Severe Side Winds Ahead

by Kendel Duncan

  And then Simon stood up next to the bed and began to strip off his clothes.

  “Please, no,” he whispered.

  “I’m not going to fuck your ass this time, Garrett. You need to heal from the last time I took you.”

  “You think that makes this any better you fucking prick? Oh fuck, I’m going to be sick,” Garrett groaned.

  Simon leaned forward and clasped his hand over Garrett’s mouth and growled, “You do and I’ll make this a hundred times worse for you, got it?”

  The eye that wasn’t swollen shut in Garrett’s bruised and beaten face got wide and he swallowed hard, trying desperately to calm his rioting stomach then he nodded slowly.

  Simon stood back up and retrieved a smart phone from his pants pocket, “Now, let’s see what kind of scene I’m going to send to entice Tiny out of his hiding place.”

  “I still don’t get it, Simon. Tiny’s not gay.”

  Simon rolled his eyes, “Of course he is, you dumb fuck. He just hid it from all of you homophobic assholes for all those years. Hell, you should see the new boy toy he’s got right now. Once I’ve got Tiny here, if that sexy FBI agent comes after him, I just might take a turn with that sweet thing too. He’s fucking hot.”

  “Oh my god,” Garrett whispered as he squeezed his eye shut. Then he lay there, completely silent, so silent that Simon looked away from the screen on his phone to Garrett’s face.

  And that’s when he saw it.

  He saw the tear slip from the corner of the man’s eye and slide down his temple and he saw the tremble in his chin.

  Simon frowned and then his eyes went wide, “No way,” he said as he set his phone down on the end of the bed and straddled Garrett’s thighs.

  “You’re gay and you wanted him too?”

  Garrett’s lips drew together in a thin line, “Just fucking do whatever you’re going to do, asshole,” he spat.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Justice banged his hand on the steering wheel. Two hours wasted. Two fucking hours. All because he didn’t go with his gut. Because he questioned shit because he was working with a team and not all by himself.

  His gut had told him that the abandoned warehouse on the south edge of town wasn’t where this Foster douchebag was holding Garrett Meyers.

  Garrett Meyers.

  Just thinking the man’s name sent a shiver through his entire body.

  Not because he knew the man or had been with him in any way. No. It was because he’d seen a picture of him. A fucking picture. A recent, fucked up one and also one that was a few years old at that.

  He purposely hadn’t looked too long at the photo of the man that had been sent to Tiny’s phone, the one that showed him beaten, bruised and obviously violated. I mean, he’d looked briefly, he had to. But when it came time to study the background of the photo, to try to find clues to where the man was being held, he’d asked Billy to black out the man in photo first. Not because he was disgusted or revolted or anything like that. No, it was because he didn’t want the man to be violated any more than he already had been.

  And that was new for him, he really didn’t know where that came from. But it was there and he decided not to fight it and he didn’t give a fuck if Billy looked at him strangely.

  And then Tiny had found that photo on his phone of the two of them. Two friends sharing a laugh after a day of riding their bikes. Yeah it was a couple years old but still. The second Justice had seen it, he’d felt something funny in his chest, hell, he’d felt it all over. That curly dark blonde hair was just begging for Justice’s fingers, those light green smiling eyes felt like they were literally pulling him inside, the stubble over the man’s jaw was begging for Justice’s tongue and those fucking lips, god damn, those full pink lips were made for Justice’s lips…..or his cock.

  But he knew that the smiling light was gone from the man’s eyes now, after what had been done to him. And damned if Justice didn’t want to put that light back in them.

  The thing was though – Justice Thyme never put a smiling light into anyone’s eyes.

  He just didn’t know how – he wasn’t built that way.

  Which was why these feelings he was having after just seeing a fucking picture were confusing the hell out of him.

  And why he was so pissed at himself for picking the wrong location to check first.

  Because Garrett wasn’t there.

  Which meant he’d spent another two hours in the hands of that sick fucker.

  And who knew what more damage had been done to him.

  All because Justice had chosen wrong.

  Yeah, he knew it wasn’t really his fault.

  But he still felt responsible.

  Now they were on their way to the third location on the list, not the second one but the third. Because after the fuck-up at the first one, Justice had put his foot down and spoken up, telling everyone else that this was where his gut was telling him that Foster was holding Garrett and he was going there whether they fucking came with him or not.

  Then he’d left them to scramble back into their cars and figure out their reconnaissance and penetration plan amongst themselves….because he wasn’t going to wait for their asses.

  The nav-unit in his rental car let him know that Connor was calling him so he used his thumb to answer the call on the button on the steering wheel, “What?” he barked out. He was instantly on the defensive because he assumed Connor was going to try to tell him to stand down and wait for them.

  He was wrong.

  “Stop beating yourself up.”

  Justice’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. It really bothered him that Connor knew him well enough to know what he was thinking right now. He didn’t know when that had happened because he never really opened up to the man, he never opened up to anyone. But somehow Connor had gotten inside.

  He wasn’t sure how he felt about that.

  “This is why I don’t work with a team,” he growled.

  “Bullshit. You don’t work with a team because you’re an egotistical, antisocial, sadistic asshole.”

  Justice smiled at that, “I love you too, dear.”

  “Just don’t get dead when you go in. We’re about five minutes behind you.”

  “Got it.”

  “And Justice?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Don’t write us off, okay? This can be good for you if you let it. Even islands get lonely sometimes.”

  Justice was silent as he followed his GPS and took a sharp left while he thought about Connor’s words.

  “I’ll consider it,” he finally said.

  “Good.”

  “But Connor?”

  “Yeah?”

  “If I do this, I’ll need to ghost every now and then. All this interaction is making me…..itchy.”

  Connor laughed, “Understood.”

  “Gotta go,” Justice said then he ended the call and pulled his car off to the side of the road.

  He could see the row of warehouses about a mile up the road and where he had stopped had a copse of trees and a dirt road that he might be able to hide his car in. But first he wanted to assess the warehouse so he pulled out his binoculars. After scanning the area for about a minute, he pressed his thumb to the call button on his steering wheel and then said, “Call Connor.”

  “Yeah?”

  Justice set his binoculars back onto the seat and backed his car into the trees as he said, “You’ve got thermal early warning indicators at both ends of the parking lot so stay away from them. I’m going in.”

  “Got it.”

  Justice ended the call and shut off his car, tucking the key into one of the many zipper pockets in his black tactical pants. Then he pushed the tiny earpiece into his ear, not so he could communicate with the team because he knew the chances of him being able to speak out loud, even in a whisper, were close to nil, but he wanted to be able to monitor where they were.

  Last, he pulled the black skull cap over his head with the black fac
e mask tucked inside which he pulled down to camouflage his pink skin.

  Then his years of training kicked in as he jumped from the car, hit the ground running and scanned everything as he went, in order to plan his best approach – which, he quickly determined, was going to be via the roof since, as he got close enough to the dilapidated building, he could see that the doors and windows on the front and back not only had alarm sensors but there were also cameras mounted under the eaves of the roof pointing down towards the doors, windows and parking lot. But there wasn’t one at the far end of the row of warehouses where the roof access ladder was mounted.

  As he approached it, he whispered, “Conner?” knowing the man would be listening on his earpiece.

  “Yeah?”

  “Cameras covering front and back. I’m going up on the roof.”

  “Copy that.”

  Just before he touched the ladder, Justice scanned it for any wires that would indicate that it was attached to the alarm system. He didn’t see any so he quickly scaled up to the top. Once up there, he found his first obstacle. Just on the far side of the rounded lip of the top of the ladder was a motion sensor, so that anyone taking that last step at the top would trigger an alarm. He reached into one of his pants pockets and retrieved a mirror with a clamp on it. He knew disabling it this way was risky but it was also faster than tracing wires, figuring out which one to cut, yadda, yadda. You just had to have extremely steady hands to get this right. Most people didn’t.

  He did.

  So, ignoring the adrenaline pumping through his veins, he placed the clamp, made sure it was firmly secured then prepared to shift the mirror on its flexible arm. He took a breath, let it out then turned the mirror so quickly anyone looking would’ve missed it if they’d blinked. And from the steady blinking light on the sensor, it didn’t notice the movement either. So, he gripped the top of the ladder and threw his feet over the edge of the roof, landing silently on the far side. Then it was a matter of choosing which skylight to use to gain access to the inside. He approached the first one, dropped down and crab-crawled over to it. Then he removed the tiny, flexible camera and his phone from another pants pocket. He brought up the app that was attached to the camera and slid the camera through a tiny gap between the glass and frame. It took him thirty seconds of scanning to realize that he was looking at the room where Garrett had been held in the photo that was sent to Tiny but it was empty now. So, he pulled the camera out and moved to the next skylight. And what he saw there turned his stomach…and made him see red.

  Just below him, Garrett was spread out on a bed, his hands and one ankle were cuffed to the bed, he quickly saw that the other ankle wasn’t cuffed because it was turned at a sickening angle and was obviously either broken or dislocated. The man was naked and covered with bruises…..and he also had fresh spunk all over his torso and around his mouth. His head was turned away, towards the wall, and Justice had no doubt that if the man wasn’t handcuffed he would be on his side, rolled into a ball.

  Justice Thyme had never been a comforting man but in that moment, all he wanted to do was wrap the man below him into his arms and tell him that everything would be okay.

  He tore his eyes away to scan the skylight for a way to open it when movement below caught his eye and that’s when he saw him: Simon Foster. Fucking Simon Foster walking naked from the small bathroom as he rubbed a wet washcloth over his dick.

  “The viewers are going to like that, Garrett. You did good. I know the pain in your ankle made it difficult for you but when you finally came, it was hot. And even though you spit most of mine out, it still looked good on camera.”

  “F-f-f-fuck you,” Garrett whispered without moving his head.

  “What did you say to me?”

  Garrett’s head moved so fast that Justice barely moved out of sight in time, “I said fuck you, Foster!” Garrett shouted.

  Justice knew the man was looking at Simon now so he leaned back up, looked around the skylight and found the latch to open it. He got down eye level with it, studied it and quickly determined that it was not wired into the security system, probably because Foster figured that the sensor by the ladder would trigger anyone up on the roof long before they ever got to the skylight.

  Justice was just getting ready to flip the latch on the skylight to release it when the hairs stood up on the back of his neck. He shifted his gaze slightly and he realized that those light green eyes were locked with his dark blue ones and they seemed to be pleading with him, please save me.

  Fucking hell.

  Justice Thyme wasn’t anyone’s hero….was he?

  He dipped his chin once in a nod to the man watching him then, in one swift movement, he flipped that latch, lifted the skylight up and dropped his body down on top of Simon Foster’s with a thud, knocking the man out. Hell, he wouldn’t have cared if he broke the man’s neck during the fall. He started to step towards Garrett but at the last second, he growled out, “You fucking sick bastard!” and kicked Simon Foster hard in his ribcage.

  Only then, did he turn back to the man on the bed. He unzipped another pocket on his pants and pulled out the set of standard handcuff keys that he always carried and moved to the one at Garrett’s foot first, simply because he needed a second to prepare himself for those eyes. Those eyes that seemed to……see him.

  Just before he turned towards Garrett he remembered his mask so he quickly yanked it all the way off and tucked the hat into a pocket as he turned to the head of the bed just as he heard the commotion of the rest of the team breaching the warehouse. Garrett heard it too and he gasped, looked towards the door then back to Justice and whispered, “Please, no people. I can’t bear to see anyone right now.”

  Justice nodded as he unlatched the last cuff on Garrett’s wrist.

  Justice grabbed the corner of the wool blanket underneath Garrett’s body and used it to wipe the come off of the man’s mouth.

  Garrett turned his head away from Justice as he whispered, “Sorry.”

  Well, goddamn fucking hell, that was not Justice’s intent and he had to fix this.

  He gently clasped the man’s chin and forced his head back until his gaze locked with Justice’s and he said, “That is the last time you will ever say that word to me, understand? I did not do that because I was disgusted or grossed out. I did it for you, because I knew that you didn’t want it on there, got it?”

  Garrett nodded once as a tear fell from his eye.

  “Name’s Justice,” Justice said as he leaned down and slid his arms under the blanket and Garrett’s body so that he could make sure the man was covered when he walked him out to his car – the guy deserved all the dignity Justice could possibly give him.

  Garrett wrapped his arms around Justice’s neck and buried his face in his chest, like he was trying to hide there. If that’s what he needed to do, Justice was perfectly fine with that.

  As he turned and stepped out into the hall, he could hear that the team was coming from his right, so he turned left, saw an exit door and he headed for it.

  “Conner?” he said as he hit the door and exited out on the backside of the warehouse.

  “Yeah?”

  “You’ll find Foster on the floor in the last room that he held Garrett in. Pretty sure he’s still alive. You’ve got my cell. I’ll contact you when he’s ready to make a statement.”

  “What are you doing, Justice?”

  “I’m taking him away, Connor. It’s what he needs right now. Trust me, please?”

  “Motherfucker! This is going to create a shit-ton of paperwork for me. Don’t wait too long or they might find a reason to let this asshole go, yeah?”

  “I know. He’ll be there when he needs to be. Just… not right now.”

  “Where are you taking him?”

  “Some place safe….and remote.”

  “Nearby?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Okay. You sure you’re up for this, J? He’s going to need…..help.”

  Justice glan
ced down at the top of Garrett’s head, “I don’t know, I hope so? I’ll call someone else if I need to, okay?”

  “Yeah, okay. Don’t go dark, okay?”

  “I won’t.”

  Justice broke through the trees to his car and he pulled the passenger door open. As he shifted to set Garrett on the seat, the man gasped then screamed out and started beating his fists on Justice’s chest and he even tagged him on the jaw. Justice squatted down and gently clasped his wrists as he whispered, “Shhhh, you’re safe now, Garrett.”

  Garrett’s eyes finally opened and he looked at Justice for the longest time and then Justice could see the moment that he was going to fall apart and he braced himself – because normally this would be the moment that he would back away because he didn’t do this touchy-feely crap. But for this man he found that nothing seemed to be off limits for him.

  “Oh God,” Garrett said with a sob as he threw his arms around Justice’s neck and grabbed on like if he didn’t, he would disappear.

  Justice wrapped his arms around Garrett’s back and whispered, “I’ve got you, G-man. You’re going to get through this, I’m going to help you get through this.”

  Garrett sobbed into Justice’s shoulder, his tears and snot soaking through his shirt. Justice just rubbed his back as the man clung to him like he……mattered.

  Justice Thyme had never mattered to anyone before, he never wanted to. But he liked the idea that he might matter to this man, though he had no idea why because he’d never wanted that from anyone else before ever. And even though that probably wasn’t the case here since Garrett didn’t even know who the fuck Justice was other than the man who rescued him from that hell; that was okay with Justice.

  Garrett’s sobs quieted and he slowly pulled back, hiccupping as he tried to catch his breath. “I’m, I’m, s-s-s-so s-s-s-s-sorry,” he said.

  Justice used the sleeve of his shirt to wipe the snot from Garrett’s nose as he said, “I thought I told you not to say that to me again.”