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He turned his attention to Kairo and Alexei. “Work your magic. Find Catalina Perez. If she’s dead, we dig up her corpse. If she’s alive, we hit wherever she’s being hidden. We’ll get the answer to this puzzle before Carlos passes.”
“And if she is alive, we’re not killing her,” Will tossed out.
“Unless she deserves it,” Alexei amended.
Charlie sighed and Soren cackled. This man was already proving to be a handful.
20
WILL MONROE
Will shuffled through the incredibly quiet house, following the scent of fresh coffee toward the kitchen. The sun was still inching above the distant horizon and as far as he could tell, West, Ed, and Kairo were asleep in bed. A glance out the front door showed Soren’s rental car was missing—he and Alexei hadn’t returned from Buenos Aires yet.
After two days of digging around to find any sign of Benicio Perez’s mother, Alexei had stood up, announcing that he was restless and needed to move. So, he and Soren had gone to Buenos Aires for the night with the promise that they would behave and stay away from Perez. Will had known Alexei for less than three days, and even he was unwilling to believe that both of those things would happen.
But then, if Alexei was as good as Soren, Charlie, and Kairo claimed, he must know how to escape the notice of people. Maybe the sneaky man would be able to sidle right up to Benicio, get a DNA sample, and sashay back into the safe house like it was no big deal. That he didn’t put past the man at all.
His bigger concern right now was Charlie—as in where the fuck was he?
Will had rolled over to find Charlie’s side of the bed cold, and that was just wrong. Since they’d started sleeping together again, Will had woken up with Charlie stretched out alongside him, his arm wrapped around his waist. It didn’t matter the time of day. Even if Charlie woke up well ahead of him, Charlie would remain in bed, holding him and watching him sleep as if he were afraid that Will would suddenly disappear from his life if he allowed Will out of his sight for a second.
Finding Charlie missing felt ominous. Uneasiness sat like a lead weight in the middle of his stomach, forcing Will out of bed and wandering through the house to find his lover. Both of the bathrooms were empty. A light touch to the carafe proved that the coffee was hot and fresh. He’d at least come this way. Charlie was as dependent on coffee as Will was. He glanced out the door of the kitchen to confirm that Charlie wasn’t in the backyard.
Retracing his steps, he quietly opened the front door and immediately stopped when he heard the low rumble of Charlie’s voice.
“I’m not sure what to do,” Charlie admitted, which stopped Will cold. He couldn’t remember the last time Charlie had stated out loud that he didn’t know what to do. The man always had a plan.
“You tell him how you feel. This isn’t rocket science, Charlie. This is Will we’re talking about. You know him. Of anyone, you should know how he’s going to react to something like that. Will is a sweet guy. Even if he’s still pissed at you, he’s not the type to just stomp on your heart for shits and giggles.”
Will had started to close the door again to give Charlie privacy, but the new voice had him stopping. Well, the new voice and the mention of his name. But he knew this voice. He stood there, brow furrowed in concentration as he ransacked his memory for who the voice went with.
Stephen!
Charlie was talking to his younger brother, the psychiatrist. Will had spoken to him only a couple of times when he’d been dating Charlie the first time. He was an intelligent guy who happened to be a fantastic listener. He also had incredible patience if he was able to put up with Charlie’s nonsense.
“That’s not the problem. I told him how I feel. I think.” Charlie paused and Will had to bite his bottom lip to keep from laughing. “Shit. Maybe I didn’t say the words. I can’t remember now. Everything has been insane. I think he knows.”
Will was just barely holding in his chuckles. He knew. Charlie had said the words, but it was always more than the words for Will. Charlie showed it in dozens of tiny acts. He showed it in how he looked at Will, how he held him in his arms. Charlie threw all of himself into loving Will. He felt it now, and he’d felt it all those years ago in Paris. That was why their parting was so hard to swallow.
“Charlie—” Stephen said with a weary sigh. Will started to pull the door open, intending to reassure Charlie that he did know how he felt.
