Crashing Waves

by C J Baty

  “What the hell is going on out here? I thought all you people would be out of my station by now.” Moses Lee stood with his hands on hips staring at everyone.

  “We’re just leaving, Chief Lee,” Justin said and crossed the room to where Marcus and Alexander stood.

  “Alexander is coming home with me for a few days . . . until some things get cleared up.”

  ––––––––

  ALEXANDER DEVOURED a huge sandwich and slice of cake before the astounded eyes of Marcus and Justin. They all sat around the table in the kitchen of Warfield Manor and Winnie fussed over them. Justin claimed he wasn’t hungry, but Marcus knew it was just the stress of the day wearing on him. Winnie suggested that maybe Alexander would feel more comfortable staying in the extra bedroom in her and Michael’s cottage rather than the big house. Alexander was quick to say he didn’t need much and he would work for his keep. Justin told him they’d work out something later. For now he needed a bath and some clean clothes and Winnie would see to him. After

  Alexander left the house with Winnie, Marcus finally had a moment to talk with Justin.

  “I know you’re exhausted. How about you take a bath and get some rest yourself,” Marcus suggested.

  “What did you mean by coerced ?”

  Marcus thought Justin had forgotten their earlier conversation, but it was clear he hadn’t and was upset about something.

  “Coerced meaning: though one person committed the act, someone else was causing their actions.”

  “I know what the word means. What I don’t know is who you believe was being coerced.” Justin kept his rigid pose as he spoke.

  “From everything I’ve learned or heard about Joe Thompson, he was a good man. He never showed you or Peter anything but respect,” Marcus stated.

  “But he somehow ended up dead in the basement of the Warfield when that bomb went off. Making it appear that he was the person who wanted to destroyed the hotel.”

  “You think someone used him,” Justin’s face saddened. “Do you think it’s possible someone used Caroline too?”

  Marcus nodded. “It’s a possibility.”

  “But who?”

  “That is the question, and I don’t have an answer for you . . . yet.”

  A door slammed shut somewhere in the house, causing the kitchen windows to rattle. Marcus and Justin both jerked at the sudden noise. Two loud, angry voices followed the slamming door. Justin jumped from his chair and rushed out the kitchen door with Marcus following close behind. They traveled down the hallway into the open foyer, just in time to see Damien Fitzgerald take a swing at Robert.

  Robert stepped aside as Damien swung. This left Damien struggling to regain his balance as he nearly crashed to the floor.

  “You need to get yourself under control,” Robert hissed as Damien righted himself.

  “I was just trying to thank you for saving my life, you big moron!”

  “No . . . big . . . deal!” Robert shouted, stepping into Damien’s personal space.

  Panic flashed across Damien’s face, and he backed away from Robert.

  Neither man seemed to notice that Marcus and Justin had entered the room until Justin stepped between the two of them.

  “Enough!”

  Robert immediately stepped back away from Justin, and Damien strutted to the other side of the room. His face was flushed and his body stiff as he moved.

  “Now, what the hell is going on between you two?” Justin said as he dropped into a wing back chair across from Damien.

  “Nothing,” Robert muttered.

  “It didn’t sound like nothing.”

  Marcus struggled to keep the chuckle inside as he watched Robert—six foot something of rock-hard-muscled body Robert—pout. He was pouting like some thirteen-year-old girl.

  Damien was just as bad. He sat on the couch, his arms folded tightly across his body, looking out the window. He shrugged his shoulders and said nothing.

  Justin let the silence linger, giving each man a chance to speak up. When they didn’t, he looked over at Marcus with a mischievous grin on his face and winked.

  “Well, if there’s nothing major wrong, then I think you two need to kiss and makeup like two good little boys,” Justin laughed.

  Robert turned to Justin but couldn’t seem to find his voice at all. His mouth kept opening, but he never uttered a sound.

  Damien jumped to his feet and headed for the foyer. He stopped and looked back over his shoulder at Marcus and the others. “Not in this lifetime!”

  Marcus could have sworn that there was a little extra swish in Damien’s hips as he hurried from the room. He also caught Robert watching Damien’s exit as well.

  Justin exploded with laughter.

  “I don’t think that was very funny, Justin,” Robert grumbled. “I’m going home.”

  Marcus heard the front door open and close much softer this time.

  “He forgot why he even came here,” Marcus mentioned as he pulled Justin to his feet and wrapped his arms around his waist.

  “I know. Those two have it so bad, it’s hilarious.” Justin smiled as he kissed Marcus.

  “Those two?” Marcus questioned.

  “Can’t you see it?”

  “They’re more like two bulls butting heads.”

  Marcus pulled Justin down to the couch and continued to kiss him as he spoke. He moved from Justin’s lips to his neck and nibbled his way around to the back of his ear. It was a moment before Marcus realized that Justin’s body hadn’t just relaxed, it had completely gone slack in his arms. The man was dead on his feet.

  “How about a long hot bath, something to eat, and then some sleep?”

  Marcus whispered against Justin’s throat.

  That had been three hours ago, and Marcus was still holding Justin as he slept. With his thoughts finally in some kind of order, Marcus let his own body relax. He was ready for sleep to take him away. He snuggled down into the bed taking a brief look at the clock on the bedside table. It read two a.m., which meant he could get at least a few hours sleep before the sun started to come up. Just before he fell asleep, Marcus remembered the barn.

  Tomorrow he and Justin would finally check it out. He couldn’t prove it yet, but he still felt that Bradley Warfield’s journals had something to do with everything that had been going on.

  21

  ––––––––

  THE BAR WAS dark and smoky. Just the way he liked it. He’d needed to get out of Beaufort and heading to South Point in Hampton County was the best he could do. The Red Rose Bar had his favorite stripper dancing tonight.

  Throwing back his third shot of whiskey, he watched as she removed each piece of clothing until there was nothing left but her ruby red G-string and a hot little smile on her face as she gyrated her ass across the stage.

  All that milky white skin had his mouth watering, and he had no doubt where he would be spending the rest of the night. She never turned him down. She knew better. He knew too much about what went on behind the scenes at this dive. It didn’t matter that the place was out of his jurisdiction, he still knew the right people to call to bring this place down fast.

  “Want another?” the barkeep asked when Moses set his empty glass on the table.

  “Make it a Coors this time. I’ve got plans for later.” He glanced back at the stage just in time to see Red prance off. She tossed her long red hair back over her shoulder and looked across the room to where Moses sat at the bar.

  He could see the first hint of fear and then the weak smile she offered him.

  That was okay. Being afraid of him was a smart thing to be. Saying no to him was not a smart thing, and she knew that.

  Yep, this is exactly what he needed. No Warfield Hotel. No Justin Warfield and his damned friends. He could forget all the mistakes he’d made lately

  and figure out what he needed to do next. He already felt better. Grinning, he tipped his bottle of beer to the woman on the stage and laughed.

 
––––––––

  “D AMN IT !”

  Moses fought the sheets as he tried to sit up in bed. He was sweating and the cool air in the room left chill bumps on his skin. Finally, pulling the sheets from his naked body, he climbed from the bed. The red-headed woman was still sleeping despite him fighting with the bed sheets right next to her. She must have been passed out from all the liquor they had drunk earlier. Some people just couldn’t hold their drink, he thought as he made his way to the bathroom.

  He ran cold water in the sink and splashed it on his face. Looking into the mirror at himself, he suddenly remembered why he had woken in the first place. A chill not caused by the cool air in the room ran through his body.

  He was five or six years old. He was sitting in the backseat of a convertible car. There was a big red book in the seat beside him. Momma had said not to touch it, but he wondered if there were pictures in the book. His momma was sitting in the front seat, and she was crying. There was a man beside her and he was talking. He was angry. Moses didn’t really understand anything they were saying. The big man kept glancing back at him with a frown on his face.

  “But I need you, and he needs you.”

  “It just isn’t possible, Celia. No matter how much you or I wish it could be different, it won’t ever be different. I’m married, and I have a son.”

  “But . . . ”

  “I have one son, Celia, just one. This is the best I can do for now. Don’t come back here again. It’s been over for a long time. I’ll do what I can for the boy, but that’s all I can do.”

  He threw a piece of paper at her, and Momma got out of the car, tears still running down her face. She lifted him from where he sat and stood him on his feet. There was sawdust on the floor and a terrible smell everywhere.

  She took his hand and they walked away from the pretty red car. There were lots of cars. Fancy cars. He’d never seen so many all together like that.

  Momma never looked back at the man, but he did. The man still looked mad.

  He didn’t know what he’d done to make him mad. He turned his head away and didn’t look at them anymore.

  They walked a long time. He got real tired. They were in the woods for what seemed like hours. Finally they reached town and a man in a truck gave them a ride home. Momma told him to go to bed, but he watched as the man followed momma to her room.

  The vision passed and Moses saw his own face in the mirror again. He’d had that dream many times over the years. But where the hell had he been and what was going on between Celia and that man. Suddenly Moses recognized the book that had been beside him in the car.

  “Shit!”

  He needed a map. A map that included the layout of the buildings belonging to Warfield Manor. Morning couldn’t get here soon enough but until then . . .

  “Moses, where are you, baby?” Red cooed from the bedroom. “Come back to bed, honey, I’m cold.”

  Until then there was one way to pass the time that he really enjoyed.

  22

  ––––––––

  THE SUN STREAMING in through the bedroom windows woke Justin as it crossed his face where he lay. He turned and studied the man lying beside him. Marcus snored softly and Justin couldn’t help but let a small sigh of happiness escape his throat. Things all around him were shitty right now, but this . . . this one single thing was right. Marcus was it. He was the future Justin never thought he was going to have. He promised himself that as soon as things settled down and everything was put right with the hotel and Alexander, he could tell Marcus how he felt. Pushing several loose curls away from Marcus’s forehead, Justin left a soft kiss and rose from the bed.

  He went to stand by the window and looked out over the gardens below.

  Winter hadn’t fully set in yet so there were a few blooms still present. It wouldn’t be long, though, until days with gray clouds would cover them. The sun reflected off the tin roof of the car barn off in the distance. Justin realized that they hadn’t made it out there yet and that today would be the perfect day for a walk in the woods.

  “What are you looking at?” Marcus’s sleep filled voice asked from the bed.

  “The garden and the sun’s reflection on the car barn caught my attention.”

  Justin turned to face the man he loved. For a moment he couldn’t breathe when he thought of those words, the man he loved.

  Marcus was all sleep rumpled and his curls stuck out in every direction, but he was like a dream to Justin. A dream he never wanted to wake from.

  Scooting to the edge of the bed, Marcus’s naked body was graceful and so fucking hot to look upon.

  “Stop looking at me like that or we won’t make it to the barn until afternoon.” Marcus chuckled and headed for the bathroom.

  Justin watched his naked ass disappear behind the door. “I bet there’s a set of keys somewhere in my father’s study too,” Justin said loudly enough for Marcus to hear him from the bathroom. “I’m sure we’ll need those.”

  Justin pulled underwear and socks from the dresser drawers. He grabbed a pair of jeans that had been discarded in the corner of the room and a turquoise sweater left hanging over the chair by the window. He was tugging on his Vans when Marcus appeared from the bathroom.

  “No fair. I didn’t get to ogle you while you dressed.” He moved forward gracefully and took Justin’s face in his hands. The kiss was deep and passionate.

  “Good morning,” Marcus said as he pulled away. “Feeling better today?”

  “Yes, I am thanks to you. No nightmares.” Justin swatted Marcus’s still naked backside. “Now get dressed and meet me downstairs. I’ll find Michaels.”

  Downstairs in the kitchen, Justin found Alexander enjoying the breakfast that Winnie had prepared for him. Michaels was sipping on a cup of steaming hot coffee. He stood as Justin entered the room.

  “Coffee, Mr. Justin?” Winnie asked.

  “Yes, and pour one for Marcus as well, please. He’ll be down shortly.”

  Justin took the cup Winnie offered, added sugar and sat at the table across from Alexander. The boy looked much better this morning. Of course, the amount of food he was shoveling in his mouth at a very fast rate probably had something to do with it.

  “How are you doing, Alexander?” Justin asked.

  “Slept really good, and Miss Winnie is sure a good cook.” Alexander smiled at Justin while he stuffed another piece of toast in his mouth.

  “Good. Let’s give it a day or two and then we’ll have Ms. Marshall and Mr.

  Brooks over and we can talk about where the three of you go next. How’s that sound?”

  Alexander considered his words for a moment. “If you say so.” Then he picked up his plate and took it to the sink. “I’ll get started on those bushes along the porch out front. Pa had planned on pruning them back as the blooms fell off.”

  “Thank you, Alexander.” Justin knew the boy wasn’t ready to face the truth about his situation, but he wouldn’t be able to put Daisy and Richard off too long. They were anxious to get to know him and build a relationship with him.

  Marcus entered the kitchen and said good morning to everyone. He accepted the cup of coffee that Justin handed him, taking a sip and scrunching up his eyes in pleasure. When he opened his eyes and saw Justin staring at him, he just shrugged his shoulders with a silly grin on his face.

  “Michaels do you know if my father had keys to the car barn?” Justin asked, turning his attention to the older gentleman.

  “Yes sir, there is a key. He used to keep it in the desk in his office. I never saw keys to the cars though. Maybe he kept them in the barn,” Michaels answered.

  “I’ll go check the desk. Michaels can you find a couple of large flashlights we can use?”

  “Flashlights?” Marcus asked clearly confused. “It’s a beautiful sunny day outside; why would we need them?”

  “Because if I remember correctly, there are no windows in that barn. There’s a large door that the cars could exit or ente
r from and a smaller door for people but no real light inside. If the electricity doesn’t work anymore, we’ll be totally in the dark once we get in and start moving around,” Justin answered then headed for his father’s study.

  The key wasn’t clearly visible anywhere in the desk, but it wasn’t hard to find either. Bradley Warfield had taped it to the bottom of the lap drawer in the desk. His father had used the same idea for keys to files in the hotel office. So he’d simply pulled out and turned over drawers until he found what he was searching for.

  Once he had the key, he met up with Marcus who was carrying two large, heavy-duty flashlights. One in each hand. He showed Marcus the key, and Marcus handed him a flashlight. Michaels went over the general location of the barn with them before they headed out the backdoor toward the forest that lay at the boundary of the Warfield property.

  At one time the path would have been well-worn, but since his father’s death, no one had walked along it. The undergrowth from the forest had taken back most of the ground with new foliage. Ferns grew everywhere.

  The deeper they walked the denser the forest became. Justin wondered how in the world they had ever gotten anything built this far back from civilization. Of course, when his grandfather first built the manor, a good deal of the land had been grazed and left bare. The natural line of the forest had eventually begun to fill in as the years went by.

  Eventually, they came to what could have once been a clearing. Young trees, ferns, and brush grew out of a gravel drive that surrounded the barn then headed off in the opposite direction from where Justin and Marcus had come. The structure itself was in bad shape.

  The paint on the siding was mostly gone. Worn off by the weather and lack of upkeep. What flakes were left peeled away in random patterns from the wooden planks. The sun bounced off the tin roof and the light reflected off the leaves on nearby trees. It gave the effect that they were sparkling like twinkling lights.

  “It’s amazing the thing is still standing,” Marcus said as they walked to the front side of the barn.

  Surprisingly, it was pretty much exactly the way Justin had remembered it.

  There was one double-width door facing east, large enough for a car to barely be driven through. To the left of the double door was a single entry door. The hinges on both doors were badly rusted. The larger door had not been opened in a long time, and Justin didn’t think they’d be able to open it at all, not unless they came back with a hammer to break off some of the rust.