“Tommy, take this first right and head east,” Gary yelled, pulling out his phone. To whoever he called, he said, “I need a place to lay low. Give me something.”
Diego leaned over the seat and set his hand on Tommy’s shoulder. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Are you? What did they do to you?”
“They just roughed me up because I was fighting them. I’m fine. Bruised rib, maybe, some bumps and bruises.”
Tommy was so relieved, but nothing was over yet. Not by a long shot.
Gary ended his call and told Tommy, “I’ve got us a place, but we need a new car. They know this one.”
“Where are we getting a new one?”
“Go to a shopping center. Head back to Paz but go to the eastern end of town. If Crowley’s men or the cartel see us, we’re dead.”
“Why can’t we just go back to the plane and go home?”
Diego was the one to answer that. “Babe, that’s exactly what they’d expect. They’ll have the airports surrounded with their men. Buses, the road to the US, all will be watched. We’re not leaving Mexico. Not yet, anyway.”
Tommy’s entire body broke out in a sweat.
Gary continued, “They’re going to see it like we stole two million dollars from them. I know that’s not what happened, but that’s exactly how they’ll see it. They won’t stop until they get that two million or they’re all fucking dead.”
“We’re not going to kill all those people, are we?”
“No, Tommy. We’re not. Then another group will be after us to show how tough they are, killing the people that killed their competition. No, we’ll play it cool.”
Diego asked Gary, “Let me use the phone. I have to warn Mike and Daniel about this.”
Tommy’s mind was blank of everything except the need to keep the two men in the car with him safe, though he suspected both of them would like to hide him under a bed to make sure he didn’t get a scratch.
“Daniel, hey, it’s Diego, and yeah, I’m fine and out of captivity, but they’re gonna be angry and could come after you all. Get to different safe houses, right now. Make sure Mike and his family are in an entirely different place. We’ll call when we have news. Tommy and Gary and me, we’re all fine. Don’t worry.”
When he hung up, Gary threw back at him, “Didn’t know nice college boys lied like that.”
“When it’s necessary,” he clipped, then told Tommy, “Daniel and everyone is fine, but they’ll be better once this is over. While they’re in hiding, they can’t do business.”
“Again, why don’t we get some people down here and handle our own business?”
Gary answered, “Crowley is working for people that are major. Some in the government. If we’re going to get out of here alive, and stop them hunting us, we’ve got to stay here, in Mexico and deal with it ourselves. Bringing more people into it will only escalate it.”
“How the fuck can this escalate? Seriously, Gary?”
“It can, Tommy. It can. Be patient. I have a few contacts down here that can keep us safe, at least until I can figure out how to end this.”
“Give them the money,” Diego suggested.
“That’s one option, and easy to do, sure, but like I told Tommy, they would have taken it and killed you if we’d have paid while they still had you. You know that, right, college boy? Or didn’t they teach that in your etiquette classes?”
Diego ignored that and reasoned, “If we pay, then somehow get back to the states, it’s not going to be profitable for them to come and get us. I can scrape up the money, but it’s getting it to them that will be the tricky part.”
“You don’t know their reach, and frankly, neither do I. Until we’re sure they’re not coming after us and the people we care about, we can’t take the chance of going home.” To Diego, he gritted, “And I have the money to pay them. I’ll do it once we figure it out.”
“Blood money?”
“This from the guy who is the consiglieri for a mob family? You couldn’t get a high paying job in a big New York firm?”
Tommy glanced in the rearview, seeing Diego clenching his jaw, ready to give him a stinging retort that could only end in a physical confrontation. “Can you two please stop with the pissing contest? Fuck!”
Gary was glaring at Diego, but he kept his mouth shut, and Diego sat back, staring out the window. Tommy wanted to scream at them both, but he liked the silence for the moment.
Gary got another call after they’d been driving twenty minutes and once he was off the phone, he told them, “We get a car at a carwash they directed me to. The workers already know to pass us one as it comes off the line, then we take that to an address that’ll be left in the glove compartment.”
“And how do we know these people won’t turn us over to the cartel? They stand to make money if they do.”
Gary growled and informed Diego, “This man was in my unit during my first merc gig. I saved his life. Believe me, he’s not turning us in.”
“Like Diego just did for you? And you just did for Diego?” Tommy was already frustrated with them and the adventure from hell had just begun. “Stop with this while we’re stuck in this fucking car together.”
Diego’s eyes met him in the rearview, at least the one eye that wasn’t swollen shut and he lowered his gaze in shame. “Sorry, Tom.”
“It’s the adrenaline,” Gary reasoned. “We’ll chill out before long. Just drive.”
They found the carwash with no trouble and Gary got out, speaking in Spanish to a man standing at the end of the tunnel where the cars exited from the carwash. He opened the passenger door and told the two, “Follow me once I get the car. We’ll unload our shit and leave this car there.”
Tommy nodded to him and waited until the dark minivan came out of the tunnel, and watched Gary nod to the man he’d been speaking with before hopping in and pulling out into the road.
They followed him a few blocks, then Gary turned down a road and went around the block and started back on the same road. “What the fuck is he doing? Is he lost?”
“No. Javi taught us this. It’s evading anyone that could be following you. It’s in the same category of never going home the same way twice in a row, park in parking lots and watch for other people not getting out of their cars, stuff like that.”
“I hate that you know all that, Tommy.”
Tommy knew that. He may be the consiglieri of the family, but he wished Tommy would go to college and get a safer job, one that wouldn’t get him shot. “I know.”
“Are…are you really okay? I mean…what did you two…?”
“We didn’t fuck, Diego. I was a little preoccupied being worried about my boyfriend. Not that I would have anyway. I’ve never cheated on you.”
“I know that, Tommy. I’m just…”
“I know. I’m sorry about all of this. I feel like it’s my fault this even happened to you.”
“Whether you’d dated him in the past or not, Tom, if Javi asked me to help his friend, I would have. This wasn’t on you.”
“Still feels that way.”
Diego moved up and leaned over the seat. “You said boyfriend. Am I still?”
Tommy smiled, though the memory of the kiss Gary gave him before running off to save Diego lingered. “Yeah, you are.”
“And Gary?”
He hadn’t told Diego he’d made a choice, but he didn’t feel like he could say it then. It felt like something changed, but he didn’t know what. He still didn’t want to choose Gary over Diego, but he wasn’t sure about anything. “Gary is what he is. He just saved your life. I know you saved his too, but I’m grateful to him. Can’t I just be grateful for a while instead of having this conversation?”
“Sorry, Tom. Yeah, you need to feel whatever you need to feel right now. We have time for the rest. Hopefully, anyway.”
He chuckled at that. “You mean if a cartel doesn’t hunt us down and skin us alive?”
“Yeah, that would be it.”
&n
bsp; He’d missed Diego the short time they’d been apart. His easy mile and bright eyes. “Where’d you learn to shoot like that?”
“Just because the mafia side of my family disowned us, didn’t mean I wasn’t raised around bad asses. My uncle on my dad’s side was special forces.”
That pang Tommy had when he heard of someone’s family, a good family that helped out their own and was there for them, it came then but he pushed it away. “Thanks. For saving him.”
“I’m not a dick, Tom. I didn’t do it for you, either.”
“I know. That’s what makes you so fucking good.”
Diego kissed him on the cheek as he drove and whispered to him, “I hate that you’re having to be here for all this, but I can’t think of anyone I’d want to go through it with more.”
“Me too.”
They parked in a small lot and Gary looked around before signaling them to get out and transfer their things, including all the weapons, to the minivan. He got back in and drove, leaving Tommy able to get into the backseat with Diego and check over his wounds. “If there isn’t peroxide and bandages there, we need to get some, Gary.”
“We shouldn’t leave at all, but I doubt there will be food for us for more than a day, so I’ll have to. You two will stay behind and watch out for anyone else pulling into the yard.”
The house was on its own, the closest house two large fields away from it. Gary motioned for them to get out as he walked the perimeter, making certain they were alone, and safe.
They unloaded the back of the minivan quickly, Tommy insisting on carrying the heaviest of the bags. The outside wasn’t great, stucco falling off the chicken wire, windows paned and dusty. The inside, however, was horrible. The fifty-year-old wallpaper, that used to be avocado green and orange diamonds, was peeling from the walls, the carpeting was filthy and matted down, turd brown in color.
The rooms were tiny, and the kitchen was only a sink, old electric stove, apartment sized, and a half-fridge that was working but noisy, like it would go out any moment. The bathroom had a deeply stained tub to match the brownish-orange stained toilet, cracked mirror over the sink that stuck out from the wall at a slant.
It was home for however long, though, and he’d feel safer there than in the high class hotel they stayed in where Diego had gotten taken. “There’re bunk beds in the bedroom, so you two take those and I’ll fumigate that couch and take that,” Gary said as he stuck his head into the bathroom. “Definitely getting some cleaning shit. I’m going to the store now. You have a cap in your bag?”
“Yeah, a black one, that may be at the bottom.”
Instead of moving, Gary stared at him. “You okay with all this?”
“Yeah. I guess. I’m not thrilled we’re all in danger, but I’m not freaking out or anything.”
He took a step into the bathroom and touched Tommy’s arm. “I never thought you were. I know you’ve had a rough couple days is all.”
Tommy wanted nothing more than to collapse in his arms. That wasn’t going to happen. “Thanks, but I’m fine. As can be, anyway. Go get some cleaning stuff and I’ll get this place livable.”
His hand dropped and he cast his eyes down. “Yeah. Yeah, I’ll go now.”
Diego was heading in as Gary left and Gary purposely shoulder-checked him. Diego rolled his good eye and kept quiet about it. “What was that all about?”
“He was just checking on me. Like you’re doing now.”
He expected a sarcastic comment, but of course he didn’t get one. Not from Diego. “Good. He can’t be all bad if he’s concerned about you.”
Tommy wrapped his arms around Diego’s neck and lay his head on his shoulder. “I was so worried about you. Fuck, the pictures that were going through my mind…”
“I am fine, babe. I’m tougher than you think. I choose not to show it like some people who won’t be named.”
He got a kiss to the neck and then Diego whispered to him, “Need help cleaning this place?”
“You’ve been tortured enough for one day. Go lay down and start to heal that handsome face.”
Once Diego left, Tommy checked out of the windows, looking for anyone who might be watching them. There was nothing and no one all the way around the house. Even the closest house that he could see out of the west side’s windows looked deserted.
Gary didn’t take long, and as soon as he was back in the house, Tommy unloaded the bags, and set the cleaning products on the stove. The labels were all in Spanish. “I guess I’ll have to smell them all to figure out what they are.”
“I’ll translate if you run into trouble. They’re pretty self-explanatory. Bleach, ammonia, sponges, and paper towels. There’s some abrasive cleaner in that bottle there, like Comet or Ajax. I figure that would be best for that toilet, sink, and tub.”
“Good call.”
The one bag held the medical supplies for Diego, including two prescriptions. “What’s are these?”
“Antibiotics and pain killers. He’s not feeling it yet, but in the morning, he’s going to be in a lot of pain.”
Tommy blinked at him, confused. “How’d you get them?”
“It’s pretty easy here. Doctor’s office next to the pharmacy, I went in, told them I had an STI and they gave me the scripts. It’s a common complaint of Americans down here.”
Tommy laughed and then sobered, telling him, “Thank you. I didn’t…expect this.”
“I’m not a total asshole.”
“I knew that, but you do go out of your way trying to convince everyone else you are.”
Gary winked at him, showing some teeth as he grinned. “Keep everyone at arm’s length.”
Tommy wasn’t sharing his playfulness. “Except me? Is that why you left? You let me in too close?”
“Yeah, Tommy. It was.” Lost was his smile and the mischief in his eyes. “I was scared and I’m not a man to be scared. I ran off for the first time in my life instead of standing and fighting. And you traded me in as soon as I was gone, so maybe I had good reason to run.”
He was striking out and Tommy knew that. “It was months before I even met Diego, but I have a feeling you knew that. I have this feeling that Javi kept you up on all the shit I was doing.”
“He’s my friend. He told me whether I wanted to hear it or not.”
He grabbed the bag with the medicines in it and started for the bedroom. “I need to take care of Diego.”
“Yeah. You do that.”
Chapter Eight
The cut needed stitches, but he’d never done that to anyone before, and didn’t think he had the stomach for it. “Maybe Gary can stitch this up.”
“I’m sure he’d enjoy that.”
Tommy laughed and gave him one of each of the pills. “After the pain killer kicks in, I’ll ask him.”
“Maybe I’ll have a scar. That’ll help me look tougher, huh?”
“You don’t need a scar to look tough.”
“Sure. I’ve been called a pretty boy all my life. Even as a kid, my mom called me pretty. I hated it. Still hate it.”
Tommy had never had that problem. After he cleaned up the rest of his cuts that weren’t as deep, he lifted Diego’s shirt to check on the ribs and saw a nasty bruise there. “Are you sure they’re not broken?”
“I’ve had a broken rib before, Tom. Believe me, I’d know it.”
“Okay. Well, I think you’ll live. Let me ask Gary.”
“Ask me what?” Gary asked from the doorway.
Tommy turned and explained, “He needs stitches. I’ve never done that.”
He pushed himself off the jamb and said, “Get me the sewing kit in my bag.”
Tommy didn’t like leaving the two alone, but he wanted it done and over with.
After he got back to the room with the sewing kit, he saw Gary with a pint of whiskey in his hand. “You’re not drinking before you do this.”
“It’s to sterilize the thread. Then I’ll drink it.”
Diego lay his head down, lo
oking nervous, but told Tommy, “Babe, go check around for us while he does this. We’ll take turns keeping watch tonight. Since Gary’s drinking and you look like you are ready to pass out, I’ll take first watch.”
“You’re the one that’s been beaten.”
“Exactly. The pain will keep me awake. Go check around then kick back on the couch until he’s finished with me.”
All he could do was nod and he walked off, nervous to leave them alone again, but the couch did look comfortable, despite being disgusting. Anything would look comfortable, because Diego was right. He was about to fall asleep walking.
****
Diego tensed under his hand, which he’d placed on the man’s hard chest. Without his shirt, he was even prettier than with it, and Gary started to see a little of what Tommy saw in him. Well, besides his sweet disposition. Actually, that was one of the things he didn’t understand. Tommy was so submissive, liked it hard and rough, but he couldn’t see Diego so much as giving him a light slap to his ass.
“Have your fun,” Diego said after taking a long breath.
“I gotta admit, I will enjoy this.”
He got a nervous chuckle from him.
“I’m glad you sent him out of here. He’s had enough today,” Gary whispered, knowing that if Tommy heard, he’d be pissed.
Diego stared up at him, barely flinching as he pierced his skin with the needle.
Gary asked him, “What?”
“Nothing, just…you do love him. I can see it. I didn’t think so, not before, but you care about him. A lot.”
Gary thought of Tommy, of their short but miraculous time together. Never in his life had he felt so much for any man. “Yeah, well, it’s a moot point now.”
“What do you mean?”
He didn’t know if Diego was putting him on or if he really didn’t know. “He made his choice.”
“Again, what are you talking about?”
“He chose you, and with his reasoning, I can’t blame him. It’s fucking true.”
Tug of War (Legacy Book 5) Page 7
