Long Way Home by Carolyn Gray (26 page)

needed to know.

“I’m not going to let anything else happen to you. I promise,” he said softly before turning

his attention back to the road.

The motion of the car left Gev queasy—or maybe he was permanently queasy these days.

Maybe it was the fact that Lee had come back and found him and
kissed him
. He couldn’t believe

it, relief and happiness warring with the very real fear of not knowing what the hell was going

on.

But Lee had kissed him.

Now that he was in a calm place, safe, the panic was starting to subside at last. He kept his

eyes closed, replaying Lee’s words over and over in his mind. Lee’d come back for him. He

wanted to cheer and just…be happy for once, but he couldn’t. How could he?

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He couldn’t believe this was happening. The building had blown up—nearly with him in

there, and possibly with some of the other dancers still inside. God, he hoped not. It was bad

enough seeing his friends hurt, crying, freaked out, their dance studio in a shambles.

He opened his eyes, the note Lee had found on his windshield sitting between them. He

reached out and picked it up by the corner.

Lee raised one shoulder. “Watch a lot of cop shows too, huh?”

“You never know.” He looked closely at the paper, pretty much through one eye. The other

was able to do little more than squint. The writing was small and cramped and in black ink; he

could barely read it. The paper itself was plain yellow notepad paper. “Not much to go by.”

“The fact that hoodie guy probably put it there is more important, I think.” Lee toyed with

his cell phone, twirling it in his fingers as he drove.

Gev stole a peek at Lee’s profile. He really hadn’t had much of a chance to look at him

since they’d met again. Now he didn’t want to stop. He was older, of course, and looked really

tired. Slight tan, probably from wherever they’d been last, considering it was October. Dark eyes

fringed with dark lashes. He’d always loved Lee’s eyes. His hair was unkempt, though trim, and

a shadow of a beard graced his jaw.

Gev wondered, as his eyes lingered on Lee’s lips, what it would be like to kiss him again.

That, though, made him think of the journal his brother had kept and what he’d written in it.

Stefan pushed his way between them then, as surely as if he’d been there. Gev set the note back

where it’d been.

It would be best if he forgot about Lee, about anything except finding out who the hell

wanted him dead and why. No one else would get hurt, he thought fiercely, clenching his hands

as he glared out the side window. And the best way to make sure he kept that promise would be

to leave Dallas, he realized. As soon as he could. The thought pained him, but better he ostracize

himself than risk his family, his friends. Or Lee.

Why had Lee gone and kissed him? It would be so much easier if he hadn’t.

“What were you thinking about just then?”

Gev looked at Lee, guilt no doubt on his face. “What? Nothing.”

Lee looked skeptical. Then, fortunately, he got distracted by having to get onto the

highway and didn’t say anything until he’d eased over a couple of lanes.

Once he was in the right lane, Lee arched an eyebrow at him. “I’m supposed to believe

that?”

Shit
. “Yes?”

Lee looked at him for a moment but then fell silent. Gev pulled down the visor to see if

there was a mirror. There was. He winced at his face. “Damn. I look pretty.”

“It could be worse.”

Gev snapped the visor back into place. “I know.”

“I should take you to Ruby’s, have her look at your head.” Lee tapped the note. “But I

think we need to take this in right away. Besides, I imagine they’re probably wondering where

the hell you are.”

“I—I’m sure someone saw me walk away.”

“And you don’t think that didn’t freak out Detective Ramirez when she got there?”

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“She was there?”

“Probably. I’d call her, but—” He fished for his phone. “Hold on.” He hit a number, then

waited. “Ruby? Yeah. I got him okay. He’s safe. She did? Would you mind calling her back, let

her know I’m bringing him in? Thanks.” Lee listened for a moment. “Yeah, I’ll tell him. You

too.” He snapped his phone shut.

“What’d she say?”

“Shouldn’t be surprised. Detective Ramirez headed over there. Someone saw me pick you

up but didn’t know it was me, so of course…”

“No way.”

“Yeah, apparently I kidnapped you. When she heard about it, she figured it was me and

called off the hunt. She’s headed for the station and wants us to go straight there. Ruby was

about to call me.”

They both fell silent again. Lee headed off the highway, back through streets that Gev

realized he was really tired of. He perched his chin on his palm and watched the buildings go by,

the people trudging along in their ragged clothing. “I really hate this place,” he murmured.

“You do? I thought you liked it here.”

“Do you?”

Lee snorted. “No. Every minute here is a minute too long. This—” He waved a hand as he

slowed to a stop for a red light. “This place is…too many bad memories. I can’t imagine after I

leave here that I’ll be back. There’s nothing for me here.”

Gev tensed at that but shook it off. Maybe he’d been wrong about what Lee’d meant

earlier. But then the expression on Lee’s face puzzled him. “You look kind of sad,” he said

before he could check himself.

“I am.” Lee looked down at his hands on the steering wheel. “You know, when I heard we

were coming to Dallas, I dreaded it, but I was kind of excited too. I guess I’ll never stop wishing

things had been different. Never stop wishing I’d known my mom like Ruby did.”

“What about your dad?”

The light turned green. “He never had any interest in me.”

“Maybe he’s changed? People do.”

“Did your mom change?”

Gev had nothing to say to that. He thought of the journal again. He wondered if he

shouldn’t tell Lee about it, but it wasn’t like he’d seen it himself. Maybe Nina could sneak it out

of the house. Or maybe he would do it himself, and if his mom had a fit over it, too damn bad.

He had a strong feeling—which was growing stronger and stronger in the face of all the hell that

had gone down the past two days—that there was something they’d missed all those years ago by

not having had access to that journal. Maybe Stefan had been trying to tell them something then

of what he was facing, what he was dealing with. Gev still couldn’t believe his mom never

showed it to the cops.

And he wasn’t going to, either. Not until he’d looked at it himself.

They pulled into the lot at the police station and parked in the front row. Lee got out, then

looked back in when Gev hesitated. “You coming?”

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Gev sighed and grabbed the note by the corner again. “Yeah.” He pushed open the door

and got out, squinting into the warm fall sun. He really wished he were on a couch somewhere

with an ice pack on his head. He wavered a bit, his stomach queasy. Lee waited for him at the

front of the car and took him by the arm to help him up the curb.

“Thanks,” Gev said.

“You’re unsteady on your feet.”

“Yeah, didn’t you know? I nearly got blown up.”

Lee eyed him, then guided him into the building. Gev couldn’t help himself. It felt good,

Lee’s hand on his back, Lee right behind him, Lee warm and comforting. Protective. For now.

Fuck, his life sucked.

They walked down the hallway to the receptionist. Gev sat in a chair, cradling his

throbbing forehead in one hand, the note dangling between his knees. It was Tuesday, right? Had

all this started only yesterday?

He winced as he heard a couple of teenage girls pass by, whispering, “You know who that

was, don’t you?” and “Wonder why he’s here?” followed by “Didn’t you hear about…” And

then the voices trailed off. He watched the girls’ retreating backs. One of them turned as Lee

finished with the receptionist. Lee returned to him and caught the girl’s expression but ignored

her. She and her friend burst into giggles and ran off.

“They recognized you,” Gev said.

“It happens more now since this last tour.”

“Since you were in the news all the time with Dream, you mean?”

“I’d rather they ignored me,” Lee said.

“Better than the look I got. Do we have to wait?”

“Ramirez is almost here. Said we could go to her office if we wanted to.” Lee scrutinized

Gev’s face and grimaced. “He really gave you a good one, didn’t he?”

“He had a lot of reason to do a good job.”

“Pressing charges?” Lee asked as they headed down the hallway.

“No. Of course not. I don’t blame him. I really don’t.”

“Lee, Gev!” Ramirez swooped past them. “Follow me.” She turned to a uniformed officer

and said, “Ask Alice to come see me with her kit, please.” The cop took off, presumably in

search of Alice. “Come on, you two.” She strode down the hall, into an office, and past a

secretary who looked up at them curiously. “Marjie, can you please let Detective Harrison know

I’m back?”

“Of course.” The woman picked up the phone without taking her eyes off Lee, who looked

relieved when the detective pulled them into her office.

“Lie down, Gev,” she directed, pointing him to the couch. Gev didn’t argue. Exhaustion

pulled at him. He needed to get some rest. She dragged a chair over to sit next to the couch,

motioning for Lee to do the same. A young woman about Gev’s age came in then, a bag over her

shoulder.

“Got a patient for me?”

“This one,” the detective said.

The woman sat down in the chair. “Hey, there. Let’s take a look at that.”

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Gev suffered in silence the next few minutes as his eye was looked at, as well as some cuts

on his hands, arms, and neck that he hadn’t even noticed. While he dealt with that, he listened to

Lee and the detective talk about the paper Lee had found on his car, the guy in the hoodie, and

finding Gev walking down the street. The ministrations to his face over, Alice gave him two

painkillers and left. He closed his eyes, letting himself relax at last. Lee’s voice next to him

soothed him, made him feel warm and safe, and he didn’t care if he didn’t move from this spot

for the next eight hours.

But then, he would have to go.

“Is he asleep?” Ramirez asked.

“Yeah, looks like he’s out.”

Gev was stretched out on the couch, tucked under a blanket, blood seeping through the

bandage on his face. It was a wonder he didn’t need stitches. His breathing was even, his mouth

slightly open. Lee ached to reach out and touch him, the thrill of kissing him lingering still. It’d

been easier than he’d thought to take that step, and despite everything they were dealing with, he

felt freer than he had in years. He moved his chair around to watch Gev sleep, wishing he would

stay like that for a few hours, at least.

“Good. I want to ask you something.”

Lee turned his attention away from Gev, kind of dreading whatever she had to say. He

knew it shouldn’t be like that, but no matter what, Detective Ramirez always put him on edge.

“Yeah?”

“I want you to tell me who you think that man was.”

He hesitated. The brief glimpse, the scared look on the man’s face—he honestly didn’t

know and said so. “I don’t know who it was, but I don’t think he means Gev any harm.”

“I don’t think he does, either. I think his warning to you to find Gev was sincere.”

“So he’s helping us for some reason? But what about the shoes?”

She sat back in her chair, folding her hands over her stomach. Lee noticed then for the first

time that the detective was slightly more rounded there. He lifted an eyebrow. She stared at him,

her eyes dark and serious. “I know. That doesn’t exactly fit with the theory.”

“And the tickets.”

She opened a folder on her desk. It was thick, about two, two and a half inches. She

shuffled through some papers, looking for something specific, he assumed. “Someone’s been in

this folder, messing with it,” she muttered.

“Who?”

“Detective Harrison.”

“What happened to him, anyway? I thought he was on this case. Chased off?”

She smiled at him, a Cheshire-cat grin. “I told him if he didn’t want to sleep on the couch,

he’d put me back in charge—and, well, let’s say he made the wiser choice.”

Lee did laugh at that. “He left the case to you?”

“Actually, no. I haven’t been able to solve this on my own all these years. I brought him

into the case a couple years ago, and that”—she patted her belly—“is what brought us to this.”

“I’m glad something good’s come out of everything.”

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“It has. I wish I could promise you this will all end well, that we’ll finally be able to figure

out who took Stef and why, and why all this has come back up and blown up in our faces again

after so long. But I’m not sure that will happen. Something’s going on right now, though.”