A Much Younger Man - Z.A. Maxfield Page 0,11

going to school. I had a life—well, as much of a life as anyone has when they have a sibling with a life-threatening disease.”

“I don’t understand.”

“It’s just…chaos.” He frowned as if I was obtuse. “When someone in a family—especially a kid—is so sick, every single resource the family has goes to them. All the time and money and worry. Nobody can focus on anything else.”

“Are you saying you felt ignored by your parents because of your half brother’s illness?”

“No, it’s not like that. You learn to do for yourself because everyone is in survival mode. Mom and Roger couldn’t think about anything else. When things were going well, there was still the next hurdle, the next test, the next treatment. When they were going poorly”—he swallowed—“there was only the next minute. The next heartbeat.”

“I think you must be very strong, Beck.”

He shrugged. “I had to be strong. They needed me. That’s why I assumed I could keep my promise to Bryce. When my stepdad kicked me out, I tried to get a place of my own, but any place that took dogs at all told me Callie was too big. Anywhere I could afford, you could only have small dogs. Fifty pounds, max.”

“I’m aware of the problems inherent in trying to rent with a pet.” I’d helped people rehome dogs and cats when they couldn’t find rentals that would accommodate them. Some assholes simply left their pets on the street and drove away.

“I couch surfed for a while, and I got friends to watch her for me while I worked, but I couldn’t do that forever. I was out of options.” Beck swiped the hair out of his eyes. “I ended up playing on the street for cash, sneaking Callie into cheap motels when I could still afford it, and sleeping rough when I couldn’t. But it was dangerous, and I was so scared. That’s when Tug came along.”

“Tell me about Tug.” Why wasn’t I calling the sheriff’s deputies to come out and take a statement instead of being a nosy fuck? It would have been so easy to let Beck be someone else’s problem, but I couldn’t make myself do it. I wanted to be the hero, even though I knew it was naïve, and I’d probably get played.

“Tug is…Tug, you know?” Beck bit his lip. “When I first hit the road, I was pretty stupid. I practically shit myself if anyone even approached me. But then I met Tug, and he always knew what to do. He always had cash.”

I hadn’t missed the feral gleam in Tug’s eyes when he looked me and Cooper over. I felt at the time like he was sizing us up, either to offer his services or con us. “How did Tug get money, Beck?”

Beck flushed. “Truck stops mostly. Rest stops. Parks. He said there were always old guys who wanted a quick—”

“I get the picture.” Distaste turned my stomach sour.

“I never did that.”

Did I believe him? I wanted to. “You’re nothing like Tug.”

“Don’t judge. You have no idea what either of us is like.”

“I apologize.” I clamped my mouth shut. Even if Beck had accepted money for sex, I stood by my assessment. He was nothing like Tug. Not yet, anyway. But how long would it be before hunger and need and a society that didn’t give a crap made Beck exactly like Tug?

“We hit the coast, and that’s when I started pulling my weight. People on the beach tip good, especially here. I thought we were doing okay. That we could maybe even find a place and stay here a while.”

“You said he scored here in St. Nacho’s? Where?” We had a weed dispensary, and I knew there was always meth around, but I had seen very little evidence of its use among locals.

Beck glanced away. “Somewhere. I don’t know where.”

“And that was a surprise to you.”

“Of course it was. I told you we made a deal. If I made it possible for him to stop selling his ass, he’d stop using. After we got into some trouble in Stockton, he was grateful for the break.”

I was sure Beck believed that. Tug had seemed sketchy to me, but even I would’ve rather he had a better choice than to sell himself.

Drug addicts were a hard no for me. I always had the worry in the back of my mind that my clinic could be robbed and my staff harmed. I had a security system, and my pharmacy had a reinforced door