“Have you thought aboutbeing a game designer?”
“All the time. Oh, my God!”He’d stopped in his tracks and stared straight ahead.
I followed his gaze and almost threwup.
It was the two men who’d held us up theday before.
Chapter Four
Ferric and I stared at them.
They stared at us. They were stillwearing the same clothing they had on the day before. They lookedas surprised as we were, however, we were their victims. Ferric andI simultaneously let out frantic screams. We were still screamingas they turned and ran. One of them hopped into the air, clutchinghis ass. I was shocked as hell to see Ferric on one knee, Francois’taser gun in his hand, the electrode protruding from it.
It had lodged in the attacker’s butt,the barb embedded in his pants.
“Jesus fucking Christ,” hescreamed, flopping to the pier, wriggling like a fish out ofwater.
His companion kept running untilFrancois arrived, screaming, “Stop!”
The guy turned and Francois let himhave it. The electrode from his taser went straight to the guy’sdenim shirt. He screamed and danced around and flopped to the pieras well.
“Call the police,” Francoismuttered to me, standing guard over the two men as people screamedand ran for cover.
I called 911 for the second time in twodays and was surprised when a couple of uniformed officers turnedup on bicycles.
My mom rushed over, lookingpanic-stricken. She was wearing a big, floppy hat with a price tagdangling over her eye.
“I’m a grandmother!” sheshouted. “Where’s my baby?” She pushed past the throng gatheredaround us. Francois talked to the cops whilst Ferric and I stoodback with Mom.
“Holy cat,” she suddenlysaid, “I forgot to pay for this hat. I’ll be rightback.”
Ferric seemed to be in a state ofshock.
“You okay?” I kept askinghim, rubbing his hands between mine. His fingers were cold. Yep. Hewas in shock.
Francois removed the electrodes fromthe perps’ bodies.
“What happened?” he askedme. I told him quickly. Not that there was much to tellhim.
A patrol car showed up and the officerswent through the same questioning process.
“Did they say anything toyou?” Francois asked.
“No. They seemed assurprised to see us as we were to see them.”
The cops took our details, then draggedthe carjackers away. Francois looked murderous.
“What are they doing here?”I asked him. He shook his head. He might as well have said,later.
I held a stiff Ferric in myarms.
“Let’s go home.” Francoisgazed at his son and took him from me, hugging his teenager. Ferricstarted to cry. I felt awful. He’d been so strong the day before.And he’d fritzed one of them.
“Where did he get the taserfrom?” I asked Francois who flashed me a guilty look.
“I gave him my extraone.”
“You did great,” I said toFerric who buried his face in his father’s big chest. This musthave been beyond frightening, running into these creepsagain.
All I wanted to do was gohome. And not to the big, fancy estate. I wanted to go hometo Hawaii.
We walked slowly back toward the car,Francois keeping up a soothing patois of, “It’s okay, son, it’sokay, Ferric.”
“He needs something hot todrink,” I said.
My mom found us, her eyes turningred-rimmed as soon as she saw Ferric’s condition.
“He needs hot, sweet, tea,”she said, taking him away from his father. Ferric walked with her,looking over his shoulder at me.
“Dad?”
“Yes?” I said.
“Nothing. Just…I’m gladyou’re my Dad.”
His face crumpled again.
Oh, man. Now I felt likeshit.
Francois put his arm aroundme.
“Now you tell me something,”I said to him. “What are they doing here? Were they followingus?”
He blew out a breath.
“I’m still waiting on theprints from Lars.”
“Did they know who we wereyesterday?”
He glanced at me. “Yes, andno.”
“Oh, Francois, come on. Whyso cryptic?”
“Because, my love, you’renot going to like what I have to tell you.”
“Which is?”
“They were sent to killme.”
The last time I’d seen FBIagent Sage Brantley had been in a luxury resort hotel room backin Hawaii. We’d hadsome pretty delicious piggy sex with Francois. Twice. In fact,Sage, who’d explored his gay fantasies with us, lost his cherry toFrancois our second time with him.
I wasn’t exactly unhappy to see him,but it sure didn’t feel good to see him under thesecircumstances.
He gave me a lascivious grin and Irecalled that the last time I’d seen him he’d opened his doornaked, letting me and Francois into his hotel room. Sage and I hadpounced on each other as Francois poured champagne.
Nobody was celebrating now. Sage lookedat our magnificent view and said, “Nice, very nice. This must haveset you back a few shekels.”
I felt myself bristling. In bed, he wasdynamite, out of the sheets, I always sensed Sage was jealous thatFrancois was loyal to me and that the two of us kept our romps withhim far apart, never at our home and never for more than a coupleof hours of hot sex. This was a decision that came before Ferricbecame part of our daily lives. Once he did, there was no questionfor either of us that Sage would be kept at arm’s length. I couldtell it bugged him. Francois was a magnificent lover and Sagecouldn’t get near him, in spite of his frequent calls to us, thathad escalated after Francois finally fucked him.
He threw himself into a chair oppositethe sofa where Francois and I sat close together.
“I’m a little angry with youguys. I keep trying to hook up with you…but you’re good at the callavoidance, until you need my help.” He stood up again, picking upknickknacks and putting them back down again.
Mom came out of the kitchen withFerric, who came toward me with a magazine in his hand.
“Have you met our son?”Francois asked.
Sage blinked. I lovedthe our part. Forme, it drew a line in the emotional sand between us and Sage. Italso let him know that he needed to keep his conversationage-appropriate.
“No,” he said. “I had noidea…” He stood and shook Ferric’s hand. He had the same predatorygleam in his eye Benny Leonard had the first time he metFerric.
“This is Special Agent, SageBrantley,” Francois said. “Sage, this is our son,Ferric.”
Sage’s mind whirled, I could tell. Hewatched as Ferric came and sat next to me.
“Look, Dad.”
I saw Sage’s eyes bug out.
“This is the new
