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If Peacock had tapped into his speaker, he didn’t respond to him. Instead, the time on Thomas’s phone was replaced by the countdown timer, this time set to twelve minutes already going.
He swore again. The instructions were clear enough. He had to go wherever the map took him and he had to do it in the time allowed. If he lived through this, he was going to have to thank Mark for making him go on runs with him for “company.”
The doors to the elevators barely started to part before Thomas burst through them, nearly taking out a woman dressing in workout clothes.
“Excuse me,” he said quickly, glancing back but not stopping as he bolted for the doors.
The sun wasn’t above the buildings yet, casting everything in gray yellow light as Thomas ran through the streets, pausing only to check his phone. He was aware of people in the streets, heading to work, or early rising vacationers getting their morning coffee, or heading out for some other tropical fun. Someone occasionally shouted after him, either in jest or anger about running through the streets, but he paid them no mind. Soon enough, the tourists dropped off and the locals starting their daily lives replaced them. Only one voice called out as he went running by though he felt many people watching him.
By the time he reached the warehouses, his legs and lungs both burned. Holding his side, he gasped as he looked around at where he was and back at his screen.
So close, kitten.
“Oh fuck off,” he wheezed as the map moved to show how close he was. He tried to move the image, to see more of where he was.
If you have time for that then you don’t need all of this.
The timer, which still had five minutes, changed again, filling his screen and started counting down from one minute.
“FUCK,” he snarled, bolting again for the warehouse three more buildings down. The large garage style door was standing open. He skidded to a stop, squinting into the gloom.
Peacock was sitting in the center of the room at a small round table. He had a laptop in front of him and a white espresso cup in his hand that he was making a show of sipping from without looking up.
“I’m here,” Thomas gasped, still nursing the ache in his side as he entered the room. His eyes darted around the room, the whole space appearing to be nothing more than storage for cardboard boxes.
A smirk lifted Peacock’s lips as he continued to focus on his computer screen for another few seconds before finally turning to him. It twisted rapidly into a scowl when he took in Thomas’s appearance. “I told you to bring your tech.”
Thomas pulled his watch off and set it on top of his phone to hold them both out. “That’s all I brought with me,” he said firmly. “This was supposed to be a week of being unplugged.”
Blue eyes narrowed at him but both items were taken, soft fingers brushing against Thomas’s unnecessarily. Then he laughed, setting them both on the table and kicking the chair opposite him out. “Sit!”
Thomas did as he was told, his body heavy from more than the exhaustion of his run.
“You contacted Popi last night,” Peacock said, his eyes returning to his computer.
It wasn’t a question so Thomas remained silent, imagining a hole appearing in the man’s head. He still could not recall what Finnegan’s head had looked like after Thomas shot him but he didn’t need to. He just wanted the man dead.
Peacock didn’t seem to expect him to speak, still looking at his screen with a leering smile growing on his lips. “I almost forgot how elegant yet ruthless Popi becomes when people get in his way,” he mused. “He broke ten computers between my three apprentices last night keeping them away from you. A costly distraction, but one well worth it to give me time to rewrite that program of his in your phone.” He picked up Thomas’s phone, looking towards the corner where the feather had been. “A masterpiece really. Like he installed a ghost of himself in here to support you. An interesting teaching aid. I’ll have to have him make more for the others.”
“You’re going to leave Danny’s school admissions and scholarship alone,” Thomas said, keeping his eyes locked onto the older man.
Fingers tightened then a smile grew, crueler than before. “I’ll leave it alone,” he said, setting the phone down and reaching forward towards Thomas’s leg. “So long as you do what you are told and obey, I have no reason to do anything to your little ball player or anyone in your previous life.” His fingers touched Thomas’s knee and it took everything Thomas had to not jerk away from him. “Once Popi joins us, I’ll have everything I want after all. I have no reason to hurt him so long as you remember your place.”
* * *
Danny woke up alone. That was how he usually woke up but after sharing a bed with Thomas last night it hurt when he stirred and didn’t feel Thomas pressed against him. Thomas liked cuddling in his sleep. Danny liked that Thomas liked cuddling when he was tired.
He sat up and looked at the other side of the bed, finding the pillow untouched from where housekeeping had straightened it yesterday.
“Fuck,” he breathed rubbing at his face. Sean had told him to go talk to Thomas about what had been going through his head when he egged Peacock on instead of doing what he was told last night. He had fully intended on having a nice, calm conversation about it, to find out why Thomas hadn’t looked at him or the man who had put a knife on his inner elbow and encouraged Kevin to make a scene while he was under physical threat. He had wanted to understand how his boyfriend could be so flippant about Danny’s future being threatened.
He hadn’t known the person who was sitting next to him at the table. Sure, on the phone after they had all gotten drunk Thomas had been unlike his cute, nervous self, but they were all hungover and Snake had probably been feeding him things to say. But Thomas was a nerd in every sense of the word. He stammered over simple questions like school and blushed when people asked if they were dating. He didn’t coldly inform dangerous men he wasn’t going to listen to them.
To hear that person still talking when Danny finally came out of the room— To hear that Thomas risked it all on a guess…
But I shouldn’t have shoved at him, he thought miserably. That had been out of line. It all just hurt so much and it had hurt even worse when that person told him in Thomas’s voice that he’d be done with Danny if he ever did that again. He was right to be done if Danny put his hands on him in anger; that was inexcusable and he knew it, but for there to be nothing in his voice, for it to be just as cold and calculating as it had been when he spoke to the man when he had heard Thomas shouting at Snake on the phone.
Outside, the sun was coming up. He felt another pang that Thomas wasn’t in there with him to watch it. Yesterday he had woken Thomas up to watch the sunrise with him. Thomas had grumbled and hummed all of his answers but had cuddled with him in the chair.
