Carolyn Gray
boy. The one to fulfill parental expectations. Though they’d never said, he’d known his parents
hadn’t been too happy when he blew off college in favor of a ballet career, even though his mom
had danced. And when he’d come out, his mother’s cold anger had chilled him. At least his
dad—and Nina, of course—hadn’t cared.
As Gev approached the room, he hesitated, hoping Nina was alone and Mason hadn’t come
with her. He opened the door and poked his head inside. She was alone. “Nina,” he said in relief.
She whirled around, her eyes widening. “Gev. Oh, Gev, you’re really all right.” She rushed
to him and hugged him fiercely before pulling back and cradling his head in her hands. She
searched his face, her eyes brimming. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. It’s been pretty rough, but I’m okay now.”
She hugged him again. He wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her neck, a
shudder escaping him. He refused to cry, even though, dammit, there was every reason to cry.
Chad was dead.
He, on the other hand, was lucky as hell. He pulled away. “Can we get out of here?”
“Lee’s coming. Don’t you want to wait?”
Gev slid his hand down to hers, a jolt running through him at the thought of seeing Lee
again. But he didn’t want Nina to detect his reaction. “Yeah. I guess so. I forgot they’d found
him. I saw him last night. He’s changed a lot.”
She motioned for him to follow her and headed for an unoccupied couch. As she sat, she
pulled him down with her and turned sideways so she could see him.
“Need anything to drink? They have a little refrigerator in here.”
“No, I’m fine. I need something to eat more.”
She raised her hand and messed with his bangs. “Sloppy.”
He pulled away, though he didn’t mind. “Of course. It’s my style.”
Her blue eyes shimmered. “I’m so, so sorry, Gev. I liked Chad. Very much.”
Gev turned away from her, dropping his hands to his knees, then hanging them between his
legs. He squirmed. The couch pretty much sucked; he could swear a spring was poking him in
the back. “I know. I can’t believe—” He looked at her. “If it’d been me, if I hadn’t gone
running—”
“But you did,” she said, her voice fierce. Two women passing looked down at them. Nina
bent her head closer to his. “You did. You’re okay. It’s going to be all right. Understand?”
“Yeah. I guess.”
“What happened, happened. Until we find out who did this, you don’t go blaming yourself,
hear me? Or after. Anytime. People are going to pound this into you, the what-if crap, but don’t
let them get to you, okay?”
Gev drew in his breath. He hadn’t thought about that, but she was right, of course. The
next few months were going to be hell, no matter what. “I’m not looking forward to seeing his
parents.”
She rubbed his shoulder. “The other guy, did you know him?”
“Nope.” Gev sat back, trying to avoid the bad spot on the back of the couch. “I didn’t.
Didn’t even meet him. Just saw him sleeping. All I know is, Chad picked him up last night.” He
ran his hands through his hair. “Biggest mistake of that guy’s life.”
Long Way Home
57
“We’ll have to find out who he is.”
“Yeah. I told Lee about you and the kids.”
She patted his knee, then yawned. “Sorry. What did he think?”
“He said he admired you. Ready-made triplets, couldn’t imagine it.”
“Is he married? Does he have kids?”
He really didn’t want to look at his sister when he was talking about Lee. He wasn’t sure
why either. Maybe because he couldn’t get Lee out of his mind. Maybe because he’d gone
through a period where he’d collected all of Dream’s posters, CDs, anything he could get.
Especially the ones that actually had pictures of Lee. Yeah, it had been silly and very queenish
behavior, but he was little more than a kid, and his memories of Lee had all been marked by how
nice Lee was, always interested in him and what he was doing. Once, he’d even come to Gev’s
defense when some kids were picking on him. After Lee had talked with them, they’d stopped.
What Lee had done, Gev never knew. And that had been after Stefan disappeared, he realized.
That was really the last time he and Lee had talked.
“No, not married or any kids. He really didn’t say much. We were with Nick and his
bodyguard, so we didn’t get much time to talk. He was going to leave last night. Figured that’d
be it.”
“He stayed here, though. Think he’d visit the parents? They’ll be excited to hear he’s in
town.”
Gev wasn’t so sure of that. “Speaking of the ’rents, I need to tell them about this.”
She sighed. “I know. I think it’s probably best to go tell them yourself. I’ll go with you, if
you’d like.”
She looked tired. He hated to put her out of her way. “Thanks.” He hugged her. “Damn. I
don’t have my car here.”
She looked confused for a moment, then widened her eyes. “Oh yeah.” She bit her lip.
“They’ll go over that too, I imagine. Is Screech okay?”
“Manny has her. The best witness they have, and it’s a cat.” He groaned at that. “So you’ll
know, they thought I was a suspect at first. They had to ask me a lot of questions. I told them
about Stefan.”
Her shoulders slumped. “It’ll never end, will it? Do they think there’s a connection?”
“Maybe. Lee was given tickets to the ballet anonymously. I looked up after my first
number, and there he was. I about fell off the stage, seeing him again.”
“He must look the same,” she said, smiling gently at him. “Or you still have a crush on
him, after all these years.”
“I don’t—” He closed his mouth, feeling his face heat. Damn sisters. “How’d you know I
had a crush on him?” He wanted to protest, but unfortunately, he knew that would be useless.
She slid her arm through his and leaned her head on his shoulder. “Since you were, oh,
about seventeen or so, I guess. The moment you got your first Dream poster, and unlike all the
girls, you wanted ones that had all the band members, including Lee. And then you got other
pictures and cut out Nick Kilmain and the others. It was pretty obvious you were crushing bad on
Lee.”
“You were only thirteen!”
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Carolyn Gray
She tapped her head. “And wise beyond my years. I realized pretty early my baby brother
was gay.”
“I’m not your baby brother,” he protested, but she’d made him laugh. “And yeah, I figured
as much by then too. Impossible to deny anymore.”
“It used to make you mad, I remember, when people found out you danced and assumed
you were gay.”
“That was absolutely beside the point, that’s why. Lots of straight dancers.”
“True. Maybe one or two. Maybe we can leave for a little while, get you something to eat.
Would you like that? My treat. There must be a Subway nearby.”
“That would be fantastic.” He got up, offering her his hand and yanking her up as he had
when they were kids, then pulled her into a hug.
“Gev,” she said, releasing him except for one hand on his arm. “I’m really glad—so very
glad—you’re okay. If anything had happened to you—”
“I know, but as you said, nothing did. And I’m fine now.”
“But if there’s a connection?”
“If there is, they’ll find it. In the meantime, can I stay with you? I’m kind of homeless at
the moment.”
“Bad news—the girls are sick. They only started antibiotics this morning. We were at the
doctor’s when I got the phone call. I had to get their prescription filled before I could get here.”
Which explained why she looked so exhausted. “What’s wrong?”
She made a face. “Strep again. I swear, I want them to share, but this is ridiculous. I wish
they had a vaccine for it. Only Colby is okay, and I’ve sent him to the grandparents’. He’d love it
if you stayed there with him.”
“All right.” He really didn’t want to stay with his parents, but if the kid was there, at least
his mom would stay chilled. Her instant grandkids were the only thing she was happy about
anymore. They walked toward the front door. Gev pushed the door open and let Nina go through.
“No problem,” he said. “He needs a break from all those women anyway. Poor kid might turn
out gay or something, being forced to play dress-up all the time like they make him.”
She ruffled his hair, and for a moment, he actually believed everything would be okay.
* * * *
than an hour before. He couldn’t believe this had happened, that Gev’s roommate and his friend
had been killed. That if not for going running that morning and staying away for a while, Gev
would’ve been killed too.
The thought made Lee sick.
Having to go into a police station after all these years made him sick too. He sat for a while
in the car, dreading what was to come next. He knew all too well what they’d do—put him in a
room by himself with the head cop or a detective, then grill him about his whereabouts. Never
mind he had a solid alibi, at least for part of the morning. He wondered why it was so imperative
they see him immediately.
He really didn’t want to talk to them, wished he’d left with Nick and Mutt, wished he had
never talked Nick into going to the ballet.
Long Way Home
59
And yet, seeing Gev again might’ve been worth it. And he had to admit to himself as he
turned off the car and got out, the thought of seeing Gev again was the whole reason he’d stayed
behind in the first place. He didn’t want to examine his motives too closely. Gev wasn’t Stefan,
and Lee wasn’t stupid enough to make the mistake of thinking otherwise. Gev was very much
alive. And very different from his brother. A flash of naked skin rippled through Lee’s mind—
Gevan as he pulled on a shirt, Lee’s mind reversing the action and pulling it off. He forced the
image away.
He had to keep his thoughts from dwelling deeper than that.
Schooling his features, he entered the building and headed for the front desk. He walked up
to the woman sitting at her computer, one phone tucked beneath her chin, another beside her. She
did a double-take, her eyes widening. Great. Another fan. They seemed to be everywhere, which
of course they were since the comeback tour had begun. Being in one of the world’s most talked-
about bands had its drawbacks, but usually he could get by unnoticed.
“Mr. Nelson?”
Lee looked up. A silver-haired man in a suit approached. Lee waited, tense already. “Yes,
I’m Lee Nelson.”
“I’m Marc Harrison, the detective assigned to the Chad Hill case. Will you come with
me?”
Lee followed Harrison. He assumed Chad Hill was Gev’s roommate. Dead roommate.
They entered a crowded hallway, not speaking. A hundred questions floated through Lee’s mind.
For instance, where was Gev?
“In here, please,” Harrison said, opening a door to a room full of people. Lee wondered if
there’d be any privacy anywhere. This was like on cop shows—desk after desk, computers at
each one, along with harried-looking police officers. People dashing about, some laughter, a lot
of silly decorations on some desks, none on others. This was where the normal day-to-day life of
a cop not out on patrol took place.
“That way. We’ll take one of those.” Harrison indicated a series of doors at the end of the
room. “Margaret,” he asked an older, faded-blonde woman at the closest desk. “Any of the
rooms available?” Unlike most in this room, instead of a uniform she wore a smart gray suit with
a bright fuchsia blouse. She greeted Lee warmly, but without the flash of recognition he’d come
to dread.
“Um, let me see. I’m sure we can help you, Marc.” She slipped on a pair of rimless glasses
and shuffled papers around on her desk. “Now, who moved my calend—There it is.” She read
through it, then peered through her glasses at the series of closed doors. Her desk smelled like
peppermints. Lee wondered if Gev had gone through all this already or if they’d taken him
somewhere else. He also wondered if Gev was considered a suspect.
Lee didn’t see how he wouldn’t be.
“Take room two,” Margaret said, smiling briefly at Lee. “Cheri should be about done.”
Harrison motioned for Lee to follow him. He opened a door, presumably to room two.
Inside, a young woman dressed casually but with a badge on her jacket sat at a table spread with
a scattering of files. She looked up at them, a flustered look on her face. “Time’s up, Cheri,”
Harrison said.
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Carolyn Gray
She sighed and started to gather her things. “I swear, if they don’t fix the damn a/c in our
offices soon, I’m going on strike.” She stood, stuffing her things into a black case. “They fixed
yours yet?”
“No, still set to sauna.”
“Because they’re blasting all the cold air into here.” She rolled her eyes, pulled a purse
over her shoulder, and yanked the case up. “It’s all yours.”
“We shouldn’t be too long, if you want it back.”
She ran a hand over her hair, messing up what she might’ve meant to straighten. Her gaze
darted to Lee. She blinked, eyes widening briefly, but said nothing. “That’s okay. Think I’ll head