Road Trip, Volume 2

by BA Tortuga

  Nan’s laugh was deep, husky, the sound of a lady with a lot of bong hits under her belt. “You do that, man. You just do that.”

  “I will.” When he let her go, she wandered off down the hall, and Sonny headed for the bathroom, intent on cleaning up.

  He wanted MJ to recognize him when the man saw him again, didn’t he?

  Chapter Four

  THE WHOLE scenario looked like something out of Ozzie and Harriet. Him and Doc were sitting at the kitchen table having coffee. The Brit had tea. The little redhead was bouncing, and Momma was making pancakes.

  Of course, Ozzie and Harriet’s place probably never smelled like green. MJ’s momma was enough to make his eyes water.

  “So. We all sitting around having breakfast pastries, or are we going to go get MJ?” Sonny asked from the doorway, looming large even with the dark circles under his eyes.

  Momma looked over at Sonny. “I think you should eat, Robert. It’s hard to find people on an empty stomach.”

  “Yeah? Well, I could stand something. But I want to talk plans.” Sonny looked implacable as hell.

  “What plans?” The little redhead blinked at Sonny. “Neil’s not well yet.”

  “No offense, Rick, but English is sitting right here, sipping his fucking Earl Grey. You’ll have to forgive me if I don’t give a shit if he’s one hundred percent.”

  “He’s actually drinking Peace and Harmony. I make it at the shop. Would you like some?”

  Cowboy damn near snorted. MJ’s momma made him a happy man.

  Sonny stared, those dark eyes like two coals in snow. “No, ma’am. I want to hear that one of you has a thought in your head.”

  Cowboy sighed. “Now, Robert. Robert, huh? That’s cool. Behave. I been thinking. Don’t you worry.”

  “I think that we should go beat them.” Duncan’s voice was rough, dark, those eyes ringed with green.

  “There you go.” Sonny nodded his thanks to Momma when she handed him a coffee and a plate of pan-fried goodness. Cowboy had a real liking for Nan’s cooking.

  “Do you want more, Colby?” Momma looked at him with those weird Jay-Jay-but-not-Jay-Jay eyes.

  “Yes, ma’am. Thank you.”

  He could hear the creak as Sonny’s hand tightened on his cup, the glass about to snap.

  “So, the Brit says he’s still alive.” He met Sonny’s eyes. There was fixin’ to be a fight; he could smell it. Sonny needed to have one.

  “Uh-huh. So he does. Which is why I can’t see why you’re sitting here, Cowboy.” Lord, Sonny could be offensive, that drawl stretching to death.

  “I needed to get my partner here, make sure Momma was safe.” He stared Sonny down. “I thought he was dead, man. I went back. That place is ashes and fucking dust.”

  Sonny wasn’t backing down a bit. “Nan, ma’am. Thank you for breakfast.” Setting the untouched plate aside, Sonny jerked his head toward the back door. “Outside.”

  He looked at Duncan, whose eyes were heading to bright green. “You stay.”

  “But.”

  “Duncan.”

  “Asshole.”

  “Yep.” He wasn’t gonna deny it, and he wasn’t going to deny Sonny what he so desperately needed either.

  “Don’t let him hurt you.”

  “I won’t.” Sonny wouldn’t get that far. Cowboy would shoot the fucker if he had to. Still, he could understand the need.

  He headed outside, shut the door behind him. “Bring it on.”

  The first punch actually took him by surprise. Sonny was faster than a man who hadn’t eaten or really slept, thanks to the drugs, had rights to be.

  His head shot back, chin stinging. He straightened up, arched an eyebrow. “Why, honey, I didn’t know you felt that way…. I’m flattered.”

  “Fuck you. You left him there all this fucking time!” Sonny swung again, fist like a Christmas ham coming at him.

  He ducked, bobbed out of the way. “He’s not there.”

  “Well, wherever the fuck he is.” The man was focused. Cowboy had to give him that.

  “How the fuck do you intend to find him? Shit, man. They think I killed you.”

  “Then I’m off the radar and you’re still in like Flynn.” Another blow whistled past his ear, and Cowboy growled.

  “Maybe, maybe not. Just back off.”

  “Back off?” This time Sonny split his lip.

  He let himself draw back and land a good, solid blow, right to the son of a bitch’s nose. “Yeah.”

  It was like punching a bull in the face. It just maddened the victim. Sonny charged him, getting him right in the gut.

  “I don’t want to have to kill you.” He brought his joined hands down on the back of Sonny’s neck, hard.

  Grunting, Sonny crumpled, the last month obviously catching up with him. “Jesus. Don’t make me puke on your boots.” Sonny chuckled weakly. “They’re nice.”

  “I would kill you for that.” He reached one hand down to help Sonny off the ground. “We’ll find him.”

  Sonny took it, hauling himself up. “Yeah, yeah. A man and his boots. So what are we going to do?”

  “We figure out where they’d go. There has to be another place set up to keep him. Otherwise Jay’d be out already.”

  “Yeah. Yeah, okay. We can use the Brit for some of that, and I bet your man knows more than he’s telling.”

  “They always do.” He grinned at the thought of putting some hurt on. “Duncan can help, for sure.”

  “Yeah? Well, I guess he’s not a total loss.”

  Cowboy figured he’d let that one pass. Sonny was in distress. “I could hire someone to give you a hand job, if it would ease the pain.”

  “Don’t make me kill you.” They’d both threatened that so much already, it was becoming kind of empty. It was cute, though.

  “Come on, man. Let’s get some coffee and make a….” He opened the back door, stopped, and stared.

  Duncan was all bulgy and growly. Nan was standing in front of him, feeding him with a huge wooden spoon.

  “It’s peace tea, honey. Harmony. Light. Drink some more.”

  He blinked. Tried not to laugh. Then he lost the battle and had himself a really good rip snort. Sonny was laughing too, big belly laughs that sounded almost painful. Nan looked put out, but Duncan just stared at him with glowing green eyes, checking him over between sips of tea. Sonny whooped, slapping his thigh.

  “It helps.” Nan patted Duncan’s shoulder. “See?”

  The wooden spoon dangled from Duncan’s mouth.

  Cowboy lost it again, holding his belly and wheezing. Oh, his ass was gonna pay for this.

  PADDY HATED the desert.

  Hated it.

  He walked around the house, face toward the sun, trying to think.

  Sonny wanted them to help find Boomer, but he….

  He wanted to take Neil and run. He looked at the car Duncan had brought them in. He could make it start, he thought, with a few minutes’ practice.

  “We couldn’t make it, love.”

  He spun around, blinked up at Neil. “You don’t think so?’

  “No. I think Sonny is ready to snap. Now, perhaps if I could come up with a lead….”

  “A lead? How?” He didn’t get it. Didn’t understand exactly how Neil heard Boomer, knew anything about Boomer.

  “Well, that depends. Right now, Manning is… sunk deep into himself. I have no outward clues.” Neil shrugged.

  “How do you know?” He reached out, stroked Neil’s belly.

  “I don’t know. I seem to have… connected with him. If I were a betting man, I’d say it was his doing, contacting me.” Not that Neil seemed all that happy about it.

  “That’s kind of icky, Neil. Boomer’s cracked.”

  “Yes.” That one flat word told him more than he ever wanted to know about Boomer’s brain.

  “I’m sorry.” He wished Neil’d never had to meet him. Never. Then Neil would have been better off.

  “Padraic.” The
gentle chiding there was something he was getting used to as well, but it never felt ugly. Neil loved him. That was good, right?

  “You know what I want?” M&M’s. There was an M&M store on the Strip in Vegas.

  “Oh.” Neil smiled. “I would love to go explore.”

  “Me too. I want to just pretend that we’re two guys.” They’d had that, once. For a few days.

  “Yes. I think we can actually convince the others to let us too. Shall we try?” Neil was so weirdly reasonable about Sonny and Cowboy.

  Paddy nodded. “I want to see how it all works.”

  There were card games too.

  Slot machines.

  He could make that work, he bet.

  “Very well, love. Come along.” Smiling, Neil held out a hand, leading him out to the main room, where Sonny and Cowboy were poring over maps.

  “We’re going to see M&M World. Do you want us to bring back food?” He thought that was a good opening.

  Sonny’s head turned with turtle slowness, the man looking at them with wide-eyed amazement. “Excuse me?”

  “There’s an M&M World on the Strip. I’m taking Neil. I was offering to bring back dinner.” He wasn’t going to look scared.

  Not.

  Cowboy nodded. “Sure. Take Nan. Hell, take Doc. He needs to get out and be normal a little. Y’all don’t even have to stay together. Just set a time to meet back at the car.”

  Duncan shook his head, walking in from the kitchen. “She’s stupid stoned, and I’ve explored all Vegas can teach me. I have a book. I’ll just stay.”

  Cowboy stared at Duncan, and Neil started chuckling. “That was a very nice attempt, Colby. You know we wouldn’t run off and leave Nan. However, I give you my word we’ll come back. Robert knows I am good for it.”

  Paddy nodded. “I won’t run away, but I need out of here for a little while. I need to take Neil and just eat M&M’s.”

  Two pairs of very serious eyes stared him down, one almost black, one light gray. Then Sonny nodded. “They’re good for it, I guess. English there knows what will happen, I have to track them down.”

  Cowboy grinned and tossed him the car keys. “Don’t wreck it.”

  “I don’t plan on doing a Thelma and Louise. That’s more Boomer’s style.”

  “You know it.” Sonny grinned, a razor-edged smile that looked more and more like Boomer’s scary one every day. It was sorta sad, really. It was like MJ messed up every single person he touched.

  Neil reached out and squeezed his hand, halting those kinds of thoughts with a single happyIloveyoulet’sgoplay push.

  Oh.

  Right.

  M&M’s and lights.

  He could handle that.

  He could so handle that.

  “Come along, sweet. It’s time to find you some sugar.” Neil’s laughing thoughts reminded him of the first time Neil had gotten him hyped up on sugar and thunderstorms.

  Inexplicable beans.

  Mushrooms.

  They’d eaten mushrooms together.

  He nodded, smiled. “Sugar and caffeine and lights.”

  “Yes.” Neil held his hand all the way to the car, and they put the M&M store into the GPS, feeling free for the first time in so long.

  He reached out, their fingers tangling together, and they hit the road, just to play.

  Chapter Five

  ONE.

  Two.

  Three.

  Four.

  He counted, slow and steady, forcing himself to take careful breaths—not deep, because that rib would scream, and he couldn’t handle that, not right now, not doing this.

  Five.

  Six.

  Sink.

  Sink.

  Just like Paula taught you.

  Sink in. Sink in deep. Deep where things were black and soft, and then you find that tiny dot of light. Paula had taught him this, years ago. Back before he’d understood exactly how far off the grid Greg had taken shit.

  “Manning?”

  He looked over at the Brit; the man looked fairly whole, considering. “Yeah.”

  “You’re… exceedingly present.”

  “For right now.” He never had liked Neil. “I need a safe. A big one. Strong.”

  “And I’ll help you?”

  “You will, or else I’ll move in and take over, and you’ll regret it.”

  Neil stepped forward, and MJ tilted his head.

  “Think about it, man. If I moved in permanent, you think about what I could do to Rick. This shit, it’s gone way beyond some smart fuckers making weapons.”

  “Indeed. I will concede, you have a point.” Neil’s lips twisted, and that was when MJ saw it, a huge, solid steel safe. “I find myself less and less interested in continuing the regret business, Manning.”

  “Whatever makes it easier to sleep, dude.” He worked the combination quickly, quietly. He didn’t have much time left. They were getting frustrated. Getting angry.

  “Not only that, but I have to say, Manning, you look unwell.” Neil looked positively overjoyed by that. “I imagine they need you to work, yes? Harming you beyond repair is… unwise.”

  “Waste of cash and training too.” Not that he thought that mattered anymore. Shit was different now. He’d seen the new doctors, seen the gurney. He wasn’t stupid. “Can’t have that.”

  The door swung open, the place inside dark and cool and… safe. “Lock it, when I’m in. Don’t let me out until I tell you. When you know it’s me and it’s… the right time.”

  It would never be safe to let him out. Neil would know that.

  There was never going to be a safe time.

  “I can do that. If your body goes….” Neil looked a little concerned. “Honestly, I’m not sure of the protocol for that.”

  “We’ll deal with it when the time comes, then. Tell my redneck that it was worth it. That I never ratted him out. Ever.”

  That MJ loved him, more than was smart.

  “Of course. I believe the proverbial shite is going down, Manning. Now is a good time to….” Neil waved to the safe.

  “Right. Cool.” He closed his eyes and stepped in, the door slamming shut, the world going a pure coal black.

  “Manning, Manning, dear. It’s time to get to work. I’m afraid we’ve simply played too long.”

  Jaime opened his eyes, arched an eyebrow. Interesante. “Bueno.”

  HE WAS going to kill one of them.

  Cowboy and Sonny had started sniping at each other about an hour ago. It had started slow, but the little jibes were coming faster and sharper.

  Duncan’s eye twitched as Colby looked at Sonny. “Son, tell me again why Jay-Jay didn’t just shoot your sorry ass?”

  “Because I’m his hero. You’re just the guy he calls ‘babe.’” Sonny drawled every word, sounding as redneck as possible.

  “Yeah, yeah. I, at least, got to shoot him.”

  “I took a bullet for him. That counts more.”

  They sounded like two pouty children.

  “I never kidnapped him, so that’s good for you, I guess.”

  “You never fucked him either.” Now Sonny sounded smug.

  Duncan was glad. Colby was his, after all. He would hate it if the man had been serious about Manning.

  “Nope. And he never fucked me.”

  Duncan was even more glad of that.

  “Well, then.” Sonny grinned hugely. “Looks like I might know better.”

  Cowboy snorted. “Uh-huh. Bet you still don’t know shit about Singapore.”

  Sonny growled, turning on a dime, his fist hitting Colby’s face hard.

  Duncan growled, muscles jerking, teeth bared. He didn’t think so.

  Colby popped up off the floor in seconds, going for Sonny’s midsection. The first blow sounded like a baker beating dough. The world went a little gray and sparkly around the edges, and he jumped, tackled Sonny, and sent the man crashing to the ground.

  “Shit!” Sonny clubbed at the back of his neck, but it bounced
off like water.

  “Mine!” he snarled, shaking the man. His Cowboy.

  “Doc! Doc, come on!” Hands tugged at him, pulling him back.

  “Mine.” He leaned back into those hands. “Mine.”

  “Yes. Yours.” When he turned to look, Colby was laughing, but not at him. Good. Good.

  He rumbled, fingers on the red mark on Colby’s face. “Mine.”

  His to mark, to love.

  “You know it, Doc. ’Scuse us, Redneck.” Cowboy dragged him right out of the room, hauling him toward the bedroom.

  Sex.

  His cowboy smelled like sex.

  He growled happily, pushing them faster.

  “Yeah. That’s it, babe. Take what you want.”

  He plopped Colby on the mattress, lips tracing the mark on his cowboy’s face as he growled under his breath.

  “Shh. Sonny needs to blow off steam, babe. I ain’t hurt.”

  This wasn’t for Sonny. He kept licking and touching, hands tugging and dragging the clothes off Cowboy’s fine ass. Colby wiggled, helping him, and there was no more talking. Just touching. He licked and grunted, tasting every inch of Cowboy’s skin.

  Cowboy laughed, kissing him, licking at his lips, biting him back. They tussled, each struggling for the upper hand, but Colby wasn’t fighting very hard.

  The need to defend Colby eased off, leaving him able to breathe, to think. “I’m getting better, can you tell?”

  “Uh-huh. Now’s not the time to deflate, Doc.” Colby pinched his ass, keeping him focused.

  He leaned down, bit Colby’s shoulder, hard.

  “Oh, now, Doc. That’s more like it.” Colby clawed at his back, urging him on.

  Crawling up Colby’s body, Duncan snarled, humping, moving until their cocks slid together just so. Strong hands found his ass, pulling at him, and Colby swore, the sound shocking, almost foul. Exciting.

  “Harder.” He bit again, testing Colby’s flesh with his teeth.

  “Yeah. Like that, Doc.” Colby pressed right up into the bite, fingers digging into his skin to slam them together.

  His own growls poured out of him, over and over, the beast right there.

  Colby helped bring it out in him, those bright gray eyes holding his, filthy words pouring out of that pretty mouth.