Evidently she was not going to give up. Feeling a bit exasperated, I told her. “It’s got nothing to do with this. Keith just likes to party. He wanted to be sure we all had a good time; that’s all.”
“And…?” She waited for clarification.
“He spiked my drink. I think it was just a half tab of Ecstasy, but I don’t do drugs, and I had already told him that. So I left with a friend.”
Swenson looked outraged. Her strong reaction startled me. “He drugged you? Damn, that son of a bitch. I should go arrest him right now.”
“It’s no big deal, okay? Just leave it alone.”
Nash looked thoughtful. “A statement from James here might be enough to get us a warrant to search Keith’s house for drugs. Who knows what else we would find?”
My mouth fell open. “What? No, no way! I’m not bringing charges against anyone. I’m telling you, no harm done. I just won’t see the bastard again.”
Swenson still looked angry. “That’s fine for you, but do you think you’re the only one he’s done this to?”
I thought of Lydia and wondered how she had first met Keith. Had she started doing coke before or after she had gotten together with him?
Before I could respond, Nash decided reluctantly, “Much as I would like to search his place, it would probably just spook him and anyone else associated with this operation. Let’s just wait and see how things go.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. Swenson still didn’t look happy, but I thought there was enough going on without adding drug charges to the mix.
In a very obvious attempt to change the subject, I picked up Rastin’s picture. “So you don’t even have a first name for this guy? How do you think he fits into this?”
“We’ve been watching a man named Carl Napier, a boss in the local organized crime syndicate. There have a been a string of clues going back years indicating Napier is involved in everything from drugs to gambling to extortion and money laundering, but never any concrete evidence. We do know that both Rastin and Martinez work for Napier.”
One thing still bothered me. “If Ethan Brooks is laundering money for Rastin or Napier or whoever, then why did he look so upset when they left his office? It seemed like they had been threatening him, though I can’t be sure of that.”
Nash answered me. “Our accountants are still trying to make sense of all the bits and pieces of data. But from what they have so far, they think that Brooks or someone in the office has been skimming from the money. Maybe Rastin and his boss found out about it.”
“That sounds like a pretty stupid thing to do.”
“True, but greed usually wins out over common sense.”
The sketch artist arrived, and I sat with her and described the blond man in detail. They would do a broader search through Interpol and other criminal databases, and if they found some possible matches, I would have to look at more pictures. They asked me if I was completely sure about the two I had identified, and I signed a paper to that effect.
Nash looked at me as I left. “Jamie. Just be careful, okay? We don’t have enough information yet to really know what’s going on, and no, I still don’t believe you’re in immediate danger, but…what I said before still stands. Don’t talk to anyone about this.”
* * *
Matt called and left a message for me that same evening, but it was late by the time I got home, and I didn’t return his call until the next day at lunchtime.
“Hey, Matt. I can’t wait to see you Friday night,” I said, hoping to quickly head off any questions about why I hadn’t answered the phone the previous night. “What do you want to do? We don’t have to stay out late. I know we’re going to the studio early Saturday, right?”
“Yes. How about I pick you up, we go to dinner, and then back to my place? Do you mind staying there? It will be easier to get to the studio.”
“Sounds fine.”
“I wanted to give you a heads-up too. My sister and her husband will be there. Their kid is really looking forward to seeing his Uncle Matt doing the demos. I want you to meet them. Is that all right?”
That was a big step. It seemed like we were moving kind of fast. But he had already met my grandmother, and I couldn’t very well say no. Then I couldn’t go at all on Saturday. And I did so want to see him. He waited quietly, giving me time to think.
“Sure. I would love to meet them.”
“I know I’m springing this on you at the last minute. I’m sorry. I just found out they were planning to come.”
“It’s okay. I was ready to meet your friends anyway. It will be fine.”
After a moment’s silence, he said, “You sound tired.” Another pause. “You don’t want to tell me where you were last night, do you?” He sounded carefully expressionless. I didn’t know how to answer for a second. He got the wrong impression from my silence. His voice was low. “You… Were you out with someone else?”
“What? No, you know I don’t go out on weeknights.” I winced. That hadn’t come out right at all. “Listen, it’s just some trouble at work. I can’t really go into it, but I promise you, it’s nothing to do with you or with us.”
“Okay. You know I’m here if you ever want to talk, right?”
“Sure.” I wanted to tell him everything. I knew the longer I kept the secret, the more likely he would misinterpret my silence as something to do with him, and it would drive a wedge between us. It surprised me how badly I didn’t want that to happen.
Chapter Nine
Friday night came around. I put on my nice going-out-to-dinner clothes, not my going-clubbing clothes. That felt kind of strange. I sat on the bed and thought about my usual Friday nights, my usual weekends. No matter what Matt did or how he tried to accommodate me, I knew that everything would change if I kept seeing him. I had packed for two days automatically, and then realized I had assumed I’d be at his place the whole weekend. It was a scary thought, no doubt, but so was the thought of not seeing him again. I would just have to do laundry on a weeknight.
I answered the door and started to say hello, but he took one look, pushed me inside, and kicked the door shut with his foot. I was shoved against the wall and kissed very thoroughly. When he finally let go of my mouth, I managed to gasp, “Well, hello, Matthew. I missed you too.”
“You look so hot. I love this shirt.” He ran his hand up the silk dress shirt I had put on for the occasion. I knew he would notice that the green matched the color of my eyes. “I missed you so much.” He kissed me again. “I made reservations—otherwise I’d be ripping that shirt right off of you. Or maybe we would leave it on and just take everything else off.”
He looked great in narrow black pants not too different from my own, and a deep red dress shirt. “You look hot too. I love this shade of red on you.”
We went to dinner at a nice Italian restaurant near his place. I had several glasses of wine, getting just a bit drunk. It was still Friday night, even if I wasn’t going clubbing. I pointed this out with great emphasis to Matt as he helped me up the stairs and into his place after dinner. Just because he wasn’t drinking due to his busy day tomorrow didn’t mean I had to abstain. When he stopped chuckling he said that he completely agreed but also pointed out that I would need to get up early to go with him.
“It was only a little wine. I’ll be fine. Just enough to take the edge off a truly crappy week.”
Matt sat next to me on the couch and put his arm around me. “Still can’t tell me what’s wrong?”
His body so close to mine felt warm and comfortable. I laid my head on his shoulder and thought about being unemployed. I realized there were things even worse than that. What if they called me to be a federal witness? Oh my God… What if I had to go into the witness protection program? Isn’t that what happened to people who testified against the mob? I’d really lose everything. I pressed my face into his shoulder and started to shake.
“Jamie? Jamie! What is it?” He tried to push me back so he could see my face, but I resisted
. Rather than fight me, he gave in and just held me. “What can I do? Please, just tell me what I can do.”
After a moment I sat back and scrubbed at my face with my hands. “Sorry,” I muttered. “Stupid wine, making me all sloppy. Sorry.”
I got up and went to the bathroom to throw water on my face and just have a minute to get myself together. I knew he hovered anxiously outside the door. I didn’t know what to say, but I didn’t think I could lie to him.
I came out and found he wasn’t actually hovering; he was still sitting on the couch. “Sorry about that. I want to tell you—I really do—but I just can’t. Not right now.”
“All right,” he said slowly. “Then promise that if you think of anything I can do to help, you’ll tell me, okay?”
“I will, I promise.” I kissed him. Even with both of us upset, I did so enjoy kissing him, every chance I got. “It’s late. Can we go to bed now? I’m tired, and you need your rest for tomorrow.”
I put on a pair of his sweatpants to wear to bed. Not that I really needed to—I had my own stuff. I just liked wearing his clothes. He seemed to like it too, because he smiled and didn’t say anything when I went straight to his dresser drawer and pulled them out.
I left off the T-shirt, though, because I wanted to feel some skin. He did the same, and we settled under the covers, spooning, my back to his chest and his arm over me. I let out a long, silent breath, feeling the tension drain away. He seemed to know I just wanted to lie there for a while, and he didn’t let his hands wander.
“Matt?”
“Hmm?”
“How do you always know what I need? You’re like a damn mind reader or something. Is it because of your police training, you’re supernaturally observant now?”
“I hate to tell you this, but you’re really not that hard to figure out. You don’t hold anything back. It’s all there on your face and in the way you move. Your whole body is so expressive. I just adore that about you.”
“Oh.” I thought about that for a minute. “Guess I won’t be going to Vegas anytime soon.”
He chuckled against my neck. “Stick to the slots, babe. Don’t go within a thousand feet of a poker game.”
We drifted off, and I slept better than I had all week.
I came fuzzily half-awake in the very early morning hours to the feel of a warm hand fondling me. I moaned and pushed into it. We were still spooned, and Matt had his hand inside the front of my sweatpants, stroking and rubbing. His hard-on pressed against my butt. It felt so good, I didn’t want to move. I just let that hand fondle my balls, rub the head, and play with me.
Gradually, I started thrusting, wanting more, and he tightened his grip. With his other hand, he pushed my sweats down just to my thighs and did the same with his, never letting go of me. He settled back on his side, his erection sliding in the crack between my butt cheeks, and started kissing and licking the back of my neck.
I relaxed, closing my eyes again, and let him have the control he seemed to want. Wrapped in his strong arms, I felt an unanticipated sense of security. But even as I reveled in that remarkable feeling, I couldn’t help wondering somewhere in the back of my mind if it could possibly last. Resolutely I pushed away those doubts, determined to enjoy what I had while I had it.
His thumb stroked my slit gently, gathering up the small drops of precum already leaking from the head. Using them as lubricant, he started a long, slow motion, pulling up and then stroking downward on my shaft with his tight grip,
His breath warmed the nape of my neck as he nuzzled close and planted more little kisses all the way down to my shoulder blades. That seemed to be as far as he could reach without losing the connection between his cock and the crease of my ass, and I knew he didn’t intend to give that up.
Muted traffic noise from the streets below served as a backdrop to the shared sounds of soft sighs and quiet moans. He began moving with more force, his large, swollen tip touching my sac in a constant quick rhythm as he humped against me. My heart raced in response as my own cock swelled in his hand, and an electric tingling sensation started deep in my balls. That tingle raced right up my shaft and to the tip, wringing another light whimper from me.
Then I felt his shaft swell between my legs, and his rough grip grew even tighter as he jerked me off in time to his thrusting hips. His breath came faster, synchronized with my own sharp panting. I shivered as his warm mouth pressed against my nape again, the teeth scraping in little bites.
He pressed his mouth hard against me as if to muffle his own cries, and then his teeth clamped down on my skin. His fist clenched and stilled around my shaft one last time as he stiffened and let out a loud groan. The flood of wet heat shot along my crack and coated my balls. The sensation pushed me right over the edge, and I spurted out my own pleasure in a series of intense spasms as the long, shuddering orgasm racked my whole body.
Already drifting off again, I stirred when he started to get up, but he kissed me on the shoulder and whispered, “I’m just going to get us a wet towel, love. You don’t have to get up yet. Go back to sleep. I’ll wake you when it’s time.”
Barely awake when he returned, I felt him wipe me off and pull my sweats back up with a little pat on my ass. But I was still aware enough to wonder what it meant, him calling me “love.”
Matt woke me a few hours later. After showering, I dressed in jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt and then sat down to coffee and bagels. I said, “You wouldn’t believe the wet dream I had last night.”
Smiling, he looked a little smug. “Is that right? Was it a good one?”
“It sure was. I was back in the club, and there were these three guys in the alley, all jerking me off and humping me. It was great. Too bad you weren’t in the dream at all.”
He laughed and threw a bagel at me. Fortunately, it didn’t have any cream cheese on it.
The karate studio took up most of the bottom floor of a building not far from Union Square. Matt’s family had lived nearby for many years, but when his parents retired, they sold their place and moved out to Brooklyn to live near Gina and her family.
We entered a spacious lobby filled with small booths and tables selling food and drinks. Shelves held items such as T-shirts and water bottles for sale, and colorful posters decorated the walls. We went farther into the building and entered a large mirrored practice room. Matt said, “This is the main practice room, where I’ll be most of the day.”
He introduced me to his friend Susie, a cute young girl with heart tattoos circling her forearms and short spiky hair. A brown belt wrapped the slim waist of her white gi. Between the belt and the piercings through her nose and left eyebrow, I thought perhaps it had been unnecessary for Matt to take on the assignment of chaperone that night at the club during her birthday celebration. She certainly gave the impression that she could take care of herself.
She had started to set up the raffle ticket table but stopped to grin at me. “I know you don’t remember me. I saw you at the club that first night when you met Matt.”
“Yes, you’re the birthday girl. Matt said you were the reason he was there. Guess I have to thank you for having a birthday.”
She smiled at me for a while, staring, while Matt finished setting up the table. Finally I said, “What?”
“I’m just so glad you’re here. You should have seen the way he was moping around when you wouldn’t go out with him. We all love Matt and were a bit ticked off at you, I have to say.”
“Oh.” I felt the heat rise in my face at the thought of people I didn’t even know discussing my love life.
“But you’re here now. I guess I can see why Matt went back to the club to look for you. You’re awfully cute, and you blush nice too. That’s always a good sign.”
I wanted to ask her, A good sign of what? but Matt interrupted. “Susie! If you’re done giving him a hard time, can you sell some tickets, please? You’ve got a line already.” Matt sounded exasperated and turned to me. “Sorry about that. Susie pretty much says
whatever she thinks; it just comes out.”
He glared at her, but I could see he wasn’t really mad. He took my arm to lead me away but I said, “Wait, I want to buy some tickets.” I didn’t even know what they were raffling off, but it sounded like a good cause, and it made Susie smile.
Matt took me by the hand to show me around. I looked at him in astonishment. I knew he never hid his preference, but it was still more of a public demonstration than I was used to. He looked at me and raised his eyebrows when I hesitated. I didn’t pull away, but I didn’t link fingers either. We just stood there for a minute as he held on and patiently waited for me to decide if it was all right to walk around holding hands with him in front of people I didn’t yet know.
I thought, well, these are his friends. If he thinks it’s okay, then I guess it’s okay. I took a deep breath and tightened my fingers on his. He smiled and pulled me forward to introduce a few more people, some younger students and some who just seemed to be friends. Everyone appeared friendly and happy to see me.
A small office suite took up one corner at the back of the karate studio. Matt knocked on the door of the manager’s office. An older man stood up and came around the desk. “Matt! Glad you’re here, buddy. Today is going to be a blast. Who’s your friend?” Not waiting for an answer, he stuck his hand out to pump mine. “I’m Tom Shannon, very glad to meet you.” A big man with a vigorous handshake, he still appeared very fit despite the gray hair.
I introduced myself, and Matt asked if it was okay to show me around. “Of course, you know it’s fine. You’ve got, what, half an hour before you do your demo? Plenty of time for the tour—not like this place is all that big!”
In addition to the large practice room, he showed me another, smaller room that looked like it could be a meeting room or converted to another practice room if needed. Today, it was set up as a practice room, and Matt said the kids would give the demos for their parents.
Through the back was a surprise—a small, quiet green space, a tiny tranquil garden that seemed somehow sheltered from the traffic noise out front.
Friday Night Jamie Page 11
