by Jerry Cole
“I’d rather you fucked me.”
Chapter Eight
To say Eric had a wild night was an understatement. Kyron had a higher sex drive than he expected, and he was a fast learner. He seemed to figure out what Eric’s buttons were, and he worked them many times. Eric felt like his head was spinning at the end of it.
By the time they made love one more time in Eric’s bed, both of them were covered in sweat and exhausted. After cleaning up, Eric had tugged Kyron under the covers and had held him as Kyron fell asleep. For once, he didn’t get restless, just started snoring softly.
At least they had found a way to stop Kyron having insomnia.
Eric drifted off to sleep, still cuddling Kyron around the waist. It had been a long time he had slept with someone else in his bed, and normally Eric found it difficult to share the space. This, however, felt almost natural. Even if Kyron’s snoring was getting louder.
When he opened his eyes again, his alarm was bleeping. Groaning, Eric rolled over and turned it off. There was no way he was going into work, not that Kyron would allow him after what happened. They had the day to themselves.
Once they had had a bit of fun rolling around in bed. Now Eric had had a taste of Kyron, he couldn’t get enough of him.
When Eric rolled back and reached out for Kyron, all he touched was the bed. Rubbing his eyes, Eric sat up and stared at Kyron’s side of the bed. How had he managed to get up with Eric draped all over him? Had he been that out of it?
There was the sound of the kettle boiling, the noise coming through the open door. Eric smiled. Kyron was taking charge of the kitchen again. Much like he had in the bedroom. They were going to have a bit of a power struggle over territory and who took charge.
Eric was looking forward to it.
Slipping out of bed, Eric used the bathroom and got dressed. He checked his hair in the mirror, aware that he had a hickey on his neck. Grinning, Eric left the bathroom and headed through into the kitchen.
Then he stopped short. A man he had never seen before was standing in the kitchen pouring out two cups of coffee. Tall, slim with blond hair touching his collar. Looked barely out of college. He looked up and gave Eric a nod.
“Morning. You want some coffee?”
“I…” Eric was glad he had come out dressed. “Who are you?”
“Special Agent Jack Walters.” Jack touched his forelock in a gesture of greeting. “I’m going to be keeping an eye on you today.”
“What about Kyron?”
“He needed to get some updates from Agent Sadique.” Jack pushed the cup across the counter. “He asked me to swap for now. Is there going to be a problem with that?”
That sounded almost like a challenge, Jack watching Eric with narrowed eyes. Eric wasn’t in the mood for an argument. His previous good spirits had rapidly deflated.
Kyron hadn’t gone because he needed an update. That could happen over the phone. Kyron had run away. After last night, when Eric thought their relationship had gone a step further, Kyron had made it go several steps back.
Eric had never taken Kyron to be a coward. He sighed and picked up his cup, taking a sip. At least Jack knew how to make decent coffee.
“No problem. I just wish he’d said something.”
“Kyron has a habit of keeping things to himself when he shouldn’t. Makes it hard trying to talk to him about anything that isn’t work.” Jack arched a knowing eyebrow. “But I guess you know that.”
Eric spluttered, almost spitting coffee across the counter.
“Excuse me?”
“He mentioned you two were old friends. High school or something?”
“Yes.” Eric cleared his throat. He needed to get a grip on himself. “He had a rough life as a kid, and he prefers to keep it private.”
“We all have our skeletons.” Jack grunted as he turned away. “Kyron seems to be struggling to keep the door closed at times.”
Eric knew the feeling. He had been hungry for breakfast—and a bit more of Kyron’s body—but now that was gone. Taking his coffee, he headed toward his office.
“I’m going to get some paperwork done. Bathroom’s down the hall and to the left. Make yourself at home with the TV.”
“Thanks. Just keep away from the windows.”
Eric didn’t answer as he went into the office, closing the door behind him. Then he pressed his head on the wood with a heavy sigh.
“Damn you, Kyron.”
Eric had been rejected many times before, by almost everyone. Kyron had been the only person who stuck with him. And now he was rejecting Eric as well. That hurt more than Eric expected.
The best thing he could do was to get on with some work, try and forget that he had been rejected yet again. A bitter taste in his mouth that wasn’t from the coffee, Eric sat down at his desk and opened up his emails. There were a lot, and it made him wince. He wanted to close it down again and simply ignore it. But you couldn’t ignore emails that had the priority mark on them.
Taking a deep breath, Eric began to go through the emails. Most of them were from agents asking if their clients’ songs had been looked at or finished. They could wait another day. If they had seen the news, they would understand Eric’s slow response. If they didn’t, they were dicks. Others were spam, and quite a few were from his family, offering condolences.
The one from his Uncle Jake made him smile. Jake called Adam a lot of colorful names, and a few were left for Richard. Then he wrote that if Eric wanted a break, he could head up to his ranch in Alabama and stay there as long as he needed, just to get away from it all.
Eric was tempted to do that right now. Get away from this, and away from Kyron. He had run away from Eric, so he shouldn’t be angry if Eric did the same. Eric needed a place to get his head on straight, and Jake’s ranch was the best choice. At least his uncle accepted him and was good company.
Why couldn’t he have been his dad?
Eric jumped when he heard the doorbell. It was so loud it made his head ring. He glanced at the clock. Almost eleven. Maybe Kyron was back. Eric jumped to his feet. If it was, they had a lot of words to exchange. Most of them wouldn’t be very complimentary on Eric’s part.
He headed out into the hall, only to find the front door open and nobody around. That had Eric slowing. Jack didn’t seem the type to randomly leave the door open, and he couldn’t hear any voices. What was he playing at?
“Jack? Who was it?”
He approached the door, expecting to see Jack and Kyron out on the front lawn talking. But there was no one there.
“Jack?”
There was some movement behind him. Eric turned, expecting to see Jack there. Then something hit him in the face, and pain exploded in his head.
Then everything went black.
***
Kyron knew slipping out of the house before Eric was awake and getting Jack to keep an eye on him was a cowardly thing to do, but he didn’t know what to say. Eric might see this as something more, something intense. And fuck, their lovemaking had been intense. Kyron couldn’t think of a better night he had experienced.
That was the problem. It was intense. Kyron wasn’t sure he could cope with it. A relationship wasn’t something he experienced on a regular basis; Kyron preferred to keep himself on his own. With Eric, he found himself wanting something different. Something more. And that was the scary part.
It was a relief to head into the Tallahassee police station to find Raquel, who had commandeered a conference room. She was at the whiteboard, scribbling with her usual illegible scrawl, when Kyron entered the room. She turned and gave him a scrutinizing look.
“You look like shit, Horton.”
“And good morning to you, too, Agent Sadique.” Kyron held up the takeout coffee. “I even brought you this as a present.”
“Good on you. The coffee here is shit.”
Raquel crossed the room and took the coffee, taking off the lid and slurping a long gulp. She closed her eyes and sighed.
&n
bsp; “That tastes fucking beautiful.”
“You wanted to update me on a few things, boss?”
“Oh, yes.” Raquel went to the table, indicating the two open files. “Sandy got back to us on McCormack and Manning. Both of them have been convicted for dealing drugs or running them multiple times as teenagers. They spent more time in juvie than they did in school. McCormack was busted in Baton Rouge and Manning up in Chicago.”
“Hmm.” Kyron barely glanced at the files to see that the rap sheet was incredibly long. “From the look of it, sounds like they’ve never stopped dealing, if Eric’s eyewitness account is anything to go by.”
“More than likely.” Raquel leaned on the table, taking another gulp of her hot coffee. “Dealing drugs is a lifestyle that is very difficult to get out of, especially when you know the monetary benefits that come with it.”
“I don’t know about that.” Kyron pulled out a chair and sat down, stretching out his legs. “I’ve never seen the fascination.”
“That’s because you’re not a dick. Much.”
“I didn’t come here to be insulted, Raquel.”
Raquel smirked.
“We also managed to track down one of their suppliers last night. It took a while for him to start talking, but once he did, he was singing like a bird.”
“Dare I ask what you guys did?”
“Nothing beyond the usual. Anyway, the guy told us a lot of interesting things, especially about Adam Schoenauer.”
“So, he was involved in the drugs?”
“Yep. Schoenauer found out about the business at a charity dinner when he walked in on McCormack and Manning giving drugs to a few of the guests. He said he would report them if they didn’t cut him in on it. McCormack initially refused, but then he was arrested for possession a few hours later.” Raquel shook his head, crossing her legs as she tapped her fingers on the table. “Then Schoenauer approached Manning and said he would do the same to him if they didn’t cut him in that night and split the profits three ways. Manning didn’t want to go back to jail—he was going back for life—so he said okay.”
The supplier had known a whole lot about all of this. People in the drugs business were very good at keeping their ears to the ground.
“And now Schoenauer owes them a lot of money,” Kyron commented.
“Close to twenty grand.”
“Twenty grand? How did he manage that?”
“Lost income, from what we were told. Schoenauer was getting some of the supply lines directed his way instead of to the regular customers. The new ones were more high-flyers and willing to pay more. McCormack and Manning wanted to stick with what they had, but Schoenauer overpowered them, so to speak. Soon, he was running the show.”
That sounded far too much like Schoenauer. He had to be in charge, or he made things incredibly difficult. Kyron rubbed at his eyes.
“Did he ever use any of the drugs himself?”
“Not from what anyone saw, but the supplier said he wouldn’t be surprised if Schoenauer did take drugs. He seemed like a man who would do anything with it.”
Kyron shuddered.
“This man is darker than I thought possible.”
“And we’re still no closer to who could have killed him.” Raquel huffed. She tugged at her ponytail. “Both McCormack and Manning have alibis and they are solid. You can’t get them where we want them to be.”
“But who does that leave?”
“Nobody.”
That was what Kyron was annoyed about. This could have been solved easily, but the jigsaw pieces weren’t fitting together. Kyron could feel his leg getting restless again, so he stood and began pacing.
“Who could it be? We’ve ruled everyone out.”
“Maybe it’s an outsider, someone completely random.”
“But that doesn’t make any sense. There was no sign of a break-in, and I know Schoenauer wouldn’t have allowed anyone he didn’t know into the house. Louise also said she didn’t hear anyone at the door.”
“Wait a minute.” Raquel sat up and stared at him. “You confirmed that with her?”
“Yes. In her initial statement at the hospital.”
Raquel was frowning. She put her coffee mug aside.
“That’s odd. Because when I spoke to her yesterday, she said that she heard the doorbell.”
“But…” Kyron racked his brains. He was sure Louise hadn’t said anything about someone at the door to signal their arrival. “She would have said something to me. Why would she tell us different things? Confusion? Shock forgetting a few details?”
“It’s possible.” Raquel was still frowning. She had picked up a pen and was twiddling it between her fingers. “Or maybe she’s got something to hide and she’s struggling to keep her story straight.”
“You think she’s somehow involved?”
“I’m not sure.” Raquel stood and went over to the board. “She may not be a family member by blood, but she classifies as family because she was dating Richard. And she was left alive, when she could easily have identified the killers.”
Kyron felt a chill run down his spine. That was making more sense than anything else. And he wished it wasn’t. From what Eric had said about Louise, she was a nice girl and a decent person. Raquel’s portrayal of her was saying something else.
“She came around to see Eric yesterday. Very touchy-feely with him, but nerves when I was about. I think she was expecting to find him alone.” Kyron made a face. “She even kissed him before she left.”
“I thought Eric was gay.”
“Do you think that’s going to stop anyone?”
Raquel tilted her head to the side, surveying him with a sly smile.
“Do I detect some jealousy there, Agent Horton?”
“No, of course not.”
Even as he spoke, Kyron could feel himself flushing. He looked away and pretended to be interested in Manning’s file. He couldn’t have Raquel finding out that he had broken the rules and slept with a witness the night before. That would most certainly have him off the team.
“I’ll get Louise Lakin in for another interview. With me.” Raquel took out the bobble from her hair and started tying it up again. “I have a feeling she’s going to see a guy as someone she can manipulate.”
“As if anyone could manipulate you,” Kyron grunted. “What do you want me to do?”
“Go back to guarding Eric Schoenauer.”
That was something. He wasn’t being told to go home. But Kyron had a feeling there was going to be a confrontation when he got back. Eric was going to be pissed off for his disappearance.
There was a tap at the door and one of the female uniforms put her head around the door.
“There’s a message for the FBI from a Mr. Gruber, lives next door to your witness?”
“Who?” Raquel asked, but Kyron held up a hand.
“He’s Eric’s neighbor. What did he want?”
“He’s on the phone right now, and he sounds worried. He started talking in German, and no one here speaks it.”
“I speak it.” Kyron gestured at the phone in their room. “Put him through.”
Chapter Nine
Eric felt sick. He wanted to puke, but he couldn’t move. His body seemed to be immobilized, and his head felt like it had been split open. He tried to open his eyes, but that just made the pounding in his head worse and his stomach rolled. He shut his eyes again with a groan.
“He’s awake,” someone said nearby, “He’s just choosing not to be.”
That voice. He knew it. It was one that Eric had not been expecting. Taking a deep breath, Eric managed to raise his head and opened his eyes. The light in the room was far too bright, and it was painful. But that disappeared when he saw Jenna sitting on one of the stools at the counter, eating some of Eric’s cookies. She looked like she was waiting for a date at lunch.
What the hell was she doing here? And why was he tied up? He looked down to see ropes wrapped around his chest, pinning him to the ch
air. His wrists were tied behind his back, threaded through the chair. Eric tried to tug at the bindings, but they just dug into his skin, the friction making him wince.
“Rise and shine, sleepyhead.” Eric froze as Louise stepped in front of him. “We can’t have you missing any of this.”
Eric’s head was hurting even more. What were these two doing in his house? He wasn’t even aware they even knew each other.
“Louise?” Eric tried tugging at his ropes again, but it didn’t help. “Jenna? What the fuck is going on? Why am I like this?”
Louise looked over at Jenna. It was then that Eric realized the two of them were wearing dark-colored clothes and black sneakers. Their hair was tied back, and Eric saw a pair of gloves lying on the counter.
“Oh, Eric, can’t you guess?” Louise giggled. “Come on, handsome. You’re a smart man. You figure it out.”
Eric had already figured it out. As he watched Louise with her satisfied smirk and Jenna giggling as she nibbled on the cookies, realization had hit him hard. His stomach clenched into such a tight knot it hurt.
“No.” He shook his head, flinching as it made the pounding worse. “No, you can’t. That’s not possible.”
“What’s not possible? I can’t be the one who killed your family?” Louise cocked a hip as she folded her arms. “Well, newsflash, Eric. Yes, I can.”
Jenna laughed.
“He thinks a girl couldn’t possibly overpower four people on her own.”
Louise and Jenna? They were in it together? Eric was struggling to figure out what was going on. How was this even possible?
“I... I don’t understand.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Eric.” Jenna rolled her eyes and pushed the plate of cookies away. “I thought you were smart. Clearly, you’re not all you claimed to be.”
“I…” Eric gritted his teeth as he felt the ropes rubbing against his now sore wrists. Where the fuck was Jack? “How do you know each other? You never said anything, Jenna.”
“Why would we?” Jenna flashed a grin at Louise. “No one was supposed to know. Not then, anyway.”
“Know what?”
