Wayward Son (24 page)

“We think we should have a press conference.”

Mikey’s head shot up, but his father beat him to the punch. “A press conference?” The phone squealed at the volume of his outburst. “Are you kidding me?”

Mr. Vickery’s voice followed, much more reasonable. “Hear him out, Robert. I agree with him. Have I led you wrong before?”

Rev. O’Malley subsided, though Mikey could practically see the displeasure on his father’s face. Mikey couldn’t decide whether to protest—he didn’t have the kind of history with Mr. Vickery his father did, but he did trust Mr. Day—but then a warm hand landed on his leg. Mikey cut his gaze to meet Jimmy’s as Jimmy squeezed his leg.

Let the man talk, honey.
Mikey could hear the words in his head as clearly as if Jimmy had spoken them aloud. He took a breath, tried to ignore the flock of butterflies in his stomach, and turned his attention back to the lawyers.

“Mrs. Donaldson and Ms. Cartwright, her lawyer, already have the ear of the local media,” Mr. Day was saying. “Ignoring that would only make things worse for our case. Operating defensively, by only responding to questions or actions, allows them to control the story.”

He nodded to Quinn, who stood and handed a sheet of paper each to Mikey, Jimmy, and Mr. Day. “Warren, we’re looking over the document I prepared now. What I’m proposing is that we hit this latest development head-on. Schedule a press conference, on our terms and our turf. We’ll coach both of you, but we’ll have a limit to how long we’ll allow questions to proceed before cutting things off.”

He turned to Mikey. “Michael, this paper contains a brief statement for you that gives a complete denial of the allegations against you. Your father will give a similar statement, throwing his full support behind you. We will provide the media with printed summaries of the response filing that will lay out the timeline and explain how you could not possibly have done what the lawsuit alleges.”

“We need to move quickly on this,” Mr. Vickery put in. “The longer Mrs. Donaldson is running the show, the more difficult it becomes to turn things around.”

“Agreed,” Mr. Day replied. “As soon as we’re done here, I’ll confer with my client and provide a full statement as soon as possible, and you can do the same.”

“What about Regan?”

The question burst out of Mikey like a dam breaking, and all heads in the room turned toward him.

“All this stuff, I get it, but what happens next? What happens to her? If we win and prove that I didn’t do it?”

Silence hung in the air. Jimmy squeezed Mikey’s leg.

Finally, Mr. Day spoke. “I realize how this will sound,” he said, his words slow and careful, as if picking through a minefield. “But we cannot concern ourselves with the victim at this point. This lawsuit is not about what happened. In fact, we have only the assumption that the girl was abused at all. But our focus has to remain on clearing your name.”

“Mr. Day is quite correct,” Mr. Vickery added. “Once we succeed and the lawsuit is dismissed, we can certainly suggest that Mrs. Donaldson seek assistance in helping her daughter identify the true culprit.”

“It’s usually a family member, isn’t it?” Mikey turned to Jimmy, the thought bouncing around his brain like a Ping-Pong ball. “What if it was her father? He was a serious asshole at the park. Drove a bunch of us crazy trying to throw his weight around. What if he’s the one who did it?”

“Mikey.” His father’s voice was firm, the tone exactly like the one he’d used to stop his wife in her homophobic tracks. “You can’t just go around accusing people of child molestation with no evidence.”

“But that’s what she did to me!” Mikey didn’t remember moving but he was on his feet, his chair flying out from behind him to crash into the wall. He planted his palms on the tabletop, his arms trembling. “That’s exactly what she did to me! She made the whole thing up, trying to cover for her husband or get money out of you or maybe both, I don’t know. But it’s not true, and she did it, and
how could she do that?
”

His vision blurred, and he blinked to try to clear it. “Why did she do that to me? How could she—”

A sob tore out of him, and his knees buckled, but strong arms were there to catch him.

“It’s okay,” Jimmy soothed, pulling Mikey into his lap and tight against his strong chest. “It’s all gonna be fine, I promise.”

Shivering, his face wet with tears, Mikey curled into Jimmy’s warmth, only distantly aware of the others in the room with them. He didn’t give two shits right then what anyone else thought. He buried his face against the side of Jimmy’s neck and breathed deep, filling his lungs with the spicy-clean scent of Jimmy’s skin.

Someone spoke softly, and a few moments later, Mikey heard a door open and close. The only sounds that remained in the room were his own shuddering breaths and the sound of the chair squeaking as Jimmy rocked him gently.

Once Mikey got his breath under control, he flushed and tried to push away from Jimmy’s chest. Jimmy held fast. “No, honey, you take a minute,” he murmured. “We’re alone. The phone’s on mute. You’re gonna be just fine, but you deserve a couple of minutes to freak the hell out.”

Mikey gave in. He wasn’t crying anymore, and he didn’t think that would start back up, but his head pounded and his chest ached, and Jimmy’s embrace felt so good. He closed his eyes and let himself relax into it, soaking up Jimmy’s love.

He jerked. Love? No one had talked about love. Sure, he and Jimmy and Cory all cared about each other, but… shit. Mikey blushed again for an entirely different reason. Dammit. He might be able to fool everyone else, but there was no fooling himself.

He’d fallen in love.

Times two.

“F
IRST
CLASS
?”

Mikey’s voice squeaked when he got a look at the boarding pass Jimmy handed him. Jimmy waved him off.

“I’m not footin’ the bill,” he said. “Your friend Riley insisted. Said with all the stress you were under, the least he could do was make sure you traveled in style.”

“But….” Mikey didn’t even know where to begin protesting. Riley was already paying for his school, covering his living expenses, and paying for his lawyer, though he knew Mr. Day had been billing at far below his usual rate. How could he take another big gift like this without feeling like a mooch?

“You didn’t ask for it.” Cory read his mind. “He offered out of the goodness of his heart. And trust me, honey, it’ll be worth every second. You’ll never want to fly coach again.”

That part Mikey didn’t doubt. He fought the urge to trade his ticket in for a seat in the last row, back next to the lavatories, where the seats didn’t even recline. Jimmy and Cory could enjoy the lap of luxury. At least they had money of their own.

“C’mon.” Cory wrapped an arm around his shoulders and led him toward security. “Seriously, let it go. Riley has more money than he’ll spend in three lifetimes. Let him splurge a little on your behalf if it makes him feel better.”

Still unconvinced, Mikey tried to forget about it as they navigated the security lines and rode the train to their concourse. They got to the gate just a few minutes before boarding for their flight started, and Mikey murmured about needing the restroom as an excuse to duck into a stall and try to settle his stomach.

He emerged not feeling much better, but any more delay and he’d miss the flight. Maybe he’d take advantage of the free liquor and get rip-roaring drunk. Or as drunk as they’d let him, anyway.

He was willing to do almost anything at this point to take his mind off all this crap.

T
HE
HOTEL
Cory checked them into looked like it probably cost as much per night as their plane tickets had, but by then Mikey had gotten a few drinks into him and didn’t care quite as much. The hand Jimmy kept high on his thigh during the drive from the airport kept his mind on thoughts more pleasant than the reason for their trip, though Cory stayed to himself in the backseat this time.

In the room was another story. Once they had the door closed and locked, Cory and Jimmy turned to Mikey in unison and stripped him to his skin before leading him to the bed. They kept their touches and words gentle and loving, rather than the blatant sexual fervor of their previous encounters. By the time Mikey came into Jimmy’s mouth, his cries muted by Cory’s tongue, he felt as if they’d wrung every bit of energy out of his body.

Cory tucked him under the covers and curled up behind him while Jimmy ordered room service. When Jimmy was done, he crossed to the bed and gave each of them a kiss with a side of groping. Cory made silly, sexy sounds the whole time, which hit Mikey like a punch to the gut. What did they need him for when they were clearly so in love with each other?

Mikey didn’t know if he’d stiffened up or what, but after Jimmy disappeared into the bathroom for a shower, Cory shifted away and pulled at Mikey’s shoulder until he rolled onto his back. Pinning Mikey with a gaze that saw too much, Cory asked, “Are you okay?”

Mikey tried to shrug. “It’s just with everything….” He tried to drop his gaze, but Cory reached out to lift his chin and force him to look at him again.

“You’re thinking you’re unnecessary again, aren’t you?”

Mikey blushed. He couldn’t deny it. It was the truth, wasn’t it? “You and Jimmy, you’re just so….”
In love
, he thought, but couldn’t say it. “You’ve been together so long,” he tried instead. “How can you…?”

“Want you too?” Cory finished the question. He smiled a little. “Well, you might not have noticed, but we’re not exactly small personalities.” Mikey could not hold back a grin at that. “And sometimes big personalities need a little bit more than the usual.”

Mikey jerked away at that. “So, what, I’m just a fill-in?”

Cory sighed. “You know it’s not that,” he chided. “It’s like… like a few minutes ago, when he kissed us before he went to shower. When he touches me like that, it’s not just groping. It’s like he strips away all the surface stuff, the blather and the bullshit life forces on us, and touches me. It’s just him, and just me, and it’s a feeling I never want to lose.”

“But then—”

“But nothing, honey. What I’m saying is, what he does for me, he does for you too. What he feels for me, he feels for you. And it’s the same for me, and it doesn’t take a thing away from what’s between him and me.”

The words settled into Mikey’s heart like a balm, soothing his uncertainties. They might not be a declaration of love, but they were pretty close.
What he feels for me, he feels for you. And it’s the same for me.

Mikey lowered his head again, but this time to tuck it against Cory’s chest. “Okay,” he said, and he hoped it would be enough. Because if he said anything else, it would be too much, too soon.

“Okay,” Cory replied, drawing him in close, and Mikey relaxed against his body and just let himself drift.

“W
ELL
,
THESE
guys aren’t holding back.”

Mikey straightened up in the backseat of Jimmy’s rental car as they approached the church just before eleven the next morning. News vans covered with brightly colored logos lined the side of the road in front of the church. Some had tall metal contraptions sticking from the top, which Mikey guessed were broadcast towers to send video back to the studio.

He sighed and flopped back against the seat. Man, they were pulling out all the stops, weren’t they? And once the media vultures got their claws into the story, getting any of this settled easily would no longer be an option.

Jimmy slowed and turned the car into the drive, and the reporters milling around leaped into action, grabbing microphones and cameras and yelling out questions.

“Craziness,” Cory muttered, shaking his head. “Like there’s not gonna be a press conference in an hour. And like anyone’s gonna stop and talk to them like that anyway.”

“Would serve ’em right if we flipped ’em off.” Jimmy shot a quick grin over his shoulder at Mikey. “Probably not the kind of thing we want out there right now, though.”

Mikey tried a smile in return and almost got there. “Probably not,” he agreed.

“Oh, what the fuck is
she
doing here?”

Mikey turned his attention toward the front of the church offices, where another car had pulled up and two women were climbing out. “Oh fuck,” Mikey breathed when he recognized Rhonda Donaldson. The other woman must be her pit bull of a lawyer, Naomi Cartwright. His heart sank even farther when he saw another head in the backseat of the car and realized the women had brought Regan with them.

“They’re going for the lead on the evening news,” Jimmy ground out, and Mikey closed his eyes. Jimmy was right. The media had kept their distance so far, sticking to the main road and off church property, waiting for the appointed time for the press conference. But the second they realized who was in the other car, nothing would hold them back from rushing in to get the scoop.