Diell Breaker (LGBT- Sci-Fi - Romance)

Chapter 18

Chapter 18 

Sam Peterson moved quickly and silently through the small town heading purposefully for his fishing cabin. He shook his head in disbelief as he went. Who would have thought Rhys' space patrol lover would have been in the search party? What were the chances of that?  

A friend in the All Stars had been happy to supply him with information about Rhys for a small fee and had told him months ago that they had broken up. He remembered how sourly satisfied he had been when he heard Petrov had left the two-timing bastard, serve him right, he'd thought. Yet here he was, helping look for the scumsac. He was almost certain the patrol man wouldn't recognise him, after all they had never met in person before, but still ... it wasn't worth the risk. Time to leave the search party, fun as it had been to watch them all going round in circles. 

Rhys deserved to die he thought. He had led him on, told him he would always be there for him, brought Sam actually to the point of considering leaving his family and then he had betrayed him. Started a relationship with the patrol officer on the sly, pretending he was just a customer, that he was merely being sociable. Sociable, yeah, right, that was one word for it!  

Instead of being his soul mate, Rhys had turned out to be trash, a little jumped up rentboy that had dared to get close to Sam. He simply couldn't be allowed to get away with it. Sam found his fists had clenched unconsciously, his blood pressure rising dangerously as he relived his fury when he had found out the truth. He made himself take a couple of deep breaths to calm down, nearly there now. 

He was fairly certain Rhys would be dead by this point, after all he had stunned him pretty hard a couple of times but it would be best to make sure. 

XXX 

Petrov broke into a run, followed closely by Shehu. Their feet pounded through the outskirts of the small town, following the most direct route possible. A couple of small children stared after them in amazement, fingers in their mouths.  

They had to be in time, thought Petrov, fate couldn't be so cruel as to let Rhys die when they were so close. Once they were clear of the town and its inhabitants, Shehu pulled his stunner out of his utility belt, he wanted to be ready as soon as he saw Peterson. A small cabin, not quite completed yet, came into sight, nestled in the forest, a narrow path leading away presumably in the direction of the river. Shehu's map identified it as belonging to Peterson. They couldn't see anyone nearby, but perhaps their quarry was already inside. Petrov thought it was still possible that he was wrong in suspecting Peterson, but he didn't think he was. 

While Petrov slipped around the back, Shehu went openly up to the front door and called out in as bored a tone as he could manage, "Patrol here. Is anyone there? I'm looking for Rhys Owen." 

There was no sound from within the cabin. 

"I'm coming in, this is an official search, we're checking all the cabins." Shehu announced as he pushed open the door, his stunner held warily in front of him. 

A stunner blast just missed his left ear. "Go away! This is private property!" Peterson yelled from inside. Petrov went in through the window as Shehu flung back the door so that it banged against the wall, firing his weapon to the right. Peterson lay crumpled on the floor as Petrov scanned the tiny room for signs of Rhys. Had Peterson already killed him? He flung open the large crates stored against one wall, his heart in his mouth. Nothing but fishing gear and tools, thank you god. It was Shehu who saw the small trapdoor in the mud brick floor. 

In a flash, Petrov was on his knees, tugging at the ring embedded in the heavy wood. Were they still in time? "Rhys? Are you there?" he called. He thought he heard a faint cry as he hauled the trapdoor open. He peered down into blackness. A white face looked back up at him, squinting against the sudden light. 

"Alexei? Is that you?" 

Petrov jumped straight down into the hole and Rhys clung to him. "I knew you'd find me!"  

"Are you alright? Are you hurt?" Petrov was running his hands over him, reassuring himself that he was in one piece. 

"I'm fine, just a bit hungry and thirsty," Rhys was trying to smile. Suddenly he buried his face against Petrov's shoulder and wrapped his arms tightly around him. 

"I was so scared," he whispered, then burst into tears. 

Shehu looked down at the two young men, practically melded together, his heart turning to ice in his chest. He should have known it was too good to be true. He ran both hands over his face, wanting nothing more than to go away and be alone until he could face Petrov again with a magnanimous, 'I'm okay, it's no problem' smile, but he couldn't leave them trapped down there. He stepped back from the edge and looked around for a ladder or at least a rope, feeling every one of his forty one years.