Trial by Fire by BA Tortuga

Author:BA Tortuga [Tortuga, BA]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
Tags: gay romance
ISBN: 978-1-63476-982-2
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Published: 2016-03-14T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

WAITING fucking sucked.

There was nothing to do but wait for the goddamn call. Lachlan had managed to get the money together, even though the FBI and the cops and the security guys had said no. They thought it was a bad idea to pay off terrorists, or perpetrators or whatever. Even the hint of the money being around made people reckless, Abruzzo had said.

God, Holden was tired.

“You going to make it, kid?” Crazy McPhail came up to sit beside him, the lead bullfighter’s presence as solid as a rock.

“I don’t know. I sure as shit hope so.”

“Me too, son. Chloe needs you to have your shit together.”

“I know. I know, Crazy. I’ll make it. You know me. I ain’t no flake.” No. Solid as stone—that was him.

Solid and staid as stone.

“I know.” Crazy chuckled, the sound rough as a cob. “You sure are taken with that Aussie feller.”

He didn’t meet Crazy’s eyes, because that was awkward as all get-out, but the guys all either knew he was funny or guessed, because he never once brought a girl home and because Landon was a huge fucking proponent of “Be who you are.” “Yeah.”

“You don’t think you need someone more local and less tall?” Crazy nudged him with a bony elbow.

“Shit, Crazy, it ain’t gonna be nothin’. How could it be? Australia’s on the other side of the whole world.” Holden knew better than to be stupid. Guys like him didn’t get forever and always. That was for men who weren’t born backward.

“Oh, I don’t know. He’s loaded, for sure, and he’s gonna want to see his niece. His folks are a hoot. His daddy has been out poking at the cattle.”

“Yeah.” They both stopped when Crazy’s phone rang, and Crazy held one finger up.

“Sorry, Boss. ’Lo?” Crazy began to frown deeply, gaze clashing with Holden’s. “Yeah, he’s right here. Who the fuck is this?”

That frown deepened, and tired eyes the color of well-worn jeans met his. “They want to talk to you.”

The words sounded like they were fat and heavy with worry and pissed off, like a thunderboomer that was crackling with lightning.

It was the kidnappers. Holden knew it like he knew his own name.

He took the phone, even if a part of him was screaming that he didn’t know what to do—what to do, how to do whatever it was that was right. “Sheffield.”

“I know you ain’t with no cops right now, kid, and if you don’t want me to bash this little one’s head in with a rock right now, you’ll tell me the truth. You got the money?” The voice was distorted, harsh. Unrecognizable.

A mixture of horror and fury rushed through him, but he just shrugged, doing his best to figure who could see him from here, who knew he was with Crazy. “I got it.”

“Good. Now we talk turkey.”

Holden took a deep breath and thought about what the feds had told him. Keep him talking. Get him to reveal details. “Kid,” the guy had called him. That meant one of the older guys, not someone his age.

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