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“I bet it was.”
“What do you think it’s to?”
Ehren examined the key closely, turning it over one way and then the other. “I’m not sure. I don’t know what a safe deposit box key looks like. Maybe a storage unit. I can’t imagine he’d hide a key to his house in the book. His attorney gave me a copy of that.”
Stephen shook his head. “What were the odds that you’d ever find that? How would he have known that you’d go through his journals or look close enough to find the key?”
“No idea. I took the journals on a whim. Maybe the point wasn’t so much that I find the key, but that someone else didn’t.”
He lifted his eyes to meet Ehren’s worried one. “That is a scary thought.”
“The scarier one is that I need to go back to Ankara. I have to find out what this key goes to.” Ehren’s smile became a little crooked. “Do you think those former CIA friends of yours are still there?”
“I’ll call them tonight and make sure they are when you arrive, but…”
“But what?”
Stephen licked his lips, nervous about even asking. Things felt better between them, but he was afraid of fucking everything up. However, he was more afraid of letting Ehren out of his sight. “But I want to go with you. I mean, can I go with you?”
Ehren’s face broke into a wide grin. “I would love for you to go with me, but I didn’t want to ask. You’ve got your practice, and I have no idea how dangerous this is going to be.”
Stephen was already shaking his head. “No, I have another doctor who owes me a favor. She can cover for a few days while I’m out of town, and I don’t give a damn about the danger. I want to be there for you.”
Picking up his nearly empty wineglass, Ehren held it up in a toast. “Then I guess we’re going to Ankara for secrets and possibly treasure.”
Stephen grabbed his and clinked it against the side of Ehren’s. “To secrets and possibly treasure.”
Chapter Eight
Ehren was exhausted down to his very soul. After scheduling last-minute flights and Stephen arranging things with a couple of fellow shrinks, they managed to leave Denver on Saturday morning for New York. From there, they caught a flight to Frankfurt, but got stuck for a bit due to plane delays and a stupidly long layover. It was late Sunday afternoon and all he wanted was to eat some food while not being surrounded by people, and a soft bed.
Preferably a soft bed that contained Stephen.
The man had been a fucking dream during the entire trip. Even if they didn’t work out dating, Stephen was definitely the perfect travel companion. Through it all, he’d remained relaxed, even-tempered, and willing to roll with the punches as they came. He was always upbeat and optimistic, even when it was painfully clear that he was as exhausted as Ehren.
Even now, Stephen bumped Ehren’s arm with his own and offered up a weary smirk. “Homestretch.”
Ehren lifted his eyebrows in teasing. “You think?”
“I don’t know about you, but I’ve been dreaming about a bed and fluffy pillows for about six hours now.”
“Oh God, yeah,” he moaned. “If we can get some food and sleep, I’ll be ready to go treasure hunting…tomorrow.”
“Ed and West are supposed to be meeting us near baggage claim. They’ve got a hotel room for us. I doubt food’s going to be a problem. Ed is a mountain that is constantly hungry. He’ll grab something for everyone.”
Ehren hummed happily. “I’m liking your friends already.”
“The guys are great. It’s just—” Stephen broke off suddenly, his entire body becoming rigid as he stared at a group of four men standing off to the side past security near the entrance to the baggage claim.
“What’s wrong?” Ehren placed a hand on Stephen’s elbow, ready to maneuver him toward the gates. “Do we need to get security?”
“No,” Stephen growled. “It’s my brother, Charlie.”
The change that came over Stephen was kind of stunning. It was at that moment Ehren realized he’d never actually seen Stephen angry. The sweet man beside him stiffened, his exhaustion falling away so that he now crackled with badly contained rage. He couldn’t imagine what had happened between the two men to make Stephen not want to be anywhere near his brother.
But Stephen had taken that risk to help him. To keep him safe.
“Stephen? Do you want to find a different hotel? Just do this on our own?”
The psychiatrist gazed at Ehren, and the anger melted away before his eyes. The hard line of his mouth softened in a smile, and yeah, maybe Ehren’s heart melted a little too. How could he not when someone was looking at him as if he were the moon and the stars in the sky?
