Chapter 9

Jason stood tensely at the edge of the barn, listening for a minute before surreptitiously watching the bigger teen crowd his charge against the stall at the end of the stable. He'd come around the corner to see Devyn just shaking his head at the other teen who was leaning in threateningly, towering over the smaller boy. He suspected that Devyn had done something to piss off the hired hand. If the brat had acted towards this kid the way he'd done with Jason, then Devyn probably deserved anything this kid did to him. He debated jumping in to rescue Devyn immediately, but thought maybe he'd rather see the kid get his due after all the smart-mouthing he'd done.

"Don't ignore me!" the large darker kid ground out harshly as he loomed over the blond.

Devyn abruptly shoved the other teen back, his hands moving angrily in a flurry of motion. Jason tensed, ready to jump in if and when the bigger teen moved to take Devyn down a peg.

"What the hell do you mean 'you can't'?" Michael growled, staring at Devyn's hands.

Jason stared in shock as Devyn's hands moved again, and Michael seemed to find meaning in the movements.

"Don't tell me that," Michael snapped in frustration, his hand slamming onto the stall next to Devyn's head. "I know it's not true!"

Jason jumped forward as the smaller boy flinched violently. "Hey!"

Both teens jerked in shock at Jason darting towards them.

"Fuck," Michael cursed under his breath, turning in embarrassment as he ran his hand through his dark waves.

Devyn's eyes were darting from Jason to Michael and back again. Jason narrowed his eyes at his charge before casting a glance at the distraught other teen.

"What the hell is going on here?" Jason demanded, his hands rising to his hips.

"Nothing, sir," Michael answered nervously, slipping his gaze over the smaller teen.

"Don't tell me nothing," Jason snapped, as he moved between Devyn and Michael carefully. "I think you need to calm down before you do something stupid."

Jason couldn't figure out what made him want to protect the kid all of a sudden, but he did. Devyn had seemed so small and dejected since coming home this morning that Jason couldn't help feeling a little protective when this bigger kid threatened him.

Michael suddenly looked horrified. "What?" he whipped around at the implication that he might have hurt Devyn. "I would never hurt--"

"Yeah, " Jason said snidely, "so accusing him of lying and slamming your hand into the wall like that wouldn't bother him."

"He is lying!" Michael looked almost desperate, and Jason wasn't sure exactly what was going on. He'd thought the kid was just angry, but there seemed to be more emotions playing across his face. "I know he--" Michael suddenly broke off.

Jason noticed his gaze was focused behind him, on Devyn.

"He what?" Jason frowned, casting a gaze over his shoulder to the blond. He barely caught the movement of Devyn's hands before the boy stilled, his fists clenched, when he noticed Jason had turned to him.

"Did you just--" Jason stared at the kid in shock. Did he just use sign language to Michael? He slowly registered that he had seen Devyn's hands moving before when Michael seemed to be threatening him. The young blond teen's eyes widened in fear.

Abruptly, Devyn took off running out of the barn.

"Devyn!"

"Dev!"

Both Michael and Jason yelled after him at the same time, and both turned to chase the kid down.

"You get the hell away from him," Jason grabbed Michael's arm, trying to stop him.

"No!" Michael wrenched his arm from the bodyguard's grasp.

"Devyn!" they heard Lyle shout from outside the barn as the kid darted down the trail into the woods.

Both Michael and Jason ran out of the barn in time to see Devyn's lithe little form disappear between the trees.

"I got him," Michael breathed, starting off after the smaller teen.

"No!" Jason tried to stop him again, not trusting that the bigger kid wouldn't hurt Devyn, especially if they were alone. "I won't let you hurt him!"

"I'm not going to!" Michael snapped back, starting off at a jog down the path.

Jason started after him, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him. He looked back in shock at Lyle.

"Let Michael get him," Lyle said calmly.

"But that kid could hurt Devyn," Jason said, "He was getting ready to hit Devyn there in the barn."

The bulky stable hand scoffed. "I seriously doubt that."

"You didn't see what I saw," Jason said.

"I'm not sure you really know what you saw."

Jason cocked his head at the bigger man. "What do you mean?"

Lyle just smiled and patted his shoulder, his hand lingering a bit. "Come on into the office. Have some water."

When Jason looked back down the path, debating going after the two teens, Lyle patted his shoulder. "Michael will bring him back soon, safe and sound. I promise. He probably ran to the lake."

"Are you sure?" Jason looked back at the man skeptically, who was entering the small crowded office.

"Yeah, trust me. Michael has no intention of hurting Devyn. In fact, my bet is that Devyn is the one who hurt Michael." Lyle reached in the small mini-fridge to grab a couple bottles of water.

Jason sighed as he settled back into the chair, admiring the view for a moment as the man bent over to the mini-fridge. "You better be right. Brad is going to have a fit when he hears about this."

He saw Lyle freeze before turning around slowly and placing the bottle of water on the desk in front of Jason. He carefully eyed Jason as he cracked open his own bottle. "Well, Brad doesn't really need to know everything, does he?"

"What?" Jason's snapped his head up from his appraisal of the man's attributes, surprised by his words.

Lyle took a long sip of water, watching Jason carefully. Jason felt like he was under a microscope the way the man was staring at him.

Lyle finally shrugged. "I'm just saying, maybe it's best not to bother Brad with every little thing. Devyn hasn't done anything wrong, right?"

"He just ran the fuck off into the woods," Jason grumbled.

Lyle put his bottle down carefully. "The kid just got scared, that's all."

"Scared of what? The only thing he could have been scared of was that other kid threatening him."

Lyle stared at Jason for a long time. "You. He's scared of you."

Jason scoffed. "The hell he is. The kid's given me nothing but shit since I got here."

Lyle shifted from his position leaning on the desk to prop one thigh up on it, giving Jason a nice view. His hands dropped between his legs, and for a second Jason couldn't focus. "Let me ask you this. Who do you owe your loyalty to?"

"What?"

"Who do you feel you owe something to? Brad or Devyn?"

Jason stared back at the man in confusion. "Brad, of course."

"Why?"

Jason narrowed his eyes. "None of your business," he growled, embarrassed that his friend had to bail him out financially.

Lyle smiled, leaning back. "Let me take a guess or two. Let's see, either he bailed you out of jail or something close to it like he did for Sam, Trent, and Chris, and even Kieran. Or he's helping you financially. And I mean, serious financial help, like he is for me and the Doc. I'm not real sure what his hold over Nelson is, but it's probably one of the two, or something like it."

Jason's jaw dropped at the astute perceptions the man had made.

Lyle shifted again, smiling as he knew that he'd hit the mark. "You see, we all owe Brad something." He shrugged. "Brad is paying for my mom's chemotherapy. We don't have insurance and the bills were burying us. Brad offered to help me. I owe him everything."

Jason sighed, realizing the man had just opened up to him. They were in the same sinking boat, and Brad had been the one to bail them out. "Me too. Business failed. He saved me from bankruptcy, and he's paying my dad's nursing home bills while I get back on my feet."

"See, he likes to have insurance to ensure our loyalty to him, and him alone. He only hires people who he knows well, people he can have control over," Lyle said simply. "Devyn knows that."

Jason frowned at Lyle, not sure if he liked what the man was saying.

Lyle saw his confusion. "Look, I won't pretend that I know much of what goes on up in that house, so I can't say for sure what exactly goes on up there. I'm out here pretty much all the time--and I prefer it that way."

Jason frowned, not sure what the man was talking about.

"I might not know what's going on, but I can see that Devyn is an angry, very sad kid."

Jason nodded. "Yeah, he is. For a mute, he has one hell of a mouth on him."

Lyle cleared his throat. "I guess my question would be is why."

"Huh?" Jason looked confused. "What do you mean why?"

"Why is the kid so angry and depressed?"

"He hates Brad's rules and control over him," Jason said simply. "He's never gotten over his mom's death, and Brad makes him stay in line."

Lyle nodded slowly before shrugging. "Maybe."

"What do you mean 'maybe'? Brad's just looking out for the kid, trying to raise him the best that he can after his parents were killed. Brad just hired me to keep the kid safe."

"Really?" Lyle said, crossing his arms. "Who are you keeping him safe from?"

Jason opened his mouth to respond, but couldn't think of a response.

"You aren't really his bodyguard. You're his prison guard. Fuck, for that matter, we all are. It's no wonder he hates us all."

Jason's eyes darkened as he thought of what that meant. "Bull shit!" Jason snapped defensively, unwilling to think of his friend that way. "It's for the kid's safety and everyone else's," Jason defended his friend and savior's motives in hiring him. "I saw the kid take a swing at Sam the first day I was here. Hell, he hit me too. And he's even attacked Brad with a knife! More than once, from what I understand!"

"Yeah," Lyle sighed. "I know, I heard about that. Brad told me he was a real terror the first year which is why he's so strict with him now."

"Exactly," Jason said. "So he has to have people he can trust so the kid doesn't get out of hand. He expects us all to help out to keep the kid out of trouble."

Lyle studied Jason for several long minutes as he finished his bottle of water. Then he seemed to make a decision as he nodded to himself, rising and tossing the bottle into the recycle bin.

"Just... just let this one go, alright?" Lyle asked softly.

Jason frowned at the handsome man, wondering what Lyle wasn't saying and why he'd clammed up so suddenly.

Slowly, Jason nodded. "Fine, but if he gives me any shit, he's not coming back out for a week."

"Great, another week of a grumpy teen," Lyle mumbled under his breath as he walked out the door.

"What?" Jason jumped up to follow him.

"Nothing," Lyle said, walking to the tack room.

"It's not like you have to deal with Devyn's attitude all day. I do," Jason snapped back.

Lyle rolled his eyes. "I wasn't talking about Devyn."

"Well, then who--" Jason stopped suddenly, when Lyle just turned and stared at him like he was stupid. "You mean Michael? Why has he been grumpy?"

Lyle just sighed heavily as he grabbed a bridle. Jason sucked in his breath as the man nearly pressed up again his chest, crowding him. "You really are an idiot. Guess that makes sense; Kieran took forever to figure it out too."

Lyle smirked when Jason held his breath at the man's closeness. Jason thought for a second that the man was going to lean in and kiss him.

But Lyle just smiled, brushing passed Jason. Jason breathed in the musky smell of the man, frozen in the spell the man had cast over him. It was several seconds before he broke free. Shit, what were they talking about again?

"Figure what out?" Jason finally asked as his big head finally took over from his little head. Lyle just kept silent as Jason watched the groundskeeper saunter over to Devyn's mare, Serenity.

"Come on, girl, let's get you out into the nice warm sunshine," Lyle cooed at the beautiful horse.

Lyle just cut a knowing smirk back at him, his grey eyes twinkling again. He raised his brows then glanced at the woods outside the barn.

Jason cut his eyes back toward the forest following Lyle's eyes, as something finally dawned on him. "Wait, wait," he muttered, "Are you saying there's something going on between Devyn and Michael?"

"Give the man a hand," Lyle mumbled as he fixed the bridle to lead the mare out of the stall.

"Devyn's gay?" Jason gaped, stunned.

Lyle narrowed his eyes, apparently unsure of Jason's tone and reaction. "You have a problem with that?"

Jason looked back at Lyle, his look one of shock. "Huh? No, of course not. I-- really?"

Lyle smiled slightly at Jason's dawning understanding. Jason's lopsided grin as he realized the kid was just like him apparently gave himself away to Lyle as well. Lyle stepped closer apparently now certain of which side of the fence that Jason stood on. He leaned in close to his ear, his breath tickling his hair.

"I take it you understand, then?" Lyle whispered.

Shit, Jason closed his eyes, trying to breathe, but Lyle stepped away suddenly, and Jason felt himself sway slightly. The man was grinning at him, and Jason narrowed his eyes at the man's flirting. Fucker.

"Michael is the only one here that Devyn can truly talk to, so I don't--"

"Wait, talk to?" Jason paused in another realization. "Devyn was using sign language," he breathed as he processed everything. "Devyn can talk. I mean, really talk, not just..."

"Yeah, he can, but he doesn't want anyone to know that he can."

"Why the hell not?"

"Brad prefers his silence," Lyle said.

"But--but Brad wanted him to learn to sign," Jason stated. "Devyn's the one that refused to learn."

Lyle frowned, "Who told you that?"

"B--" Jason stopped suddenly. "Brad did," he breathed.

Lyle rolled his eyes. "I taught Devyn to sign. It was something we did for fun, especially when it was rainy. He'd come out here almost every day if Kieran would let him. God knows Devyn doesn't have much else to entertain him."

"But that doesn't make any sense. Why wouldn't Brad want Devyn to learn to sign?" Jason ran his hand through his hair, having a hard time reconciling this information with what he knew about his friend, with what Brad had told him. "Brad's done everything he can to help that kid. Hiring tutors for every fucking subject, protecting him from the police when he kept slandering everyone--"

"And what would be the point in Brad having Devyn to learn to sign?" Lyle interrupted suddenly, again stepping into Jason's personal space.

And for a second, Jason found it hard to focus again as the man's musky scent washed over him. "Because he could then talk with him easier," Jason guessed, now unsure. "Right?"

"And you think Brad is going to take the time to learn to sign himself? Why? He doesn't need Devyn to be able to talk to control him."

"But..." But Jason couldn't think of a retort to that. Brad did like to keep control of people. And after the kid had been slandering him and his clients and tutors, why would he want the kid to be able to keep talking? But then why would Brad lie to him about that?

"Maybe things aren't always as they seem," Lyle said cryptically, leading the horse out of the barn.