Chapter 16

The sun was setting, its bright rays reflecting along the waters of the “lake,” as Cameron and I entered the family-style pub, located along the city’s “waterfront,” about a half mile south of Matthew Driscoll’s construction site. The place was pretty busy, with families of multiple kids taking up most of the tables and booths, though I spotted a few groups of students and younger adults at the bar. It took a minute or so, but I was able to find Josh’s brother, Luke Driscoll, sitting on a barstool around a small table with a few friends, each of them writing on pieces of paper.

“They’re doing a fantasy draft,” I whispered to Cameron.

“I know,” he whispered back. “That’s what his latest tweet said. The Age of Over-sharing, huh?”

“You’re telling me.” A waitress came up and took us to a booth close enough to the bar that we could keep an eye on Luke, but far enough that he’d have to really be looking in order to spot us. We ordered an appetizer and waited.

Half an hour later, Luke got up and went to the bathroom. I considered following him in but didn’t think it’d be the best place for a confrontation, especially for something related to his gay brother. I buried my head in the menu as he walked by. He didn’t see me.

An hour and three appetizers later, his friends got up and left. I felt my pulse quicken. I was not going to be waiting much longer.

Two minutes later, Luke settled up his bill, and then left the restaurant. I counted to ten and then followed him. By the time I’d gotten outside, he was already halfway down the dark block, barely visible under the ratty streetlights.

“Hey! Luke!” I chased after him. He stopped and looked at me. At first he seemed confused, and then his eyes grew wide.

“You,” he said. “You’re the guy who was looking into my house. What do you want?”

I had debated pretending to still be a confused classmate, but I'd been acting as way too many different people in the last week. I needed to lay all my cards on the table. “I want Josh.” My heart was threatening to leap right into my throat. “You told me he was off visiting relatives in Iowa or something. I know that’s a lie.”

“Uh huh?” He crossed his arms over his chest. As though that was going to intimidate me. He’d clearly never seen me on the ice. “And why are you so concerned about it?”

“Because your brother is my friend. And I care about him.” I took a step back and held up my hands. “And I am pretty sure you do as well. Which is why I need your help. We both know Josh doesn't want to be wherever he is. If you tell me where your parents have sent him, and I can—”

“Stop.” His eyes narrowed and he raised his fists. “You say another word and I will hit you so hard your children will feel it. That is, if you're even capable of having kids. I'm pretty sure I know why you really care about Josh, and it has nothing to do with you being his… friend.”

There was a rustle in the alleyway next to us. Probably a rat or raccoon or something. “You're okay with this, then?” I asked. “Okay with your parents shipping him off to some program that's going to ruin his mind? That's fine by you?”

“Okay with it?” A big, wide grin came across his face. “Buddy, I'm the one who suggested it.”

My blood turned to ice. “Y-you?”

“My brother is a good kid, but he needs help. And there's no chance in Hell he's going to get it from you,” he took a step towards me, “Trent.”

Fuck. He knew. He knew who I was. How?

“Now, if I were you,” Luke continued, “I'd back off before I get the cops involved. My dad is convinced that someone broke into our house a few nights ago, and I wonder if the police could put two and two together along with your little investigation into Josh.” He pressed his hands together. “Am I clear? Stay away from us and stay away from Josh. ‘Cause I promise you, if Josh ever sees you again, he's not going to want anything to do with you.”

I took a deep breath. This guy. This fucking guy. A piece of shit who was willing to send his brother off to Hell. And then gloat about it to me. How dare he.

I felt my skin go flush. My entire body was burning with anger. The same anger that I'd felt when that player had knocked me down and called me a faggot. The same anger that made me deck him out on open ice. And then kick his ass at the bar.

The anger that was just screaming for release.

Who was I to hold it back?

I lunged at Luke, grabbing him and throwing him into the darkened alleyway. He tripped and fell back, and I was on top of him before he even hit the ground. One punch to the face. And another. And another. I could feel his blood on my knuckles, his skin breaking under my blows.

“Where is he?” I screamed. I grabbed his shirt and pulled his bloodied face up to mine. “Where did you send him?”

His head rolled to the side. Blood fell from his mouth. “You're… you’re going to jail for this.”

“Wrong answer.” I grabbed his throat. “Do you really think I'm going to walk away from here without knowing where he is?”

“Trent?” I looked back. Cameron was standing in the alley’s entrance. He looked from me to Luke. “Wha—what happened?”

“Go get a bottle of vodka,” I said. “Swipe it when the bartender’s not looking, but I need it and I need it now.”

“I… you… okay.” Cameron was off and running. I tightened my grip around Luke’s neck. “Is this really how you want to die? Defending the people who are hurting your brother?”

“You—” he gasped. More blood. “You're not going to kill me.”

I relaxed my grip. He was right. But he didn't know that. Hell, there was a lot he didn't know. I had to take advantage of that. “Fine, you got me. I'm not going to kill you.” He groaned and wiped his face. “But what I am going to do is take you home, tie you down and fuck you until you can't feel your lower body. And then I'm going to strip you naked and leave you passed out on your parents' front lawn. Does that sound good?” He brought my lips to his ear. I already hated myself for what I was about to say, but desperate times called for desperate measures. “Oh, and by the way, I'm HIV-positive. I can loan you some of my meds.”

That did the trick. He pushed away from me, his eyes full of fear. “Okay, okay. Camp Freedom. He's at Camp Freedom.”

“Camp Freedom? What the hell is that?”

He seethed in air. “A military camp. He's there for his own good. When he has a wife and kids, he’ll thank me for this.” He spat blood at my feet. “And you'll have died of AIDS by then anyway.”

“Man, you sure are a charmer.” I stood up and took a few steps back. No sense in hurting him any further, though he undoubtedly deserved it.

Cameron came back a few minutes later, a full bottle of vodka in hand. He was grinning ear-to-ear. “I may have flipped the fuse box and cut all the power to get this. Hope that’s okay.”

“It's fine.” I unscrewed the lid from the bottle and sprinkled some of it on Luke. He winced in pain. I crouched down, grabbed his head, and tilted it back. Then I began to pour the vodka right down his throat. He choked and coughed some of it off, but I was able to get most of it down his gullet. “It's a shame you're not going to remember most of this, but once I get your brother back I promise you and I will have another talk, because kicking your ass once just isn't enough for me.”

I held the bottle by its neck and tossed it deeper into the darkness of the alley. Cameron and I walked back into the light of the streetlamps, joining a few families who were complaining about a power outage at the restaurant.

We got in the car and drove back in silence. I'm not sure if Cameron was scared of what he'd seen me do to Luke, and that's why he didn't say anything, or that maybe he was just waiting for me to start up the conversation. If it were the latter, he'd be waiting for a while. I was lost in deep thought.

Camp Freedom. That's where Josh was. I was so close now.

I rubbed my hands, trying to numb pain in my knuckles from the beat down I'd laid on Luke. It hurt, but a smile gradually came across my face. It felt good—like, scoring-the-game-winning-goal good—to punch the crap out of him. Maybe Engineering really was the wrong area for me. Maybe I needed to do policing or interrogation or something.

But that was in the future. For now, I had a boyfriend to save.