Bradley James

by C. E. Wilson

  He parked down the street, where he could see Ben’s car. It wasn’t long before Ben came out and got into his car. Cade stayed back but followed him to a fast food place, and he parked across from it so he could see when Ben left. Ben went through the drive-through and Cade watched as the girl handed him a large bag of food and three drinks.

  Ben left the fast food place. Cade pulled out and followed him. He stayed back so that Ben wouldn’t notice him, but he could watch where he went. They left the city and headed out in the country, which is what the waitress said that it was out in the boondocks. This made sense to go out in the country to his little brother’s house.

  They drove for a long while then Ben pulled off onto a dirt road and Cade could see a house in the distance. He pulled off and watched as Ben parked in front of the house and got out. He grabbed the container of drinks and the large bag, and he walked into the house.

  Cade contemplated calling the police since he didn’t know how many people were in the house. He knew he could easily take Ben, but he didn’t know how many more was there. Ben had a container holding three drinks. One would be for Ben he was sure and maybe one for Bradley but who was the other one. Probably his little brother who was no match for Cade. Being the quarterback for the football team meant he was in the gym more than he was anywhere else. He was in perfect shape.

  Cade got out of the truck and walked up to the house and ducked around the side. He noticed a small window open in the basement. He eased up to the window and listened. He didn’t hear anything for a bit then he heard Bradley talking to someone. He knew it was Bradley’s voice. He had memorized it since he was crushing bad on him. He waited until he heard the footsteps going up the stairs. He got down on his knees and looked into the window. Bradley was sitting on a dirty bench, eating some of the fast food. At least Ben was feeding him. He whispered, “Bradley. Come to the window so we can talk. I need to ask you some things, and I don’t want them to hear us.”

  Bradley looked at the window and set his food down on the bench. “Cade what are you doing here? Can you help me?”

  “Yes Bradley, I’m going to get you out. How many men are here?”

  “As far as I know just Ben and his brother. I don’t think they have any weapons, or they would probably open the door. So far, they haven’t opened it. It’s locked.”

  “I know I can take Ben. How about his brother? How much trouble is he going to cause?”

  “Ben is making him do this, so I don’t think he’ll give you any trouble. He’s a tiny boy only fifteen. He’s afraid that Ben will kill him if he does anything like let me go.”

  “Ok hang tight and let me go get this guy. I swear if you’re hurt anywhere I am going to hurt him bad.”

  “When I get out of here, I want to know how you found me and thank you for helping me.”

  Cade smiled. “I have to tell you, Bradley, I am crushing on you hard. I was going to ask you out, but I was afraid that you weren’t gay.”

  “I’m gay so we can talk about that when you get me out of here. I have been crushing on you too but were afraid that you were straight. You seemed to be dating all girls.”

  “That was for show. Not who I am. Let me go get this idiot to let you out of here then I’ll take you home. Your family is worried sick about you.”

  Bradley nodded and went back to his food. He was so hungry; Ben only fed him once a day.

  Cade went around to the back of the house and noticed a back door that was ajar. He eased into the door and found himself in a mudroom. He heard voices just beyond the door and knew it was Ben and his brother. He listened for a bit and only heard the two voices. He broke through the door and grabbed Ben and started beating him. He looked at the little brother. “Are you going to attack me?”

  “No, I don’t even want to be here.”

  “Good now call 911 and get the cops out here. I’ll hold onto Ben, so he doesn’t get you, but I need you to make that call.”

  The boy nodded and pulled out a phone from his pants pocket and called 911 and told the sheriff’s office where they were. Ben scowled at his little brother. “You’re worthless Danny. When I get loose, I’m going to kill you. You know I’ll do it just like I did your worthless father.”

  Cade shook his head. “You do realize that you just confessed to a murder in front of a witness, don’t you?”

  Ben said, “No, I didn’t confess anything. I was just saying that I would kill Danny here. Not anyone else.”

  “You said you killed the boy’s father. That’s a confession of murder.”

  “I was just trying to scare him. I didn’t kill anyone. If you don’t let me go, I’m going to kill Bradley. I know that’s why you’re here. You want my future husband. You can’t have him. He’s mine.”

  Danny hung up the phone. “The sheriff’s department is on the way. They are sending an ambulance for Bradley too. What else can I do for you?”

  “Go downstairs and let Bradley out.”

  “Ben has the key to the basement. I don’t have one.”

  “Come and get it from him. Don’t worry, I won’t let him hurt you.”

  Danny nodded and came over and got the key out of Ben’s pocket and ran down the stairs. He opened the door and motioned for Bradley to come out. Bradley nodded and got up and walked out then up the stairs. He was glad to be free of that stinking basement. He came into the dining room and sat down on the chair. He smiled at Cade.

  Chapter 3

  Danny brought some rope up out of the basement and handed it to Cade. He took the rope and tied up Ben so that he couldn’t get loose. Cade walked over to Bradley and helped him to stand then put his arms around him and held him close. Bradley whispered in Cade’s ear. “Thank you, Cade. You are my angel. I didn’t think I would ever get out of that horrible basement.”

  Cade smiled. “How else was I going to date you if I didn’t rescue you?”

  “You want to date me?”

  “Yes, I want to date you. I’m afraid you are going to have to shower first though babe. You’re a little ripe.”

  “I don’t doubt that at all. I have been in that basement for a while now and there sure isn’t a shower in there.”

  “First you're going to the hospital to get checked over. I want to make sure you’re all right. Lord knows what nasty business was in that basement.”

  “Yeah, it’s pretty bad down there. I wonder what Ben did with my phone. I would like to call my dad and let him know I’m all right. I’m sure he’s worried about me.”

  Cade pulled his phone out of his back pocket and handed it to Bradley. “I need your home number anyway. I’ll get your cell number when we find it.”

  Bradley called his dad. “Dad, it is me. I have been held as a prisoner by Ben Sanchez. Cade Maxwell found me and is here with me waiting for the police and ambulance to get here. I’m all right, but Cade said I need to go to the hospital and get checked out, so he told them to send an ambulance too. Yeah, Cade and I will meet you at the hospital.” Bradley looked at Cade and smiled. “Yeah, Dad. Cade is very special.”

  They heard the sirens in the distance. Cade watched Ben close but never let go of Bradley. When the police walked into the house, he was still holding Bradley close. They brought in the stretcher, and Cade laid Bradley down on it. He told the deputies if they wanted statements they would have to come to the hospital. He was following the ambulance so he could be with Bradley while they checked him over.

  The ambulance left, and Cade was right behind it. They went to the hospital, and Cade parked his truck and ran to catch up with the stretcher. He took Bradley’s hand and walked beside the stretcher. When they got to the emergency room that Bradley would see a doctor in, they gave Cade a gown and told him to put it on, Bradley.

  Cade’s eyes got big, and he stared at Bradley. Bradley chuckled. “Help me off with my sweater and give me the gown. I have the rest of it.”

  John walked into the room and hugged Bradley. “I just heard they found you. Clayton
is on his way over to see you. How are you doing?”

  “I’m doing ok. John, I want you to meet Cade. You remember me talking to you about the guy I was crushing on? This is him. Seems he was crushing right back and didn’t know if I was gay or not. We both are.”

  John walked to the other side of the bed and hugged Cade. “Hi, Cade. I am Clayton’s husband. This is our little brother. Since I don’t have a brother, I share Clayton’s brother.”

  A nurse came into the room. “Dr. Willis, are you this patient’s doctor? I called in Dr. Baker to check him over, but I can cancel it if you want to take him.”

  “I’m not his doctor; I am his brother. Dr. Baker will be just fine. I trust Tim with my little brother.”

  The nurse nodded and left the room. John looked at Bradley. “Was it that idiot Ben whatever that did this to you?”

  “Yeah, he was going to keep me locked in the basement until I fell in love with him. How did he expect that to happen? I told him he was crazy, and he said he knew I loved him and just didn’t want to admit it.”

  “Yeah, I don’t think his elevator goes to the top floor. How did you get away from him?”

  “Cade is my knight in shining armor. He came in and got me out of the basement and took Ben down. Then he held me until the police got there.”

  “How on earth did you find him, Cade?”

  “I know where Ben lives, and it was easy to follow him back to the house that he was keeping Bradley at. I talked to Bradley and made sure he was there and was safe then I slipped into the back door and caught them unaware. Ben tried to fight me, but he didn’t stand a chance. The boy Danny didn’t do anything. He is the one that actually called 911, and he brought me a rope from the basement to tie Ben up with. Ben also admitted that he murdered Danny’s father.”

  “Make sure you tell the police that. He doesn’t need to be out of prison. Uh oh. I hear your brother coming down the hall. Wait until he busts in here.”

  Clayton came around the curtain and grabbed Bradley and hugged him close. He never said a word or even looked at anyone. He just held Bradley. He was afraid he had lost his little brother, and it felt good to hold him in his arms.

  John chuckled. “Babe you need to let the poor boy breathe. You’re going to smother him.”

  Clayton looked up and saw John and smiled. “Hi Honey. I was so worried about Bradley. I couldn’t wait to hold him and know he is all right. He is all right, isn’t he?”

  “I don’t know Sweetheart. I’m not his doctor. Tim is supposed to come in and check him out, but he looks fine to me.”

  Cade said, “They kept him in a filthy basement without even a bathroom in it. He needs at least a round of antibiotics to make sure he doesn’t get anything from that basement. It was disgusting.”

  Clayton looked at Cade and then at John. “Babe who is this guy?”

  “I think he’s Bradley’s boyfriend. He’s the one that rescued him from that house.”

  Bradley said, “Clay if you let me breathe for a moment, I’ll introduce you to him. Do you remember when I came and talked to you and John about this guy in school, I had a bad crush on? Well, this is that guy. His name is Cade Maxwell. He’s the quarterback on the football team. Cade this is my older brother Clayton and his husband, John Willis. John is a heart doctor. He operated on my dad and saved his life.”

  Clayton walked over to Cade and wrapped his arms around the boy. “Thank you so much for getting my brother back for us. You are welcome to come to our house anytime with Bradley or to the mountains when we go. What college are you going to? Bradley was afraid that you wouldn’t go to the same college as him.”

  “I’m going to Penn State to be an engineer. I don’t know where Bradley is going or what he wants to be. I guess I can change it if he is going somewhere else.”

  Bradley chuckled. “Hey, I’m going to Penn State for engineering. I guess we will be going together, after all.”

  “I think this is fate telling us we should be together. Why else would we be going to the same college for the same thing? That way, we can help each other with our studies.”

  Charlie and Martha walked in, and Martha started to petting Bradley and crying over him. He shook his head. “Mom, I’m all right. I didn’t get hurt just a bump on the head. That was several weeks ago, and it’s all healed up. Dry your eyes and look presentable Mom I want you to meet Cade. He’s the guy that saved me. He’s also the guy that I’m going to start dating. You will be seeing a lot of him from now on, so get used to it.”

  Martha walked over to Cade and put her arms around his neck and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you, young man. You saved our baby boy. What can I do for you to repay you for saving him?”

  “Nothing Mrs. James. I’m just happy to have him safe and glad to know that he’s gay too, so we can date.”

  “Oh, you want to date my son?”

  “Yes, Ma’am. I do want to date Bradley. I have wanted to date him all this year, but I didn’t know if he was gay or not. Seems he has had the same thoughts. At least now we know that we can be together.”

  “You’re not crazy like that other one, are you? I don’t want you to kidnap Bradley if he wants to break up with you.”

  Bradley was mortified. “Mom don’t say things like that to Cade. He just saved me. You think he would save me and make me feel safe just to kidnap me again. You tell Cade you’re sorry for asking him something like that.”

  Charlie said, “Yes, Martha, there was no reason for you to say something like that to that young man. He did us a great service by finding our son and getting him out of that situation, so you need to apologize to Cade.”

  Martha looked at the floor. “I’m sorry, Cade. I just don’t want Bradley hurt again.”

  “I’m not going to hurt him. I’m going to marry him as soon as we get out of college.”

  Bradley was shocked. “Did you just say we were getting married when we get out of college?”

  “Yep that’s what I said, and that’s what I mean. I’m not letting you go again. I’ll be right here.”

  Bradley grinned. “I can deal with that. Dad, can you or Clay go get me some food? I am starved. That idiot only fed me a fast food meal a day, and I didn’t get enough to eat.”

  John said, “I’ll go get you some food. I want to see what’s keeping Tim. If he isn’t here by the time, I bring you something to eat then I’ll go ahead and check you out and release you so you can go home and shower. I know you want to do that.”

  “Yeah, I didn’t get a shower for two weeks. I need one right now.”

  John nodded and went out of the room.

  Chapter 4

  When John got back to the room, he had some food for Bradley. It was hospital food, but Bradley was so hungry he didn’t care what it was. After he ate, John brought him some scrubs and took him to a room with a shower, and he was able to shower and get clean. He felt great then. John checked him over, and he seemed to be just fine, so John released him.

  Cade got him by the arm and took him out to his truck. Charlie caught up with them and asked, “Cade, what are you doing? I’m taking my son home so his mother can get him back on his feet.”

  “Yeah, I figured that’s where you want him to go, but I plan on taking him there and staying the rest of the day with him. Do you have a problem with that?”

  “No, that’s fine. Do you know where we live?”

  “Not exactly but I’m sure Bradley knows, doesn’t he?”

  Charlie rolled his eyes. “Yes, of course. I don’t know what I was thinking. All right you boys are careful going home, and we will see you there. I just have to settle up with the insurance and the hospital.”

  Bradley smiled. “Dad, I’m safe now. Just relax. Cade isn’t going to hurt me. We’ll be at home when you get there.”

  “I’m your father, and it’s my job to worry about you, son. I know you’re safe and I’m so thankful for Cade.”

  Charlie waved at them and headed back into the hospital. Jo
hn met him at the door and told him he fixed everything, and there would be no charge. It didn’t cost the hospital anything, and he would never charge for Bradley. Charlie nodded and got Martha, and they went home.

  Cade followed Bradley’s directions and pulled into his home. Cade parked the truck where Bradley told him to park. Bradley reached for his keys and realized that he didn’t have them. So, they just sat in the truck waiting for Charlie and Martha to get back. Cade reached over and pulled Bradley close to him. He put his arm around Bradley and kissed him gently on the mouth. Bradley smiled at him. “Are we really doing this Cade?”

  “Yep, we are. I have wanted to be with you since I moved here. I haven’t come out to my family yet, but I don’t think they will have a problem with it. They are pretty understanding parents.”

  “Are you going to tell them about me?”

  “You bet I am. I’m so proud of you, babe. I want everyone to know that you’re mine, finally. I wish you would have said something before now about your crush on me.”

  “Same back to you. I was watching you to see if I could tell if you were gay or straight. I couldn’t tell, so I talked to Clay and John, and they said just make friends with you first and see if you would say anything about being gay. I so wanted you to be gay.”

  Cade laughed. “I was doing the same thing trying to figure out if you were gay as well. I didn’t want to hit on you if you were straight. I hadn’t come out yet because it is hard being the quarterback of the football team and being gay. I would have been happy to if I knew for sure you were gay.”

  “If you want to keep me a secret and still date girls, I understand. I wanted to stay in the closet until after college because of things that happened with my brother, but Ben outed me at Clay’s wedding.”

  Cade frowned at Bradley. “Why on earth would I want to stay in the closet when all I ever wanted was you? I want to walk from class to class with you. I want to sneak off after school and make out with you. I don’t want to be in the closet when you're out. I want to be out and proud to have you at my side. I don’t care what anyone says.”