TD McKinney & Terry Wylis Southern Beaus 3 Copperhead Road

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businesses. It was just a good day fishing is all. They don t see
the stash, they can t move. I didn t spend hours on the Net
looking up police procedure for my health, you know. Just tell
em to stick the base in the middle of each crate and fill in
around them. We ll truck it all out of here and unload way out
at this little place I know a couple miles upriver.
Cameron s feet stuck to the earth, keeping him upright as
the Earth tilted on its axis. No. His lover wasn t saying this.
They had plans. Bolt was leaving this all behind. I m hearing
it wrong. That s all. He s not doing a deal. He s not.
Bolt shifted the cell to his other ear and swept his long hair
out of the way, beautiful profile revealed. Yeah. Old cabin I
used to take& friends up to for a little fun. It s completely
surrounded by thick woods. Even a copter couldn t spot us.
No. That space was theirs! Not much more than a hunting
blind but theirs. Not for drug deals. Cameron s mind blanked,
words entering, bumping against each other, impossible for
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him to capture and make sense of.
This deal s going to be so smooth they ll be thrilled to
make it a regular run. We do this once a month or so and we ll
have more money than we could ever spend. Bolt s smile
blossomed bright under the porch light. We ll be able to buy
an island in the Caribbean and live like kings.
Whatever Claxton Ferris said next prompted a hearty snort
and a different sort of smile from Bolt. Oh, don t you worry
about Cameron. I ll keep him so happy he won t even blink if
I go off on my own once in awhile. It ll give him a chance to
actually get some work done.
Cameron s heart screamed, even though his voice couldn t
manage it. Mind finally connecting to his body, he spun,
stumbling back into the woods, making it into the dense
undergrowth before his legs collapsed, sending him crashing
to the ground. He sat where he landed, his mind numb to
anything but the pain of shattered dreams and splintered trust.
He lied. The words squeezed out on a whisper of air.
He lied to me.
Never, not for the briefest heartbeat had he thought Bolt
would deliberately lie. Not to him. To the law, to the town, to
everyone else. Cameron had been stupid enough to believe he
fell into a unique category. He feared circumstances would
make it difficult for Bolt to break free, that pressure from the
criminals he dealt with, the need to make his own way
however he could, and the certainty life held nothing more
would trap Bolt. But never had Cameron imagined his lover
had no intention of walking away from the drug running. That
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Bolt wouldn t even try&
Betrayal lanced Cameron s chest, an agony so sharp he
doubled over, forehead touching the leaf debris.
Yours. With all my heart.
I want to wake up with you and fall asleep with you every
day for the rest of my life. Let me get this all taken care of and
I ll do just that.
And Bolt would. While sneaking off now and again to
traffic in hard drugs. All the right pretty words Cameron had
longed for over the years, and all a lie.
What little he d eaten surged up and splattered on the
foliage-strewn ground. Dry heaves exhausted him long after
his stomach emptied. His sinuses burned, but no more than his
heart. The sour taste in his mouth couldn t compare to the
sharp bitter tang in his soul. His eyes stung as he gasped for
breath, hands clenched in the loam. Every illusion of a happy
future, secure with the man he loved, lay vomited out on the
pine needles and leaves. Tears dropped onto the detritus of his
life, the foul scent of spoiled hope and ruined faith scorched
his nostrils. He hung his head, unable to force activity from his
drained limbs.
Cameron finally managed to move away from the mess
and the smell, leaning his head on the cool trunk of an oak
tree, gut muscles burning and mouth seared. He wiped his lips
with the hem of his T-shirt and tried to find elusive normal
breathing.
He let the old oak cradle him, great upthrust roots
sheltering him from the world while agony blanked his mind
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and he gave over to it, sobs shaking him and tears flowing
free.
Cameron didn t care how long he lay on the mat of leaves,
the night s damp heat wrapping him in a humid blanket. The
moon shifted, dappled light moving across the ground.
Mosquitoes buzzed, wanting to get at him, but he didn t feel
their bite. Only the pain burning him out from the inside
registered. Dark fire swept through him, blackening the edges
of every memory with suspicion and doubt. He no longer
knew what could be truth or if it all were lies. The murky
flames took everything, wiping bright colors away, leaving
only soot and ashes. It burned away the hours of the night.
When nothing remained but a hollow shell, Cameron sat
up.
The faintest change in the color of the sky hinted at
coming dawn. Daylight that would bring the DEA raid and the
end of Bolt s freedom. Maybe the end of his life if he was
stupid or frightened enough to try to run or fight back. No
more Bolt to worry about.
And all Cameron had to do was nothing. He could sit here,
or walk back up to his house. He didn t have to do one damn
thing at all. Bolt would get what he deserved.
Cameron squeezed his eyes tight against a vision of a
casket. No. Bolt didn t deserve that. He was a stupid idiot and
a liar, but he didn t deserve to die. And Cameron couldn t live
through knowing Bolt moldered away in prison when
Cameron could stop it. So maybe not completely empty of all
feeling just yet.
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