Kane nodded. “Okay, so, we wait. Do we have IDs on the other two bodies?”
Kelly nodded. “The LAFD pulled licenses off two others besides Freddy’s. One was the afternoon bartender and the other seems to be a regular who comes in for Happy Hour on the weekends. The manager was outside the building in the back alley having a smoke and he ID’d them from their driver’s licenses.”
“Okay, so where do we go from here?” Kane asked.
“Why don’t you take your young man home?” Sarah Connor said. Sarah was the special agent in charge of the ATF’s LA office. She laid a hand on his forearm as she looked up into his face. “There’s nothing more you can do here. Devecchio and Galvez will stay and collect whatever bomb fragments they can from the fire department so we can start to reassemble it back at the office, but there’s no reason to keep him here any longer.” She looked past his shoulder at Luca who still sat in Thayne’s car.
“I really only called you to bring him down here to ID Freddy Lombardi’s license,” Kelly said.
Kane put his hands on his hips and nodded at Murphy. “Yeah, okay, he’s not handling it very well.” He looked over at Luca who had his head down and felt a twinge of pity for him. Surprisingly, he wasn’t even fazed when Sarah called Luca his young man. When a man started shouting from half a block away, Kane turned his attention to the police barricade. He was surprised to see Stephen Auerbach standing behind the police tape and waving both arms over his head.
“Who’s that?” Jarrett asked.
“That’s Stephen Auerbach,” Kane said, frowning deeply. “He’s Luca’s boss.”
“Why is he here?” Thayne asked, staring down the street where the older man waved his arms.
“Stephen Auerbach…” Sarah repeated, consulting a small notepad she’d produced from somewhere. “The LAPD called the owner of Marty’s to notify him of the explosion. He made good time. You know him?”
Kane turned to look at his boss. “Are you kidding? He’s the owner of Auerbach’s Jewelers, the store where Luca works. I thought you knew that.”
“Yeah, I mean that makes sense. I just didn’t realize he also owns this gay bar,” Sarah replied.
“Auerbach… Stephen Auerbach owns this bar?” Kane asked, looking back at the smoldering remnants of the building.
“The LAFD pulled the city license for the building so we could call the owners and get a roster of employees to try and figure out who would have been working here today,” Mike Williams said. “Cass and I will go talk to him.”
“I better go with you,” Kane said. “When Luca sees him, he’s gonna lose his mind. I wonder if he knows his boss owns this bar.”
“We’ll find out soon enough,” Cassidy said with a frown of his own.
“I’ll go with you guys. I’ve met Auerbach before,” Kelly said. She and the three men left the larger group and began walking down the block. As they passed by Thayne’s Mustang, Kane was relieved to note that Luca had his eyes closed and his head back against the headrest, seemingly oblivious to the presence of Stephen Auerbach.
“Mr. Auerbach,” Kelly said, greeting the older man.
“Detective Murphy, I’m glad to see you here,” Auerbach said. “I wasn’t sure how I was going to get to the bar.” He glanced at the female patrol officer who was guarding the yellow tape before glancing back at them. When his gaze landed on Kane, he looked the man up and down. “Detective Delancey?”
“Yes, that’s right. I’m Murphy’s partner.” Technically, Kane was still undercover but it felt weird saying that with all his ATF colleagues around. He turned quickly away from the stunning man and introduced Cassidy and Mike. Auerbach shook hands with all of them. Kane couldn’t get over how good-looking the guy was. After seeing Luca kiss the man from a distance, he’d really hoped Stephen Auerbach would look like a troll up close. Unfortunately, he was one of those men who never seemed to age and when they did, it was with grace and beauty.
Auerbach looked down the street before returning his gaze to Kane. “What happened at Marty’s? When the LAPD called, I was only told there was a fire.” He glanced around at all the fire and police vehicles that were parked on the street. One firehose still directed water onto the building they could see smoking from a half block away.
“So, you are the owner of Marty’s?” Kane asked.
Auerbach turned his light eyes toward Kane and nodded. “Yes, that’s right.”
“You’re the sole owner?” Kane asked.
“Yes, I am now. I bought it over thirty years ago with my partner but he’s been dead for many years.”
“I see,” Kane said, “Do you oversee the daily operations?”
“Oh, no. My manager does that. His name is Antonio Herrera.” Auerbach’s eyes widened. “Oh, my God, was he in the bar when it caught on fire?”
“No, sir, he’s fine.” Kelly pointed to Herrera who was giving a statement to an officer near the rest of their colleagues. “He was smoking a cigarette in the back alley when the bomb went off so he wasn’t injured. He’s a lucky man.”
Auerbach choked. “I’m sorry. Did you say a bomb went off in the club?” He frowned deeply and covered his mouth with a manicured hand as he looked past Kelly, craning his neck to see anything or anyone he knew. “Oh, my God!” His terrified gaze shot back to Kane. Is—was—is everyone okay? I mean…”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Auerbach. At least three people are dead and several others have been taken to local hospitals.”
Auerbach covered his face with both hands. When he finally looked up, his expression was miserable and he had tears in his eyes. He looked at Kelly and when he spoke, his words came out gravelly.
“Can I go talk to Antonio?”
“Sure,” she said, glancing at the other three law enforcement officers before reaching down and lifting the yellow tape for him to duck under.
Kane noticed how lithe and poised the man was when he walked away with Kelly. He glanced at Cassidy who was watching his expression. He realized he was still frowning and tried to school his features into a blank mask. He turned away, quickly following after the man. He had no idea what Cassidy might have seen in his expression, but the last thing he wanted to do was to come off as jealous of Auerbach especially when Luca spotted him. He now wished he had let Luca call that Uber after all.
Antonio looked up and burst into tears the moment he spotted Stephen Auerbach and Auerbach simply put out his arms, scooping the man up in them so that he could wail against his chest. As Kane walked up alongside the Mustang, Luca’s eyes fluttered open. Their gazes met and Luca reached up, rubbing at both red orbs. He sat up straight as he seemed to spot Auerbach and Kane watched him reach for the door handle. He had the overwhelming urge to grab him and hug him as he got out of the car, but he stopped where he was and watched as Luca raised his hand and waved, calling Auerbach by name.
“Stephen! What are you doing here?” Luca jogged over to where Auerbach stood with Mr. Herrera and when Auerbach saw him, he let go of his manager and grabbed Luca by both biceps, holding him out and looking him up and down with worry in his eyes.
“Luca! Are you okay?” Auerbach actually shook him as he looked into his eyes.
“Yes. I wasn’t in the bar. I came here with Detective Delancey.”
“Oh, thank God!” Auerbach said, hastily dragging Luca into an embrace. His hand on the back of Luca’s head as he held him against his body was very intimate and Kane had an intense desire to run over and yank the two men apart. Cassidy’s hand clamped down on his forearm, bringing him back to his senses. Kane turned to him as rage filled him. When he saw the pinched look on his friend’s face and the way he’d prepared to square off with Kane and keep him from running over there and ripping the man’s hands off Luca, he forced himself to take a deep breath.
“Don’t do it, my friend. You’ll regret it in front of all these people,” Cassidy said. “Talk to him privately if you must.”
“Do what?” Kane thundered.
“R
un over there and launch yourself at Auerbach. The look on your face is a dead giveaway and that’s a lawsuit waiting to happen,” Mike said. “Men with that kind of money have lawyers in their back pockets.”
“Not only that, you’d damage whatever relationship you have started with Luca,” Cassidy said. He smirked just a little. “I’m kind of happy to see it’s progressed this way, though.”
“Yeah, don’t fuck it up,” Mike said.
Kane relaxed and ducked his head as Cassidy dropped his hand. He felt so stupid and he shouldn’t have really been so surprised that they’d both figured him and Luca out. When he glanced up, he blew out a breath and nodded his head.
“Thanks. I would have made an idiot out of myself. I had no idea I was that transparent.” He stared at the Luca and his much older boss, still hugging and crying together.
Cassidy chuckled and Kane felt like a tool when his friend reached out and squeezed his shoulder.
“It’s okay. The man is gorgeous, Delancey. On top of that, he’s one of the sweetest men I’ve met. Don’t fuck it up.”
Delancey smirked at Ryan as he dropped his hand. “Yeah, thanks.”
“Ah, young love,” Mike teased as Cassidy chuckled.
“Oh, fuck you two,” Kane said. He looked back at Luca just as Luca suddenly let go of his boss and glanced around, stopping when he spotted Kane. He offered him a sad smile and then turned, saying something to Auerbach before turning and jogging over to where they were standing. When he reached out and took Kane’s hand, Kane felt an incredible thrill rush through him. Kane looked down at their joined hands and made no move to let go of Luca even though they were standing on a very public street. When he glanced back up, Luca was watching him with tired eyes. He looked like he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.
“How long are you gonna be? I think I need to go home, Kane. I don’t feel so good,” Luca said. It was already after six.
“Let’s go.” Kane said, quietly, leaning down to speak against Luca’s hair. He turned back to Cassidy and Mike. “I’m gonna take him home.”
“Yeah, okay,” Kelly said, answering for the other men as she walked up. “We just needed Luca to ID the driver’s license so you should get him home. I need to catch the captain up with what happened here.”
“If you’d do that, Murphy, Mike and I will get everything else we need from Auerbach,” Cassidy said.
“Thanks, guys,” Kane replied. “I appreciate it.”
Luca sent small smiles to all of them and hugged Kelly before shaking Mike and Cassidy’s hands. Kane slung an arm over Luca’s shoulder and turned him away from the group, walking down the street toward the police tape. Only then did he realize they’d have to call an Uber. He’d left the Charger at the police station that morning when he and Kelly had gone out to interview Luca. He suddenly spotted Thayne and Jarrett standing beside Thayne’s Mustang and he changed course, pulling Luca along with him as he walked over to them. The two men looked up when they walked over.
“What’s up, Delancey?” his coworkers asked.
“I need to get Luca home and it just occurred to me he hasn’t eaten. Are you guys headed out? We don’t have a car,” Kane said before looking down at Luca who just seemed devoid of all energy.
“Actually, we were just talkin’ about grabbing somethin’ to eat,” Jarrett drawled. “Sarah says she don’t need the whole gang here and it was our day off before we got the call.”
“Would the two of you like to grab some food with us?” Thayne asked, smiling at Luca.
Kane looked down at his young lover. “Is that okay with you or you wanna go home? I don’t care either way but you haven’t eaten at all today.”
Luca shrugged and the light in his eyes was too beautiful for words. “I guess I could go for a veggie burger or something.”
“There’s a good vegetarian restaurant nearby,” Thayne suggested.
“Oh, goodie… vegetarian again,” Jarrett grumbled. “I don’t understand why we can’t eat things that once had parents.”
Luca managed a pathetic chuckle but he smiled at the big white-haired former Marine. Kane knew if anyone could make Luca feel better, it was Jarrett and Thayne.
“That sounds great,” Luca said, glancing up at Kane. “I am starving. Maybe that’s why my stomach is rolling.”
Kane figured that wasn’t the main reason his stomach was rolling. It wasn’t every day a civilian like Luca just found out that one of his best friends blew up.
｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆
Luca climbed into the back of Thayne’s Mustang as Kane folded his long legs into the back beside him. When he reached over and took Luca’s hand in his own larger one, he looked up at him in surprise. Kane smiled and leaned close to him, whispering into his hair as he had in the street.
“You okay, baby?”
Luca shivered. Hearing the concern in Kane’s voice wasn’t terribly surprising but the public display of affection was beginning to freak Luca out a little bit. Kane had made such a 180, Luca felt like his head was spinning. It was weird. A day or so ago, the man had walked away from him in a club for fear of being found out by the girl he was with and now it seemed like he couldn’t stop touching him.
Not that Luca didn’t love the way it felt to have his hand in Kane’s. Just touching him in the back seat of the car was enough to ground him after the trauma of learning that Freddy had died. He felt safe and cared for. When he looked up into Kane’s eyes, he saw kindness there that had only shown itself on rare occasions. He’d seen it when he cooed to his ferrets and he’d seen it when he looked at his partner. He’d even seen it when he’d hugged Luca after he’d nearly been killed by a murderer. But noting how Kane’s gaze softened when he looked at him now, gave Luca butterflies.
“I’m fine. Hungry and tired, Kane,” Luca said, dropping his head on Kane’s shoulder. When Kane grunted and squeezed Luca’s hand, Luca couldn’t help but smile. He closed his eyes and then smiled when he felt Kane press a kiss to the top of his head. The gesture was surprising but it made him feel warm all over.
Thayne drove for about twenty minutes, taking a twisty road through the canyon over the hill which deposited them in the San Fernando Valley, not far from Kane’s place. When he pulled the Mustang into the parking lot of Veggie Grill, a vegetarian eatery that Luca had been to once before, he perked up. He’d loved their food but he was also excited by the shop that patrons of the bistro had to walk through to get to the front door of the restaurant.
As they piled out of the car, Jarrett Evans was grumbling. Luca watched the dynamic between the two men who’d told him they’d been married for about a year and a half. They clearly loved each other a lot but they were so different. It almost gave him hope for Kane and himself. He tried to wave away the thought the moment it popped into his head. It wouldn’t do him any good to hope for things that would probably never happen.
They walked into the store front and immediately Luca realized how busy the restaurant had to be. The shop was packed with people. Thayne and Jarrett excused themselves to put their names in with the restaurant hostess as Luca stopped at a rack in the store and picked up a ceramic tea strainer with holes. It was hand-painted and beautiful. He loved a good cup of tea now and then but he rarely strained his tea leaves. Kane stopped beside him just as he spotted a beautiful teacup with the signs of the zodiac on the matching saucer. He gasped and immediately put the strainer down before lifting the delicate red cup, turning it over in his hands to look closer at it as he glanced up at Kane. The man was frowning at him and Luca shrugged, holding up the cup and saucer to show him. Kane cocked his head and smirked at him.
“What have you found?”
“It’s a teacup… for tasseography,” Luca said.
Kane frowned. “Tasse… what?”
Luca smiled. “Tasseography… the art of reading tea leaves.”
Kane snorted. “Let me guess. You buy into all of that?”
Luca nodded
his head. “Of course I do. Don’t you?”
Kane grinned and Luca loved the dimples in his cheeks as his eyes sparkled.
“No, I don’t believe in any of that fortune telling stuff. I suppose you see a psychic too?”
Luca rolled his eyes dramatically. “Have you been listening? No, I don’t see a psychic anymore. Now, I see a tasseographer. It’s an ancient art, Delancey.” Luca suddenly brightened. “I’ll take you to meet Pimporn.”
“Who’s Pimporn?”
“Pimporn Vajiralongkorn. My tasseographer.”
Kane chuckled. “Now you’re just pulling my leg.”
“Pimporn is amazing,” Luca said, setting down the delicate china cup and grabbing Kane’s arm. “You won’t believe the things I’ve learned about life and about myself from the tea leaves.”
“Really?”
“You guys ready?” Thayne asked, walking over. “They’ve got a table for us.”
Luca gave one more longing glance at the delicate red cup and saucer before turning to follow Delancey and Thayne back to their hostess where Jarrett was waiting. Once they were seated in a quiet corner of the very busy restaurant, Luca enthusiastically opened the menu and began reading over it. He was so hungry for a split second he almost forgot why they hadn’t eaten anything today. He felt a stab of pain in his heart as he thought of Freddy and wondered again why anyone had chosen to blow up Marty’s. It was such a great bar and historic in that part of WeHo.
He tried not to think about the bartenders and the karaoke shows and the very first time he’d ever seen Kane in that setting. He’d been shocked to learn that Stephen owned the bar also. His boss had looked so sad when he’d gazed at the burning building which must have been very special to him at one time. His eyes had been haunted and Luca had been dying to ask Stephen about how he came to own the bar but it hadn’t been the time for such trivial questions. It was just too sad to think that it was all gone now. When he glanced over at Kane, he was frowning at the menu.
Play With Me Page 9
