Noah dropped his hands and blinked, clearing his vision to take in Rowe’s absolutely thunderstruck expression. Apparently he was surprised.
“Look, I don’t expect you to return any kind of feelings. Never have. But I want you to love someone like that. Just get so lost in that person and have that person be utterly lost in everything about you. But you have to let go of all…this. You have to move on so you can love someone and be happy again. Please.”
Rowe stepped forward, his fingers lightly clasping the edges of his coat before he dropped his forehead against Noah’s shoulder. Noah’s eyes fell closed when Rowe breathed his name in a ragged sigh. God, Rowe was killing him. If he reached down, he was sure he could slide his hand into his chest and wrap his fingers around the shredded remains of his heart. But he’d stay. He’d stay until Rowe was safe and then he’d drink for a fucking week just to be numb for a little while.
“It’s okay, Ward.”
“No, I…I—”
Above them, a board creaked loudly and they froze, not even breathing. In a flash, it all came back to them. They’d come to his old house looking for a pair of arsonists and there was a very good chance that they weren’t alone like they’d originally thought.
They broke apart without a sound, pulling their guns from their holsters. Noah fell a step behind Rowe as he led the way out of the living room and to the staircase back in the foyer. They really didn’t have much in the way of the element of surprise, considering their shouting just minutes ago. Noah could only hope that the arsonists were trapped up on the second floor. If they were lucky, he and Rowe could put an end to the threat today and then…fuck, he didn’t even know. Leave? It would make things easier on Rowe, but would either of them actually be happier for it?
Noah tightened his grip on the gun and clenched his teeth. Never mind. He needed to keep his mind on the task and that was protecting Rowe no matter what. His eyes swept quickly over the first floor one last time. He could see part of the living room and the dining room through the opposite entry. The far end of the hall held the entrance to what looked like a small kitchen.
Putting his shoulder against the wall, he followed Rowe silently up the stairs, putting his feet in the same place as Rowe. The man had lived in this old house for several years. He’d know where all the damn creaky boards were. Dozens of pictures lined the wall going up the stairs. Noah tried not to look at them, but he still caught glimpses of Rowe with his wife. There were others of Rowe with Snow, Lucas, and Ian—the family that had loved Rowe for so long. Maybe leaving wouldn’t be such a bad idea. Rowe obviously had people who would be there for him.
The stairs ended in a narrow hallway that split to the left and the right. Rowe paused, balanced cat-like on the balls of his feet, straining to hear another sound to indicate which way they should go. Just as Noah was about to give up, there was a soft sound like cloth rubbing on cloth to the left. Rowe rocked forward when there was a second sound to the right, a creak of the floorboards under a foot. Both arsonists were up there.
With a sharp nod, Rowe motioned for Noah to take the left while Rowe turned toward the right. Noah paused on the stairs long enough to watch Rowe turn and slowly walk down the hall, his gun raised. The man moved like a ghost, silent and frightening as hell. He would have preferred to stay with Rowe, protecting the man’s back, but it was better this way, smarter. They could take both fuckers down now.
Moving as silently as possible down the hall, Noah paused just before two doors. The one on the right was partially open and there was enough sunlight bouncing through the house to reveal that it was an empty bathroom. He shifted his stance, praying that the floor didn’t groan under his weight as he moved to the other doorway and silently pushed the door open a little farther.
The bedroom was sparsely decorated with a mattress and box spring on a metal frame, but no blankets. There was a small, upright bureau that looked a little battered and old. This had likely been a spare bedroom. And kneeling on the blue and gray braided oval run was a slender figure in a black hoodie. Around the figure on the hardwood floor and rug were mason jars filled with a clear liquid Noah didn’t believe for a second was water.