Page 24 of Cole: Bloodlines
“You promise?”
The fear behind those two words nearly broke the cowboy. “I promise, baby. You know there ain’t a force in existence that can keep me away from you.”
“There better not be,” Axel whispered with a tremor.
“Try not to worry.”
“Of course, I’ll worry. I have no control over that.”
Clint smiled small. “I’ll be home soon. I love you.”
“I love you, too,” Axel said thickly. “More than life.”
When Clint lowered the phone, dampness filled his eyes. If things went bad and he didn’t make it home...
Don’t fucking start thinking that way. You’ve been through shit before—this is just more of the same.
SSDD.Clint sighed. “Same shit, different devil.”
CHAPTER 9: MAN OF FAITH
The drop-off point led theminto the impoverished slums of the city, guiding them through a web of backstreets that twisted and turned in such a confusing and convoluted pattern that even locals could easily get lost in the labyrinth. When they finally arrived, they found themselves in a desolate parking lot of an old, abandoned machinery factory. A single flickering street light cast a faint, eerie glow across the cracked concrete, where weeds had aggressively burrowed through the webbed cement, forming a stubborn takeover of the entire parking area.
“Give me the nightstick,” Gabe said.
The deputy reached under his seat and retrieved a short wooden billy club. He handed it to Gabe, who slipped it up the sleeve of his jacket.
When the men stepped out of the car, the air was thick with the smell of rust, dampness, and neglect, adding to the sense of decay and abandonment. Gabe looked at the towering structure, a shadowy figure in the night, and sensed eyes watching them from somewhere inside the hollowed-out beast.
“Do we wait here?” Gabe wondered. “Or go inside?”
A figure moved in a dark doorway. “Come closer,” the figure instructed. “Both of you.”
Gabe exchanged a glance with the deputy, and they moved forward slowly, carefully. “Remember,” Gabe whispered. “We wait until we know Abel and the kids are safe before we make our move.”
Deputy Roland nodded once.
The figure in the doorway became clearer as they approached. Gabe recognized him as the man who had visited his hospital room.
“It’s good to see you up and about,” the man said, watching Gabe. “I apologize, I wasn’t able to give you more time to rest and heal, but…” he tsked. “time is of the essence.” His eyes darkened when they shifted to the deputy. “Deputy Roland. It’s been a long time. Can’t say I’ve missed you, since you were the one who put me in prison.”
Gabe looked at the deputy; was that true? Or was this scripted?
“What can I say?” Roland drawled. “You were a killer. That’s where you belonged.”
“I should have known you would rush to warn Henry about me,” the man murmured. “But too little, too late.”
The deputy narrowed his eyes as the two appeared to be locked in a silent standoff. “He will never be what you want him to be,” Roland said softly, with a distinct bitter edge to his voice. “You should have understood that years ago.”
There was something going on between the two men that Gabe wasn’t privy to, some underlying animosity concerning Cole. Gabe didn’t like his husband caught in the middle of whatever this was.
“We’ll see,” the madman replied methodically. “There’s more than one way to…” His eyes flicked to Gabe. “… inspire a man to realize his destiny.”
The deputy’s face twitched. “You’re wasting your time.”
“It’s my time to waste, now isn’t it?” the killer muttered, and turned his focus on Gabe. “Henry chose well. I could see you were a man of integrity as soon as I met you.”
“You said you would trade Abel and the kids for me,” Gabe said. “I want proof that they’re safe.”
