Authors: Carol Lynne
Priest bit his bottom lip to keep himself from laughing.
“I love you, too, sweetheart. I’ve been busy, but I’m here
now. You want to meet me at O’Brien’s or what?”
“We’l be there in thirty minutes. Prepare to have your
ass kicked.” Jessup hung up the phone before Priest had a
chance to answer the threat.
God, it felt good to be close to Jessup again.
* * * *
papers yet to grade, Kenny sat across from Luke. Luke
finished off his beer before signal ing for yet another.
“You haven’t slept much, have you?” Kenny asked,
nursing his second beer of the night.
Luke stared at his best friend through gritty, swol en
eyes. “What do you think?”
Kenny reached across the table and squeezed Luke’s
hand. “I think you need a vacation.”
“I think I need a lobotomy.” Although he wasn’t drunk,
Luke was wel on his way. Perhaps if he got wasted, he’d
fal into bed and pass out for ten hours of uninterrupted
sleep. He’d loved his mother more than any other person in
his life, but another night of reliving her death would surely
push him over the edge.
Moby set another beer in front of Luke and removed
the empty glass. “Anything else I can get you?”
Luke shook his head. “Not unless you’ve given up on
that ugly sonofabitch behind the bar.”
Moby chuckled. “And give up al this?” He gestured to
the room around him. “What would I tel al my admirers?”
“That you’ve final y come to your senses,” Luke
replied. He smiled up at Moby. “But that’s okay. Sean’s a
hel of a lot bigger than I am and he seems determined to
keep you for himself.”
“I hope so.” Moby grinned before taking off back
across the bar.
“Holy fuck!” Kenny exclaimed, looking at something
over Luke’s left shoulder. “That’s the biggest black dude
I’ve ever seen in my life.”
Luke’s heart rate sped up, but he refused to look
behind him. He only knew one man who fit that description.
“His name’s Priest.”
“Priest? That guy you’re always talking about every
time you get drunk and horny?”
“Yeah.” Luke decided to make sure they were talking
about the same man. “Seven foot, African-American with a
bald head and a tattoo on his neck?”
“Shit.” Kenny sighed and nodded his head. “What is it
with you and guys twice your size?”
Luke remembered the girth and length of Priest’s
cock and grinned. “I like ‘em big.” He leaned towards
Kenny. “What’s he doing now?”
“Waiting for his drink. But he’s staring at me like he’d
love nothing more than to remove my head from my body.”
Kenny pul ed his wal et out and slapped a twenty on the
table. “I think it’s time for me to go. You staying?”
“Hel yeah.” Luke’s cock had already begun to harden.
“And I took tomorrow off so don’t cal me in the morning.”
Kenny stood and withdrew an envelope from his coat
pocket. “Eli wanted me to give you these. They’re the
doubles from the pictures he took at the barbecue.”
“Thanks.” Luke glanced inside the envelope. The
pictures had been taken several months ago.
“I know how much shit you’re dealing with. Don’t lose
your head over that guy just because it’s easier than
dealing with your problems.”
Luke stared up at Kenny. The man was more than a
best friend, always had been. After Luke’s mom had died
and his aunt had moved to town to look after him, Kenny’s
family had welcomed him into their home with open arms.
Looking back, Luke knew the reason Kenny’s parents
wanted him there was because it kept Kenny busy and out
of their hair. None of that mattered. For a six-year-old boy
who had just lost the one stable force in his life, Kenny had
quickly become his everything. “Love you, bro.”
“Love you, too.” Kenny yanked on a handful of Luke’s
hair playful y. “Give me a cal tomorrow once you rol out of
bed.”
“Wil do.”
After Kenny left, Luke waited for Priest to approach
the table. He thumbed through the pictures to keep himself
busy, but his mind was on the man behind him. Ten minutes
into a fresh beer, Luke final y turned around. His gaze
roamed the bar until it landed in the darkest corner, the one
reserved for making out. Luke had spent many Friday and
Saturday nights in that same damn corner. Of course that
was before Priest had come into town and ruined his love
life.
Priest was sitting at a table with Al Jessup and Brac
Riesling. As if sensing Luke’s stare, Priest broke off his
conversation and turned his head to look directly at Luke.
With a crook of his finger, Priest beckoned Luke over.
Although he knew he would probably come off as too
anxious, Luke got to his feet and stuffed the envelope into
his back pocket. With the knee brace stil in place, he made
his way across the bar. Priest’s black eyebrows drew
together as he watched Luke’s awkward limp.
Before Luke reached the table, Jessup and Brac
turned to stare at him. Jessup said something to Priest that
Luke couldn’t hear, but the irritated expression on Priest’s
face told him the big man didn’t appreciate it.
Priest stood and took Luke’s beer from him. “You
okay?”
“Yeah,” Luke answered, al owing Priest to guide him
down onto a chair. “Stepped into a pothole while jogging.”
Like the first time they’d met, Priest’s touch sent
Luke’s body into overdrive. With his leg stretched out to the
side of the table, Luke reached for his beer. It was then that
he noticed how badly his hands were shaking. He quickly
withdrew them and tucked them under the table out of sight.
“When did you get into town?” Luke asked.
“A few minutes ago.” Priest settled his chair next to
Luke’s, close enough that their thighs brushed.
“Are you here for long?” Luke asked.
Jessup cleared his throat. It was obvious he wasn’t
pleased with Luke’s intrusion. “We were just getting to that.”
When you so rudely interrupted, Luke silently
finished Jessup’s sentence.
“Couple weeks maybe,” Priest answered. “I hate to
work during the holidays.”
Luke realised how little he knew about the man who
had so captured his dreams. “What is it that you do?”
Priest, Brac and Jessup exchanged glances. “I work
in the security field,” Priest final y stated.
“Like a bodyguard?” Luke thought of the men who had
guarded Stretch. Although he couldn’t prove it, he stil
believed one of them had taken the photos that had
eventual y made their way to the gossip rag.
Priest shrugged, drawing Luke’s attention to his
muscled shoulders. “More national than individual.”
“Like CIA or something?” Luke asked.
Priest rested his hand on Luke’s upper thigh, out of
sight of the others. Luke squeezed his legs together,
trapping Priest’s long fingers between them. God, he
wished he had something to rub against. Luke’s cock had
already started to leak pre-cum, a wet spot slowly forming
on the front of his jeans.
“Or something,” Priest mumbled. His nostrils flared as
he slid his hand higher between Luke’s legs.
“So glad we came out tonight,” Jessup half growled.
Luke stil ed Priest’s hand. He might have been half
drunk, but he knew when someone didn’t want him around.
“I should let you get back to your friends,” he told Priest.
Priest pressed his thumb against Luke’s obvious
erection. “I do need to talk to them, but it won’t take long.
Wil you stil be around?”
Luke thought of their previous encounter in Priest’s
rental car. As much as he wanted to get fucked, doing it in
a car wasn’t an option with his injured knee. “How about if I
write down my address and you come by after you’re
finished?”
Priest groaned when his thumb found the wet spot on
the front of Luke’s jeans. “Give me thirty minutes.”
Looking for something to write on, Luke removed the
envelope from his pocket and pul ed out the first picture of
himself in the stack. “Got a pen?”
Brac rose and quickly found Moby before returning
with a black pen. “Here ya go.”
Luke wrote his address and cel phone number on the
back of the picture before handing it to Priest. “Just in case
you forget what I look like between now and then.”
Priest turned the photograph over and smiled. “I’l be
there in twenty,” he amended.
Luke stood and nodded towards Brac and Jessup.
“Nice to see you guys again.” He felt Priest’s stare like a
touch as he slowly made his way out of the bar. If he
hurried, he’d have just enough time to pick up his dirty
clothes and make the bed before Priest arrived.
* * * *
Priest took one last glance at the picture before
sliding it into his wal et. He’d come to several conclusions
within the past fifteen minutes, and would need Jessup’s
assistance with one of them. “I had a fight with Jeffries, told
him I quit.”
Jessup sat up straighter. “You know you can’t…” He
shook his head. “What happened?”
Before Jessup could go al deputy on him, Priest
decided to lay it al out. “Watched the news lately?”
“Yeah.” Jessup’s eyebrows drew together for a
moment before shooting up towards his hairline. “You
didn’t.”
Priest nodded. “I was setup. According to the file, the
woman was planning to poison the water supply
somewhere in the DC area.”
“And you didn’t check it out first?” Brac asked.
“I was on a tight timeline. The woman I saw going into
the house matched the description I was given. According
to Jeffries she was a doctor, but the news said she was a
marketing executive.” Priest swal owed around the lump in
his throat caused by the ongoing guilt. “I fucked up. And for
the first time in my life, I think of myself as a murderer.”
Jessup whistled. “Shit.”
Priest had been either ordered as a Marine or hired
as a contractor to kil hundreds of men during his career,
but never had he felt guilty about an assignment before. The
job in Virginia had changed everything.
“So why did someone want her dead?” Jessup
asked.
“I don’t know, but I’m damn wel going to find out.”
“You need to talk to Jeffries before this thing goes any
further. Tel him to start the bal rol ing to get you out,”
Jessup suggested.
“Not yet. First I need to do some digging on who real y
owned that house before Jeffries sends someone to make
sure I don’t divulge what he thinks I know.” The way Priest
figured it, he had at least a week before anyone figured out
he was in Cattle Val ey. “I may need the leverage.”
“Don’t you think hanging out in a bar is a bad idea
then?” Jessup asked.
Priest grinned. “I’ve been in town for three days.
Believe me, I thoroughly checked out the area first.”
“What’l you do if you find out you were hired to kil an
innocent woman?” Brac asked.
“Oh, I’l find out, and when I do I’l have my answer as
to what comes next,” Priest explained.
“What’s that mean?” Brac asked.
Jessup wrapped his arm around his partner. “You’re
better off not knowing.”
Priest had no moral qualms about kil ing people who
threatened the security of his country. It had always been a
matter of kil ing one to save a hundred as far as Priest was
concerned.
“Anyway, I wanted to fil you in on what was going on. I
might need your help to watch my back if it comes to that.”
Priest hoped Jessup was stil the friend he’d relied on in the
past.
“And the agency?” Jessup asked.
“I told you, I’m done. I’ve got enough money in the
bank to live ten lifetimes. The agency isn’t what it used to
be if they’d accept a job like the one I was hired to do.”
“Just promise me you won’t go al Rambo on them
until you find out the truth,” Jessup said.
Priest held up his hands. “For the next week al I plan
to do is fuck and hack into a few databases.”
Jessup’s eyes narrowed. “Are you sure messing
around with Luke is a good idea? You could be putting him
in danger.”
“Don’t worry about Luke. He’l be in good hands.”
Priest parked his truck three blocks from Luke’s
house. He pul ed the picture Luke had given him out of his
wal et and stared at it. The photograph showed a muscular
blond guy with his arm slung over Luke’s shoulders.
Something about the tableau unsettled him.
Although Luke had often been on his mind since