A man stepped out of the shadows. Lasering in on the long slender case that hung around his left shoulder, I quickly realized that this guy might be the one who killed Kane.
I swallowed hard and straightened to my full height, hoping to disabuse him of any notion that I was an easy target. For a moment we stood there, neither of us moving until I broke the standoff. “I have no beef with you, man.” I took a step back, holding both hands up like I was surrendering, but I was poised to fight if I had to. Even to the death.
“Are you sure about that, K?” His tone was condescending, as he cocked his head slightly to one side.
Any moonlight was obscured by the clouds, leaving only the intermittent light of the funky on-off blinking streetlamp. I couldn’t fully see his face, but that voice. So familiar—wait. K?
My heart stalled for a full five seconds until recognition finally penetrated my brain. “D-Deck?”
I dropped my hands. My body went numb as every memory of my friend—my best friend I hadn’t seen in years, filtered through my brain.
“Who else calls you K, numb-nuts?”
Between the darkness and the flickering streetlight casting shadows across his face, I still didn’t believe who I was looking at. “Is that really you?” I moved within a yard of him. So close, yet the space felt like a mile.
“Is that all you’re going to say to me, asshole?” he asked as he bent to place the large case by his feet.
Without hesitation, I closed the gap and pulled Decker Moss into my arms. I wrapped him in tight, feeling him down to my bones.
Yes, this was my Decker. I sucked in his smell—though different now, it still eased the ratcheting panic cloistered in my chest. He reminded me of all the good things of home. And the bad that had separated us.
For a brief moment, Decker’s arms were like iron bands around me, which gave me comfort in ways I didn’t know I needed. Just as fast, he dropped his arms and stepped back.
The distance between us was now only inches, yet the gap felt like the Grand Canyon to me, especially with the way he stood there, rigid like a pole. Like we were strangers.
My eyes shifted to the case at his feet. “It was you, wasn’t it? You killed Kane.”
He dropped his chin, his face now fully hidden by the dark, before he lifted his gaze to me and nodded his head. “Krew.” My name came out sharper than before.
“Why?” I took a small cautious step toward him. “You killed…” The words dropped off as I stared at the man I had once cared about—loved.
Decker hadn’t known how I truly felt back then. I never had the guts to tell him.
I never told him how I treasured those stolen moments between us. Or how I had craved his touch—his mouth—his body connected to mine. That he had owned me from the day he took my virginity in the back of his father’s Cadillac.
This new reality smacked me hard across the face. Decker Moss was a killer.
“I need to go,” Decker said, as he looked over my right shoulder with a calculating eye. “So should you.”
“So, it’s true. You killed Kane Maxwell?” For whatever reason—even if that man was a dirtbag, I had to know the truth.
Annoyance flashed across his face as Decker took several steps back and then something—a look I couldn’t decipher, slipped in, and he frowned. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t lie to me. You took a man’s life tonight. Why?”
His deep grunt of irritation echoed off the building before he grated out, “I haven’t seen you in what… in twelve—thirteen fucking years, and you’re standing here, demanding that I talk about shit you’re not part of? Not, how are you, Deck? What’s been happening with your life, Deck? How was the military—or maybe, I missed you, Deck?” Decker’s voice dropped to a low growly whisper, but his words were a blow to my solar plexus.
“Decker.” I took a step toward him.
He quickly backed away from me. “No. I can’t do this with you right now. You know, I thought this would be different—thought of seeing you up close would be different.” He shook his head. “You gotta go.”
“A person was murdered tonight. And then you surprise me by popping out from the dark like some damn ninja with what looks like a gun case over your shoulder. What do you expect me to think?”
Even in the shadow, I saw the smirk on his handsome face before it evaporated into nothing. Whatever had happened in Decker’s life changed the guy I remembered. And all the mischief we got into as kids was now only a blur of memory. The person before me now wasn’t that boy anymore. I didn’t know this man. He was a stranger to me.
“Me not asking you Where the hell have you been doesn’t mean I don’t care or that I didn’t miss you,” I replied earnestly.
“You could have fooled me.” Another bite of ice.
