Page 32 of Finding Jeremy
“Sounds like we’re gonna have to,” Chaos said. “If I was wrong, you know what that means, don’t you?”
“Yeah, we let a rat slip right from our grasp.”
“No, that was all on me,” Chaos said. “It will be up to me to make it right, too.”
Jeremy didn’t wait to hear anymore. He hurried to the cafeteria, glad to see that there was only a short line and several different sandwiches and pie slices to choose from. Picking for his old man was easy; they had roast beef with lettuce, tomato,and cheese peeking out the front, and plenty of condiment packs to keep his pops happy. Gray, however, Jeremy had no clue what to get. In the short time since he’d been out, Jeremy hadn’t seen him grab anything with cold cuts on it, so he decided to grab a second roast beef as well as a turkey, since he’d be good with eating whichever one Gray didn’t want. Two containers for chocolate pudding and a banana crème later, and he made his way to the counter, trying not to worry about what he’d overheard.
What reason could his Pops and Gray have for dredging up old business? His old man hadn’t stepped over the line and back into his outlaw days in several years, and Gray had just fuckin’ got out. No way would he risk his freedom.
They wouldn’t tell him shit if he asked either, which just pissed him off thinking about it. Despite being an adult, there were still things his old man tried to shield him from, and Gray was likely to follow suit, since he was just as protective of him as Chaos was.
Fucking hell, their vacation couldn’t come soon enough. His heart still hadn’t settled down fully from the scare he’d gotten when the hospital had called. For a moment, he’d stood frozen, terrified that he was about to hear that one or both of the most important men in his life were dead.
If today had taught him anything, it was how easily the winds could shift and shatter the joy he’d felt ever since Gray had been released to come back home again. Whatever it took, he was going to get answers from his Dom, even if it meant pinning him to the air mattress and tormenting him until he gave up the truth about whatever was going on. Or maybe he’d just pin him to the air mattress and ride him until they were both too raw and sated to move. At least then he’ll have reminded Gray of exactly what he needed to stay out of trouble for, because Jeremy didn’tknow if he could handle having his Dom do another stint behind bars.
Not when there was still so much more they had to look forward to.
Chapter 13
(Grayson)
As far as Gray was concerned, the hardest part of camping was locating that prime camping spot so far off the beaten path that no one else would be out there. That meant the big, state-run campgrounds were out, as those were always packed at this time of year. Even the spots on the fringe were too close to other campers to make for a truly enjoyable experience. It was hard to relax and unwind with other people’s music, arguments, and burned-up barbeque creating an endless stream of nonstop distractions. No, what he’d been after was something old school, remote, and way off the beaten path, and he’d found it when he’d remembered one of the places his grandparents used to take him camping when he was a kid.
Sure as shit, the little spot, tucked against a hill that offered the perfect buffer from the wind, was still marked with the brown sign designating it public land. The drop box to placetheir registration and campground fee was a little bit crooked, and the lock was covered with rust, but when they drove back behind the pond, there was no one utilizing the three spots there.
All the way up, he and Jeremy had sung along to classic rock on the radio, laughing during the music breaks when the DJs started bantering as they discussed the latest dumbest criminal reports. One, out of Iowa, had left Jeremy staring at him across the cab of the truck, looking completely perplexed.
“Did they just say what I think they said?” Jeremy asked.
“Yup, they said a man called 9-1-1 asking for help after he broke into a hog confinement and tried to steal a pig and got trapped inside one of the enclosures.”
“That’s fake news, right? No way are people that dumb.”
“I can tell you from experience that people are indeed that dumb, and many of them are living in my former cellblock,” Gray explained, chuckling.
“Whoa.”
Now, as Gray parked the truck, he glanced over to see Jeremy peering through the windshield with a look of awe on his face. It was one hell of a view, with the sunlight shimmering off the surface of the pond and old oaks providing shade all around the edges. His disappointment over having to leave his motorcycle behind erased when he thought about what it had allowed them to bring. A quick glance in the rearview showed the rowboat tied down in the back, keeping the sun from beating down on the coolers that held their drinks and supplies. It would be fun, whiling away their days swimming, fishing, and swinging from the rope he’d brought since he knew the old rope swing was either gone or rotted by now.
“You wanna tackle the tent while I unload?” Gray suggested.
“I can do that,” Jeremy replied, then he was out the door in a flash, the truck rocking with the speed of his exit.
He didn’t slam the door, though, which shocked Grey, until an image of Chaos popped into his head. He could just picture the man bellowing about Jeremy slamming it and figured he’d been on the receiving end of several lectures about truck doors in the past. The truck rocked again when Jeremy scrambled up the side, using the rear tire to boost himself into the bed instead of dropping the tailgate.
Seeing him so excited and enthusiastic spurred Gray into action, and he hopped out ready to get to work unloading so they could start enjoying the day. They’d made good time too; another good decision, though having to set an alarm on their day off had led to a bit of good-natured snarking when the thing had gone off at six that morning, spurring them into action. Now it was a little past nine, and they had hours of beautiful sunshine ahead.
Jeremy started whistling as he walked away from the truck carrying the tote containing their four-man tent, air mattress, and air compressor. While the idea of camping in the bed of the truck had initially had merit, several quick measurements had soon ruled it an impossibility, as the only air mattresses Chaos had around were king and queen-sized ones.
“I’m too goddamn old to be trying to sleep on one of those itty-bitty doubles,” Chaos had snarked as he’d led Gray over to the shelves in the garage that held the camping gear.
Talk about organized. With everything already in carefully labeled totes denoting cooking supplies, tents, air mattresses, lanterns, batteries, and fishing gear, loading up had been insanely easier than any camping trip Gray had ever planned.
“When I wanna go, I wanna get gone,” Chaos explained. “Having to track everything down, tick off a list, and pack it all just pisses me off. As soon as I built the shelves in here, I sorted everything, labeled it, and made damn sure that at the end ofeach trip, everything was clean and put away so it would be ready the next time out.”
From the condition of the fire ring, Gray could tell it hadn’t been used in a while. Even the picnic table was covered in a layer of grime and stuck-on leaves that Gray quickly began to clean away with Clorox wipes. It didn’t take them long to have the space set up, the tent tied down, and the fire pit cleared and waiting with fresh kindling for when they were ready to light it later. The only thing left to do was kick back, relax, and enjoy the space.
Turning, Gray caught sight of Jeremy tying the end of a hammock rope to a tree, pleased to see that the ones in the camping tote had bars at both ends to prevent mishaps like the one Chaos had suffered.
