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Ryder swam over. “That’s perfect, babe. Just what I need.”
Remi pulled out a screwdriver and said, “I know this isn’t much, but it will help a little. I’m coming in.”
He stood up to start removing his clothes when Ryder barked at him, “No! Stay out of the water, Remi. We already talked about this. I don’t have time to argue with you, okay?”
“But I need to help,” Remi pleaded. His eyes drifted to a spot near the door where Veronica and Gary were. Veronica clutched her pet rat to her chest, and Gary paced back and forth. They were definitely nervous. Could dead be people even be nervous?
Police sirens interrupted any other argument Remi might have been able to come up with.
“Go out and show the police where we are,” Ryder pleaded. “Tell them what we’ve got and see if they’ve got any equipment that might help. We need the Fire Department here, too.” Then, in a softer voice, he added, “Please, Remi; you’ve saved another one. You brought us here. Don’t be such a glory-hog,” he teased and followed it with a wink. “Now, go wave down the police! There are three buildings on this compound. We need their help as soon as possible.”
“Glory-hog, my ass,” Remi grumbled but quickly stood up to go and do as he’d been told. At the last minute, he looked back at Ryder and said, “I love you, Ryder.”
Ryder, with his claw-hook hammer, dove under the water to begin chiseling away at the cement. Remi, once again, ran to the door and raced outside to help direct the police.
Veronica slipped her pet rat into the front of her blouse, took Gary’s hand, and they both disappeared.Jeremy let out a war hoop of victory when they finally dragged the chair into the shallow end of the pool. Yes, Ron’s feet were still trapped in the cement blocks and he was still chained to the metal chair, but he was no longer concreted to the bottom of the pool. It had taken Ryder and three cops with their nightsticks to finally break the concrete away from the bottom of the pool. Coming up for air and then diving down again while the young Ron Perry held tightly to Jeremy’s hand every time he would dive back down under the water and fought to keep from having a panic attack.
Of course, having him in the shallow end wasn’t the end of their battle, but it did relieve most of their anxiety. From there, they could all work together to simply lift him out of the water and onto solid, water-free, ground. While one of the officers ran to get some bolt cutters from his cruiser to remove the chains wrapped tightly around Ron, Jeremy finally took the opportunity to rip the breathing apparatus from Ron’s face.
“See? I told you everything would be…”
Before Jeremy could finish, Ron leaned in and locked lips with the rescuer that comforted him through the ordeal. For all of about one second, Jeremy was startled, but then he quickly gave as good as he got. Since his hands weren’t chained to his sides like Ron’s were, he reached up and grabbed Ron by the back of the neck and really poured some intensity into the lip-lock. When they finally pulled away from one another…only because oxygen was required, Ron said, “I don’t have a clue if you’re gay or not and you might want to punch me in the face for that, but I fucking had to do it.” He gave Jeremy a saucy smile and added, “Whatever you do to me, the kiss was worth it.”
“Jeezus, Jeremy,” Ryder grumbled, but a huge-ass grin was plastered on his lips. “Can’t we at least get him to safety before you start molesting him?” Turning to Ron, he said, “Nice to meet you; I’m Detective Ryder Livingston and the pervert accosting you is my partner, Jeremy Daniels Rowe. Glad we could be of service.”
Ron smiled at Ryder but immediately turned his attention back to Jeremy. “I’m really glad you could be of service, too. Some fucker tried to kill me.” His eyelashes batted playfully at Jeremy. “He would have gotten away with it if you pesky kids hadn’t have interfered,” he teased, mimicking the end of every Scooby Doo cartoon episode. “Jeremy…I like that; it fits you well.” He leaned as close to Jeremy as the chains would allow and added, “I might be in need of CPR. I assume you’re trained in that art as well?”
“If required, I can give CPR all night long,” Jeremy teased back.
The moment was lost when some bolt cutters suddenly appeared, and Ryder immediately started cutting away at the thick chains wrapped snugly around Ron’s body. “Try to be as still as possible,” Ryder warned. “I don’t want to accidentally pinch you with these.”
