When Casey opened the front door, Sy greeted him with a smile. “Hey!” Casey pulled his friend into a hug before stepping out of the way to allow him inside the house. “Come on in.” As they took a seat in the living room, Casey inquired, “So, what’s going on? It sounded important on the phone when you called earlier.”

Before he had the chance to answer, Dexter came into the room from their bedroom. Sy smiled, stood, and embraced Dexter in a quick hug. “I’m surprised you’re home mid-afternoon on a Wednesday.”

Shrugging, he said, “I have a case that’s about to go to trial. It’s easier and quite a bit quieter getting things done here where everyone and their auntie’s dog isn’t knocking on my office door.” He smiled, but there was annoyance woven within it.

Sy chuckled, his anxiety about having to deliver this news increasing. “I can understand that well enough.” He looked between them before his expression showed his nervousness. “Well, maybe it’s a good thing you’re home, Dex. And hell, you might even already know, but just in case you didn’t, I wanted to tell you…”

“Sy, man, breathe,” Casey interrupted his babbling, his concern for his friend and the news he carried amping up. “What’s going on?”

Closing his eyes, Sy dove right in, purging the words from his throat with difficulty. “David Negal is dead.”

Casey tensed at the name, but his eyes widened as Sy’s words fully impacted his brain. “He is? When? How?”

“About ten years ago. He was found shot to death. No one knows who did it. The police believe it to be a professional hit. He was executed somewhere in the Arizona desert.” 

Dexter made sure to keep to the background during this conversation, giving him the time he needed to make sure his features were schooled; his face unreadable while his mind wandered back in time to a place that he had never shared with a single person.

The law firm’s employees had long since gone home. Even all the other attorneys that had stayed late for one thing or another had gone home. Low lights lit the halls and reception area, but all other lights, minus the one in his office, had been shut off. The building moaned and creaked lowly with the high winds raging outside. 

Nothing sat in front of him on his desk, no paperwork to read over that could keep his concentration even if he thought he might be able to concentrate on it. Sitting in the inside pocket of his suit jacket was a throw away cellular phone. It felt like it weighed a ton sitting there, silent for the moment.

He had told Casey that he was staying late to work on a case and not to wait up. While that wasn’t necessarily a lie, he was well aware that it was purposely misleading. Adrenaline shot through his veins like an intravenous drug when out of the silence the ring of the cell phone echoed throughout the large office. 

There was only one person that would be calling this number; for it was for only this singular purpose. “Yes?”

A male voice of a deep baritone spoke two words before the call was disconnected. “It’s done.”

Dexter snapped himself from his thoughts before either of the other men noticed he wasn’t paying attention. He took a deep, slow breath, careful not to attract Sy and Casey’s attention, and tuned back into the conversation at hand.

“He got what he deserved,” Casey said with venom in his voice. “Thank you for coming and telling me.” He smiled at his friend, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes. 

Sy nodded with a similar expression. “I knew that you’d want to know. And it’s something that I needed to tell you in person.”

Casey nodded and looked down at his folded hands. “You weren’t wrong. Would you be able to hang around for a bit? Or are you busy?”

“Not at all. I’d love to…if it won’t disturb you, Dex.”

Dexter shook his head and stood. “Nah, you’re fine.” He leaned down and kissed Casey’s temple. “You okay?”

Casey smiled at his husband. It was a smile that was only reserved for him. It was one that spoke of adoration and a deep seated love. “Yeah. You can go back to your stuff if you need to. Don’t worry about me.”

Dexter grinned softly as he leaned down once more, pressing his lips to the same spot he had a moment ago. “It’s my job to worry about you,” he whispered before standing and looking at Sy. “It was good seeing you, Sy.”

“As always, Dex. Good luck with your case.”

Neither man spoke for a moment after Dexter had gone back into his home office. When the silence was finally broken, Casey said, “I’m really glad that we had the chance to meet up again. To think that I almost stayed home that day…”

“Me, too. I missed you so much. There wasn’t a day that went by where I didn’t think of you.”

Nodding in agreement, Casey told him, “I can honestly say the same. You did a lot for me in that place. I never forgot that.” He paused before, “Thank you for telling me. Maybe now I can teach myself to stop looking for him in crowds. I believed him when he said he’d find us…that he would know if we ‘kept sinning’.”

Sy closed his eyes, his chest tightening. “I did, too.”

Casey reached out and took Sy’s hand, lacing their fingers together. “Sy, look at me.” When their eyes met, Casey saw the pain that was still so fresh within them. “He can’t hurt us anymore. Or ever again.”

Dexter could hear them talking from his office, which shared a wall with the living room, against which the couch they occupied sat. He was not working, a pen held in his hand where he was slowly clicking it. A triumphant smile stretched across his face at Casey’s words. 

“No. He can’t.”