Free Risky Secrets by Xondra Day Page A

of these
days. He couldn’t help but think that something was about to go terribly wrong
for him. Maybe it was paranoia for what he’d done to the Leone brothers? Even
though they were bastards, he knew that stealing from them wasn’t a good thing
to do. Now he had to live with looking over his shoulder. He regretted taking
the money, but it was too late to do anything about it.
    “Are
you okay?” Keith asked. He stood just inside the door of Tom’s apartment.
“You’re quiet.”
    “I’m
right as rain. Last night’s left me a little worn out.” He winked and smiled,
keeping their conversation light. He refused to drag anyone else into his mess.
His heart sank when he thought how his father had gotten involved. This would
not happen again. “I’m going to jump in the shower and rest. I’ll need it
before I open the bar tonight.”
    “If
you need anything, call me.”
    It
was easy to tell from the tone of Keith’s voice that he was sincere. Tom
couldn’t help but smile as a warmth he hadn’t felt in
a long time swept through him. It wasn’t quite love that he felt for Keith, but there was something between them that was good. It
wasn’t just lust either. “I will,” he reassured Keith. “And thanks.”
    “Thanks? For what?” Keith looked more confused than ever.
    “For
being you, and being here.”
    Keith
grinned. “That’s kinda like a compliment.”
    “It
is very much indeed a compliment.” He watched as Keith left. He silently said a
brief prayer that everything would work out.
    ****
    Tom
was acting strange. It was difficult to decipher what was up with him since Keith
really didn’t know him. When he’d left Tom’s apartment, Keith fought the urge
to go back and demand to know what was going on. There were a lot of things
left unsaid during their brief conversation after he brought Tom home from
Jayne’s.
    He
stopped dead in his tracks in Lucky’s parking lot
before he reached his truck. That black car was there again, this time sitting
across the street. There was someone inside it. He noticed the car before
today, and he couldn’t remember seeing it around before Tom’s arrival in Pine
Bluff.
    He
jumped into his truck and placed the key in the ignition. His gut feeling told
him something was up. He intended to find out what it was.
    ****
    Tom
woke from nap just as the sun was setting. He opened his eyes and rolled out of
bed slowly.   He was still reeling from a
dream he’d had. In it his father had been murdered by the Leones for not giving
them the information on his location. The ironic thing was that this was
entirely possible and if it happened it would be blood on his hands for doing
something so stupid and dragging his father into it.
    The
phone rang next to the bed. Tom was slightly amused as he picked up the
receiver and marvelled that anyone would still have a phone with a dial.
“Hello?”
    “Tom,
you need to get out of town.” It was his father, and he sounded scared.
    “What’s
wrong?” Tom asked, feeling his pulse quicken. “What’s happened? Did they hurt
you?”
    “Nothing
that won’t heal,” muttered his father. “They came here and demanded to know
where you were. I told them before that I knew nothing, but they don’t buy it.
I think they would have killed me, but it would have gotten messy with me being
a retired cop. I denied everything and said nothing. It doesn’t matter. I think
they already know where you are.”
    “How
could they know?” Tom’s father was the only person who knew where he was.
    “I
can’t answer that, but you need to leave town. Not tomorrow or the next day,
but now.”
    With
the words sinking in that his father had said, Tom nodded vigorously before he
said his goodbyes and hung up the phone, slamming it down. “Fuck,” he said out
loud with no one to hear him. This wasn’t good. Just as things were looking up
and settling a little for him, he had to give it all up. He’d made his bed, and
he’d certainly lie in it