CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO

Josiah

Josiah flinched when the gun went off. Flinched when Javier’s body hit the floor. But then he just moved. He and Tristan rushed to Mateo’s side, wishing that every bit of him that could leave DNA was covered the same as it was for himself and Tristan.

“Pull the knife out and put it in the bag. Take the towel out and hold it on Teo’s wound, Josiah. Don’t let any of his blood get on anything.” Tristan tossed him the bag.

“Fuck. I didn’t know he had a knife,” Mateo groaned.

Pain shredded him as Josiah pulled the knife out. Somehow he managed to press a towel to his shoulder and put the knife in a plastic bag at the same time.

Tristan would have made a great criminal, though he guessed with his job, he knew a lot about the subject.

“Lo siento. Lo siento,” Mateo said over and over.

Josiah shook his head. “No. Don’t be. You did what you always told me you would do. You took care of me. You took care of us. And you took care of yourself, because if you hadn’t killed him, he would have killed you.”

They looked over just as Tristan finished loosening the ties on Ben’s arms. When he was free, he took off the tape from his own mouth.

“Get out of here, Ben,” Tristan told him.

“Are you kidding me? My blood and DNA is all over this place. I have no choice but to stay.”

Tristan cursed. “How did you end up here?”

“We don’t have time for that right now,” Ben replied. “I have to be here. You and Josiah need to go. We can’t explain all of us being here.”

Josiah looked at Mateo. They hadn’t known about Ben. They’d planned to just leave, but he was right, there was evidence of Ben being here. But he couldn’t stay alone.

Tristan walked over to Mateo. “No. We’re not leaving you here.”

Mateo gave him a short nod. “Yeah you are, mi pieza perdida. This is my role. This is the piece I play in it. I always knew the streets would take me out, but this? Going away for you guys? It’s the best way for me to go.”

“Teo, no. Fuck that. We’re not leaving you.” Josiah grabbed hold of him, the towel getting more and more red.

This was where he should be strong. Where he needed to believe it would be okay so that they would do the same, yet he couldn’t stop the sting in his eyes. Mateo had just done something he hated for them. He became what he didn’t want to be, for them. How could he suffer for that?

“Jay, we can’t leave Ben. With my record it’s not going to matter why I’m here. It’s not going to matter that he had Ben. I came here. I killed him. Fuck, I broke probation the second I got on that plane.”

“No.” Tristan shook his head. “I will figure this out. I know how the system works. I’ll stay—”

“How are we gonna explain why you’re here? That’s fuckin’ stupid, Tristan. You know this. You know this is on me. We don’t have a choice.”

Each of Mateo’s words took another chunk of his heart. They needed him. They needed their full circle to be complete.

Josiah saw the acceptance in Mateo’s eyes. Saw it reflect in Tristan’s. He could see how much Tristan hated it, but he felt at a loss for answers as well.

“Gettin’ locked up for this is worth it. It’s one of the only worthy things I’ve done in my life.” Mateo dropped his forehead to Josiah’s. “I’ll be okay. Look at that, I’m the one tellin’ you. That’s your job. You need to tell me it’ll be okay.”

Josiah didn’t try and hold back his tears. It wouldn’t be okay if they lost Mateo, so he would never tell him that. “Then we run. We—”

“I did it,” Ben’s voice broke through the room. “I did it.” Ben walked over. “Make sure his blood isn’t getting anywhere. He didn’t touch anything except the gun. I watched him. Hopefully the beanie kept any hair from falling out, and Javier has gloves on, so Mateo’s skin won’t be under his nails. We all know they might not even look that deep if they have all the answers. He knew who I was because of some of my clients. He kidnapped me, wanted money, I got untied. We fought, and I shot him. Give me the gun. We have to get Mateo’s fingerprints off of it.”

Ben walked toward the gun, but Tristan reached out and grabbed a hold of his arm. He didn’t speak at first, just stared at his friend. Ben stared back, just as hard, saying something with his look that Josiah couldn’t read.

But he could read Tristan. Lost. He’d never seen Tristan look so lost before, and even though Josiah knew Tristan loved them, knew he would always love them, there was a part of him reserved for Ben as well.