by Aiden Bates
Doug had never felt so nervous going into a prison before. The first time he'd walked into a prison had been during an internship in law school, and he'd been so terrified of the place he couldn't sleep for three days before his visit. This was worse.
He knew that he would be physically safe. His father had never raised a hand to him. In the unlikely event that Larry broke tradition and got violent, he'd be shackled to the table anyway. Doug was in no danger at all. At the same time, Doug's physical safety was only of marginal concern to him right now. His greatest fear was disappointing his father, and he was about to go and do exactly that.
He went through the check-in procedures and waited for his turn for a confidential visit. When the time came, he sat at the table and waited for his father to be led into the room.
They shackled Larry to the table, as per usual. And, also as usual, Larry had a huge smile ready for Doug. He always looked the same. He didn't seem to notice the shackles and orange jumpsuit. He carried himself the same way that he did when he was outside. "Dougie! So good to see you. I've missed you!"
Doug smiled at his father. He wanted to hug Larry, to hold tight and not let go, but he knew that wasn't allowed. "I've missed you too, Dad. How are things going in here?"
"Oh, not too bad. Joe and I are getting along great, which makes all the difference. We had a little bit of drama in our housing unit over the weekend, but that's all been settled now. It's nothing for you to worry about." Larry waved a hand. "How are things going outside? I know I'm not your only client." He chuckled.
"No. You're not." Doug shook his head. "But we've only got an hour in here, and they're all kinds of complex cases. I had one good, solid win. The others are all still going through their process. I feel pretty good about that one, solid win though. Let's talk about your case for a minute, Dad."
"Gah. My case is old news, son. It's hardly interesting to anyone anymore, is it?" Larry's smile didn't waver.
"Actually it's of interest to a lot of people." Doug tried not to roll his eyes. One of his professors had told him never to represent family; this was why. They'd had this conversation a hundred times, and they'd probably have it a hundred more. "Especially now that I've proven that you didn't kill seventeen of the women you're accused of killing."
Larry's eyes widened. "Seventeen, huh? How'd you manage that?"
"Because I'm very good at what I do, Dad. It's why they pay me." Doug wrinkled his nose and laughed a little. "Actually, the State Police lab found the evidence for three of them. I shouldn't take credit for that. Credit should go where credit is due."
Larry shook his head. "They wouldn't have looked for that evidence if it weren't for you, Dougie. I'm so proud of you. Son, you're honestly the best son a man could want. I'm so incredibly proud of you, you can't imagine. They don't make them like you very often. I'm so incredibly lucky, Dougie."
Then Larry bowed his head. "I worry about you, though. I do. I worry that you don't make time for the important things in your life. You're an amazing lawyer, and a good son, but being a lawyer takes a lot of work. I know how hard you work, Doug. I worry that you're neglecting other aspects of your life to focus on your job, and that's no way to live. I mean when's the last time you played those drums of yours, huh? Or are they still in storage? And dating, hmm? You're an omega. You have needs, son."
Doug blushed. "Dad, I love you, and you're literally the driving force behind everything I've ever done. But I'm so not comfortable discussing my sex life with you."
Larry chuckled. "No. There do have to be some boundaries. But seeing the way you're blushing, maybe you've already found someone you're thinking about?"
Doug's hands shook. For a second, he thought that he might back out. He couldn't do this. He couldn't look his father in the eye and tell him that he'd been claimed while Larry was languishing in here.
No. He had to tell his father. This was a family matter, and Larry was a part of his family. "Well, you could say that. I, ah. So, one of the state troopers investigating your case turns out to be an alpha. I'm pretty sure I've mentioned that before." Doug looked down. "Um, one thing led to another and well." He loosened his tie and unbuttoned his shirt, just enough that he could show his claim scar to his father.
Larry went quiet for a long moment. "Oh, son. You found someone!" Larry's voice trembled.
"I'm sorry, Dad." Doug couldn't look up. "It just kind of happened. I wasn't out looking, I promise. I was focused on helping you, and things just got heated."
Larry reached across the table to cover Doug's hand with his. "I'm not mad, son. I'm beyond happy for you."
Doug looked up. His father glowed with happiness. "Really?"
Larry smiled and squeezed his hand. "I mean I could be happier about the cop thing, but you can't help who you fall in love with. Trust me on this one." He chuckled. "Dougie, I know how driven you are. And it's a good trait, it is. But it can be taken too far. I want you to have a full life. I want you to have someone in your life when I'm gone, son. An alpha, and children, will be that for you.
"My only concern is that this guy treats you right. I want to make sure that he cherishes you right and treats you the way that you need to be treated. You're my son, my little shining star, and there is literally nothing that I wouldn't do for you." Larry patted his hand. "So. You say that it 'just kind of happened.'"
Doug's cheeks got even hotter. "Er, yeah. So, we're looking at buying a house together. I think you'll like it, once we get you out of here."
Larry looked away for a moment. "I'm not getting out of here, son."
"You are if I can possibly get you out. And I'm not half bad at that." Doug raised an eyebrow. "You do want to be around when your first grandchild is born, don't you?"
Larry's eyes bulged. "Grandchild! Dougie, are you serious?"
"Absolutely, Dad. I'm due in like late June or early July, I think. We're starting a family, and you're going to be a part of it, Dad." Doug slumped in relief. His father wasn't angry or disappointed. His father still loved him, even though he'd let his focus go and been distracted.
"I'm glad to hear it, son." Larry spoke after a moment and gave a sad smile. "I love your confidence and I'm happy that you want to be part of this. If it doesn't work out, though, I know you'll have tried. And I'll know that you're taken care of."
Doug met his father's eyes for a long moment. Something was going on with Larry, and Doug wasn't quite sure what it could be. "Okay, Dad."
"You tell that son-in-law of mine that I want to talk to him, though. I might be in jail, but I'm still your father and I still have rights!" Larry laughed and put his hands on his belly.
Doug laughed with his father. "I'll do that, Dad. In the meantime, the best way that we have to get you out of here is to find the guy who did kill those women. They have a couple of suspects already."
Larry snorted. "Are they more or less likely to have done it than me?"
Doug smothered a giggle with his hand. "Well, we're hoping to get to that. It would have to be guys who could pass for you, at least in the dark. That means dressing enough like you that they can pull it off, too. Can you think of anyone who paid a lot of attention to how you dressed? Or who had enough beef with you that he'd set you up like this?"
Larry leaned back in his chair. "Oh, come on. You don't really think that anyone would set me up like that? That's conspiracy theory stuff. That doesn't really happen, Dougie."
Doug met his father's eyes again. "Dad, we need to look at all of the possibilities. And the fact is that someone else did kill all of those women, and is letting you twist for it right now. We need answers, because this guy is out there and he's still killing women."
Larry's face twisted. "That's sick. Someone's seriously out there killing women and chopping them up? Even though they could have gotten away with it after I got locked up, if they'd just kept their hands to themselves?"
Doug nodded and leaned forward. "Yeah. And they're going to keep getting away with it if I can't spr
ing you."
Larry closed his eyes. "I'd tell your cop friend to take a look at that English teacher you had in, what was it, ninth grade?"
Doug licked his lips. "Mr. Gagne?"
"That's the one. He was always in the library. That would be fine, but he was a little bit weird about it. And he always asked me about my clothes. Like he'd admire a shirt, or my trousers, or my shoes, and he'd ask where I got them. The answer was never different, you know? The answer was Sears. It was always Sears." He lifted his eyebrows and shook his head, like he couldn't quite believe it. "I mean it was weird. Very weird. But that's just the way some people are. You can't help them or fix them."
"No." Doug chewed on his lip for a moment. "And it's not proof of guilt, you know? It's evidence, but it's not proof. Thanks for sharing that, Dad. I'll let Ray know. Hopefully there's something he can do with that."
"Ray now?" Larry's expression of disgust turned to a teasing grin. "He gets a name? Oh, Ray Langer was the lead detective in my murder trial."
Doug winced. "Yeah, Dad. Yeah he was. I'm sorry."
Larry gave him a stern look. "What've I told you about that? He obviously got a few important things wrong, but he's willing to listen to you. He's probably a pretty good kid. As long as he listens to you, and treats you and my grandkid right, I'm okay with it, Dougie."
Doug melted a little. "Thanks, Dad. Yeah. The alpha is Ray. He takes amazing care of me. And we love each other. It's a little weird, since we haven't known each other very long, but we do love each other. There's not a doubt in my mind."
"That's all I care about." Larry settled back a little.
Doug cleared his throat. "Say, Dad, do you remember Dick Tolbert?"
"Oh, him." Larry wrinkled his nose. "Yeah, I remember him. That guy was always raising a stink in the library about books with 'uppity' women in them being on the shelves. Said it would give 'broads' ideas. I had whole drawers full of his complaints, Dougie. I'm not kidding." He tapped his temple. "I seriously think he's got a screw loose somewhere."
"He might." Doug chewed on the edge of his pen.
"For what it's worth, I used to see him in Sears all the time." Larry shrugged. "Clothes shopping. Since you were asking about that."
Doug sighed as the guards came in to take Larry. Their hour was up; it was time for Larry to return to his cell. Larry hadn't done much to narrow down the pool of suspects, but Doug wasn't sure that he'd been trying either.
He shook hands with the guards on his way out and headed back to the car. Once there, he called Ray to report on what he'd been told. "It doesn't really give us much of a nudge in either direction," he sighed, "but it's something. Right?"
"Absolutely." Ray spoke without hesitation. His voice was full of conviction and pride. "I'm still digging into both guys, but I'm pretty sure that we'll find something about that Tolbert guy if we try hard enough. I mean he's a dinosaur."
Doug started the car up. The weather had gotten cold enough to mandate heat, even if snow hadn't arrived yet. "You're not going to get an argument from me. I, ah, I told my dad."
Ray went quiet for a moment. "You did?"
"Yeah." Doug swallowed. "I thought he might be upset, you know, because of everything. He was just happy."
"Happy." Ray's voice was dubious. Doug could sympathize.
"Yeah. Happy. I know. He said he was just glad that I'd found someone, that I wasn't just focusing on work, and that all he cared about was that you treated me and the baby well. Oh—he wants to speak to you. He'd really like for you to come visit." A hysterical little laugh bubbled up in his throat. "Yeah, that's never not going to be weird."
Ray chuckled on his end, too. "Tell me about it. Shoot me an email with his visitation schedule or something and I'll see what I can do. I'm kind of uncomfortable with that, but I'll do it. For you."
They exchanged a few pleasantries and then Doug hung up to begin the long drive back home. He turned up the music and the heat and tried his best to relax.
It wasn't easy. He was beyond thrilled that his father was so willing to accept the changes that he'd made to his life. That part was simple, and delightful. On the other hand, though, Doug was having trouble with some aspects of the conversation.
His father had been evasive during the whole conversation, except when they were talking about Doug's personal life. He'd done his best to try to avoid talking about the case at all, and when he was forced to he'd been certain that he wasn't ever going to get out of jail.
He hadn't seemed to want to, either.
Doug couldn't understand that. He couldn't wrap his head around that concept as he drove down Route 2 toward Cambridge, and ultimately toward home. He knew that Larry didn't have a violent bone in his body. There was no way that he'd murdered any of the women, so why would he be so certain that he wasn't getting out of prison? Did he doubt Doug's record?
No. There was something else going on there. Was Tolbert or Gagne involved with organized crime or something? That would give Larry reason to be afraid. At the same time, wasn't Larry's cellmate a mobster? That would offer him some protection.
Something more sinister was going on there. Doug just had to figure out what it was.
***
Doug stayed the night with Ray on Wednesday night. Ray loved to have Doug stay the night with him. He loved staying the night with Doug, too, and he didn't mind splitting time between the two homes. Staying at Ray's place in Framingham had two advantages, though. First, it was closer to work, which meant that Ray didn't have to fight his way through Boston traffic after a long shift. Second, it meant that Doug helped Ray pack for the move.
Doug was good at that sort of thing. Ray was not. Ray was much more laid back than his mate. Doug could look at a chaotic scene, like Ray's guest room, and have a plan of attack in three seconds. Doug could have the kitchen packed up in a matter of hours, instead of days.
Of course, soon they would be in their house in Needham. Ray couldn't think of any reason that they wouldn't be able to get the house. He'd flinched when he saw the price tag of places Doug thought were "in our range," but then again a lawyer within spitting distance of making partner made a lot more money than a cop. He knew how much Doug's condo cost, at this point. He'd seen the forms when they applied for the mortgage. He knew that getting the mortgage wouldn't be a problem, and they'd be in a home of their own soon.
Then there would be no more back and forth. There would be no more sad and lonely nights. There would simply be an armful of Doug, every night. There would be coffee, and a vaguely confused omega until said coffee had been consumed, every morning.
Ray was already pretty satisfied with his life, but life would be about as close to perfect as it got by that point.
Ray was a lot less satisfied with his life when his phone rang at three o'clock in the morning. "Langer," he grunted.
Devlin's voice came over the line as crisply as it did in the middle of the day. The guy wasn't an alpha, he was a robot. He didn't sleep. "Langer, we need you out in Freetown. There's been another one."
Ray sat bolt upright in bed. This woke Doug, who groaned. Ray ignored him. "Another killing?"
"It's the same MO." No background noise interfered with Devlin's conversation. He must be at headquarters. "Was that your omega? You can bring him too. He might have some kind of insight. As soon as possible, Langer. The crime scene is very fresh."
Ray cursed and slid out of the bed. "C'mon," he said to Doug, and shook his shoulder. "We need to get up and get going. There's a fresh body."
Doug pulled the pillow over his head. "You know how to wake a guy up in the morning."
Ray laughed and pulled the covers off of his omega's naked body. "Come on, Omega. Devlin actually asked for you. Thought you might have some kind of insight."
Doug obeyed, but pouted. "Your boss does get that I'm a defense attorney, right? I'm not supposed to be helping the police. I'm supposed to be proving you wrong at every turn." He staggered toward the bathroom.
&nbs
p; Ray followed him. There wouldn't be time to fool around, but someone needed to keep Doug from curling up and falling asleep in the shower. "Yeah. Okay. Prove us wrong and help us find the real killer. No, Doug, that's not the mouthwash. That's the shaving cream."
"Ew. I need coffee."
"We'll hit the Dunkies on our way out." Ray turned on the water and maneuvered his omega into the shower. After a quick wash, they got dressed and headed down to the crime scene. Doug fielded calls from Devlin and from Tessaro in between sending emails to re-arrange his Thursday schedule.
The crime scene wasn't a surprise to either of the men. The body, or at least the parts, had been dumped in the same derelict cemetery that held the remains of the other victims that had been killed after Larry Morrison's arrest. The ranger who had helped them find the site before waited for them now, looking tired but proud of himself as Oliver directed work at the scene.
