Chapter 14

Jason was sitting on the sectional in the lounge area where he could still see into Devyn's room, in case the kid did wake up. He hadn't turned on the TV so that he could hear anything should the boy move at all. Of course, so far, the kid hadn't so much as rolled over. Once, Jason had felt paranoid enough by the kid's stillness that he actually checked the boy for a pulse. He felt slightly silly when he found one--like the doctor would overdose the kid, yeah, right.

He was mildly surprised when the doorbell rang close to seven. The sun was just setting over the mountains casting a rosy glow through the balcony windows and onto the foyer below.

He heard the door open, and Trent's surprised voice.

"Sheriff Marlin!" Trent's voice betrayed his shock at seeing the law enforcement officers at the door. He managed to regain control of his composure. "Deputy Watson," he greeted the men. "What can I do for you?"

Curious, Jason rose and walked to the railing, watching over the landing. Neither officer held a defensive stance, so Jason relaxed his shoulders, figuring that the men weren't here looking for trouble.

"Just needed to talk to Mr. Milburn," Sheriff Marlin said easily, a small smile on his face.

"I'll get him," Trent said casually. "Is there a problem?"

"No, problem," the deputy said, "just checking up on Devyn."

"Devyn?" Trent frowned. "Has he done something wrong?"

The sheriff seemed to give his fellow officer a piercing gaze for a minute. "No. Nothing like that."

"He hasn't made any more of those--"

Deputy Watson laughed. "No, I told Sheriff Marlin here about Devyn's past history. He wasn't here when all that was going on and the boy was causing his brother so much trouble."

The sheriff seemed to shift uncomfortably. "Yes, I understand the boy has a history."

"He's been pretty good lately," Trent defended.

"Yeah, we know," Deputy Watson stated.

"Could you please let Mr. Milburn know we are here?" Sheriff Marlin interrupted.

"Okay," Trent said, obviously curious about the officers' appearance, but it wasn't like the police hadn't come here before.

Jason straightened as he watched Trent head towards the study.

"I'm telling you, Kyle," the deputy was saying as soon as Trent was gone, "there's nothing going on here. Brad's a good guy, he would have reported it if--"

"Hello, officers," Brad breezed into the foyer. The man oozed calm and confidence. He reached to shake each man's hand with a firm grip. Jason saw Sam and Nelson hovering off to the side. "What can I do for you?"

Sheriff Kyle Marlin straightened, his hands resting on his belt casually. "We received a call earlier from a concerned citizen suggesting that Devyn Kennedy had been hurt, possibly assaulted."

Jason's eyes widened in shock, as did Brad's and everyone else's.

"Really?" Brad gasped in surprise. "I assure you that is not the case."

"Well, we are just checking up on him, seeing what might have happened," the sheriff stated.

"Of course, of course," Brad smiled easily. "Devyn apparently had an accident earlier. He told me he tripped over a rug and fell into the edge of the coffee table. Got some bad bruising on his ribs."

"I see," Sheriff Marlin nodded, casting a glance at his deputy to be sure he was taking notes. "And where did it happen? Here?"

"No, he was out; at his tutor's house."

"And that would be...?"

Brad smiled and shook his head. "I'm not sure right now which one it was. He has tutors everyday almost. I can look at his schedule and give the deputy here the information," Brad said, looking over at the younger officer with a sincere nod.

The deputy nodded back, making notes in his small notebook. "I'll be sure to get that information from you."

The sheriff cast his deputy a look that said 'and make sure you go ask them what happened'. Jason had to smile at the silent conversation that seemed to go on between the officers. The deputy smiled and nodded back.

"So it was just a misunderstanding," Deputy Watson concluded.

Brad smiled. "Of course. I'm sure anyone who saw the bruise would be concerned. It was pretty ugly. I'm surprised that Devyn even showed it to anyone," Brad said, and Jason couldn't miss the odd tone in his boss's voice, but was sure no one else noticed it. "Devyn actually didn't even tell me about it. His bodyguard had to tell me."

The sheriff's brow raised.

"I suspect that Devyn didn't want to tell anyone. You know how kids are, getting embarrassed over every little thing."

The deputy laughed. "Ain't that right."

Brad smiled pleasantly, his hands gesturing wide toward the door, "I'm so sorry that you both had to waste your time for something so silly."

"It's our job," Sheriff Marlin stated, planting his feet, even as his deputy moved to the door. "But, if you don't mind, I'd like to actually talk to Devyn."

"Oh, of course, of course, how silly of me," Brad laughed. "It's just that Devyn is sleeping right now. Dr. Hembry gave him some pain pills after he came by to check on him. The meds kinda knocked him out."

The sheriff's face seemed to lighten at the mention that Brad had sought medical attention for the kid.

"But you can check on him if you'd like," Brad offered, waving towards the stairs. "He's just upstairs."

Brad was rewarded with smiles from the officers at the gesture to see the kid for themselves. Jason could tell that while the deputy seemed inclined to just leave, the sheriff wasn't. The officers followed Brad up the stairs, where Jason was leaning against the rail near Devyn's door.

Brad grinned at Jason as he turned to the officers. "This is Jason Yates. He's Devyn's bodyguard."

Jason nodded politely at both men as they followed Brad into the stark room of the teen. Jason moved into the doorway behind the men. Devyn was still curled in on his side. Brad leaned over and gently brushed back loose strands of blond hair. He pressed a soft kiss to the kid's temple as he fondly stroked a soothing hand over the boy's head.

"Unfortunately, as you can see, he's still sleeping," Brad said, casting a soft look at the sleeping teen.

Jason almost frowned at the unusual display of affection.

"And you were with the kid when he fell?" Jason was startled to realize the voice of the sheriff was addressing him.

"Yeah," he said automatically, but then quickly amended. "Well, no not really."

The sheriff frowned at him.

"I wasn't actually in the room," Jason amended. "I usually leave and come back after the sessions are over."

"And Devyn didn't say anything then?"

"Nope," Jason said. "He moved a little stiffly, but didn't say anything."

"And you didn't think it odd?"

Jason bristled at the implication that he should have immediately known something was wrong. "What? That the kid didn't talk to me? You know the kid is mute, right? He's a teen. He hardly talks to anybody."

Brad and the deputy stifled a chuckle as the sheriff and him stared at each other. It was the sheriff who finally broke the staring match.

"But you heard him say that he just fell?"

"Yeah, into a coffee table," Jason said. "When Brad asked him what happened."

"I'll check back in tomorrow, boss," Officer Watson chirped up. "Just to get the kid's statement too."

The sheriff looked like he was going to say more, but finally the man cast one last look at the sleeping teen and nodded. "Thank you, gentlemen. Sorry to have disturbed your evening. I hope Devyn feels better soon."

Jason watched Brad and the deputy follow Sheriff Marlin back downstairs. Obviously, the man had decided that what he'd seen and heard had to be enough as there was little else he could do at the moment. Brad showed the officers to the door, carefully closing it behind them.

"Shit," he heard Brad breathe in the silence of the house as he stalked back toward the study. Sam and Nelson were standing there stiffly waiting for him.

"That was fucking close," Sam rumbled.

"It'll be fine," Brad said, tensely. "Watson will take care of it. Make sure it gets appropriately buried."

"Technically, this wasn't Devyn's fault," Nelson stated calmly.

Jason froze next to Devyn's doorway, unwilling to draw his boss's attention by moving to the railing.

"No, it's that damn kid I let work at the stables," Brad muttered. "Should have fucking known better."

Jason heard a door slam and then it was quiet.

He stared over the railing for a long time, staring at the empty space that his friend had been standing in just a few minutes ago. He could feel dread seeping into his heart as he tried to process what he'd heard.

"Fuck, Brad," he cursed under his breath, "what the hell is going on here?"

Jason found himself lying awake most of the night, images and parts of conversations playing over and over in his mind, trying to make any sense of what he'd heard and seen in the week since he'd been here. Earlier, he'd thought Brad was back into dealing drugs--Chris had implied as much when he'd asked. But he'd also said something about Devyn--about the deuce never winning against a full house. What the hell did the man mean by that?

As pieces of conversations with Lyle, and Chris and Trent started to surface again and began falling into place in an alarming pattern, holes were suddenly forming in things that Brad had told him; things that now didn't seem quite so clear-cut as Brad had once made him believe.

He tossed and turned all night, awaking once in a cold sweat when he'd imagined Sam hitting Devyn again--and not stopping. Suddenly, it didn't seem as much as self-defense or punishment as it had that first day. Fuck, it felt like abuse. And Brad was letting it happen.

The deuce. He jolted up. The deuce would never win against the full house, Chris had said. Devyn would never win against Brad. Brad had stacked the deck with those loyal to only him, but just how loyal were we talking? Loyal enough to ignore a kid getting physically abused, repeatedly?

Fuck! He'd ignored it the first day he was here. No, no, no, he shook his head as he rushed to the bathroom, vomiting up his last meal.

This couldn't be right. Brad wouldn't--

Would he?

As Jason splashed cold water on his face, it felt like he was waking up for the first time since he'd gotten here.

Jeez, he thought suddenly back to the Deputy's comments about Devyn. Could Devyn have been telling the truth the whole time years ago? And nobody ever did anything about it? Could something be going on now?

And he was letting it happen....