Page 4 of Only the Small Bones
I hadn’t even asked about his family. I drew my shoulders back, preparing for his disapproval. “He’s coming home with me. And before you start—”
“You can’t keep turning them into charity cases, William.” Now he sounded like Xavier.
“That isn’t how I see them and you know it. But this is different from the handful of other times.”
“How fucking so?”
“It just is,” I argued.
“Did you forget what happened the last time?”
“I’ll be careful. I’ll reach out for help at the first sign that I’m in over my head.” I hadn’t done that with Jacob—the last survivor I’d allowed to stay at my place while Davidson worked on tracking down his family. I had a three-inch scar on my shoulder to show for it.
“The sign is right there in the room behind you,” he said, jabbing a finger at Ryan’s hospital room door. “He had to be sedated and restrained,” he reminded me. He was worried about me. Worried about Ryan, worried about them all. The ones found—dead or alive—and the countless others still missing. The ones taken on foreign soil, and the thousands being trafficked through coercion and other unsavory means right here in our own backyard.
I couldn’t be moved, though. Not about this. Not this time. Davidson sighed, turning in place with his hands on his hips.
“Did he say he wanted to go with you?”
“He didn’tnotsay it. But he didn’t react to it as terrified as he did the other options.”
“I’ll find him someplace to stay until we can get him to agree to Safe Haven. We’ll search the missing persons database. Find his family. Maybe we can—”
“He won’t go with you,” I said, speaking over him. I glanced back to see Ryan staring blankly at the wall again. “Just give me a few days. My building is secure. He’ll see that he’s safe. He’ll open up. They always do.”
He couldn’t argue with me on that front. Jacob had been mortified by what he’d done to me while in the throes of a nightmare. Soon after, he’d agreed to go to Safe Haven until his family arrived. The outcome had been worth the lingering scar.
“Fuck it,” he said sounding exhausted, looking at his watch. “Okay. I’ve officially been awake for twenty-four hours. If anyone asks, I’ll blame it on being sleep deprived. I need to wrap a few things up. I’ll get you two an escort home. And answer yourphone when I call to check on you in the morning,” he warned, before striding off and speaking into his comms unit.
It took Davidson notifying Ryan of his options to get him moving. He hadn’t said it unkindly, but I still leveled him with a scowl after Ryan went into the en suite bathroom to change out of his grimy clothes into a pair of scrubs. I was already protective of him.
He crept out of the bathroom, leery and shivering. I removed my tuxedo blazer, laying it across the gurney before returning to my spot near the door.
“Please, wear it. It’ll keep you warm until we get outside.” I slipped into the hall and closed the door when he didn’t move. Maybe some privacy would make him more amenable to wearing it. He emerged with it draped across his shoulders.
We rode in the backseat of an unmarked car. Ryan pressed his body against his door to create as much space as possible between us. The roads were still clear of traffic, but the sound of the windshield wipers going, the occasional horn honking, or the tires hydroplaning over puddles, caused Ryan to flinch in his seat. The cacophony of the weather outside felt almost akin to the emotional storm brewing inside the car. When he wasn’t leaping out of his skin, his teeth chattered despite the muggy summer night. Was it from shock? Or fear? The agent had been kind enough to turn the heat on, causing the interior to swelter.
We pulled up in front of my place in record time. When Ryan glanced up at the luxury high-rise, I felt the odd need to explain why I would live here. “It came with a recording studio. The previous owner was a musician. Enables me to do much of my work from home.” Embarrassment and shame formed a knot in my stomach. I lived like this, while he, and others like him, were out there fighting to survive terrible circumstances.
How did I explain to him that I filled my life with meaningless things in an attempt to fill the gaping hole insideme? How did I tell him thatnothingever worked, that I was less than empty inside? Would he even care?
“It doesn’t make me happy,” I said when he just stared at me. “None of it.”
I got out first, circling to his side and holding the umbrella open for him to step under. He refused, as though it would put us too close to each other.
Once inside the lobby, I considered introducing him to the security guard stationed near the revolving doors, since he was one of many responsible for keeping the building safe. I thought better of it. Overwhelming Ryan with new people right then wouldn’t have been wise.
Instead, I pointed him out, letting Ryan know there was always someone on post.
“No one is allowed past the lobby without identification and approval.” I gestured to the concierge desk where visitors checked in as we made our way to my personal elevator. “And there are cameras everywhere.”
Ryan simply looked at the floor as if in a daze. His movements were listless, and he seemed on the verge of collapsing from sheer fatigue. I dug my nails into my palms to keep from reaching out to him, to stop myself from scooping him into my arms and carrying him the rest of the way.
We stood in front of my open apartment door while he assessed the interior hallway, deciding if he felt safe enough to step inside. “This is the only apartment on this floor.” It was technically a duplex. “So you don’t need to worry about other residents or their visitors roaming around up here. You need a code to ride the elevator up, and I’m the only one with that code.” I let that sink in. “I can send the elevator down to anyone visiting using an app on my phone, but only after the concierge has seen their identification and contacted me. I give my code to no one,” I assured him.
I never had many visitors anyway. I didn’t even employ household staff, preferring to handle my chores myself. It kept me humble.
Ryan crossed his arms, a clear defensive movement, my blazer swallowing him.
