When Harry was young and still in school, he learned about the brown pelican. They were very fascinating creatures in the bird family. Everything from the way they would litter the beach to the amount of food their pouches could hold at a time. But to him, the most entertaining fact about them was how they hunted for that food. The way they would nose dive into the water was a work of art. There was so much beauty and grace in them rotating their body sideways and pulling their wings close to their bodies just before they plummeted into the water and came up with a fish in their beaks. And it all happened in a split second. So quickly.
However, at that time, he didn't realize that very bird and it's hunting tactics would be a direct metaphor for his life. With Zayn's kidnapper, the pelican, and then Zayn, the fish, it all seemed like he was reading his science book all over again. And he didn't like what it was saying.
He wasn't sure what he was expecting when he was keeping quiet and slowly collecting the ransom money. But he shouldn't have expected to get his husband back once that money was paid. When pelicans capture a fish, they don't throw it back in the water, do they? Of course not. They eat it. They swallow it and that very fish is no longer seen again. That's that what they were trying to do to Zayn. And yet, someone stopped him from going over there to prevent it. Why would Amos do that?
Not knowing the answer to that, Harry had spent the drive back to his hotel feeling so angry and upset. But when he got there and finally turned on his phone again to see all the missed calls and text messages, he burst into tears because he understood. The same people who missed Zayn missed him too.
What if Amos had let him go and something terrible happened to him, assuring he wouldn't ever return to his family? That would compound his family's grief. Not wanting that to happen, he knew he must wait for Amos to figure something out. However, the waiting only left him anxious. So he ordered wine through room service and he went to take a warm relaxing shower.
When he finished showering, it was after nine o'clock. So he fed Buddy a can of food and used one of the paper coffee cups to pour water for him since he didn't bring his water bowl. Just as he sat the cup down, there was a knock on his hotel door. He wasn't expecting anyone. So he carefully treaded to the door and peeked out the peephole. He was shocked to see Amos there. But he opened the door and saw him with two bags in his hands and his suit coat draped over his arm.
"Nice pajamas. Is that silk?"
"What are you doing here? That sign says do not disturb for a reason."
"I came by to see you. To make sure you were okay."
"And to make sure I'm still here?"
"No. To make sure you're okay. I knew you were still here. Plus you left your coat at the house."
He walked inside and Harry closed the door behind him.
"I hope you're hungry. I brought something to eat. It's taco bowls and freshly fried tortilla chips from the Mexican restaurant down the street."
"I already ordered room service."
"Oh. What did you order?"
"Wine."
"Is that it?"
"Yep."
But Amos shook his head. "No. You need some food. I know you haven't been eating like you should. And as long as you're hungry, you will always be miserable. And I'm trying to help keep that from happening as much."
"By running off my cat? Harry asked.
He looked around and didn't see Buddy anywhere. "Oh. I did?"
"Yes. He ran into the bathroom."
"Hmph. Well, I'll say that's minor compared to you pushing me into that chest earlier. Wouldn't you?"
Harry folded his arms and sat down on the bed. "Yeah... about that. I'm sorry."
"It's okay."
"But it isn't. I keep having to apologize to you. Even I'm getting tired of it."
"Well you don't have to apologize because I know you don't mean to hurt me. But there are a couple things you can do."
"What?"
"First you can eat."
"Also?"
"Also you can treat me since I can't do it myself."
"Treat you?"
"Yep."
He reached in the one of the bags, took something out and tossed it over to Harry. Harry caught it and looked at it.
"Rubbing alcohol?"
Amos tossed something else.
"Cotton balls?"
"And these." He held up a box.
"Bandage patches."
"Yep."
Harry sat the items down on the bed. "And why do you need these?"
"For my back."
"Excuse me?"
Amos came over to him and lifted his shirt and undershirt above his head. When he turned his back to Harry and sat down, Harry cringed.
"Ouch. That's a cut."
"Yeah."
"How did that happen?"
"When you pushed me into that chest in the house. And it's right at that spot that I can't reach. So you'll have to do it for me."
"And what are all the other little cuts I see?"
"Those are from when you pushed me into the Holly bushes yesterday. They were less painful, so I didn't worry too much about them. And I'm still not worried."
Harry gulped hard as he reached for the items and opened them. "I'm sorry. I knew I'd hurt you yesterday when you showed me the back of your arms. But I didn't know it was that bad on your back."
"I know."
"But I guess you got tired of it when you pushed me back."
Amos laughed. "Kind of. I mean... yeah, I was tired of you pushing me into things. But I stopped you like that mostly because I didn't want you to do anything stupid and get yourself killed. And also, being a former police officer and all, I'm very strong and in good shape and condition. If I pushed you around too much I could hurt you. Didn't want to do that."
He jumped when Harry began to dab his wound with cotton swabs and alcohol. "It was the first time I've ever been manhandled by a man. I didn't like it to be honest."
"Not even when Zayn does it?"
"Zayn doesn't do it. He never does. Zayn's gentle with me."
Amos smiled. "Ah."
"Does that burn?"
"A little. But it's fine."
Still, Harry blew on it for relief.
"You know your family doesn't hate you, right?"
He opened the package of bandages. "What do you mean?"
"You said earlier that everyone important to you hates you. But I know that's not true because they know you. I know I knew you years ago when you first hired me as your security consultant, when I saw you at the wedding and a few times at work when both kids were added to your family. But I never knew you or what you were like on a personal level. Now I do. You're not a bad guy at all."
"Yeah right. You of all people are saying that after we've just confirmed that I hurt you twice in two days."
"But not intentionally. If you weren't a decent man, there is no way you'd be treating me like this right now."
Harry paused for a moment and looked at his hands on Amos' brown skin. The way he was touching it and using his fingers with precision to get the bandage just right. He was so careful. This was just the way he would treat Zayn if he ever got hurt. His children too. "Don't say that."
"Don't say what?"
"That. It's weird enough that we're in a hotel room with you shirtless and sitting on the bed I'll be sleeping in tonight. Don't add to it by talking about me rubbing you down with alcohol. It both looks and feels wrong."
That was so funny to Amos that he laughed out loud. But he stopped and faced Harry when he realized he wasn't laughing with him. "Wait. You're serious?"
"Very."
He chuckled again. "Oh, come on. No one would ever be foolish enough to think you and I were... no. No way."
But Harry stood up and went to the bathroom, leaving the door open while he washed his hands. "You'd be surprised. And I wouldn't lie to you about that."
He frowned and stood up. "Wait... who thinks that?"
"I'm pretty sure everyone who confronted me today thinks that. They asked about you and why you spent the weekend at my place."
"What did you say?"
"Obviously I denied it. But that's all I really could do. I had no answer. What was I supposed to say? The truth?"
"Of course not."
"Exactly. So until we get Zayn back, we can't be one hundred percent honest and convince them otherwise."
Just then, someone knocked on the door.
"Room service!"
"I'm coming!"
Harry went to the door and opened it. In walked a lady rolling a table with a tray. On that tray were two big glasses of wine with paper coverings over them.
"Thank you. And that is for you."
He pointed to the table where money was lying with his company card underneath.
"Thank you sir. Enjoy your wine. And don't forget to call if you'd like someone to come back to collect the empty glasses."
"Yes ma'am. But I may just have them picked up when housekeeping comes tomorrow."
She left the room and closed the door behind her.
"Two Bordeaux glasses of wine and no food? You were really trying to relax, huh?"
"I was. Then you showed up. Now that lady probably thinks we're together too. So thank you very much for remaining shirtless by the way."
Amos folded his arms. "You're welcome."
"Would you like the second glass? It's Cabernet Sauvignon."
He shrugged. "Why not? We are sleeping together. And I brought dinner so obviously I'm quite a romantic."
Harry didn't want to laugh but he couldn't help it. "Alright I give up. You win."
Amos pulled his two shirts back over his head again. "See? I knew you had it in you to accept a joke about it."
"A smile to hide the tears." Harry said.
"That's why you're a better man than me."
As Harry poked through the bag of mexican food and pulled out plasticware, he thought about that response. Was he really a better man? He'd hurt Amos twice and yet he still kept coming back time after time and doing what he could for him. Amos truly was a special friend. And that was more than he could say that he was for him in return.
➡➡➡
The next day, Harry was awakened by knocking on his hotel door. He had still been sleeping but he got up and answered it anyway. He was confused when he saw Amos there with a black duffle bag over his shoulder.
"You do know there was an extra key on the dresser, right? You could've just taken it with you."
But then Louis also appeared in the doorway and he woke up just a little more.
"Louis?"
"Yep. I'm here. Clearly you weren't expecting anyone..."
"What time is it?"
"Eleven o'clock. And your do not disturb sign is still there. Were you still sleeping?"
"Yes. I was. I didn't intend to but it was the first night I actually slept all the way through like that."
"Hmm."
They came inside and Louis saw six empty glasses of wine on the table. "Well, I guess we know why you were knocked out for such a lengthy time. Six Bordeaux glasses of wine. You were fucking drunk."
"Not true. I only had three of those."
"So who had the other three then?"
Amos and Harry looked at each other but Amos' look was pointed and Harry scratched his head. "Alright. Maybe I did drink all six."
But Louis looked at the bed. "Or you were right the first time and you did only drink three while someone else drank the other three."
"Why do you say that?"
"Both sides of the bed are very unmade."
Harry scoffed. "Okay, Louis I'm not in the mood to have you critique my hotel room. Why are you here? Better yet, why are you both here together?"
"I don't know. I was asked to meet here by Amos. So I'm here. May I use the bathroom?"
"Sure. Go ahead."
When he went inside the bathroom and closed the door, Harry and Amos looked at each other but didn't say a word. But not saying anything at all actually said the most.
Obviously those six glasses of wine were split evenly between the two of them last night. And the other side of the bed was obviously Amos' for the night too. But if he started off explaining that they had dinner and a glass of wine together, then he'd also have to explain that they enjoyed the wine so much that they'd ordered a second and third glass to drink together. Then he'd have to add that they ended up sleeping in the same bed because Amos couldn't drive and that he woke up and left Harry asleep this morning, therefore pointing to the reason Harry answered the door talking about a room key on the dresser. And they just didn't want to do that. So it was better to leave things unsaid.
When Louis came back out, he looked suspiciously at them.
"Find what you were looking for?" Harry asked.
"What was I supposed to find?"
"Nothing." But it was obvious that Louis only asked to go to the bathroom because the door was closed and he suspected that whoever was sleeping beside him was in there.
"Alright, now that you're out, I can tell you both why I asked you to meet me here with Harry."
"Does it have something to do with the bag you brought?"
"Yep. It has everything to do with it. So have a seat next to Harry."
He did.
"Okay. First of all, I have to tell Louis about the latest news on Zayn."
"You're supposed to be getting him back soon. Right?"
"We thought that."
He was confused. "Why do you say it like that?"
"Because last night when we had our eight o'clock phonecall with Zayn's kidnappers, he changed his mind and said he wasn't going to give Zayn back. He said he was going to keep him as insurance."
"Oh my. Do we know if Zayn is okay?"
"We heard his voice and he didn't sound so good. He sounded slightly delirious. Obviously he doesn't know where he is and he has no idea what day it is. That could be a sign that he's malnourished and has probably endured the extreme heat and darkness for too long. But we can't let Zayn go through that too much longer. So we're going to get him back tonight."
Harry sat up anxiously. "We are?"
"We are."
Louis was awestruck."Wow. And you called me here? What do you think I can do?"
"You can be a great help. And I know you have three children. So in this plan, you won't be there firsthand where you can get into any danger or suffer any physical harm. Harry and I will be involved with the hands-on part of it."
"Then where will I be?"
"You will be across the street at the abandoned house where Harry and I did our stake out yesterday. You'll have to be there in case anything goes wrong. So you'll need to make sure you have your phone."
"Alright..."
"Don't worry. It'll be more understandable when I actually explain the plan in full detail. But first, let me introduce you to some of the supplies we'll need."
He unzipped the duffle bag and took out items one by one. First a bulletproof vest, then a pair of handcuffs along with the key and then a pair of bolt cutters.
"Whoa. That's extreme stuff."
"Yes it is. And I still had the vest and cuffs from my days on the force."
"So what are each of those for, then?" Harry asked.
"Well, the bolt cutters are for the lock on the shed where we believe Zayn is being kept. The key. Well, we don't know if Zayn is cuffed, taped or chained. You can use the bolt cutters for the latter but if he's cuffed you'll have a key for that. The cuffs are just for you to practice unlocking while you're here so you're not feeling overwhelmed when you get there and can't figure it out on your own."
"What about weapons?" Louis asked.
"No. No weapons. We just want to get Zayn and leave without anyone being harmed. That's it."
"But he has a gun."
"I know that. And I have a plan to get around that."
"Okay. Hold on. We think Zayn's in the shed that we saw in the photos and that very shed is towards the back of the house. You do realize we're going to have to get to it and retrieve Zayn all without being caught. Hard to see this ending well. And you must know that because you have a bulletproof vest."
"Listen to me. The bulletproof vest is apart of the plan and should be the least of your worries. And I know how to get to that shed. With a quick search online, I found out that house was up for sale eight years ago and was sold to a man named Ethan Gallaway. Pictures of the inside and outside are still up on the realtor site it was sold on and from the open windows, I could tell there was a clear view of the shed. The only way to ensure he or Kelly isn't anywhere near that window to spot you is to distract them. That's where I come in."
"You?" Harry asked.
"Yes. Me. But in order to do it successfully, we'll stake out the place until nighttime in the abandoned house across the street and wait until he's inside the house. That's how we'll know when to go."
"You're making it sound simple."
"Well... it is for someone like me who's done it before. But not for people like you who have no experience at all with a rescue operation. And I'm afraid it won't get any easier for you when I tell you the last thing we'll need for our plan. It's something very important and precious to you."
"No one in my family, Amos. That's a strict no."
"Of course not. No family member... At least... not anyone human."
Harry turned his head sideways and looked at him funny. That didn't make any sense whatsoever. It was something precious to him and it was apart of his family but wasn't human? What could that be? Then suddenly he saw something move underneath the chair in the room and he realized that Buddy had hidden under there when Amos and Louis came. That's when he also realized...
"You're talking about my cat."