Page 58 of Remote Access

“There’s nothing for me here, so I think I’m going to travel light this time around. Just give all my shit away.” He started the car. “You sure you don’t want your job back? Because you’ll get it.”

“No. I’m ready for something completely new. Ready to start fresh. I want to do that in Nascent Bay with Lane.”

“Then I’m with you all the way, buddy.”

Chapter Twenty

Green. The Maine woods held so many different shades of green. From the bright club mosses at his feet to the darker, almost black of the spruce trees, Lane’s morning job was a feast for the eyes. The thick tangle of woods and bushes held so many birds, their calls a symphony of music added to those of the seagulls who nested along the edges of the bay. He breathed the cool air in deep as he desperately tried to let the scenery and the sounds pull up any happiness he had left.

He had access to all of Hayrick’s files. The man was dead and nobody knew it. Keeping up through email had been so much easier than he expected and with Helix and Shelli here, he certainly wasn’t lonely. Hell, he’d already contacted more blackmailed guys, one of whom planned to come within the month. The other wasn’t going to be long after, and Lane knew, he just knew, they would all be like him. Ready to use all that money making sure every one of those stolen collectibles got back to their rightful owners.

He’d even driven three hours south to mail back the poster.

So finding happiness shouldn’t be this hard.

He missed Quincy. Missed him so badly it felt like he was missing the part of himself. The text messages and calls weren’t the same. The naked selfies just made everything harder. Literally.

The night before, Quincy had only managed a quick call and Lane had spent the next hour jerking off in the shower and trying to come up with ideas for how to move the operation. Surprisingly, though, he loved this place in Maine. Hayrick’s taint was gone along with the bodies Helix had managed to make disappear.

But he couldn’t bring himself to care about what they’d done. Shelli had trouble, but the poor girl hadn’t been exposed to anything that dark before.

And here Lane was trying to run himself to death just so he could not sit around, thinking of moving to Oklahoma. Without the release of the files, he was safe. All the kids were safe.

He had to constantly remind himself of that fact. Ten years of his life under that evil man’s thumb and his newfound freedom felt alien and occasionally, the rush of strangeness that ran through him made him feel as if he’d stepped into a dream.

He stopped and bent, propping his hands on his knees to try and catch his breath. This wasn’t working. He couldn’t outrun the feelings he had for Quincy Holt. He turned and began the walk back, surprised as always that the sight of the big house didn’t fill him with anything but hope. He’d burned Hayrick’s bed and turned the master bedroom into a massive office for Shelli.

Shelli was one of the most interesting people he’d ever met. She’d been taken off the streets at twelve after Hayrick caught her trying to lift his wallet. She hadn’t been alone and her older brother had traded his freedom to keep her from going to jail. He was one of the kids that they hadn’t been able to find because Hayrick had moved him overseas, his health staying dependent on Shelli doing everything she was asked. She’d been stuck here eight years, only speaking to her brother over Skype and he never would say where he was.

She hadn’t been able to get a hold of him since all this had gone down and Lane knew it was tearing her to shreds. She’d been extra snippy with them all. She’d already moved a bed into the dressing room off the master bedroom. Said she had squirrel tendencies and preferred the small space.

She was weird. Cool, but weird.

He hoped they found her brother.

As he walked around the side of the house, he spotted an unfamiliar truck and his heart nearly jumped from his chest. He was about to run back around when he realized someone stood leaning against the other side of the vehicle. His heart instead started beating strong when he recognized that shoulder-length fall of silky brown hair and he let out a noise that alerted the man to his presence.

Quincy turned, a smile on his mouth as he stared at Lane. Lane couldn’t help himself. He ran around the truck and slammed into Quincy so hard the man grunted and had to grab onto him so he didn’t bounce back off. The sweat pouring down his face and soaking his clothes didn’t even stop him as he grabbed onto the other man’s head and smashed his mouth onto Quincy’s. He opened for him instantly even as laughing words spilled into his mouth.

“Missed me, I take it?”

“I didn’t know I could miss anyone so much. I can’t stand that you live in Oklahoma and I think I’m going to have to give up this place and move there. I’ve been thinking about it. We could base operations there and I could—”

Quincy shoved a hand over his mouth. “Shh. There’s no need. Gareth and I came here. We like what you and Helix are trying to do. We want to help you find the other people Hayrick was blackmailing and we want to help you return all those items.”

“You could live here. There’s plenty of money.”

“I know.” Quincy’s lip turned up at one corner. “I love that we’ll be spending all the man’s money to give back every single thing he stole, but we’ll probably find jobs in town as well.”

“Wait.” Lane unwrapped his arms and stepped back to stare as all the words started to really sink in. “You are really moving here? To help? To live with me here? When?”

“I really am. And right now. If you’ll have me. We never talked about living together—” He grunted when Lane’s mouth slammed onto his again. They kissed until the scruff on Quincy’s face had Lane’s cheeks and jaw tingling and sensitive. He didn’t care. The joy swelling in his heart threatened to burst in a scream of pure elation.

“I love you,” he whispered. “I love you so goddamn much I’ve been aching with it.”

“I love you, too, Lane Becker. I missed you like crazy when I left and knew pretty much on the plane that I’d be coming back to you here.”

“So Gareth is going to stay too?”

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