Page 94 of Holding On to a Hero
“We’re going to put your plan in motion.” Spence pumped his fists in a cheer. “Austin PD has arranged for us to use a local TV station’s satellite building for the interview. The parking lot has one narrow driveway and we can put up temporary fencing around the property with one or two obvious ways to sneak in if someone were looking for that. On the day of the interview we’ll evaluate the crowd and decide whether to have the three of you actually arrive at the studio or if we’ll send in doubles.” Will, Jason and I exchanged looks with each other and with Spence. We all nodded, though Ramirez couldn’t see us.
“Cole, I’ve set up a secure video conference at 2:00pm today with your agent and your publicist. They think this is a follow up to their original investigation interviews, and they don’t know you’re not in a coma. I’d like you to be on the call to enlist their help with setting up the TV interview.”
“I can’t wait! They’re going to be freaked to see me!” It was going to be epic.
“No doubt.” Ramirez sounded amused. “I’m not going to explain details of the security to them, since that’s on a need-to-know basis, but I’ll be on hand to assure them you’ll be as safe as we can possibly make you. After the video conference, we’d like you to start driving toward Austin. When you get close, Brian will text you the address of the house he found for you to stay in.”
Jason asked, “What day are you targeting for the TV interview?”
“Ideally we want it to happen Monday or Tuesday. As soon as we can nail down a date with your journalist friend, Cole, we’ll need two or three days to leak the news about the interview and the location.”
We discussed a few more details before the call ended. I looked around the room. Jason and Spence were obviously stoked to finally be taking some action. They’d already started a list of weapons and other testosterone-building toys they wanted to have on hand. Will, however, looked like he was going to be sick.
“What’s wrong, Will?” Jason and Spence immediately shut up and paid attention.
Will winced. “I, uh, I just wanted to say thank you to all of you. I know you keep saying this isn’t my fault, but you’re all about to risk your lives because this weirdo wants to kill me.” He twisted his hands together before rubbing the back of his neck and looking at all of us from under his lashes. “So, thank you.”
I leaned over and hugged him. “We’d do even more for you if we could, Will.” He sniffed and I sat back to let Jason pull Will into one of his bear-man hugs.
“I second that, Will.” Spence stood up. “These guys are like family to me, so you get to be family too.”
“Aww, thanks, Spence.” Will looked pleased.
“Especially now that we’ve bonded over our cat bath video.” He winked at Will.
I yelled, “Hey!” but Will started laughing, so I had to swallow my protest since Spence had at least brought Will out of his funk.
“You know, Will,” Spence tapped his lip thoughtfully as he gazed at the ceiling. “When the rescue ranch finally opens, we should leak that video. It would go viral in a hot minute, and I bet donations would pour in.”
“Now, wait,” I started but Will interrupted me.
“Yes! People would eat it up!” Jason and I rolled our eyes at each other. Spence and Will had finally – after Spence made a big production out of backing up the video to his cloud account – shown us the video. I mean, okay, it was pretty funny. And Spence was probably right about the attention it would get. And the donations. Shit.
I’d never tell anyone, but the part I liked best about that video was the moment at the end when I saw Will laughing. You could see my face melt intoI love this man. Putting that moment out in public for everyone to see was scary. My knee-jerk reaction was to hide it, just like I’d hidden my feelings for Jason from the public for years. But by the time we released that video, I’d already be out and proud. I nodded to myself. Fuck yeah, I wanted people to see that.
Spence jerked me out of my navel-gazing to say, “Hey, what are you guys going to wear for your video call with Felicia and Bridgette? You don’t want to look all,I just woke up from a coma.” He gestured at me as if my current outfit of jeans and a t-shirt was trash.
Well, I could just borrow something from Spence. His shirts might fit Will too, but Jason…hmmm.
“Wait, what do you mean byyou guys?” Will sounded a little panicky. “I thought Cole was going to be the only one talking to them.”
I took his hand. “Felicia is my agent and Bridgette is my publicist. They’re going to help us plan what we want to say in the interview, so they need to meet you; and I want you and Jason to be part of the discussion so we’re all on the same page about what we’re comfortable sharing.”
Will paled. “Oh, shit. I guess I was so focused on us not getting shot as we went into the TV studio I never thought about when we made it inside. We’re going to be on TV. Talking about our relationship.” He swallowed.
I frowned at him. “Is that okay, Will? If you’re not comfortable being on TV yourself, it can be just me and I can tell everyone we’re trying to keep your life private.”
Will sat up and took a breath. “No. I want to be there with you.” He reached for Jason’s hand. “With you both.” Jason and I hugged Will between us.
“Okay!” Spence clapped his hands. “Now that that’s sorted out, I’m going to go see if I have anything for you in my closet, and then we’ll decide if we need to go shopping.” He surveyed the three of us. “Also, all three of you need haircuts if you’re going to be on TV. I hope the Texas Rangers have someone on call since it’s not like we can stop at a salon on our way to Austin.” He spun around and marched out of the room.
* * *
I set Spence’s mother’s yarn scissors down and ran my hand over my beard. I looked a little less mountain man than I had before. My hair was still an overgrown disaster, but Felicia and Bridgette would just have to deal with it.
Slowly I ran my fingers over the angry red welt that ran from my right temple to my jawline, cutting into the line of my beard. It had faded from its original dark purple color, which was fortunate considering the lavender shirt Spence had provided me.
Maybe a plastic surgeon make it less noticeable, but I didn’t think I’d ever try to find out. I smiled at the scar. I knew Will felt guilty that I’d been injured when he’d pushed me out of the way of the bullets, but not only was I grateful for his sacrifice on my behalf, but I was grateful for the scar.
