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“Depends on how you count. Three who live in his house, but with all his friends, it’s pretty big. But he likes his space, that’s for sure.” Rowe offered JB a beer, and he took it with a nod of thanks.
Noah found the colander and rinsed the grapes under the faucet. The man was a fruit junkie and Lucas knew it. Rowe felt a pang of affection for Lucas for paying attention and caring so much for his boyfriend. There were also apples and oranges in a bowl on the counter. He looked at JB. “You should probably clean up all the scratches.”
JB looked at his hands and arms, which were covered in cuts, but it was his face that had gotten most of the damage. Both cheeks held dots of blood and he had a large slash over his lip. “First, does anyone wanna tell me why we aren’t going to the police with this? We were the ones being attacked.”
Rowe looked at Noah, who grinned and motioned for Rowe to answer the question. Yeah, a smart man, a sane man, would be on the phone with the police the moment they noticed the tail, but Rowe never once claimed to be a sane person.
“Police just complicate things,” he muttered.
“But isn’t that their job? To serve and protect. I think we could use a little protecting about now. Particularly when these lunatics are tossing frag grenades into freaking motel rooms.”
Okay, JB had a point. The grenade was extreme, but that was something they’d have to talk about later. For now, he needed to settle JB’s worries, because he didn’t want the guy sneaking off and involving the cops behind their backs in an effort to keep them all safe. Rowe wouldn’t blame him…but…he’d probably hit him for making their lives more difficult.
Leaning his forearms on the center island, Rowe met JB’s blue eyes and gave him a reassuring smile. “Look, I know calling the cops seems like the smart thing, but what’s going to happen if we involve them? We’re all going to get hauled into the police station for a hell of a lot of questioning and finger-pointing. They’re going to take our weapons and possibly even hold us as they sort out the dead bodies we left in our rooms, regardless of the fact that it was obviously self-defense. They’re going to haul in poor Sally Perkins for questioning, upsetting her more. Then after losing a lot of time we don’t have, they’re going to dump us on the street, without our weapons, and tell us to go home. I don’t know about you, but I like my gun.”
“You’ve got plenty of other guns at home,” Noah teased.
Rowe held up one finger at Noah. “Not the point.” He then directed his comments at JB. “They’re going to tell us to let them handle the Chris investigation, assuming they even reopen the investigation into his death. Do you want to risk going home knowing that Paul and Chris were killed at home?”
“No,” JB said sharply.
Rowe continued before he could add any other comments. “And do you want to leave the investigation over to the cops when they were so quick to call it a simple hit and run?”
“No.”
“Calling the cops in means that they’re digging around in this investigation, putting up potential roadblocks for us, and generally making our lives hell. We’re going to have enough trouble trying to dissect this group of killers and tracking down all the hows and whys. I personally don’t want the cops making it even harder.”
JB frowned at Rowe for a second and then looked over at Noah. “Do you ever feel like you’re dating the devil? Because I’m pretty sure that calling the cops is the right thing to do, but he makes it sound so much more logical and saner to simply keep the cops out of it.”
Noah huffed a laugh. “Yeah, Rowe could probably seduce a nun if he wanted, but I think he’s right about this. I want to handle this personally. I owe it to Paul and Chris. I should have kept in better contact with all of you. I might not have been able to stop this, but they deserve to have their killers brought to justice.” Noah’s hand came to rest on Rowe’s shoulder. He squeezed and Rowe shifted his weight so that he was leaning ever so slightly against Noah. Just that little bit of contact breathed new life into him. “If you’re not comfortable with that, you can walk away. Rowe and I will take care of this. No hard feelings. I get it. Respect it. When this is over, we’ll fly out to see you and tell you everything if you want.”
“No, you’re right,” JB said firmly. He placed both of his balled fists on the countertop. “I want to handle this personally too. I want to do this for Chris and Paul. I don’t want to worry about the cops botching the investigation or not taking it seriously. Our friends deserve justice.”
