Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 110671 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 553(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110671 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 553(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Jackie shrugged. “They change their names a lot. Ches…Chester? I think his name is Chester. He decides everything, but I try not to call them anything at all. It doesn’t matter. He’ll kill me soon, I think.”
“No, he won’t,” Gray responded vehemently. “We’re getting you out. We have Chester’s brother tied to a damn chair upstairs.”
“Bucky,” Jackie said with a nod. “He’s nice. He brings me food, and he only jerks off and watches. He never touches me.”
That was the definition of nice in Jackie’s world. Gray could relate, and it was fucking painful.
Darius’s shadow darkened the floor by the stairs, so Gray released Jackie’s hands and said he’d be right back.
“Where are you going?” Jackie asked worriedly. “Please don’t leave me!”
“I’m not leaving you, Jackie. You’ll see me the whole time.” Gray stopped at the bottom of the stairs and sent Darius a look that was part pleading, part apology, part…plain grim. He couldn’t explain what he was feeling, or why, but this was heavy. This was gonna haunt him.
Darius trailed down the steps until he could extend the bolt cutters, and his eyes brimmed with concern. “Anything I can do?”
“Not yet. I… He doesn’t believe me, I think, but I’m working on it.”
Darius understood that all too well, having gone through the process with Gray.
“Ask him if there’s any part of the house that doesn’t come with too many memories,” Darius requested. “I’ll prepare it for him so he can hide out later.”
“Thank you.” Gray nodded, grateful for him, and returned to Jackie. “Let’s get rid of this goddamn chain.”
Jackie appeared nervous. He bit at his nails and trembled as Gray cut through the chain links in two goes. It fell to the floor with a muted clank, and Gray rubbed Jackie’s ankle carefully.
“I don’t know what’s happening.” Jackie was cracking. His eyes welled up, the shaking became worse, and he just stared down at his foot. “Where’s Chester?”
“Not here.” Gray slid onto the hard mattress again and put a hand on Jackie’s bouncing knee. “We’re waiting for him, but you will never have to see him again. Okay? I promise. My friend and I will take care of him.”
“But Bucky helps him,” he argued. “He will protect his brother.”
“We’ve already dealt with him,” Gray reminded patiently. “We taped him to a chair. He’ll never hurt you again either, Jackie.” He combed back some hair from Jackie’s face with his fingers. “Have you been upstairs at all?”
Jackie shook his head. “I don’t know where we are.”
“California,” Gray answered. “The Mojave Desert. Chester has a small house here that he grew up in.”
“Oh.” He glanced nervously at the stairs.
Gray went with the next step. “Do you want to go up there? It’s totally safe.”
“He will be so mad,” Jackie whispered.
“Well, let him. He won’t touch you anymore. Before this day is over, he won’t even be breathing.”
Jackie exhaled sharply. “You’re gonna…” He swallowed hard. “He’s gonna die?”
“They both are,” Gray told him. “Come on. Let’s get you upstairs, buddy.”
It took Jackie a shower, a glass of water, and an hour of sitting in the doorway of the back porch to clear most of his confusion. During that time, he kept coming back to how angry Chester was gonna be. Gray watched Jackie’s imminent breakdown unfold. In the shower, Jackie stared at the bar of soap for several seconds before he realized what to do with it. He got a shock when the sprinkle of water came on above him, and he was slow to react when handed a toothbrush with toothpaste on it.
Darius had somehow managed to push Buck—stuck to his chair—into the biggest bedroom. All so that Jackie wouldn’t have to see him. He wouldn’t have to hear him either, because Darius had taped his mouth shut too.
And then, sitting there on the floor of the living room, his legs sticking out onto the porch, a towel wrapped around his hips, Jackie stared into the desert and fell apart.
“You were so good back there, knucklehead.” Darius gathered Gray in a hug in the living room. “Both with him and the entrance.”
Gray released a breath and rested his forehead against Darius’s sternum.
“I mean it,” Darius murmured. “You may have a long road ahead of you, but sometimes you gotta pause and look back. Otherwise, you won’t see how far you’ve already come. The way you picked the gun off of Buck…?” He let out a low whistle. “You’re more confident. Quick on your feet.”
Gray summoned the faint spark of pride in his chest and held on to it. “I have the best teacher.” He lifted his gaze and kissed Darius briefly. “I should go see if he’s hungry. And remind him again not to stare into the sun.”
Jackie’s eyes had watered the second they’d left the cellar. He hadn’t seen natural light in months, and it’d left a mark. He would need plenty of time to readjust.