20. Kyle
CHAPTER 20
KYLE
F or all the Ricky Leighton carnival of fuckery had turned my world on its ass, I would concede that some good had come of it. There were, after all, worse things than waking up with Everett snoring softly beside me.
With some wincing, I rolled over to watch him in the thin early morning light. Once the pain in my back and side had eased—fuuuck I was sore—I couldn’t help smiling. He was seriously adorable. When he was awake, his brow was often furrowed and his forehead creased as if he were trying to concentrate on the present while also processing seven or eight completely unrelated thoughts in his mind. Asleep, though, his features smoothed out. Long strands of unruly brown hair tumbled over his face, and he didn’t look like he had a care in the world.
He did, though, and it did funny things to my insides to know he wasn’t only here because he wanted me. He was worried about me. He was protective in a way I’d never experienced before, and as much as I didn’t like needing protection, I couldn’t lie—I liked it. I liked being with someone who actually seemed to care about me and my wellbeing. And it wasn’t like he was getting more than a blowjob anytime soon; as much as I wanted to find out just how energetic and enthusiastic he was in bed, my body wasn’t quite there yet. Not until these bruises healed a little, which they were in no hurry to do.
Though I couldn’t complain about the blowjobs, either. A lot of guys thought it was weird that I preferred using condoms until we’d both had tests, and admittedly, that could make for a lackluster experience. Everett, though? Goddamn. It was probably good we’d used the rubber the first time—not because I thought he had anything, but because if he could drive me that wild with his mouth even through a layer of latex, he’d kill me when we nixed the barrier.
What a way to go, though.
The thought made me chuckle, and for once, that didn’t hurt. Hell, maybe I was healing after all.
But then I flew too close to the sun by rolling onto my back again, and… fuck. No. Not healed yet. Owww.
“Son of a bitch,” I muttered as I waited for the pain to subside. Good thing Detective Reardon hadn’t busted any ribs. I’d heard those took a long , long time to heal, and they were super painful for weeks on end. Fuck that noise.
Once I could breathe again, I—carefully this time—moved again, cautiously rolling to my feet. I sat on the edge of the bed for a moment to let the stars in my vision clear, and then I got up and shuffled to the bathroom.
The cats took advantage of there being two people in the house, and they divided and conquered with their morning breakfast demands. Patches sang me the song of her people (the one about how her people saw the bottoms of their food dishes and it was just famine forever and ever) while Jeff walked all over Everett. Somehow, Everett slept through the assault, and even after I plucked Jeff off him, he didn’t wake up.
Good. We both needed as much sleep as we could get these days. With my phone in one hand, Jeff under my arm, and Patches on my heels, I left the bedroom so Everett could sleep in.
They both sang the lamentations of their starving ancestors while I fixed their breakfast. As soon as the bowls hit the floor, the caterwauling was replaced by the happy sounds of crunching and purring.
“Drama queens,” I muttered.
The fish weren’t quite so theatrical in their demands, but I did get a dirty look from Steve. Granted some of that was the fish version of resting bitch face, but the way he tried to nip my hand suggested some actual anger and malice.
“This is why people have dogs,” I said as I fed the scaly ingrates. “They’re polite, and they don’t literally bite the hand that feeds them.”
I swear to God, Steve glared at me like, “I could take off your finger and you’d still feed me, bitch.”
Yeah, he was probably right.
I wondered if anyone in high school had ever thought to nominate me “Most likely to be a doormat for predatory fish.” I would’ve won for sure.
With my boyfriend snoozing and my animals eating, I settled on the couch with a cup of coffee. About five minutes into my morning doomscroll, though, my phone rang.
Colin.
Oh, fuck. This could be… well, it could be really good, really bad, or a gigantic nothing burger. Hoping for really good, I accepted the call.
“Hey, what’s?—”
“We’ve got a problem,” my brother announced.
“Another one?” I muttered.
“Yes.” He pushed out a breath, and I could almost see him shoving a hand through his hair in frustration. “Could you have maybe told me you were getting a goddamned lawyer involved in this? Because it’s making things seriously fucking complicated, Kyle.”
My stomach flipped. “A lawyer? What are you talking about?”
“Don’t play stupid. Who the fuck else would’ve?—”
“Dude, I didn’t get a lawyer involved in anything. The only lawyer I even know is my ex, and I sure as shit didn’t call her.” I may have been desperate to figure out this situation, but I wasn’t desperate enough to reach out to the woman who’d tried to find some legal loophole that made it illegal to own piranhas. I could forgive her cheating on me with her rich-ass boss, but there was no going back after she tried to get animal control to confiscate my fish.
Colin gave a long-suffering sigh. “Then you might want to have a conversation with that boyfriend of yours, because it sounds like this came from his camp. I just figured you knew about it.”
Irritation knotted in the pit of my stomach, but it wasn’t just with Colin. Had Everett contacted a lawyer? Had he gotten someone involved in this without telling me? Christ. I knew he was earnest about resolving this situation, but it kind of hurt that he’d make a move like this and not even mention it. What the hell?
I exhaled. “I need to talk to Everett, but what’s going on? What’s the lawyer doing?”
“Hell, what isn’t he doing?” Colin grumbled. “He’s rattling cages all over city hall. He did a fucking press conference this morning, Kyle. My captain and two others are losing their fucking minds. The chief is apoplectic. It’s—God, it’s a mess. And this lawyer is making sure everyone knows Detective Reardon is right in the middle of it all.”
“I mean, then someone will look into his shit, won’t they? This is… kind of a good thing, isn’t it?” It seemed like it to me, anyway. “Someone’s looking into?—”
“You don’t get it, do you?”
I blinked. “Um. Apparently not?”
This time, his harsh sigh sounded exactly like one of our dad’s. “This kind of scrutiny makes people cover their tracks! The way he’s going public—all over the news , for God’s sake—he’s just going to send everyone into the shadows. They’re going to start hiding or destroying evidence, and I guarantee they’re going to do whatever they can to shut people up. Especially people who know enough to be damaging.”
I gulped, my blood turning to ice. “Like me.”
“Yes. Like you.” Colin swore. “Look, you and your boyfriend are going to need to disappear.”
“What?” I squeaked. “Like, witness protection?”
“Yes. Not the kind where you have a new identity and all that, but temporary hiding until I can be sure you’re safe.”
It took a moment for that to settle in. But then my gaze locked on another set of eyes.
From the other side of the aquarium’s glass, in water made cloudy by his breakfast’s debris, Steve glared at me. I had no idea what I’d done to piss him off, or if he was just fantasizing about leaping from his tank and devouring me, but his pissy stare reminded me of a not-so-minor logistical issue.
“I can’t just leave,” I said. “I can take the cats with me, but my fish are?—”
“Kyle. Kyle . Dude. I’m not going to let you stay out in the open because you’re worried about your fucking fish. You could get killed . Do you understand that? Killed . I know you love your pets, but I’m not prioritizing fish over my brother.”
Anger flared in my chest. “I’m not leaving my animals.”
The string of profanity coming down the line would’ve been comical under other circumstances. “For fuck’s sake. Fine. Fine! I’ll arrange for someone to stay at your house and take care of your fish. Okay? Then will you go into witness protection?”
I swallowed, my heart pounding as the reality of the situation sank in. “Me and Everett, right?”
“Yes. I’ll make the calls. Both of you need to be ready to go in an hour. Got it?”
My head was swimming, but I confirmed that I did, indeed, get it. After my brother ended the call, I wavered for a moment, trying to comprehend what was happening. Witness protection. Because Reardon and whoever else was involved were cleaning house. We’d been in danger before, but now we were in danger .
Shit.
I gnawed my lip as I looked over at my fish. I still needed to scoop out the debris from their breakfast, but I was frozen. Would they be safe? Could I really trust anyone else to take care of them? I could take the cats with me, and I would, but I’d be worried sick about my fish until I got home.
If I got home.
Because you didn’t grow up around cops without learning how witness protection worked. Yeah, most of the time it was a temporary thing. Hide out in a cheap-ass hotel and slowly die of boredom, but then go back to your normal life after the bad guys were squared away.
Sometimes, though…
Sometimes it didn’t end that way.
Sometimes the bad guys had connections to other bad guys, and until every last one of those bad guys was dead or in prison, there was a price on your head. Even after trials were over and the witness’s testimony was no longer needed, they had to disappear.
That was when the U.S. Marshals showed up with their emotionless instructions and windowless vans, and it was “pack two bags and don’t bring anything that could possibly identify you,” followed by a long ride to an undisclosed location. Then it was a couple of weeks of learning your new name and your new back story and then?—
“Kyle?” Everett’s sleepy voice startled me. I whipped around, which my bruised back didn’t appreciate, and found him in the living room doorway, still wearing nothing but a pair of shorts. When our eyes met, his widened, and he came farther into the room. “What’s going on? What’s wrong?”
“I…” It took a second to shake myself out of the panic over our not-zero chances of going into real long-term hardcore witness protection. When I did, everything else from my conversation came rushing back, and the accusation was out before I could think twice: “You got a fucking lawyer involved?”
Everett balked, his jaw going slack. “I… what?” He came around and sat on the couch. “What are you talking about?” He reached for my hand, but I avoided his touch, and he stared at me, pain joining the confusion in his expression. “What’s going on?”
I wrung my hands in my lap and told him about the conversation with my brother. Then I looked in his eyes again and whispered, “Why didn’t you tell me you were getting a lawyer involved? I was completely blindsided.” The hurt in my own voice caught me off guard, but I didn’t apologize for it. I was hurt.
Everett exhaled, letting his shoulders drop, and he shook his head. “I didn’t. I mean, I knew there was…” He paused as if to collect his thoughts. “My—well, he’s not—” He gave a sharp, frustrated wave. “Let’s just cut to the chase and say Theo is my brother-in-law.”
“Uh. Okay?”
“Right, so my sister was going to meet with Theo to tell him all the shit that’s going on with my family’s business. You know, about someone fucking with our paperwork with the city?”
I nodded slowly. “Right. And they got a lawyer involved?”
“Well, that’s the thing—Theo is a lawyer. He’s a prosecutor, and he works for the D.A.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose and exhaled. “Aw, fuck…”
“I’m sorry!” Everett said earnestly. “I really didn’t think they’d?—”
“No, no. It’s not your fault.” I dropped my hand. “Do they know about the situation with Ricky?”
He shook his head. “I mean, they might’ve heard about it? But the only thing my sister was going to talk to Theo about was the people messing with the family.” He furrowed his brow. “Leanne saw Detective Reardon giving me shit, though. She knows who he is and that he’s involved. So she probably told Theo.” Everett rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. “I didn’t think he’d do something this… public.”
I studied him, and slowly my anger and hurt shifted to guilt. I should’ve known Everett hadn’t gone behind my back or made some move without me. And deep down, I’d known he hadn’t left me out of anything maliciously; if anything, I’d figured he’d just forgotten to tell me or something.
But no, it turned out he really hadn’t made that move at all.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, shoulders slumping. “I didn’t… I should’ve known you wouldn’t…”
“It’s okay.” He wrapped his arms around me, carefully avoiding the sore spots, and I leaned into him, loving his warmth and closeness. “I really didn’t think he’d do that. But he’s a pit bull who really, really wants to be God’s gift to prosecutors, so I should’ve known.” He kissed my temple. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault.” I lifted my head and brushed my lips across his. “We, um… I need to pack a few things, and then we need to go get your stuff. My brother wants to hide us until this blows over.”
Everett’s eyes flicked toward the fish tank.
Before he could say it, I said, “He’s sending someone to stay here and look after the fish. They’ll be fine.”
“Oh.” He nodded, but he didn’t relax. Chewing his lip, he shifted beside me.
“What?” I asked.
“Just…” He swept his tongue across his lips before meeting my gaze again. “We’re, like, ninety-nine percent sure the cops are involved in Ricky’s death. Right?”
“Of course. And they’re definitely covering it up.”
“Right. So… I mean…”
I tilted my head, waiting for him to organize his thoughts.
Finally, he asked, “Do you really think it’s safe to let the cops hide us?”
That slammed right into my chest and forced a breath out of me. “Holy shit. I didn’t even think of that!”
He grimaced. “I mean, I don’t want to say I don’t trust your brother, but unless he’s personally sending us somewhere and keeping us out of every other cop’s sight…”
“Shit,” I breathed. “I don’t know. I… I mean, if we go someplace ourselves, we’ll have to use a credit card. The cops can track that down.” They’d need a warrant, of course, but I was beyond believing the cops involved in this situation were concerned with legalities. We couldn’t take anything for granted at this point.
“You trust your brother, right?” Everett asked.
“Yeah, I do.”
“Okay. Well. Let’s do what he told us to so far—pack our stuff, be ready to roll. Once we meet up with him, we figure something out that keeps us off the cops’ radar.”
That was…
That was a pretty damn good idea, now that I thought about it.
Nodding, I took his hand, and I felt guilty for the relief that filled his expression. I’d never rejected his touch before, and I had no doubt I’d seriously hurt his feelings. I hoped I could make up for that.
“Good idea,” I said softly. “Let’s get my stuff and the cats in the car, and then we’ll go get you packed.”
At that, his face lit up. “We’re taking the cats?”
“Well, yeah.” I couldn’t help smiling at his enthusiasm. “I can’t take the fish, but the cats are portable.”
“Cool! Okay, let’s do this.” He paused. “But first let me say goodbye to Steve.”