Fear - 68

"That's quite the mouth you have on you," Gene commented the next morning as he dried his hair. Just watching Shawn drying off then wrapping the towel around his waist had Gene thinking about heading back to bed again. I'm becoming addicted. He smiled with wry amusement. Not something I planned on happening.

"You don't like my ribald jokes?" Shawn replied innocently.

Gene snorted. "That's not what I meant and you know it."

"I know." Shawn came over, pressing up against Gene's still naked body. "I liked doing that, especially since it led to much more interesting things when I finished."

"It could have led to you being one very frustrated kid. I was damned close…"

"But you didn't." Shawn broke in, grinning. "I knew what I was doing, and when to stop."

Rather than reply to what would be a fruitless argument, Gene took the high road and kissed him, then turned him toward the door and told him to go get dressed. He almost swatted his ass playfully and quickly thought better of it. He knew Shawn's memories of Jared were still too fresh in his mind.

Twenty minutes later they were down in the kitchen fixing a late breakfast.

Max had called much earlier, waking them actually, to let Shawn know that under no circumstances was he to come in to work, even though it was Saturday. "You need to heal and I suspect Gene's helping you do just that," Max had said with a laugh. Shawn hadn't argued the point.

"Scrambled or fried?" Gene asked, as he took the eggs from the refrigerator. "Sausage or bacon?"

"Scrambled with sausage and"—Shawn came up beside him to see what else was available—"cheese. Make it an omelet."

"Sounds good to me." Gene went to work while Shawn set out plates and utensils and put bread in to toast.

When his phone rang, Gene was tempted to ignore it but being a doctor, he couldn't, even if his office was closed for the weekend. So he took the pan off the burner and pulled his phone from his pocket.

He discovered it wasn't a medical emergency when he saw a name come up on the caller ID. Soon he was shaking his head in obvious disbelief as he listened to what the caller had to say, murmuring a few questions and responses along the way. When the call ended, he turned to Shawn, who had been trying unsuccessfully to eavesdrop.

"Talk about the dumb leading the dumber. It seems Jared thought that with you out of the way he could renege on the plea bargain since it was your word against his if it came to trial, and if you couldn't testify—"

"He'd get off scot free. Damn, even I'm not that stupid. So how did he convince that man to come after me?"

"He told him he had some money stashed away that he'd split with him."

Shawn snorted. "As if. Money and Jared were passing acquaintances at best most of the time. How'd the guy think he'd get away with grabbing me anyway? It's not like he was wearing a disguise or something."

"As I said, the dumb leading the dumber. He probably figured he'd walk into the garage, you'd be right there, and he'd take you and vanish before anyone knew what was happening."

Shawn took a deep breath. "Guess I'm lucky I was way at the back, working on Mr. McAlister's car, not right there by the office."

"Very lucky." Gene gave him a hug. "For both of us, I think."

"You only think?"

"Okay, I know it was." He went back to the stove to finish making their omelets, dishing them on to the plates soon afterwards. He realized as he did that Shawn was just standing there, a troubled look on his face. "Not the way you like them?" he asked.

"Huh? Oh, no, they look great. I was just thinking, what if Jared brings in another buddy to try again?"

"From what the officer who called said, when I asked the same thing, Jared won't be allowed any more visitors, other than his lawyer, until he's sent to Cañyon."

Shawn let out a sigh of relief. "So it's really over."

"I'd say so. Now, sit down, eat, and enjoy, and afterwards we'll figure out what to do to keep us busy and out of trouble today."

"Had to add 'out of trouble', didn't you?"

Gene grinned. "I'm beginning to know you well, so yes. We are not spending twenty-four hours shacked up in bed."

"But… but…" Shawn faked a pout, which was belied by the laughter that followed seconds later. He plopped down on the stool and began to eat, still chuckling.

He's happy, truly happy, for the first time since I met him. Please, God, don't let anything happen to change it.

With that in mind, Gene took the other stool and while they ate, they planned out the day's adventures.

The End