EVAN STOOD in the grocery store parking lot, waiting for Trey. He did his best to appear casual, even though his senses were on overdrive. He had made initial contact with a few members of what he hoped was the group behind the drugs and violence, but at this point, he couldn’t be sure. Hell, he wasn’t sure of very frickin’ much right now, other than the fact that he was at a very critical point. If they bought his story that he was basically muscle for hire, then he might have a chance to see some of the inner workings of the group and maybe who the leader was. But if they didn’t, then it was likely he was going to be led on a wild goose chase that would end, quite possibly, with his demise. Or at least his attempted demise.
He glanced around the parking lot. If he’d had one, he’d probably have smoked a cigarette, though he hated the things. Still, it would give him something to do, and he needed to appear like he belonged. Evan lifted his gaze toward the sky as the first drops of rain began to fall, and he shifted back under cover. He would so much rather be in bed with Wes right now. All night long they’d kept the chill away, pressed to each other. In the darkness, they had shifted, and Evan woke to Wes facing him, his hands under his head, relaxed and calm. His incredible eyes opened, and for just a few seconds, he smiled and remained calm. Then concern and worry crept in, tension entering his body. Evan wished he could have taken all of that away and just kept Wes the way he’d been seconds before, happy and contented.
The Cadillac he’d seen in the diner parking lot pulled in and up to where Evan waited. Two men got out, leaving the engine running. They were some of the guys he’d seen earlier in the diner. Evan’s heart beat a little faster, but he kept the excitement out of his expression and body and appeared relaxed. This meeting was make-or-break, and his assignment depended on it… as well as the residents of the county, who deserved to feel safe in their homes.
“I remember you,” one of the men said, but gave no further indication of how or where.
“Yeah,” the other agreed, and they exchanged looks. “Trey’s brother.” They both nodded, and some of the antagonism slipped from their gazes.
“Come on. We need to take a ride.” The guy opened the back door and held it. Evan took a step closer and got in. The door closed, and one of the men got in back with him. “Are you carrying?” the man asked, and patted his sides as the car started forward.
“Nope.”
“At least he can follow instructions,” the guy in the front seat said. Evan had expected this, so he sat back, listened, and watched. “Don’t talk much?”
Evan shrugged. “I guess I don’t have much to say. You haven’t asked questions, and a bunch of useless chatter isn’t doing anyone any good.” Sometimes it was best to let his size do the talking and provide as little information about himself as possible. It kept others guessing, and when undercover, details mattered. So the fewer data points he provided, the fewer that could be checked out.
The driver nodded. “I’m Randy, and the guy in back with you is Justin.”
“I’m Evan, as if you didn’t know. Where are we going?” Evan asked as they passed through the heart of town and on west, past the frozen custard stand at the edge of town. They continued on, which didn’t really surprise Evan, given where they had discovered the previous headquarters. In fact, it gave him hope that he truly was on the right track and not on a chase to nowhere.
“You’ll find that out soon enough,” Randy said as he drove, making a turn and continuing down the country road.
Evan kept watching so he could retrace their route if he needed to, but he doubted that he was being taken anywhere vital at this point. It was too soon. They weren’t going to show Evan anything important until they were sure of him, and that usually meant some sort of test.
The car lurched and turned onto a smaller road, and then they made another turnoff onto a two-track lane between a farmer’s fields and pulled to a stop behind another car. Randy and Justin got out, and Evan followed, his senses running high as he took in everything around him.
“This is Evan,” Randy said as a huge guy came closer. He was well over six feet, wider than Evan, and didn’t provide a name.
“Trey says you’re pretty cool.” He looked Evan over. “Don’t look like a fag.” He said it in a very strange way, as though he were both surprised and that it didn’t really matter. “Look, we got ourselves a problem, and you’re going to help us with it.” He opened the trunk of the other car and pulled out a small man, lifting him as though he weighed nothing. The hulk set the tied-up man on his knees, manhandling him like he was a dog or something. Then he tossed Evan a small handgun. “He tried to betray us. Take care of him, and we’ll see about letting you in.”
Evan caught the gun and checked it out quickly. “You want me to kill him, just like that? What did he do?” There was no way he was going to kill someone to get in the group. That would be going way the fuck too far, no matter who it was. There had to be more to this than that. It seemed really bold and a little in-your-face for them to ask this sort of thing when they had just met him.
“Does it really matter? We have a problem, and you’re going to take care of it for us.” He glared at Evan, who shook his head.
“Sure it matters,” Evan said without raising the gun. “I don’t go around killing people unless I have a reason to.” Evan lifted the gun, pointing it at the hulk guy. “I could take you out if I wanted, using that logic.”
“You can’t take out all of us,” Randy said as tensions rose quickly.
Evan sighed. “I don’t have to. I only have one shot, and I intend to make sure he doesn’t see the light of day again.” He met the hulk’s eyes and saw fear for the first time. “All I need is one shot, and that will be the end of it for you. Is that what you want?” He didn’t look away for a second. The others were there, but it was pretty clear where the power was in this group. “It certainly doesn’t look like it.”
The huge guy blinked, probably trying to figure out how he’d lost control of the situation so quickly. “No.” He turned to the others, who stepped back and lifted the guy up off his knees. “You’re damned smart, that’s for sure.” He smiled. “I’m Harvey.” He held out his hand. Evan lowered the gun and shook the offered hand.
“What’s the deal?” Evan asked without looking away from Harvey.
“Nothing. Go take Evan back to town,” he said.
Randy motioned Evan to the car. Evan held the gun until he got in the car and then dropped it onto the floor. Justin got in as well, this time in the front, and they retraced their trip out.
“What in the hell was that?” Evan demanded.
“Just a little test,” Justin answered without saying anything more.
“And you’re letting me keep the gun?” Evan asked, thinking he had a pretty good idea of what was going on as a picture formed in his mind.
“It’s not loaded anyway,” Justin said as he turned around, grinning. “Ours are, though.” He settled back in his seat, and they remained quiet.
The town came into view, and they traveled right back to the grocery store, where Randy and Justin let him off. Evan wished he could take the gun with him to see what sort of information the department could get from it, but he didn’t dare. Instead, he got out of the car and closed the door.
“We’ll be in touch… or maybe we won’t,” Randy said, then rolled up the window. The car sped away down the parking lot before making the turn and pulling out into traffic.
Evan went to his own car, got inside, and retrieved his phone from where he’d hidden it inside the seat. He sent a message to the sheriff that he had made initial contact and that he would see how it went.
Good. Act like you’re being watched, Sheriff Briggs replied. Keep me informed.
Evan agreed and went back to the house. He didn’t dare go into the station, and the sheriff’s advice was good. He waited until he was out of the car and inside his house before calling Pierre and bringing him up to date.
“You should have had backup,” Pierre scolded. “What if they’d really expected you to kill that guy? I know you wouldn’t have done it, but you’d have been killed when you wouldn’t comply.”
Evan sat on the sofa. “No. They were too nervous, and really, how likely was it that they would ask a guy they had just met and know so little about to kill someone? Really? No way. This was a show… a way for them to take my measure. It was strange, but telling in a way.”
“How so?” Pierre asked.
“They’re bold, but cautious and not stupid. Which makes me wonder about this shoot-out in town. I have an idea that they were behind it in some way… or at least some of their members were.” Evan had given that quite a bit of thought, and if this group was as organized as he figured they were, then it was possible that the damned shoot-out wasn’t sanctioned… or was kicked off outside of the hierarchy. “This could be the work of a couple of self-important members who got themselves tangled up with a few others and tempers got out of control.” He didn’t know for sure, and he would have to see what he could find out, but there were plenty of questions that ran through his head.
“Just don’t take any chances like that again. We can’t back you up if we don’t know where you are or what you’re doing.”
“This is undercover work, and sometimes it requires that I take chances. I don’t take any that are unnecessary, but this was worth it. Now I can only wait for a message of some type from the group.” And it seemed that helping Wes had helped. Not that he was doing it for that reason, but for once his personal life and his professional life seemed to be working in the same direction.
“Is there anything else you need?”
“Not right now. As soon as I get a message, I’ll keep you informed, but until then, all I can do is wait.” Sometimes this was the hardest part of the job. “There’s nothing I can do to rush them.” If he did, it was likely it would blow his cover, and that would be the end of the assignment and quite possibly himself. Things were at their diciest point, and the shit part was that he just had to wait.
WES ARRIVED with Greyson an hour or so later. Evan had decided he wanted to make dinner, so he’d gone to the store and gotten the ingredients. A pot of sauce cooked down on the stove, and he had some pasta ready to go into boiling water, and garlic bread for the oven.
Evan checked the sauce and met Wes in the living room, where he set down his work bag. “Watch,” he said with a smile, getting Greyson on his feet. Evan bent down, and Greyson took a few steps away from Wes and into Evan’s arms, laughing when he caught him.
“You’re amazing,” Evan said, hugging Greyson and then turning him around to walk back to Wes. “He’ll be running soon enough.”
“I know. When I went to pick him up, Miss Lisa had him by the hand, and when she let him go, Greyson walked over to me.” Wes lifted Greyson, hugging him. “I’m sad that I didn’t get to see his actual first steps, but this is still pretty awesome.” He twirled around with Greyson in his arms, to giggles and laughter. “I need to call my mom and tell her.” Wes set Greyson down.
Evan took Greyson’s hand and led him through the house until Greyson let go and took off on his own. He fell on his diapered butt, got right up, and walked back toward Wes.
“Mom, look!” Wes turned the phone, the FaceTime app showing his mom. “He’s walking.”
“Gramma’s big boy!” came through. She was clearly overjoyed.
“I’ll send you some pictures, but it looks like he’s a force to be reckoned with now.”
Greyson fell on his butt again, looking up at Wes as though he was trying to figure out what happened. Then he got back up and off he went.
“It looks like he’s decided that he’s going to race everywhere.”
“He’s just like you were.” She sniffed. “Are you still at Evan’s?”
“Yes. I just got home from picking Greyson up, and it smells like Evan has made dinner.” Wes smiled at him. “I’m going to go get cleaned up and see if he needs anything else.” They said goodbye, and Wes hung up, still smiling. “Come on, little man. Let’s get you changed and washed up for dinner.” Wes scooped him up and zipped upstairs.
Evan was smiling as he stirred his sauce. It still needed some time to simmer, so he put the flame on very low and finished preparing the rest of dinner. When Wes rejoined him, Evan turned up the heat under the pasta water and got the oven ready for the bread.
“Is there anything I can do to help?” Wes peered into the pot of sauce. “Man, that smells good. Mom always uses sauce from a jar. It’s decent, but doesn’t smell anything like that at all.”
“Just set the table, and we’ll be ready in about fifteen minutes,” Evan said as he gave the sauce another stir. Once he was sure the sauce was in good shape, he put the bread in the oven to warm and added the pasta to the water.
Dinner didn’t take long to get ready, and Evan put the sauce on the pasta and carried the bowl of penne to the table. He also brought the garlic bread, while Wes got Greyson into his high chair and his dinner ready. “I’ll dish you up a plate,” Evan told him, and once he put it in front of Wes, sat down across from him.
The juggling act across the table was priceless. Wes took a bite of his dinner and then fed Greyson a bite of his. Greyson had his mouth open like a baby bird as soon as Wes got the spoon ready for him. Once Greyson had eaten his jar of carrots, Wes put some Cheerios on his tray, and he scooped them up. Wes took a few minutes to eat himself before giving Greyson a bottle.
“How was your day?” Wes asked.
“I’m making progress, I think,” Evan confessed. He had no intention of telling Wes about the test.
“You won’t tell me, will you?” Wes took a bite of garlic bread and moaned softly. “Dang, this is good.”
“I’m glad you like it, and no. I’m not going to tell you. Sometimes when I’m undercover, I have to do things I’m not particularly proud of, and I don’t want you to think badly of me.” Evan took a second piece of garlic bread and held it in his fingers.
“You mean like James Bond sleeping with everyone he wants to get information from?” Wes asked.
Evan grinned and shook his head. “No. I have never slept with someone to get information… or anything else, for that matter. It’s just that sometimes I have to make decisions that a lot of people wouldn’t understand.” He took a bite of the bread. “And it’s best if you aren’t aware of what’s going on. Then if Trey tells you something, you can act surprised. Just trust me on this. There are things about my job that you don’t want to know.” Hell, there were things he had done that he didn’t want to talk about, or remember, for that matter. “I always act ethically and stay within the boundaries of my assignment. But sometimes….”
“You have to lie?” Wes asked as he fed Greyson some strained peaches. The youngster was sure hungry tonight.
“Yeah. I have to do that, and there have been times when I’ve had to do things that were almost illegal in order to get people to trust me. Mostly, I’m really good at constructing backstories that are close enough to the truth that people believe them easily, but sometimes I’ve had to exaggerate.” Evan paused and set down his piece of garlic bread. “One time, part of my backstory was that I had killed three people. That assignment was before I came here, and it required deep cover, so deep that I began to believe I had done what my backstory claimed.” He never wanted to get that deep undercover again. It had taken him quite a while to recover his own personality after that. “My backstory became embedded with my own actual memories. I didn’t realize that was possible, but it happened.” He set down the bread and scratched the back of his neck nervously. “I’m more careful now about things like that and I hold on tighter to who I am, but….” He shrugged.
“I don’t think I understand something like that, but I’ll trust that you know what you’re doing.” Wes gave him a half smile, and Evan sighed a little. That was the most he could expect from anyone, and it meant a lot coming from Wes.
“We… you and I need to be careful… okay?” He was stepping into uncharted emotional waters, and he wasn’t sure how this was going to work out.
“You’ve been here before, I take it,” Wes said, and Evan nodded.
“That assignment, the one I got in too deep with, there was a guy that I….” Evan sat straighter and took a deep breath. There was no need to beat around the bush or be coy. “Like I said, I got too deep, and I got involved with one of the guys on the case. His name was Kyle, and… well… I made a bad choice that almost got me killed and put the entire assignment in jeopardy.” Evan tried not to let the memories pull him back in, even though they were so strong, he still had trouble separating reality from what had been manufactured as his cover. It was best if he just didn’t go there.
“And you think that this is that way? That I could be like Kyle and the wrong person to be involved with? Is that why you don’t want to talk about what’s happening?” Wes asked, setting down his fork and pushing away his plate.
“Not really, no. If I thought that, I wouldn’t have invited you to stay here.” Evan sighed. “Kyle was a member of the drug gang in Cleveland, my last assignment before coming here. Anyway, like I said, I got too involved with my cover, and before I realized it, we were sleeping together and I had fallen in love with him.” Evan took a drink of his ice water, the emotional memories threatening to well up and overtake him once more. He absolutely hated that he seemed to have so little control over them, that even in new surroundings, they held power that he didn’t want them to have. Evan knew that was why none of the guys his friends had pushed him to meet and date had held his interest. It was just hard to explain it to them.
Wes reached across the table and took his hand, his fingers sliding along Evan’s before lightly gripping them. Just like that, Evan’s roiling emotions calmed and he could breathe once again.
“We all fall in love with the wrong guy at some point in our lives.” Wes squeezed Evan’s fingers. “Do you want me to tell you about my failed crush?” He asked the question so quietly. “I didn’t even know that’s what was happening at the time.” Wes swallowed hard and gave a few more Cheerios to Greyson, who perked up and ate some of them, playing with the toys Wes had given him. “My first summer out of school, I was able to qualify for a jobs program through the state, and they put me to work in the high school here, helping the janitorial staff and things like that. One of the regular employees, his name was Stanley. He was tall like you, and strong. He did a lot of physical labor, and he used to like to take his shirt off when he was on break and things. Stanley was built, and I used to watch him sometimes, but tried not to look like I was. Stanley was a nice guy, and I worked hard, so he liked me.” Wes smiled and turned to Greyson. “I developed a crush on Stanley.” Wes chuckled. “Of course, I never told him that, and thankfully it didn’t last too long and I realized that I was being dumb. Stanley was married and had young kids. He probably is still married, and those kids are grown now. But for a while, I was kind of heartbroken over it. Granted, it was my own fault, but at the time, my heart was young and sort of dumb. I was still figuring a lot of things out, and Stanley was nice and paid attention to me. I think sometimes that’s all it takes, especially when we’re out of our element and in a situation where we have to rely on ourselves. It’s easy to reach out because we need support. You’re a person first and a cop second.”
Evan sometimes wondered if it wasn’t the other way around, but he didn’t argue or correct Wes. “Sometimes it doesn’t feel that way.”
“Maybe not,” Wes agreed. “But you need to remember that and give yourself a break.” Wes lightly caressed his palm with his fingers. “What happened with Kyle?”
“It got ugly, and my loyalties became confused. That should have been my first indication that I was in over my head. But I didn’t listen. Thankfully, things came to a head before I did anything over the line, and my partner on the force was able to step in and help me. God, I fought him tooth and nail, but he didn’t back down and even threatened to have me pulled off the assignment unless I got my head screwed on straight. In the end, the department got the group dead to rights, and I got out, albeit with a broken heart… and I left the department. I needed some time to get my mind cleared and have a chance to figure out what I wanted to do. Then the job with the department here opened up, and I took it when they offered the position.” Evan was grateful for the chance to wipe the stain from his record.
“I have to ask if that’s happening again, if you’re getting too close, or think you are?” Wes stood and got Greyson out of his high chair, wiped him up, and then set him on his lap, bouncing him with his knee.
“No. I know it isn’t, because what I feel for you is real. I know you’re a good person and that you aren’t mixed up with the people I’m after. Sure, there’s some conflict because of your brother, but things between us aren’t like they were then.” At least he hoped not.
The burner phone he’d gotten so he couldn’t be traced dinged in his pocket, and he checked the message. Be at the custard shop at 9 AM. That was all it said, and the number wasn’t one he recognized.
Evan answered the message and put the phone back in his pocket.
“Is that what you’ve been waiting for?” Wes asked, and Evan nodded.
“I think so.” He pulled out his regular phone and sent messages to the sheriff and Pierre to let them know about his progress and where he was going to be in the morning. The sheriff returned a message that they were on it.
“What are you going to do?” Wes grew pale and held Greyson tighter. “I know you have to do this, but I don’t have to like it.” He got up and left the room, taking Greyson up the stairs.
Evan knew how Wes felt. What he did was dangerous and carried a definite risk. But it was his work and he was good at it. Part of what made him good at his job was what had made him vulnerable to Kyle. Evan could assimilate into most situations and immerse himself in them. That made it easy for him to roll with the punches and think on his feet without making a mistake that could blow his cover.
“Wes,” he said as he stood, following him to where Wes was changing Greyson’s diaper in the bedroom. “What I do helps keep people safe and hopefully prevents a repeat of what happened to your family.”
Wes finished and changed Greyson into his pajamas. “I know it does.” He didn’t turn around as he spoke. “But I’m scared, and I can’t change that. There has been so much upheaval in the last week that I can barely understand what I’m going to be doing on a day-to-day basis.” He lifted Greyson, who went to his shoulder, hands sliding around Wes’s neck. “I care for you a lot. I can’t believe all that you’ve done for us, and….” Wes rocked back and forth.
Evan figured he knew what was coming. It wasn’t everyone who could handle the kind of job he had and be able to deal with the uncertainty. Relationships with police officers didn’t last long a lot of the time because of the pressure and of the long nights not knowing if their partners were safe or not. It was part of the job, but not something everyone was willing to live with.
“I’m not breaking up with you,” Wes said softly and turned around. “My God, you look as white as a sheet. That is, unless you want things to be over. I know Greyson and I have complicated your life, and I made some calls about apartments today and….”
Evan closed the distance between them, his hands gliding along Wes’s rough cheeks. He leaned nearer and kissed him. “What happened last night isn’t something I take lightly. Not after… well, you know. If I wasn’t serious about you, I wouldn’t have done that. But I thought you were going to leave just now, and….” Man, he had sure been wrong about that, much to his own relief.
“I have to learn to deal with the unknown, I guess.” Wes sighed, and Greyson struggled to get down to walk. Wes walked to the stairs and carried Greyson down, then set him on his feet, and he toddled toward the living room.
Evan joined them, sighing to himself and wondering what he was going to do. For almost his entire career, he hadn’t had someone in his life. That meant if anything happened to him, he wasn’t leaving someone behind.
Standing in the doorway, watching Wes and Greyson play and walk through the room, he realized that the cost of a mistake had just gone up by a factor of two. He was going to have to be extra careful and make sure he had backup for this assignment, and once this was over, he could request a change of assignment to something a little less dangerous. There were younger guys coming up who would jump at the opportunity, and maybe it was getting to be time for him to look at more for his life.
“We can try to do it together.”
Wes snickered, and Evan cocked his eyebrows. “I get the feeling you aren’t a real ‘doing things together’ kind of guy. Sure, you helped me out, but you got pissed at me when I tried to help you.” That look was priceless. “So I think I’ll take that offer as encouragement.”
Evan rolled his eyes and wondered how he had become such an open book all of a sudden. “Am I that easy to read?”
“Probably not for other people, but to me, I think so. You’re a pretty simple kind of guy as far as I can tell. You protect people, run interference where you have to, and are used to being the one in charge.” Wes smiled as Greyson continued toddling around the largely open room. “We’ll have to see how long that lasts.”
“You’re a real smart—” Evan remembered there were little ears in the room. “—aleck.”
“I try.” Wes grinned and went to get Greyson, who had decided to try to crawl under the sofa. “Come on. That isn’t a good place for you.” Wes backed him up, and Greyson stubbornly went under there again, reaching his hand underneath and trying to push his entire head under it. Wes sighed and got down to tug Greyson back, peering under the sofa. “Evan, there’s something under here, a small box of some sort.” He sat back and picked up Greyson.
Evan bent down, and sure enough, a small box sat toward the back of the sofa. He reached underneath and pulled it out. Evan recognized it and set the box gently on the side table, motioned for Wes to leave the room, and then he called Pierre. “I need you at the house right away. No sirens and meet me out back in the yard. I think I found a listening device.” He ended the call and took Wes and Greyson out of the house and to the backyard.
“What is it?”
“I think it’s a recording device. You place it in a room, and it records any sound, and then you retrieve it later. They’re pretty low-tech and inexpensive. But that means that someone has been in the house. Pierre is on his way over because he and I need to decide how we’re going to handle this.”
“Just get rid of them. They heard what we said, and then they’ll know you’re a police officer and undercover. You can’t have that,” Wes said, lifting Greyson and holding him. “That also means that someone has been through the house. What if they went through our things?” He rocked back and forth.
“First, they aren’t going to find anything that says I’m a police officer.” Evan gathered both of them in his arms. “I was expecting this kind of thing. They want to know more about me.” He pulled out a couple of patio chairs and sat down. “Just relax. Pierre and I will figure out how to respond.” Evan sat back, listening to the evening breeze in the trees. He didn’t even want to think about this right now. For a few hours, he had Wes and Greyson, and he had been hoping to have a quiet evening at home, but like usual, his job had butted its big nose in.
Pierre came in through the back gate, looking as though he had been out for exercise. He walked up, leaning over to breathe deeply.
“Did you run over?”
“Yeah. I figured if anyone was watching, that wasn’t going to be suspicious.” Pierre pulled out one of the other chairs and sat down. “What did you find?” Evan explained, and Pierre nodded. “Okay. I think we need to turn them off and then wipe out the recordings. We can do that pretty easily.” He pulled a bar magnet out of his pocket and handed it over. “You and I need to check the house to see if there are any others.”
“Do you want me and Greyson to stay out here?” Wes asked.
“For a little while,” Pierre answered, and leaned down to make funny faces at Greyson. “It shouldn’t take very long.” Pierre smiled, and then the two of them went inside.
Pierre went upstairs, and Evan stayed downstairs, looking through the various rooms and under furniture. He found a second recorder in the kitchen and then one far back in the family room. He brought both of them out to where he’d put the other and pulled the magnet from his pocket. He placed it on top of each device and then moved it all over. Pierre came down the stairs with two more, and Evan did the same to them. Then Pierre went into the basement to look around.
“They got in through one of the windows down there. I think the latch was loose and they worked it open. I secured it and put a bolt through the latch.”
Dammit, Even felt he should have caught that. “What do you think we should do from here?” Evan asked. “Wait to let them pick them up and get nothing?”
Pierre hummed as he thought. “You said you have a meeting tomorrow. I’d take them with me and deliver them back to their owners. Let them see that they’re not dealing with a newbie, but someone who can take care of himself. It will earn you some respect. Of course, they’ll get nothing from them at all.”
Evan nodded. At least the department had the foresight to hide parts of his identity so that even if they found the house, they would be no closer to knowing what he did. “I can warn them at the same time to stay the hell out of my house,” he growled.
“Protect your territory. That I’m sure they’ll understand.” Pierre smiled. “I’m going to take off and get back home. I’ll be ready and in the area once they meet you. Don’t get into a car with them this time. You stay in your own car.”
“I intend to.”
“I’ll check it over on the way out. If they can place listening devices in here, they can do it in the car as well.” Pierre said goodbye and went out the back door.
Evan followed and joined Wes and Greyson, who was half asleep. “Let’s go back inside,” Evan said quietly so he wouldn’t disturb Greyson. “Once you have him in bed, I’ll explain what we found.”
“Okay.” Wes stood and went inside, stopped in the kitchen for a bottle, and then took Greyson upstairs. When he returned, Evan invited Wes to sit next to him on the sofa.
“There were five devices in the house, three down here and two upstairs. One in your room and one in mine. They have all been rendered useless. Pierre and I have figured out a plan for the morning and how we’re going to use what we know. I have the doors locked and bolted, and I think you and I should go on upstairs.”
Wes’s mouth parted and his eyes widened. “You expect me to just go to bed after people have been in the house and could come back at any time?” He shook his head. “Like I’m going to be able to close my eyes and not wonder if someone is going to come in the room.” The defiance in Wes’s eyes in the face of his fear was adorable and good to see. It showed Evan that while Wes was truly afraid, he wasn’t going to completely give in to it, no matter what he actually said.
“Come on,” Evan said gently. “No one is going to get in without me knowing about it.”
Wes gaped at him. “How can you not be freaked out over this? They were in your house to set those things.”
Evan nodded. “Yes, they were. But anything that’s truly important to me wasn’t in the house at the time. You were at work, and Greyson was in day care. It was likely that someone was going to follow me home to try to get more information so they could figure out if I was worthy of them… or whatever they’re thinking.” He did wonder about the meeting tomorrow and what he would be able to find out.
“And you knew this and didn’t tell me?” Wes asked, his eyes blazing.
“I didn’t know that someone had been in the house, and if I had, I would have checked it out from top to bottom before you and Greyson got home. The devices haven’t been here very long. I cleaned under the bed in your room the other day, and it wasn’t there then. So please try to relax a little. I’ll be here, and no one is going to get to either you or Greyson.” Evan intended to make damned sure of that.
Wes stood straight and tense for quite a while. “If you’re sure….” He didn’t relax at all, so Evan took him by the hand and led him to the stairs. He left more lights on than usual and made a show of double-checking all the locks. He guided Wes up the stairs and then paused at the top. Evan was suddenly unsure if he should take Wes to his room or if he would want to spend the night in his own. He wasn’t going to try to make that decision for him, even though he wanted Wes in his bed. Hell, having him there last night had felt as right and perfect as anything he could remember, but this had to be Wes’s decision, not one that Evan made for him. Wes was welcome to stay here for as long as he needed, and that hospitality was not in any way contingent on Wes sharing his bed.
“I-I….” Evan stammered, hating his indecision. “I want… I’d like you to stay with me. But you don’t have to if you don’t want to. I’ll….” God, why was he so damned anxious? His stomach clenched and he was actually nervous, his head fluttery, and he grew warmer by the second.
“Evan, if you want to ask me a question….” Wes smiled and stepped closer, tilting his head to the side, waiting.
“I think you know what I want. But I need to know what you want,” Evan said softly. “Look, I’m a cop, you know that. But I’m also a control freak. I like to know what’s going to happen, and I have a tendency to make things the way I want them.” He forced himself to stay where he was. “I could step closer, draw you to me, kiss you within an inch of your life….”
Wes giggled. “And you think your wiles are so powerful that I’ll swoon against you and be overcome by your charms?” He spoke with a fake Southern accent, fanning himself.
“You’re a goof.” Evan grinned and shook his head.
“And someone who knows his own mind and what he wants.” Wes moved nearer. “I’m not mad at you. I’m just worried, and….” His voice finally broke, and Evan drew Wes into his arms. “Dammit… I told myself I wasn’t going to do this….” His voice cracked again, and Wes held Evan tightly, burying his face in Evan’s shirt as his shoulders shook, while the tension and loss of the last few days caught up with him, and all Evan could do was hold him and try to help him through it.