wasn’t unfixable. It would just probably fall on Gray to make the first move.

“I’ll be there. Always.”

Roman seemed satisfied with the response and actually leaned down to put his hand over Gray’s. But the contact was brief and then he was stepping back.