Dane arrived at his place to find Colin curled in the corner of the sofa watching a movie. Colin looked at him and smiled tentatively when Dane sat down beside him.
"Is something wrong?" Dane asked, tossing the folder he was carrying onto the coffee table.
"No." Colin stared at the folder and then went back to watching the movie. He stared straight ahead, not for a moment glancing at Dane.
Dane frowned to himself. Then he got it. He put his arm around Colin's waist and tugged the now-rigid body to him, enfolding him in a hug. "Pup," he said softly, "just because I didn't kiss you the second I walked in the door doesn't mean I didn't want to."
Colin looked up, seeing the honesty in his words. "I was afraid you'd had second thoughts."
"Never." Dane cupped Colin's chin, kissing him soundly. He was elated when Colin melted into it, rather than resisting.
When they broke apart, Colin cleared his throat. "I missed you and was lonely, and of course being me, I started thinking all the wrong things."
"Well stop doing that, all right? I missed you too, but there were things I had to do. Before you ask, Bill and Marc had to move to a safe house, which is where you should be, too."
"No," Colin replied. "This is my safe house. I'm safe here with you. Please," he continued, his voice pleading now, "don't send me away."
"I'm not going to, so get that out of your head right now." Dane pressed another kiss to his lips. Then, reluctantly, he got down to business. "If we're going to end this, we need to find these men. My friend put together some photos. I need you to go through them and see if you recognize anyone."
Colin steeled himself when Dane handed him the folder. He opened it and looked at the first few pages slowly. He felt both overwhelming relief and discouragement that none of the men's faces were familiar. Then he turned another page and took a deep, shuddering breath.
"This was one of them."
Dane removed the page and placed it face down on the table. He refrained from showing any overt concern for Colin's reaction, feeling that he would neither appreciate nor accept it until he was finished.
By the time he'd gone through the entire folder, Colin had found two more of the men, one of them the one who had hired him to come to that house for the 'birthday party'. He closed the folder and leaned his head back with a shaky sigh before turning to look at Dane. "The one I want wasn't in there." Although his eyes were moist, they glared with anger that matched the tone of his voice. "I want… I've imagined what I'd do to him when we find him," he growled, his anger turning to rage.
"Not half of what I want to do," Dane replied, gathering Colin into his arms.
"Does that make us like him?"
"No, pup, because we'd never follow through. We can hate him all we want, fantasize about repaying him for what he did to you, but in the end, we'll let the law deal with him."
"What if it doesn't?" Colin whispered.
"If I do my job right, there will be enough evidence to put him away for a long time."
"I'll have to testify, won't I?"
Dane nodded. "Probably, if it goes to trial. That's a ways off though. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it."
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