by M. Tasia
*****
Royce lay awake with Jesse asleep in his arms. His injured shoulder had almost healed enough for him to return to work, at least on light duty inside the EMS/Firehouse. He prayed everything was resolved with Jesse’s family before then or he’d go nuts at work worrying about Jesse even with the Sentinels guarding him.
He thought about everything they’d been through since they’d met. It had been crazy, between getting to know Jesse and convincing him to give Royce and Brighton a chance and being on guard for Jesse’s family. The time had flown by. Royce knew the next few months were going to be tough on Jesse but he would be there to help every step of the way.
The words that Jesse had read to him from his grandpa’s will were still floating around in his head. “My Dear Grandson, You have been and will always be the light in this world to me. I’m amazed by your strength and kindness and know you will grow into a fine man. This is why I’ve left the homestead and all related lands to you as my sole beneficiary. You have my blessing to do whatever you feel is right with the land. I know you’ll make me proud. I also want you to know that it’s not wrong, loving whoever you want. Don’t allow your father to influence any of your future decisions. Believe me when I say you will find a love that will fill all the empty places in your heart just like your grandma did for me. Be a smart man, and hold on to it as hard as you can because if anyone deserves to be happy, it’s you. I love you, Jesse.”
Royce was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard the slight squeak of one of the garden doors opening and tensed, which immediately woke Jesse. Before he had a chance to speak, Royce placed a finger over Jesse’s lips to stay quiet. Jesse nodded his head in understanding and Royce pressed his lips to his ear and whispered, “Someone’s in the house, I need you to go to the bathroom and lock the door.”
“I’m not going to hide while you’re in danger. I’ll come with you,” Jesse stated firmly.
Royce didn’t have time to argue. “You stay behind me.” Why didn’t the damn alarm go off?
Jesse nodded his agreement and they both slid out of the bed. The floor creaked under the weight of someone walking through their living room. Thank God for old houses.
Whoever it was, they were heading straight for the bedrooms. One door after another was opened on their way down the hallway. If he was trying to sneak up on them, the unknown person was failing miserably. Royce grabbed the baseball bat from behind the door. He’d kept it there for just this reason, but his injured arm would never have enough strength to do any serious damage on the intruder. He’d have to give it to Jesse. Before he had a chance to turn around a man cried out and crashed into the drywall in the hallway.
Royce reached for the light switch. To hell with hiding, he had to at least get some idea of what the hell was going on. What the light revealed would have been funny if it weren’t for the fact that his love was the one in danger. There was little blonde-haired, blue-eyed Shannon handcuffing a man three times her size who was lying unconscious on the floor.
“You guys okay?”
“Yes, thanks to you. Is that one of Jerry’s men?” Royce asked.
Shannon reached down and turned the man’s face toward them, and Jesse gasped. “That’s my uncle. What’s he doing here?”
“We’ll find out. The police are on their way as well as Dante,” Shadow announced as he joined their group.
“Where were you?” Shannon asked.
“Dealing with another idiot outside, thank you very much,” Shadow replied.
“Another one? There were two of them?” Royce asked.
“Yeah, you think you can identify him? He’s handcuffed in the living room having a little nap of his own.”
“Do you guys always knock people out?” Jesse asked.
“They’re easier to deal with that way,” Shadow answered before he bent down and picked up Jesse’s uncle. Royce couldn’t fault the logic.
“We’ll meet you in the living room once we get a few more clothes on,” Royce said while looking down at his sleeping pants; he’d be forever grateful that he wasn’t naked. Royce and Jesse backed into their room and closed the door.
“Okay…everything will be okay, right?” Jesse asked in a small voice.
Royce immediately turned and gathered Jesse into his arms. “Of course, sweetheart. We’ll figure this out together. Now let’s get dressed; we’re about to have a whole lot more company.”
“I’m sorry, Royce; I never meant for any of this to happen.”
“Of course not. You are not responsible for anything and I’ll keep telling you that until you believe me. You’re not responsible for your parents or the rest of that messed-up family. You’re not responsible for your grandpa leaving you the land, and you’re definitely not responsible for those two assholes in our living room.” Royce punctuated each statement with a kiss; he would not allow Jesse to take any more responsibility for others’ actions.
“Thank you, Royce, for always having my back and loving me through all this craziness,” Jesse said as he held Royce tightly.
“Forever, baby. I meant it,” Royce said. “Now get dressed.”
Minutes later, hand in hand they walked down the hallway and into chaos. Chief Graham and a few deputies as well as Dante had arrived, and Jesse’s uncle was screaming up a storm.
“Let me go, you freaks, or you’ll be sorry!” his uncle yelled.
“The only thing I’m sorry about is not gagging you,” Shadow growled. “But I’m willing to rectify the oversight now.” He grabbed a dishcloth from the kitchen counter and shoved it in the irate man’s mouth.
Royce was surprised the second man remained quiet, staring straight at the floor. Jesse was standing at Royce’s side, silent and still.
“Royce, Jesse, guess you’ve had a party and forgot to invite me,” Chief Graham said. “Jesse, do you know the second man?”
“Yes,” Jesse’s voice cracked when he spoke and the unidentified man was now staring directly at him. “He was the last man to whip me before I ran away. He’s the one who made my life a living hell. He’s my father.”
Chapter Eleven
Jesse felt the blood drain from his face as he stared at the one man who had made his childhood a war zone. The man who would beat him until he prayed for it all to end was now kneeling on the floor in front of him. He was no longer the intimidating, menacing man Jesse used to fear. Now Frank Tribalt was a balding and overweight old man. The years had not been kind to him. It was obvious to Jesse that his father had been living a life of excess. If his bulbous red nose and swollen belly weren’t evidence enough, the stench of liquor certainly made it clear.
“Do you want to leave the room, sweetheart?” Royce asked. “You don’t have to be near him.”
“Dirty fags,” Frank grumbled in a scratchy voice that sounded like he’d smoked a pack of cigarettes all at once.
“Shut up or I’ll gag you just as fast,” Shadow threatened.
Frank pulled away from Shadow, knowing it wasn’t an idle threat, and remained quiet, for now.
“No, it’s okay, Shadow, let him speak. I’m never running again. You have no power here, Father, and let’s just get past this homophobia you seem to love to fall back on. The truth is, it has nothing to do with my being gay. It really has to do with the homestead, doesn’t it, Father? Or more specifically that it belongs to me, and not you.”
“You don’t deserve it.” Frank’s eyes bulged and his face turned red.
“Maybe I don’t, but you certainly have no right to it and I bet I’ll make better use of it.” Jesse spoke firmly but never raised his voice.
“It’s all mine!” Frank screamed, or he would have, if he didn’t start wheezing. He was nothing like the man Jesse remembered.
“Wrong, Father. It belonged to me the moment Grandpa died. It was never yours. You were paid to look after my property until I came of age, nothing more. You’ve been collecting and keeping rent on lands that you didn’t even own.”
&nbs
p; “You won’t get away with this,” Frank threatened.
“Watch me. Legally you’re screwed, and when I sell the land, the money’s going to LGBTQ charities. I’m not afraid of you anymore, Father.” Jesse stared at the man who had filled his nightmares. Never again would he bow down to that fear.
Jesse turned and walked out of the living room and into the kitchen, away from the agony of his past, and closed the door firmly. By the time he reached the counter, Jesse was shaking but he’d done it. He’d stood up for himself to the man who had haunted him every day of his life.
“I don’t think I could be more proud of you if I tried,” Royce said as he stood just inside the kitchen door. “You’re amazing, Jesse.” He crossed the kitchen to gather Jesse in his arms, and kissed him deeply.
“I’m not amazing. I’m in here shaking.” Jesse doubted brave people shook like a leaf. They stood tall and strong, didn’t they?
“You are amazing. Lots of people shake after doing something stressful. Shaking isn’t a sign of weakness. You were brave, baby; you stood up to him.” Royce smiled wide, looking at Jesse like he’d lit the sun.
“I did, didn’t I? I didn’t run from him, I looked him straight in the eye and said my piece.” Jesse had shocked himself by his own actions.
“You did great, sweetheart, and they’re gone. Chief Graham took them to the station,” Royce assured him. “The man looked absolutely gleeful at hauling them to jail.”
“What will they be charged with?” Jesse asked.
“Breaking and entering to start with and whatever else we can pin on them with the help of your new lawyer. Fraud and embezzlement come to mind. Unfortunately, they’ll probably get bail for now on the breaking and entering but once we have all the evidence your lawyer is collecting, they won’t be getting out for a long time after that,” Royce explained.
“I can’t afford a lawyer for anything over and above my inheritance, Royce. I haven’t got enough in savings,” Jesse said.
“Yes we do,” Royce replied.
“No, that’s your money,” Jesse argued.
“Do you want to share your life with me?” Royce asked flat out.
“Of course I do.”
“Then this is the sharing part. We’re in this together. No matter what happens, we deal with things together,” Royce explained.
“Are you sure?”
Royce gently took Jesse’s face in his hands and looked deep into his eyes. “I’m sure that I want to share every aspect of my life with you and you alone, sweetheart.”
“Forever.”
“Forever, love.”
*****
It had been two weeks since Mr. Foster, Jesse’s lawyer, had set into motion the return of Jesse’s inheritance. Royce had no idea what that involved, but he knew a lot of criminal charges were pending. Mr. Foster also gave Jesse access to a bank account that had been set up for him by his grandpa. No one had seen Jerry or his men again, and once they bailed out, Jesse’s father and uncle left town. All in all things had quieted down and Royce had returned to work on light duty around the station house.
“It’s good to have you back, buddy; I’ve missed you being around,” Gabe said as he walked into the lunchroom. Considering EMS shared a building with the fire department, he saw a lot of his best friend.
“It’s good to feel strong enough to work, but it’s killing me to be away from Jesse,” Royce replied. He’d spent every day with his phone tucked safely in his pocket on vibrate in case Jesse needed him.
“There hasn’t been any sign of trouble for a while now, right?” Gabe asked, concern lacing every word.
“Yeah, it’s been a couple weeks now but I doubt we’ve seen the last of this. They haven’t tracked Jesse for this many years to just walk away now.”
“Royce!” Fire Chief Mason hollered from his office. “Phone call.”
“I’ll talk to you later, Royce,” Gabe said as he grabbed an apple from the bowl on the kitchen counter and walked back toward the truck bays. “Be careful, buddy.”
Royce picked up one of the phone extensions and pushed line four. “Royce here.”
“Royce, it’s Chief Graham. I’m sorry to bother you at work but it couldn’t be helped. Arrest warrants have been issued for Jesse’s parents, his aunt and uncle, cousin, and several members of their group, along with the previous lawyer.”
“Thank God for that,” Royce replied, relief rushing through his body. Jesse is finally safe.
“Well, we may have a problem.” Shit, spoke too soon! “They were able to track down Jesse’s mom and uncle. His dad, aunt, and cousin are in the wind.”
“Local authorities have no idea where they are?” Royce asked.
“They’re on the run at the moment. They’re facing some serious charges,” Chief Graham answered.
“Did you contact the Sentinels? His father will go after Jesse.” Fear replaced relief and Royce was just about ready to take off for the diner.
“Yes, I just got off the phone with Spider; they have three people watching the diner. They won’t get anywhere near him.”
“Okay, call me if you hear anything,” Royce said, feeling a bit better knowing Jesse was being guarded.
The alarm bells started to ring just as Royce hung up the phone, bringing men and women running from all directions and straight for the trucks. Within moments two trucks were loaded up and pulling out of the firehouse. One ambulance followed and Royce found himself alone in the building. He couldn’t wait to go back on active duty as a paramedic but now, with the hunt for Jesse’s missing family members, perhaps he could wait.
Royce went ahead and restocked various equipment and then began cutting the onions and peppers for the spaghetti sauce he was making the crew for supper. The silence was broken when he heard a loud crash coming from one of the fire truck bays. Jesse grabbed a dishcloth and dried his hands as he walked through the building. The sound of metal scraping on metal sent chills down his spine and made him pick up speed. What the hell!
He ran into the bay to find a pile of spare axes lying on the ground in the middle of one of the bays. Royce stopped and scanned the area. He knew he wasn’t alone, but was it a friend pulling a prank or something else? Now would not be the best time for a laugh.
“There you are, fag.” Okay, so it was definitely not a friend. Jerry walked out from behind the second ambulance, gun in hand, evil smirk in place. Royce wanted to punch it off his face.
“What are you doing here? You’ll never get anywhere near Jesse,” Royce growled.
“Who said it’s Jesse we came for?” Jerry laughed. “Now how would we get him to bring us the money if we kidnap him?”
“Are you crazy? They’re looking for you.” To say Royce was shocked would have been an understatement; he’d honestly not seen this move coming.
“I am and you’ll do good to remember that.” Jerry’s eyes glazed over for a moment before he raised the gun once more. “Now move!”
“I’m not going anywhere with you,” Royce yelled and took a step backward. The blast of the bullet hitting the wall to Royce’s left proved just how serious Jerry was.
In the distance Royce could hear the fire trucks returning. He had to get Mr. Crazy out of the firehouse before the men arrived back. He knew Jerry wasn’t above shooting an innocent person. “Okay, I’ll go with you, but we have to hurry, the fire trucks are on their way back. They’ll be here any minute.”
“Put these on.” Jerry threw a pair of handcuffs toward Royce, who discovered with a little maneuvering you can put handcuffs on all by yourself. At least his hands were out in front of him. “Let’s go!”
Jerry rammed the gun into Royce’s side and pushed him out the bay doorway and up to a waiting car being driven by Frank Tribalt with a bleached blonde, older woman in the passenger seat. Royce quickly realized that the woman had to be the missing aunt, and Jerry’s mother. The trucks were getting closer; Jerry opened the back door and shoved Royce in. As he slammed the door closed beh
ind him the fire trucks pulled in. The crew was jumping off as Frank pulled away from the curb. The last thing he saw was Gabe’s concerned eyes before a bag was put over his head and his world went black.
*****
Jesse knew something was wrong even before Police Chief Graham had said a word. He was sitting in Bear’s office stunned into silence, unable to wrap his mind around what he’d just heard. Kidnapped, Royce had been kidnapped. Even though Gabe had called the police immediately after he saw Royce being shoved into a car and recognizing Jerry, they had still managed to get away.
All Jesse could do was wait for a phone call and their demands, if they had any. He would sacrifice himself for Royce without question. If they wanted the land back, they could have it, he just didn’t care, nothing would be right again until he had Royce back.
Just as Jesse was about to lose it, Dante walked into the office, a storm brewing on his face. “I’m sorry, Jesse; I should have seen this as a possibility. We need to go.”
“Go? Go where?” Jesse asked.
“We need to get you somewhere safe so we’ll take you to our team’s house, then we start tracking for Royce,” Dante explained.
Jesse immediately jumped up from his chair and started for the door. Victor and Shadow were waiting in the hall. Chief Graham followed with three of his own officers. By the time they reach the massive compound that the Sentinels called home on the outskirts of town, Jesse was almost shaking. The grounds were beautiful and a big old Victorian sat proudly on top of the hill. The wrought-iron gates closed with a thud behind the caravan of cars, causing Jesse’s heart to speed up. He could never stand being trapped. It brought up too many bad memories, but he knew these were his friends. He was safe, but what about his love?
“I will give them whatever they ask for to get Royce back, even myself if necessary. I don’t want anyone to stop me if it comes to that,” Jesse declared in a shaky but sure voice.
“It won’t come to that. We’ll have him back before daybreak,” Shadow announced.
“How?” Jesse asked.
“Matthew and Shannon are searching for his cell phone signal as we speak; I guessed he would have it on him. Thanks to his kidnappers being either clumsy or inexperienced, they didn’t take it away so we can track him anywhere with it. Come on inside where I know you’re safe, Royce will kill me if you’re hurt in any way,” Dante explained as he led the way to the front door.
