Page 25 of The Long Way
“Fuck.” Drew sighed. “I wondered how long we’d be able to keep that under wraps.”
“What do you mean?” Cain demanded.
“Damon is a human being living his life.” Drew shrugged. “He didn’t move to Alaska to hide out, so it makes sense that he’d be seen at some point.”
Damon nodded, like he’d expected that. Apparently, Cain was the only one who hadn’t realized Damon would eventually be discovered.
“It was never going to be a long-term solution,” Bas said, giving Cain a significant glance. “Which is why we need a way to make Damon safe permanently.”
Cain rubbed a hand over his scalp in frustration.
“Not now, Seaver,” Damon said, making a slicing motion with his hand. “That’s an issue we can figure out later, and Cain and I have some ideas.”
“You and Cain?” Bas scoffed. “You and young Shaw here are, what? A team now?”
Cain swallowed hard and focused intently on the wood grain of the table, waiting to hear what Damon would say.
“How about for once you stop being a dick,” Drew told Bas in a low voice.
“Me?” Bas crowed, leaning into Drew’s space. “That’s rich, coming from a man who generally only relates to people by being a dick or kissing ass.”
“You use peoples’ feelings as ammunition against them!” Drew fumed. “Christ.”
He pushed his chair back from the table with a loud screech and stood up, stalking toward the kitchen. He stood by the island for a second, taking a deep breath like he was composing himself, then turned and opened a cabinet door, taking down a ring of keys.
“Here,” he said, handing Cain a key chain with a tag shaped like a Crayola-blue sand dollar. “You can take my Acura. Leave your truck in my garage.”
“Camp Burgess?” Cain said, reading the clumsy black letters inscribed on the tag.
Bas frowned. “Let me see that.” He leaned across the table to grab the keys from Cain’s hand.
Drew crossed his arms over his chest and rolled his eyes.“Yes, it’s from that summer camp we went to when we were thirteen.”
“I made this,” Bas accused, staring at Drew. “I painted it in that stupid arts and crafts class.”
“If you say so,” Drew said dismissively, like he didn’t remember one way or the other, but even Cain could tell he was lying.
“You kept this for… twenty years?” Bas demanded.
“Apparently,” Drew challenged.
Silence fell as Bas and Drew stared at one another, and tension thickened the air around them.
“We need to go,” Damon whispered in Cain’s ear, and Cain stood. He was more than ready to leave anyway.
Sebastian took one last long look at the keychain, then placed it in Cain’s palm. “Uh. Be careful,” he said without meeting Cain’s eyes.
“Yeah.” Cain agreed. He walked to Drew and put a hand on his shoulder, feeling the coiled tension in the other man’s frame. “Thanks.”
Drew nodded. “No worries.” He seemed to collect himself and frowned at Damon. “I want a text from one of you every day, letting us know you’re okay.”
“You gonna call out the cavalry if we fall off the map?” Damon joked, but Bas nodded seriously.
“Yeah. You’re not alone anymore. Cort is my family now, thanks to my stubborn brother, and that means you’re family too.”
“I don’t want Cort involved in any of this,” Damon said. “That’s why I didn’t go to him for help. He’s too close to me. Last thing I need is somebody fucking with him the way they fucked with Chelsea.”
Drew rolled his eyes. “You do recall that Cort is an FBI-trained security expert, right? He can probably take care of himself better than you.”
