No Good Deed - Marie Sexton Page 0,29

himself, but Charlie worried about him having to drive home after all that testing. Instead, Charlie drove him to the hospital at seven that morning. He’d already taken the day off, and he volunteered to stay from start to finish, but Jonas only shook his head.

“You’d be stuck sitting in one waiting room after another. Just promise me you’ll be here when it’s over.”

That was an easy enough promise to make.

Charlie went home and spent the day cleaning and doing laundry. He’d been remiss about chores since Jonas had arrived. It was too easy to spend all their spare time in the bedroom. They were a good match, in that regard. They both enjoyed the kink but didn’t necessarily need it. Tad had been unable to perform under normal circumstances. Charlie had done his best to accommodate him, but having a lover who couldn’t achieve arousal when Charlie wanted to be tender rather than kinky hadn’t always been easy.

With Jonas, it took no effort at all, for either of them.

But thoughts of how good they were together inevitably led to guilt and uncertainty. Charlie was hiding an enormous secret from his best friend in the world. The question was, did Jonas intend to stay? If not, then there didn’t seem to be much reason to tell Gray. But if he planned to stick around…

Then what?

He wished he knew.

He received one text from Jonas at midday.

Physical part done. Now just have to decide if I’m a kook.

You’ll do fine, Charlie texted back.

Two hours before he was due to pick Jonas up, somebody knocked on his back door.

No. It wasn’t knocking.

Whoever was on his doorstep was pounding hard enough to shake the door on its hinges. As Charlie approached it, the yelling reached him too.

“Open up, you son of a bitch!”

Charlie made sure the chain was in place before opening the door a crack.

The man on his porch could have been anywhere from thirty to fifty. He looked haggard, the skin on his face drawn and pale. His thick beard was unkempt. He wore jeans and an unbuttoned flannel shirt over a stained white T-shirt. No coat, despite the fact that it was near freezing outside.

“Where is she?” he screamed, pointing a finger at Charlie. “What’ve you done with her?”

“You have the wrong house, man. There’s nobody here but me.”

He started to shut the door, but the man slammed into it, trying to break it open. The chain held, but it prevented Charlie from closing the door long enough for the man to get his toe in the door.

“You took MacKenna! I want to know where she went.”

Charlie sighed. “You must be Jeremy.”

“Where did you take her?” Jeremy screamed, his fetid breath in Charlie’s face.

“I didn’t take her anywhere,” Charlie said. “And she certainly isn’t here.”

He tried to close the door again, but Jeremy’s toe remained in the way. “Where is she?” he raged. “Where did that asshole take her?”

“I don’t know where she went.” It was the truth too. Warren hadn’t told him which shelter she’d gone to, or if she was staying with family or a friend instead.

“Tell me!” Jeremy slammed himself against the door again. “Tell me!” He hit it again, and Charlie worried the chain wouldn’t hold. He hoped Jeremy hadn’t brought his gun. “Tell me, you son of a bitch!”

“She isn’t here,” Charlie said again. “I don’t know where she is. I can’t help you.”

Jeremy pulled back, removing his foot from the jamb in order to get better leverage on his next attack. Charlie slammed the door shut before it came. It had two dead bolts, one near the doorknob and another at eye level, and Charlie engaged them both. His hands shook as he took a step back. Jeremy continued to rage, throwing himself against the door over and over as he screamed in fury, but Charlie breathed a sigh of relief. There was no way he’d get past both locks.

Charlie went to the front door and made sure it was locked as well. His windows were already locked, being the dead of winter. That wouldn’t stop Jeremy if he decided to break one. Charlie hoped things didn’t get that far.

He took a deep breath, steadying himself. Should he call the cops? Would Jeremy come back with a gun?

He returned to his chores, one ear tuned to the door. Eventually, the pounding stopped. Charlie crept into the kitchen and peeked out the window. Two of his neighbors had crossed the street to confront Jeremy. One was