Page 38 of Rising Storm

Sayer just shook his head. “The last thing we want is for him to know about you. I promise I’ll be careful, Helix.” He smiled, his poor split lip looking painful. “You know, it’s nice having someone to worry about me.”

“I looked for you for years, Sayer.” He glanced at Gareth to find the man watching him. Something passed over his face, something that made Helix warm. They stared at each other for several long moments and when he managed to tear his gaze away, he found his brother looking between them with a small smile. One eyebrow went up as he looked at Helix. Helix just shrugged, loving the silent communication. He had a feeling he was going to like Sayer a lot once he got him away from his horrible life.

And his need to talk his brother into coming to Maine came back. He wished he had pictures of the place, but he’d never been one to store images on his phone. He’d just have to work harder—talk the place up as much as possible. As far as he was concerned, it was fitting that his years of forcing kids to steal and earning money off them was being paid back in this way. He’d make his brother see the karmic beauty in it.

He noticed then his brother was looking tired, so he stood up and nodded Gareth toward the door. “We’re going to go out and get some dinner. We’ll bring something back for you so you can rest awhile first.”

“Sounds good,” Sayer said as he slowly stretched out on the bed.

Chapter 15

“Are we really going out to dinner?” Gareth asked as they stepped out of the motel room.

“Yep. I’m in the mood for gyros and I saw a Greek restaurant not too far from here.”

“I know the one you mean and yeah, it’s good. Let’s go.”

They drove to the Greek cafe and once they had the food, Helix tucked into his with gusto.

“You’re really worried about your brother, aren’t you?” Gareth asked as he picked up his gyro and took a healthy bite. The flavors of spicy lamb and tzatziki sauce burst on his tongue. It was a small but popular place—one he’d frequented when he lived here, so he knew what was good.

“I wish I could kill Hayrick all over again.”

Shock made Gareth freeze and he stared at Helix, whose expression softened into understanding.

“You didn’t know?”

“No. And yes, you’ve hinted as much, so I guessed he was dead, of course, but Quincy never told me what happened. You killed him?”

“It wasn’t me that did it, but the details aren’t important. Hayrick had to have known my brother was being beaten and he did nothing about it. He forced him into this relationship. So yeah, I wish I could get my hands on him.”

“Have you had a chance to talk to Sayer about what happened between the age of twelve and eighteen when he got together with Kavaugh?”

Helix nodded. “He actually lived with Hayrick, who for some reason never made him steal anything.”

Gareth frowned. “Nothing in my research ever pointed to a kid living with the man.”

“He kept him sequestered mostly. He didn’t even let him go to school. God, what must that have been like? He was basically a prisoner for six years only to be given to a maniac. He’s been a prisoner since he was twelve years old.” Helix picked up a French fry and dropped it back on the plate, his mouth twisted in a frown. “Sayer needs a regular life. He needs to go to school, do other normal things. I wish he’d just go home with us already.”

“We can still convince him.”

“I can only hope. I’d like to get him as far away from Barnette Kavaugh as possible.”

“I’ll help you talk to him. If a straight arrow cop can do what I’m doing up there, Sayer can make a better life for himself.”

“Straight arrow, huh?” Helix smirked.

“I was the straightest.” He smiled, then took another bite of his gyro. He’d eaten at this place many times in the past and the best part of the sandwich was the homemade pita bread. Plus the tomatoes were nice and fresh and almost tasted garden grown. He wouldn’t be surprised if they were.

Helix ordered a deconstructed gyro for his brother so it wouldn’t get soggy, and they left the restaurant to find clouds had moved in over the city. Gareth took a deep breath of the fresh air and felt good. Really good. He looked over at Helix to find the man staring at him.

“How about we go back to your motel room first? I’m sure Sayer could use more sleep.”

The tone of his voice had desire coiling low in Gareth’s gut. “Oh yeah?”

“But let’s stop by a drugstore first.”

And like that, heat spiraled in to join the desire. He knew what Helix was getting at and he wanted it. He still wanted more with the man, but he was willing to work on convincing Helix they were too explosive together to keep this to something casual.

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