“Not here,” Lucas said quietly.“Downstairs.”
“I’m not negotiating with you, Cain!”
“But I’m not under arrest.Right?So it’s mychoice about coming with you.”Whatever this was about, it seemedto have jarred Lucas out of his apathy.His voice now was calm butfirm.
The officer didn’t seem impressed.“With yourrecord?You know it’d take me no time to get an arrestwarrant.”
“So do it.”Lucas took another step towardthe door.“Or you can keep it simple and I’ll come with you now.But we do it downstairs.”
The constable clearly noticed Mark’sconfusion and frowned thoughtfully.“He doesn’t want to get cuffedup here.In front of you.”Parker shook his head.“Like he thinkshe’s fooling you, or something.Like you, of all people, don’t knowthat he’s a criminal!”Apparently the officer thought Mark wouldjoin him in ridiculing Lucas’s hesitation.
Instead, Mark stood.“I don’t see why you’dwant to cuff him at all.If he’s going with you voluntarily.”
“Safety.If I’m going to transport a knownfelon, solo?He’s going to be cuffed.”
Mark had no idea if this was standard or not,and wasn’t sure how to argue against it when Lucas didn’t seem tobe objecting.Well, Mark could do something about being a witnessto Lucas’s degradation.“I’m going to go in the other room and calla lawyer,” he said firmly.“Lucas, thank you very much for yourhelp tonight.I’ll do whatever I can to make sure that you don’tget punished for it.”
Finally, Lucas looked at him.“It’s fine,” hesaid quietly.“You probably don’t want to get involved.You haveenough to worry about.”
“You have enough to worry about too.But yougot involved.You came over here, knowing that even if you didn’tget hurt in the fight you could get in trouble with the police.Youdid that for me, and I owe you.”
Lucas squinted at him in disbelief but it wasthe police officer who said, “After what he did?After yourbrother?You don’t owe him a thing, Mr.Webber.”
“That’s in the past.”As soon as he said thewords, Mark realized that they were true.He’d loved his brother,and Lucas Cain had killed him.But it felt distant now.A differentLucas, part of a situation more complicated than Mark had wanted toadmit, had made a horrible mistake.But he’d acceptedresponsibility, done what he could to make amends, and… “I’veforgiven him.And today, he risked himself to save me.I owehim.”
“You don’t,” Lucas said fervently.He staredat Mark for a moment, then turned to Constable Parker and held hishands out, wrists together.“Okay.Do it.Let’s go.”
Parker paused, looking for a trap, thennodded.“Turn around.Hands on the wall.If I frisk you, am I goingto find anything sharp?Any weapons, or needles?”
There was more to the routine and Mark forgothis resolution to leave the room.Instead, he stood and watched.Lucas nowwantedMark to see him being treated like acriminal?He thought something like that would change Mark’s mindabout him?Mark waited patiently until Lucas was cuffed and beingprodded toward the door, then he said, “Lucas?”
Lucas didn’t turn around, but he stoppedwalking, so Mark continued.“Thank you for saving me, Lucas.I’mgoing to do what I can to help you out.I owe you.”
Lucas didn’t respond.He just lowered hishead a little farther.When the officer shoved him gently, hestarted walking, stepping aside to let the constable open the door,never looking back at Mark.
The door shut firmly behind them and Mark wasleft alone in an apartment that seemed too quiet.Constable Parkerhad said they’d keep the heightened patrols up but Mark had alreadyseen how effective those were, so he kept away from the windows.Hetook a moment to try to collect himself.So much had happened, andhe wasn’t sure how he felt about any of it.The attack, the kiss,the police…it was all too much.
He realized that his hand had drifted to hisface, his fingers gently playing over his lips.He’d never beenkissed like that before.This hadn’t been the respectful, safeexplorations he’d experienced with his few other partners.It hadbeen wild, almost frightening, but…
He pushed a little harder, his fingerspressing his lips against his teeth, and his breath caught.It hadfelt like Lucas was being swept along in a powerful river and he’dreached out to grab hold of Mark, standing safely on the bank.ButLucas hadn’t wanted to be rescued, he’d wanted to pull Mark intothe current with him.Maybe they’d have drowned or maybe they’dhave ridden the rapids together.Mark had been too stunned to reactat the time and even now he wasn’t sure what he should have done.If the constable hadn’t knocked on the door, would Mark have letgo?Would he have let himself be swept away?He thought of the heatthat had burned in Lucas’s green eyes and felt his body reacting tojust the thought of it.To have let that kiss continue, to have letmore happen…
He took a deep, shuddering breath.He didn’thave time for this.He’d promised to call a lawyer, and despiteLucas’s protestations, that was what he was going to do.There wasno doubt in his mind that the three men in the alley had intendedto attack him, and no doubt that without Lucas’s intervention, hewould have been seriously hurt.He couldn’t allow Lucas to facepunishment for being a hero.That was clear and straightforward, atleast compared to the complications of the kiss.
He turned off all the lights except for onedesk lamp far back from the windows and found Daniel Cohen’s cardin his wallet.He had no idea if the lawyer handled criminal cases,but he was somewhere to start, at least.And he’d seemed discretein his earlier conversation with Mark, seemed to understand that itwas important to keep things as quiet as possible.Mark didn’t wantto think about how his mother would react if she heard that he wasactually helping Lucas Cain.She was still as angry as Mark hadbeen months earlier, and he couldn’t really imagine how he’d havefelt if he’d heard then that someone was trying to help hisbrother’s killer avoid punishment for anything, no matter howremoved it was from the original crime.No, there was no point ininvolving her in any of this.
He pushed the doubts out of his mind andpicked up the phone.He would do what he knew was right.He’d worryabout the rest of it when he had time.
ChapterThirty-Five
It was comforting for Lucas to be around theanimals, and it felt good to use his muscles, pushing harder thanhe usually would in order to wear himself out.It was easier tofocus on the ache of sore muscles instead of letting his mind playover the chaos of the night before.
The fight, the kiss, the police station…ithad all been too much.The fight at least had been justified.Necessary.Perfect,a tiny voice in Lucas’s brain insisted,but he quashed that idea.He couldn’t be like that anymore.He’dlearned his lesson the hard way.The way that made someone else payfor Lucas’s mistakes.He couldn’t fight again, no matter howexhilarating it had been.But this one time, with thejustifications he’d had…damn, he had no regrets about thefight.
The kiss had been a mistake, of course.Lucashadn’t just stepped over a line, he’d jumped over the damn thingand sprinted as far away from it as possible.And he knew there’dbe consequences.There was no way Father Mark was going to becoming out for his casual visits anymore, not if he was afraid hewas going to get jumped at any moment.Still, the kiss itself hadbeen… Lucas frowned.The kiss had been like the fight, he supposed.It felt great at the time, but his actions had consequences and hecouldn’t escape them.He was surprised to realize how much he wouldmiss spending time with Father Mark.One more thing he’d messed up,even if the father had been his typically understanding self aboutit afterward.Being understanding was a lot different than beingstupid, and the priest would have to be stupid to trust Lucas againafter that mess-up.
And then the police station.Paperwork,threats, and a court date three weeks down the road to let somejudge decide if Lucas’s parole violations were enough to send himback to jail.He pulled two hay bales off the stack, balancing oneon each shoulder and almost relishing the way their sharp stalksscratched against his neck and cheeks.Better to be distracted bythat discomfort than to think about being back in prison, losingall the small gains he’d made in his outside life.
But it had all been worth it, he decided ashe staggered under the weight of the bales and headed toward thetrap door that would drop the hay down to the concrete floor of thebarn.There was no way he could have let Father Mark get hurt andhe’d kept that from happening the best way he knew how.The kiss…heran his tongue over his lips and almost groaned, thinking about thelong line of Mark’s body pinned beneath his own…even the kiss washard to regret.The priest would have stopped coming out for visitsat some point anyhow, so at least this way Lucas had one beautifulmemory to store away.
