Charma snorted.“Not if they’ve been paying any attention.Hell, probably not even if they haven’t.It’s not like we live in a ritzy part of town.I mean this isn’t a hell hole, but it’s not where anyone gets kidnapped for ransom, either.”
“Well then who does he know in Idaho?”
“I have no id—Oh.”A horrible thought crossed his mind.
“What is it, son?”
“Well, he never said where he was from, but I know it isn’t here and he ran away when he was still a teenager because his folks tried to send him to one of those conversion camps when he came out to them.”
“Would they know where he lives?”
“Not because he told them they don’t.He said he tried once or twice to reconnect and it never went well.But maybe they were just biding their time…” Like maybe waiting for Darcy to prove he was gay by moving in with his boyfriend.Could this all be his fault?
“That isn’t a no, though.Not that knowing why matters to finding him.”
“Except that if it was them that took him, they are definitely going to try to get the gay out of him and I don’t know what exactly that means, but they sent goons to get him so I’m thinking it can’t be anything good.”
“No, I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t be.”
Charma sank down to sit next to his bags of food.Food that his mom had made and given them with love.Food that Darcy hadn’t had a chance to sample and maybe never would.He shook his head.He couldn’t think like that.
“No doom-scenario-ing,” his mother told him, like she’d known exactly where his mind was going.“I’m sending Nik to come get you, bring you home until we find him.”
“No.”Charma shook his head.“No, I have to be here in case they drop him back off here for some reason.”Like they had nothing to do with Darcy’s folks and had actually grabbed the wrong guy and decided to drop Darcy back home instead of shooting him because he’d seen their faces.Okay, that was grim.Mom was right, he had to stop the doom thinking.It was not an easy ask under the circumstances, though.
“You’ve already said there’s no money for a ransom.”
“No, but what if that’s what this was about and they don’t know.I just.I need to stay here.”He needed to stay where he felt the closest to Darcy and that was not at the compound.It was here, at home.And he would explore how he felt about the compound no longer being home later.When he had Darcy back.
“Then I’m sending Nik to stay with you.”
“Mom…”
“No arguments—they could come back for you!”
“There’s only one bed.”
“Nik can sleep on the couch.That way theyhaveto go through him to get to you.And he knows a hundred different ways to kill someone with his bare hands, so I know you’ll be safe.”
Charma knew there was no point in arguing with her.She would be sending Nik to come stay.In fact, he was probably already on his way.
The police officer who’d taken his statement came toward him and Charma pushed himself back up onto his feet.
“I have to go, Mom.I’ll call you if I find anything out.”
“Same.Stay safe, son.I love you.”
“Love you, too,” he said softly, wishing he could remember when the last time was that he’d said that to Darcy.
ChapterEight
It was dark and they were still moving when Darcy came to.He bit back his groan and cautiously opened his eyes a crack.The big guy was still next to him, head back against the seat, two wads of either tissue or toilet paper blocking up his nostrils.So, Darcy had managed to do some damage.Good.He only wished it had been more.
He couldn’t see much outside due to the darkness, but he thought maybe there were trees on the side of the road.And it didn’t sound like there was a lot of traffic on the road they were travelling.So even if he did manage to scramble out—of a truck moving at a good clip—it didn’t seem like there was anywhere to go and nobody to flag down.He was sure to be retaken even if he didn’t hurt himself too badly to run.He was going to have to wait for them to stop moving before he tried to escape.He closed his eyes and tried to ignore the upset in his stomach.Although if he did have to throw up, he was going to do it all over the guy next to him.Or even better, the driver or the other guy up front.
At least Charma hadn’t been taken with him, and he had to believe that his lover was not only safe and unhurt, but that he had called the cops and was trying to find him.He had no clue who these guys were or what they wanted.Surely, they didn’t believe he or Charma had money.Although, if they’d seen him and Charma leaving the compound… well, it seemed like it was a swanky place.Maybe they’d taken him thinking he was the shifter, and they were going to ransom him back to Charma’s people?
It was quiet for a long time, and then, “We need to stop for gas,” the driver noted.“He still out?”
