Stranded (18 page)

“Why would you think I did this to you?” Johnny whispered.

Kendall swallowed and shook his head slightly. “My thoughts are jumbled.”

The door on his side of the car opened, and Kendall saw Lyman holding a big set of bolt cutters. He snipped the chain between his left wrist and the cuff on the steering wheel. Then Kendall shifted his hand, and Lyman cut the other chain. Kendall’s arm protested when he tried to move it, but he took the bottle from Johnny and drank, emptying it.

“Do you feel better?” Johnny whispered.

“A little,” Kendall answered. He ached all over.

“What do you remember?” Johnny asked him.

“Someone placing a cloth over my mouth, and then I woke up here. I don’t know who it was except that it was a man,” Kendall said and slowly shifted his gaze from Johnny to Lyman. They knew something. He could tell by the way they wouldn’t meet his gaze for a few seconds. “What is it?”

Johnny looked at Lyman. “We’ll tell you all about it later,” Johnny promised. Lyman left, and Kendall turned to Johnny.

“Let’s get you out of here,” Johnny said as he unsnapped the seat belt and carefully retracted it. Then he backed out of the passenger door and a few moments later, leaned in through the opening created by the driver’s door and gathered Kendall into his arms.

Kendall held on and stifled the groan that threatened. All his muscles ached, and moving or being jostled was painful. Johnny carefully carried him across the sandy ground to a huge SUV. Lyman opened the back door, and Johnny gently set him on the seat and then climbed in after him. Lyman closed the door but opened it again a few seconds later and handed Kendall another bottle of water. Johnny opened it for him, and Kendall drank some more. With each sip he felt a bit more alive. “Where are you taking me?”

“Back to the set,” Lyman told him. “Your trailer is air-conditioned and you can get some rest there. We could try to get you to Las Vegas, though.”

“Maybe we should take him to a hospital,” Johnny said.

“No. Just let me drink and get something to eat. Then I need to sleep. That’s all they’ll have me do at the hospital anyway, and….” Kendall paused. “Lyman, tomorrow I want to film.”

“What?” Johnny demanded. “No way in hell!”

Kendall ignored him. “We need to film the way I look. There’s no way anyone could ever recreate this. Also, we have the movie wrong. We’ve been concentrating on the heat, but over time I began to question everything, including my own sanity. By the end of the day yesterday, I could barely think.”

“Okay.” Lyman chuckled. “You’re the expert.”

“Are you crazy?” Johnny asked, holding him a bit tighter. “I nearly lost you. There is no fucking way in hell you are going anywhere near any cars in the desert ever again.”

“So you do love me?” Kendall asked quietly. Johnny buried his head in Kendall’s shoulder, and for only the second time in all the years he’d known his partner, Kendall saw Johnny cry. He closed his eyes and held Johnny in return, feeling his own tears well to the surface.

“Of course I love you,” Johnny said. The engine started, and within seconds cool air began blowing inside the vehicle. Kendall drank some more of his water and held onto Johnny as Lyman put the SUV in gear.

The drive to where they’d been filming didn’t take very long. Some of the crew milled around. “Where is everyone?”

“Out looking for you,” Johnny said.

“What about the police?” Kendall asked, and Lyman scoffed.

“You left a note saying you were quitting and going back to New York,” Lyman said. “The police used that as an excuse not to look for you. Out here, they really don’t care much unless you’re a casino owner.”

“But I didn’t leave a note,” Kendall said.

“We know that,” Johnny said lightly. “Your friend Juan didn’t believe it either, and he called me.” Johnny shifted and pulled Kendall’s phone out of his pocket and handed it to him. “You forgot to get it from him before you left for the night. When he saw the note in your trailer he called me, and with this stalker thing going on, he and I put together what we thought happened. I caught the first plane out here, and Juan got Lyman involved.” Johnny hugged him closer. “You have one hell of a friend there.”

“He was like a pit bull,” Lyman said as he pulled to a stop and put the vehicle in gear. “I bought the note, I’m sorry to say, and he read me the riot act—called me every name in the book and threatened to beat the crap out of me if I didn’t listen.” Lyman turned around and peered into the backseat. “I think I might have fired him, and he flipped me the bird, told me I was full of shit, and then said he didn’t care if he was fired, he was going out to look for you. Then Johnny arrived a while later, and he laid into me like no one’s business. We’ve been out looking for you ever since.” Lyman turned off the engine and opened his door. Kendall’s door opened a few seconds later.

Johnny got out and then reached for him. “I’m okay.” Kendall slowly slid off the seat. He wobbled a bit and leaned on Johnny as he made his way toward his trailer. The crew gathered around as he gingerly put one foot in front of the other. One of the crew members applauded and soon all of them were clapping and cheering. Kendall smiled. “Thank you,” he said a bit breathlessly as Johnny opened the trailer door and helped him climb inside.

Kendall collapsed into a chair and closed his eyes.

“Here, you need to keep drinking a little at a time,” Johnny said.

Kendall took the bottle and drank.

“It’s Gatorade. You need more than just the water.”

Kendall drank. His stomach protested for a bit, but then settled down. Johnny had pulled all the curtains, and it was cool and relatively dark. “Let’s get these clothes off, and I’ll help you clean up. Then we’ll get you in bed.”

Kendall nodded and continued drinking. He was too tired to open his eyes. Johnny helped Kendall to his feet and removed his clothes, then shoved them in a plastic bag. Kendall practically fell back into the chair. Johnny ran some water, and Kendall didn’t resist or help as Johnny washed him. “You’re going to be fine now,” Johnny told him as he cleaned him up, emptying the pan of water a few times and getting more. When Johnny was done, he took away the final pan of water, and when he returned he helped Kendall into underwear and a T-shirt, and then guided him back to the bed.

“Will you stay with me?” Kendall asked as he settled on the mattress. He sighed as he relaxed on the bedding. Such comfort was almost unreal after the last few days.

“I want you to drink a bit more before you go to sleep,” Johnny said, and he helped Kendall sit up.

Kendall drank the rest of the Gatorade and then reclined back on the bedding. Johnny lay down next to him, and Kendall curled close. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled over and over until he fell asleep.

Kendall woke alone. But he felt better, if really thirsty. He parted one of the curtains, squinting at the bright sunlight before letting the curtain fall back into place. After carefully getting out of bed, he stumbled to the refrigerator and grabbed another bottle of Gatorade, downed half of it in a few gulps and then took a break before drinking the rest of it. Then he opened the bathroom door and used the toilet with much relief. At least his body still seemed to be working. When he was done, he flushed and got a bottle of water from the refrigerator and then returned to bed. He drank most of the water before setting the bottle on the small counter beside the bed and closing his eyes once more.

When he woke again, there was no light coming through the windows, and Johnny was sitting at the small table in the front, his laptop open, typing away. Kendall groaned and slowly sat up.

“Are you thirsty?” Johnny asked, and after a few seconds he closed the lid of his laptop, stood up, and walked to where Kendall sat on the side of the bed. “Do you want something to eat?” Kendall nodded, and Johnny handed him a bottle of Gatorade.

Johnny hunted around in the cupboards until he found a toaster. He plugged it in and slid in two slices of bread. Then he got some butter out of the refrigerator. When the toast was done, he buttered it and added some cinnamon sugar—where that had come from Kendall had no idea, and he was too out of it to care. “Is that all I get?”

“Go ahead and make sure you can keep it down. Then I can make you something heartier,” Johnny explained, and Kendall ate the toast in a matter of a few bites.

“That was good,” he said, handing Johnny back the plate. Then he drank some more of the Gatorade before heading to the bathroom again. He took care of business and then joined Johnny at the table. “I’m still tired but feeling a lot better.” His muscles didn’t ache, and his mind seemed clear once he began to wake up. “So what is it you aren’t telling me?”

Johnny shook his head. “It’s nothing important, at least not right now.” Johnny stood up. “Why don’t you get dressed and I’ll drive you to your hotel. We can get something to eat there, and then you can go to bed.” Johnny moved to where Kendall was sitting, and he scooted over. “What matters is that you’re all right.”

“Johnny, do you know who did this to me?” Kendall asked.

Johnny shook his head. “No. I don’t, and I don’t think Lyman does either. I think he suspects someone, but he hasn’t said who it is.” Johnny put his arm around him, and Kendall leaned into the comfort of his embrace. “You had me so scared. I thought I’d lost you forever.”

Kendall swallowed and moved away. “I didn’t think you cared anymore,” he told him softly.

“Of course I care,” Johnny countered indignantly.

“Then why wouldn’t you come with me?” Kendall asked. “I had this stalker who wouldn’t leave me alone, and he kidnapped me and left me in a car in the middle of the desert to die. Is that what it took to get you out here? For me to nearly die?”

“You know that’s not true,” Johnny countered.

“Isn’t it? If you’d been here, like you promised, none of this would have happened,” Kendall said and squirmed to get away.

“Like I promised?” Johnny asked softly.

“Yeah. Don’t you remember, when we moved into the brownstone and you took down the guy from downstairs? You promised you’d always be there to protect me, but you weren’t,” Kendall said. “I remembered all of it while I was locked in that damned car. I remembered a lot of things. Like how we used to really care for each other and how we were there for each other. Stuff that’s gone now.” Johnny stood up, and Kendall jumped out of bed and hurried to the back, pulling the curtain so Johnny couldn’t see him, and conversely, so he couldn’t see Johnny’s face. He hadn’t kept much in the trailer, but managed to find a pair of jeans and a shirt. “And I don’t know if we can get that back.”

Kendall yanked on the jeans and was about to pull on the T-shirt when Johnny tore at the curtain, ripping it down from its track. “That’s not fair—how could you say that?” Johnny grabbed him by the shoulders and manhandled him forward, crashing their mouths together in a show of passion Kendall hadn’t felt from him for a long time.

Kendall moaned softly and closed his eyes. “Johnny, do you—” The words were cut off when Johnny kissed him again, this time harder, and held him closer. Kendall held on as he returned the kiss, reveling in the taste of his lover like he’d just rediscovered a long-lost delicacy he thought he’d never be able to have again.

Then Johnny gentled the kiss and slowly pulled away. “Did that feel like anything was gone to you?” he asked as he held Kendall’s gaze. “Things may have been a bit difficult with distance….”

“It started long before that,” Kendall said.

“I know,” Johnny told him. “But it ends now.”

Kendall stepped back. “Okay, if that’s what you want. You can go back to New York, and when I’m done with the film, I’ll get my stuff from the apartment and find another place to live.” Kendall turned around and continued getting dressed. “When we get to the hotel, I’m sure they can get you a room of your own.”

Johnny placed his hands on Kendall’s shoulders and spun him around. “What are you talking about?” he snapped.

Kendall shrugged away from him. “You said it ends now, so I figured you meant us.”

“Is that what you want?” Johnny asked, and Kendall shrugged again. “Because that wasn’t what I meant.” Johnny moved closer. “What I meant was that I want the excitement back in our lives. I want us to be closer and to be passionate.” Johnny leaned into him, his lips close to Kendall’s ear. “I want to make you scream the way you used to. Remember? That poor neighbor pushed your boxes because you treated him to a screaming love fest every night. Do you remember that?”

Kendall swallowed and nodded. “Then you aren’t having an affair?” Kendall asked, and Johnny’s eyes widened.

“No,” Johnny answered, but he looked a bit guilty. “Jeremy made his interest known, and”—Johnny turned away—“in a moment of weakness I kissed him. He wanted more, but….” Johnny didn’t turn around. “But there was a problem—he wasn’t you.” Johnny finally turned back to him. “I’ve never been interested in anyone but you.”

“Then why didn’t you come with me? I missed you every day….”

Johnny sighed. “I should have. If I had it to do again, I’d come with you instead of being selfish. I should have been your partner and supported you the way you’ve always supported me.” Johnny tugged him into his arms. “Do you remember? Because I certainly do.” Kendall smiled and leaned his head against Johnny’s shoulder. “I’ve had lots of time to think over the past few months.”

“So have I,” Kendall said, closing his eyes, the knots that had been in his stomach for months unwinding. He hadn’t realized they’d been there until they were gone. “You make me happy, Johnny. You always have, and it hurt when I thought you might have found someone else.”

“No way, sweetheart. I may be an old grump who spends way too much time in his own head, but you mean the world to me, and I can’t imagine my life or my world without you in it.” Johnny held him tighter, and they stood together quietly for a long while. “Have you noticed in my books that there’s always a man, young and talented, who goes with his heart each and every time?”

“Yeah. I wondered about that.”

“Those characters are you. Each and every one of them is you.” Johnny paused. “I can’t write a single book without you—it just doesn’t work.”