Iero's Mountain!

Gerard didn't know what to do. The thought that he was the cause of all that had happened tormented him, disturbing his sleep. He moved restlessly, waking Frank, and he sensed his distress though he attributed it to the wrong cause. Frank soothed him with whispers and pulled him more completely beneath him. Gerard felt him harden inside him. His lovemaking was gentle this time, and when it was over he slept as effortlessly as a child until Frank awoke him again in the total darkness before dawn. He turned to him without question.

Lucas drove up just as Gerard and Frank were preparing breakfast, and without a word Frank broke more eggs into a bowl to be scrambled. Gerard smiled at him, even though he was placing more bacon in the frying pan.

"How do you know he's hungry?"

"He's awake, isn't he? My kid eats like a horse."

Lucas came in the back door and headed for the coffee, which had already finished brewing.

"Morning."

"Good morning. Breakfast will be ready in about ten minutes."

Lucas grinned at Gerard, and he smiled back. Frank watched him, his gaze sharp. He looked frail this morning, his skin pale and even more translucent than usual, with faint mauve shadows under his eyes. He smiled readily, but Frank wondered what had made him look so delicate. Had he tired him with his lovemaking, or were memories of the attack disturbing him? He thought it must be the latter, because he had responded eagerly every time he'd reached for him. Knowing that he was still frightened made Frank even more determined to find whoever had attacked him. After Eli Baugh had delivered the horses and left, Frank planned to do some tracking.

Lucas was right behind Gerard's car on the way to the school, and he didn't leave immediately, as Gerard had expected. It was still too early for the students to begin arriving, so he walked with him into the empty building and even inspected the rooms. Then he leaned against the door-jamb and waited.
Gerard sighed.

"I'm perfectly safe here."

"I'll just wait until some other people show up."

"Did Frank tell you to do this?"

"Nope. He knew he didn't have to."

How did they communicate? By telepathy? Each seemed to know what the other was thinking. It was disconcerting. Gerard just hoped they couldn't read his thoughts, because he'd had some decidedly erotic ones lately.

What would everyone think of Lucas' presence? He was so obviously a watchdog. Gerard wondered if it would trigger another act of violence, and he felt sick, because he knew it might. Instinct, sharpened by his fierce protectiveness for both Ieros, told him that his theory was correct. Just the possibility that they could become accepted had driven someone over the edge. It revealed so much hate that he shivered.

Sharon and Dottie entered the building and halted briefly when Lucas turned his head and looked at them as they passed the open door.

"Mrs. Wycliffe. Mrs. Lancaster."

He said in acknowledgment as he touched his fingertips to the brim of his hat in a brief salute.

Sharon murmured.

"How are you?"

Dottie gave him a brief, almost frightened look and hurried to her classroom. Lucas shrugged.

"I've been doing a bit of studying."

He allowed.

"Just a bit?"

Sharon asked wryly. She stepped past him to greet Gerard, then said..

"If you don't feel like working today, Dottie and I can handle your classes. I never dreamed you'd be here today, anyway."

"I was merely frightened."

Gerard said firmly.

"Clay prevented anything else from happening. Cathy is the one who needs sympathy, not I."

"The whole town is in an uproar. Anyone who has freckles on his hands is getting the third degree."

He didn't want to talk about it. The image of that freckled hand made him feel nauseated, and he swallowed convulsively. Lucas frowned and stepped forward. Gerard put up his hand to keep him from throwing Sharon out of the classroom, but at that moment several students entered, and their chatter distracted everyone. The kids said..

"Hi, Lucas, howya been?"

As they clustered around him. They all wanted to know about his plans for the Academy and how he'd gotten interested.

Sharon left to attend to her own classes, and Gerard watched Lucas with the kids. He was only fifteen, but he seemed older than even the seniors. Lucas was young, but he wasn't a kid, and that was the difference. Gerard noticed that Pam Hearst was in the group. She wasn't saying much, but she never took her eyes off Lucas, looking at him with both longing and pain, though she tried to hide it. Several times Lucas gave the girl a long look that made her fidget uncomfortably.
Then he checked his watch and left his former classmates to speak to Gerard.

"Dad will be here to follow you home. Don't go anywhere alone."

He started to protest, then thought of the man out there who hated them enough to do what he'd done. He wasn't the only one at risk. He reached out and caught his arm.

"You and Frank be careful. You could be the next targets."

Lucas frowned, as if that hadn't occurred to him. Gerard wouldn't have thought of it, either, if he hadn't been convinced that the whole thing was intended to punish the Ieros. What greater punishment could there be than to kill them? At some point the madman might decide to take a rifle and dispense his own twisted brand of justice.

Clay showed up at lunch with the papers for him to read and sign. Aware of the kids watching them with acute interest, he walked with him out to the car.

"I'm worried."

He admitted.
Clay propped his arm on top of the open door.

"You'd be foolish if you weren't worried."

"Not for myself. I think Frank and Lucas are the real targets."

Clay gave him a quick, sharp look.

"How do you figure that?"

Heartened that he hadn't immediately dismissed the idea, but was watching him with a troubled expression in his eyes, Gerard told him his theory.

"I think Cathy and I were specifically chosen as targets to punish Frank. Don't you see the link? She said she thought Frank was handsome, and that she'd like to date Lucas. Everyone knows I've been friends with them from the first. So we were chosen."

"And you think he'll attack again?"

"I'm certain he will, but I'm afraid he'll go after one of them this time. I doubt he'd try to manhandle either of them, but what chance would they have against a bullet? How many men in this county have a rifle?"

"Every last mother's son.."

Clay replied grimly.

"But what set this guy off?"

Gerard paused, his face miserable.

"I did."

"What?"

"I did. Before I came here, Frank was an outcast. Everyone was comfortable with that. Then I made friends with him and worked with Lucas to get him into the Academy. A lot of people were a little proud of that and were friendlier. It was a crack in the wall, and whoever is doing this just couldn't stand it."

"You're talking about a lot of hate, and it's hard for me to see. People around here don't get along with Frank, but a lot of it is fear instead of hate. Fear and guilt. The people in this county sent him to prison for something he didn't do, and his presence constantly reminds them of it. He isn't a very forgiving person, is he?"

"Something like that would be a little hard to forgive."

Gerard pointed out.
Clay had to agree with that and sighed wearily.

"Still, I can't think of anyone who seems to hate him to the point of attacking two people just because they were friendly to him. Hell, Cathy wasn't even friendly. She just made a chance remark."

"So you agree with me? That all of this is because of Frank?"

"I don't like it, but I guess I do. Nothing else makes sense, because there may be a few coincidences in life, but none in crime. Everything has a motive."

"So what can we do?"

"We won't do anything.."

He said pointedly.

"I will talk to the sheriff about it, but the fact is we can't arrest anyone without evidence, and all we have is a theory. We don't even have a suspect."

Gerard's jaw set in firm lines.

"Then you're passing up a marvellous chance."

He looked suspicious.

"To do what?"

"Set a trap, of course."

"I don't like this. I don't know what you're thinking, but I don't like it."

"It's common sense. He failed in his—er, objective with me. Perhaps I could—"

"No. And before you get on your high horse, just think of what Frank would say if you told him you were setting yourself up as bait. You might—might—be allowed out of his house by Christmas."

That was true enough, but he saw a way around it.

"Then I just won't tell him."

"There's no way to keep it from him, unless it didn't work. If it did work—I sure as hell wouldn't want to be around when he found out, and something like that couldn't be kept quiet."

Gerard considered all of Frank's possible reactions and didn't like any of them. On the other hand, he was terrified that something might happen to him.

"I'll take the chance."

He said, making his decision.

"Not with my help, you won't."

Gerard's chin lifted.

"Then I'll do it without your help."

"If you get in the way of our investigations, I'll put you in the pokey so fast your head will spin.."

He threatened. When he didn't appear impressed, Clay swore under his breath.

"Hell, I'll just tell Frank and let him ride herd on you."

Gerard frowned and considered shaking his schoolteacher's finger in his face.

"You listen to me, Clay Armstrong. I'm the best chance you have of luring this guy out into the open. You don't have any suspects now. What are you going to do, wait until he attacks someone else and maybe kills them? Is that how you want to work it?"

"No, that isn't how I want to work it! I want you and everyone else to stay alert and not go anywhere alone. I don't want to risk you or anyone. Have you thought that sometimes traps don't work, that the animal gets the bait and still gets away? Do you really want to face the possibility of that?"

The thought made Gerard sick to his stomach, and he swallowed to control the sudden rise of nausea.

"No, but I'd do it anyway."

He said steadily.

"For the last time, no. I understand that you want to help, but I don't like the idea. This guy is too unstable. He grabbed Cathy in her own driveway, and took you off of the town's main street. The chances he took are crazy, and he probably is, too."

With a sigh, Gerard decided that Clay was simply too protective for him to be able to agree to use him as bait; it was totally against his basic nature. That didn't mean, however, that he needed his agreement. All he needed was someone who could act as a guard. He hadn't thought of any real plan yet, but obviously there had to be two people to make even the simplest trap work: the bait, and the one who kept the bait from being harmed.

Clay got in the car and closed the door, then leaned out the open window.

"I don't want to hear any more about it."

He warned.

"You won't."

Gerard promised. Not talking to him about it wasn't the same as not doing it.
Clay gave him a suspicious look, but started the car and drove away. Gerard returned to his classroom, his thoughts darting around as he tried to think of a solid plan for luring a rapist with a minimum of danger to himself.

Frank arrived at the school ten minutes before classes were over. He propped his shoulder against the wall just outside Gerard's classroom door and listened to his clear voice instructing his students on how geography and history had combined to produce the current state of Middle East politics. He was certain that wasn't in any of the textbooks, but Gerard had a knack for giving his students a way of relating the present to their studies. It made the subjects both more interesting and more understandable. Frank had heard him doing the same thing with Lucas, not that Lucas needed encouragement to read. Gerard's students responded easily to him; in such a small class, there was very little formality. They called him "Mr. Way," but weren't shy about asking questions, offering answers, even teasing.

Then Gerard looked at his watch and released them, just as the doors to the other two classrooms opened. Frank straightened from the wall and walked into his room, aware of how the kids' chatter halted abruptly when they became aware of his presence. Gerard looked up and smiled, a private smile meant only for him, and it made his pulse accelerate that he was so open about how he felt.
Frank removed his hat and shoved his fingers through his hair.

"Your escort service has arrived, sir."

He said.
One of the girls giggled nervously, and Frank slowly turned his head to look at the motionless teenagers.

"Are you girls going home in pairs? Any of you boys making sure they get home all right?"

Christa Teele, Cathy's younger sister, murmured that she and Pam Hearst were walking together. The other four girls said nothing. Frank looked at the seven boys.

"Go with them."

It was an order, one that the boys obeyed instantly. The kids left the room, automatically separating so that each girl had at least one male escort.
Gerard nodded.

"Very nicely done."

"You'll notice that they all had enough sense not to argue that they didn't need an escort."

Gerard frowned at him, because he felt it hadn't been necessary for him to make that point.

"Frank, really, I'm perfectly safe on the drive from my house to here. How could anything happen to me if I don't stop?"

"What if you had a flat? What if a radiator hose blew again?"

It was obvious there was no way he could set his trap if Frank or Lucas was hovering over him every second. It was also obvious from the narrow look Frank was giving him that he had no intention of changing his mind. Not that it mattered at the moment, as Gerard hadn't come up with a plan yet. But when he did, he would also have to come up with some scheme for slipping away from his watchdogs.

Frank draped Gerard's sweater over his shoulders and picked up his wallet and keys, then ushered him out the door. Dottie looked up from where she was locking her own classroom door and stood transfixed while Frank locked Gerard's door, rattled the knob to make certain the lock held, then put his arm around Gerard's tiny waist. He saw Dottie and touched the brim of his hat.

"Mrs. Lancaster."

Dottie ducked her head and pretended to be having trouble with her key. Her face was flushed. It was the first time Frank Iero had ever spoken to her, and her hands shook as she dropped the key into her purse. Almost uncontrollable fear made her break out in a sweat. She didn't know what she was going to do.

Frank's arm was solid around Gerard's waist as they walked to his car. Its weight made his heartbeat quicken. All he had to do was put his hands on him and his body began to ready itself for him. An exquisite shudder began deep inside, spreading outward in a warm tide.
Frank felt the sudden tension in his slender body as he opened the car door. He was breathing faster, too.
Frank looked down at him, and his entire body tightened, because he was watching him with desire plain in his soft, hazel/green eyes. His cheeks were flushed, his lips parted.
Frank stepped back.

"I'll be right behind you."

The words were guttural.
Gerard drove sedately home, though his blood was thundering through his veins and pounding in his ears. Never had the isolated, bedraggled old house looked better. Jet was sunning on the steps, and Gerard stepped over her to unlock the back door. Frank was out of his truck and right behind him, just as he had promised, by the time he had the door open.

Without a word Gerard took off his sweater, deposited his wallet and keys on a chair and walked up the stairs, acutely aware of the heavy tread of Frank's boots as he followed. They stepped into his bedroom.

Frank had him naked before he could gather his wits, though he wouldn't have wanted to protest even if he'd given him time. He bore him down on the bed, his strong body overwhelming him, his brawny arms cradling him, his fingers gently stretching him. The hair on Frank's chest rasped his sensitive nipples into hardened peaks, and with a low moan of excitement he rubbed his chest against him to increase the sensation. Frank opened Gerard's thighs and settled himself between them. His voice was low and rough as he murmured in his ear an explicit explanation of what he was going to do.

Gerard drew back a little, his hazel eyes slightly shocked, feeling slightly excited, and also slightly embarrassed because he was excited. How was it possible to feel both scandalized and excited?

"Frank Iero!"

He said, his eyes going even larger.

"You said... that word!"

Frank's hard face looked both tender and amused.

"So I did."

Gerard swallowed.

"I've never heard anyone say it before. I mean, not in real life. In movies—but of course that isn't real life, and in movies it almost never means what it really means. They use it as an adjective instead of a verb."

He looked perplexed at such an inexplicable grammatical oversight.
Frank was smiling as he entered him, his black eyes shining.

"This.."

He said.

"Is the verb."

He loved the way Gerard looked when he made love to him. His eyes languorous, his cheeks flushed. Gerard sucked in his breath and moved beneath him, taking him completely into him and enveloping him in his sweet heat. Gerard's hands moved up to the back of Frank's neck.

"Yes.."

He agreed seriously.

"This is the verb."

If their first lovemaking had been fierce, since then Frank had been teaching him how sweet it was when the pleasure was protracted, when the caresses and kisses lingered while tension slowly coiled within until it was so hot and powerful that it exploded out of control. His hunger for him was so strong that he tried to put off his climax for as long as possible, so he could stay inside him and feed that hunger. It wasn't a hunger for sex, per se, though it had a strong sexual base. He didn't simply want to make love, he wanted—needed—to make love to him specifically, to Gerard Arthur Way. He had to feel his silky, fragile skin under his hands, feel his soft body sheathing him, smell his unique scent of coffee and something sweet, that he couldn't quite identify, forge ancient bonds with each slow thrust and acceptance of their bodies. He was a half-breed; his spirit was strong and uncomplicated, his instincts close to those of his ancestors of both races. With other men, and women, he had had sex; with Gerard, he made love.

He wrapped his arms around Gerard and rolled onto his back. Startled, Gerard sat up, accidentally assuming the exact position Frank had wanted him in. Gerard gasped as the motion forced Frank deep inside him.

"What are you doing?"

"Nothing.."

Frank murmured, reaching up to place his hands on the younger man's chest.

"I'm letting you do the doing."

He watched Gerard's face as he considered the situation and was aware of the exact second that his excitement and arousal overcame his discomfort with the unfamiliar position. His eyelids dropped again, and he bit his lower lip as he moved gently on him.

"Like this?"

He almost groaned aloud. That slow movement was exquisite torture, and Gerard quickly got into the rhythm of it. Frank had thought to prolong their lovemaking by changing positions, but now he was afraid he'd outsmarted himself. As old-fashioned as Gerard was, he was also astonishingly sensuous. After a few minutes Frank desperately rolled again and put him under him.
Gerard linked his arms behind his neck.

"I was having fun."

"So was I.."

Frank kissed him briefly, then again, their lips lingering together.

"Too much."

Gerard smiled, that secret, little smile he used only with him, and the sight of it made him burn. He forgot about control, forgot about everything but the pleasure that awaited them. Afterward, sated and exhausted, they both dozed.
At the sound of a vehicle, Frank rolled out of bed, instantly alert. Gerard stirred sleepily.

"What is it?"

"You have company."

"Company?"

He sat up and pushed his hair out of his face.

"What time is it?"

"Almost six. We must have gone to sleep."

"Six! It's time for Lucas' lesson!"

Frank swore as he began jerking on his clothes.

"This situation's getting out of hand. Damn it, every time I make love to you my own son interrupts us. Once was bad enough, but he's making a habit of it."

Gerard was scrambling into his own clothes, wishing that the circumstances weren't so embarrassing. It was hard to face Lucas when it was so obvious that he and his father had just been in bed together. Grandma would have disowned him for so forgetting his morals and sense of proper behaviour. Then he looked at Frank as he stamped his feet into his boots, and his heart felt as if it had expanded until it filled his entire chest. He loved him, and there was nothing more moral than love. As for proper behaviour—he shrugged, mentally kissing propriety goodbye. One couldn't have everything.

Lucas had deposited his books on the table and was making a pot of coffee when they entered the kitchen. He looked up and frowned.

"Look, Dad, this situation is getting out of hand. You're cutting into my lesson time."

Only the twinkle in his ice-blue eyes kept Frank from getting angry; after a moment, he tousled his son's hair.

"Son, I've said it before, but you've got lousy timing."

Lucas' lesson time was even more limited because they had to take time to eat. They were all starving, so they decided on sandwiches, which were quick, and had just finished when another car drove up.

"My goodness, this house is getting popular."

Gerard muttered as he got up to open the door.
Clay took his hat off as he entered. He paused and sniffed.

"Is that coffee fresh?"

"Yep."

Frank stretched to reach the pot while Gerard got a cup from the cabinet for Clay.
He sprawled in one of the chairs and gave a weary sigh, which turned to one of appreciation as he inhaled the fragrant steam rising from the coffee as Frank poured it.

"Thanks. I thought I'd find you two here."

"Has anything come up?"

Frank drawled.

"Nothing except a few complaints. You made some people a little nervous."

"Doing what?"

Gerard interjected.

"Just looking around."

Frank said in a casual tone that didn't fool Gerard at all, nor did it fool Clay.

"Leave it alone. You're not a one-man vigilante committee. I'm warning you for the last time."

"I don't reckon I've done anything illegal, just walking around and looking. I haven't interfered with any law officers, I haven't questioned anyone, I haven't destroyed or hidden any evidence. All I've done is look."

Frank's eyes gleamed.

"If you're smart, you'll use me. I'm the best tracker you're going to find."

"And if you're smart, you'll spend your time looking out after what's yours."

Clay looked at Gerard, and he primmed his mouth. Darn him, he was going to tell!

"That's what I'm doing."

"Maybe not as well as you think. Gerard told me about a plan he's got to use himself as bait to bring this guy out in the open."

Frank's head snapped around, and his brows lowered over narrowed black eyes as he pinned Gerard with a gaze so furious it was all he could do to keep his own gaze steady.

"I'll be damned."

He said softly, and it was an expression of determination rather than surprise.

"Yeah, that's what I said. I heard you and Lucas are escorting him to and from the school, but what about the time in between? And school will be out in a couple of weeks. What about then?"

Gerard drew his slender shoulders up.

"I won't be talked around as if I'm invisible. This is my house, and let me remind all of you that I'm well over twenty-one. I'll go where I want, when I want."

Let them make of that what they would! He hadn't lived with his grandma for nothing; Grandma would have died, just on principle, before she would have let a man tell her what to do.
Frank's eyes hadn't wavered from him.

"You'll do what you're damn well told."

"If I were you."

Clay suggested.

"I'd take him up on the mountain and keep him there. Like I said, school will be out in a couple of weeks, and this old house is pretty isolated. No one has to know where he is. It'll be safer that way."

Enraged, Gerard reached out and whisked the cup of coffee away from Clay, then dumped the contents in the sink.

"You're not drinking my coffee, you tattletale!"

Clay looked astounded.

"I'm just trying to protect you!"

"And I'm just trying to protect him!"

Gerard shouted.

"Protect who?"

Frank snapped.

"You!"

"Why do I need protecting?"

"Because whoever is doing this is trying to harm you! First by trying to frame you for the attacks, and second by attacking people who don't hate you as he does!"

Frank froze. When Gerard had first advanced the beginnings of his theory the night before, he and Clay hadn't believed it because it simply hadn't made sense that anyone trying to frame Frank would try to make anyone believe he would attack Gerard. But when he put it the way he just had, that the attacks were a sort of twisted punishment, it began to make horrible sense. A rapist was warped, so his logic would be warped.

Gerard had been attacked because of him. Because he had been so attracted to him that he hadn't been able to control it, some madman had attacked him, terrified and humiliated him, tried to rape him. Frank's lust had brought attention to him.

Frank's expression was cold and blank as he looked at Clay, who shrugged.

"I have to buy it.."

Clay said.

"It's the only thing that even halfway makes sense. When Gerard made friends with you and got Lucas into the Academy, folks began to look at you differently. Someone couldn't stand it."

Gerard twisted his hands.

"Since it's my fault, the least I can do is—"

"No!"

Frank roared, surging to his feet and turning over his chair with a clatter. He lowered his voice with a visible effort.

"Go upstairs and get your clothes. You're going with us."

Lucas slapped his hand on the table.

"About damn time."

He got up and began clearing the table.

"I'll do this while you pack."

Gerard pursed his lips. He was torn between wanting the freedom to put his plan into action—when he thought of it—and the powerful temptation of living with Frank. It wasn't proper. It was a terrible example to his students. The townspeople would be outraged. He'd watch him like a hawk! On the other hand, Gerard loved him to distraction and wasn't the least ashamed of their relationship. Embarrassed, sometimes, because he wasn't accustomed to such intimacy and didn't know how to handle it, but never ashamed.

Also on the other hand, if he dug in his heels and remained here, Frank would simply stay here with him, where they would be far more visible and far more likely to outrage the town's sensibilities. That was what decided him, because he didn't want even more animosity directed at Frank because of him. That could be all that was needed to goad the rapist into attacking him directly, or going after Lucas.
Frank put his hands on Gerard's shoulders and gave him a little push.

"Go."

He said gently, and he went.

When Gerard was safely upstairs and out of hearing, Clay looked at Frank with a troubled, angry expression.

"For what it's worth, he thinks you and Lucas are in danger, that this maniac may just start shooting at you. I kind of agree with him, damn it."

"Let him try."

Frank said, his face and voice expressionless.

"He's most vulnerable on the way to and from school, and I don't think this guy is going to wait patiently. He hit two days in a row, but he got scared when you nearly got him. It'll take a while for him to settle down, then he'll be looking for another hit to make. In the meantime, I'll be looking for him."

Clay didn't want to ask, but the question was burning his tongue.

"Did you find anything today?"

"I eliminated some people from my list."

"Scared some of them, too."

Frank shrugged.

"Folks had better get used to seeing me around. If they don't like it, tough."

"I also heard that you made the boys escort the girls home from school. The girls' parents were mighty relieved and grateful."

"They should have taken care of it themselves."

"It's a quiet little town. They aren't used to things like this."

"That's no excuse for being stupid."

And it had been stupid to overlook their children's safety. If he'd been that careless in Nam, he would have been dead.
Clay grunted.

"I still want to make my point. I agree with Gerard that you and Lucas are the primary targets. You may be good, but nobody's better than a bullet, and the same goes for Lucas. You don't just have to look after Gerard, you have to look after yourselves, too. I'd like it if you could keep him from even finishing out the year at school, so the three of you could stay up on your mountain until we catch this guy."

It went against Frank's grain to hide from anyone, and that was in the look he gave Clay. Frank had been trained to hunt; more than that, it was in his nature, in the genes passed down from the Comanches that ran through his body, in the formation of his character.

"We'll keep Gerard safe."

Was all he said, and Clay knew he'd failed to convince Frank to stay out of it.
Lucas was leaning against the cabinets, listening.

"The people in town are going to raise hell if they find out Gerard's staying with us."

He put in.

"Yeah, they will."

Clay stood up and positioned his hat on his head.

"Let them."

Frank's voice was flat. He'd given Gerard the chance to play it safe, but he hadn't taken it. He was his now, by God. Let them squawk.
Clay sauntered to the door.

"If anyone asks me, I've arranged for him to live in a safer place until this is over. Don't reckon it's anyone's business where that place is, do you? Though of course, knowing Gerard, He'll probably tell everyone right out, just like he did Saturday in Hearst's store."

Frank groaned.

"Hell! What did he do? I haven't heard about it."

"Didn't reckon you would have, what with all that happened that afternoon. Seems he got into it with both Dottie Lancaster and Mrs. Karr, and all but told both of them he was yours for the taking."

A slow grin shaped Clay's mouth.

"From what I heard, he laced into them good."

When Clay had left, Frank and Lucas looked at each other.

"It could get interesting around here."

"It could."

Lucas agreed.

"Keep an eye out, son. If Gerard and Armstrong are right, we're the ones this bastard is really after. Don't go anywhere without your rifle, and stay alert."

Lucas nodded. Frank wasn't worried about hand-to-hand fighting, not even if the other guy was armed with a knife, because he'd taught Lucas how to fight the way he'd learned in the military. Not karate, kung fu, tae kwon do, or even judo, but a mixture of many, including good old street fighting. The object of a fight wasn't fairness, but winning, in any way possible, with any weapon handy. It was what had kept him alive and relatively unscathed in prison. A rifle was something else, though. They would have to be doubly alert.

Gerard returned and plunked two suitcases on the floor.

"I have to have my books, too."

He announced.

"And someone has to get Jet and her kittens."

Notes

Hi there chipmunks.. How are you?..

Nothing to say..

So.. Please comment, stay safe, and peace out babies!
<3