Chapter 4 Guarded Moments
CHAPTER FOUR
GUARDED MOMENTS
Colin and Joshua tried to connect by phone throughout the day, but with little success.
The Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office was a whirlwind of activity.
Meetings with Charlottesville law enforcement agencies and their counterparts in Albemarle County were all on the schedule, with Colin’s presence required at most of them.
But even as he raced from room to room, his mind kept drifting to Joshua, wishing for a quiet moment to talk, but there just wasn’t time.
At Rainier Clinic, Joshua did his best to stay calm, professional, and fully present for his patients, even though he felt cramped and uncomfortable in his temporary office.
However, being forced to dash from there to his ‘actual’ office to retrieve missing documents, patient reports, or prescription records—always accompanied by his security officer—left him seething with annoyed frustration.
When he and Colin did manage to connect, they could barely speak coherently. “My god, Colin,” Joshua blurted out during one brief, hectic exchange. “This is insane!”
“Let’s get through the day, bud,” Colin advised. “Tonight, we’ll be able to kick back and talk about all this.” Colin heard his husband draw in and exhale a long breath. “A couple more hours, and we can relax.”
Joshua heard Colin sigh, and his voice grew momentarily distant. “OK, Norm, I’m coming.” He held the phone close to his lips again. “Gotta go, babe. I love you.” And before Joshua could respond, the line went dead.
Frustrated, Joshua tossed his phone to the desk. “Son of a bitch!”
At five p.m., Officer Emily Hayes tapped on Joshua’s door. “Doctor Abrams?”
“What’s up, Emily? And please, call me Josh.”
“Wanted to let you know that the car’s here. Please let me know when you’re ready to leave so I can notify City Hall. The Omni is on our way, so Ryan will drop you and me off first, then go grab Colin and the rest of the team.”
Joshua nodded. “OK, Emily. Let me pack up a few case files, and then we can go.” He stood and scooped up the patient files he had been studying and shoved them into his briefcase.
For a moment, he stood, staring down at the top of his desk.
He drew in and exhaled several deep, calming breaths, then turned and strode toward the door.
He had been in their suite at the Omni for nearly half an hour when Colin burst through the door, calling his name.
“I’m back here, Colin!” Joshua called. “In the bedroom.”
Colin found him leaning over the king-sized bed, sorting through their hastily packed suitcases and the contents of several large trash bags. Joshua spun toward him, and Colin caught him in a tight embrace. He felt his breath catch as their bodies pressed close.
Joshua buried his face against Colin's neck, breathing in his familiar scent. "God, Colin,” he moaned, his voice breaking. “I don’t know if I can do this.”
Colin held him close, rocking him in his arms, his heart aching from the pain in Joshua's voice. "Hang on, my sweet boy. We'll figure it out together. I promise."
Joshua stared at Colin, his eyes a mixture of hope and uncertainty, and Colin pressed his lips to Joshua’s forehead. “This won’t last forever, baby. But until we resolve this threat, I want you safe. It’s the only way I’ll be able to function.”
“Oddly enough, I feel the same way about you,” Joshua told him.
He wrapped his arms around Colin’s neck, and for a long time, they stood without speaking, their bodies molded together.
They each felt the other’s heartbeat quicken as they stood in the dimly lit hotel room, and after a moment, their breaths synchronized, creating a silent rhythm that echoed the unspoken bond between them.
“I know you’re scared,” Colin said, his arms clenching around Joshua’s body. “But know this: I’m not going anywhere.”
Joshua smiled and pressed his face to Colin’s shoulder. “Now, where have I heard that before?”
Colin released him and glanced around the room.
“Jesus!” Every surface was covered with the clothing and household goods they’d considered indispensable.
Joshua had organized the contents into ‘Colin’ piles, ‘Joshua’ piles, and ‘us’ piles.
“I see you’ve been busy,” Colin noted with a snicker.
He peeled off his suit jacket, tie, and dress shirt and tossed them to the bed .
Joshua laughed, gave Colin’s arm a fake punch, and pointed to the clothing he had just deposited. “Don’t add. Subtract!” He pointed to the chest of drawers. “We each have three big drawers and plenty of space in the closet. Let’s do this.”
Within a half hour, much of their clothing and belongings were stored.
As Colin rolled several ties into neat, round parcels and placed them in a drawer, he could hear Joshua opening and closing cupboards, storing various items as he explored the six hundred square feet of living space provided by the hotel.
“The bathroom’s the size of a goddamn football field,” Joshua grumbled. “But no kitchen!”
“We have a kitchenette,” Colin observed.
Joshua wrinkled his nose in distaste. “One counter, a two-cup coffeemaker, a tiny microwave, and an itty-bitty fridge.”
“Better than nothing.”
Joshua humphed in disgust. “Not much better.”
“We’ll have to get our meals from the hotel’s kitchen,” Colin told Joshua, following him into the living area. “I heard the food’s good, and the city is picking up the tab.”
“I like cooking our dinner.”
“Well, that would be my preference as well,” Colin told him. “But for right now,” he shrugged, then picked up a menu from the dresser and offered it to his husband, “this is what we’ve got.”
After dinner, they sprawled on the comfortable couch, Joshua’s head resting on Colin’s shoulder, his thigh stretched across Colin’s thighs, nestling against his side.
They lounged without speaking for a long time, eyes closed, breathing in the scent of each other’s skin, letting the quiet of shared breath and the healing of their soul-deep connection wrap around them.
Joshua inched closer and breathed out a soft, contented moan.
Colin smiled and tightened his arms, drawing him even more deeply into the warmth of their shared intimacy.
But their restorative moment was interrupted by a sharp knock on the door, and seconds later, Sarah Mitchell stuck her head into the room.
“Do you know a Mr. David Gardener-Reese? Um, and a Mr. Nathanial Gardener-Reese?”
“Yeah,” Colin said. “They’re our best friends.”
“We haven’t set up a list of cleared visitors yet,” Sarah told him. “So the hotel wouldn’t let them up. Did you tell them you were staying here?”
Colin husked out a sigh and got to his feet. He moved to stand in the doorway, holding the door open as he spoke to Sarah. “Yeah. I told David earlier today. Please put them at the top of the list.”
“I will, once they’ve been properly identified.” She spoke into her radio. “OK. You can let them up.” Then she turned back to Colin. “Get back in there. I’ll let them in once I check their ID.”
“Sarah…”
She pointed into the suite. “Colin? Get in there! And do me a favor. Don’t tell anyone else where you’re staying.”
He snarled out a disgusted noise and closed the door. Scowling, he stared at it for a moment, then wandered back to the couch, flopped onto it, and turned to face his husband. “This. Fucking. SUCKS!”
Joshua arched his brows and nodded. “Yeah. I’ve had happier days, myself.”
Several minutes later, the door opened, admitting David and Nate. “Oh my god, you guys!” Nate said, rounding the corner of the couch to collapse onto the floor at Joshua’s feet. “This is nuts! I was afraid they were going to ask me to pee in a cup!”
Joshua shook his head in weary annoyance. “I’m sure they’ll get around to it.”
David trailed Nate into the living area and collapsed onto a chair. For a long moment, he stared into Colin’s eyes, and then he leaned closer. “Are you two OK?” he asked, his voice low.
Colin exhaled a long, weary breath. “David, nothing about this is OK.” He reached for Joshua’s hand and laced their fingers together. “But I don’t know what else to do at this point except follow instructions.”
“They warned us ten times not to tell anyone where you guys were staying,” Nate told them. “This is all pretty goddamn spooky if you ask me.”
Colin shrugged and reached to ruffle Nate’s hair.
“Well, not much point in paying for an expensive hotel suite and an equally expensive protection detail if you’re going to blab out your location to everyone you see.
” He leaned toward Nate and whispered. “It’s supposed to be a secret!
” Then he shook his head. “I’m not sure you guys shouldn’t have your own security detail.
The whole world knows we spend a lot of time together, and right now, I’m radioactive. ”
“Yeah, that occurred to me too, Colin, but I’m not going to take any kind of action quite yet,” David told him. “If the situation gets worse or I’m given any reason to suspect we’re being targeted, I’ll hire private security.” He reached across and patted Colin’s hand. “We’ll be fine.”
There was a brief knock, and the door opened again, admitting Esther Jackson to the room.
All four men rose, but Esther waved them back into their seats.
“Sit, gentlemen.” She turned to Colin. “I’m going to assume your permission for David and Nate to be privy to this briefing since none of the information is confidential in nature. ”
Colin nodded. “Absolutely.”
Esther held out several papers to Colin. “Police reports from Hannibal’s murder.”
Colin scanned them and then held them out to Joshua, who shook his head and eased Colin’s hand away. “Is this from the evidence-gathering team?” Colin asked.