Catch and Release

by BA Tortuga

  “I didn’t rape anyone. I didn’t cut anyone. I didn’t hurt anyone. I got beat up by a couple of guys at the party for being a fag and ran back to the dorms. Simple as that.” Dakota vibrated in his chair. “I need to hit the head.”

  “Sure.” Jayden watched him bolt, but he was making lists in his head. Someone had to have seen Dakota at the dorm. Had anyone even looked for the guys who’d beaten him? Had the bruises presented as defensive wounds or something?

  Why the hell hadn’t Dakota’s folks helped their son? This was as far from an airtight case as anything he’d seen, and Jayden hadn’t even begun interviewing the people involved yet.

  He wanted to start with Dakota. He had a thousand questions, but he wasn’t sure the kid—and for fuck’s sake, he was only a hair older than Dakota; he wasn’t a kid—could handle it.

  Certainly not today. Maybe he could—what? Blackmail Sage into setting up that barbecue so he could chat with Dakota more?

  Maybe Dakota would just agree to come into the office to talk.

  Uh-huh. That was going to happen. He didn’t even know Jayden had been looking into his case. Shit, what a clusterfuck.

  Sage came in, face a thundercloud. “Hey, man. You mind if I give you a ride home? Adam had to leave. There was an emergency.”

  “Oh. Yeah, no problem. I mean, I can call someone to come get me if it’s a problem.”

  “Bah. There’s room in the truck. I’m just disappointed. I’ll get over it.”

  “Yeah. He’s in demand.” Jayden grinned a little. “You might make sure Dakota didn’t crawl out the bathroom window.”

  “Nah. It doesn’t have one.” Sage plopped back down, grabbed a sopapilla, and ripped it in half. “He’s just wigged-out. It’s hard as fuck, reentering life after so long.”

  “Well, I didn’t mean to make it worse, but I don’t think he did it, Sage.” Jayden didn’t know Sage near as well as he did Win, but he knew the guy had a good heart. “I can try to help him prove it.”

  “Yeah? That would be good. He’s just… he’s had a hard row to hoe.”

  “He has.” Jayden wondered where the whole passionate crusader thing was coming from, but at least he wasn’t bored. “Can you work on getting him to interview with me?”

  “Sure. Have you tried just asking?”

  “No. I mean, I was asking him some easy questions, and he ran. I don’t want to push too hard.”

  “Well, he’s pretty raw still. He was a baby when he went in, like me, but I had my folks’ support, at least.”

  “Yeah, his people tossed him right under the bus.” Jayden watched the bathroom door with too much interest, and he knew it.

  “Do you know why? Was he a bad kid?”

  Jayden looked at Sage and rolled his eyes. “You know as well as I do why, man.”

  “Christ on a pink sparkling crutch, does it always have to be about where you put your dick?”

  Jayden hooted, drawing a few stares. “If it makes you feel better, my mother takes a prurient and scary interest in my big gay love life.”

  “Mine’s just ready for me to ask Adam to marry me.”

  “Oh, Lord help you. She wants a wedding, does she?”

  “Yeah. Ain’t gonna happen, though.”

  “No? It’s legal now.” He had to admit, Sage and Win’s dynamic fascinated him. Jayden was his mother’s son, nosy in the extreme.

  “I won’t make him be legally hooked up with a felon. He deserves better.”

  Jayden frowned. “I bet he wouldn’t say that.”

  “Of course he wouldn’t. He’s one of the white hats.” Sage smiled as Dakota walked up. “Hey, man. Better?”

  “Great. How’s it going?”

  Sage shrugged. “He’ll be back when he can. Busy man. You know the drill.”

  Dakota kinda shrugged. “Uh. Yeah.”

  “You want any more ice cream?” Jayden asked. He’d buy supper, since Sage didn’t get what he wanted out of it.

  “No, sir. Thank you.” Dakota gave him a smile that was so shy it hurt.

  “Y’all finish up,” Jayden said. “I’ll go pay.”

  That little voice inside him insisted that this kid—this guy—was about as likely to violently attack someone as… as… as… well, shit. As Caspar Milquetoast.

  In other words, not fucking likely. He just needed to get Dakota talking.

  Sage was ranting to Dakota, just jabbering hard, cheeks bright red and mouth drawn in an unhappy line. Man, Win better get his shit together, or he was going to be living in his little office. Right this second, Sage was telling himself that this whole absentee landlord—landlover?—shit was okay, but Jayden knew the cowboy type. He’d grown up with them, even if he’d never been one. Stubborn to the core and once they lost their shit? Damn.

  Jayden grinned at the waitress before scribbling in her tip. “Thanks, hon.” He’d let Sage wind down for a moment.

  Dakota listened, never speaking, just letting Sage’s temper flow over him like it was nothing at all. Talk about Zen.

  Some folks probably thought it was lack of emotion. Jayden thought it was more too much, and Dakota had to hold it in, be self-contained.

  A very quiet part of him wondered if he’d be so interested in Dakota’s case if the man was a fat, pockmarked guy. Possibly not, but that was no one’s business but his own.

  This was him trying to alleviate boredom. That was it. Self-aware he might be, but he tried not to let his stupid side win. And it would be stupid to get involved with an ex-con.

  Especially an ex-con who obviously had hard-core confidence issues. He wasn’t into guys who just gave in.

  He liked a little push and pull—in the bedroom, sure, but mostly in conversation. He was a lawyer. Arguing was what they did for a living.

  Sage and Dakota came up to him at the cash, and he blushed dark. Seriously? He was standing here having a first time, an affair, and a breakup at the register? And he was wondering whether Dakota was broke-dick.

  Jayden chuckled. “You guys ready?”

  “Yessir.” They spoke as one, and he hooted.

  “God, I do love Texans.”

  Dakota offered over a confused look. “You’re not? You sure sound like Dallas.”

  Oh, good ear. “Highland Park, yeah.”

  “Cool.”

  “You’re from Houston, yeah? Down that way, anyway.” Come on, don’t clam up.

  “Yeah. Originally. I came up to go to UT.”

  “You got a degree while you were in, right?” Sage wasn’t helping.

  “English. I got my master’s even.”

  That he knew. Dakota had received enough grants from different organizations to fund his education. Spoke to the man’s determination, he guessed. That or his level of boredom.

  Jayden thought prison had to be hell. Same thing day in and day out. Constant worry about your safety. Shit, just a month or two of escorts and bulletproof vests had made Jayden a nutcase.

  “Where do you need me to take you, Jayden? Home or the office?”

  Dakota climbed up into the backseat without a word.

  “Office. That’s where the truck is.” He had a few hours of work left to do too, damn it. “Man. I just want to grab a cooler and go tubing.”

  “Oh, that sounds like heaven. I bet the river is running good.” Sage started the truck up. “I haven’t been since last year. Win and me had a blast.”

  “Yeah? We should go. I mean, if y’all don’t mind me inviting myself into your lives.” Jayden’s colleagues would rather eat a bug than do some of the shit he liked to do.

  “We should totally go. When? I can get ahold of Troy and Eric. They have a nice setup and extra tubes.”

  “Yeah? Let’s try for this weekend, maybe? It will be more crowded, but we’ll all be off work.” He glanced back at Dakota. “Right? You’re not pulling weekend shifts?”

  “No. No, Jim doesn’t work us on the weekends.”

  “Well, you’re in for a treat, then. Tubing is a hoot.
”

  “If you’re sure…. I’ve never been.”

  How could a kid who grew up in Texas not have been tubing? How did that happen?

  Sage obviously felt the same way, because he lifted his sunglasses and looked over his shoulder. “No shit? Then you have to come. We’ll bring Cokes. Do you need to borrow some trunks?”

  Like Sage’s teeny tiny ass would wear the same size as Dakota. Dakota wasn’t fun-sized.

  “I got some you can borrow, man, no sweat.” He’d just stop by Target and buy some for Dakota.

  “Oh, I can—”

  “Nope. I got this.” Jayden knew he could be a bulldozer. Might as well get out of his way.

  “Rock on. I’ll get hold of everyone, and we’ll have a party.” Sage pulled out of the parking space. “You’ll like Eric and Troy. Troy’s a damn good friend, and Eric’s Adam’s Army buddy. They’re two peas in a pod.”

  “I’m all over it.” Jayden was tickled as a pig in shit. Sometimes he needed to act like the giant redneck that he was. His mom’d tried to educate it out of her sons, but it was a lost cause. Pop was determined that his boys have all the experiences—from fishing to fraternities.

  He’d even ridden a bull. Once. That had ended… poorly.

  Dakota sat there, quiet and still, and Jayden kept stealing looks. “What are you going to do with your degree, Dakota?”

  “Unskilled labor right now. If I’m lucky, I can do that long enough to move to laying tile.”

  Jayden bit off his initial protest. He didn’t need to sound judgy. “Why English?”

  “I wanted to be a schoolteacher. Not little kids, but teenagers. Then, after the conviction, I just studied what was easily available through the system.”

  “Ah.” Yeah, no teaching kids for this one. He’d bet community college would take Dakota, or a reentry program with literacy.

  “It’s okay. This is Austin. Everyone has a degree. They aren’t worth dick.”

  “A master’s has a nice ring to it, though.” Jayden liked that Dakota was finally talking. He was totally willing to toss Win under the bus and say it was the ex-cop who’d intimidated Dakota so.

  “I needed to do something, I guess, and God knows, I can read a book.”

  Sage laughed, the sound only a little bitter. “That was why I did accounting. I was good at math.”

  “Accounting. Law. Sociology. English. Psychology. Those are the big ones, right?”

  Jayden nodded. “Yep. I’ve met a good many guys who majored in law so they could work their own appeals.”

  “Jailhouse lawyers. It’s a thing.” Dakota actually smiled.

  “Yeah. I guess it works for a small percentage.” Jayden glanced sideways at Sage, who seemed happier now than when he’d left the restaurant, so Jayden figured they weren’t pissing him off with the prison talk.

  Sage shrugged. “My case was cut-and-dried. Someone died and I was responsible, or at least I didn’t help. Lots of someones. I did my time, and it’s over. It’s not like Dakota here, who did someone else’s time.”

  “I think you’re right about the last part, Sage. Can we maybe talk about that sometime soon, Dakota?” There. He’d flat-out asked.

  “Why?” Dakota actually met his gaze. “I mean, seriously. I’ve served. Everything’s gone, and it won’t come back. Her people want me dead. My people pretend I’m dead. I’ll tell you whatever you want to know, but it doesn’t matter now.”

  Dakota didn’t sound pissed off, didn’t sound like it hurt, even though it had to, didn’t it?

  “It might matter if we test that rape kit and get a hit. I know it won’t give you your life back, but it will get your record cleared.” There was that little voice again, saying it wouldn’t be so stupid if Dakota was an ex-con without a felony record…. Shut up.

  “Like I said, whatever you want to know. I didn’t rape her. I didn’t cut her. I didn’t know her, really. I went because a friend did.”

  “Okay, what happened to your friend? Why did you end up leaving alone?” He knew Dakota had mentioned getting roughed up, but he wanted to hear it all.

  “I… I thought we were going to maybe hook up, but we got beat up instead. I left so they’d leave him alone.”

  “Did you talk to anyone at the dorm on the way in?” Jayden asked.

  “Who would I talk to? It was Saturday night. Between March madness and Sixth Street, the place was empty. Everyone was out.”

  “Hey, I just want to walk you through it.” Jayden kept his tone even. “So you, what? Went to bed?”

  “I played Silent Hill 3. I’d just bought it.”

  “How long did you play?”

  “Until the police broke down the door.” Dakota sighed softly. “I wanted to finish the game so bad. I never did.”

  Jayden pondered that. “So why didn’t your folks help you out?”

  “I’m fat and ugly. They came once. I told them I was innocent, that I was gay and I couldn’t do it. They just walked out.”

  “You’re not fat and ugly,” Sage pointed out. “Now, gay, I can see.”

  “Steve was the first one I came out to.” Dakota’s words were soft, tiny, and they broke Jayden’s heart a little, because, shit, what a fucking nightmare. “I was a lot younger then.”

  “I came out to my mom by accident,” Jayden said, offering some humiliation to make them a little more even. “She found my porn stash between my mattress and box springs. Coming out to Pop came later.” Not long later, but later.

  “Damn. That had to sting like hell.”

  “Oh God, she was so tickled. She had a cause. She was all over it.”

  “Did she find you nummy boy-on-boy action?” Sage was having too much fun.

  “No. She bought safe gay sex books and bought a rainbow flag for the yard. My dad used it to haul rocks to and from the pond he put in at the back of the yard.”

  Sage and Dakota winced in unison.

  “Oh, Pop’s a great guy, but you know there was no way he was going to have a fag flag in the yard.”

  “Your father’s a cop. Isn’t that what Adam told me?” Sage asked. “Mom’s a… law school professor?”

  “Good memory. Yeah, Pop’s retired from the force in Dallas. Homicide detective. Now he’s in Win’s line of work.”

  “That’s because cops can’t ever give it up.” Sage sighed. “I cain’t even stay mad at him for it. If he wasn’t all about helping people, I’d never have made his radar.”

  “I swear, this is the most I’ve ever heard you talk, Sage,” Jayden teased.

  Sage turned bright red and ducked his head. “Shit. I just….”

  “Hey, you’re among friends.” Way to go, Jayden thought. Kill the mood.

  “I am.” Sage rolled his eyes. “Among friends and being as bad as a teenage girl who got stood up.”

  Dakota snorted. “Not even.”

  The little hint of personality made Jayden grin. “You have sisters?”

  “Two.”

  “Oh, man. That had to be hell,” Sage said. “I had one, and she was a pain in the ass.”

  “I’m the oldest. They were just barely teenagers when I went away. They think I’m dead.” So matter-of-fact.

  Jayden couldn’t imagine not having rage. Especially if he didn’t do it. It had to be in there.

  The guy had to care, had to be holding a vast amount of pain.

  “Can we talk again soon? I’m making some inquiries, and I’ll have more questions,” Jayden told Dakota.

  “Sure. I have a phone, and I get so many texts a month.”

  “Thanks. I know this is tough.” He knew Dakota thought there was no sense dredging up all this shit, but Jayden couldn’t stop chewing on it.

  “Life on the outside is hard, but….”

  “You’ll make it work for you.” Sage’s voice was sharp, sure.

  “I will.” Dakota said it with calm confidence, and by the way Sage nodded, Jayden thought maybe that was new. He felt a little kernel of hope that he’d helpe
d with that.

  “Good deal.” What else could he say? “So what time tomorrow?”

  “Let me get hold of Troy, and I’ll call.”

  “Sounds good.” Sage pulled up at his office, and Jayden was actually disappointed. “Good to meet you, Dakota. Hope your day gets better, Sage.”

  Dakota offered him a tiny smile, and Sage rolled his eyes. “I’ll call, man. Tomorrow will have sun and water.”

  “You got it.” Jayden stepped out of the truck, the heat taking his breath for a moment. When Dakota hopped out to change seats, Jayden stopped him. “Here’s my card. Text me your number?”

  “Yes, sir. I will see you tomorrow.”

  “Yep. I’ll bring swim trunks.”

  “Thanks.” That netted him another smile, and he felt like Superman.

  What was it about this guy that made him want to fix things? It wasn’t his fucking job. It wasn’t his nature. But it was what it was. He wanted to earn more smiles. More of Dakota’s happiness.

  Jayden wondered whether proving the man innocent would help or hinder that.

  Chapter Eight

  THE WORRY about meeting new people was completely overshadowed by the promise of the river and water and floating.

  Azel had left for the weekend early that morning, saying he was spending a couple of days with his sister, so Dakota had arranged to go sleep at Sage’s after the river.

  Mr. Winchester was out of town, after all, and Sage got it, said it would be good to have someone in the house with him too.

  Deep down where Dakota hid most of the things he knew he shouldn’t think about, he was looking forward to seeing Jayden Wilson again too. Oh, he knew he was a charity case, and the guy would move on any day, but the smile had made him want to grin back.

  Besides, smiling wasn’t anything. It was just… smiling. He felt like he hadn’t done it in so long it hurt his face when he did, but he couldn’t help it.

  Hell, he needed to remember that he didn’t know anything about this lawyer. What if he was trying to use him for some TV show? What if he was just into hard cases? Hell, what if he was just bored…. That would be the worst.