D-Boy

by Edward Kendrick

“Then why was he on that road? And how did someone find out in time to get an assassin up there?”

  “Probably something we’ll never know, unless you get your memory back.”

  Derek shook his head. “I doubt that’ll happen. It’s been eight years since the…the accident. All I have remembered, other than that flash when we were coming back from the drug plant, are tiny bits and pieces from when I was a kid.”

  “Have you ever considered being hypnotized?”

  “I can’t be. The Company found that out during my initial training. They were as interested as I was in finding out who my parents were.” Derek smiled wryly. “Even though it looked like it was just an accident, and there was no proof otherwise, they still didn’t want to take a chance it was planned and have someone coming after me to finish the job if they found out I was still alive. I was old enough when it happened someone might have figured I could have remembered something.”

  “And probably would have,” Brad said, “if you hadn’t hit your head.”

  “Exactly. Now it’s too late. Whoever planned the hit is probably long gone.” Derek drummed his fingers on the arm of his chair. “Do you know exactly who he was turning state’s against?”

  Larson nodded. “Yes, but I’m not going to tell you. I don’t want you going off half-cocked trying to find and deal with them.”

  “Someone in the Scordato Family.”

  Larson looked at him in surprise. “How the hell do you know that?”

  “I have friends. One of them remembered hearing that my father was involved with them.”

  “You are under orders not to pursue that. Understood?”

  Derek clenched his hands, ignoring the slight hiss from Brad when he squeezed his fingers. “Understood. Sir.”

  “I mean it, Derek. What’s past is past. Even if you could find out who ordered the hit, as you said, it’s too late to do anything about it.”

  Without a word, Derek reached for the file on the desk. Brad glanced at Larson, who shrugged in reply. Skimming through it, Derek scowled when he saw certain words had been blacked out. Names, he realized, from what came before and after them. Standing, he thanked Larson for the file.

  Brad rose as well, following his very irate lover out of the office.

  “You’ve got one hell of a grip there,” Brad said, shaking his fingers when they were in the hallway.

  “Sorry. I was just so damned angry.”

  “Was?” Brad put his arm around Derek’s shoulders. “You still are, for whatever good it will do.”

  Derek took a deep breath, trying to calm down. “I guess I should be happy to know he was going to testify against the bastards, but damn it, Brad.”

  “I know,” Brad said gently as he pressed the elevator button.

  Derek thought back on what Larson had told him. “What did he mean, how and why my father managed the disappearance—if he did? Is he implying he had help?”

  “Possibly. Though if that was so, it had to be from someone he thought was a friend—someone inside the Scordato organization. It’s for damned sure the Feds wouldn’t have arranged for him to vanish like that—not before the trial when they already had the move planned out.”

  Derek nodded as they got into the elevator. They weren’t the only ones there, so he stayed quiet until they got off on the ground floor and left the building. By then, he’d done more thinking about what had happened.

  “Suppose it was a Fed. Suppose they were trying to pull a fast one on Scordato’s people by getting us out of there secretly before the real move.”

  “If that was the case, why send you off without any protection?”

  “Good point, I guess.” Derek tapped the file against his leg. “And if they did, it should be in here, and it’s not.”

  “Are there any names there?”

  “Blacked out, even the names of the people who wrote the reports. They really don’t want me to do anything.”

  “If you were in their place, would you want someone possibly going off half-cocked?”

  Derek turned to look at Brad with a bit of a smile. “You’re always the one to point out the obvious, and no, I wouldn’t.”

  “So let it drop. You know now that he wasn’t a bad as your aunt painted him or a good as you hoped before you talked to her. For whatever reason, he had a change of heart and decided to make things right to the best of his abilities. Personally, I doubt he was on the run. I think, if anything, he might have been threatened somehow and decided to take things into his own hands and get up here before anyone could try to stop him.”

  “And somehow, someone figured that out and…and what?”

  “A mountain road with no way off once you got on it? If they knew he’d taken it, all they had to do was set up the ambush. It was, from what you’ve said, the perfect spot for a car to go over the edge, be destroyed on impact, and not be found until much later, if at all. If Michael hadn’t found you and if you hadn’t talked to that sheriff—”

  “Who said it was finally found about a month after the accident. So yeah, the killer got lucky, and so did whoever sent him.”

  “What are you going to do now?”

  “A little research maybe, just for my own sake. Possibly talk to Charlie and Mel, since they’d heard about my father. See if they remember anything more.”

  Brad stepped in front of him, putting his hands on his shoulders. “And then drop it?”

  After a long moment, Derek nodded. “And then drop it. I promise.”

  “All right.”

  Derek chuckled, although it sounded more sad than amused. “If anyone’s still around, they’re probably old and gray by now, like Charlie. There wouldn’t be much satisfaction in dealing with them, even if they remembered who my father was.”

  “True enough.” Putting his arm back around Derek’s shoulders, Brad asked, “Are you hungry? We never did eat breakfast.”

  Derek realized he was actually starving. “Want to check out Mel’s place?”

  “You bet. Let’s go.”

  * * * *

  “So this is where you learned how to cook.” Brad looked around when they got inside City Diner. “Not as bad as I expected.”

  “Hey now,” Mel said, obviously having overheard him.

  Brad chuckled. “It’s a diner. I expected to see Flo clones with fluffy handkerchiefs pinned to their pockets, chewing gum while they took the orders.”

  “And me in a greasy white apron and a paper cook’s hat?”

  “Yep.”

  “Well, sorry to disappoint you.”

  “He’s just being an ass, Mel,” Derek told him with a laugh.

  “What brings the two of you by?”

  “Imminent starvation?”

  “Then have a seat.”

  Derek headed to the counter, where there were two vacant stools.

  “It’s on the house,” Mel said, handing them menus.

  “You don’t have to,” Derek protested.

  Mel grinned. “If I had to, I wouldn’t. I want to. Now figure out what you’re going to eat and give Alice your order.”

  “He’s kidding isn’t he?” Brad whispered. “Her name can’t really be Alice.”

  “According to her nametag, it is. Who’s Alice?”

  “It was a TV show a few years back about a diner and, eh…never mind, you’re too young to remember it.”

  Derek snorted. “Since I only remember the past eight years, that’s not saying much.”

  They ordered lunch then chatted with Mel whenever he was free while they ate. Just as they were about to leave, Mel told Derek to hold on. He went into his office, coming back with a flat box. “I figured you might want this back someday, if I ever saw you again,” he said, handing it to Derek.

  Opening the box, Derek smiled, showing the contents to Brad. “This was my first laptop. Mel gave it to me on my seventeenth birthday. Shocked the hell out of me when he did.”

  “I wonder if it still works,” Brad said.

  “If i
t does, I’ll teach you how to play Counter-Strike. Well, probably not. It’s so old I bet no one plays it anymore.” He patted the laptop then thanked Mel profusely for keeping it for him.

  “Stay in touch,” Mel said, when they got up to leave.

  “Always, now that I can,” Derek told him, giving him a quick hug. “I sort of think of you as my second dad. Always have actually.”

  Mel turned red in embarrassment at the idea. “Yeah, well I sorta think of you as my almost kid, so I guess we’re good.”

  “Yep, very good.” After picking up the laptop, he and Brad took off.

  * * * *

  Larson gave Brad and Derek a job the day after they visited the diner. It was, all things considered, right up their alley and fairly easy, other than taking a month to complete. Thus Derek’s plans to talk to Charlie had been put on hold.

  Once they were finished, the first thing Derek did was call Charlie—but only after spending some quality time with Brad, since they hadn’t had a chance to while they were working.

  “The joys of teaming up with someone you care about,” Brad had muttered more than once. “You get frustrated in ways that aren’t good when there’s no possible relief.” Derek had heartily agreed.

  But that problem was solved, and then some, the night they returned home, so it wasn’t until mid-morning of the next day that Derek had been able to get in touch with Charlie. His friend immediately invited them to stop by ASAP. “Because I’m damned bored.”

  Derek laughed and told him they’d see him in a couple of hours. When they got there, Charlie handed them each a beer and suggested they sit out back where it was cooler.

  “So what’s up, kid?” Charlie asked when they were settled on lawn chairs.

  “I can’t just visit to spend time with you?”

  “You can and you are, but I suspect there’s an ulterior motive.”

  “He knows you, D-Boy,” Brad said, chuckling.

  Derek shrugged. “Okay, so I did want to ask you something.”

  “About your father.”

  “Yes. I found out you were right about him. But he was going to turn state’s evidence just before he was killed.”

  “Killed? Not just died in the accident?”

  “Yes. The accident wasn’t an accident. I forgot to tell you that part the last time I was here. Someone was on the road ahead of us just as we went around a curve. He shot and that was that.”

  “Damn, kid. No wonder you want to know more. Not that I can help much. Like I said last time, there were stories that he was working for the Scordatos. Nothing earth shattering. Just one of their people. There was a rumor he did something special for Paulie Scordato that didn’t go over well with the old man, but you know how those things go. A bit of gossip takes on a life of its own.”

  “Do you remember what it was he was supposed to have done?”

  Charlie thought about it and shook his head. “There were always rumors around. It made a dull life a little more exciting listening to them, or—” he chuckled “—embroidering them and passing them on. People do love their mobsters, as long as it doesn’t affect them personally.”

  Brad nodded. “Sometimes even when it does, if they think they can help them get away with something.”

  “Which you both know for a fact. Damned good thing guys like you exist.” Charlie lifted his bottle and tapped it to Derek’s and Brad’s.

  After that, they spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and talking until Derek decided Charlie looked tired. There was no way he would have said that to him, so instead he ‘reminded’ Brad they had to meet his friend for supper. Brad backed him up on that and they left soon after.

  * * * *

  “Are you all right?” Brad asked with concern as they sat in his apartment later that evening.

  Knowing what Brad meant, Derek nodded and smiled a bit. “I don’t know all that much more than I did at the beginning, but it’s enough to make me believe my father had some good in him. I think Mom must have thought so too because she stayed with him, and they were going to have another kid.”

  “You know, that might have been what made him change his mind about things. When you were young, and this is just a guess, he was wrapped up in what he was doing. You grew up and he didn’t have to be as responsible for you, if you get what I mean. Then your mom gets pregnant and he suddenly realizes he’d going to be a father again and maybe figures he wants things to be better for all of you. Make sense?”

  “Yeah, it does. I wonder if I knew what he did, and if so, did I care?”

  “Short of my knocking you over the head hard enough to reverse the memory loss, you’ll never know.”

  Derek chuckled. “I’d rather pass on that, thanks. With my luck, I’d forget who you were instead.”

  “And then I’d have to start courting you all over again.”

  Derek cocked an eyebrow. “When did you the first time?”

  “Well…”

  “Yeah, exactly.”

  “Then I guess I’ll have to start now and the first thing will be taking you to bed to show you just how compatible we are.”

  “I think we’ve already established that. But if you want to be certain…”

  “Oh I do, D-Boy. I do indeed.”

  Chapter 14

  Denver, 2013

  “Do you ever think of retiring,” Derek said, looking over at Brad.

  “Often. Then I remember why I chose to join the Company in the first place.” Crossing the living room in the house they now owned, he sat down next to Derek. “Are you feeling burned out?” he asked with concern.

  “At times, yeah. It just never seems to end.” Derek smiled ruefully. “What happened to a world where people didn’t try to make someone else’s life miserable so they could be richer than, or more powerful than, their peers?”

  “Was the world ever like that?”

  Derek shrugged. “Probably not. It just gets…overwhelming at times.”

  “Then we take a break.”

  “I don’t think you can.”

  Brad chuckled. “Hey, I’m a boss now. I can do whatever I want.”

  “Yeah, right. You work more than I do. At least I get time off between jobs. You spend all your time setting up assignments, making certain they’re running smoothly, and stepping in to fix something if there’s a problem. Hell, we’re lucky if we get to be with each other for more than an hour or two nowadays. Well, other than sleeping, that is.”

  “That’s what’s really bothering you, isn’t it?”

  Derek nodded. “It shouldn’t. I mean, it should, since we’re partners, but after all this time, I should be used to it. And for damned sure I shouldn’t be laying all this on you.”

  “Why not? As you said, we’re partners.” Brad tapped his fingers on the back of the sofa. “Okay, I’m going to make a unilateral decision here. I’ll call Larson to let him know he has to cover for me for a week then you and I are going on vacation. Where have you always wanted to go?”

  “Somewhere where there’s no people?” Derek replied, grinning. Then he sobered. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

  “Very much so.” Brad patted Derek’s thigh. “One problem though.”

  “I knew it,” Derek muttered. “What?”

  “I don’t know of any deserted islands. But…”

  Derek watched him, wondering exactly where his mind was going.

  Finally Brad asked, “Do you get seasick?”

  “I have no clue. I’ve never been on a boat, except the ferry in New Orleans, which never bothered me.”

  “Good. How would you feel about our renting a boat? We could move around, get off if we saw somewhere interesting, and otherwise spend all our time by ourselves.”

  Derek broke into a wide smile. “That sounds fantastic.”

  “Great. I’ll set things up with Larson. Where do we want to start from?”

  “Good question.” Derek went over to the computer, looking for sites about boat rentals, while Br
ad looked over his shoulder. “Got it!” Derek opened one of the links.

  “A houseboat? Humm, I like that idea.”

  After much surfing, and even more discussion, they settled on where they wanted to go.

  * * * *

  “I could get used to this,” Derek said happily, leaning against the railing on their second day of vacation.

  They were on a thirty-four foot houseboat, moving slowly down the middle of the Erie Canal. The boat consisted of the stateroom, with a galley, a comfortable double bed, seating around a small table, and the head.

  “In seaman’s terms, the head means the bathroom,” Brad had said with a laugh when the man at the rental agency told them about the different boats that were available. Derek flipped him off in response.

  The bow had a sun canopy with sides that could be rolled down in case of bad weather. The helm, which was actually a tiller, was in the rear. It was as easy to drive as a car, they both discovered, and probably safer, since going very fast was not an option.

  “We could always buy a houseboat and keep it on Sloan’s Lake,” Brad replied in response to Derek’s comment.

  “Somehow I don’t think it would be the same.” Pushing off the railing, Derek came over, wrapping his arms around Brad from behind. “This is the most fun I’ve had in forever.”

  Brad turned in his arms, smiling at him. “And the most relaxed you’ve been in forever. I’d say it was well worth dragging you away from the city.”

  Derek chuckled. “I’m not sure you had to drag me.” He kissed him soundly. “It was a mutual decision.”

  Brad returned the kiss before warning him, “Lock coming up.”

  A few minutes later they’d gone up a level to the next section of the canal. It was beginning to get dark by then so Brad checked the map, saying they’d tie up along the walls at Henpeck Park. Once they had, they barbequed on deck then got off to lie beside the canal and watch the stars. That ended when they both decided they needed some personal, and much more privately achieved, recreation.

  * * * *

  Early the next morning, they were on their way again. Two tour boats passed them as they meandered along and they caught snippets of the guides’ lectures on the history of the canal. Other than those boats, they pretty much had the canal to themselves except for the occasional fishermen.