Chapter 17
CHAPTER 17
TANK
Chance was surprised to find out the home I ran away from was only a couple of hours away from the city. I’m not sure if he thought I would be clear across the country or if maybe the idea that we’d always been close to one another before we ever met amazed him like it did me.
While I’d wanted to get farther away, things weren’t feasible for it back then. I went as far as I could hitchhike until the biggest city appeared. It was large enough to get lost in, which was exactly what I needed at the time.
“We’re almost there,” I told the group back at the office as Orion navigated the roads of my old hometown.
The area was modest, with idyllic homes scattered through the suburban area. It boasted a decent school system and welcomed tourists all year long with their various themed activities. Honestly, it could have been much worse. Try telling that to teenage me when I felt like my world was falling apart.
In my defense, I really was going through it. Losing my mother after having been on the run for so long destroyed me. It didn’t matter how good I’d had it. There was nothing that could replace what I’d lost.
We pulled into the drive of the familiar home a short while later. Once we parked the SUV, Arick, Godric, and Orion climbed out. Chance gripped my hand tightly from where he sat beside me. He didn’t need to say a word for me to know he had my back through all this.
When he’d come into the room earlier, I hated knowing he’d been upset because of my bullshit. The blowback had me ready to act out against Lune despite not having a clue where the bastard was.
Messing with me was fine.
Messing with Chance wasn’t.
“You ready to do this?” he asked me softly.
I looked from our joined hands to the front porch. It was the same as ever, though maybe a bit worn down. Time clearly had its way with the wood, what with the peeling paint and broken pieces. I hated seeing it, since my last memory of the space was when it was in its prime.
Then again, the minute I stepped off that porch all those years ago, I swore I wouldn’t be back. Look at me now.
“I’m ready,” I said after a bit. “Let’s get some answers.”
Chance nodded, then climbed out and motioned for me to follow. It was funny seeing the guys react to our dynamic. They’d never seen me submit to anyone else before. It was never something I did since I was the man in charge.
But with Chance, I’d do whatever he asked of me. Not just because I trusted him, but because he’d do the same for me. He had, actually. Many, many, MANY times.
I smirked as I thought of the last time I’d had the councilman bending to my will. He looked so pretty stuffed with my cock. I couldn’t wait to be cleared for activity. He was going to get spoiled rotten once I had the opportunity to fuck him how he deserved.
Could a good dicking be a reward? I liked to think so.
If that wasn’t enough, I’d take him to dinner too. Yeah, that worked. Food and dick. The two essentials of life.
“Get your head out of the gutter,” Chance whispered as we slowly climbed the steps to the porch.
With all five of us up there, it felt smaller than ever before. Orion knocked on the door since he was the least scary of us all.
A frail voice shouted, “Coming. Just a second.”
I recognized it instantly. Chelsea Lind was a saint among the human race. Even when I ran from her care, I knew it had nothing to do with her or her amazing husband Brock.
When the door opened, her jaw dropped. “Oh! Oh, my. How can I help you gentlemen?”
“Hi, Mrs. Lind. We’re here to speak with you about some children you fostered a while back. We’re trying to track down some information for a case. I’m here with my associates. My name is Orion. This is Arick, and that’s Chance. And this is —”
“Bruno?” Her voice rose with her shock.
The group parted, letting me shuffle through. “Hi, Mrs. Lind.”
She waved her hand in front of her face as tears began to fall. “Oh, none of that. You come in this house right now, sweetie. I can’t believe it! Look how big you are. You haven’t changed much since you were little. Still got a face to break hearts with.”
My guys chuckled as the screen door unlocked. She pressed it forward, then took my hand and dragged me inside. Her strength was impressive given her age.
Not that I’d judge someone by their age alone. A lot of factors went into these things.
I rolled my eyes at my own thoughts as we walked through the formal dining room into the living area. It still held the notes of design from when I was a kid, though a few key differences were in place. A flatscreen sat where the old tv was, and their record collection was much bigger. There was also a wall full of smiling faces and family portraits.
The guys spread out around the space, observing what they could as Chelsea directed me to a chair. “Just give me a second. I need to go wake Brock up from his nap. He’ll be happy to see you too. Oh, this is just… it’s wonderful really.”
She left us in the space, uncaring that most of us were strangers. Hell, I was one, too, despite the short year I spent with them. This was what I meant by being kind.
Chelsea and Brock Lind would assume I had good intentions until I proved otherwise.
“There are a lot of kids on this wall,” Orion noted.
Arick nodded as he trailed down the opposite end of the wall. “There is, but we’re only looking for a certain time period.”
Chance dropped onto the couch beside me. “How are you feeling so far?”
“I’m good,” I replied. “Why? Are you ok?”
He snorted, his fingers wrapped around mine as he placed my hand between his. “I’m doing as well as can be expected; however, I wasn’t the one beaten recently. Are you sore? Do you need any painkillers? We can probably give you a dose.”
“Baby, I really am ok. I promise to take something later if it gets worse.”
His frown was adorable. I wanted to kiss him to ease his frustration, but since we were supposed to be behaving, I didn’t want to get distracted. Besides, Memphis and the team were listening in. I’m sure they were already planning to give me shit about mine and Chance’s whispered words later.
The comms only went one way for this part of the plan since I needed to focus on the questions to ask the Linds. If there was something Memphis needed in particular, he would reach out to Orion or Arick to have them ask instead.
I appreciate the thoughtfulness considering my head felt like a big bowl of soup. The pain meds were definitely going to be a needed later. For now, I had to work while ignoring the throbbing behind my eyes.
“I’ve got him right here,” Mrs. Lind said as she wheeled in her husband. I stared in shock as the man who’d once been larger than life grinned at me with a perfect set of teeth. They were clearly dentures, considering I doubted his body was this weak and his mouth remained intact.
Pushing down those thoughts, I smiled at him. “Hey, Mr. Lind.”
“Bruno! Our boy! Call me Brock.”
“And call me Chelsea, please. No more of the Mr. and Mrs. business.”
I winced at the name. It still held horrible memories for me, yet it felt wrong to correct them. Thankfully, I had a supportive partner who understood my plight.
Chance cleared his throat. “He goes by Tank now. That old name holds some bad connotation for him, if you get my meaning.”
He made it sound as if they were all sharing a secret somehow. And I saw the way the couple’s eyes went wide as the recollection of why that might be came back to them.
“Of course, of course. Tank it is then. How have you been, son? You look fit as a fiddle. Always knew you’d grow up to pack on some muscle once you started eating more,” Brock joked.
Chelsea smacked him on the arm. “Don’t tease the boy. It’s only been a million years since we’ve seen him.” She turned my way. “You know we tried looking for you. Filed a report and everything. The police gave us a year, then gave up. It’s good to know you made something of yourself.”
I give her the softest smile I can manage. My heart aches a bit for them now. There was no way I could have stayed back then. Yet at the same time, I understood how devastating that must have been.
“While I hate that it brought you both problems, I can’t say I regret how things turned out. I’ve built myself a new family, and I did manage to find success doing what I always wanted.”
“You’re in security, aren’t you?” Brock asked with a knowing glint.
I nodded. “Yes, sir. I get to protect those who can’t protect themselves.”
“Always with that big heart of yours,” Chelsea agreed. “As much as I love the catching up we’re doing, I have a feeling you’re here for more than that. The Orion fellow alluded to as much.”
Orion took that as his cue to join in. “Yes, Chelsea. May I call you Chelsea?”
She blushed at his wide smile. He was charming when he wanted to be.
“Sure thing, hon. Call me Chelsea.”
“Don’t go flirting with the boy’s friends now, Chels. Let’s hear them out without the heart eyes,” Brock teased. She shook her head at him, though she did manage to focus more on his words rather than his looks after that.
“We’re here because Tank is trying to remember some parts of his past that are a bit unclear. Someone we think might have been around during the time he was here has reentered the picture. We just can’t connect the dots yet,” Orion told them. “While our tech guys were able to gather some information, there wasn’t much to tell us the day-to-day stuff.”
Chelsea nodded, humming a bit. “So you want to know if Tank was close with anyone?”
“That and if anyone might not have liked him. Maybe expressed some dislike even after he was gone.”
Brock grunted. “Well, yeah. There was definitely some dislike in there by a couple of the kids. Didn’t like that he never wanted to play with them because he was so sad. And when he did play, he was always better at stuff than them.”
“Hey! I tried to play fair. When I let them win, they’d be just as mad,” I argued.
“We know, sweetie. It was just hard for you to make friends with everything else going on. You didn’t seem to be all that social before you came here. It was hard trying to keep everyone happy, especially with the teenage hormones.”
Chelsea’s words reminded me of how tough those years were. I still couldn’t remember much, but the feelings of frustration were familiar enough to surface. Maybe being in the house itself would be enough of a reminder if we stayed long enough. I was already learning more than I thought I would.
“Anyone in particular bring cause for concern?” Arick asked, interrupting my thoughts. “Someone who may have been violent or spoke out against Tank?”
The couple glanced at one another, then turned back to us. Chelsea seemed to hesitate, but Brock wasn’t holding back.
“First thing you have to know is that we always wanted kids. It wasn’t in the cards for us the natural way, so we fostered for a while. The thing they don’t tell you about fostering is how those first few cases can determine what the state thinks of you,” Brock said.
Chelsea continued where he left off. “And since those first ones were all hard cases, with kids from broken homes, we became known as the couple to take on the difficult kids. We found a sort of peace giving those kids love who didn’t really know what it was like before showing up on our doorstep.”
“Which meant that not everyone had the best coping mechanisms.” Brock rubbed his jaw. “During Tank’s time here, there were kids who were jealous of him, sure, but the problems didn’t really come until after he left. The investigation took a lot of our time. And admittedly, we were heartbroken at his running away. He was the first child we’d considered adopting.”
My hand flew to Chance’s thigh at his admission. He laid his on top, reassuring me with the gentle touch.
“Adopt me?” I whispered.
Chelsea nodded. “Something about you always drew us in. You felt like you belonged here from the minute I saw your sad eyes. Losing you tore me up something terrible. I still gave those kids my best, but the ones who’d been here before saw the difference. A couple wondered why you meant so much.”
“Do you remember which kids they were? We’d love to check them out to see if maybe they’re connected to this somehow.” Orion leaned forward, smiling at Chelsea and Brock in that way he used to convince people to do things. The man was a wizard with his social skills.
Chelsea jumped from her seat, gasping as she looked around. “I didn’t even offer you anything to drink. Where are my manners?”
She left the room to the sound of Brock’s broken laugh. He shook his head, leaning over the side of the chair to watch her leave.
“Always wanting to take care of others. That’s my Chels.”
Arick pulled his laptop from his bag, opening it slowly to draw Brock’s eye. “We’d love those names, sir, if you remember them. It would be a big help.”
Brock’s gaze moved to meet mine. In them, I saw his understanding of what was going on even though we didn’t really say too many details.
I wondered if his loyalty to the kids he took in would overrule this. Or would the kid who got away mean more to him in a sense?
When he spoke, I got my answer. “Gabriel Monil and Lachlan Pratt. Those were the two most vocal in their frustrations.”
Arick went to work pulling up the two names. I didn’t have to be in the office to know Memphis was doing the same.
Chelsea came back in the room carrying a tray covered in glasses, a pitcher of water and a pitcher of tea. “Now then, who’s thirsty? I’m sure you boys can spare another half hour or so to tell us more about yourselves before you run off to save the day.”
And that’s how two hours disappeared as we caught up with my old foster parents. We shared tales of how they’d changed over the years, along with me talking about the start of NightShade and my relationship with Chance. They were overjoyed to see me in a happy relationship, as well as finding out Arick and Orion were part of that family I’d surrounded myself with.
By the time we left, I felt like a piece of me had healed. Like I’d gotten something back I hadn’t even noticed was missing.
If only I’d have been able to hold onto that feeling for longer.