Slip and Slide

by Patricia Logan

  Jarrett’s scalp laceration was tended to as soon as they were transported to the hospital after their rescue from the mine. Digging them out had taken a little over an hour after they’d been found by what seemed like half the mine’s population along with Jarrett’s brothers. Thayne stayed with Jarrett as the doctor gave them both tetanus shots and applied thirteen staples to the jagged cut on the crown of Jarrett’s head. He’d argued vigorously with a small nurse who wanted to shave that portion of his snow-white hair while Thayne stood by and chuckled, trying his best not to appear too obvious as he covered his mouth with his hand.

  Aside from being filthy and covered with coal dust from head to toe, they’d both miraculously suffered only minor cuts and quite a few bruises as a result of being rolled in the aftermath of the explosion like rocks in a tumbler. Somewhere in the remains of that shaft of the Red Hills Mine, their yellow hard hats, flashlights, and backpacks containing their SCSR devices were still buried.

  Congressman Clifford Geary and his two goons had been arrested while attempting to board a small private plane which had recorded a flight plan to Charleston, the capital of West Virginia. Apparently the man thought leaving town and getting back to work at state business after everything that went on in Pocahontas County wouldn’t be thought of as the least bit strange.

  Thayne and Jarrett had been treated with a visit from the Sheriff while Jarrett was getting seen to and the man shook both of their hands, demanding to hear the incredulous details of what they’d learned about Boggs and the congressman.

  Doug Haney had been thrown into jail right along with the other three criminals and above the din of Geary’s loud protests, they were told that they’d be facing a judge who would be very interested in hearing about their involvement in everything from bribery to murder. Geary’s lawyers were still trying to count all the ways in which the congressman had destroyed his career and Jarrett and Thayne were thrilled to hear the man probably wouldn’t see the light of day for a very long time.

  When Bert Middleton’s reasons for running Jarrett and Thayne off the road were explained, the sheriff decided that even though the man had been under extraordinary pressure to do what he did, he’d have to tell it to the judge and beg for leniency.

  Haney’s fate was also up in the air. Among other things, he’d been involved with the attempted murder of Jase and two federal officers and had helped delay repairs to the mine, misleading the MSHA inspectors on more than one occasion. His complicity in the death of Darby Odum, Kevin Arlington, Joe Wilton, and Roy Laurie, as well as the injuries suffered by Harlan Sizemore would have to be explained in court. Doug Haney was gonna need a good fucking lawyer.

  After being released from the doctor’s care, Jarrett and Thayne went upstairs to meet up with the Evans family who’d been keeping a vigil outside of Corey Middleton’s room while they waited for Jarrett’s laceration to be sewn. They were surprised to see the Red Hills miners crowding the waiting room when they arrived but thrilled to learn that Corey was awake and doing much better, expected to make a full recovery. Jarrett was downright shocked when Rush McBride walked over to him and reached out a palm to shake.

  “Evans, I guess I misjudged ya. I just wanted to say…” He looked away for a minute as if trying to screw up his courage. He finally turned back, his face flushed. “I’m sorry… for everything.”

  Jarrett took his hand and shook it, staring his high school nemesis right in the eye. “It’s forgotten.” He nodded and McBride nodded back before letting go of Jarrett’s hand. They waded through what seemed like fifty handshakes and slaps on the back with thank yous from the miners, who called them brother, and realized word had gotten around about Doug Haney and the mine’s safety money. The money would no doubt now be retrieved from Sandy Sullivan’s Super PAC and used for the desperately needed upgrades to the mine.

  Once they’d untangled themselves from the miners, they were rushed by Steel, Elijah, and Jase. Both of Jase’s eyes were still black and swollen and he had cuts on his lower lip and left cheek, but overall the kid looked pretty okay to Jarrett. After hugging all three of them, he reached up and ruffled Jase’s blond hair affectionately and a lot more gently than he would have normally.

  “You okay, Jase?” he asked, frowning at the cut that had begun to scab.

  “Yeah, I think it’s going to look cool when it’s all said and done and I have quite a story to tell the ladies when I go back to school on Monday.” Jase smiled as he fingered the cut on his cheek.

  Jarrett couldn’t help but grin back at him. He loved the little boy who’d grown into a man while he’d been off tromping around the world in search of bad guys. All in all, the case that brought Thayne and him to West Virginia had been a good thing for all of them. He’d reconnected with his family and had begun licking his old wounds, finding out that they’d all still loved him and missed him regardless of his sexuality which didn’t seem to matter to any of them anymore. On top of all of that, they all liked Thayne.

  Jarrett glanced at the man he loved who was standing beside Elijah and Steel explaining what had transpired when the bombs had gone off, burying them underground. He loved Thayne and Thayne loved him back, something he never would have believed if his lover hadn’t shown him over and over in so many ways just how important he was to him. He glanced up as Edie and Mark rushed out of the elevator and over to where they all stood.

  “Oh, God!” Edie shouted as she threw herself into Jase’s arms. “I thought you’d be killed when your brothers told me what happened.” Tears poured from her eyes as she touched the side of Jase’s face, staring at his black eyes. “Jes look at ya!”

  “I’m okay, Auntie, really,” Jase said, glancing helplessly over her shoulder at Jarrett.

  Jarrett couldn’t help but smile. His attention was diverted when Mark walked up and threw his arms around him, hugging him tightly.

  “Almost bought the farm, huh, son?” Mark said, trying to sound jovial and failing miserably. When he pulled back, Jarrett instantly detected lines of worry around his mouth and between his eyebrows. “I hear you boys saved Jase. I would have been here sooner but I got the first flight out when Edie called me.” Mark turned to Thayne and stuck out a hand. “I can’t thank you enough, Special Agent Wolfe.”

  “Thayne, sir. Please.”

  Jarrett watched Thayne shake his father’s hand vigorously.

  “It was a group effort, Mark. Your sons are some pretty amazing men and we had great help from the ATF agents here in our Athens office in Pocahontas County.” Thayne glanced at Jarrett who was standing beside Steel, and Jarrett saw how wide his eyes were. They must have had the same thought at the same time. “We forgot to call Sales and Lafford. We need to fill them in on what happened here,” Thayne said.

  “Shit. Well, chances are they already know what’s going on but you’re right. We should let them know what went down. In fact…” He held up a finger and leaned down to Steel, speaking into his ear.

  “You said ya brought ‘em with you?” he whispered.

  Steel met him with a bright blue gaze and he smiled, nodding before slapping him on the arm and leaning in to whisper. “Yeah, Jarrett. They’re down in my truck’s glove compartment. I told ya I have ‘em ready before y’all went back to LA.”

  Jarret smiled broadly. “Thank you, Steel.” He turned to where Thayne stood, watching them. “Thayne, can you call Sales and Lafford and give them the lowdown? I need to see Steel downstairs for a minute.”

  Thayne looked at him strangely but he nodded. “Sure. I’ll do it right now.”

  “We’ll meet ya downstairs, Jarrett. Edie cooked up about two dozen batches of cookies and about ten vats of fried chicken when she realized Jase was missing. There’s gonna be green beans and biscuits and gravy for months if y’all don’t come and eat some. My freezer ain’t big enough to store all that,” Mark said.

 
Jarrett chuckled and slapped his father on the bicep. “Okay, Daddy. See you in the parkin’ lot.” He sent a wink to Thayne and then turned, following his brother to the elevators, excited to see what Steel had come up with.

  ****

  Thayne and Jarrett stood in the Bluefield Regional Medical Center parking lot talking with Bud Sales and Clint Lafford, who’d driven over to meet them, filling them in on everything that had transpired since they’d last talked with the two agents. Steel had given them a few bare facts but when they learned the details of what Lincoln Snow had found out about Boggs, Geary, and his wife, Attorney General Sandy Sullivan, they were blown away. They were even more shocked to hear of Saginaw and their involvement with the Powder River Basin’s Pacific Northwest export terminal project, but once explained, everything seemed to fall into place for them the way it had for Jarrett and Thayne. They were least happy about how their own SAC, Charles Howard, had doubted their honesty which was how Jarrett and Thayne had ended up in West Virginia in the first place.

  “That’s pretty fucked-up, guys,” Lafford said, “But I guess I see how y’all might have doubted us. You didn’t know us from Adam.”

  “I’m really sorry, Clint, Bud. We had to keep that part of the investigation close to the vest until we were certain you two weren’t involved with the corruption we discovered,” Thayne said.

  “And by the time we learned what we learned from the FBI and Haney’s confession, we realized y’all weren’t responsible for any of it,” Jarrett added.

  “Yeah, we get that,” Bud Sales said. “Just so ya know, we were suspicious of y’all too.” He blushed bright red and Jarrett could see the man’s cheeks heat even in the low lighting from the street lights. “The minute y’all arrived, we knew SAC Howard suspected us of dirty dealings.”

  “Yeah,” Lafford added, “But we never suspected anyone would think we’re gamblers. With all this moonshine down here, y’all could have at least accused us of drinkin’ and carryin’ on with loose women instead of figurin’ a way to beat old ladies at back-room poker games or bingo,” he said.

  Thayne and Jarrett cracked up laughing.

  “Oh, speaking of moonshine, I almost forgot,” Lafford said. He reached inside his jacket and pulled a mason jar out of an inside pocket, holding it out to Thayne. Clear liquid filled it. “This here is some real moonshine made by the locals. You can’t buy this in any shop. Enjoy it but I suggest takin’ only sips at a time if ya want to remember the experience.” He smiled.

  Thayne took the jar and looked closely at the clear liquid, holding it up to show Jarrett before he looked back at Lafford. He was grinning.

  “Thanks so much, Clint. And if you ever find an occasion to come out to LA, we’d love to show you around. If you’re lucky, maybe we can scare up some loose women,” Thayne offered, shaking the men’s hands. Jarrett shook them too.

  Both men chuckled. “We look forward to it, guys,” Sales said.

  “Well, we have some family duties so we’ll see ya out at the sheriff’s station tomorrow, huh?” Jarrett asked. “I’m sure he’s gonna want a wrap-up of everything that went on down here and to be honest, I stink. We still gotta head to our hotel and shower before driving all the way to Lewisburg tonight.” He looked down at his filthy clothes as both men laughed.

  “We’ll see y’all tomorrow,” Lafford replied.

  As they parted from the ATF agents and headed for the silver Chevy truck Steel and Elijah had driven over and parked for them while they were checked out at the hospital, Thayne turned and grinned at Jarrett.

  “Hey, what was with you and Steel coming down here earlier? You were acting pretty mysterious,” Thayne said.

  Jarrett smirked. “It’s part of my charm. Don’t ya like a little mystery?” He bumped Thayne’s hip with his own as they walked to the truck.

  “A little mystery huh?” Thayne stopped Jarrett next to the driver’s door of the truck, grabbing him by the arm and turning him until he was pinned helplessly against the door. He glanced side to side and then looked back at Jarrett’s surprised face, assured they were alone. The second he felt Jarrett’s erection react against his own groin, Thayne swooped in and began to kiss him wildly.

  ****

  The driver of a sleek black sedan pointed the telephoto lens of his Nikon out of the car window. With his lens he began watching the now familiar forms of Jarrett Evans and Thayne Wolfe as they stood outside in the medical center’s parking lot, snapping off shot after shot of the men as they talked. Mark Evans, a man the driver was also familiar with, had left with his family moments before. He honestly didn’t know what good the photos would do his boss, but he continued to snap their picture until Wolfe grabbed his partner and spun him against the door.

  The driver’s heart sped up. Well, well. There might be something to interest them here. The driver began clicking off a series of shots from the high-speed Nikon as the men sank into a languid kiss. Their bodies were practically attached to each other and the driver had no doubt about the full extent of the men’s relationship—and neither would his boss after these photos were delivered.

  Epilogue

  Jarrett gasped as Thayne’s slick cock pounded into him furiously, forcing his orgasm to last longer than it would have if his boyfriend hadn’t been fucking him right through it. His own come shot out onto his abs as he stared up into the bright blue eyes he loved while Thayne’s dick sprayed hot jets of release deep inside him. His body clenched around Thayne’s cock as his climax rolled through him drawing out his lover’s climax. When Thayne had emptied the last drops of his own come into Jarrett, he relaxed his arms and collapsed onto his chest, pushing his body deeper in the hotel mattress. Thayne buried his face into Jarrett’s neck and Jarrett felt the racing beat of his heart while he waited for his body to recover.

  When they could finally breathe again, Thayne rolled off him and reached for a box of Kleenex, holding it out so Jarrett could grab a few and clean himself of the passion he and Thayne left behind. Thayne finally rolled back into his arms and looked up at him. He wore a grin on his face.

  “That was pretty fucking amazing but we have a date with your family. I hear fried chicken and biscuits and gravy calling my name,” he said.

  Jarrett knew they should probably get going. They had a long drive out to Lewisburg and had only intended on stopping at their hotel room to shower and grab clean clothes before the drive. Instead, as was becoming more and more typical for them, they’d ended up in the shower together on the pretense that Thayne had to help him keep the laceration on his head dry. Jarrett had ended up pinned to the side of the shower being sucked off while water pounded down on his head wetting his stitches anyway. When Thayne finished swallowing and smiled up at him, Jarrett told him to stay put so he could wash his hair while Thayne moaned at how good it felt to be clean again.

  “Before we go, I have something for you,” Jarrett said, sitting up in the bed and swinging his feet over the side. He was so excited to give Thayne his gift, he could barely stand it. He walked over to the table where he’d laid the brown paper bag Steel had given him in the parking lot earlier, picking it up, and bringing it back to the bed.

  Thayne sat up and crossed his legs, staring at Jarrett as he climbed back down onto the lush mattress. Jarrett opened the plain paper sack and pulled out the tooled leather pouch Steel had given him earlier that night. He had butterflies in his stomach and he reached out, handing the pouch to Thayne who stared at him oddly.

  “What have you done, Jarrett?” Thayne asked, taking the gift from his hands. He was smiling crookedly as he brushed his fingertips over the swirled designs Steel had tooled into the pouch which was closed with a snap.

  “I’ve wanted to give you somethin’ to thank you for saving my life when we were workin’ that fireworks case. Jes couldn’t find anything special enough. When we were walking through Ste
el’s workshop, seein’ all the beautiful things he made, I asked him to make something for ya. I hope you like ‘em.”

  Thayne’s eyes got that glistening look to them when he was very touched by something Jarrett said or did and he felt strange, hoping against hope that he would accept the gift in the manner in which he meant it. He held his breath as Thayne looked down and unsnapped the pouch. He looked inside and then back up at Jarrett.

  “Oh, Jarrett,” he gasped.

  Jarrett bit his lip as Thayne reached inside. He drew out a bracelet of sterling silver bent to fit around his wrists. Three pieces of bright hammered silver were woven into a braid, designed so that the silver would poke out between square windows cut into the soft brown leather across the top of each of two cuffs. It was fastened on the inside of each wrist with a silver snap stamped with a design resembling an exploding firework.

  Thayne set down the leather pouch containing the second cuff and held up the first cuff, examining the fine detail of the shiny polished silver that Steel had painstakingly made with his very talented hands. He began shaking his head and then he raised his gaze to Jarrett.

  “Jarrett, they’re magnificent. Steel made these?” He had tears in his eyes and Jarrett had to swallow hard before answering.

  “I know them scars on your wrists bother you—remindin’ you of bad things—so I thought maybe you’d like something to hide ‘em when you don’t wanna wear long sleeves,” he said, slowly. The words sounded even more graveled than when he’d been choking on coal dust but judging by the way Thayne was looking at him at the moment, he’d done a good thing.

  “Oh, Jarrett,” Thayne whispered, looking back down at the cuff. “I don’t know what to say.” A tear rolled down his cheek and he glanced back up at Jarrett. He’d never in his life seen anyone look at him with such complete and utter devotion before. This is love.