AllFreeNovel
Share Us
They were in the middle of the second episode when the first bit of movement that wasn’t a goshawk head or wing or bit of its dinner took up most of the camera. The goshawk fluttered to the right side, leaving the left open on a lovely shot of the fog rolling out over the lake.
And there was someone in a boat, quickly motoring across the lake. The camera’s focus was the bird, so the pixelation and lengthy distance between the boater and the camera weren’t helping. But Ambrose could see pretty damn clearly that the person was wearing a dark grey hat and dark blue puffer vest.
“I hate those vests,” Barrett muttered. “Gemma was right. It’s probably some rich idiot who thinks his gear will save his ass.”
“And keep him from getting caught stealing your boat.”
“And that.” Barrett rewound the footage and hit play again, then chuckled. “You know, I’ve said that about my ex-brother-in-law. The whole ‘rich gear won’t save your ass’ thing. He thinks like that, too.”
Ambrose leaned up to kiss his cheek. “Lot of idiots in the world.”
“Yeah.”
“Your ex-brother-in-law have a dark blue puffer vest?”
Barrett’s bark of laughter was tempered by drawn down brows. “That’d be a hell of a thing.”
“You said he hated you.”
“He does.”
“He knows where you live, where you keep your boat.” He wanted to ask but it still felt so personal. But on the other hand, Barrett had shared with him his nephew’s story, tales of him and Val stealing from convenience stores because their parents never left enough food for two hungry, growing children. But all he knew about the brother in law was that he was a rich, selfish prick.
“This is getting pretty conjectural. Ken and I do not get along but why steal my boat?” Barrett was now rubbing his thumb over the back of Ambrose’s hand; the movement was soothing even as his mind scrambled to make connections. “Val divorced him years ago.”
The writer in Ambrose began to fire up a plot. Vengeful ex family member finally takes revenge for some slight injury to their ego. Thrillers had been sold on much less. “Okay, okay. We’ve no proof, I get that. But!” Ambrose got to his knees, easily slipping into Barrett’s lap while his lover watched with amusement. “Has anything changed recently?” Ambrose kissed Barrett softly, slinging his arms around his neck. “Has Val mentioned anything? Anything different? With Forrest…”
He trailed off, looking away as the heat of embarrassment flashed through him. But Barrett tugged him back down to kiss him. “The move. But Ken gave up his visitation rights. He was only interested in Forrest as a trophy, something to show off and attract single moms. And now that Forrest is sick...well, a sick kid’s not a good look, I guess. And his only other concern has only ever been money and how much he can make.” Barrett frowned. “He was really pissed when Val filed for divorce. Accused her of all kinds of nasty shit, total lies. But he was stuck on the money, and how much he’d lose and he hired these smarmy attorneys.”
“Nice guy.”
“The fucking best.” Another kiss, this one teasing the corner of his mouth and Ambrose let those warm lips slide over his. Felt big hands span his back. “I’m not sure. I can ask her, though. She’s been putting up with Ken’s bullshit for so long she might have forgotten something. Just chalked it up to whatever move the asshole thought of for the day.”
“Okay. So we’ve got a person in a vest with your boat.” Ambrose pointed at the grainy figure on the screen. Barrett took advantage of his turned head to nip at the hinge of his jaw. “Barrett. We’re trying to solve a mystery.”
“I’m aware.” Now those warm hands were sliding up, under his shirt. Ambrose sagged against him and Barrett took his weight with ease. “I just wanted to touch you like this before we went back to it.”
They watched the footage a few more times. It was easy to see it was Barrett’s boat; all the boats were numbered at the lake, per registration and licensure rules. His was number eighteen and the boat had a spiffy flame decal on the side. “Let’s try the other cameras.”
A waning gibbous moon hung bright in the sky as the night wore on. But after a few hours they were able to rule out the osprey and red tail hawk cameras. One was too far west on the lake to capture any movement near Barrett’s house, and the other was mostly the fog and muted sunrise of that morning.
“Damn.” Barrett yawned again and, pulling Ambrose with him, leaned back on the pillows. “Well, the boat thief is on there. It’s something.”
Ambrose snuggled into Barrett’s arms, enjoying the man’s warmth. “Got a wild thought.”
“Hit me.”
“Any bird cameras near the entrance to the lake?”
“Two, actually. But that would just catch the road and a bit of where the roads split. One side goes to the recreation areas….and, oh,fuck, you’re a bloody genius.” Barrett was scrambling for his phone and Ambrose watched as he texted his boss. “The other road goes to the residential areas. Jacques is probably up but I should check.”
“I love how your mind works,” Ambrose said as he watched the rapid fire text conversation. Jacques had access to those cameras at the ranger station, since they were also tied into the new security camera system that had been set up after the supply station fire. Eventually all the bird cams would feed into the security admin panel, but money was tight - as always in useful government - and the current system only allowed one admin login at a time.
“Jacques will pull it in the morning,” Barrett said while setting his phone aside. “And I love how your mind works, too.”
They stared at each other, in the dark, for a long moment. The words wereright there. Waiting. Ready to be spoken aloud but Ambrose so desperately didn’t want to sound like a cheesy buffoon. But he wanted to be sure, and having that promise spoken out to the world felt like something he needed. A little bit more surety after having his world rocked again.
“I’m going to say this and hope it’s what we’re both up for.” Ambrose swallowed hard, tasting anticipatory bitterness. “But I want to be exclusive. So exclusive we can get tested and then toss those condoms in a deep drawer.”
