FOR THE second time in a matter of hours, Gray had his car keys taken off him, but this time it was by Rawlings. “Do you want me to call Carter?” Danny asked.
“No,” Rawlings answered for Gray before he had a chance to. “Just get that conversation to a judge. I’ll worry about the cops when we have Seb safe.” Rawlings turned to him. “I’m not gonna attempt to make you stay here—I’m not that suicidal—but we both know you’re compromised, so you do what I say when I say it.”
Gray nodded his understanding. He was clear. So long as no one got between him and Seb, he was good. They didn’t even give the elevator a second glance as all four of them left the apartment. Danny stayed behind, doing what he did best, besides which, Rawlings had promised him when he took him on he would never have to do fieldwork. He simply wasn’t able to anymore, and Danny had other skills just as important… like getting a judge. Like getting a warrant. Like making sure Gray didn’t have to kill anyone and he wasn’t going to get arrested for kidnapping.
Not that any of that fucking mattered. If Seb was safe, he’d happily spend the next twenty to life in a box, and he didn’t care how small it would be. Gray got in the car without a word. They were twenty minutes from the house, and he had no idea how fast they would be able to move Seb or what condition he was in. He’d been so stupid. If—no. There was no “if.” When Gray got Seb back, he would spend every day making sure he was safe. Hell, he would leave his job if that was what it took. He didn’t think Seb would object. The want, the need, had been stark in his eyes this morning, even when Gray was refusing to see it and even if Gray was now hoping for another emotion. Something he’d never thought he was capable of, and something he hoped Seb was.
Rawlings drove up to the gates and paused for a fraction of a second before driving through as they were opening. Mac, Ringo, Rawlings, and Gray all piled out. Gray noticed the BMW was still there and the Explorer that meant Carter was also. Rawlings was met at the door by Keswick.
“Mr. Armitage isn’t here, but—” he started, but Gray just pushed straight past him and ran up the stairs, knowing because there were no guards trying to stop him, they were too late.
Rawlings demanded he be taken to Carter, Mac stood guard in the hall, and Ringo raced after Gray.
The room was empty, and Gray headed for Seb’s bedroom, even though he knew he wouldn’t be there. In another minute, he was heading downstairs for the study. Rawlings and Carter met him at the door. As Gray burst in, Carter put out a hand in warning and turned to Keswick as he said, “I insist on seeing Sebastian Armitage—”
“What the fuck have you done with him, you piece of shit?” Gray snarled and lunged at Keswick.
Keswick paled but stayed firmly behind Carter. “Gray,” Carter cautioned as Keswick stepped forward and thrust a wad of documents into Carter’s hands.
“His guardianship papers. You will see everything is legal, and Mr. Armitage is under no obligation to reveal his son’s whereabouts at all. Detective, I would ask that you remove these individuals from the property, as they are trespassing.”
Gray took one look at Carter’s face and knew it was no good. Unless Danny came up trumps with a judge, they had nothing. Fuck, they didn’t even know which hospital he’d gone to. Gray stilled—hospital? No, there was no way McKay would take him to a hospital with rules and regulations and even more significant, the mark on Seb’s face, which would make him stand out. McKay wanted this kept quiet. Gray pulled at Rawlings’s sleeve just as he was about to protest them being ordered to leave, and Rawlings took one look and caught on immediately.
They all filed outside, and at the last second, Gray put a finger to his lips, remembering the surveillance system recorded sound, and they quickly got into the car.
“You have an idea,” Rawlings said. It wasn’t a question.
Gray rattled off some directions to Mac, who was driving. “I can’t see how they would risk a regular hospital. This isn’t exactly something they want advertised, and Seb’s mark is very obvious.” He quickly told them about the state-of-the art clinic he had accompanied Seb to and the equipment he had seen. Everything in him shouted that’s where they had gone.
“But you would know where that is,” Ringo argued. “Surely that’s a risk?”
“A calculated one. Don’t forget, it’s Carter they’re currently avoiding, not us. McKay thinks they have us backed into a corner. Fuck, I’m not even sure he thinks I’m a threat at all.”
“It would also be nearly impossible to set up last-minute somewhere else,” Mac reasoned. “It’s not like he could just turn up at any hospital and—”
Rawlings picked up his phone. “Danny, does McKay have surgical privileges anywhere?” He waited a few seconds while Mac continued to speed across town. “Understood.” He rang off. “The only other place McKay can operate is Betherston Pediatrics. That’s an hour in the other direction and is very busy. I can’t see him taking Seb there for one minute.”
“Okay, good,” Ringo said. “So, what’s the plan?”
SEB HEARD the voices as if they were coming from another room, but the hand positioning his body was right next to him. Wait—he heard the voices? Reality returned shockingly quickly, and he just had the presence of mind to stay still and not open his eyes.
“Why is he wearing the headphones?” His dad? Was he still at home?
“Because in a few seconds….” The screech in both ears seemed to nearly rip his head in two with the pain, and the flinch was impossible to hide.
He heard the hollow laugh as the headphones were being removed, and he opened his eyes to see McKay giving him a knowing look.
“Sebastian?” his dad said the wonder written all over his face, and Seb breathed out a shaky breath. At least his dad hadn’t known.
“Your son has been fooling everyone for months, possibly years. I waited like you asked, but I knew if his reactions were compromised, he couldn’t fool us.”
“He can hear?” His dad was looking between them both in shock.
Seb tried to sit up, but his arms seemed immovable. He glanced at the two leather straps and thought quickly. “I feel sick,” he moaned. His father rushed forward and undid the straps, then helped him to sit up. Not that even free he could do anything. His arms felt like spaghetti, and he doubted he could even hold a glass of water at the moment. But he needed to get through to his dad. It was his last hope.
“Why can he hear with the headphones on?” Quinn asked McKay.
“Bone conduction technology. You gave your son headphones simply to plug into the jack to muffle the sound in the rest of the house, I believe?”
“Yes,” his dad said. “But we tried bone conduction hearing aids, and because his inner ear damage is too severe, and because he has bilateral deafness, the ones currently on the market won’t work.”
Seb knew. He had been through all this before.
“But because you make these, or perhaps because you have no concept of restraint, you gave a deaf boy the most expensive pair you could, when in fact you could have bought a cheap pair at any corner store. I didn’t realize what you had done, or the significance of it, until Smith told me.”
His dad looked at the headphones as if he didn’t understand. “Smith? Arron Smith? Why—”
McKay sighed. “Bone conduction technology has been available for a very long time. It was actually invented by Beethoven, who used to bite a rod connected to his piano so he could hear through vibrations.”
“No, I know that,” his dad said impatiently. “I meant why did Smith tell you and not me?”
“Because I was blackmailing him.” McKay said it with such a look of boredom on his face that Seb gasped. “He was drowning in debt because of the divorce. It was very easy to offer him hard cash in return for keeping an eye on my investment. Once he accepted it the first time, I had him on the hook, so to speak. He would lose his job and certainly face prosecution. His ex-wife was looking for anything to bar him access to his kids. It was exactly the leverage I needed.” McKay smirked. “Your son isn’t exactly hard on the eyes. I doubt if Arron found it a hardship to become close.”
Seb wasn’t sure whether to be disgusted that Arron had been told to initiate an intimate relationship in the first place, or vindicated that Seb had known something wasn’t right with it and ended it. “I can only hear with the headphones on, Dad,” Seb said to try to distract his dad. “It’s not bone conduction whatever; it’s my ability, and you aren’t going to suddenly make me hear.” It was on the tip of his tongue to say what else he could do just to prove his point, but thankfully before he had the chance, his dad turned to him.
“But why didn’t you tell me?” Armitage asked, bewilderment and hurt in his expression.
“Because you were totally convinced the operations should happen, and I have no say in anything until I’m twenty-one.” Seb saw the knowledge flash through his dad’s eyes and knew he was getting through to him.
McKay scowled. “The implants are working. They just need further adjustment.”
Quinn glanced at McKay in confusion. “But he doesn’t have any implants. You removed them because they made him so sick.”
McKay laughed. “Did you really think I was going to trash something that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to produce?”
“But—”
McKay took a threatening step toward his dad. “I don’t care what you told me to do. I put my house and every cent I own into this. You really think I was going to remove it just because your spoiled kid got a few dizzy spells?”
Seb closed his eyes for a second in remembered horror. The hours he had spent lying on the floor simply wishing he could die. The time he had swallowed nearly every pill he had and tried to make it happen. It made utter and complete sense. Enhanced were always ridiculously healthy. He wasn’t an anomaly. A defective enhanced, if there was such a thing. His body was fighting something inside him that didn’t belong. It was a reaction, not a sickness.
He took a steadying breath and looked at his dad. “It doesn’t matter. Let’s get out of here.” He felt a little strength returning to his legs, and his arms weren’t as shaky. The relief was enormous. He could be healthy, finally. Get the damn things taken out. Start his life. He knew his dad would let him get his own place, he—
The slight movement from the corner made his words dry up. He stared in confusion, not completely sure what he was looking at. The guard who had threatened Gray stood holding a gun on them both.
“Stand down,” his dad ordered. The guard’s eyes flickered toward McKay, but he didn’t lower the weapon.
McKay sneered. “He doesn’t answer to you. I employed protection a long time ago. A sound decision as it turns out seeing as Seb’s new bodyguard was a completely different prospect to that idiot Derwent, or even Smith,” he added as an afterthought and then bent to the small fridge in the corner and started pulling out supplies. “Now, Armitage, I suggest you wait in reception and pretend to be a concerned father. I have surgery to do, and my nurse will be here shortly.”
His dad took an outraged step forward and came face-to-face with the guard’s weapon. “This is ridiculous,” he protested. “You can’t do this.”
McKay stood up with a covered tray. “I am doing this. We have gone too far to have any other option. Don’t forget, Armitage. It is you who has the guardianship role. I was simply carrying out your orders.”
Seb watched as his dad blanched. “I didn’t tell you to make my son sick. I believed you when you said it would help him.”
“And the millions of dollars we could earn has never been a factor, hmm?” McKay seemed so reasonable. “I can’t suddenly make people hear, and I never thought I could. I’m sure that will be possible in a few short years, but no one can duplicate an enhanced ability.”
“Then why?” his dad said with such a bewildered look on his face, Seb cringed.
“Tinnitus,” McKay replied promptly.
“What?” his dad repeated. Seb wasn’t completely sure he’d read the word properly.
“A problem that affects thousands and is incurable. A few manageable alternatives have been produced, but no cure. I am convinced the way your son processes vibrations will give me the answer.”
“You are going through with all this because of people who have ringing in their ears?” his dad asked, his expression completely aghast.
“Ringing in their ears?” McKay curled his lip. “It’s a hundred times worse than that, a thousand. People are bedridden, housebound. Suicidal. I am on the cusp of a cure that will potentially benefit millions.”
“And earn you millions,” Seb said with sickening finality. It had all been about that. Gray had been right.
“And to get to the answer, I need to examine his inner ear.”
“What do you mean?”
“There has to be a reason that bone conduction technology is working with him when the rest of the population with his hearing loss can’t benefit,” McKay continued. “I think you have been so caught up in your son being deaf because he has never exhibited any abilities most of the time, you forget he is enhanced. Apart from the obvious benefits, that very conveniently means you can keep him a prisoner and spend his money.”
His dad turned gray, but McKay continued, “Well, I didn’t forget. I have read every research article I could access legally—and a few others that took a certain financial effort—that discuss the correlation between natural human evolution and the enhanced’s abilities.”
“But you can’t just go on some sort of surgical fact-finding mission.” His dad looked horrified. “I mean—”
“Use him as a guinea pig, so to speak?” McKay asked. “Isn’t that exactly what you have been doing for over six years?”
Yes, thought Seb. It was. “Monsieur Dubois?” Seb suddenly said. “That was you?”
McKay shrugged. “It was supposed to frighten you into staying at home.” He glanced at Seb’s dad and frowned. “But—”
The guard snapped his head up and looked at the door a fraction of a second before it crashed back on its hinges and sent the guard stumbling into McKay. The gun slid from his fingers, and in complete horror, Seb watched as his dad—the nearest—bent to snatch it up and whirl around just as people started piling into the room.
Gray fired a shot from his own gun before Seb could shriek the warning.
There was a second, an incredibly long second where his dad looked down in confusion at the blood blooming rapidly across his chest. Then the gun toppled from his useless fingers, and his dad seemed to fold into himself before hitting the floor.
“Seb—”
“What did you do?” Seb cried, cutting off Gray’s words and scrambling to the floor. Rawlings was faster and grabbed the cloth covering the instruments and pressed it over his dad’s chest.
“No.” Gray grabbed Seb, turning him to face him, trying to keep him still. “He was going for the gun. I—”
“Get off me,” Seb screamed, and Gray let go as if he’d burned his hand. Seb clutched at his father as Carter appeared and then paramedics from somewhere. Seb felt a hand on his arm. The same gesture from Gray that he had done what seemed hundreds of times. Seb knew he wanted him to look up, and he did. “It was McKay.” Seb yanked his arm away and let the other paramedic help him to his feet. His father was quickly put on a gurney, lifted, and rushed outside to an ambulance.
“Do you want to go with him?” It was the ambulance driver. Seb simply nodded and stepped in.
“HE DIDN’T mean it,” Rawlings said gently. Gray stood with Mac and Ringo as the cops shut down the scene. They’d hauled McKay and the guard away what seemed like hours ago. Armitage was out of surgery and going to be all right. Gray didn’t get the chance to reply to Rawlings, even if he’d known what to say, because Carter walked back to them after speaking to some other suits.
“Apparently Samuels—McKay’s guard—is hanging him out to dry. McKay arranged for the graffiti and the attack on Monsieur Dubois and the blackmail letters, hoping he could persuade Seb to become even more of a recluse. Samuels doesn’t know about the porn, but Smith was taking money from McKay to get close to Seb. McKay wanted to know if Seb was lying. McKay already admitted Smith told him something about Seb hearing vibrations from a phone?” Carter shrugged. “I’m not clear on the details, but Smith told McKay the boy ended their relationship, so he couldn’t find out any more.”
Gray’s head shot up. “He ended it?” Then cursed his own reaction. Fuck. Carter looked sympathetic. “We’re going to reexamine the case to see if Smith did kill himself or if that was also ordered by McKay. If Smith really was suicidal, then he wouldn’t have had any reason to keep McKay’s secrets anymore, so it’s suspicious. If McKay was willing to go to these lengths, murder isn’t much further.”
Gray agreed.
“I’m going to the hospital,” Carter said. “Can I give you a ride?”
Gray shook his head, and Carter stepped away as his phone rang. Seb had been definite Gray wasn’t welcome. Carter had taken Gray’s gun but been clear that unless of course Mr. Armitage wanted to make a complaint, the police wouldn’t be interested. He’d said he thought that unlikely, especially since Armitage would be too busy with being prosecuted for fraud and theft. McKay was going to be locked up for a long time.
Gray looked at Rawlings. “Find me work.”
Rawlings frowned. “I think—”
“Find me work or I resign.”
Rawlings heaved a sigh. “I have two contracts in Atlanta—”
“No,” Gray clipped out the word.
Rawlings studied him for what seemed a long time. “No. You’re not running from this one, Gray. Seb’s hurt and confused. He’s been manipulated into feeling guilty for ten years. He lost one parent when he was four, and he just saw the other shot.” His eyes glinted in determination. “If you don’t get yourself to that hospital, you won’t need to resign because I’ll fire you.”
Gray stood looking stunned for all of five seconds. Rawlings was right. If Seb wanted to push him away, it was completely his right to do so, but not manning up and giving him the choice was even worse.
“What if he hates me? I gunned down his father.”
“Seb doesn’t hate you,” Rawlings said incredulously. “But even if you thought that, I never took you for such a coward.”
Gray snapped to attention in indignation and anger. How could Rawlings ever—
He acknowledged the faint amusement coupled with a good dose of compassion in Rawlings’s eyes. “When did you get so clever?”
Rawlings smiled. “When I married your sister.”
GRAY HAD never questioned his courage because he’d always just called it damned stubbornness. In a way he almost wished it was Kandahar or anywhere he could stand behind a big-ass gun, because as he walked into the hospital he’d never been as fucking scared as he was now.
His normally silent boots seemed loud as he walked to the waiting area. He stepped into the room and saw Seb immediately. Seb looked small and scared, but as he lifted his gaze to meet Gray’s, the anger reflected in his eyes showed he was pissed.
Gray’s heart thudded. He took a step toward Seb but was met by a cop.
“Sir?” The cop put up his hand.
Gray scowled. “I’m no threat.” The brittle laugh from Seb shut him up. Gray stared at him. “I would never…,” he started. “I thought he was going to shoot you.”
Seb tilted his head to one side and swallowed. “I know. The nice policeman isn’t here because he thinks you are a threat to me. He’s here because he thinks I’m a threat to everyone else.” Seb touched his mark lightly in explanation, and Gray gaped.
“But that’s ridiculous,” Gray fumed, noticing the way Seb’s eyes narrowed with annoyance, and he didn’t blame him. “I’m Seb’s bodyguard, and he is a threat to no one.” He glanced up as Carter and two colleagues came into the waiting room, followed by the doctor.
“Mr. Armitage?” the doctor addressed Seb. “Your father is conscious and is asking to see you.”
“Already?” Carter asked.
The doctor nodded. “The bullet was a through and through, and we were lucky to get him so quickly. He has been in recovery for an hour. I will allow one brief visit.”
Gray stepped up beside Seb, and Seb half smiled at the action. “I need Detective Carter to accompany us as well.”
The doctor agreed, and Gray tried not to take the request personally. There could be a million and one reasons Seb thought they needed Carter’s backup. He was just glad Seb hadn’t objected to him being there.
They were shown into a private room where Quinn Armitage lay on a bed, hooked up to all sorts of wires and tubes. He was conscious, and he focused eagerly on Seb. The reaction to seeing Gray wasn’t as welcoming. In fact Armitage scowled. “Detective, while I appreciate that you have had a busy few hours, I must insist that you arrest this man. I am told another two inches and I would have bled out on the clinic’s floor.” He turned to Seb. “I completely understand your wish to be protected and fully admit to making many mistakes.” He paused. “It’s just after losing your mother, I became obsessed with the idea of keeping you safe.”
Gray stared incredulously. Was this man for real? Was he really trying to guilt Seb again?
Armitage reached out for his son’s hand, and Seb took a half-automatic step backward into Gray. Gray quickly put his hands on Seb’s shoulders protectively. Armitage’s nostrils flared in irritation. “Detective, I really must insist on an arrest.”
“So must I,” Seb said defiantly and took a step away from Gray.
Gray’s heart crashed into his ribs at the words, and he stared at Seb in resignation.
Carter nodded but ignored Gray and took a step toward the bed. “Quinn Armitage, you have the right to remain silent—”
“What?” Armitage interrupted incredulously. He looked at Gray for some reason, then back at Seb. “What on earth is going on?”
“I would have thought that was obvious, Dad,” Seb said dryly. “They’re called your Miranda rights. I’m sure you’ve seen plenty of cop shows. But if you mean why are you being arrested instead of Gray, I expect because Detective Carter understands Gray was protecting me. Oh,” he added as if it was an afterthought, “and you are being arrested I suspect for fraud.” He screwed his nose up. “I’m not sure of the exact offense.”
Armitage stared at his son as if suddenly no one else was in the room. “And who am I supposed to have defrauded?”
Gray’s head shot up at Armitage’s preternatural tone.
Carter stepped forward. “I’ve just had a very interesting conversation with Mr. Welsley.”
Gray glanced at Seb, who luckily noticed. He didn’t think he dared touch him at the moment. “Simon Welsley is Dad’s chief accountant at A.T. Holdings.”
“I haven’t defrauded anyone,” Armitage shot out. “You voluntarily gave me your inheritance. The funding for all the research has been covered.”
Seb shook his head sadly, as if he still couldn’t believe what Armitage was spewing.
“I’m not talking about Mom’s money. This was never about that, and I’m more than capable of earning my own. You diverted research grants illegally—”
“The enhanced don’t have any rights,” Armitage spat out, his face going a mottled red color and completely ignoring everything Seb was trying to say.
“But unfortunately for you, stockholders do,” Carter added dryly.
Armitage’s lips parted, but he made no sound and turned to Seb. “Everything I did was for you.”
Gray tried not to gag.
“No, I really don’t think it was,” Seb replied. “I think it may have started that way, and right up to this afternoon when you let McKay drug me against my will, I might have believed you.”
“Sebastian, son—”
“Don’t call me that,” Seb snapped out, and Carter finished reading Armitage his rights. Ignoring his dad’s spluttered cries, he whirled around and left the room.
“Seb.” Gray caught up with him quickly, reaching for him, and Seb willingly let him pull him into his arms. He counted a few heartbeats before Seb pushed back and Gray let him go, assuming Seb wanted to talk and needed to see Gray’s lips. “Shall we go home?”
“Mr. Armitage?”
Gray looked up and was surprised to see Ringo staring at them. Seb followed Gray’s action and turned to look at Ringo.
“Mr. Armitage,” Ringo repeated.
“Call me Seb.” Gray watched as Seb took another step away from him.
“The car’s outside when you’re ready.” With a smile at Gray, Ringo turned and walked to the end of the corridor.
“What’s going on?” Gray asked in bewilderment. What on earth was Ringo doing here?
“Ringo works for Diesel,” Seb replied as if that explained everything.
“So do I,” Gray said, stating the obvious, completely baffled. “And you don’t need anyone else to look after you.”
Seb stared at Gray. Very carefully he lifted his hand and pushed the hair, which was getting too long, out of Gray’s eyes. “I actually don’t need anyone looking after me at all. There were never any threats. It was all a ruse to convince me to stay at home and not get any ideas about independence.”
Gray stiffened, and Seb brought his hand lower, gently placing a finger on Gray’s lips to silence him. “All my life I’ve been thought incapable of making my own decisions, caring for myself, and in the last two years, nearly three, behaving like an adult. I have to take a little responsibility because I haven’t done anything about it, but that stops today.”
Gray took a step forward, and just as quickly, Seb took one back to avoid him. “You made it very obvious to the guard when you arrived that the thought of me being a threat to anyone or anything was completely ridiculous, and while I hope that speaks to the faith you have in my character, I’m worried you think I’m incapable of taking care of myself at all. I’m going to get my life sorted, and then if you are still interested in getting to know me as Seb, not as someone who needs looking after, get in touch. Ringo is simply here with me for the next few months while the trial is on and I need someone I can trust to drive me.”
“I can drive you,” Gray said brushing his fingers through his hair then clutching Seb’s shoulders. He swallowed. “Don’t, please.”
Seb gazed at him. “For how long?”
“As long as you need,” Gray vowed. He was in it for life.
Seb took a step nearer. “But I want more. I don’t want you there just to look after me because you think I’m incapable of looking after myself. I want you there because you don’t want to be anywhere else, and unless we give each other time, I will always wonder if you are with me because you want to be or because you feel you have to be.”
Gray froze. Seb’s words ricocheted around his brain. “No.” He shook his head. “Don’t. Seb, please.”
But Seb just turned around and followed Ringo out of the door, and out of Gray’s life.