Page 58 of Running Scared
“I would not leave your body in the back of the car,” Chance was saying now, sounding hurt.“Iloveyou, Reg.It’s hot outside—you’ddie.But I would totally leave you on the tarmac after convincing you it should be me who goes to rescue Marcus and not you.”
“We’re not rescuing Marcus—”
“Oh, the hell you’re not!”
“Okay, so wemayrescue Marcus, but don’t forget, the person paying for the plane, you blockhead, isDean’s boyfriend.So you need to give him some deference because he’sactually in a relationshipwith our brother, and he gets to call the shots.”
“Well, was it his idea to call Anthony?”Chance shot back, sounding as childish as Bailey had heard him.
“Rory told him to.What does Anthony have to do with this?”Reg asked—and Bailey wanted to cry, because in this area only, Reg was literally the dumbest Royal, and he wasn’t sure if Chance had the maturity to—
“Nothing,” Chance muttered, crossing his arms.“Never mind.It’s fine.I’ll take the minivan home.Just….”His voice cracked.“If I can’t go, tell Marcus I… you know.Thought about him.”
Bailey’s heart cracked a little.This family—thiswas why you had brothers.So they could give up their heart’s desire to cushion their brother’s heart for a breath longer.
For a moment, he loved Dean so hard he couldn’t breathe.Dean hadn’t just pushed him out of an airplane.He’d pushed him intothis.Into this mess of love and kindness and fun and entanglements andlife.Dean had pushed him into the arms of his family, and not Bailey alone—Bailey’s father, Bailey’s cat, and Bailey’s father’sdog.
Dean wanted them to be safe.He wanted them to beloved.And Bailey wanted nothing more than to be safe and loved with Dean by his side.
But first they had to find that pulsing dot on the screen.
THEY WEREmet on the tarmac by a couple of male models, or at least that was Bailey’s first surprised take.Glen Echo—six-foot, slender, blond, and blue-eyed, with one hell of a rakish swagger—took one glance at the three of them, and then at Anthony who had beaten them to the small, private airstrip by about four minutes, and shook his head.
“You’re looking for how many people?”he asked.
“Two, maybe three,” Bailey said, wondering if he was the only one who knew about Birdie.
“Mm… I can take two people there, with three possibly injured in the cargo part of the plane,” he told Bailey.“However, I understand you’re meeting McCauley in Juarez, amirite?”
“Yes,” Anthony said, drawing up near them, “but he’ll probably be in the semi—they left their trailer in El Paso and were heading that way.”
Glen gnawed his lip and glanced at his flight partner, another specimen of rakish swagger, with dark hair, golden skin, and deep-set, liquid brown eyes.“Damie?”
“Take ’em all to Juarez,” his copilot said.“Leave one or two to watch the plane and make plans depending on what we find.”
“Damien Ward, for the King Solomon solution,” Echo said, giving Damien a high five.He turned his game face toward them when he spoke next.“Okay, Damie’ll show you where to park.You two—” He gestured to Bailey and Reg with his chin.“—bring the bags.Damie and I have a fairly extensive first aid kit—”
“I’m a doctor—I brought my black bag with pain killers and antibiotics,” Bailey said quickly.
“Good,” Glen said with a solid nod.“We’ll take stock and stow the gear.”He paused in the middle of turning around and pinned his gaze on Anthony.“Wait a minute,” he said.“Do I know you?”
Anthony shot Glen a grin and extended his hand.“Little McCauley,” he said.“I’m Rory’s son.We met about ten years ago when Dad was still in the Bureau.”
“D’oh!”Glen said.“Damie!You remember him?God, he was a precocious little shit!”
Anthony held his hand to his heart.“I carried a torch,” he said.“My mom drove us out to see Dad take off, and I was, like, ‘I’m gonnamarrythat man someday!’”
Glen laughed delightedly.“Well, that’s a shame, ’cause I’m already married.”He managed to look a smidge embarrassed.“And he’s about your age, too, which seems to me like some sort of punishment for something I didn’t know I did.”
“I know,” Damien teased darkly.“Believe me, I know.”
The three of them laughed, and Damien went with Anthony and Chance to make sure the vehicles were stowed close to the hangar, leaving Bailey to walk with Reg and Glen to the plane.
“So,” Glen Echo said soberly as they walked, “I know you’re flying to get your friend—”
“Our brother,” Reg said.“Mine and Chance’s.And his partner in the Bureau—”
“And their pilot,” Bailey put in.“They wouldn’t leave Bird behind.”
