By Zephyria 
〈I’ll be staying here for a while.〉
Dane lay in the darkness, recalling Joshua’s words before he left.
〈If anything happens, contact me anytime. I’ll be checking around that bastard first.〉
In short, he would be watching until he felt that Grayson didn’t suspect anything. Even after saying that, Joshua still didn’t seem to completely trust Dane’s words.
That damn bastard, he’s just unnecessarily perceptive.
Tsk, Dane clicked his tongue and patted Darling, who was stirring in his arms. Listening to the deep breathing of the cat as it fell back asleep, he sank back into thought. It wouldn’t be long anyway. If something was going to happen, something would have happened by now.
Even as he thought that, something kept bothering him. What could it be?
Haa, he sighed and forced himself to sleep.
…Come to think of it.
Suddenly, he remembered the question he had before Joshua came. How did Ezra know? That Grayson was attacked here.
He couldn’t guess at all. He tried to ignore it, thinking it didn’t matter, but his mind became clearer and clearer, and eventually, day broke.
Desire Me if you can
“Hi, Dane.”
“Hi.”
Dane, who briefly raised his hand to the colleagues who greeted him, strode across the locker room to his locker. He was changing into his work shirt as usual when the door opened and someone came in.
“Oh, Ezra.”
“Hi.”
From the words exchanged, Dane could tell who it was. His hand, which was taking out his uniform, gradually slowed.
“Oh, hi?”
Ezra, who had turned around from the locker, found Dane and greeted him first. His face was noticeably haggard, with unshaven stubble and dark circles under his eyes. It looked like he hadn’t slept a wink all night, his eyes as wide as Dane’s. Dane silently stared at his face before opening his mouth.
“…You look tired.”
“Huh? Uh… I, I couldn’t sleep well.”
At Dane’s words, Ezra was startled and stammered with a laugh. Could it be that even that attitude seemed awkward because I was suspicious of him? Dane thought to himself and opened his mouth.
“Ezra, I’ve been thinking about it, but I just don’t get it.”
“What?”
As he casually brought it up, Ezra opened his locker and asked nonchalantly. Dane fixed his gaze on him and opened his mouth.
“How did you know that the place where Grayson was attacked was the parking lot of the hotel I’m staying at?”
At that moment, Ezra stopped moving.
thirty
A cold silence suddenly fell. The sound of the other guys laughing and talking seemed to come from far away. Dane stood there, waiting for Ezra’s reaction, hidden behind the open locker door. 1 second, 2 seconds, 3 seconds. It was a short moment, but the few seconds felt so long, and then Ezra poked his head out of the door.
“I don’t know? Didn’t you tell me?”
Seeing his usual smiling face, Dane denied it.
“No, I didn’t.”
“Really? Then Grayson must have told me.”
Ezra skillfully deflected the words. Dane stared silently at him as he hummed and changed his clothes. The uneasy feeling was still there, but there was no longer any justification for further questioning. In the end, he didn’t ask any more questions, put on his uniform, and left the locker room.
Only after confirming that Dane had brushed past him and gone outside was Ezra able to let out a trembling breath. Clutching his pounding heart, he had to take several deep breaths.
Desire Me if you can
“Higher, higher!”
Hot flames surged as if to burn his whole body. DeAndre, his face covered in ash and dust, shouted at Ezra again.
“Ezra, lower! Raise it higher!”
He shouted repeatedly, but the water level didn’t change. Eventually, he cursed.
“Ezra, goddamn it! I said raise the hose higher! The water’s not reaching at all!”
In the end, DeAndre couldn’t stand it any longer and ran to Ezra, shouting.
“Shoot it higher, can’t you hear me! It’s not reaching at all!”
“Shut up, you son of a bitch!”
Suddenly, Ezra shouted loudly. DeAndre was momentarily taken aback, and the guys around him were also surprised and turned their heads. But Ezra didn’t care and continued to push DeAndre away with curses.
“Get out of the way, damn it! Get lost!”
DeAndre, who had stumbled back, blinked in bewilderment. He looked around as if wondering what was going on, but the other guys were just as confused. At that moment, Dane, who happened to be nearby, saw them and strode over. DeAndre hesitated, but Dane immediately grabbed Ezra’s arm and lifted it up without saying a word. The stream of water from the hose immediately soared.
“What the…”
Ezra turned his head with a curse and a fierce expression, then was startled. Dane was just looking down at him with a blank face. Surprisingly, unlike before, Ezra avoided his gaze and obediently raised the hose and sprayed water. Dane patted him on the shoulder as if to say it was okay, and soon returned to his place, while DeAndre watched their appearance in bewilderment.
Desire Me if you can
“Isn’t Ezra a little strange?”
After barely putting out the fire, the guys who finally had a moment to breathe gathered in groups of twos and threes and whispered. At the words that came out while looking at Ezra, who was organizing equipment on one side, another guy nodded in agreement.
“He’s been like that for the past few days, right? He’s become overly sensitive.”
“It’s understandable. How can he be in his right mind when his wife is sick? He hasn’t been shaving properly lately and seems kind of dazed.”
Another opinion slipped in. But DeAndre immediately retorted.
“No matter what, didn’t you see Ezra yelling and cursing at me earlier? That Ezra, I’m telling you!”
At those words, everyone closed their mouths and looked at each other. DeAndre couldn’t contain his anger and repeatedly raised his voice.
“That’s not all, he couldn’t say a word to Dane, you know? He cursed and even pushed me, but why couldn’t he do anything to Dane? Huh?”
He raged and expressed his anger.
“This is unfair!”
“Yeah, yeah. You’re right.”
The other guys quickly soothed DeAndre. In fact, everyone felt the same way. Recently, Ezra had become overly sensitive. He was constantly startled and noticeably anxious. To suddenly curse and yell, they couldn’t help but be taken aback. Ezra, who was usually gentle and rarely got angry, had been called a mediator in the fire station.
“He’s always only known Sandra. Plus, he’s taking care of the kids, so he must be exhausted.”
As a voice defending Ezra came out in the midst of the bewildered atmosphere, another guy soon took the words.
“Well, that’s true. Let’s understand him.”
“Yeah, how hard must it be for him alone? I saw him worrying about hospital bills last time, so he must have a lot of difficulties.”
“He got angry at me too. It was just a harmless joke, but he suddenly yelled and cursed… I thought I was going to get hit.”
“I felt that he was only weak to Dane, but… it must be a coincidence.”
“Dane hasn’t been in good condition lately either, so maybe that’s why?”
“That guy’s weird too, he doesn’t seem to be going out much.”
“Well, Ezra must be having the hardest time right now.”
The guys, who had been tilting their heads together, looked at Ezra in the distance with sympathetic eyes. DeAndre, who had been unfairly caught in the crossfire, felt wronged, but he couldn’t just criticize a colleague who was in a difficult situation. In the end, he spat out roughly and turned away.
Desire Me if you can
What is it? That bastard.
Dane, who was loading the used equipment into the car, frowned at the sight of the man who suddenly came into view. Ezra was organizing the surroundings with a serious face. His expression, which seemed somewhat dejected and worried, was full of concern, but that was also natural considering the current situation.
The problem was his attitude.
Dane was also aware that Ezra had become strange. He was constantly getting angry and starting fights, but the stranger thing was that it was different only with him.
That’s what happened earlier. Ezra’s attitude, who was yelling and angry at DeAndre, changed the moment he saw Dane. As Dane, who had been watching Ezra for years, it was a situation he couldn’t understand. Based on his life experience, there was only one reason that came to mind in such cases. There was something related to Dane, but he couldn’t say it.
But he had no idea what it was. Because of that, Dane was watching him, waiting for the timing to come. It would be best if Ezra took the courage to confess first.
〈Dane, Dane!〉
Suddenly, a forgotten memory popped up. Dane sighed and stood blankly, then swept his hair back from his forehead.
I hope he’s doing well.
It’s only natural to feel empty since the guy who was always with him is nowhere to be seen. Dane shook his head and buried the memory that had briefly surfaced. Believing that even this would disappear over time.
Desire Me if you can
It was that evening, around the time he was leaving work, that he learned that Joshua had contacted him. Dane, who finally checked his cell phone after getting into the car, frowned when he saw that Joshua had called him three times. Sensing an ominous atmosphere, he immediately called him.
“What’s wrong?”
As soon as he asked, Joshua immediately got to the point.
Grayson has disappeared.
Dane paused for a moment.
“…What?”
When he asked after a pause, Joshua continued to speak.
He’s nowhere to be found. He’s completely disappeared.
“Hold on a second.”
Dane, who furrowed his brow and organized his thoughts, asked again.
“Didn’t you say there was a tracking device? On all of Miller’s people…”
There is. But it’s not there.
Joshua’s words became faster as if he was anxious.
It’s not being caught at all. Something must have gone wrong. The secretary team says it seems to be broken…
I don’t know why. At that moment, Dane instinctively thought of Ezra.