The Hunt

by J. M. Dabney

  The traffic light ahead was about to turn red and I gunned the engine. I drove into the intersection and took a sharp right. Car horns and curses came through the open windows of my car, but it had served its purpose. Green was stuck at the light. What’s the worst that could happen? A traffic ticket. My glove box was filled with those.

  I didn’t want to take any more chances and started driving straight to where Andy was staying. I’d park, drop off Andy’s things, and then walk to the newest crime scene. Another twenty minutes passed before I reached the address Andy gave me.

  After some creative use of profanity, I found a parking space down the block. I hurried back to the entrance. I double checked the apartment number and made my way up. A couple arguing, their raised voices easily traveled through a door. A baby crying. Children’s laughter.

  I stopped in front of an apartment door and raised my hand, I knocked.

  “Andy, it’s Clancy.”

  I announced myself to put the young man at ease. I smiled as the door cracked open and Andy peeked through the crack. His dark hair covered one eye. I still couldn’t get over how pretty Andy was and inwardly jerked at the inappropriateness of my thoughts. I shouldn’t notice anything about the kid because I was only there to try to keep him safe.

  “Hi, Ray.” Andy backed up, opening the door as he went.

  “I think I got everything you asked for,” I said as I entered the apartment and handed over the bags.

  “Thank you.”

  Super soft fingertips grazed over my hand, and I tried to mask the moment I jerked back. The corners of Andy’s wide, full lips were pulled into a shy smile. I brought my attention to the space. It was a feminine place with all those homey touches that made a home a home. My house looked shabby in comparison. The last time I’d gone there I’d made mental notes to take care of dusting and laundry.

  “Nice place.”

  “Elise has been really nice about letting me stay. You brought my suits?”

  “I figured you’d have to go back to work at some point and wanted to make sure you didn’t have to go back to the apartment. Have you thought about what you’re going to do about a place to live?”

  “Elise said that I could stay with her as long as I wanted, but I’d love to have my own space. Would you like a cup of coffee? I just made a pot.”

  “That would be great.”

  I observed as Andy carefully hung the suits in a tiny closet off the living room, and then I followed him to the kitchen.

  “Did you find anything?”

  The question had a definite vocal shake in it, and I made myself take a seat at the small table instead of trying to comfort the young man. That wasn’t my responsibility. Yeah, I had a soft spot for the kid. He was in a shitty situation and he was scared, I didn’t even want to have something inappropriate happen. I had to remind myself that I needed to keep a professional distance.

  I removed my jacket and twisted to hang it on the back of my chair. I caught him staring at my gun.

  “Safety is on, it’s a tool of the trade.”

  “Do you have to use it a lot?”

  “No, not really; P.I.’s don’t really have the exciting lives that are portrayed on television. Sometimes I wish, just to break up the boredom a bit.”

  Andy darted a glance at me and gave another one of those sweet smiles. I needed to change the subject, get my thoughts away from Andy and onto the case.

  “Did Francis take any form of self-defense class?” Andy placed two mugs on the table, and I thanked him as I wrapped my hands around one of them.

  “Well, he had this crush on this guy at a gym and decided to take a class, but I don’t think it really went anywhere beyond a few classes.”

  Andy took a seat and I took in his clothes. It was the same outfit he’d worn when we’d met at Rudy’s. The clothing was clean but they’d seen better days, just like the clothes I’d packed up for him.

  “Was Francis a fighter? I found evidence of a struggle. When I was on the case, the killer typically attacked while the victims were sleeping.”

  “He wasn’t a fighter, but he wouldn’t back down. He got bullied a lot in high school and swore it wouldn’t happen again.”

  “Can you think back for me, did you notice anyone following you, or maybe Francis mentioned someone?”

  Andy slowly sipped at his coffee, and I waited for him to think it over.

  “Not really, no one following me, and the only thing Francis mentioned was some creepy guy trying to pick him up at Epiphany a month or so ago, but really, that’s not unheard of.”

  “Now, was there anything recently that bothered you?”

  “Well, I was at the store and I saw Gabin, he works at Augustine’s and is Augustine’s husband. He doesn’t live around here, but he was buying condoms. It was before the newest murder.”

  I dug out my notebook and made a note to speak with Gabin.

  “Does Gabin have a boyfriend that could work or live in the area?”

  “I wouldn’t think so, but Gabin found out Augustine was cheating, so, it could’ve been a revenge hookup.”

  “Possibly,” I muttered as I made more notes.

  “What are you writing down? You do that a lot.”

  “Just notes, one to check out Gabin and maybe ask him a few questions.”

  “People normally use smartphones or tablets to take notes.”

  “I’m a bit old school. I have boxes of these notebooks I’ve used over the years. Do you mind if I ask you some personal questions?”

  “That should be okay.” Andy seemed to get nervous and was using his thumbnail to pick at the printed logo of some diner on his mug.

  “Do you have an ex-boyfriend that might hold a grudge or a date that went wrong?”

  “I don’t date, work is demanding, and I don’t think I’ve had a boyfriend that would worry about killing someone or me. Do you think someone was after me?”

  “No, no, there’s no evidence of that, but we need to cover all the bases.”

  I spent the evening asking questions and Andy answering them. It got later, and I offered to buy dinner. We talked about things other than the killings, and I enjoyed the company the young man offered. Andy had a beautiful laugh and again, I was taken aback by my thoughts. I was failing at the professional distance, and I didn’t know how to stop it. If I didn’t keep my head in the game I was going to fuck up this case, and I wanted to catch this guy, get him off the streets, but more than that, I wanted to make sure Andy was safe. And those thoughts were starting to trouble me the most.

  9

  Andy

  Ray stayed until Elise returned from work. They talked for a while, Elise grilled him on whether or not we were safe. Around the time she asked Ray if she should get a gun permit, I realized she was beyond terrified, and I was the reason for her fear. Elise and I may have only been work buddies for a long time, but the second she let me into her home to keep me safe, she became more.

  With Chad’s murder and it being so close to where she lived, it was obviously weighing on her that the killer would find me and she’d be a casualty. I understood that paranoia; I was living it daily.

  “Ray?” I called after him as he walked down the corridor of Elise’s building. He stopped and a raised eyebrow, the only invitation I got to speak. “It’s not safe for Elise if I’m here.”

  He surveyed the hall before answering. “If the killer is after you, and that’s a possibility, anyone in your path will be in danger. I won’t sugar coat it up for you, Andy.”

  I feared that. “I don’t want to lose anyone else, I can’t,” I whispered almost to myself, but Ray heard. He stood a few inches in front of me, his hand gently touched my arm, and there was sympathy in his gaze.

  “Give me a few days, I’ll see about securing you a safe place, one close to work even.” Ray’s eyes flitted over my face. “This isn’t your fault and I’ll do everything I can to catch this son of a bitch and keep you safe.”

  I don�
��t know why I did it or what came over me, but without overthinking it I crashed my lips against Ray’s. For a moment I thought he’d push me away and tell me I was gross and stupid. But he didn’t.

  His hand that rested on my arm slid over my shoulder and stopped when he cupped my cheek. His lips were warm, rough, and when he returned my kiss it felt like I was breathing for the first time in days.

  It only lasted a moment and when I pulled away there wasn’t a look of disgust on Ray’s face like I thought there’d be, there was hunger in those eyes. Hunger for me and in that moment, I wished we were behind closed doors so I could see how far I could push the detective.

  “I have to go,” Ray said roughly. “I’ll call tomorrow, hopefully with a place that will be safe.” He cleared his throat and I watched as he walked quickly down the hallway.

  When he was out of sight I felt the loss, and in an instant, the fear was suffocating.

  Sleep didn’t come easy for me, but when it did I dreamt of Ray and all the things I wanted to do to him.

  One hour. I was gone for one hour after Elise left for work. All I needed was more deodorant, so I walked down to the department store I was at the day before. When I returned there were three police cars, and they wouldn’t let me enter the building.

  “What’s going on?” I asked a cop standing by the front.

  “Please step back.” He went to touch me, but I jumped back.

  “I’m staying here, I think I’m allowed to know why I can’t get inside.” The fact that Elise wasn’t there dampened my worry, but I was nervous nonetheless. I had a suspicion.

  “There was a break-in at one of the apartments, someone called it in, and that’s all I can tell you.”

  That was strange. Why would they close off the whole building for a break-in?

  I stood by the curb with a few of Elise’s neighbors. Every one of them confused as to why they were all asked to exit the building or not be allowed to enter. I took the time to text Ray and let him know the little information I had.

  “Andy?” I heard Elise’s voice and turned. She was in her server uniform, eyes frantically searching. “Andy, where are you?”

  “Elise,” I shouted just as a man exited the building. I recognized him from the three question interview he gave me the night of Francis’ murder. The Chief, I thought. Green. He was a typical looking chief. White, thinning hair, pale skin that was in serious need of a facial or something. His suit, while clearly expensive, didn’t fit the cheap man wearing it, it was very unflattering, or maybe it was the rather round beer belly he was sporting that made it all wrong. There was nothing welcoming about him. He left me with an uneasy feeling that turning away from him in favor of my friend was a welcome thing.

  “Oh, Andy, thank god. I got a call from the police saying someone broke into my apartment. I thought…” She burst into tears and with every ounce of courage I had, I wrapped her in my arms and whispered lies in her ear. I did this to her.

  “It’s okay, I’m fine, Elise. I wasn’t here, I needed pit stick.”

  Her chuckle was watery, but she stopped crying.

  “Ms. Summers, Elise Summers?” Green asked, now standing a foot from us.

  “Yes.” She faced him and held her hand out as he introduced himself.

  “I’m afraid you’re not going to be able to enter your apartment. Is there some place you can stay for the evening? I’m sure we will get it all wrapped up by morning.”

  I could tell she was thinking, and when her eyes locked with mine I knew she was worrying about what I’d do.

  “Don’t worry about me, El. I’ll call Ray, ask if he can help for a night.” She shook her head.

  “Yeah, I can stay with my sister. She’s an hour away, but it’ll be fine.”

  Green wasn’t paying any attention to Elise anymore, his main focus was on me.

  “Ray?” he asked, his pale face getting redder by the second. “Ray Clancy by any chance?”

  I nodded, unsure why that was making the large man look like he was about to go off like a tea kettle.

  “I know you, Allen something, you were a witness I spoke with briefly the other day.” He folded his arms over his chest and glared at me.

  “It’s Andy, Andrew Shay. I was staying with Elise.”

  His light blue eyes flickered to Elise and back to me. “You family?”

  “A friend. As a matter of fact, remember my roommate Francis was killed a few nights ago. The police told me to leave my place, so I was staying with Elise. Now you’re saying I can’t stay there anymore.” I could feel my own blood start to boil. “You all didn’t give a shit about my safety then, and I’m guessing this break-in has something to do with what happened to Francis. Are you all going to care about me now or am I still on my own?”

  At this point Elise had her arms wrapped around my waist, but she seemed just as furious as I was.

  “Mr. Shay. We have no proof that this is connected to—”

  “Bullshit.” The sound of Ray’s voice was like an entire army appearing to defend me. “Don’t treat him like he’s an idiot. You and I both know it’s connected. Keeping information from him will get him killed.”

  “I told you to stay off my case,” Green shouted, pointing a finger dangerously close to Ray’s face.

  “Maybe if you actually did your fucking job I wouldn’t have to be here right now.” Ray didn’t back down an inch from the larger man.

  “Please,” Elise’s voice was soft, pleading, “can you tell us something about the break-in?”

  Green narrowed his eyes once more at Ray, lowered his hand, and looked down at Elise.

  “Like I was saying, there’s no way of knowing if this is connected. I don’t go around assuming things.” He eyed Ray. “But I can tell you whoever did that was sending a message. Maybe to Ms. Summers, maybe to you, Mr. Shay.”

  “What message?” Ray asked.

  Green ignored Ray’s existence and spoke to Elise and me. “They vandalized the apartment and wrote on your wall. It said ‘He’s Mine.’ We have no idea what it means. Do you have a disgruntled ex, Ms. Summers?”

  ‘He’s Mine’? Who?

  “No. I haven’t dated in over a year and we parted on good terms.” She seemed confused, but I wasn’t and one look at Ray’s face told me he wasn’t either.

  “If you could follow me to the station, Ms. Summers, I’d like to get the ex’s information. Just to rule him out.” They started to walk away when she stopped and was about to speak to me.

  “I’m fine, El. I’m going to grab some stuff and I’ll be with Ray.” She nodded and went with Green.

  “With me?” Ray asked.

  Yeah, I had a feeling that was going to get his attention.

  “We both know that message was for me. I don’t know what it means, but I know I can’t endanger my friends and I don’t want to die. That means you’re going to have to keep me safe.”

  Ray smirked, and it was beyond sexy. I wanted to lick it away and plunder his mouth.

  “I’ll see about grabbing your stuff.” He tossed me his keys. “Wait for me in my car.”

  I was glad he didn’t fight me on it. I was tired of bouncing around, but I was more tired of being terrified all the time. Ray made me feel safe, and the fact he was a walking wet dream helped a lot, too.

  10

  Ray

  As soon as I’d gotten the text from Andy letting me know someone had broken into Elise’s apartment I was in my car and headed across the city. I’d seen this coming, but now everything was even more complicated by the kiss. It wasn’t like the thought hadn’t entered my mind. Yet I’d promised myself I would keep my distance. But Andy’s lips were soft and gave just right under mine. When he’d pulled away, I’d almost grabbed him to pull him back against me—just for one more kiss. If I was truthful with myself, I wanted more than a kiss, and I needed to figure out how to—what, forget about it, because that wasn’t happening.

  I’d been enough of a nuisance to get into
the apartment just to grab what I’d dropped off to Andy yesterday. It appeared my reputation got me at least a toe in the door. I didn’t know how much leverage I’d have when I started to dig deeper into the case.

  The interior of Elise’s trashed apartment spoke of rage and in my gut, I knew this had to do with more than just the killer wanting to make a threat. No, this was someone becoming unhinged. When Andy said he was staying with me, I didn’t have any other choice than my place.

  The ride to my house seemed to take forever since it was made in silence. The shabby exterior came into view. It wasn’t in the best neighborhood, but this was the place I grew up and when my mother died it came to me. Luckily, it was paid off. I’d hate to lose it. Unfortunately, my job wasn’t paying the bills for both the office and home.

  I drove into the garage and hit the opener causing the door to come down, sending the interior into darkness except for the light streaming through a single window over my dad’s old workbench.

  “Here we are; come on, I’ll get you settled.”

  Andy just nodded and I wondered if it was finally catching up with him. I grabbed the bags from the backseat, and we exited the garage into an overgrown backyard. It reminded me, yet again, I hadn’t kept up like I should have; my mom would be ashamed at what I’d let go.

  I unlocked the back door and stepped aside to let Andy go first. When I walked in behind him, I dropped the duffel bag on the floor and draped the suit bags over the back of a chair.

  “You live here by yourself?”

  I chuckled at Andy’s question, I swore there was more to it than wondering if I had a roommate. I removed my jacket and threw it onto the island.

  “Yeah, my dad died when I was in my teens, and my mother about five years ago. When she passed away, the house became mine.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “No need to apologize. My mother was miserable for a long time without my dad. She tried, but she was never the same.”