Ian slowly stepped into the middle of the room and knelt so he was at eye level with the kids. “My name is Ian Pierce and I’ve come with the police to help get you back home. These men will never harm you again. More police are on the way now. We just want to get you home. Keep you safe.” He kept saying the words “home” and “safe” over and over again in the same gentle voice until one after another the silence was punctuated by relieved cries and gasping sobs.
Hollis had to close his eyes and count to ten to keep himself together. Jagger deserved a fucking bullet between the eyes.
Noah and Rowe disappeared with the last guard. Hollis had no doubt that the two men would keep the house locked down and protected until the state troopers or even the feds arrived. Hollis slipped away, rummaging throughout the house to find more blankets, heavier clothing, or even food. All the kids were too thin, appearing to be half starved and dehydrated. Ian never moved from the room, talking in his sweet, soft voice, reassuring them, answering questions, getting names. His entire focus was on convincing them that they were at last safe.###
Hollis rubbed his eyes then stretched his arms over his head. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so damn tired. The sky was turning shades of pink and orange as the sun started to throw its first rays of light over the mountains. The air was bitterly cold and frost coated the limbs of trees and brown grass around him. If this had been any normal camping trip, he might have thought the sunrise and scenery were beautiful, but they’d spent the night waiting for the reinforcements to arrive and then child services and more cops and more vans to haul the kids to the hospital to be checked over and treated before being handed over to their waiting families.
And in the middle of it the entire time had been Ian. Before any cop or social worker was allowed to say one word to a child, they had to get through Ian. He’d become their official intermediary, interpreter, and defender. There were more than a few ruffled feathers over that, but Ian didn’t give a shit, and everyone quickly learned that following Ian’s lead made everything run much more smoothly.
Fresh footsteps on creaking wood had Hollis turning back toward the schoolhouse to find Ian shuffling toward him. His gait was slow and somewhat unsteady. He looked dead on his feet, but at peace. The last of the children had been loaded into a warm van to be taken to the hospital. The place was swarming with the forensics team going over everything, collecting evidence and photographs. Rowe had taken a particular pleasure in revealing his hiding places for the six guards they’d taped up and secured around the grounds.
“How long until the van gets here?” Ian asked as he approached.
“About ten to fifteen minutes.”
Ian nodded, looking thoughtful as he stared off at the sunrise. “Will you take a walk with me?”
His request surprised Hollis, but he didn’t hesitate to take Ian’s extended hand in his. They followed the well-beaten dirt road away from the schoolhouse, cold fingers tightly entwined. And after a few moments, some of the peace he could see in Ian started to creep into his own frame.
“Where are Rowe and Noah?” Ian asked after nearly a minute of silence.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d say Tarzan and Jane climbed a tree and fell asleep.”
Ian looked up at him and flashed him a crooked grin. “They’re pretty impressive, aren’t they?”
“Impressive doesn’t cover it.” A soft chuckle escaped him as he thought of the way Rowe and Noah so deftly took down each guard. “Frightening might be better. I never want to run into either in a dark alley. Or even a well-lit one.”
Ian squeezed his hand, still smiling up at him. “But they are great to have at your back.”
He got it. The sweet message that Ian was so subtly sharing—Rowe had his back no matter what. Over the past year, he’d marveled at this tight-knit family Ian was a part of. He’d never seen such a group of men so devoted to each other, willing to give up anything and everything for one another’s safety and happiness. It was humbling. And while he was sure that Lucas would rather see him pushed off his penthouse balcony than dating Ian, the past few days living with Rowe and Noah had left Hollis feeling as if he might be able to earn a place among them.
That knowledge came with a surprisingly heavy weight that wrapped around his heart. He had a family back in Atlanta that he’d do anything for, people he was tied to through blood. But these men, they didn’t have to accept him. They had looked at who he was, the choices he’d made, and deemed him worthy. And it felt damn good.