by Dani Gray
Shane just shook his head and handed Andy a plastic bag.
“Sorry, Andy, but I don’t want to touch it in case the police are able to find any fingerprints.”
As Andy was putting the envelope in the bag that he handed him, Shane pointed at the chair. “Have a seat. The problem is that not only you, but Travis and myself, have received letters, as well. Travis has received two of them.”
Andy looked pissed. “Holy fuck, Shane. What the hell is going on?”
“I don’t know, but I’ve called the police and I’m about to call a security company. I’m going to get some extra security for the house to keep everyone here safe. I think we should also keep an eye on Travis. He seemed really frightened, and I can’t blame him.”
Andy stared off into space, lost in his thoughts for a minute. He also knew about Travis’s history.
“That makes sense,” Andy agreed, “given his past. Do you think this could be one of his family members doing this?”
As he sat back in his chair, Shane gave the question serious thought before answering. “I just don’t know. It wouldn’t surprise me if it was one of them, but why now? It’s been years since Travis was attacked, so why wait this long?”
Shane sat for a while longer, thinking about everything that would need to be done, dealing with the police and getting security for the house.
“For now,” Shane finally said, “there isn’t much we can do about it. Let’s see what the police have to say, and get that extra security in here. Why don’t you go see Travis and spend some time with him? I think he could use having his friends around him until this is sorted out.”
As Andy stood up, he said, “Sure. Let me know if there is anything else I can do to help.”
After Andy left, Shane started to go through the contacts on his phone to call Justin, and he thought about how Justin had fallen in love and married Eric. For a while there, he had been jealous of the love they’d found with each other. Now Shane felt as if he had found his with Michael.
Once he found the right number, he pressed the call button on his phone. As he listened to it ring, he wondered how Justin was doing these days. After they’d found his stalker, he seemed to have quietly settled down with his husband, and Shane hadn’t heard much from him.
Just as he was getting ready to hang up the phone, Justin answered it with a laughing voice. “Hey, Shane, how the hell have you been? I haven’t talked to you in ages.”
“Things are not so good for me right now, Justin, and that is the reason for my call.”
Shane heard the concern in his friend’s voice. “What do you mean, not good?”
“Basically, I was attacked on my way back to my car after the Pride Parade and had to have surgery on my back. And while that is bad enough, it’s not the worst of it. My employees and I have been getting some threatening letters sent to us here at home.”
An explosion of sound came from the phone. It was so loud Shane had to pull it away from his ear. Justin yelled for his husband, “Eric! We need your help.”
As Shane tilt his head down so he could rub the back of his neck, he could hear Eric coming closer to Justin, asking him what was wrong.
“Here, speak to Shane. He’s getting threatening letters and was attacked.”
The next thing Shane knew, a loud booming voice that could only belong to Eric got on the phone. “What the fuck is going on, and who do I need to kill?”
God, Shane loved his friends. He knew that with this one phone call, he would have the support and help he needed to keep his family safe. That is what he considered them, his family. Shane knew that he would destroy anyone who tried to hurt them, but he would kill to keep Michael from any harm.
“I don’t know yet, but I have called the police and I’m waiting for someone to come here. The reason I’m calling you is I want to hire your company and have security here at the house for us all. I need to keep everyone safe, but especially Michael. I can’t let anything happen to him. It would destroy me, Eric.”
“Who is Michael?”
Shane smiled, hearing the confusion in Eric’s voice. “My new man.”
“Really?” Eric sounded so surprised. “That is great news. When did you meet? Nope, don’t tell me. Justin and I will be there right away. You can fill us in then about this new man of yours.”
“Okay, see you in a bit.”
Shane was getting ready to hang up when he still heard voices coming through the phone. “What new man? What are you talking about? Shane was attacked and had to have surgery. When did he have time to meet a new man?”
The questions that Justin kept throwing at Eric had Shane roaring with laughter as he pressed the end button on the phone. It was going to be interesting introducing his friends to Michael.
Just then a thought entered Shane’s mind. Michael. How would he react to meeting new people? Shane knew he’d better warn him about people besides the police coming to the house tonight.
Shane rolled his chair out of the office and headed toward the living room where he could hear Michael and his parents talking.
“Hey, Michael, I need to let you know that there are some people coming over. Justin and his husband, Eric, will be here soon. Eric is the one who owns a security company, and I’m going to ask him for help here at the house.”
Michael took a deep breath and held it. After a moment he let it go, and it seemed as if he was releasing the stress, too.
“Okay, let me get a sweater and I should be ready to meet them.” He returned quickly and was pulling it on as he walked in the room.
Sandy looked over at Shane. “Do you want us to go?”
Shane shook his head. He thought of something. Would they be safe? Should he ask them to stay here at the house, too, or would that make them targets, as well? He knew this would be a question to ask Eric.
Just as Travis was coming into the living room, the doorbell rang, causing the poor man to jump and drop the towel he had been using to wipe his hands.
Sandy jumped up and ran to Travis, who seemed to shrink into himself. “Come on, hun. Why don’t we go into the kitchen and have a nice cup of tea? We can leave the guys to talk, and we can chat about how much my son likes your cooking better than mine.”
Sandy sent Michael a wink as she gently herded Travis back into the kitchen.
Michael just stood there as he turned about ten shades of red.
Aaron walked by Michael, patted him on the back, and went to answer the door.
Michael muttered at his dad, “You suck.”
That almost had Shane falling out of his chair, he was laughing so hard. This was how Justin and Eric found him as they walked in with Aaron and some police officers bringing up the rear. Eric was a large man with a dark complexion, showing his Greek background. He stood as tall as Michael, and more muscular. Justin was a small man, standing at five-foot, six inches with a California surfer build and blond hair and blue eyes. Both the police officers looked the same, standing around five-foot, ten inches with dark hair and eyes, and slim builds. One man stood slightly taller than the other.
Well, that killed the mood.
“Please, won’t everyone find somewhere to sit?”
Shane was pleased when Michael came over, sat in the chair beside him, and then grabbed his hand. He knew that Michael was off center having so many new people around him, so he was happy to be the person to keep him grounded. He could feel the shaking in his hands settling down a bit the longer they held hands.
He looked to the two police officers. “Thank you for coming so quickly. I’m the one who called you. I’m Shane Turner. This is my boyfriend, Michael Franks. This is Michael’s father, Aaron. These are friends of mine, Justin Palmer, and his husband, Eric Solomon.”
The smaller of the two men replied, “No problem, sir. I am Detective O’Conner, and this is my partner, Detective Trent. How can we help you? Dispatch said something about letters after an attack?”
“Yes, unfortunately I found a threatening letter while
sorting my mail from the past few days. I was just released from the hospital today as I had beaten up on Sunday after Pride Parade. Then I found out that my two employees, who also live here, have received letters, as well, although my housekeeper, Travis, had received two of them.”
“We found the information regarding Sunday’s incident. So far there are no leads, but we have taken over the case and will be investigating both files. Is there anything you can add to it? Do you remember anything else about your attackers?”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t. I wish I did, since I don’t know if they are both related or not.”
“Do you still have the letters?”
“Yes, we do. Andy brought me his, so both of ours are in my office in individual plastic bags. Travis’s are in his desk, where I told him to leave them for you.”
“Good.” The detective nodded. “Can you take us to get them?”
Aaron stood up and turned to the police. “Please, come with me, and I will take you to Shane’s office. After that, we can go to the kitchen and get Travis.”
As Aaron took the detectives to get the letters, Shane turned to his Michael. “I hope you don’t mind that I said you were my boyfriend? This is already how you feel to me.”
“No, and I’m proud to be your boyfriend.”
Just as Michael was about to lean over and kiss Shane, Eric cleared his throat.
Damn, Shane had forgotten they were still in the room with them. As he turned toward them to introduce his friends to Michael, he groaned when saw them sitting there, each wearing shit-eating grins.
Payback was a bitch.
Chapter Five
After the police left, everyone met in the living room to discuss the need for security. Apparently, Eric had already called in one of his employees to come. When the doorbell rang, poor Travis jumped again.
As Aaron went to answer the door, Sandy moved over to Travis’s side and put her arm around his shoulders. When he leaned into her, Michael was sure he now had a new little brother. When his mom decided on adopting someone, there was no force on this planet that could stop her. His dad typically nodded his head, saying, “Yes, dear.”
Michael knew he was extremely lucky that his parents still loved and accepted him. So many more were thrown away. He ached for the hope and heartbreak he watched move over Travis’s face, and knew that his mom was going to be spending a lot of time with Travis.
When Aaron came back in the room with a stranger, Michael was surprised to see a slim man who stood about five foot ten inches tall, but this man looked lethal. He was compact, but an aura of strength and danger surrounded him.
The stranger’s eyes darted over the room, taking it all in with a single glance. After he assessed the space, he looked to Eric.
“Hi, Abe,” Eric said as he stood up to go and shake his hand. After that, he turned to introduce him. “Everyone, this is Abraham Isaacs, also known as Abe. He will be staying here as your on-site security. I have already briefed him about the attack and letters. He will be working with the police, as well. I know that he will want to talk to everyone individually, getting to know you.”
“Hi, folks.” Abe relaxed as Eric made the introductions. “I know you are worried about the events of the past few days, but I am here to help. If you have any questions or concerns, about anything, please come and tell me. I can only do my job properly if I have all the information, so if anything—and I am stressing the word anything—seems out of place or odd to you, immediately call for me. I’m only effective at my job if I have all the details.”
Michael did notice that Abe’s eyes strayed to Travis quite often, and when he felt Shane tense beside him, he guessed that Shane saw it, as well. When Michael looked over, he saw that poor Travis was snuggled up with his mom, sound asleep. He had totally missed the stranger’s interest.
Eric brought Abe over to introduce him. “Abe, I would like you to meet our friend, Shane Turner.” Eric waved his hand at Shane, who put his hand out for Abe to shake. After the two men shook hands, Eric turned to Michael. “This is Shane’s boyfriend, Michael Franks.”
Michael held out his hand to Abe, and he was impressed with the firm grip, but he could tell that Abe was strong just by his demeanor. He was happy to note that Abe didn’t feel the need to grab his hand, just hold it in a gentle grip. He seemed to lighten his hold since he must have seen how badly Michael’s hands were shaking. He hoped that if something did develop between Abe and Travis, this man would realize that Travis was a very gentle soul.
From the few interactions he’d had with Travis, Michael knew that Travis was starved for affection, but he had so much love to give. He knew that his mom could sense this, too, so he was happy that the two of them got along so well. Travis needed the love and attention of a mom, and his mom collected stray kids like some people collected cats. He had so many nieces and nephews from the collection of friends and foster kids that all now called Sandy Mom.
While Michael had been woolgathering, Shane and Abe were getting to know each other. After Shane grabbed his hand, it drew him back to the conversation.
“Michael here saved me from possibly being beaten to death,” Shane was explaining to Abe. “If he hadn’t come over when he did, I really do believe they would have tried to kill me.”
“What!” Andy yelled, and everyone turned to him in surprise. “You never said anything like that to me on the phone. Why didn’t you tell me? I thought you were hurt when you fell out of your chair. These guys did this to you?”
Michael was shocked to hear Andy speak like that. He knew that Shane was close to Andy and Travis, but why did Andy seem like he was freaking out?
Shane looked at Andy with concern. “Andy, are you okay?”
“No,” Andy angrily replied. “No, I’m not. Why didn’t you say something? You know I would have been there to help you. You keep saying we are a family, but you never told me any of this. How am I to be able to look after you if you don’t tell me these things?”
Once Andy was done with his tirade, he stomped off, and then a door slammed as he left the house.
Michael looked at Shane’s shocked face, feeling the same surprise on his own. “What just happened here?”
“I don’t know.” Poor Shane looked so lost.
“He’s been in love with you for a while now,” Travis quietly said. When all eyes turned to him, Travis snuggled in tighter with Sandy. It looked like he was trying to hide behind her.
Sandy looked down at Travis, pulling him in close to her. “What can you tell us, hun?”
Travis looked to Sandy, fear in his eyes as they darted over to look at Abe.
“Travis, hun.” Sandy put her hand out to Abe. “I would like you to meet Abraham Isaacs. He is the man who will be looking after you and everyone in this house. His boss, Eric, sent him to us. He will be the additional security for the house while the police are investigating things.”
Abe slowly went over to Sandy and took her hand as he went to his knees in front of them.
“Hello, Travis,” Abe said in a gentle voice that one would typically use with frightened children. “I’m Abe. I will do everything in my power to make sure you are safe, little one. If you are ever scared, come to me and I will make sure you are looked after. Please, trust me.”
Michael held his breath as he watched Travis’s face. So many emotions flashed through his eyes. After Travis looked at Sandy, who gave him a small smile, he looked to Abe and nodded.
Abe gave Travis a smile of his own. “Thank you for trusting me, little one. May I sit beside you?”
Once Travis agreed, he let go of Sandy’s hand and moved to sit down. Abe put his hand out for Travis to hold, and after a moment, Travis slowly put his hand in Abe’s. Sandy gave Travis a quick hug. Michael appreciated the gentle way Abe treated Travis, and when he looked over to Shane, he could see the relief in his eyes, as well.
Michael thought everyone knew that Travis was the person who needed the security the most. When
Shane had told Michael and his parents the story of how he met Travis, he didn’t understand how a parent could do that to their child. It made him grateful for his folks. He watched as his mom teared up, and his dad went to her to give her hugs and support until she calmed down.
That was the kind of relationship he wanted with Shane, with the same unconditional love and support his parents gave each other.
“So, Shane.” Justin had been sitting quietly next to his husband, but he finally lost his patience. “Who is Michael? When did you meet? How long have you been living together? When were you going to introduce him to your friends?”
Shane burst out laughing when Justin stopped to take a breath. Michael snickered, as well. Shane looked at Michael, asking, “Do you want the honors, or should I?”
“How about you go first, then I can fill in my side of the story.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Shane took a deep breath so he could begin. “I was heading over to the car the evening after the Pride Parade, since Andy wasn’t able to get very close, when I was jumped by three guys. They knocked me out of my chair, and while I was down they started to kick me and the chair.”
Michael grabbed Shane’s hand when he saw it was shaking. The man smiled at him before continuing. “I attempted to get a look at them, but every time I tried they went to kick me in the head or face. This was how my leg was broken, and they also kicked me in my back. They did some damage to where I was previously hurt, so a specialist was brought in to look at the injury to my spine. He determined that some of the past damage healed and I was a candidate to have surgery to repair the new and old areas, giving me some feeling below the waist again.”
Shane again had tears in his eyes telling this part. “God, Justin, I can feel touch again below the waist. I haven’t been able to feel anything down there since I was young.”
Michael interrupted Shane here. “I know you said you were thirteen when you were first hurt?”
The amount of pain that Michael saw in Shane’s eyes floored him. No one should hurt as much as Shane did.
“I was thirteen, and once we finish with this conversation I will tell you what happened. Okay?” Shane asked.
