Page 18 of Cole: Bloodlines
Them… but not Gabe.
Cole nodded and lowered his head as he slid the bracelet through his fingers, his heart slowly squeezing as if caught in a vice that was steadily tightening on the dying muscle. Feeling Dane’s heavy stare, Cole lifted his head again. Dane wasn’t looking at him, but at the bracelet.
“What’s that?” Dane asked with a slight pinch to his brow.
Cole handed it to him. “Ezra made it for me,” he whispered. “I made one for him exactly like on his birthday, and he wanted to make one for me, too. He said they could be like…” he swallowed thickly, his eyes stinging. “… boyfriend bracelets.” Dane handed it back, and Cole fingered the precious gift, his tears thickening. “He said he would never take it off.” His voice cracked with emotion. “I said I wouldn’t either.” His chin trembled. “But I did… after I ran away. It hurt too much to look at it.” He sniffed and returned it to the wallet, stuffing the wallet back into his pocket. When he glanced up, Dane was standing still as a statue, a troubled look on his face. “Dane?”
The man blinked and brushed his hand over his mouth. “You said… Ezra’s was exactly like it?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“And you guys made them by hand… yourselves?”
“Yes.” Cole frowned. “Why…”
Dane rubbed his mouth again, anxiety tightening his face. “Because…” he licked his lips as the three men looked at him. “Because… the deputy was wearing one exactly like yours.”
The deputy shifted in the driver’s seat and reached over to adjust the heater, his jacket sleeve pulling up slightly. Gabe stared at the braided leather bracelet on his wrist. It seemed out of place—not something he would expect a man like the deputy to wear.
Glancing at Gabe, the deputy straightened up behind the wheel and pointed to the bracelet. “Nice, huh?”
“It looks handmade,” Gabe murmured.
The deputy examined the bracelet, twisting his wrist, and smiled. “It was.” An odd look seeped into his eyes. “Made with… love.” He cleared his throat, and his eyes cleared. “I wear it… as a reminder.”
“Of a friend?”
Roland’s mouth twitched. “Of a… lover.” His eyes took on an almost glassy sheen—not tears, but… something else. Something not soendearing.
“Did something happen to them?”
“Yeah,” the man mused softly, drifting away for a moment before snapping back to the present. He winked at Gabe. “But I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. And that what is meant to be, will be… one way or another. What do you think?”
Gabe nodded. “Sure,” he murmured. “I suppose I believe the same.”
The deputy was silent for a moment, then asked, “So, if you don’t get your friends back and the Mangler kills them…” he glanced at Gabe. “…will you still believe everything happens for a reason?”
“That isn’t going to happen,” he said tightly.
“Just sayingif,”the deputy said. “Would you still believe that? Accept it as just part of this nightmare we call life?”
“I don’t think aboutwhat ifswhen my friends’ lives are at stake. I imagine getting them home safe—and work toward that goal.”
“All right.” Roland nodded. “Not a bad policy, I suppose. Stay positive, right?”
The more the deputy talked, the more his voice scratched an “itch” in Gabe’s brain… like a fingernail scraping at a scab, peeling away the dead flesh to reopen the wound. And the more hescraped, the more the raw matter underneath became exposed. Amemorygone dormant by trauma and anesthesia… now, slowly waking up.
“What...” Cole’s breath labored as a weight pressed down on him. His entire body went numb. “What do you mean, he was wearing one exactly like it?”
“I saw it,” Dane confirmed. “When he was sitting here, just before he went outside.”
Cole’s mind was too overwhelmed to process the new information completely. There was too much trauma vying for his attention, and this small, yet highly significant detail started to short-circuit his brain.
Maybe he found it in the underground cell where Ezra was kept.
But why would hewearit? HeknewCole had given it to Ezra for his birthday—because Cole hadtoldhim.
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