Chapter 10
JUSTIN
Justin wasn’t surprised when Scott fell asleep early. Once he was soundly out, Justin got up, too fidgety to drift off.
I thought I lost him. He was exceptionally lucky. I love him. I don’t want to waste any more time making him mine.
Justin knew he would remember the fraught drive to the crash site and the smell of smoke.
His headache had gotten increasingly worse, which he figured was stress.
Then Brandon, who had telepathic gifts of his own, suggested that Justin’s abilities were blasted wider open than usual by trauma, and his psychic link with Scott was picking up on the other man’s pain and fear.
The hike from the SUV to the burning plane had been bad, especially when they found the burned wreckage. Armel promised to make sure that anything that remained of the bodies would be properly removed and returned to the families, but all Justin could imagine was losing Scott like that.
Justin poured himself a glass of bourbon and sat at the kitchen table. He didn’t want to turn on the television and risk disturbing Scott, and he was too distracted to pay attention to anything anyhow.
He remembered his rage when they surprised the hitmen and how much he wanted to shoot the men who threatened his mate. Justin thought he should probably feel bad but couldn’t bring himself to care. They would have killed him and sold his pelt. I almost lost him twice.
Justin’s hand shook as he held the glass. He struggled to get his feelings under control and knew today’s events would haunt him for quite a while.
I need to hold it together for Scott. He had it so much worse.
Justin startled when Scott came up behind him. “I woke up, and you were gone. Are you okay?”
Justin looked up at him. “That’s a loaded question today. I guess…as okay as I can be, considering.”
“Yeah. Same here.” Scott sat next to him. “I can’t have any of the good stuff because of the medications, so you’ll have to enjoy it for me.”
Justin gave a humorless chuckle. “I think you got the better end of that deal.”
“Thank you, again.” Scott looked haggard. “I really didn’t think I was going to get out of there.”
“My psychic link with you helped me find you,” Justin blurted.
“That’s pretty cool,” Scott said.
“You think so? I was afraid you’d feel intruded on.”
Scott shrugged. “I trust you not to misuse it. That whole thing about great power and great responsibility.” He gave a tired half-smile.
“Brandon and the people at the Fox Institute said they would help me find someone more specialized to train me now that we know my mate is a shifter. That way, not only will I have more control when things quiet down, but I can make the most of our connection,” Justin said.
“I don’t want to go back to Albany except to get my stuff,” Scott blurted. “I’m ready to make Fox Hollow my home.”
Justin grinned. “That’s great. Are you ready to live together, or do you need time?”
“I was just reminded how time runs out before you know it.” Scott reached for Justin’s hand. “I want to move in. I don’t want to miss another minute with you.”
Justin leaned in for a kiss. “That’s what I was hoping you’d say.”
The next morning, Justin had seaplane appointments, so he couldn’t stay home.
“How about I go to Bear Necessities?” Scott suggested. “I don’t want to be alone, and I’ll be safe there.”
Justin nodded. “Okay. Fox Hollow is a small town. We notice outsiders, especially ones in cheap suits. But I’d feel better if you were with people.” He didn’t want Scott to feel smothered, but Justin couldn’t shake the feeling that they hadn’t seen the last of his boyfriend’s pursuers.
“That’s fine. You can come get me when your appointments are done,” Scott said. “Don’t blame me if I’ve had enough coffee to be bouncing off walls.”
Scott’s phone rang, and he frowned when he looked at the number. “That’s odd.” He answered the call and put it on speaker.
“Mr. Fredericks, what’s up?” he asked.
Scott looked to Justin. “It’s my landlord,” he whispered. “Putting you on speaker.”
“Hi Scott. Sorry to bother you, but I wanted to find out if you were expecting anyone from your work to drop by the apartment,” Fredricks asked. He sounded worried, and Scott frowned.
“No, I wasn’t. Did someone show up?”
“Two men in suits stopped in this morning and said they were from your office,” Fredericks said.
“They asked if you were home, and I told them I had no idea of your schedule. Then they asked more questions about where you were, when I expected to see you again, and if you’d be around this weekend.
It all just struck me as wrong, so I didn’t tell them anything.
Not that I’d have given out that kind of information anyhow. ”
Scott and Justin traded worried glances. “Aside from the suits, can you describe them?” Scott asked.
“One was taller, and he had a thin face, long nose, shifty eyes. The shorter one looked like he’d had his nose broken a couple of times, like a boxer.
Neither of them struck me like the suit or office type,” Fredericks replied.
“They seemed frustrated when I couldn’t tell them when you’d be home.
I noticed that they hung around the parking lot after I spoke to them.
They left right before I was going to call the cops. ”
Scott looked like he was weighing how much to tell his landlord. “You did the right thing. I’m freelance, so I don’t have an office, they were lying. I witnessed a crime, and those guys are prime suspects. They’re dangerous, so if they come back, don’t deal with them. Call the police right away.”
“Are you okay?” Fredericks sounded sincerely concerned.
“Yeah. I’m safe. I’m staying with friends,” Scott assured him. “The police are working on the situation. I’m sorry that they bothered you.”
“I’ve got no patience for that kind of crap,” Fredericks said. “You can be sure I’ll put the cops on their asses if I ever see them again.”
“If you can get a license plate number without putting yourself in danger, that would be helpful,” Scott suggested.
“Will do,” Fredericks said. “Keep your head down. Your things are safe here until you can come home.”
Scott paused. “Do you think they showed up in any security footage? If so, can you please send me the clip? That might help the police.”
“If they went to your apartment first, I’m sure they did,” the landlord said. “Probably got them in the parking lot as well. I’ll download the video and figure out how to email it to you.”
“Thank you,” Scott replied, sounding weary. “I’m sorry for the trouble.”
“You’re a good tenant. Always pay on time, no wild parties, put the recycling in the right bin. I don’t like it when someone bothers one of my folks,” Fredericks answered. “I’ll let you know if they come back and get that email right out to you.”
Scott ended the call and lowered the phone. He stared into the distance with such a look of despair that Justin reached out and took his hand.
“Talk to me. How are you feeling?” Justin asked.
Scott took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Pursued. Threatened. Scared. I hadn’t planned to go back to Albany for a couple of days, but it’s different knowing that I can’t go home. I’m thinking they somehow figured out I survived the crash.”
“You’ll be safer here. We were already talking about moving in together,” Justin said. “I know you want your things, but we’ll be able to get them eventually. If you need more clothes, there are stores and the internet delivers, even all the way up here.”
“I know.” Scott squeezed Justin’s hand. “And I appreciate you being willing to move the timeline up without warning. I’m just really spooked. I guess I thought the suit guys would assume I died in the crash and give up.”
“If they went to Albany, then they know who you are.” Justin felt scared and angry that the men responsible for the crash were still targeting Scott.
“Yeah, I don’t know how, but they got my name and address. I don’t have coworkers they could threaten since I don’t actually work from an office, but it’s creepy to be stalked like that,” Scott confessed.
Justin checked the time. “Let’s get something for breakfast. I’m going to have to go meet my clients before too long.
Why don’t you check your email for those videos from your landlord?
We should get those over to the sheriff ASAP, and to Liam.
He’s got his hacker hat on to see what he can do to find out who hired Dumb and Dumber and follow the money trail to the real power. ”
“I don’t want anyone else to put themselves in danger for me,” Scott warned.
Justin shook his head. “Liam’s fine, and he loves this stuff. With all his library know-how, he’s amazing on a computer. And the sheriff is working through normal channels. We’ll get to the bottom of it.”
While Justin whipped up scrambled eggs and toast for them, Scott logged into Justin’s laptop. The email from his landlord had already come through, with a link to share the surveillance video.
“Got it. I’ll send it to Armel and Liam,” Scott said. “It’s grainy and not the best pictures, but at least it’s something.”
“How would you feel about going to the library instead of Bear Necessities?” Justin asked as they began to eat.
“I’m just thinking that the coffee shop is more public, and the suit guys are still looking for you.
The library has less foot traffic, and Liam could keep you company and still help you stay a little more out of sight. ”
“Works for me if he’s okay with it,” Scott said. “Except there’s no coffee.”
“I promise you lots of coffee when we get back home,” Justin told him. He gave Liam a call and then nodded to Scott when he hung up.
“Liam’s on board. He thought it was a good idea for you to go there, and if you have other ideas for how he might find the hitmen or their bosses, you can tell him. There might be something in your research that turns out to be more of a clue than you realized.”