Chapter Five #2
“That’s okay,” Taylor said gently. “Just let me know, and I’ll take care of you.”
“You’re here to find out what Jimmy’s up to and if he’s going to start trouble for pride.”
“No. That’s what Jacob, Tony, and Peter are there for. I’m there for you. You’re my priority, Ben.”
Hearing Taylor say that flustered Ben. It was hard to wrap his mind around the fact that they’d gone from Taylor running away from him to this in such a short time.
It had only been a week or so—Ben still wasn’t sure what day it was after spending so much time alone in the forest, and he didn’t really care—but he felt like Taylor had been in his life forever.
He wanted Taylor to be there forever. He just needed to get over this little hurdle, and then, he could focus on their future.
Ben had remembered Jimmy’s address, so they knew where to go.
Tony’s car was in front, and Ben watched it as he and Taylor fell silent.
He wanted to talk to his mate, but at the same time, his brain was too busy thinking about Jimmy.
He really hoped that this was the last time he had anything to do with the man.
He didn’t want Jimmy to ruin what he was building with Taylor.
Ben closed his eyes. He wasn’t sure how long it would take them to reach Jimmy’s house, but he was already dreading it.
“You ran a long way,” Taylor eventually said, his voice soft and gentle.
Ben blinked his eyes open. “I just wanted to get away from that place. I don’t know how long I was on the run, but I’m glad I found Green Hill.”
“So am I. Still, it’s two hours by car.”
“I didn’t run those miles all at once, though.
I moved a lot, but I stopped in several places.
” Green Hill had been his final stop, and he’d always be grateful for that.
In a way, he wouldn’t have met Taylor if Jimmy hadn’t done what he’d done.
Ben would always hate his ex-boyfriend for that, but something good had come out of the mess Jimmy had created.
While Ben wished he and Taylor had met under different circumstances, he wouldn’t change anything even if he could. This was their story, not Jimmy’s.
And it was only just beginning.
Ben grew more agitated the closer they got to Jimmy’s house.
By the time Tony and Taylor stopped their cars in front of the gate, Ben felt ready to jump out of his skin or scream—or maybe both.
He stared at the gate, remembering the times he’d driven through it.
Was his car still there? He hadn’t stopped to check when he’d left.
He’d been overwhelmed and hadn’t been thinking right.
He’d just ran, expecting Jimmy to pop up from behind every tree and bush he passed.
“You wouldn’t happen to know the code of the gate, would you?” Taylor asked as he turned to Ben.
“No, he never gave it to me.”
Taylor nodded and put the car back into gear.
He parked it on the side of the road. It wasn’t like anyone would drive past it since the only place this road went was Jimmy’s house, but Taylor turned it around as if expecting them to have to make a quick retreat.
If they did, the cars would be ready to go.
Tony followed Taylor’s lead, and they gathered in front of the gate. Tony looked like he’d rather be anywhere but here, but Jacob slapped his hands together and grinned. “All right. Who’s climbing the gate first?”
Ben blinked. He hadn’t expected that was how they’d get in, but maybe he should have. There was another way, but he didn’t have the time to tell Jacob because the man was already climbing up. Ben grabbed onto Taylor’s hand, pulling him to the side.
“Where are we going?” Taylor asked.
“We don’t have to climb the gate. There’s a hole in the fence where I escaped.”
Taylor chuckled. “And you don’t want Jacob to know that?”
“I would’ve told him if he’d waited more than a few seconds to start climbing. We’ll see him on the other side.”
By the time they got back to the gate, Peter and Tony had followed Jacob up and over the gate. Jacob glared a little when he saw them arriving, maybe because there was a tear in his t-shirt that hadn’t been there before, but Ben smiled at him.
That smile didn’t stay on his lips long. He was back at Jimmy’s house, a place he’d promised himself he would never return to.
“You’re okay,” Taylor told him.
Ben nodded. “I will be.”
“Is there an alarm?” Tony asked, focused on their next step.
Ben was glad that someone knew what to do because he had no idea.
He was resisting the urge to run, and it wasn’t getting any easier.
No matter how many times he told himself that he deserved to face Jimmy and tell him what he thought of him and what he’d done, his stomach churned, and he felt he was about to throw up.
He swallowed. “I don’t think so. I never noticed an alarm when I visited, and nothing happened when I ran.”
“All right. Let’s go.”
Everyone was silent as they walked toward the house. It took them a few minutes to get there, and when they did, Ben was relieved to see that no car was parked in front of the house. It probably meant that Jimmy wasn’t home. Ben’s car was gone, too, but that was okay. He didn’t need it.
“It doesn’t look like there’s anyone home,” Tony murmured. “Peter, go around back. Jacob, do the same on the other side of the house.”
Tony didn’t order Taylor to go with them, and Ben didn’t think he would’ve gone even if Tony had. Tony and Taylor weren’t at work, and Tony wasn’t Taylor’s boss here. Besides, Taylor wouldn’t want to be away from Ben, not here.
Ben stayed tense as he waited. He kept glancing around, expecting to see Jimmy, but the place was completely silent. It was clear that no one was home, but the tension made Ben want to scream.
He jumped when Peter reappeared a few minutes later. Jacob was quick to follow. “I don’t think this guy’s been home since Ben escaped,” he said. “You got out through the back door, didn’t you?”
Ben nodded. “It was locked, so I broke the window.”
“Well, the door is still open, and no one fixed the window. I’m pretty sure the house is empty and has been since you left.”
Ben was relieved, but at the same time, it made him wonder.
Where was Jimmy?
* * * *
SINCE THE BACK DOOR was open, they walked around the house to enter that way.
Taylor kept an eye on Ben, knowing how hard this was for him.
Part of him was glad that Ben would get the opportunity to confront what had happened, but another part wanted to shield him from pain and trauma.
Being here couldn’t be easy, and it didn’t feel right for Ben to have to face the man who’d locked him in his basement again.
Maybe he wouldn’t. There were no signs of Jimmy, and his car wasn’t there.
Was it possible that he hadn’t come home at all?
If he hadn’t, something had probably happened to him, but that didn’t make sense.
If Jimmy had an accident, why had no one come around his house?
Why was the back door still open and broken?
Surely, he had a family who would take care of the house for him until he was better?
Or maybe not. Some people were loners, and Jimmy lived in the middle of nowhere. Maybe it was for a reason. Maybe he enjoyed his privacy and didn’t want people around him. Did that include his family? There was no way to know.
Ben was tense, but he didn’t complain or say anything. He followed Tony and Jacob around the house, his expression set. Hopefully, this was almost over, but if Jimmy had vanished, something told Taylor that it wouldn’t be that easy to find him.
As Jacob had said, the back door was wide open. There was broken glass on the hard earth in front of it, and they carefully avoided it as they stepped in.
Luckily for them, it was the middle of the day, so they didn’t need to turn on the light. Taylor tried to flip the switch by the door anyway, surprised when it turned on, although he wished it hadn’t because that meant he could see the room in front of him in too many details.
They weren’t the first ones to visit the house since Ben had run.
Taylor could smell raccoons, opossums, rats, and other smaller animals.
He was pretty sure something had died in one of the lower cupboards, but he wasn’t planning to investigate.
The fridge was closed, so the critters hadn’t been able to get the food there, but one of the upper cupboards was open, and something had dragged a loaf of bread out of it.
There was nothing left of the bread, just the plastic bag it had come in.
Peter wrinkled his nose. “Well, this is a mess.”
“I don’t think anyone’s been here since Ben ran,” Tony said, slowly looking around the room. “It looks abandoned. Something definitely happened to Jimmy.”
“Do you think he’s dead?” Ben asked. He sounded almost hopeful. Taylor didn’t blame him.
“I don’t know. It’s possible, but it’s hard to say when we don’t know anything about him. Did he have a family?”
“He mentioned his parents a few times, but I didn’t get the impression that they were close.
His father was pretty bitter because he’d been hurt on the job and couldn’t work anymore.
Jimmy never went into details, though, and I let it go because I didn’t want to bring up painful memories.
” He shook his head. “I was an idiot, wasn’t I? ”
“I wouldn’t say that,” Taylor said as he took Ben’s hand.
He could feel the other three watching them, but he didn’t care.
They all knew that Ben was his mate, and they had to expect them to be close, even if they believed that Taylor was straight.
Taylor didn’t know what he was beyond Ben’s mate, and that was all he cared about.
“You thought he cared about you,” Jacob said gently. “You weren’t an idiot. You wanted him to love you.” He glanced around the room. “Besides, it looks like he paid for what he did to you. I don’t know about you guys, but yeah, I think he’s dead.”