If she even still wanted him around after that outburst.
Then another thought. No, not Miami. Why not the Keys? He’d never been. A little impromptu escape to the bottom of the continental US, still large enough to afford him some anonymity. Miami was huge and frankly the thought of finding a room there intimidated him. He wasn’t at all familiar with it like he was New York.
Key West then.
Bob drove them home. Nevvie’s heart sank when they rounded the corner and saw Tyler’s Lexus wasn’t there.
“Dammit,” Thomas swore.
Nevvie kept trying Tyler’s cell. Every call went straight to voice mail without ringing.
“You want me to hang out for a while?” Bob asked.
“No, we’ll call you if we need you.”
Thomas followed her into the house and sat at the kitchen table. “Where do you think he is, Nev?”
“I don’t know. Where do you think he’d go?”
“He’s never disappeared like this before.” He ran his hands through his hair and pulled off his tie. “Jesus, I’m worried about him.”
“Well, he won’t get far with ten dollars in his pocket. I emptied his wallet this morning while he was in the shower.”
Thomas snorted. “Well, no offense, but he can hit an ATM, sugar.”
She reached into her pocket and held up the card. “You mean with this card?”
Thomas sat back. “Jesus Christ, Nev. But he’s still got credit cards, or did you swipe those, too?”
“No, but I can track those online.”
His jaw dropped. “I think you just earned the title of head evil genius in this house. How the hell did you know he’d run?”
“I had a feeling he’d explode on the stand. I wasn’t sure how he’d react.”
“That’s why you were pissed this morning. You wanted me to hold the keys.”
“I love you, Tom, but—”
He opened his arms to her. “I know, leave this kind of thinking to you two.”
She rested her chin on his head, wrapped her arms around his shoulders. “You’re a smart man.”
“Let’s face it. I’m a moron when it comes to this shit. I’m a guy, pure and simple, and I know it. That’s why I leave this kind of stuff for you and Tyler to handle.” He took a deep breath. In a quiet voice he asked, “Is he going to be okay? Do you think he’ll hurt himself?”
“We’ll get him back safe, Tommy. I promise.”
She held him tightly while he broke down crying.
“I can’t lose him, Nev. I love him so much. I mean, I love you, too, but I can’t lose him.”
“We won’t lose him.”
“I’m scared, Nevvie. I’m scared for him.”
“He’s trying to come to grips with the fact that he can’t make this better.”
“Fuck, can’t he understand we don’t need him to make it better?”
“No. He can’t.”
“What?”
She pulled a chair next to him and held his hands. He was so sweet, and at the same time so painfully stupid when it came to this kind of stuff.
“Thomas, his life revolves around making things better, and us telling him we love him. If we never did anything else for him again in this life except tell him we love and want him, he’s happy. He wants to protect us from this, and he can’t and he feels guilty.”
“He doesn’t need to protect us. We can take care of ourselves.”
“You and I know that. He needs to do it anyway.” She met his eyes. “How do you feel about him when he goes on trips?”
“I worry about him, that he stays safe.”
“Why?”
He couldn’t hold her gaze. “I’m afraid something will happen.”
“Why?” she pressed. “He’s a grown man, older than you. When I’m with him, you tell me to take care of him. Tell me why you feel like that.”
He shrugged. “It’s my job.”
“Becaaaaauuuse?” Come on, Tommy, give me what I want.
He sighed and looked at her. “Because I’m worried someone will hurt him. I’m the ‘guy’ and he’s the ‘girl.’ I get it. I’m not a total idiot.”
“I’m not saying you’re an idiot. When I go out on errands, or we go out of town together, you don’t act the same with me that you do with him.”
He opened his mouth to protest then stopped.
“Admit it. In some ways you think I’m stronger than him.”
He studied her. “You’re a lot more street smart than he is.”
“It’s more than that, Thomas. I’ve never seen you fuck him the way you fuck me.”
She ignored the confusion in his eyes. “Nevvie, you said you didn’t want to—”
“I don’t mean anal sex. I mean you guys get hot and heavy, but you’re always gentle with him, very careful.”
“I don’t want to hurt him.”
She tried again, needing him to get this if he was going to help her bring Tyler home and heal him. “You fuck me a helluva lot harder than you fuck him. You nearly put the bed through the wall sometimes when you fuck me.”
“I thought you liked that.”
“I do like it. How many times have you heard me beg him to fuck me harder?”
He studied her. “It’s like he’s afraid of hurting you.”
“I’m your biker mama. I get down and dirty with you. I love every minute of it.”
He closed his eyes. “I’m gentle with him because I’m afraid I’ll hurt him. You’re his angel, he thinks he has to protect you, and I think I have to protect him, and he tries to take care of both of us. Jesus Christ, you’re as spooky as he is. See, you’re the translator. You complete us.”
“You’re our anchor. You’re strong for both of us. But you also know how strong I really am. He feels guilty that Alex knocked him out.”
“The guy hit him with a chair! He might have knocked me out if he’d hit me like that.”
“It’s who he is. He’s sensitive, but he’s a guy, too. His pride is bruised that he didn’t protect me. He’s hurting, and he’s afraid to reach out to us, because he’s afraid if he leans on us that it’ll hurt us and that we won’t want him anymore. Remember, he still blames himself for all of this. He’s scared because I made him promise to stay calm and he didn’t. He doesn’t realize what he did was okay. He hates himself right now.”
He patted her thigh. “Find him, Nevvie. Whatever we’ve got to do, just find him. Use that crazy psychic crap you’ve got with him.”
She walked into Tyler’s office and powered up his laptop. Thomas watched over her shoulder while she went through the credit card accounts, looking for any recent purchases.
Finally, she found one and pointed. “Sarasota.” She had an idea where he was headed, but didn’t know for sure.
He nodded. “Let’s go. Bring that with you, and the aircard.”
It took them fifteen minutes to pack an overnight bag, change clothes and get on the road. When they reached Sarasota she checked again, found another receipt for a fast food restaurant further south on I-75. They refueled and got back on the interstate. Tyler still had his cell phone off, calls going straight to voice mail.
By dark he’d stopped again for gas, this time in Naples.
“He’s heading for the Keys,” she said. With the aircard connected she refreshed the browser every fifteen minutes. They were still at least one hundred miles behind him.
“How can you tell? He could be heading for Miami.”
“I just know.” She looked at him. “You said you guys talked about it. He’s trying to put distance between him and us. In his mind, probably to keep the press away.”
“I know you’ll find him. Whatever we’ve got to do to get him home safe, I’ll do it. You tell me what you need me to do.”