Love Lies Bleeding by Remmy Duchene (carter reed txt) 📕

"So where does this leave us?"

Leo inhaled noisily. "At point B."

"I see. Can we stop? I need to get something to drink. I feel a little light-headed."

"Yeah. Sure. I have to call Coach Jessops and let him know we're coming."

"You didn't before?"

Leo shook his head. "Didn't want to spook him. I have a squad car keeping an eye on things."

They pulled into the parking lot of a roadside diner and while Leo went to use the bathroom, Anderson sat in a booth by the window. He ordered coffee for both of them and after the waitress left, he turned to look outside. There was nothing but a stretch of road, with cars and trucks whizzing both ways. Two cars down from theirs was a blue truck with tinted windows. It seemed familiar somehow and while Anderson tried figuring out where he'd seen it, he sipped from his coffee.

"Hey," Leo flopped into the booth across from him. "You all right?"

"Yeah. I feel like I'm slowing you down. I don't mean to be a pain."

"Don't worry about it. I called Coach and he said it's okay if we stopped in. I didn't tell him why."

"That's good…" Anderson's cell phone rang and he pulled it out to stare at the face. Making a face he activated it and pressed it to his ear. "Hey. I meant to call you…"

"It's fine," Byung replied. "Listen I got a call this morning from the funeral home. Your father's body was released. Did you get a chance to look over those numbers I sent you?"

"Yeah. I'll be back in town tomorrow… I think." He looked over at Leo who nodded. "And I'll go down and we can finalize the funeral arrangements. While Leo talks to his coach, I'll make some calls to inform people of the upcoming funeral."

"You all right?"

Anderson looked at Leo and took a breath. "Yeah. I'm fine. I promise. When this is all over, I'll take you out for a drink."

"You buying?"

Anderson chuckled. "Yeah. I'm buying. Thanks, Bee."

After their orders were taken, he lifted his coffee to his lips and took a few sips. Leo was looking into his cup as though he expected it to tell him some grand secret. Pulling his eyes away, he inhaled deeply and his mind went back to the riddle he'd deciphered. It didn't make any sense to him no matter how many times he played it over in his head. It must have taken someone a long time to write all those codes using just Edgar Allan Poe titles. Then again, he could be wrong.

That thought made him sip from his cup again before biting back a frustrated groan. Leo taking his hand brought Anderson back to the world around him and he turned his head to give the cop a reassuring smile.

"You look tired. I'm sorry I kept you awake last night."

Anderson laughed softly. "Did you hear me complaining? Besides, I'm not tired because of last night. I'm used to running on very little sleep. I'm just… I've been thinking there's someone out there who probably wants me dead and I don't know why or who."

"We'll figure this out. We have to."

Anderson's eyes caught the vehicle he was watching and noticed it was still where it'd parked. He arched a brow. "I think it's messing with me—I'm getting paranoid."

"What makes you say that?"

"There's a truck outside. It's been parked there since we got here and no one's come out of it. It's just sitting there."

"Where?"

Anderson motioned with his head and Leo took his hand away. After another drink from his cup, Leo glanced over his shoulder. When their eyes met again, Leo's brows were knitted together and Anderson knew he was worried.

"Like I said, it's probably nothing."

"I'm getting a bad feeling myself. Let's take our food to go and see if it follows."

Anderson nodded.

Leo signalled to the waitress and when she came over, he relayed what their intentions were. She left them again and Anderson felt his heart suddenly racing.

"When I was a kid, I thought my father would live forever. Even as I became an adult I still believed that. One day I told him there was no way he could leave me—that he would have to live forever because I just couldn't see my life without him. You wanna know what he said?"

Leo said nothing, so Anderson looked at him. He nodded.

"He said the good Lord would only take him when I no longer needed a father. Can you believe that? How can a father think there'll be a day when his child no longer needed him?"

"When the child grows up."

"No. A child never gets too old—so old that he doesn't need his father. Sometimes I go to pick up the phone to call him and then I remember. He's gone. I hear the phone ring and my heart instantly soars then crashes."

"I'm sorry, baby."

"Sorry for the wait, guys." The waitress interrupted. "Here are your orders. That will be fifteen seventy-five."

Leo reached for his wallet and though Anderson tried talking him out of paying, Leo simply handed the woman money and a tip then eyed Anderson. He was tempted to kiss Leo then but wasn't sure how what would end. He wasn't sure if Leo wanted to do that. He was getting up when Leo took his hand and dropped a kiss to his lips.

"Are you ready?" Leo wanted to know.

"No time like the present."

"Okay, when we go outside, keep your head down and head straight for the car. Don't hurry. Don't look at the truck. Act normal. Got it?"

"Got it."

They walked from the diner talking about Anderson's job. At the car, they climbed in and Anderson instantly put on his seat belt. To alleviate the stress, he peered into their meal bag as Leo started the car and pulled from the parking lot. After a couple of minutes, Anderson glanced in the mirror and his heart started racing again.

"Shit." Leo must have seen it too.

There, behind them, was the truck.

"I guess I