Down by Contact (The Barons 2)

The wind slammed into us once we were away from the barrier of buildings. Folks we’d seen leisurely walking had long since walked inside, and Brayden and the mystery woman were long gone.

“Where the hell is he?” Simeon shouted over the pounding rain. “We couldn’t have taken more than five minutes.”

I turned in a circle, squinting through the storm. There was nothing in the immediate vicinity except recklessly driving cars rushing to one place or another and their sickly yellow headlights breaking through the gloom. It was the only light on the street, which was the most deserted I’d ever seen it.

“Man, I don’t know. You think we should notify his dad?”

“We can check—”

Another catastrophic rumble of thunder rolled overhead. This time it was me who jumped, especially when lightning struck in the distance quickly followed by a muted explosion and a bright green flash.

“Another transformer blew.”

“Jesus.” Simeon grimaced. “Let’s check the park and then go see his father. It really chaps my ass that an adult would have told him to meet in the rain.”

“Maybe it’s someone they both know.” I turned towards the street, waiting for another rushing car to cut through the rapidly growing pools of water. “Or maybe they even headed back to his place.”

“Did they ever do anything besides stand there?”

I thought back, scanning my memory for a handful of moments I’d observed without thinking twice. And now I wondered why I hadn’t questioned these daily meetings. Should I have? Would Simeon have? More and more I was beginning to doubt my judgment when it came to being aware of the people around me and the best ways to respond to them.

“No,” I said finally. “They just stand and talk. The second time I noticed, I kept watching until they went their separate ways.”

Simeon jogged beside me, his features drawn in the lines of an overprotective parent. Why hadn’t I had that reaction?

“Maybe it’s fine,” he said.

“Yeah. Maybe.”

We stopped at the light, not flinching away from the small waves of water lapping up over the curb and onto our feet. I squinted at each car that passed, wariness taking hold until I was searching for an assailant that might not exist.

Simeon touched my hand, fingers so tentative and so light it broke my heart. He shouldn’t be afraid to touch me.

“Don’t worry,” he said, giving me that big smile. “It’s gonna be fine. This isn’t your fault.”

“How do you know I’m thinking like that?”

“Because it’s all over that pretty face of yours. Your worry looks mean, but I can tell by now. And I can also tell you this is gonna be all right. He’s probably home with his dad.”

“I hope so.”

The light switched to red, and we darted across the crosswalk as lightning struck again. Closer this time. Each bright flash had us picking up our pace until we were sprinting through the rain like we were heading for the end zone where the safety of a kid was our concern.

Relief crushed me when Simeon indicated their apartment building—a four-story brick walk-up that lacked the overdone art-deco exteriors of the newer condos nearer to the water. The lock on the front door was broken, allowing us to slip inside and drip puddles of water all over the lobby. Grimacing at the mess, and the hazard I was creating just by being so damn big and wet, I trudged up the stairs after Simeon. He knew exactly where to go, which reminded me that he’d been here before. In Judd’s apartment. Where they’d kissed.

My jaw set.

It wasn’t the time to be picturing the moment that might have led to a hookup under other circumstances, but I did it anyway. Wondered how Simeon’s deep bronze skin would look with someone as pasty as Judd, with his dishwater-blond hair and corny-ass polos. Fuck, I hated that guy.

Simeon tapped his knuckles on the door once, twice, and then took a step back. I stayed leaning against the wall and hoping I wouldn’t have to do any of the talking.

The walls were so thin I could hear his footsteps approaching even before he was in front of the door. Either that or the dude had some monster feet with zero stealth. Even I knew better than to dance up to the door making your presence known, and I’d grown up in a gated enclave full of rich people.

“Whoa,” Judd said after opening the door. He looked from Simeon to me, smiling awkwardly. He had on a pair of black rain boots and a soaked windbreaker. “What brings you here?”

“Well,” Simeon started haltingly. “I know this is strange, and we should probably be minding our own, but about twenty minutes ago we saw Brayden on the pier over by Kent Avenue. I know it’s nothing to do with us, but the weather is getting really bad, and once we headed that way, he was gone.” Simeon smoothed his hands over his wet hair, causing water to drip everywhere. “I just—we just—wanted to make sure he was home safe.”