Homecoming (5 page)

“You can call it whatever you like. An accident. An inadvertent consequence. I really don’t give a shit. But let’s make sure that one thing is perfectly clear.” James’s gaze narrowed. “It wasn’t intentional. So don’t you sit there and pretend it was.”

Will’s mouth opened.

James pointed his spoon at him. “You forget how well I know you, my friend. Were you a naughty boy after I left and do some bad shit? You sure as hell did. See, I have eyes over there that kept me informed. But I know you so I also know that it had to kill your Boy Scout conscience. Still, I know there is no fucking way you’d ever sacrifice kids to capture a terrorist. Even as dirty as the one you caught.”

“I disobeyed orders to get him.”

James cocked his head. “I never said you were Mr. Perfect. But even you have boundaries. Especially you.” Picking up the whiskey, James poured more into Will’s glass. “There’s too much talking and not enough drinking.”

In spite of James’s declaration, after they cleaned up the kitchen, he told Will about his new life in Minnesota. “The first couple of years were the hardest, so I had to supplement my income in the beginning. But now, while I’m not rich, I’m doing okay.”

Will finished off his glass and James refilled it. Although Will knew he’d had too much, he welcomed the relief it gave him. “I’m currently unemployed. Did I mention that?”

James laughed. “No, you hadn’t.”

“I have to figure out what I want to be when I grow up.”

With a shrug, James took a sip, watching Will. “It’s gonna be rough, Will. You’ve spent your entire life training to be one thing.”

Will stared into his glass. “Yeah.”

“It doesn’t mean you can’t do something else. Look at me.” James cocked his head with a grin.

Will scoffed and took a drink. “I thought your job was to score with women. When did that change?”

“Very true, my friend, but it doesn’t pay the bills and I always worried that becoming a gigolo would take the fun out of it.”

Will shook his head.

“You’ll find something, until you do, take your time. There’s no hurry.”

“How am I going to live without a job?”

“What bills do you have? You can’t have much. You went to college on a scholarship. Your piece of crap car is paid for.”

“And currently in my parents’ garage.”

“Then what did you drive—”

“Rental.”

“Okay, we’ll return the rental tomorrow and you’ll live here.”

“With you?”

“Sure. Why not? I have another bedroom and you can help me with my business.”

“Your fishing-guide business? In the winter?”

“Ever heard of ice fishing?”

“Well, yeah…”

“I have to go pick up some clients from a lodge down the highway tomorrow after lunch. We’ll drop off your rental over in St. Cloud and be back in time to get them. I can show you the ropes.”

“I have hard time imagining you sitting around with a fishing pole in your hand.”

“I like it. It gives me time to think.”

“About what? New pickup lines?”

James laughed. “Hell no. I don’t need to think those up. Those just come naturally. But if we’re driving to St. Cloud, we better get an early start. Time to call it a night.”

Will’s shoulders tensed. “Yeah.”

“I’ll grab your stuff from the car and bring it in for you. You’ve had so much to drink, I’m afraid you’ll fall on your ass in the snow.”

“I love you too, shithead.”

“We got a real bromance going on, but I’m not putting out tonight, so you need to sleep in your own bed tonight. Your room is the first on the right.”

Will took a shower and found his bag on the bed. He threw on a t-shirt and boxers, and climbed into bed, prepared for his demons to return. Instead, for the first time in over a month, he closed his eyes to nothing. Nearly crying with relief, he succumbed to his exhaustion.

Chapter Five

Will’s head throbbed as he tied a lure onto a fishing line, and his stomach protested the coffee he’d tried to put in it earlier. He spent a third of his days sleeping, another third drunk and the last third nursing raging hangovers.

“You gonna take all day to tie that thing on?” the man next to him muttered.

“Yeah. I just might.” Will’s temper was short. The last thing he wanted to do was placate the asshole next to him.

James took a step toward them, handing the client a cup of coffee. “What Will meant was he was going to take as long as necessary to make sure you have the best opportunity to catch fish.” James twisted his neck so the man couldn’t see him glare at Will. “Isn’t that right, Will?”

“Yeah, that’s exactly it.” Will said in the driest tone he could manage.

James took the pole with a jerk. “Why don’t you go get a little fresh air, Will.”

“Yeah. Why don’t I?” If he spent one more minute in this shack, he was going to fucking lose his mind. Will pushed open the door to the icehouse, and stopped in the opening, in shock from the frigid air. Goddamn, he’d fucking hated the Iraqi heat, but freezing his ass off wasn’t much better. He’d never understand why James like it here so much or why he enjoyed his boring-ass job. James had made Will help out with his last two clients but both outings had been disastrous. Of course, Will hadn’t been the most willing participant.

James followed Will out onto the frozen lake. “What the fuck was that, Will?” he hissed.

“I don’t what you’re talking about. I was tying that asshole’s line.”

“That 
asshole
 is paying me good money to help him catch fish and you’re screwing it up.”

“Then maybe I shouldn’t be here.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t.” James spun around and stomped back to the shack and opened the door. “Mr. Peterson, did you get your line into the water?”

Will ran a hand through his already semi-frozen hair. Fuck, it was cold here. He trudged the fifty feet back to the shoreline. He wasn’t sure he’d ever get used to walking across a frozen lake. James had to convince him it was safe, but Will expected to fall through at any moment. No matter how many times James showed him all the safety precautions he took to make sure that wouldn’t happen.

What Will needed was a strong cup of coffee. He reached the front door and closed his eyes. The images of the fire were back. While he was thankful they appeared less often than before, now they were more intense. The heat of the flames burned his skin. The images of the children had more detail. Fear filled their eyes while their screams filled his ears. Their palms banged on the glass; the 
thud, thud, thud
vibrating through his body. And standing behind the screaming children, he swore he saw a blond-headed boy. Only the boy stood silently staring at Will, his face expressionless.

That’s when Will knew he’d stepped over into madness. There were no blond children in the carnage. Only dark-skinned, dark-haired Iraqi kids, whose mothers wailed and moaned, rocking their burnt children in their arms. What the hell was he doing here in a fucking shit-in-the-wall town in Minnesota? He needed to get himself on a plane back to Iraq and let the families of those kids deal with him.

His stomach rolled, remembering the sight. What Will needed was a drink. It was already two o’clock, so no harm in having a beer. He stomped his feet on the front porch before he went inside, James’s words running through his head.

Then maybe I shouldn’t be here.

Maybe you shouldn’t.

What Will really needed was to find a job. And fast. He opened the fridge, hanging on the door as he studied the beer bottles. Not drinking a beer was probably the first step in the right direction. But since the night Will had shown up on James’s sofa weeks ago, he’d realized that only way to sleep without the images in his head was to get good and drunk first. It was a hard crutch to give up.

The phone rang and Will considered letting it go to the answering machine. Even though James used his cell phone as his business phone now, a few clients hadn’t made the switch over yet. Will had learned that it wasn’t unusual for some clients to call at the last minute. A missed call could mean the difference in getting a job or not. And after fucking with James’s current client, the least Will could do is help secure a new one.

Will answered on the third ring. “Buckner’s Guided Tours.”

“Buckner, I need you for a job.”

The no-nonsense voice caught Will by surprise. It wasn’t the usual laid-back client tone he was used to. “What did you have in mind?”

There was a pause. “So you’re open to it?”

The hair on Will’s neck stood on end. “What kind of job are you talking about?”

“The usual, nothing too messy. I know you said you’re out, but I can’t find anyone close enough to do it with this late notice. Besides, you owe me for my latest tip.”

What the hell was this guy talking about? “How much are we looking at?”

“If you’ll agree to do it tonight. I’ll double the usual fee.”

“Which is….?”

“Don’t play stupid, Buckner. One thousand dollars.”

Holy shit. One thousand dollars. What the hell had James done for this guy? Probably something Will could do. “All right. I need details.”

“Tonight at the Pine Knot Motel bar. Nine o’clock. He’ll be there then.”

“Who?”

“Your mark. Shit, I know it’s been awhile, but get it together, Buckner. I’ll send you the rest of the info.” The line went silent.

What the hell had Will agreed to do? He sat down on a kitchen chair, running a hand through his hair. Whoever was on the line had called 
James.
 James had done a lot of nefarious things in his life, but murder wasn’t one of them. The thought only reassured Will slightly. The guy said he’d send details. If whatever he agreed to do was tonight, there was no way he’d be mailing it. It had to be e-mail. Will found James’s computer, frustrated when he found it password-protected. 
Of course
, it was password-protected. This was James. But what would James use for a password?

Instead of wasting time trying to figure it out, Will called James’s cell phone.

“Where the hell are you?” James growled. “You’re supposed to be down here helping me.”

“Dude, you know I suck at this job. I need to find another one. I need your computer password so I can go online and look for a new shiny career.”

James hesitated. “What are you going to look for?”

“I dunno… maybe security.”

James hesitated again. “What kind?”

“Seeing how I don’t have any job at all, beggars can’t be choosers. Whatever I can get.” Will decided to take it a step farther. “You said you’d done some work while you built up your fishing business. You said you used your skills from the Marines. Maybe I could do something like that.”

“You sure as shit don’t want to get mixed up in that.”

Dread tickled the hair on Will’s arms. “What did you used to do?”

James paused so long that Will wondered if he’d hung up. “Shit I regret. We’ll leave it at that.”

If James regretted it, then it had to be bad. Still it was one thousand bucks and Will needed the money. He didn’t even have a car. Besides, it wasn’t like it was going to stain his impeccably clean character, Maybe a few years ago he would have worried about that, but he didn’t how you could get much lower in the gutter than 
child killer
. “I still need your password.”