Joshua shot up and wrapped him in a quick embrace. “Well, this is a surprise! What brings you here?”
Colin hugged him hard, then guided him back inside and shut the door, leaving the agents in the hall.
“I need to talk to you for a minute.”
Joshua’s smile dimmed. “Is there news?”
Colin sat across from Joshua’s desk, tugging him into the chair beside him and catching both his hands.
“Yeah. There’s news.” Colin exhaled, watching Joshua’s face. “It’s over. Elias cut a deal with the CAO. The threat’s gone.”
Joshua stared at him, silent. “Then can we… can we go home?”
Colin squeezed his hands, voice low but radiant with happiness. “We can, darling. It’s done. The rest is just paperwork. We don’t have to wait.”
Joshua frowned, as if trying to make sense of what Colin just told him. “Home?” he echoed. “We’re really goinghome?”
“We’ll sleep in our own bed tonight.”
Joshua launched himself onto Colin’s lap, covering his face with kisses, then cupping it between his hands. He kissed him again, deeper—relief and disbelief shaking through him. “Oh my god, Colin!Home!” His voice broke as he buried his face in Colin’s neck.
Colin gave a soft, joyful laugh, holding Joshua tight against him. “Feels like forever, doesn’t it?”
Joshua leaned back, swiping a hand over his damp cheek. “How long has it been?”
“Going on two months.”
“My god, it feels like a year!” He let out a shaky breath, then hesitated before tilting his head toward the door. “Will we still have… uh…”
Colin nodded. “Yeah. We’ll still have a detail, just smaller. Elias wants to stay out of trouble, but with guys like him, you never relax completely.”
Joshua got to his feet, pulling Colin up with him. “Can we go now? Do we have to wait?”
Colin laughed. “Well, you might want to ask Miranda before you go gallivanting off. Do you have patients to see?”
“No,” Joshua told him, moving to his desk. “I’m done seeing patients today.” He grabbed his briefcase and quickly stuffed some reports inside, then captured Colin’s hand and drew him out the door and down the hallway to Miranda Estavira’s office. “Miranda!” he cried, bursting through her door. “We can go home! We just got the word. Is it OK if I leave a bit early?”
“Oh, Josh, I’m so happy for you.” She embraced them both, then laid a hand on Colin’s shoulder. “So… they’re sure it’s safe? You two will be all right?”
Colin nodded, bending to kiss her cheek. “We’ll still have a reduced security detail, but yeah. The CAO believes that the threat has been neutralized.”
Miranda smiled, giving Joshua a gentle shove. “Well, go on then! Get on home!”
As they left Rainier and moved toward the car, Sarah Mitchell laid a hand on Colin’s arm. “Don’t you guys want to go back to the Omni first? Maybe check out and get your stuff?”
“Oh, hell!” Colin muttered. “She’s right. And both our cars are still in the city police parking garage.”
“Into the car, gentlemen,” Sarah urged. “You’re still under protection. We’ll take you wherever you want to go, but right now, I want you off this public sidewalk.”
Joshua snickered as they climbed into the black Suburban. “Count on Sarah to keep us grounded.”
It took nearly an hour to collect everything from the Omni and check out, but finally, they were headed home. The crunch of gravel on their own driveway felt surreal but welcome.
Joshua’s eyes brimmed. “I can’t believe it,” he whispered.
“Well, I can!” Colin laughed, leaping out of the Suburban, eager to unload.
“Colin!” Sarah barked. “Get back in this car until we’ve done a security sweep!”
