Colter
“ W hat do you mean by Hugh went with Luke?” he shouted at his new waitress. Hugh hadn’t shown up to work at six as he promised, and when finished working on the payroll for the week, he tried to call him. After about an hour of his calls going straight to voicemail, his new waitress, Katrina, brought back a message she had taken about two hours earlier, saying that Hugh had called and was going somewhere with some guy named Luke for a few days. knew his guy well enough to know that would never happen. Luke had just about broken Hugh and there was no way that he’d let his ex back into his life.
“Hey, I just gave you the message that Hugh left. Don’t shoot the messenger,” she insisted. Katrina handed him the napkin which she wrote the message on and turned to leave his office.
“Wait,” he almost shouted, “are you sure that he called in about two hours ago?” asked.
“Yeah, I had just come in for my shift and no one was answering the phone up at the front,” Katrina said.
“Okay, thank you,” said. He waited for her to leave his office, grumbling something about her new boss being crazy, and pulled his cell phone from his pocket. He was going to call Zane, from the Kink Club across the street. He had only met the guy a few times, but he was sure that he said something about his husband being a police detective. If his hunch was right, he’d need help finding Hugh, and a detective would be just the person to have on his side.
“Hello,” Zane answered on the first ring.
“Hey, man,” breathed, “it's from the bar across the way.”
“Yeah, how are you doing?” Zane asked.
“Not too good,” admitted. “Listen, I have a bad feeling that something has happened to my boyfriend, and I remembered you saying something about your husband being a detective.”
“Yeah, Crew is a detective. In fact, he’s here now. How about if we come over and you can tell us what’s going on?” Zane asked.
“I’d be grateful to you both,” said. Zane promised to be right over with Crew. ended the call and tossed his cell on his desk. If Hugh was in trouble, and Luke was involved, he wasn’t sure if calling in backup was the best idea. From what Hugh told him, Luke was just an asshole, but not a threat. Still, something in ’s gut was shouting at him that something wasn’t right, and his gut wasn’t usually wrong. Hopefully, this time, it was, but he doubted it.
Zane and Crew came barreling into his office, not bothering to knock. Crew shot a sheepish grin. “Sorry about that, man,” he said. “My husband got a little impatient, and doesn’t know his own strength sometimes.”
“Hey,” Zane said.
“Well, it’s true, babe,” Crew insisted. “You nearly broke the guy’s door down.”
“Sorry, but you said that your boyfriend is in trouble, and I didn’t want to waste any time,” Zane said. “How about you tell us what’s going on with Hugh?”
“You know him?” asked.
“Yeah, I’ve come over a few times when you were out, and Hugh and I got to know each other. I even tried to get him to come over to the club,” Zane admitted. Every possessive, jealous gene sprang to life inside of him and Zane seemed to notice. “It’s not like that, man,” he insisted. “We’re friends. So, how about you tell us how we can help Hugh?”
took a deep breath and sat back in his chair. “I got a message from Hugh about two hours ago that he was going out of town with his ex-boyfriend, Luke for a few days,” he said.
“Do he and his ex hang out?” Crew asked, sitting on the edge of the desk.
“No,” breathed, “they had a bad breakup and as far as I know, they haven’t spoken since Hugh moved to town.”
“Well, maybe his ex convinced him to forgive him, and they are catching up,” Zane said.
“No fucking way,” shouted. “He wouldn’t just take off with his ex and not tell me.”
“But you said that he did tell you,” Crew reminded. “He called here, right?”
“Yes, but I’m telling you that something is wrong. Hugh wouldn’t go with Luke willingly,” insisted.
“Why would his ex force him to go with him then?” Crew asked.
“I have no fucking idea, but that’s what I called you for. Can you do a little bit of digging and find out where he might have taken Hugh?” asked.
“Um, sure,” Crew agreed, “but you need to be prepared for the fact that Hugh might have gone with him willingly.”
“Again, no fucking way,” said, this time with no real heat. “I know that Hugh and I haven’t been together very long, but I know him well enough to say that he’d never leave me for Luke.”
“Okay, I’ll put a few feelers out for you and see what I can come up with,” Crew promised. The look of pity on both his and Zane’s faces was nearly his undoing. He didn’t want their pity; he wanted their help, and hopefully, they’d be able to find Hugh.
had spent the rest of the week going out of his fucking mind, worrying about Hugh. A part of him was worried that Crew was right, and that Hugh had left him for Luke. There was no word from Hugh, and he was trying to remain hopeful, but with each passing day, that was getting harder to do.
He was waiting for an update from Crew and when his cell rang, he picked it up like it was his lifeline, and answered it. “Give me some good news, man,” he ordered.
“I wish I could, but I’m afraid that you might not like the news that I’m about to give you, ,” a man’s voice said from the other end of the call. knew Crew’s voice, having almost daily updates from him, and whoever was calling him now wasn’t Crew.
“Who is this?” growled. He was afraid that the asshole on the other end of the call was fucking around and wasting his time.
“Oh, I’m sorry that I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Luke—Hugh’s ex.” Hearing Luke say that he was Hugh’s ex had him breathing a little easier.
“What do you want, Luke?” he asked, cutting to the chase. “Where is Hugh?”
“So, no small talk,” Luke said, “I can appreciate getting to the point. I’m that way too. I guess our Hugh has a type.”
“He’s not our Hugh,” spat. Luke’s laugh was mean, and he knew that he had played right into the guy’s hands.
“My bad,” Luke said. could tell by just his tone that he really didn’t mean it. “I’ll cut to the chase too. I have Hugh, and you want him back I’m assuming.” wanted him back more than he wanted his next breath, but he wasn’t about to tell the asshole on the other end of the call that.
“Go on,” almost shouted.
“Okay, if you want Hugh back, you’ll need to wire me two million dollars,” Luke said. There was no fucking way that he would send Luke a cent, but he needed to play along if he wanted him to believe that he was on board.
“If I don’t?” asked.
“Well, that’s an easy one. If you refuse, I’ll send your boyfriend back to you piece by piece. I can start with his fingers,” Luke promised. The guy had really thought all of this through. Hell, he had a week with Hugh to do it. But who was to say that he didn’t already kill Hugh and was still coming for the money?
“I’ll need proof of life,” insisted. “Then, you’ll get your money.” His phone chimed and pulled it from his ear to find the picture of Hugh that Luke had sent over to him. His guy was bound to a chair and gagged, and all wanted to do was murder Luke for doing that to his guy.
“There, you have your proof. I’ll send over the bank account information, and as soon as I have the money, Hugh goes free,” Luke assured.
“And I’m supposed to just take your word for it?” spat.
“I guess that’s your only option,” Luke taunted. “Take it or leave it, but Hugh and his appendages are counting on you.” Luke ended the call and quickly dialed Crews cell.
“Luke wants two million dollars,” he shouted into the phone when Crew answered, not even letting the poor guy get hello out.
“Shit, he reached out?” Crew said.
“Yeah, I just got off the phone with him,” said.
“Hold on, let me see if we can trace the call,” Crew said. He heard silence on the other end of the call. “Got him,” Crew growled. “You kept him talking long enough to trace the call, but we need to move now. I’ll keep you updated.”
“I’m coming with you,” insisted.
“No fucking way,” Crew shouted. “You aren’t a cop and getting in the way of this mess might just get you killed.”
“I’ll stay in the car, but I need to be there. What if Hugh is hurt, or worse? I need to be there for him.” The thought of Luke laying one finger on Hugh made him want to find the guy and tear him apart. Staying in the car was going to be a challenge, but he needed to do it for Hugh.
The long pause on the other end of the call worried him. “Fine,” Crew shouted. “You can come but Zane is coming too, and he’ll fucking sit on you if he has too.”
“You really want your husband sitting on me, man?” joked. Crew’s growl told him that his joke hadn’t landed well.
“Do you want to go or not?” Crew grumbled.
“I do,” said.
“Fine, be outside the bar in ten,” Crew ordered, ending the call. He wasn’t sure how tonight would end, but knew one thing for sure—he was going to get his guy back, and then, he planned on making Hugh his forever.