Page 14 of Euphoria

“Let’s go,” he ordered. He pushed Hugh out the open front door and down the front steps to the waiting SUV. Luke told him to get into the driver’s seat and he did as he was asked. Hugh had a feeling that the only way that he was going to get out of this mess was to do as he was told and wait for his window of opportunity. He had watched enough crime shows to know that staying alive was the goal and he’d do whatever he had to do to keep on breathing.

They drove in silence except for Luke barking out orders where to go. They had been on the same stretch of highway for hours and Hugh needed a break from driving. “I hate to sound like an eight-year-old kid on a family vacation, but are we almost there yet?”

“You never were very patient, were you Hugh?” Luke asked. It was one of his weak points, but hearing Luke accuse him of having another shortcoming just pissed him off. He liked to point out all of Hugh’s “issues” as he liked to call them. He ate his dinner too slowly, he never made the bed, he didn’t like to read books, he never took out the trash, and he never used his head before opening his mouth. The list was a long one, and by the end of their relationship, Hugh believed most of them. He felt as though he couldn’t do anything right, and that plain messed him up. His self-confidence was at an all-time low when he left Luke, and he had only started gaining it back. Colter was helping him with that—whether he knew it or not. His guy wasn’t anything like Luke, and for that, Hugh was grateful.

He needed to come up with an excuse to get Luke to agree to stop. Maybe then, he’d be able to get some kind of message to Colter. “I have to pee,” he said, going with a tried but true excuse. “We’ve been driving for hours, and a bathroom break would be great.” He chanced a look over at Luke and he knew that his ex might be feeling the same way. “I think it might do us both some good to stretch and use the bathroom.” Hugh felt as though he was holding his breath, waiting Luke out to answer.

“Fine,” Luke spat, “but if you try anything, I’ll kill you and then go back to do the same to your boyfriend, Colter.”

“Wait, how do you know his name?” Hugh asked. He had been extra careful not to give Luke any personal details about Colter—not even his name. Had Luke been doing more than just following the two of them around town? “Have you looked into him?” Hugh asked.

“Of course I did,” Luke admitted. “I had to know what I was going up against.”

“Let’s be honest, Luke,” Hugh said, “you didn’t come to town to ask me to get back together with you. You came to check out Colter.” If Luke had dug deep enough, he would have foundout that Colter was loaded. His grandfather had left him enough money so that he’d never have to work another day again if that was what he wanted. If Hugh’s hunch was correct—Colter’s money had everything to do with Luke showing up at his door.

“You’re after the money,” Hugh accused. Luke’s laugh was mean, and he knew that he had hit the nail on the head with his guess.

“Took you long enough to figure it out,” Luke spat. “You actually believed that I wanted you back, didn’t you? I showed up with a pathetic story about how Jace had cheated on me, because I knew that would tug at your heartstrings, and you bought the whole lie, didn’t you?”

“You and Jace are still together?” Hugh asked. It was the first question that popped into his jumbled-up mind. He didn’t give a fuck if Jace and Luke were together, but piecing the story together was getting harder to do.

“Try to keep up, Hugh,” Luke taunted. “This whole plan was Jace’s idea. He was the one who came up with the story about me wanting you back and even the lie about him cheating on me. You are so gullible; it was easy to get you to believe everything that I was telling you.”

“So, what’s the plan then? You’re kidnapping me and then what? You’ll contact Colter and ask him for money. We’ve only been together for a few short months. Do you honestly believe that he’s going to give you anything in exchange for me?”

Luke shot him a look and for the first time since showing up at his door, he didn’t seem so sure of himself. Hugh liked the fact that he could still get under his ex’s skin. It might be what actually helps him out of this mess.

“You better hope that he pays,” Luke threatened. “If not, he’s going to have to figure out how to pick up the pieces—of you, because that’s how he’s going to get you back. Jace plans onsending him incentive if he needs it—starting with a finger and moving on from there.”

“Well, your new boyfriend sounds like a great guy, Luke. I’m so happy for you two kids.” Hugh couldn’t let Jace take a finger or anything else from him. Not now that he finally had a guy like Colter in his life. He was going to just have to keep getting a rise out of Luke if he wanted any chance of escaping.

“Keep on joking, asshole,” Luke spat. “Jace is meeting us in about an hour and I’m sure that he’s got plans for you.” Hugh was sure that his ex was right. Jace wouldn’t have him sitting comfortably in the driver’s seat. No, he’d probably put Hugh in the trunk, and then God only knew what he’d do to him. All he knew was that he had an hour to come up with a plan—a damn good one before they met up with Jace.

“Now let’s call the bar, and let your boyfriend know that you and I are taking a little trip together.” Luke shoved Hugh’s cell phone into his hand and ordered him to call. He told him to say that he was going away with Luke for a few days, and to let Colter know. There was no way that he was going to do that, but when Luke shoved the gun into his side, he knew that he had very limited options. He just hoped like hell that Colter knew him well enough to know that he’d never go anywhere with Luke. Maybe then, he’d call for help because the minutes were ticking away, and Hugh really liked all his fingers where they were.

Colter

“What do you mean by Hugh went with Luke?” he shouted at his new waitress. Hugh hadn’t shown up to work at six as he promised, and when Colter finished working on the payroll for the week, he tried to call him. After about an hour of his calls going straight to voicemail, his new waitress, Katrina, brought back a message she had taken about two hours earlier, saying that Hugh had called and was going somewhere with some guy named Luke for a few days. Colter knew his guy well enough to know that would never happen. Luke had just about broken Hugh and there was no way that he’d let his ex back into his life.

“Hey, I just gave you the message that Hugh left. Don’t shoot the messenger,” she insisted. Katrina handed him the napkin which she wrote the message on and turned to leave his office.

“Wait,” he almost shouted, “are you sure that he called in about two hours ago?” Colter asked.

“Yeah, I had just come in for my shift and no one was answering the phone up at the front,” Katrina said.

“Okay, thank you,” Colter said. He waited for her to leave his office, grumbling something about her new boss being crazy, and pulled his cell phone from his pocket. He was going to call Zane, from the Kink Club across the street. He had only met the guy a few times, but he was sure that he said something about his husband being a police detective. If his hunch was right, he’d need help finding Hugh, and a detective would be just the person to have on his side.

“Hello,” Zane answered on the first ring.

“Hey, man,” Colter breathed, “it's Colter from the bar across the way.”

“Yeah, how are you doing?” Zane asked.

“Not too good,” Colter admitted. “Listen, I have a bad feeling that something has happened to my boyfriend, and I remembered you saying something about your husband being a detective.”

“Yeah, Crew is a detective. In fact, he’s here now. How about if we come over and you can tell us what’s going on?” Zane asked.

“I’d be grateful to you both,” Colter said. Zane promised to be right over with Crew. Colter ended the call and tossed his cell on his desk. If Hugh was in trouble, and Luke was involved, he wasn’t sure if calling in backup was the best idea. From what Hugh told him, Luke was just an asshole, but not a threat. Still, something in Colter’s gut was shouting at him that something wasn’t right, and his gut wasn’t usually wrong. Hopefully, this time, it was, but he doubted it.

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