Divine Intervention (Eternal Flames Maddox Book 7) Page 2

  As he walked down Main Street, a large truck parked in front of the club caught his attention and Logan stopped to see what was going on. A few guys were climbing scaffolding and adjusting a large tarp hanging on the front of the building. He knew that Rhys was spending a fortune having the old club renovated and attached to the larger building connected to it, that used to be an old furniture store from what he heard. Now, not only would Maddox have the gay dance club where you could go for some fun or a hook-up, but the attached building was becoming a place where anyone could go for some fun, talk, and from what Logan heard―sports.

  Logan saw Rhys step out, along with his mates, Daytona and Ethan, who were each holding one of their little ones. The happy family moved to the corner to watch what was happening and Logan made his way across the street to join them.

  “Hey guys,” Logan called out in greeting as he approached.

  They all turned and greeted him with friendly smiles, as Day said, “Hey, Logan. After yesterday’s activities, I didn’t expect to see you up and around so soon.”

  “Yeah, I was up before the sun today and went out for a run. Speaking of being up, these little cuties look bright-eyed and bushy-tailed,” Logan said as he tickled Amelia’s toes.

  “Talk about getting up before the sun. These two think the day starts at four and that’s that, and we need to work around them,” Rhys said with a tired sigh.

  Ethan chuckled and wrapped an arm around his pixie mate’s shoulders. “Just think, baby, Day will be home tonight so it’s his turn to be up with them, and you and I get to have some uninterrupted sleep.”

  Rhys cuddled into Ethan’s embrace as a peaceful expression crossed his face. “Is it time yet?”

  Day laughed at his mate’s antics as he shook his head. “Can we have some lunch first?”

  “Sure, but then Ethan and I get to go have a nap,” Rhys replied. Day leaned over and kissed his mate on the head.

  “So what’s going on here?” Logan asked.

  Rhys straightened before answering, “The new sign is going up. The club is finally finished. With a few last-minute things to be done inside, it’ll be ready for the Grand Opening this weekend. You’re coming, right?”

  “Hell yeah. I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Logan replied.

  “That’s great. Jett will be happy you’re coming. He’s excited to have a night off, so he can hang out with you guys instead of just seeing you at work once in a while,” Day said.

  “Yeah, it’s been a long time since we’ve all been able to get together. So, I hear this place is supposed to be huge inside.”

  “Huge would be the operative word. Our mate’s genius has created a place for anyone's taste. Along with the original club next door, there are now five other clubs inside,” Ethan said proudly.

  “Five? Damn. What do you have in there?” Logan asked.

  “Seeing as we have such an eclectic group around here and not just us paranormals, the largest area is a country theme, for anyone who likes to get their cowboy boots on and do a little line dancing. Then we have a techno club for mixed couples, if that’s what floats your boat. As well as a sports bar, restaurant, and last, a sort of dinner show club. Certain nights we’ll do a showcase of Drag Queens, other nights, karaoke, maybe open mic night? We’ll see how it goes.”

  “That’s sounds awesome. I can’t wait to check it all out. Not for nothing, but I think I might be enjoying that sports bar. It’s been a long time since I just went to a bar, had a few beers, played some pool, and watched a game.”

  “Well then, it will be a perfect place for you. And the best part is, once inside, you never have to go outside to move among the clubs. They all have inside and outside access,” Rhys replied.

  “See, our baby is genius,” Day said and kissed the top of Rhys’s head again.

  “Hey, Mr. Abruzzo-Sutherlan, it’s ready when you are,” one of the men on the scaffolding yelled down.

  Everyone looked up and Rhys gave the guys a thumbs up. The two men pulled a tarp from over the sign and everyone oohed and aahed. The old “Male Den” was now “The Cage”.

  “The Cage? Great name,” Logan said.

  “Thanks, Day thought it was fitting with all the animals around here. Something like a tongue in cheek. I just thought it was cool because of the Go-Go cages in the original club, and the boxing ring seating in the sports bar,” Rhys replied with a giggle as he shrugged his shoulders.

  “Well, good luck with it. I have a feeling it’s going to be a big success. Now if we can only convince Twixie to either move to Maddox, or open another Twixie's here, I’ll be set and happy,” Logan said with a laugh.

  “We keep trying to convince him. We’ll see what happens,” Ethan replied.

  “Well, I’ll let you three get back to what you were doing. I want to hit the coffee shop for something to eat, then head over to the hospital to check on a patient.”

  “Everything okay?” Day asked, concerned.

  Logan waved it off. “Yeah, I just want to go check on that guy, Jensen, from yesterday. Make sure he’s doing okay.”

  “Oh shit, that’s right. Day told us Jensen was found in that abandoned house and got caught in the fire. Is he okay? My dad was really worried about him and was talking about going to check on him today, too,” Rhys replied.

  “He had some smoke inhalation but beyond that, he checked out. They’ll probably release him sometime today.”

  “Oh, that’s good. I wish he would take up Dad’s offer on a place to stay and a job. I feel so bad for him living out in the elements and it’s so dangerous for him to be in some of these abandoned buildings.”

  “Unfortunately, people can’t be forced to accept help. They have to get to the point they want to make a change,” Logan mumbled.

  “Sounds like you have some experience with this,” Ethan remarked.

  “A little. From my time back in P.A.”

  Just then Day’s phone rang and he fished it from his pocket. “Day.”

  After a few okays and yeses, Day said, “We’re on our way. We just need to pop back home to leave the babies with Aracas.” Day hung up and looked at his mates and Logan could see the stress in his look. “That was Dad, he wants us over at the council building. Says it’s important.”

  “Okay, I’ll just let the guys know we’re leaving and get the babies home. Logan, it was great seeing you. When you see Jensen, tell him I said hello and I’m glad he’s okay,” Rhys said.

  “I will. You all have a good day and I hope everything’s alright.”

  “Thanks, you too. We’ll see you this weekend for the opening,” Day replied before they turned to head back into the club.

  As Logan turned, he heard Day say something really odd about Illan wanting to see them because of the “Other” Day finally showing up, and his voice emphasized the word other. Strange, Logan thought, but what did he know? He had no idea about council shit and he was happy for it. He crossed the street and headed for the coffee shop.

  * * * *

  “What do you mean, he’s just gone?” Logan asked the nurse as they stood in the doorway to Jensen’s empty room.

  “As I said, Logan. The night nurse did her final rounds around six and everything was fine. Then she went out to give the day nurse updates on the patients and when the day nurse came in to do first rounds at seven, he was gone.”

  “Was he okay enough to leave today or was he still having issues?”

  The nurse gave him a sad smile as she put a hand on her hip and said, “Logan, you know I can’t give out information about a patient. Especially to a non-relative.”

  Logan smiled back and nodded. “I know. You're right, Marty. I’m sorry. I was just worried about the guy. He’s all alone and smoke inhalation is no joke. But thanks anyway.” Logan turned to leave, when he felt a small hand touch his arm. Logan turned back and met Marty’s gaze.

  “The only thing I can tell you is, personally, I would have to guess he was good to go,” she said giv
ing him a pointed look. “Especially when he left here on his own accord and managed to steal some clothes from the doctor’s lounge.”

  Logan smiled brightly as he nodded again. “Good to know. Thanks again, Marty. You have a good day.” Logan then turned and headed down the hallway.

  CHAPTER 3

  Jensen made his way across town, not happy that he had no shoes. That was the one thing he hadn’t been able to snatch from the doctor’s lounge back at the hospital. He shivered just thinking about it. Gods, he hated hospitals. They smelled funky and people were sick or injured there and were at their weakest. Vulnerable. Not a good place to be. Well, if you were sick or injured it was a great place to be to get help, but not a good place to be for protection against all the things that went bump in the night.

  And all the weird sounds that filled the mind with what was making them. Like that air blowing sound followed by a thunk that just repeated over and over. What the hell was that? Then the rolling, squeaking noise that sounded like some kind of metal monster. But the worst had to be the people themselves as some of them spent the night moaning, or crying out in pain, and it seemed no one would help them. Then just as suddenly as they had started crying out after spending what felt like hours screaming, they would just stop. Freaked him out and made him wonder who had finally made them settle, or what?

  No, hospitals weren’t for him. He knew he needed to be there because his chest hurt and the nurse said he had been caught in a fire and rescued by the wonderful firemen, then brought in to make sure he was okay from breathing in too much smoke, but it didn’t make him happy. Soon as he heard that cranky nurse who walked around all night talking to the other one, saying that he was good, and the doc would release him, he was out of there. Not that he wouldn’t have left anyway, even if he didn’t hear her. When he woke up and saw the sun coming up, he had just been ready to bolt when the nurse had come in, so Jensen had pretended to be asleep.

  Jensen pulled the warped old board off the doorway of the building and ducked inside, pulling the board back over the gap. Today looked like it may be a good day. There was no wind, the sky was clear, and it was a little warmer than normal for this time of year. Soon winter would be upon them and he would have to go deeper into the warehouse. This particular one was way outside of town and hadn’t even been checked out by the firemen or the new head of Maddox, Destrain, king of the fairies. So he was confident he had plenty of time to hole up here before he would need to find another location. He would have to do that soon anyway with the cooler weather coming, he knew it wouldn’t be good to be so close to the water.

  Damn, winter really was coming soon. That meant he needed to find more supplies. That’s why he went to that old house in the first place. He had passed there a couple of weeks back and looked around and had hit the jackpot. He knew he needed to get back there. The Millers, who had lived there before they left Maddox ten years ago, had left behind a shit ton of stuff in the attic. Clothes, bedding, an old mattress. Sure, everything was old, but it could still be used and wasn’t in that bad of shape.

  Unfortunately, by the time he had gone back, he walked in to find everything gone. His heart sunk in that moment realizing he had missed out on some good stuff for winter and would have to either scout out more, or deal with the little he had and hope it would keep him warm this winter.

  Just as he was about to leave, he had heard voices, so he hid in the shadows in a back corner, waiting to see if whoever it was would leave soon. No one had gone near the house in weeks, since the fire guys had come to check out the building like they were doing with all the structures in Maddox. And before that, no one had been near it since the Millers had left.

  As he sat there quietly listening, more voices joined the others and a lot of commotion began outside. Jensen had no idea what was happening and suddenly needed to relieve himself. He tried to hold it as best he could, but then he became desperate, so he moved to the far corner from his hiding spot to take care of his business. He may be homeless, but he wasn’t an animal. He didn’t do those things just anywhere. If those voices weren’t out there, he would have gone back down the stairs and used the old bathroom.

  As he was finishing, a loud noise came from downstairs and suddenly he smelled smoke. Jensen quickly moved away and ran back to the other corner when suddenly his foot slipped on something, causing him to stumble and he fell. The next thing he knew, he was lying flat in a bed in the hospital. He must have stupidly knocked himself out.

  Jensen made it to the room in the back that he was living in and lay down on the old mattress he had on the floor as he stared up at the ceiling, which was falling apart. More than half the tiles were missing, exposing the pipes. As he stared above him, an image of an angel crossed his mind.

  He didn’t remember much of what happened between that attic and the hospital, but for some reason he started seeing this beautiful man with wavy, shoulder length blonde hair, pretty blue eyes, and a friendly smile. And all he thought when he thought about this man was it must have been an angel.

  Jensen was still tired and in need of a few peaceful hours of sleep. The hospital was nowhere to get rest. With visions of his angel in his head, Jensen closed his eyes and let the exhaustion take him.

  * * * *

  “I thought we were going to grab the burgers and some nachos from the sports bar in The Cage?” Sut asked in confusion.

  Logan slowed down as he looked left then right. “We are, but first I want to see if we can find Jenson.”

  “Jenson?” Sut asked in confusion then drew in a breath, asking, “You mean that guy from the fire?”

  Nodding, Logan said, “Yeah. I’ve been trying to find him for almost a week, but it’s like he disappeared off the map.”

  “Can I ask why?” Sut asked curiously.

  “Because he left the hospital and no one has seen him. He had a lot of smoke inhalation, Sut. What if something went wrong? He could be in serious trouble or even dead for all we know.”

  “He isn’t dead,” Sut said looking out the side window.

  Logan sighed. “You can’t know that, Sut. The kid had no business taking off like that from the hospital. I just want to find him and make sure he’s alright.”

  Sut turned back to Logan. “He isn’t dead, Logan. At least he wasn’t when I saw him head to the docks area earlier today when Gage and I went out there for a run.”

  “You went to the docks for a run?” Logan asked turning towards the dock area.

  Shrugging, Sut replied, “Gage likes to go to the warehouses out there sometimes to let his drill monkey play. My silver fox likes all the tubes and play things in them, so I go with him once in a while. We went there before coming into work and like I said, I saw him going into one of the warehouses.”

  Logan turned into the docks area, asking, “Which one?”

  “Ah, Logan, let the kid be. Nick and Destrain have tried hundreds of times to get the guy into a house of his own and even get him a job in town. He refuses each time. Some guys just can’t be helped,” Sut replied sounding whiny.

  Logan sighed again. “I was thinking the same thing not long ago, but Sut, I can’t just let this go. He almost died and then left the hospital before actually being released. I’m not going to give him a hard time, I just really need to make sure he’s alright. Now, which warehouse did he go into?”

  Sut sat back in his seat hard, let out a deep breath, then pointed to the warehouse closest to the bay. “That one right there. The one with the wood over the door.”

  Logan looked at the run-down warehouse in disgust. How could someone live in such conditions and be okay? Putting the ambulance in park, Logan said, “Stay here, I’ll be right back.”

  Sut sat up straight. “Logan, what the hell are you doing? We need to grab dinner and get back to the station. Everyone is waiting to eat. And you know how much of a grumpy bear Nick can be when he’s hungry.”

  Logan normally would have laughed at that description of their fire chief. It
was true that Nick could get bitchy when he was hungry, but it was also true he was a grizzly bear shifter. However, today was not a day he could seem to muster a smile, let alone a laugh. Opening the door, Logan said, “Just stay here. I won’t be long.”

  Sighing heavily, Sut sat back in his seat, crossed his arms, muttering, “Fine.”

  Logan made his way to the wood covering the door and pulled it back. After ducking inside, he stood there looking around. He was surprised to see that it was cleaner than most of the abandoned buildings around Maddox. Logan didn’t see one cobweb, nor was there trash littering the floor. However, the smell of mildew was a bit overpowering to his shifter nose.

  Walking further into the building, Logan listened for any signs of movement. Hearing nothing, Logan made his way further into the building. Just as he was about to give up, a scent caught his attention. It was a light musk surrounded by a forest of ponderosa pine trees. Gods, whatever that smell was had Logan’s dick hard and lust-filled thoughts running through his mind.

  The sound of a groan had Logan bringing his attention back to the forefront of his mind. Quickly, Logan made his way towards the sound. The scent of musk and ponderosa pine practically permeated the air. Logan was finding it hard to think past the need building inside him. That’s when he noticed the small pool of blood on the floor. “What the fuck?”

  Bending, Logan touched the thick red liquid and couldn’t stop himself from touching the tip to his tongue. It didn’t take long to discover the source of the noise. Grabbing for his radio, Logan shouted, “Sut, grab our shit and get in here!”

  “On it!” Sut replied back.

  Logan rushed to the man laying on what looked like the world’s oldest, nastiest mattress. Who the hell knew what diseases the damn thing had on it? However, as shitty as the mattress was and as dirty as the man on it was, the luscious smell still overpowered it all. It didn’t take him long to figure shit out, but before he could grasp his mind around his new discovery, Sut came rushing into the room. “I didn’t know what you needed, but I brought some oxygen for the smoke issue and the medical bag for anything else.”