Chapter Nineteen Shoot to Kill

Chapter nineteen

Shoot to Kill

Lee woke feeling like cotton wool.

Light. Airy. Tingly .

The aftermath of a fucking good night. It was a touch he wasn't hungover with it too. But he was on come down. The loosening of ecstasy. Fading of the alcohol buzz. The morning came with having to wrap his mind around what had happened and make him… think .

It wasn't beer fear. Regret or remorse. None of those things were making his gut twist in knots as the sun seeped through the blinds to rouse him from yet another full night's sleep. It was how he had to face reality when last night had altered his entire life.

He'd been around the block and then some. At forty-nine, he'd had his fair share of good sex, bad sex, mediocre sex. He'd had mind blowing orgasms both with and without the help of artificial aids. And he could pinpoint the exact moment in each of his relationships when sex had moved into something else. Something deeper . A clashing of souls, not just bodies. And he'd discovered that sex with feeling was always better than sex without.

Oh, God , there'd been an abundance of feeling last night. Lee hadn't expected it. He cared for Eddie. That was true. Always had. And he'd been taken by surprise when that care turned physical. It was taking some getting used to, but easy to fall into. Into him . Like things had with Cora. Two people who on paper shouldn't have come within a mile of each other, yet somehow worked. In bed. In life.

For a while.

This thing with Eddie could only be compared to that, despite how it should stand on its own merit. Because Eddie was on a whole different level.

Lee had been in love with two people in his lifetime. Megan, his girlfriend in his early twenties, he'd met at Hendon during his officer training. She was feisty. A tough nut. Did martial arts and could apprehend a suspect better than any of the lads on the force. They'd had an intense affair. Tumbling into bed fast, falling in love harder. Falling out of it quicker. Their arguments had been fierce. The make-up sex mind blowing. But the makeup sex dwindled, and their arguments festered. Their split was inevitable after she'd found her way into bed with her sergeant. After that, Lee drifted from one bed to the next, hoping to find what Rupert had with Lori, only to be disappointed the moment he awoke in another woman's bed. He'd had some good sex during that time. Great sex. Some kinky experiments. But nothing stuck. Then Rupert, believing Lee'd needed to settle down, introduced him to Cora.

Lust at first sight. She was beautiful. Exceptionally well put together. Intelligent. Cared about her looks, but not to such an extent she didn't like to be ruffled. By him. By her bit of rough, as she often referred to him. Drawn to his ruggedness, she'd loved to flaunt him to her well-to-do friends, regaling them with how he was a copper who got to hold a gun. It was her turn on. Lee had fallen in love with her without realising it. She was clever and could make him feel like a cartoon character with his tongue hanging out and hearts bursting out of his eyes. She'd initiated everything. The moving in. The wedding. The honeymoon. The baby.

That had run its course. Had they had a baby, things might have been different. But their resentment grew bigger than their mutual attraction. She'd become tired of playing the role of mother to him when he'd hit rock bottom after the bridge. He couldn't blame her. He didn't. Things ended when it was the right time. They always did.

And now there was Eddie .

Eddie Brownlee .

How in the world had that happened?

It didn't make sense. But did it need to? It hadn't made sense between him and Megan. Or him and Cora. Nothing made sense if analysis came into it. All he could rely on was how he felt . And how Eddie made him feel. Which was strong, as if he wasn't broken. Youthful, as if he wasn't weathered. Wanted . As if he wasn't damaged. Despite him being all those things, Eddie made Lee feel good. Amazing. Like nothing else mattered other than them. That he was finally enough.

It was both a revelation and frightening .

What on earth would happen when their American dream ended?

Reaching across the bed for him, hoping to ease the thud back to reality, he parked those thoughts for a later date. When he couldn't ignore them anymore. He didn't understand why Eddie wasn't already in his arms. He'd always wormed his way underneath him, entangling with him, listening to the beats of his heart when they'd woken before. But he couldn't feel him. Couldn't hear his soft breaths. Smell his distinctive scent. Shiver at his delicate, coveting touch.

He rose from the pillow, finding the bed beside him empty. Rolling onto his back, the sheets twisting around his naked body, he listened out for any movement.

Nothing.

"Ed?"

He sat up, rubbing his eyes and checked the bathroom door. Closed. Must be in there. He listened for any shower, taps, or flushing toilet. Nothing. He untangled himself from the sheets to tap over and knocked. "Ed? You in there?"

Nothing.

Scratching his head, Lee swivelled back to face the room and met with eerie stillness. He hobbled around the discarded clothes on the floor to find his jeans and yanked his phone out of the pocket. It was gone nine a.m. Shit . He'd slept in. Eddie might be needed on set. Why hadn't he woken him? Or had he tried and Lee had been out cold? Fuck . He found Eddie's number and hit call. Buzzing from the floor had his stomach dropping to his knees. He followed the vibrations, finding Eddie's phone discarded on the floor. Turning off the call, he threw his phone away and sat on the end of the bed to stare at Eddie's. He didn't have the passcode. Not that he should be snooping. But where the fuck was he? Had he done the runner he'd been pleading with Lee for last night?

Lee clamped his eyes shut, wincing at the memories.

He should have handled that better.

Eddie had asked him to leave everything and run away with him. And Lee had all but said the word ‘no'. Had he let him down gently? Or had he crushed Eddie beyond reason to the point he'd got up and left without him?

Lee's Spidey senses heightened. Years in the force had taught him when to trust his instincts. Eddie's case was here, opened and rummaged through. Last night's clothes scrawled across the floor. His phone here…

Nothing made sense.

Maybe he'd gone to breakfast without him because he was upset? Lee chucked Eddie's phone on the bedside cabinet, then got himself together. He dressed. Fast. Then headed out of the room, the one and only keycard still in the same place he'd left it last night. Odd? Yes. But Eddie might have…forgotten?

He rushed to the elevator, slapping his palm on the call button. Elevator opened to an elderly couple inside.

"Morning," he greeted, unsure why they were exchanging looks with each other. The elevator took forever to get to the ground floor and when it did, he leapt out, the elderly couple remaining inside, and bolted across the lobby to the dining hall. A hotel assistant stopped him.

"Good morning, sir. Do you have your room number?"

Lee fished out the keycard to check. "Four one nine."

She checked the number on her tablet, then smiled. "Welcome Mr Brownlee. Take a seat anywhere and help yourself to the buffet. "

Lee went to move around her to scope out the seats, then stopped and hovered back. "Has Mr Brownlee been down for breakfast?"

"You're not Mr Brownlee?"

"No. No. I'm with Mr Brownlee." He almost corrected himself to say he was Eddie's bodyguard and not with him like lovers, but that was untrue on many counts. Mostly because if he was his bodyguard, he should damn well know where he was. And the latter, because he still had Eddie's scent ingrained on his skin. His taste in his mouth.

The girl smiled. "I see."

"Do you check everyone off to get breakfast?"

"Of course."

"Can you confirm no other guest from room four one nine has been through here?"

"No, sir."

Lee's gut plummeted. He scratched the back of his neck, heat rising and prickling his skin, that damn instinct taking over his rationality. He made his way across the lobby, through the revolving doors to outside where the scorching LA sun stunned him into sobriety. Glancing left, then right, he searched for anyone who looked vaguely like Eddie or any of the production crew. Maybe Eddie had gone to get coffee? Pastries? Maybe he thought he'd surprise Lee with breakfast in bed? None of those things he believed, but had to rule out.

Not seeing him, he rushed back into the hotel and into the elevator, wishing for it to speed up so he could leap into his corridor, hoping, praying, wishing to fuck Eddie would be at their door clutching two cups of coffee and pastries wrapped in a paper bag hanging from his jaw.

He wasn't .

Lee let himself in the room, the emptiness swallowing him whole. After a moment of utter dread scraping over his body like a Brillo pad, he switched into his copper mindset. Emotions gone. Practicality got the job done. There wasn't a chance Eddie would up and leave this room without telling him. Not after the last time. He'd taught him the danger hard enough. Even if he was angry and upset with him. He marched over to Eddie's suitcase, rummaging through it and finding the bulky document comprising the schedule and script. He flipped a few pages, landing on the full schedule for that day. Start time nine a.m. for read throughs at the studio. Eddie could be there.

Without his phone?

He ignored his rising panic to do his job.

He grabbed Eddie's discarded phone, highlighting the screen. A photo of the Grand Canyon came up as his backdrop. A recent shot. He shoved the fact that he was in it, the back of him at least, gazing at the marvel and how Eddie must have secretly taken it before his breakdown, into the bursting at the seams box, to stroke his thumb up to get the passcode screen. He wracked his brain. Most people were lackadaisical with things like passwords and codes. He entered Eddie's birthdate. Didn't work. There'd only be two more tries before the phone locked him out. He closed his eyes. What date was important to Eddie? He opened his eyes to type.

The phone buzzed back to the passcode screen.

Lee sighed. Then, one more try had his adrenaline spiking. He typed in the six digits that had his heart pounding.

The phone opened.

Lee scoured through the bundled apps, wondering what he should tap into first. Kid liked to either not read his messages or keep the numbered notifications that would send Lee insane. He had hundreds of notifications. On Instagram. TikTok. Email. WhatsApp. Fucking Grindr ! He didn't bother checking that one and went into WhatsApp. There were several unseen messages from Rupert. Some from Olivia. One from his agent, Priscilla. Many from groups Eddie was part of, all with varying stupid names and accompanying emojis. Then there were a sporadic amount of messages from random numbers simply saying things such as, hi, wassup, where u at . All men. Unread and unanswered. Lee gritted his teeth, and he clicked on the most recent message to have come through.

From Kyle .

Informing him that Mitch wanted to start the screen rehearsal earlier at eight. Could he come to the studio for then?

Lee's body clenched. He checked for any message from Mitch himself. Nothing. Checked for any emails from Mitch pertaining to the change in schedule. Nothing. Lee clicked out of his phone, pocketed it, and left the room.

He rode the elevator past the lobby to the basement car park where the Jeep waited. He got in, inputting the studio address on the map screen, and screeched the car out of the underground car park to join the morning rush hour city traffic. He wasn't a novice at driving in traffic. A London Met police response officer meant he could fight this with ease. Shame he didn't have his blues and twos in the ARV but it didn't matter. He was as determined to get to where he needed to be then as he had been to any of the scenes he'd been called to in his time. Come at me. He weaved through the traffic in haste, following the directions, and found himself at the door of Blue Tin Studios.

It wasn't one of the major five. But it was still big enough to warrant huge, locked gates with security in tin clad boxes either side, allowing vehicles in or out. Lee pulled the Jeep half up on the sidewalk, half on the road, got out and ran up to the man in the box. He recognised him from having been here in the first few weeks, but he doubted he would him. He probably saw hundreds of people in and out all day.

"Hey, I'm here to see Eddie Brownlee."

Man had a brown uniform. No gun. Lee was one of a select, special unit of police force trained to fire a weapon when he needed it. And he felt naked and vulnerable without his when doing this. He needed to feign his authority here. In the zone, as though finding the part of himself he'd lost that day on the bridge, he grew to his full height to give the air of superiority.

"Who's Eddie Brownlee?" the man asked the other side of the metal gates, eyeing Lee up and down.

"Actor for the Sands of Love shoot. Director Mitch. I need to see him or any of the crew."

"And you are?"

"Lee Everett." He went to say he was Eddie's bodyguard but again stopped himself from having to mention that whilst he was here to protect Eddie, he'd lost him.

Man narrowed his eyes, then hovered back, scraping a walkie talkie from his belt. He spoke into it. Talking came back. Man returned to the gate. "You're not on any schedule list."

Of course he wasn't.

"Can I speak to Eddie? One of the crew? Get them down here. "

"That's not how this works."

Lee sighed, hands on hips. He couldn't argue his way in. He'd spent years doing a similar job to this guy. Protecting a scene, mostly. Cutting off the public from something horrific. Not securing the privacy of a million dollar film shoot. No amount of begging or pleading was going to get the man to change his mind. And Lee didn't have the time or patience to wait. He pulled out Eddie's phone, tapped in the passcode, went into WhatsApp, and made a call to Kyle.

"Hey, you ." Kyle's greeting was too familiar and way too ingratiating. Lee clenched his fists into balls.

"It's Lee."

"Oh." Kyle hesitated. "Where's Eddie?"

"You tell me. I'm at the studio gates. Get out here. Now." Lee cut the call, pocketed the phone and waited.

Agonising minutes passed before the familiar trot of the camera operator towards the gates approached him with caution.

"Where is he?" Lee snarled.

"I don't know, man. We thought he was with you."

Lee dug the phone out again, holding it up to Kyle. "You texted him. Asking him to meet you here at eight. No one else did."

"Does he know you're spying on his messages?"

Lee rammed his arm through the gates, curling his fist into Kyle's T-shirt, and yanked him forward. He hit the metal railings with an oomph and Lee got in his face before the security guard could pull his walkier talkie and call it in.

"Where is he?"

"You can play the tough guy, I still don't know where the fuck he is. He's supposed to be here, reading lines with Tiffany. "

Security man rushed up. "Let him go or I'll call the cops."

Cops did have guns. Lee flicked his gaze to the security, evaluating his threat. Lee was unarmed. The most he'd do was warn him. Lee turned back to Kyle with confidence he could extract information before the LAPD arrived to make the life altering decision to pull their trigger on an unarmed man behind a closed fence.

"Why call him here at eight?"

"Fuck, man. Cause I like him. Hoped to get him here to talk. Make him see he's wasting time pining over you. But he didn't reply or respond."

"Let him go." Security hovered closer, walkie talkie at his lips.

Lee flicked his gaze to him again. Smiled. Then let go of Kyle's T-shirt.

"If you're lying, and you've handed him over to anyone." Lee dropped his smile to deliver the threat. "I'll find out and I'll kill you."

"What's the big fucking deal?"

"There're people after him. That's why I'm here. People who want him dead."

"Then you're doing a shitshow of a job, man. If Eddie dies, that's millions of US dollars down the drain for this production. You better fucking find him." Kyle trotted backwards. "Before Mitch hacks your balls off for delaying this scene. It's important, y'know."

"More important than Eddie's life?"

Kyle held out his arms. "Welcome to Hollywood, man!"

* * * *

Eddie's chest heaved as he struggled to catch his breath.

Gasping for air in the suffocating darkness, vision obscured by a blindfold, panic flooded him.

Coming to from whatever blanked out state he'd been in, he tried to make sense of his surroundings. Sick and dazed, he could only make out through the haze of consciousness that he was huddled inside a box. A coffin? Was he being buried alive ?! Fear pulsated through his body, a sickening scent of gasoline invading his nostrils but the steady vibrations of wheels on tarmac beneath him suggesting he was more likely stuffed in the boot of a car. Not that it was a comforting thought. Incapacitated and unable to do anything about his predicament, he hadn't been bound, tied and gagged by Lee this time. This wasn't a joke. Or Lee teaching him a lesson. This was real . And dread smothered him, pulse racing and heart thudding, as he drowned in the terror of what might be happening.

Cowering into the foetal position within the confines of the tiny, dark space, hands clasped together behind his back, his temple throbbed. He could taste blood by his mouth, evidence of a struggle. Or a blow to the head? Whoever he was at the mercy of couldn't have been as delicate as Lee had been in protecting his head while forcing him into the car.

Nausea churned in his stomach.

He wasn't scared.

He was terrified .

Images flashed before his eyes, hazy and disjointed, as if watching through a foggy lens. The details were elusive, out of his reach, but he tried desperately to piece together what had happened. What had taken him from Lee's protective arms and into this ?

He choked.

Pure black darkness engulfed him in the claustrophobic confines. He couldn't tell what the time was. How long had he been gone? Would Lee even notice him missing from their bed when he'd been out cold, making up for all those lost years with insomnia?

Eddie berated himself for having cured him of it. For having got him drunk. Got him high.

He was going to die alone.

* * * *

Lee slammed the Jeep's door shut, locking himself inside and rubbed his temple.

He then punched his fists into the steering wheel, yelling into the ether.

"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!"

Where the fuck was Eddie if he wasn't here ? Or if he hadn't even come here? He'd been a copper long enough to tell when a suspect was lying. Kyle hadn't been lying. And if Eddie's phone was to be believed, Eddie hadn't even seen Kyle's message. Which begged more questions than it answered. He thumped the wheel one more time before getting a handle on the array of emotions spilling out and delaying his action.

He started the engine.

Now what?

Eddie's phone vibrated in his pocket. Lee's heart jolted, and he scrambled to fish it out and check the display.

Dad .

Rupert. Fuck .

Maybe Rupert knew something? But if he didn't, Lee couldn't fake or lie to him. Rupert could always tell. Lawyer wisdom and best friend instinct. Lee would have to tell him Eddie was missing and the reason he'd escaped Lee's protection was because Lee had been off of his face on alcohol, ecstasy and having had the greatest lay of his life when fucking Rupert's son into the mattress and loving every second. Jesus Christ. Lee bumped his head on the newfound low he'd hit. He'd been rock bottom before, but now he was so far below, he should bury himself under it.

Rupert stopped calling. Straight away, his own phone rang. He didn't need to get it out to know who it was, but he checked anyway in some futile hope that Eddie was calling from a payphone, having got lost on his run around the block.

It was Rupert.

He threw both the phones on the passenger seat, then a text came through on his phone. Rupert.

Checking in. Hope all okay. Doing my closing speech today – could be over soon. Get Eddie to reply to me!

Lee closed his eyes, gripping the steering wheel, knuckles whitening.

He ground his teeth, then grabbed Eddie's phone, entering the passcode once more to flick through it. Maybe one of those messages from the many, many men asking what he was up to might spark something. His chest squeezed as he read each one. Some simple questions. Others following up with dick pics. He scrolled down a few more, coming to a message from a girl called Shiayne. Lee vaguely recognised the picture. An actress on Eddie's old soap.

Saw the pic on insta. Burning hot emoji and red face emoji. He's hot. Is that the one you've been in love with for, like, ever?? Heart emoji .

Lee clicked out, stomach twisting with the wretchedness of it all. Invading Eddie's privacy was one thing. Finding out Eddie was in love with him and had told people about him was something else entirely. He couldn't unknow that. But he couldn't dwell on it either.

The Find My app on his phone prickled Lee's senses. Lee had Eddie's phone in his hand. He knew where that was so couldn't trace its whereabouts as he had back in Vegas. It was a long shot for anything else, but he clicked it open, anyway.

Eddie's phone. Eddie's iPad. Eddie's AirPods. Various locations. The iPad switched off or was out of range. Probably back home in London. The phone? Exactly where he was right then.

The AirPods…

Jesus, fuck.

Lee clicked onto the map, spreading his thumbs along the screen to widen the image. He then threw the phone to the passenger side and revved the engine, skating off the sidewalk to bump the Jeep back onto the road.

Coming for you, baby. Hold on.

* * * *

Swamped in his own heartbeat, Eddie attempted to wriggle free from his restraints. It was no use. He'd been in zip ties before, and the only way out of them was by knife or scissors. He blinked back the tears that would only drench his eyes with how tight the blindfold was and desperately tried to listen out for anything that might tell him where he was.

The car had made several stops. Never really going at a fast pace. But it still didn't help him figure out how long he had left. He assumed he was on the inevitable trip back to the Grand Canyon. This time doused in petrol. That canyon, beautiful and awe-inspiring, had brought him closer to Lee and now it would be where he plunged to his death because he'd left him. Because he'd wanted to cry .

Memories flashed to him in bits. He could remember why he'd left the room. The bathroom hadn't been a quiet enough space for him to shed the tears he'd wanted, or ram his fists into something at the embarrassment of asking Lee to run away with him. So he'd slipped from the covers, found his gym shorts, and left the room, pretending he was heading to the vending machine for water. That's where he'd met his doom. After that, things were fuzzy.

He was sure he'd met that elderly couple again. The woman was having trouble with the ice machine…

The car went over a bump, Eddie hitting the roof of the trunk and falling back with a grunt captured in the cloth in his mouth. They accelerated then. They hadn't been going at any speed before. Barely a crawl. Maybe to prevent anyone from pulling them over and checking the car? But now, Eddie slammed back with the G-force created by a vehicle in high pursuit.

Was this him being driven off the top of ancient rock?

He whimpered around the bile rising in his throat.

Then, crash . Bang. Eddie struck the roof again, head thrashing against the tin above, and pain ricocheting around his entire body at the force of the blow. The car tyres screeched, bumping over uneven terrain. Eddie squeezed his eyes shut, willing himself not to throw up. If he did, he'd choke on his own vomit. Was that a better way to die than on fire? He didn't want to compare.

He didn't want to die.

Not alone .

Not like this.

The car toppled. Then skidded to a stop. Silence. Footsteps. Eddie held his breath when another crash, crash, smash, like a hard object hitting a window and glass shattering. Then another shunt. The car vibrated. Rocked. Then a loud thud. A jolt. Two more fierce thuds. A groan. Doors opening. Slamming. Footsteps crunching on gravel.

The gag muffled Eddie's cries, and he wriggled back, heart in his throat as the trunk swung open to flood sunlight over him.

" Eddie… "

This had to be a dream. That couldn't be…

Eddie's blindfold was ripped off, and he squinted through the searing light, a figure above him merely a silhouette submerged in the desert sun. But he knew it was Lee. And he didn't care if this was a dream. He could die believing Lee had scoured the earth looking for him.

Lee untied his gag. "Jesus, baby. You okay?"

Eddie couldn't speak. All he could do was cry. In front of Lee. Like he should have done that morning. Lee rummaged in his pocket, producing the flip knife, and cut the zip tie to release his arms. Eddie wriggled toward him and Lee helped him stumble out of the boot, one hand clutching a gun. Not a water pistol this time.

"How…?" Eddie's voice scraped the raw edges of his throat, but words fled him when the passenger door creaked open, and out hobbled a woman, disguised as though she were elderly with skirt and jumper and makeup creased into an artful semblance of decay worthy of a Hollywood movie set. As good as Jenny could produce.

"I'll have to kill you both!" she shouted, flailing, blood cascading down her face as she brandished a gun, aiming it straight at Eddie's head .

Hand like steel and resolve unwavering, Lee raised his pistol and one shot—a sharp, deafening sound slicing through the tension like a firework, and the woman fell to the ground with a thud, bullet wedged between her eyes.

Eddie might have screamed, but reality blurred its edges. Everything was out of focus, the harsh crack of gunfire reverberating in his ears, muffled and distorted as if immersed in water. Lee's arms snaked around him and he swept him close, pulling him away from the scene with a desperate and protective grip reminiscent of the one he'd used on the dancefloor last night. Eddie hadn't ever felt safer, despite appearances to the contrary.

"You're okay. You're safe." Lee's voice washed over him in soothing waves, a stark contrast to his grim deed. His necessary but brutal deed.

The next thing he knew, Lee lowered Eddie to the ground, where, cocooned in his arms, he sobbed, shook, gasping for air. Lee stayed with him, holding him, stroking him, repeating in his ear that he was okay. After a while, when Eddie stopped quivering, Lee placed the gun beside him and pulled his phone out of his pocket. Eddie listened to the 911 call without hearing the words. When he hung up, Lee ripped off his T-shirt and dragged it over Eddie's exposed top half.

God, it smelled good. Felt good. As though he were tucked inside Lee's skin.

When he thought he could speak without choking, his lips trembled through the most pressing of questions. "Is she dead?"

"Yes."

Eddie gulped. He was glad she was, but it was still hard to process. Lee's arms tightened around him.

"The other one isn't." Lee held up the gun. "Why I'm keeping hold of this. "

"The other one?"

"The driver. There were two. Looks like they were dressed up as an elderly couple. Thought the passenger was out cold from the crash."

"She is now."

"She is now," Lee repeated, hushed and sombre.

Eddie waited a moment. "How did you find me?"

"Your AirPods." Lee fished in his pocket, pulling out Eddie's phone. He handed it to him. "Sorry, I cracked the passcode and read some of your messages."

Eddie hung his head, staring down at his phone. Thank fuck he'd picked up his gym shorts when he'd gone for water. If he'd worn anything else…

"Mum's funeral," Eddie said, to take his mind off what could have been his own.

"Yeah."

"Can't believe you remember the date."

"It's not an easy one to forget."

Eddie nodded, then glanced up to the cloudless sky, the sun shining down on his face to dry his tears into crusty tracks on his cheeks. Only then did he look around and realise they were in the middle of nowhere. Desert. Open road. On the way to no signal. One more mile and Lee might never have found him. He choked back his fear.

"Hey, you're okay. I got you." Lee stroked his arm with such soothing tenderness, Eddie could cry at that alone.

"No idea how you did it. Thought I was a goner."

"Not on my watch."

Eddie forced a breathy smile. "Because I'm Rupert's son?"

Lee tensed. "Yes. "

Eddie bowed his head through a nod. Why did that hurt more than everything he'd been through? Because he was messed up. Unhinged for Lee Everett.

"But I killed her because she threatened what's mine." Lee released his arm to cup a finger under Eddie's chin and lifted his face to meet his gaze. "You."

Eddie exhaled around his thrashing pulse, and a tear escaped his eye. Lee wiped it away with his thumb, then kissed him. Soft and light. Like someone who loved him might.

"What if we ran away now?" Eddie asked through the oncoming sounds of sirens in the distance and nodded to the Jeep, smashed into the car he'd been in and not in any fit state to chariot their getaway.

The convoy of Highway Patrol, county sheriff and ambulances drew up around them, taking away any possibility for a second rejection anyway, and Lee scrambled up, waving them closer.

"Mitch is gonna be pissed," Eddie said. "He'll be paying for that ambo."

Lee said nothing. He held his hand down to Eddie and dragged him up as two officers screeched out of the car, raising their guns at them both. They put their hands behind their heads as requested.

So much for the American dream.