Page 14 of Remote Access

Quincy's breathing returned to normal, so he knew he was listening.

"When I was thirteen, a picture of me and my mother was in the papers. I'd just won a science fair at the school and also done well at a meet, so a local reporter interviewed us. I'm not trying to brag, but I had a lot of ambition early. Hayrick was in prison and he'd spent twenty years there for breaking into a facility known for animal testing. A guard was killed.” He paused. “You probably know that.”

“I do.”

“What you don’t know is that he wasn't alone, but he was the only one who got caught. When he saw my mother in that newspaper, happy and with a teen son, his resentment toward her must have festered. The day after he got out, he hunted me down and found me in an internet cafe." He paused and slid his hand under his cheek. The damn pillow wasn't very soft. "Seems he'd been engaged to my mother."

"She never told you about it?"

"No. She was always the champion of some cause or another. Always protesting and marching. What Hayrick said she did? I can easily see her breaking into a lab to free a bunch of animals from testing. And because she was the most trusting person I've ever met, it's easy to understand that Hayrick played her back then. Her and probably the other people in that group. I searched and never found mention there were other people involved, so I have no way of knowing how many people were with them. Little things Hayrick gave away over the years let me know it was more than a few. I have a feeling he may have all of their kids under his thumb, too." He shivered and sat up so he could get under the covers. "There was something my mom was always sad about and I have the feeling it was the death of that man—the one Hayrick went to prison for killing."

"It would be hard to live with that."

There was something in the ex-cop's voice that told Lane he was familiar with that emotion. He could imagine. He knew a lot of cops never had to shoot anyone, but from that tone, he could guess Quincy had.

"There's no statute of limitations on manslaughter," Lane whispered. “Hayrick promised he'd see my mother rot in prison. It was always just us—she never told me who my father was. My existence infuriated Hayrick."

"So that's why he blackmailed you into doing his…dark bidding? Is he your father?"

"His dark bidding?" Lane actually cracked a smile. "Leave me to do my dark bidding on the internet!"

He waited for Quincy to laugh.

"It's a line from a movie." He waited again. "What We Do in the Shadows? It's a funny movie and not that old. You should watch it." He snorted. "Dark bidding."

"You have to admit this whole story sounds pretty ridiculous. I thought the phrase fit."

Anger curled in his stomach. "Ridiculous or not, it ismystory. And he's not my father. The math is way off." He took a deep breath, grimacing over the stench of stale piped-in air. "What are you looking for, because the stolen goods were a complete surprise to you?"

The cop was quiet several long moments. “They weren’t. Not really. But that's not something I'm ready to go into. Suffice to say, me looking into him made me lose my job. And I get off knowing my ex-boss is sweating it out. Me working for the guy."

"You think he was dirty?"

"Oh, I know he is."

Something thumped in the room next to them and Lane listened as what sounded like a huge family got settled. He closed his eyes, finally feeling his body give. Right before he dropped off, he heard Quincy shift closer to the edge of the bed.

"Lane?"

"Yeah?"

"I bet it's hard to live with the things he made you do, too."

Lane didn't answer, but a little of the panic that had been keeping him awake leaked away. Maybe this cop wouldn't turn him in once he had the whole story. He could only hope as he fell asleep.

* * *

Quincy woke, immediately aware he was in a strange place. He blinked at the beige striped wall, memories of the crazy night before coming in fast. He turned over, half expecting Lane to be gone because the kid had tossed and turned a long time, but he wasn't.

He slept on his side, facing Quincy, and the tight expression he normally carried had softened in sleep, making him look even younger. And…handsome. He had elegant features and soft full lips and in a better world, Quincy would be able to map the freckles across his face with his mouth. He’d always had a thing for freckles. Lane’s dark hair flopped over one eye, his jaw slightly unhinged. A soft snore fell from his lips and Quincy couldn't stop his smirk.

The stupid kid was adorable.

And trouble with all capital letters.

Lane was also no kid. He knew very well that he continued to think of him like that so he wasn't tempted to taste that soft mouth or those sexy freckles. But he was. Way too damned much. So, instead of letting himself lie there and get hard, he quietly got out of the bed and walked to the window. The heavy curtains weren't letting in a lot of morning light, but their room faced east, so the second he moved one side, he was blinded by the ball of fire aimed directly at his face. He slammed his eyes closed, but left the curtain open to get used to the light. He didn't really think anyone would have found them, so he wasn't feeling the urge to run and as he expected, he saw nothing suspicious in the parking lot.

He was also pissed he hadn’t slept more than a few hours.

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