Frey (8 page)

“
He knows who you are, and
he would do it because I asked him to.”

“
You told your brother
about me?”

“
I did. You’re a good kid,
and I’m looking forward to getting to know you.” Frey didn’t miss
Matthew bristle at the term kid. “You are an interesting young man,
and I am honored to be your teacher. Now, before we get started
today, I wanted to talk to you about Troy.” The bell rang, and a
familiar looking face walked in.

“
What about Troy?” Matthew
seethed, fisting his hands.

“
I need to assist this
client, but I have someone coming in to talk to you. Please go wait
in my office.” Frey would not talk about personal business in front
of patrons. Matthew turned and looked at the man behind him before
walking off to the office as instructed.

“
Can I help you?” Frey
asked the young man he was sure he’d met before.

“
I’d like to work out,” he
answered as he shuffled from one foot to the other. Where Matthew
did this from too much energy, this young man did it from
nervousness.

Frey attempted to put the man at ease with a
smile. “My name’s Geoffrey Hartley, I own the place. You are?”

“
Trevor. Trevor McKenzie,”
he said, politely holding out his hand.

Frey carefully shook the offered hand,
firmly but not too hard to be painful. “You look familiar, Trevor.
Have I seen you around here before?”

“
I don’t think so. I work
and go home. That’s it,” Trevor replied as he looked down at his
feet.

“
Come on, let me show you
around. So, what kind of work do you do?” Frey asked him as they
walked, certain he had seen the guy somewhere.

“
I’m the M.E.’s assistant
over at the hospital.”

“
That’s right, you work
for Dante. I thought I recognized you.” Dante had spoken of his
assistant, and how the young man was somewhat of a loner. Frey
attempted to lighten the mood by asking, “So, what are you looking
for in a workout? You want to build muscle? Bulk up? Get ready for
bikini season?”

Trevor’s mouth gaped open, obviously not
expecting someone of Frey’s stature to crack jokes. “I, uh, just
want to get in shape, maybe build a little more muscle.”

Frey couldn’t help but laugh at the look on
Trevor’s face. Still smiling, he noticed Jasper had arrived. He
told him, “Hey, Brother. I’ll be with you in a minute.”

Frey didn’t miss the way Trevor’s body
stiffened. The young man looked behind him at Jasper. It was
obvious they knew each other when Jasper quietly said, “Hi,
Trevor.”

Frey didn’t need Dante’s special abilities
to know something was going on between these two. Giving them the
opportunity for some privacy, Frey said, “Jas, I need to take care
of something really quick. Can you show Trevor around until I get
back?”

They both looked at Frey like he was
throwing them to the wolves. “If it’s okay with Trevor, sure.”
Jasper told Frey but kept his eyes on Trevor.

“
Yeah, it’s fine.”
Trevor’s cheeks were pink. If Frey didn’t know better, the young
man was embarrassed.

Regardless of what was going on between
those two, Frey needed to talk to Matthew and let him know exactly
why Jasper was there. He found the teen in his office, pacing the
floor. “I’m sorry about that. Now, please take a seat.” Matthew sat
down in the chair across from the desk, his knee bouncing up and
down. “Matthew, I want to help you. I have a cousin who is a police
detective. One of the good guys. He works with Troy, so he already
knows what kind of man he is. What I need you to do is tell Jasper
your side of the story. If you want to file charges against him,
we’ll help you do that. It would be best if Abbi would file charges
as well, but I have a feeling that’s a long shot, am I right?”

“
Yeah. I’ve been trying to
get her to leave his ass, but she says it’s impossible since he’s a
cop. Is she right?” Matthew’s face was hopeful. He was looking to
Frey to be a savior to him and his sister.

“
It is possible, but only
if Abbi takes the first step. We can’t do that for her. You are a
different matter. I don’t want to get Abbi in trouble, but as your
legal guardian, she is neglecting you by allowing Quinn to
physically abuse you. Matt, I have a lot of contacts in this city,
and I am willing to go to bat for you, at least until we can get
Abbi away from Troy, too.”

Matthew stood, pacing the room again. “Why?
I know I already asked you this, but why me? I’m just a kid you
don’t know.”

Frey leaned back in his chair and crossed
his arms over his chest. He couldn’t tell the kid the truth about
his sister. “I already told you, I like you. Besides, I can’t stand
men like Troy Quinn who abuse women and those younger or weaker
than they are. Bastards like that only do it because they are on a
power trip. Sure, I could tote him an ass-whoopin’, but that
wouldn’t do you or your sister any good. If we are going to get
Quinn out of your lives, we have to do it the right way. That
begins with you telling us everything you know about him.”

“
I’ll do it. I can handle
the bruises, but I’m doing this for Abbi. She’s been through too
much already.”

Frey knew determination when he saw it. The
kid had it in spades. “Good, let’s go find Jasper, and he’ll write
down everything you tell him.

Jasper had agreed to talk to the kid that
afternoon. Even if they didn’t convince him to press charges, they
could get more information on Quinn and begin monitoring him
closely. The cop was a bigoted redneck. Frey was going to call
Julian and have him check the hospital records for any visits Abbi
might have made. If there was documented physical abuse, it would
be easier to convince her to at least press charges. If she truly
was Frey’s mate, they needed to get her away from her abusive
husband, one way or another. For reasons Jasper didn’t understand,
the fates chose Abbi as Frey’s mate. Whether her being married was
a test of sorts, he didn’t know. Was he being tested as well?

He had put on a smile around the others, but
Jasper’s heart was hurting. The look on Trevor’s face before he ran
out of the morgue haunted Jasper’s thoughts. Why couldn’t he have
kept his hands to himself? Because the mate pull was too strong.
Because Trevor was irresistible in his own right. He was smart, and
funny, and so very sexy in a geeky sort of way. Just the way Jasper
liked his men. Well, most of the time. Craig had been anything but
geeky, but he worked really hard to impress Jasper away from the
firehouse. He’d stayed after him until Jasper relented. Craig
wouldn’t come out of the closet around others, saying as firemen
their jobs would be on the line.

Julian believed Craig had hacked into
Jasper’s computer and messed with his employment records.
Considering the firewalls Julian had in place, it seemed like a
longshot his ex was responsible. The digital trail led back to
Jasper’s computer, and Craig was the only one with access to it
other than Jasper. He hadn’t realized Craig was smart enough to
hack a system, and even if he was, why would he do that? What did
he have to gain by changing the files? Now Craig was missing,
throwing up more red flags.

Jasper didn’t know what to do about Trevor.
How much time should he give him before he apologized? Would Trevor
even talk to him? If they never mated, Jasper still wanted Trevor
as a friend, no matter how hard it would be to keep his hands off
the man. He would worry about that later. Right now he needed to
help Frey.

He walked into the gym and immediately felt
the pull. Trevor was there. It didn’t take him long to find his
mate. Frey was laughing at something Trevor had said. He walked up
behind Trevor and cleared his throat. Frey eyed him curiously, but
Jasper’s attention was on Trevor, who tensed up. Was he aware it
was Jasper behind him? Was he feeling the effects of the bond?

When he turned around, Jasper whispered,
“Hi, Trevor.” He didn’t know if Trevor would run again, but before
he did, Jasper would at least apologize.

“
Hi,” Trevor responded
just as shyly. “I was thinking about joining the gym.”

Frey gave some excuse for leaving them alone
and disappeared into the back of the building. Jasper hurried and
said, “Trevor, I’m sorry. You know, about yesterday.”

Trevor, who was giving Jasper’s body a good
once over, said, “You have nothing to be sorry for. I get it.”

“
You do?” Jasper wasn’t
sure he got it himself. And the way Trevor was looking at him, like
he wanted to sample the goods, had Jasper more confused than
before. Maybe Trevor
was
gay.

“
Yep. Just forget it. Do
you want to show me around before the big guy gets
back?”

Jasper cocked his head to the side, studying
Trevor. Maybe he was gay, but Jasper wasn’t his type. He was at a
loss for how to proceed, so he did what Frey asked him to do. “I
didn’t know you were interested in working out. Let’s start over
here.”

Jasper showed him machines as well as
explained all the classes Frey offered. He ended his tour in the
changing room. “So, are we okay?” Jasper asked him when they were
alone. He shoved his hands in his pockets so he wouldn’t make the
mistake of touching Trevor again.

“
I guess. I just…” Trevor
didn’t get a chance to finish his statement. Frey and Matthew came
in the room.

Frey said, “There you are. So, Trevor, what
do you think?”

Without looking at Jasper, Trevor said, “I
would like to take advantage of the trial offer, see how it works
into my schedule and all that.”

“
Sounds good. Jasper,
would you please take Matt here into the office. I’ll get Trevor
signed up and then I’ll be right in.”

Jasper was frustrated. He really wanted to
continue his conversation with Trevor, but he was there for a
reason other than his own personal feelings. “Of course. Trevor,
maybe we could work out together?” He wanted his mate to know that
he was still interested in being around him.

“
If you promise not to
make fun of my non-badass form,” Trevor said, seriously.

Jasper laughed, but his heart also broke a
little. He was going to spend the rest of his life making sure
Trevor knew just how special he was, mate bond or not.

“
I promise,” Jasper said
with a smile, one he hoped Trevor took to heart.

Chapter Eight

Even though it wasn’t
class night, Abbi wanted to go to the community center and work on
the fall festival. In her weekly dance classes, she taught simple
routines choreographed for young children.
The Nutcracker
involved more
elaborate dances, but Abbi would be able to simplify them for her
younger group. She could do it at home, but it would be easier in
her dance room. Still, she didn’t want to take a chance on being
caught by Troy. Not again.

Abbi stopped at the grocery store on her way
home and bought a couple of rotisserie chickens from the deli. That
was something she didn’t have to cook, and Troy liked them. She
could throw some vegetables on the stove while she worked on the
festival, putting her ideas to paper. She wasn’t in charge of the
decorations, but the committee had asked for her input since she
knew the theme better than anyone.

Normally, Troy was home at five on the dot
unless he was working out or went out drinking with his partner. It
was now half past six, and Abbi knew it was going to be one of
those nights. One where he would either be full of testosterone
from hitting the gym, or full of alcohol from hitting the bar.
Neither scenarios bode well for her. When she heard his car door
slam half an hour later, she braced herself for whichever Troy
walked through the door. She didn’t have to wait long to know it
was a whiskey night. Still in his uniform, Troy was livid.

“
Fucking cunt put me on
second shift. It’s the queer detective’s fault; I just know it!”
Troy yelled as he paced the kitchen. Abbi didn’t dare move, didn’t
say a word. Troy went to the cabinet where he kept his alcohol and
grabbed a bottle of whiskey. Abbi didn’t drink the stuff, so she
didn’t know which
man
he chose. Jack, Jim, Johnny… they were all the same to her.
“And that Neanderthal? What the fuck was he on about? I bet he was
there to play back up to the fag.” Troy didn’t bother with a glass.
He took a swig directly out of the bottle. Turning to Abbi, he
pointed at her, bottle in hand. “Are you even fucking listening to
me? I’m going on fucking second shift. Tomorrow. Bitch didn’t give
me a good reason. Just said something about personnel changes and
what’s best for the department.”