28. Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Barry came through the door right on time. It had been planned for him to come in late. Sel wanted to gauge what the feds were thinking. As he introduced himself to the agent, he took his seat next to Sel. "Agent Bennington, sorry I'm a little late. I'm handling things for the entire ranch, so I'm sure you understand."

"Isn't that a conflict of interest?"

"How? My clients came from a ranch filled with terrorized people being hunted by a psychotic kidnapper and killer. I think the interests are pretty clear, Agent Bennington."

"Special Agent," she said, her eyes shining as she smiled her friendly smile.

"Sorry! Forgive me. Now, let's get this going so Mr. Carrillo can go back to the ranch and get some rest. He's been terribly shaken up by all this."

"Oh, I'm sure. Now, Mr. Carrillo," she said, dragging her eyes slowly from Barry's. "You told the sheriff you were asleep and didn't see the suspect in your room. So, how do you know what actually happened?"

Sel's temper flared, but he didn't allow it to show. "Let's see, I was asleep, and I woke up to a gunshot and as my eyes came open, I saw Alex Brooks falling to the ground with half his head missing."

"So, you didn't see if he was actually threatening you?"

Barry laughed a little and folded his hands together on the table. "What would a known kidnapper and murderer be doing in the bedroom, in the middle of the night, if it wasn't to hurt someone?"

"The thing is no one will ever know now."

"If it was your partner, your child, your father, what would you do?" Sel asked her.

"So, he's your partner? I know he's not your parent." She picked up the tablet again, swiped a few times and said, "No, your parents are Antonio and Selena Carrillo, of the Carrillo family."

"Yes. They and my siblings are indeed my family."

"Mr. Carrillo, I think you know that isn't the family I'm speaking of."

"I think this interview is over, Mr. Carrillo," Barry said, pushing back his chair as if he were ready to stand, but she stopped him.

"Please, let's finish this."

"Any questions about his family aren't relevant to this interview. One more, and I'll end this and you can get a subpoena to move further."

She sighed and seemed to resign herself to get on with it. "Mr. Carrillo, did you see the weapon?"

"No. Like I said, I woke, it was dark, I saw…I saw him falling, saw blood, but I was very frightened. To be awakened by a noise that loud, my ears rang for an hour."

"I can imagine. And the man that shot the gun?"

"Indio Baca. He's a friend of my uncles."

Again, her dark, thin brow raised. "Of your uncles?"

"Of mine too. I met him through my uncles."

"I see," she said, typing something on her tablet. "And he's a member of the motorcycle club, Aztecas Asesinos. Do you happen to know what that means in Spanish?"

"The Aztec Assassins. What about it?"

"Murderers, Mr. Carrillo. To assassinate someone is to murder them, and then, low and behold, he does."

Barry said, "Unless all my schooling was terribly off the mark, Special Agent Bennington, what happened in that home was not murder by anyone's classification. He was saving a life by taking one."

"Of course. I just thought it ironic."

Sel hated the bitch. She was trying so hard to make him slip up so she could arrest Indio for saving his life. "Are we finished?"

"I have a copy of the statement you gave the sheriff, who, by the way, moonlights as a cook at Carrillo Ranch. Interesting," she said, ignoring Sel's question.

"It's all there, Special Agent," Barry told her.

"Yes, I've read it. It's rather short, but as you've said, Mr. Carrillo, you were asleep. I suppose that's all for now. Are you staying in Montana with your uncles?"

"I haven't decided how long, but for now, yes, I'll be here."

"Good. If we have any other questions, we'll call on you."

As she left the room, Sel's eyes narrowed at her. When the door was closed and they were alone, he whispered, "If she goes after Indio, I'll lose it."

"He did nothing wrong, so let her try."

Sel waited outside for Indio's interview to be over, and paced the entire time. Dante sat, unfazed, while Sel wanted to scream each second that ticked by.

"Selestino, he's got Barry with him. He'll be fine."

There were two benches near the double glass doors of the building, and Sel kept looking inside as he paced. "I know, but…"

"Sel, come sit. Please."

He did, though he crossed his legs and bounced his foot while he stared into the doors. "Uncle, he saved my life. If something happens…"

"You'll feel responsible. But, Sel, if he hadn't done what he did, you'd be dead."

"I know."

"Sel, look at me."

He did, though he didn't want to. "What?"

Dante exhaled as he stared off at the mountains. "I can see it in your eyes. I can see it in his. You two probably didn't count on it, and despite the attraction you had for each other, you might have thought you'd mess around some, then part ways to live your lives. Am I wrong?"

"Uh…no, I guess not."

"I was a hard man, Sel, and I don't mean simply hard when it comes to the business. It wasn't easy for me to tell a man I loved him. There are as many reasons for that as there are stars. The point is, admitting I loved a man meant that I was vulnerable. No one like me…like Indio, likes to be vulnerable. Remember that if he's distant a lot. It's not you."

"I…I know, Uncle. He's had a bad past. His childhood was terrible. He was abused, and it's made him keep people from getting too close."

"Be patient. Blaine was patient with me, and how he was able to be, I'll never know."

"He loves you, Uncle Dante. I've always admired how the two of you are together. I know how we are, and we aren't the most patient people. For Indio, I'm going to give it my best shot."

Dante grabbed his hand and sniffed a little. "I can't believe I'm giving you advice for your love life. I can't get the picture of that little man, always perfectly clean and dressed, never getting into trouble, following your siblings around to try to keep them out of trouble. You've always given me pride that…that made my whole chest swell. You're so like Antonio."

"Thanks, Uncle."

Just then, Dante nodded to the door and Sel's head spun to see Indio and Barry coming from inside the building. He got up and rushed to him, barely keeping himself from jumping into Indio's arms. "How did it go?"

"It went fine," Barry answered for Indio. "They tried to trip him up, of course, but he stuck to the truth."

Indio nodded to Dante, who was coming over to him. "Let's get back to the ranch. You all need some rest, and I'm meeting with Roland. We can finalize the plans for the rest of the building and get this place finished at long last."

Finished. The end. It felt like an end, and Sel couldn't imagine it ending. And, really, nothing was ending, but he had a heaviness in his chest, like he was saying goodbye.

When he said goodbye to Dante and Bruno, Indio drove them away from the trailer and Sel sat beside him, looking anywhere but at him as the tears continued to well in his eyes.

"What's got you quiet?"

"Nothing."

"Fuck! Don't do that. I can tell something's wrong. Tell me."

"I can't even explain it, Indio. I feel like something's…gone. Like it's ending."

"Are you leaving?"

His head spun so he could tell him, "No! I want to stay!"

"Then stay, Sel."

At the bunkhouse, they slept. After Sel told his friends how it went, Indio pulled him into the room they'd shared the previous night and he pushed him on the bed. "Stop worrying. Get some sleep."

"Easier said than done," were the last words he said for ten full hours. Indio woke him by getting off the bed.

"Hey."

"Hey," he said groggily. "Where you going?"

"Starving. Want some food?"

Sel wasn't falling for the thought that he was offering to bring him a tray. "Yeah, let me get changed. I'll meet you out there."

Hesitating, Indio stared at him a minute, then started for the door.

Sel smiled as the closed door, knowing in his gut that Indio had just had an internal argument with himself. Should I kiss him? Would that make it too obvious I am falling in love?

Sel wanted to believe that, of course, so he could be fooling himself, but he didn't think he was. Indio was being much softer with him, and sure, it could be Sel's recent trauma, but Sel did believe it was more.

After changing clothes, Sel headed out to the dining hall and Vic surprised him by being the one cooking. "Done with the investigation already?"

"I am! I know you guys didn't trap him to kill him or whatever those idiots are thinking!"

There was an air around Vic that was no-nonsense but loving and sweet too. He took the cup of coffee she handed him and asked how he wanted his eggs.

"I like soft-boiled, but you don't have to. Scrambled it okay."

"It literally takes three minutes to cook a soft egg. Bacon or sausage?"

"I shouldn't have either. I've been eating so much lately."

Instead of arguing with him, she simply glared until he got out, "Bacon! I'll do bacon."

"Jesus."

Sel saw Indio was sitting across from Dex and Prince. He hurried over to them and sat next to Indio. "Prince, how are you? Hi, Dex."

"Hey, Sel," Dex said with a nod. "How you doin'?"

"I'm okay. I just wish the feds would leave."

"Eh, they will. I think they're getting the message that no one wants them here and they're not going to trick anyone into saying something they might want to hear but isn't the truth."

"They tried, yeah."

Prince smiled sweetly at him. "You look better."

"I feel better. I guess I needed the sleep."

Indio sat quietly as he sipped his coffee, and Sel looked to him next. "You feel better too?"

"Yeah, but I was already good. If anyone thinks killing that asshole hurt my feelings, they'd be very wrong."

"Not to mention, you saved Sel," Prince said, his eyes narrowing at Indio. The three of them simply stared at him, unused to Prince being so forward.

"Yeah, sure," Indio finally got out. "I'm glad about that."

Dex chuckled and got an elbow in the ribs for it. "It's not funny, Dex."

"No, it's not, baby."

Vic brought him his plate of food and kissed Sel on the cheek. "You eat. You're too skinny."

Indio was the one getting the elbow in the ribs for laughing that time.

Indio was sent out to patrol that afternoon, so it was the perfect time for the guys to get together and have Sel all to themselves, they said. Binx was marinating chicken breasts and Vic was off to her other job as sheriff, letting them know the federal agents should wrap up their investigation quickly. "I'm tired of those ugly long faces in my station."

They were all gathered in the dining hall and Binx slid a piece of paper over to him. "How's this? We've all added to it. Prince said he'd type it up and print it, if you okay it."

Sel looked at the top of the paper to see a scribbled, Submissive Contract, and he immediately felt his face heating. "God, it's so weird seeing it written."

"I know," Binx agreed, but confessed, "I was so stupid when I first started in this lifestyle. I told people I didn't have a safeword. I thought I was too tough and kinky to need one."

"Binx," Ruben gasped. "That's so bad!"

"Oh, I know, and I got taught real fast that didn't fly. Lonnie and Travis took me in when I was young and stupid. I frustrated them to no end."

"Where the hell have they been?" Sel asked.

"Lonnie has friends in the FBI from when he was chasing another bad guy. He's been on the phone with them, trying to see if they can get these here off our backs."

Dex said, "Travis told me they were about to head home. He said you were too."

Binx nodded and confessed, "We are. That's why I want to get this contract finished. I can't leave on a cliffhanger."

"Cliffhanger?" Sel asked.

"Yeah! Will you or won't you and Indio finally stop your stubbornness and get together officially?"

He laughed with the others. "I'm on the same cliffhanger."

Mal said, "I told you, these guys don't come around fast, but when they do, it's with their whole hearts."

"I know. I still feel like he's always going to hold back."

Ruben gently slapped his fingers over the paper. "Give him this."

"When it's typed and nicer," Binx complained. "You can't even read Mal's handwriting." He said, then softened once he saw Mal's playful frown. "I love you, but you're never going to get paid for your calligraphy."

"I can live with that."

Looking over the paper, all the while his face heated more and more until he started to sweat, Sel saw that it was reasonable, encompassing all the things they told him Indio would need, but not making Sel his doormat.

"This looks great. I mean, it gives him control during sex, and says we can negotiate more than that. Maybe be more specific there."

"Right, and I'll define that when I type it," Prince said.

The contract went on to say that they'd discuss their limits in person and write them in the given spaces. Binx pointed to it as Sel was reading that part. "This will force you two to talk about that. It'll be hard for him, so that is another area where you need to take charge."

It even wrote that communication would be top priority. "Forcing us to talk, forcing Indio to do anything…I don't know if he'll appreciate that. This is supposed to make him feel in charge."

"He has to force you to tell him things. You're reading it wrong," Ruben said, obviously annoyed. "You're not giving him a lot of credit."

"It's not that. He's just had a crazy life and forcing him into anything would be the scary part. I just don't want him freaking out."

"Like Ruben said," Prince whispered to him. "Give him some credit."

The only one who knew Indio better, Mal, also said, "He's a good guy. Hard to get close to, sure, but not to the point he'd give up something he wants."

"Well, we'll soon see. Let's get this cleaned up and give it to Prince."