Round and Round

by Andrew Grey

  Zach hurried over and gave Kevin a big hug. “We’re over at the bar. Everything has to be washed, including all the bottles. We don’t want to rub off the labels, but everything is covered in a film. Bull said we should just throw everything out and get new, but that’s a huge expense, so we’re going to clean everything up. The insurance people are being dicks because of the last incident with Eddie. Harry thinks they’re going to raise their rates sky high, and Bull thinks they may need to find someone else because the company is going to dump them the next time the policy comes up for renewal, so….”

  “Where do you want me to start?” Kevin asked.

  “Tristan and Jeremy are washing all the glasses and wiping down the bar and refrigerators. You and I can start on the bottles. We have to take them all down and wash the mirrors, shelves, and everything. They gave us some stuff that will cut through the grime, but you have to wear gloves because it’s strong.”

  “Okay,” Kevin agreed, and Zach handed him a pair of gloves. “I’m going to get some tables from the back. That way we can put the clean bottles on them while we wash the rest.” He hurried to the office area and the smoke smell lessened quite a bit. He hefted one of the folding tables and brought it out to where they were working. He set it up, and Zach began placing the bottles he’d already cleaned onto it. Kevin pulled on his gloves and got to work.

  “So what’s this big news you alluded to on the phone?” Zach asked.

  “Well, Mrs. V baked again and brought me up some baklava. We were having coffee when I smelled smoke. At first I thought it was the stuff I’d been wearing from last night, but then when I opened the door, the hallway was full of smoke. Mrs. V left something in her oven and forgot about it, burning the thing up. She called the fire department, and I got her out, but I got too much smoke and the next thing I know MacDreamy Hotness, from last night, was giving me oxygen.”

  Tristan stopped to listen, pausing with his hands in the dishwater. Jeremy remained bent low where he’d been washing the refrigerator doors.

  “His name is Angus, and he stopped by this afternoon to make sure I was okay, and he asked me out.”

  “The hunk running around last night in the fire pants and T-shirt? He was hot,” Tristan said and started working again.

  “Yeah, the thing is, he said he wanted to ask me out, but he had to go back to the station, and I forgot to give him my number.” He’d been kicking himself about that since Angus left.

  “Don’t worry. If he came to your house to find you, he’ll find you again,” Zach said. Jeremy made a humphing noise, and Tristan smacked him on the shoulder and glowered. “Stop being an ass,” Zach chastised, and Jeremy went back to work.

  Kevin began lifting bottles down from the shelves, then carefully cleaned them and put them on the table. Zach removed the register and hauled it away. It needed to be cleaned as well, but had to be done carefully, and one of the restoration contractors took it from him.

  “What’s this?” Kevin asked as he plucked a strange-feeling envelope from behind a couple of bottles. “It feels weird.”

  “Set it down and don’t touch anything more,” Spook said gently from the other side the bar. It was creepy how he always appeared when Kevin wasn’t looking. Kevin did as he said, and Spook leaned forward, sniffing it. “Stop what you’re doing and get out from behind there.”

  “What is it?”

  “The reason it feels weird and smells funny is it’s been sprayed with fire retardant. This was meant to survive the fire.” Spook turned and waved Bull over. They spoke quietly while the rest of them stood nearby, wondering what to do.

  “I’ll call the police and fire department. They both need to know about this.”

  “What about us?” Zach asked.

  “You might as well continue. They cleared the place for us to be here, and you’ve already moved most of the bottles. Just be careful and don’t touch anything that seems out of place,” Bull told them.

  Spook left the area, and Kevin followed him with his gaze.

  Zach tapped him on the shoulder, and he turned away. “Let’s finish up,” Zach said.

  Kevin nodded, and when he turned back around, he couldn’t see Spook anywhere. “I hate it when he does that,” he grumbled.

  “Lowell does have his advantages,” Jeremy said with what Kevin thought was supposed to be his naughtiest grin, but it came across as silly.

  “I know. He just startles me all the time,” Kevin said. He couldn’t be angry at the guy. He’d rescued Tristan a few months ago, when Tris’s psycho ex-boyfriend had kidnapped him, and he’d helped all of them at one point or other. Spook was a good guy; it was just that maybe he should wear a bell or something.

  Kevin returned to the task and didn’t find anything else. The last of the bottles were clean and lined up on the table when Reyes, the police officer from the night before, strode in.

  “What have you got?” Reyes asked.

  Bull met the officer and guided him to the bar. “We were cleaning up and found this. We think it has flame retardant sprayed on it. One of the guys touched it with his gloves, but it hasn’t been opened or touched otherwise.”

  “I found it behind the first row of bottles,” Kevin explained.

  “So it could have been placed there by one of the bartenders?” the officer asked.

  “I suppose,” Kevin told him. “Except when the fire started, none of the bartenders were in that part of the club. They were all working, and it started in that corner way over there, away from the bar area. I was the one who saw it, so I doubt it was the bartenders.”

  “Remind me who you are again?” Officer Reyes asked in a tone that shot cold up Kevin’s spine.

  “Kevin Foster.”

  “He’s the one who put out the fire last night,” Bull said.

  Reyes checked his notes. “Right. He’s also the one who sees what’s going on, and then this morning he finds this with flame retardant on it.” The mockery in his voice was clear. “This kid seems to be in the thick of everything.”

  “You can go!” Bull bellowed, and the officer flinched. “This is private property, and we called for help. I think my next call will be to the local news media, and we’ll see what they think of your harassment. You don’t get to treat people like this in my place.”

  “No, he doesn’t,” a commanding voice said, and Kevin smiled as MacDreamy Hotness… err, Angus, walked in. “I heard all of it.” He strode over. “Is this what you found?” He looked at the envelope without touching it, sniffing slightly. “Do you know what’s inside?”

  “We haven’t touched it since we found it,” Bull said.

  “Then we need to see what’s inside.” Angus turned to the police officer. “That okay?”

  He shrugged, and Angus pulled out some gloves. Then he carefully opened the envelope and placed it in a plastic evidence bag. Holding a corner, he opened the note and showed it to the officer. “This is what I was afraid of.”

  “Is this the arsonist we’ve heard about on the news?” Kevin asked.

  “Yes,” Angus answered as he placed the note in another evidence bag. He handed both to the officer. “We’ll need a copy of the crime-scene forensic results sent to the office.” Angus seemed to ignore the officer after that, and Kevin smiled as Reyes seethed.

  “I was trying to ascertain the facts,” Reyes finally said.

  “No. You were causing trouble.” Angus stepped up to him. “I know what you’re up to, and when I get back to my office, I’ll lodge a complaint with my department that will most definitely get passed on to yours. I definitely see sensitivity training in your future… again.” Angus grinned, and the officer stomped off.

  “You dated him?” Kevin said quietly as he watched.

  Angus shrugged, then said, “The guy’s a dick. He’s got a real attitude problem. Every time I deal with him, he acts like an ass. When we first met, I thought it might be because I’m gay, but now I just think he’s like that with everybody.”

&n
bsp; “So we really do have a serial arsonist?” Bull asked.

  “I’m afraid so. Last night I thought it could be an isolated incident, but now I don’t think so. He always leaves a note of some kind. This one was about the evils of sodomy and the gay agenda. Whatever that is. Unfortunately, the police haven’t been especially helpful up until now. But the good thing is that the arsonist hasn’t struck the same place twice.”

  “So what do we do?” Bull asked.

  “Take precautions. The last time he struck, it was a women’s clinic. They didn’t perform abortions, but he thought they did.”

  “Do you know it’s a guy?” Kevin asked.

  “We believe so, yes,” Angus said. “I’ll follow up with the police regarding the note. They are in charge of the investigation.”

  Bull stepped closer. “Do you think they’ll do anything? That guy was a piece of work.”

  “Yes, they will. He’s an ass, but he’s also a good investigator, and he wants to catch this guy pretty badly,” Angus said.

  “You could have fooled me.” Bull put his arms across his chest in one of his signature poses.

  “I know. He’d get better results if he wasn’t a jerk, but we’re stuck with him.” Angus reached into his pocket. “Call me if I can be of any help.” He handed Bull a card.

  Kevin waited until they were done talking and then followed Angus to the door. “Do you think he really thought I did this?” Kevin’s mouth went dry. “I tried to put it out.”

  “I know you didn’t have anything to do with the fire.” Angus stopped in the doorway. “Believe it or not, some arsonists set fires so they can help put them out. Others set them just so they can watch them burn. A lot of the time an arsonist is in the milling crowd outside their fires.”

  “Oh,” Kevin said. That tracked with what Spook had told Jeremy the night before.

  “I have to go, but I will call you.” Angus hurried away, and Kevin watched him for a few seconds before racing after him. “Is something wrong?” Angus asked when Kevin caught up with him.

  “Yeah. You don’t have my number,” Kevin said. “You didn’t ask for it earlier.”

  Angus grinned. “I got it off the fire report, cutie.” He grinned. “I looked you up and put you in my phone.” Kevin’s phone rang, and he pulled it out. “Now you have mine. I’m on shift a lot this week, but I’ll call you as soon as I can. I promise.” He smiled, and Kevin nodded, figuring if he tried to talk, he’d only stammer. He watched as Angus drove away and then went back inside to get back to work, a grin plastered to his face.

  He saw Tristan elbow Zach lightly, and they all circled around.

  “Did you get his number?” Zach asked.

  “Yeah.” Kevin waved his phone. “He said he’s on shift this week, but that he’ll call me.” Even Jeremy’s earlier skepticism seemed to have vanished. “He keeps calling me cutie.” Why he felt the need to tell them that, he didn’t know.

  “You are a cutie,” Bull said, and Kevin blushed. He hadn’t known Bull was right there behind him. “You’ve had a tough time of it, but you’ll find someone special.”

  “Thanks, Bull,” Kevin whispered and once again put Ken out of his mind. He hated that Ken kept intruding into his thoughts. That was over, and a gorgeous fireman was now calling him cutie. “Let’s get this finished up,” he said with as much enthusiasm as he could muster and got back to work.

  Chapter 2

  “GOD, ANTONIO, there was no need to behave that way with Kevin,” Angus said as he strode into the arson investigator’s office at the police department on Monday morning. “The guy is a hero. He grabbed the hose and may well have saved lives in that fire.”

  “So it’s Kevin, is it?” Antonio Reyes looked up from the papers on his desk as Angus closed the door. The rest of the department didn’t need to hear their conversation. The guys were gossipy as hell.

  “Is that what this is about? I thought you were just being your usual dickhead self, but you’re jealous.” He stepped closer to the desk. “We’ve been through for a long time, and the crap you pulled today was over the top. They found something they thought might help, and they called it in. Jesus.”

  “I saw you with him yesterday. You two looked pretty cozy.”

  “I thought he was cute, and he knew the partner of the guy who died and consoled him. He was only a friend of a friend, and yet he was right there.” Angus sat down in a once familiar chair, one he hadn’t seen much of recently. “I haven’t met someone open and caring in a while. I’m sure you can see the attraction.” His relationship with Antonio had started hot but burned out pretty quickly. Antonio was deeply in the closet, and Angus hadn’t been willing to live a lie. He still wasn’t. Some of the guys in the department gave him shit, and a few had asked for transfers so they didn’t have to work with him, but all that was better than pretending.

  Antonio blinked at him. “All right, I was kind of sharp with him.”

  “Kind of sharp? You pretty much accused him of starting the fire. That was harsh, and if you’d read the report, you’d know that he’s already been cleared. He was nowhere near where the fire started.” Angus settled down. “Were we able to get anything off the note?”

  “Just like the others, it was clean. There were a few smudged fingerprints, and the lab is trying to see if they can get anything through enhancement. It seems our boy was in a hurry to leave this time and may have actually touched the envelope.”

  “What about DNA?”

  “They’re trying that too, but there were so many chemicals on the paper they aren’t sure they can get anything.”

  Angus didn’t see why this one should be any different from the others. “I wonder if there’s any security video in the club that we can use.”

  “I pulled the tapes, but the actual start of the fire was just off camera.”

  Sometimes Antonio could be so unimaginative. “We don’t have to have the guy on tape starting the fire. All we need is a picture of him that we can put out there. Figure out who this guy is so we can get a lead on him. Now if he was just off camera when the fire started, then he had to leave the area just before. So let’s take a look and see if there’s anything we can use.”

  “Don’t you think I already did that? There’s nothing to suggest who the guy is.” He opened his desk and handed Angus a thumb drive. “Here’s a copy of the footage. If you want to take a look and see if you see anything, great. But we came up with a whole lot of nothing.” The frustration rang in the room. Antonio was a good investigator and wanted to solve his cases. This particular one had gone on long enough that it was starting to get to him. On top of that, Angus knew his workload was piling up to the ceiling. It wasn’t like on television, where the case happened and all they worked on was that one thing. There were always multiple cases and assignments pulling on his time. Sometimes Angus wondered how Antonio kept from going crazy.

  “Did you lodge a complaint with your department about me?” Antonio asked, trying not to appear as though he cared.

  “No. Because I know you were doing your job. But you need to get it together. Those people might have been able to help you, but you alienated them within seconds. Those guys you were picking on don’t work at the club—they’re the owners’ partners and like family. A real family.” Antonio’s was so screwed up that it was a wonder if he had any concept of family at all. “Just relax. They want to help you.”

  “Yeah, I know,” Antonio admitted, which was a shock and out of character. Fight and argue until blue in the face, but never take a step back—that was how Antonio usually operated. “It just seemed so damned convenient.”

  “If you’d looked at the facts, you would have known it was nothing of the kind,” Angus told him, not giving any ground. “So when you go back, do you think you can be civil?” His accent crept in, and he saw Antonio pause.

  “Yes.” He put his hands on the desk, sighing. “God, when you sound like that.”

  “What?”

  “Sometim
es your accent comes through, and it reminds me what drew me to you in the first place,” Antonio said, a smile ghosting over his face. But it didn’t last long. They never did.

  “You’re an unhappy man, Tony, and you need to find something to add some joy to yer life. That’s not me anymore, but find something or someone or yer going to explode.” Angus stood, holding up the thumb drive. “Thanks fer this. I appreciate it.” He let his accent really come forward. He’d been in the States long enough that it wasn’t too heavy, but sometimes it crept in, and like now, he let it show for Antonio’s benefit. “I’ll see you ’round.” He left the office and strode through the station and out to his car. He began driving back to the firehouse and for the millionth time thought about Kevin.

  There was something about him that stuck with Angus, and not many guys did that. His mother would say he was flighty, and she would probably be right. Angus noticed guys and knew guys saw him. But he’d really seen Kevin, and seeking a guy out was something he never did, let alone hunt up his phone number and put it in his phone just so he’d have it. He’d thought of calling him a number of times, but his shifts would keep him busy for a few more days yet.

  “Hello,” he answered when a call rang in through the car.

  “Did you get the video of the club?” his captain asked.

  “Told you I would.”

  “You’re the only one who can get anything out of that guy,” the captain said gruffly. These arsons were weighing on the department big-time. Natural fires were one thing, but intentionally set ones were a totally different matter. Sometimes there were traps built in so the firefighters got caught. Those increased the media attention on the fire and gave the arsonist a boost of some kind. “What do you have on him?”

  “Do you really want to know?” Angus asked. He heard the chief groan. “Didn’t think so.”

  “We’ll look at it when you get here. The guys have been watching crowds outside the fires. So maybe they saw something. It’s a long shot, but at this point it’s what we have.”