Long Way Home by Carolyn Gray (13 page)

Carolyn Gray

boy. The one to fulfill parental expectations. Though they’d never said, he’d known his parents

hadn’t been too happy when he blew off college in favor of a ballet career, even though his mom

had danced. And when he’d come out, his mother’s cold anger had chilled him. At least his

dad—and Nina, of course—hadn’t cared.

As Gev approached the room, he hesitated, hoping Nina was alone and Mason hadn’t come

with her. He opened the door and poked his head inside. She was alone. “Nina,” he said in relief.

She whirled around, her eyes widening. “Gev. Oh, Gev, you’re really all right.” She rushed

to him and hugged him fiercely before pulling back and cradling his head in her hands. She

searched his face, her eyes brimming. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. It’s been pretty rough, but I’m okay now.”

She hugged him again. He wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her neck, a

shudder escaping him. He refused to cry, even though, dammit, there was every reason to cry.

Chad was dead.

He, on the other hand, was lucky as hell. He pulled away. “Can we get out of here?”

“Lee’s coming. Don’t you want to wait?”

Gev slid his hand down to hers, a jolt running through him at the thought of seeing Lee

again. But he didn’t want Nina to detect his reaction. “Yeah. I guess so. I forgot they’d found

him. I saw him last night. He’s changed a lot.”

She motioned for him to follow her and headed for an unoccupied couch. As she sat, she

pulled him down with her and turned sideways so she could see him.

“Need anything to drink? They have a little refrigerator in here.”

“No, I’m fine. I need something to eat more.”

She raised her hand and messed with his bangs. “Sloppy.”

He pulled away, though he didn’t mind. “Of course. It’s my style.”

Her blue eyes shimmered. “I’m so, so sorry, Gev. I liked Chad. Very much.”

Gev turned away from her, dropping his hands to his knees, then hanging them between his

legs. He squirmed. The couch pretty much sucked; he could swear a spring was poking him in

the back. “I know. I can’t believe—” He looked at her. “If it’d been me, if I hadn’t gone

running—”

“But you did,” she said, her voice fierce. Two women passing looked down at them. Nina

bent her head closer to his. “You did. You’re okay. It’s going to be all right. Understand?”

“Yeah. I guess.”

“What happened, happened. Until we find out who did this, you don’t go blaming yourself,

hear me? Or after. Anytime. People are going to pound this into you, the what-if crap, but don’t

let them get to you, okay?”

Gev drew in his breath. He hadn’t thought about that, but she was right, of course. The

next few months were going to be hell, no matter what. “I’m not looking forward to seeing his

parents.”

She rubbed his shoulder. “The other guy, did you know him?”

“Nope.” Gev sat back, trying to avoid the bad spot on the back of the couch. “I didn’t.

Didn’t even meet him. Just saw him sleeping. All I know is, Chad picked him up last night.” He

ran his hands through his hair. “Biggest mistake of that guy’s life.”

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“We’ll have to find out who he is.”

“Yeah. I told Lee about you and the kids.”

She patted his knee, then yawned. “Sorry. What did he think?”

“He said he admired you. Ready-made triplets, couldn’t imagine it.”

“Is he married? Does he have kids?”

He really didn’t want to look at his sister when he was talking about Lee. He wasn’t sure

why either. Maybe because he couldn’t get Lee out of his mind. Maybe because he’d gone

through a period where he’d collected all of Dream’s posters, CDs, anything he could get.

Especially the ones that actually had pictures of Lee. Yeah, it had been silly and very queenish

behavior, but he was little more than a kid, and his memories of Lee had all been marked by how

nice Lee was, always interested in him and what he was doing. Once, he’d even come to Gev’s

defense when some kids were picking on him. After Lee had talked with them, they’d stopped.

What Lee had done, Gev never knew. And that had been after Stefan disappeared, he realized.

That was really the last time he and Lee had talked.

“No, not married or any kids. He really didn’t say much. We were with Nick and his

bodyguard, so we didn’t get much time to talk. He was going to leave last night. Figured that’d

be it.”

“He stayed here, though. Think he’d visit the parents? They’ll be excited to hear he’s in

town.”

Gev wasn’t so sure of that. “Speaking of the ’rents, I need to tell them about this.”

She sighed. “I know. I think it’s probably best to go tell them yourself. I’ll go with you, if

you’d like.”

She looked tired. He hated to put her out of her way. “Thanks.” He hugged her. “Damn. I

don’t have my car here.”

She looked confused for a moment, then widened her eyes. “Oh yeah.” She bit her lip.

“They’ll go over that too, I imagine. Is Screech okay?”

“Manny has her. The best witness they have, and it’s a cat.” He groaned at that. “So you’ll

know, they thought I was a suspect at first. They had to ask me a lot of questions. I told them

about Stefan.”

Her shoulders slumped. “It’ll never end, will it? Do they think there’s a connection?”

“Maybe. Lee was given tickets to the ballet anonymously. I looked up after my first

number, and there he was. I about fell off the stage, seeing him again.”

“He must look the same,” she said, smiling gently at him. “Or you still have a crush on

him, after all these years.”

“I don’t—” He closed his mouth, feeling his face heat. Damn sisters. “How’d you know I

had a crush on him?” He wanted to protest, but unfortunately, he knew that would be useless.

She slid her arm through his and leaned her head on his shoulder. “Since you were, oh,

about seventeen or so, I guess. The moment you got your first Dream poster, and unlike all the

girls, you wanted ones that had all the band members, including Lee. And then you got other

pictures and cut out Nick Kilmain and the others. It was pretty obvious you were crushing bad on

Lee.”

“You were only thirteen!”

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She tapped her head. “And wise beyond my years. I realized pretty early my baby brother

was gay.”

“I’m not your baby brother,” he protested, but she’d made him laugh. “And yeah, I figured

as much by then too. Impossible to deny anymore.”

“It used to make you mad, I remember, when people found out you danced and assumed

you were gay.”

“That was absolutely beside the point, that’s why. Lots of straight dancers.”

“True. Maybe one or two. Maybe we can leave for a little while, get you something to eat.

Would you like that? My treat. There must be a Subway nearby.”

“That would be fantastic.” He got up, offering her his hand and yanking her up as he had

when they were kids, then pulled her into a hug.

“Gev,” she said, releasing him except for one hand on his arm. “I’m really glad—so very

glad—you’re okay. If anything had happened to you—”

“I know, but as you said, nothing did. And I’m fine now.”

“But if there’s a connection?”

“If there is, they’ll find it. In the meantime, can I stay with you? I’m kind of homeless at

the moment.”

“Bad news—the girls are sick. They only started antibiotics this morning. We were at the

doctor’s when I got the phone call. I had to get their prescription filled before I could get here.”

Which explained why she looked so exhausted. “What’s wrong?”

She made a face. “Strep again. I swear, I want them to share, but this is ridiculous. I wish

they had a vaccine for it. Only Colby is okay, and I’ve sent him to the grandparents’. He’d love it

if you stayed there with him.”

“All right.” He really didn’t want to stay with his parents, but if the kid was there, at least

his mom would stay chilled. Her instant grandkids were the only thing she was happy about

anymore. They walked toward the front door. Gev pushed the door open and let Nina go through.

“No problem,” he said. “He needs a break from all those women anyway. Poor kid might turn

out gay or something, being forced to play dress-up all the time like they make him.”

She ruffled his hair, and for a moment, he actually believed everything would be okay.

* * * *

than an hour before. He couldn’t believe this had happened, that Gev’s roommate and his friend

had been killed. That if not for going running that morning and staying away for a while, Gev

would’ve been killed too.

The thought made Lee sick.

Having to go into a police station after all these years made him sick too. He sat for a while

in the car, dreading what was to come next. He knew all too well what they’d do—put him in a

room by himself with the head cop or a detective, then grill him about his whereabouts. Never

mind he had a solid alibi, at least for part of the morning. He wondered why it was so imperative

they see him immediately.

He really didn’t want to talk to them, wished he’d left with Nick and Mutt, wished he had

never talked Nick into going to the ballet.

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And yet, seeing Gev again might’ve been worth it. And he had to admit to himself as he

turned off the car and got out, the thought of seeing Gev again was the whole reason he’d stayed

behind in the first place. He didn’t want to examine his motives too closely. Gev wasn’t Stefan,

and Lee wasn’t stupid enough to make the mistake of thinking otherwise. Gev was very much

alive. And very different from his brother. A flash of naked skin rippled through Lee’s mind—

Gevan as he pulled on a shirt, Lee’s mind reversing the action and pulling it off. He forced the

image away.

He had to keep his thoughts from dwelling deeper than that.

Schooling his features, he entered the building and headed for the front desk. He walked up

to the woman sitting at her computer, one phone tucked beneath her chin, another beside her. She

did a double-take, her eyes widening. Great. Another fan. They seemed to be everywhere, which

of course they were since the comeback tour had begun. Being in one of the world’s most talked-

about bands had its drawbacks, but usually he could get by unnoticed.

“Mr. Nelson?”

Lee looked up. A silver-haired man in a suit approached. Lee waited, tense already. “Yes,

I’m Lee Nelson.”

“I’m Marc Harrison, the detective assigned to the Chad Hill case. Will you come with

me?”

Lee followed Harrison. He assumed Chad Hill was Gev’s roommate. Dead roommate.

They entered a crowded hallway, not speaking. A hundred questions floated through Lee’s mind.

For instance, where was Gev?

“In here, please,” Harrison said, opening a door to a room full of people. Lee wondered if

there’d be any privacy anywhere. This was like on cop shows—desk after desk, computers at

each one, along with harried-looking police officers. People dashing about, some laughter, a lot

of silly decorations on some desks, none on others. This was where the normal day-to-day life of

a cop not out on patrol took place.

“That way. We’ll take one of those.” Harrison indicated a series of doors at the end of the

room. “Margaret,” he asked an older, faded-blonde woman at the closest desk. “Any of the

rooms available?” Unlike most in this room, instead of a uniform she wore a smart gray suit with

a bright fuchsia blouse. She greeted Lee warmly, but without the flash of recognition he’d come

to dread.

“Um, let me see. I’m sure we can help you, Marc.” She slipped on a pair of rimless glasses

and shuffled papers around on her desk. “Now, who moved my calend—There it is.” She read

through it, then peered through her glasses at the series of closed doors. Her desk smelled like

peppermints. Lee wondered if Gev had gone through all this already or if they’d taken him

somewhere else. He also wondered if Gev was considered a suspect.

Lee didn’t see how he wouldn’t be.

“Take room two,” Margaret said, smiling briefly at Lee. “Cheri should be about done.”

Harrison motioned for Lee to follow him. He opened a door, presumably to room two.

Inside, a young woman dressed casually but with a badge on her jacket sat at a table spread with

a scattering of files. She looked up at them, a flustered look on her face. “Time’s up, Cheri,”

Harrison said.

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Carolyn Gray

She sighed and started to gather her things. “I swear, if they don’t fix the damn a/c in our

offices soon, I’m going on strike.” She stood, stuffing her things into a black case. “They fixed

yours yet?”

“No, still set to sauna.”

“Because they’re blasting all the cold air into here.” She rolled her eyes, pulled a purse

over her shoulder, and yanked the case up. “It’s all yours.”

“We shouldn’t be too long, if you want it back.”

She ran a hand over her hair, messing up what she might’ve meant to straighten. Her gaze

darted to Lee. She blinked, eyes widening briefly, but said nothing. “That’s okay. Think I’ll head