Long Way Home by Carolyn Gray by Carolyn Gray Read Free Book Online

again. “I’m
    hungry.”
    Nick rubbed his stomach. “Me too. It’s not too late; maybe we can find a McDonald’s or
    something.”
    Mutt groaned at that. “Please. I’d rather have a steak, myself.”
    “I thought you wanted pancakes,” Lee said, not really caring where they went, as long as it
    was out of there.
    “Oh hell yeah.”
    Lee stood, but at that moment an usher walked into their box. “Lee Nelson?”
    Lee stilled. “I’m Lee Nelson.”
    The usher waved him out. Mutt and Nick immediately followed. “What is it?” Nick said.
    She handed Lee an envelope. “This is for you.” It wasn’t anything remarkable, only a
    regular white envelope.
    “Open it,” Nick said.
    He slid it open, his heart beating faster. Briefly he wondered if he should be careful about
    prints. Too many episodes of Criminal Minds , he supposed.
    He removed the piece of paper that was inside. The handwriting was unfamiliar, but the
    message somehow didn’t surprise him.
    “So?”
    Lee handed it to him. Nick moved under a light so he could see better. “‘Dressing room
    ten. Gev.’” Nick handed back the note, then repeated, “Gev. That dancer.”
    Mutt said, “It was you he recognized, then.”
    The usher interrupted. “If you’ll follow this hallway, there’s a red door at the end. Open it,
    and tell the guard your name. He’ll know you’re expected.” The usher stopped Nick and Mutt.
    “Not you.”
    Lee stiffened. “They’ll come with me.”
    He hadn’t realized it until that second, but he really wasn’t up to facing Gev alone. Yet he
    realized, as the usher hesitated, then walked briskly off, that the second he turned to face Nick,
    there would be questions. Lots of questions.
    He wasn’t wrong about that.
    “What’s going on, Lee? How do you know him? Why the shock and surprise? What—”
    Mutt laid a hand on Nick’s shoulder. “Let the man think. He’s in shock, like you said.”
    Nick looked at Lee. “Sorry. You know me.” He touched Lee’s arm. “Lee?”

    24

    Carolyn Gray

    Lee tucked the note back into the envelope, folded it, and stuck it in his back pocket. He
    wasn’t sure how much to tell them nor how long they had. He didn’t want to say anything here,
    but there wasn’t anywhere else to go. The box was secluded, but with all the music and dancing
    going on—a rousing number, from the sound of it—that wasn’t the place to go.
    “If you don’t want to say…” Nick said, his words encased by a please-tell-me sigh.
    “No. It’s all right.”
    “The dancer, Gev?” At Lee’s nod, Mutt went on. “He obviously had no idea you were
    coming.”
    Lee took a few steps toward the other side of the hall. There were a few people around but
    not many. That was good. “I had no idea he was here, either.”
    “Well, who is he?” Nick demanded.
    Lee closed his eyes for a moment, then decided to tell them the easy stuff. Delving deeper
    was impossible. He opened his eyes, ran a hand through his hair. Hell. He looked at Nick, the
    singer’s eyes dancing with curiosity. No avoiding it now, but the words—how to find the right
    words? Make them come out when they’d been trapped for too many years? Articulating the first
    seemed impossible.
    Nick looked like he was about to burst. Lee took a deep breath. “His brother was a
    childhood friend of mine. That’s how I recognized him. He hasn’t changed much.” He took
    another deep breath, looking at Nick now.
    Nick stilled, his normally animated face going intentionally bland.
    Lee looked away. It would make saying what he was about to say easier. “When we were
    thirteen—I think Gev was ten, maybe eleven—Stefan disappeared.”
    Nick flinched. “Oh, God, no. That’s horrible. Did he run away? Did they find him?”
    Lee didn’t say anything for a moment. Couldn’t through the lump in his throat. He shoved
    it angrily aside. He had no intention of ever admitting the full truth of what Stefan’s
    disappearance had done to