Drake nodded, expressive as the Grim Reaper. “I’ll show you how to handle a knife without killing him too fast, because we will have many questions for Jerry.”
Tank pulled Clover even harder against him. “He can’t be seen now! Hasn’t this mess taught you a lesson yet?”
Drake took a deep breath. “He said he wants to go.”
Blood throbbed in Clover’s temples, creating a vise around his brain. “I do, Tank. I spent two years working for that guy. I know him, I know the area, I know his friends. I’d be an asset.”
“Looks like you didn’t know him at all,” Tank said.
Drake shook his head. “We need to act now. We can’t afford driving Clover back to yours and then leaving one of us behind to guard him. If anything, he’s safer with all of us.”
It was a bit of a stretch, but Clover appreciated the rhetoric, because it might actually convince Tank.
A pickup truck rolled into the parking lot, and Tank seemed to forget all about the conversation at hand, staring at the vehicle until it stopped nearby.
“Is it him?” Boar asked.
“Who?” Clover hugged Tank’s arm, chilled to the bone. He knew it was impossible, but his stupid mind still suggested it could be Jerry. He clung to Tank, stopping him when he tried to rise.
Tank blinked, as if this situation was somehow confusing, but then a tall man with salt-and-pepper hair left the pickup and headed straight for their van, greeting them with a gesture.
“His brother,” Drake whispered.
Clover unglued himself from Tank so fast he stumbled into Drake. When Tank switched on a small lamp in the ceiling, illuminating the inside and the area a few meters into the night, Clover became even more confused as he studied the man discreetly.
“Your brother’s a cop?” he whispered, eyeing the guy’s uniform. He seemed much older than Tank and was less buff, but now that he knew what to look for, the family resemblance was definitely there in the shape of the stranger’s nose and jaw, as well as in the dusky color of his skin.
Tank rolled out of the van and squeezed his brother’s palm, but the older guy’s gaze kept straying to Clover. “Have I seen something you didn’t want me to, Adam?”
Clover stood there, torn between backing off into the shadows and stepping closer. In the end, curiosity won, and he followed Boar and Drake into the cool air outside.
Tank groaned. “We’ve got more important shit to handle.”
His brother’s mouth curled into a small smile. “I hear there’s a lion on the loose. Hope you didn’t have anything to do with it.”
Tank offered him a curt, heavily censored version of the story, before glancing at the station, where the chief of police was giving yet another interview. “I swear I wouldn’t have gotten you out of bed if it wasn’t important. He was trying to protect himself, and the bullet accidentally grazed one of the cops. Please, can you put in a good word? My friend’s a decent guy, but has a… turbulent past. It wouldn’t look good for him on paper.”
“Friend? Is he the kind of friend you live with?” Tank’s brother asked with a smirk, and it was hard to say if he was being mean, homophobic, or just loved grilling his younger brother.
“No. Jacob, can you stop?” Tank asked, but his brother wasn’t done yet and gestured at Clover.
“So is this your boyfriend? Can’t keep up with all those modern family models.”
Clover rubbed his forehead and looked away, unsure how to diffuse this weird situation. Tank wanted Jacob’s help and couldn’t simply tell him to fuck off.
“It’s not like that,” Clover mumbled in the end, too intimidated by Jacob’s presence to meet his eyes, but Tank put his arm over his shoulders and pulled him close.
“Yes, this is my boyfriend, Clover. Happy now? Are you gonna report it to everyone at Christmas, so you can speculate who’s the man in the relationship?”
Clover’s cheeks flushed, but the heat spread all the way to his chest when the weight of Tank’s declaration dawned on him. He’d actually told his brother they were a couple.
Jacob whistled. “Wow. That was a coming out long in the making. I don’t really need to speculate in this case, do I? It’s pretty obvious.”
Clover had to bite his tongue hard at the insult, because he’d promised to keep his cool. But the conversation went even more off the rails after that.
“You should introduce him to Grandma Jolene. You know how she is, always worried that you’re on your own.”
Tank was definitely not on his own in any sense of the word, but the truth about their polyamorous relationship might have been too difficult for Jacob to handle.
Tank cleared his throat. “And, uh, how’re Jane and the kids?”
Clover played with Tank’s fingers, lost in the awkwardness yet needing to show Tank his love and support.