Shooting Star (11 page)

“Oh, of course.
I would be honoured.”

Jessup rolled his eyes. He couldn’t believe how fake people could be around someone just because they were on TV. He glanced at the uneaten tacos on his tray. No doubt Nancy would scold him and try to take them away as soon as she pulled her head out of
Brac’s
ass. “
Brac
brought me some tacos. Isn’t that nice, Nancy?”

The nurse’s lips thinned momentarily before pulling back in yet another fake smile. “That was very kind of you, although I don’t believe Mr Jessup is supposed to have anything not on his approved diet.”

Brac
put his hands together and looked pleadingly at Nancy. “Please just this once. I wanted to do something special for him and couldn’t think of anything but giving him tacos from his favourite place in the world.”

Nancy shook her finger at
Brac
. “You know just how to get to me. Okay, the tacos can stay, but just this once.”

Brac
leant forward and kissed the nurse on the cheek. “You’re the best nurse ever!”

It was
official,
Brac
had totally lost his mind. Before Mr Crazy could leave and Nancy had a chance to renege on her deal, Jessup pulled the tray back over and started devouring the cold, soggy tacos. Even in their present state they tasted better than anything he’d been given at the hospital.

“Well, I’d better go, but I’ll be back in a bit,”
Brac
called, easing his way out into the hall.

Jessup finished his first taco in three bites before starting on the next. He pulled the tray closer to his chest when Nancy started his way.

“You’re lucky I like him,” she muttered, handing Jessup a small paper cup with his pills.

“Yes, I guess I am,” he answered before taking another bite.

* * * *

Priest helped ease Jessup onto the soft leather seats of the Range Rover.
“You good?”

It had been almost six days since the shooting, and Jessup felt worse than he had the day he’d woken up in the hospital. The doctor had explained that the muscle he’d cut through to remove the damaged kidney would take a while to heal, but damn.

Priest pressed a button on the side of the seat and thankfully his bed for the next hour smoothly reclined. “I may never leave this vehicle.”

“I doubt the rental company will be happy about that once you start stinking.” Priest chuckled at his own joke before shutting the passenger door.

Jessup waited to speak until Priest got behind the wheel and pulled out of the parking lot. “What’s different about you?”

Priest lifted his hand off the steering wheel and pretended to study it. “Nope, still black.” He leaned over and glanced at his reflection in the rear view mirror.
“And still good looking.
I can’t imagine what you could be referring to.”

“This?
The happy-go-lucky bullshit.
Please don’t tell me
Brac
has worked his magic on you, too.” For the remainder of his stay in the hospital, Nancy had made it a point to take special care of him, each time inquiring as to when
Brac
would be back to visit.

“He’s a good guy. It’s been a while since I’ve been subjected to one of those. Maybe it’s rubbing off,” Priest explained.

“Gee, thanks,” Jessup mumbled. He started to close his eyes but suddenly thought of something. “Your mood doesn’t have anything to do with you getting laid, does it?”

“I’ve kept your boy’s cherry intact if that’s what you’re asking.”

“I seriously doubt
Brac’s
had his cherry for some time now.”

Priest shook his finger from side to side. “
Aahhh
, but until I’ve fucked them, they’re still officially a virgin.”

Jessup let his eyes drift shut. “Keep
tellin
’ yourself that, stud.” He didn’t know what
Brac
had done to cheer up his usually ornery friend, but he had to admit the new Priest was a hell of a lot more fun to be around. “How did
Brac
take the news of Steve’s suicide?” he asked without opening his eyes.

“Hard. I think he’s blaming himself. He tried to call the boy’s family, but the listed number’s been disconnected.”

“I wonder why?” The whole situation didn’t feel right. “Have you dug up anything on the family?”

“Basic search stuff.
His mom, Beth, died of a heart attack shortly before Steve hung himself. His dad, Curtis, sold the family home and moved to parts unknown.”

Jessup’s eyes sprang open. “That’s a lot for one man to handle in such a short time. You thinking what I’m thinking?”

“Already a step ahead of you, as usual.
I called home on the way here and asked Alice to put a trace on Curtis’ social security number. If he’s moved, she’ll find him.”

As far as Jessup knew, Priest was the only operative to call headquarters home. He assumed it was because Alice was the closest thing to a mother Priest had ever had. Jessup closed his eyes again as the pain medicine began to kick in. “Wake me when we get there.”

Chapter Seven

Brac
spread his favourite blanket and lay down before tucking the ridiculous handgun between his legs. He hadn’t bothered to bring the fishing pole, wanting nothing more than to feel the afternoon sun on his face for a while.

“I’ve been watching you,” a gruff voice said.

Brac
sat straight up and turned to find an older man step out of the brush. After Priest had filled him in on Steve’s suicide, he knew exactly who the man was. Although having a rifle pointed at him was enough to scare the shit out of him, it was the red laser sight on top that
Brac
knew cemented his fate. “Mr Hostetler?”

“Don’t you say my name, boy,” Curtis spat. “I came to make things right. I’ve waited for this chance for days, and I finally saw that big
fella
leave, so I’m taking it.”

Brac
held up his hands to draw Curtis’ attention away from the gun hidden between his legs. He’d known he was taking a chance coming out to the pond after Priest had left, so he’d found one of Jessup’s guns and had brought it with him. Damn, was he glad of his moment of
paranoia.

“Please, sir. I’m sorry about Steve. I truly am, but I was just trying to be a friend to him when it seemed he needed one.”

“Yeah, well that friendship cost him everything. You filled his head with all kinds of queer bullshit. Had him believing he was one of you.”

“He was,”
Brac
whispered. “He was just afraid to tell you.”

Curtis shook his head. “You’re lying. Steven told me he reached out to you because you were a famous guy and you used that to send him vile emails. Surely you can’t be stupid enough to think the government doesn’t monitor what goes in and out to their troops.”

Confused,
Brac
tried to remember the content of the messages. “I’m sorry, sir, but that’s not true. I only encouraged Steve to reach out to the people he loved and trusted. Never would I send anything sexual in nature to a fan.”

“Liar!”
Curtis screamed.

“Maybe the emails he received were from someone else. Perhaps someone he met online? I know there are a lot of sites out there that offer that sort of thing to men in the military.”

Curtis began shaking his head again, mumbling to himself.
Brac
used the opportunity to ease his hands down between his legs. He managed to get the safety off the gun, before Curtis came back to himself.

“My Steven wasn’t like that. He was devastated when the Army sent him home.”

“I’m sorry. I remember how highly Steve spoke of the Army and his part in the war effort.”
Brac
needed to keep Curtis talking. Having a gun in his hand was one thing, but he honestly didn’t think he had it in him to shoot someone. Priest had been gone at least an hour and a half. If he could keep Curtis talking for another thirty minutes or so…

“Turn around,” Curtis ordered.

Brac
squeezed the butt of the gun.
Please don’t make me shoot you.
“Do you think Steve would really want you to kill me? I’m sure he’d tell you the truth if he could. I promise you I didn’t send him the emails that got him discharged.”

“I said turn around!” Curtis yelled, waving the rifle.

Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
Time’s up
, he told himself. He jerked his head in the direction of the house. “Did you hear that? I think Priest’s back. You’d better go if you want to live.”

“Live?” Curtis began to cackle. “I’ve been half dead since my wife and boy died. The only thing keeping me going was putting things to rights with you. When I saw that report on the news about you being in this cesspool of a town, I used the last of my money to get here. You really think I care anything about living after I do to you what you did to my son?”

“I didn’t kill your son, Mr Hostetler. If you’re looking for someone to blame, blame yourself. Maybe if you’d been open enough for Steve to come to you to discuss his homosexuality he wouldn’t have had to seek strangers out online.”

Curtis’ face went pale. It seemed it wasn’t the first time he had heard it. “Did Steve tell you that before he killed himself, Mr Hostetler? Did he blame you in some way? Is that the reason you’ve gone looking for someone else to blame?”

Of course
Brac
knew the only one ultimately at fault for Steve’s death was Steve himself, but at the moment he’d try anything to get that fucking rifle pointed away from him.

“No! It’s you. You started all of this. If he hadn’t been discharged he’d still be alive.”

“And he’d still be gay,”
Brac
reminded the older man. “As I see it, I’m the one person in his life who tried to help him work through his feelings. And this is the way to repay me for trying to be a true friend to Steve? Do you really think I deserve to die for doing what you couldn’t bring yourself to do? I accepted Steve. Why couldn’t you?”

With a roar, Curtis lifted the rifle to his shoulder.
Brac
lifted the handgun and tried to turn around to get a clean shot, but by the time he took aim, Curtis was already falling to the ground, face first with a hole between his eyes.

Priest stepped out of the trees, a silencer-equipped handgun still smoking at his side. “We’re back,” he announced in a casual tone.

* * * *

“Are they gone?”
Brac
asked Priest.

“Yeah.
Finally.”
Priest fell to the couch and closed his eyes. “That’s exactly the reason I don’t usually stick around after a hit. I never understood it. The guy was bad, he needed to be stopped, end of story. Why the hell do cops think everything has to be investigated?”

“
Ummm
, I’m guessing it’s because it’s their job.”

“Bullshit. Their job is to make sure the bad guys don’t get out of control in the first place.”

Brac
got to his feet and stretched his arms over his head. “I would usually take great joy in disagreeing with you, but being as you’re my hero today, I’m
gonna
give you this one. Thanks for saving my life.”

“Hell, it wasn’t like I had much choice in the matter. You’ve
kinda
started to grow on me.”

Brac
grinned. “I do believe that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

“Well, I’m in a good mood. Don’t let it go to your head.”

Brac
laughed and bumped Priest’s knee with his leg. “I’m going up to bed. See you in the morning.”

“Yeah, see
ya
, Mr Hollywood.”

One step at a time,
Brac
managed to make it up the stairs without falling. He couldn’t remember a time when he’d felt so exhausted. He opened his bedroom door and just stood there. Sound asleep with the light on, Jessup looked like every dream
Brac
had ever had.

Although they hadn’t had a chance to talk much since the shooting, when it came time for Jessup to give up the fight and lay down he’d asked
Brac
if he could do it in his bed. Of course
Brac
had wanted to jump for joy and follow Jessup upstairs immediately, but he’d been forced to endure several more hours of routine police procedure.

Brac
stepped out of his shorts on the way to the bathroom. If Priest was skulking around he’d just have to get an eyeful because
Brac
was too damn tired to care about modesty.

He turned on the water and looked at his reflection while the water heated. Although he’d only been away from Malibu for three weeks, his California tan was fading fast. It was more than that though. The man
Brac
saw in the mirror was nothing like the man he’d been before he’d met Jessup.

Brac
turned around and climbed under the warm spray of the shower. The thought of going back to his old life held absolutely no appeal for him. Days trapped on studio lots and evenings spent at parties had been fun for the first couple of years, but even the parties had become a hated part of his job.

Soaping up, he began to wonder whether or not he could really make a home in Cattle Valley, more importantly, a home with Jessup. They still had so many things to work out between them. Jessup’s aversion to being touched was the biggest obstacle still in their path.

Brac
did a quick rinse before turning off the water. He grabbed the closest towel and dried off before dropping it in the hamper on his way out of the bathroom.

After shutting the bedroom door securely,
Brac
lifted the sheet and slid in beside Jessup. Even lying next to the man felt right.

“You okay?” Jessup asked.

Brac
carefully thought the question through before answering. “I don’t know. I hope so.” He rolled to his side. “I keep wondering whether or not I would’ve had the balls to pull the trigger.”