Chasing Justice (Gay Detective Romance Novella) Page 4

  “No reason. Just wondering.”

  When Eddie didn’t elaborate further, the two men took to staring out the car windows in companionable silence. After about a half hour, Eddie stretched and cracked the window.

  “So do you think loving a man is different than loving a woman?” Eddie asked.

  Luke considered it for a moment. “I never really thought about it.”

  “I guess a married cop generally wouldn’t.”

  “Separated, actually.”

  Eddie looked over at him. “You’re still wearing the ring.”

  Surprised that Eddie noticed, Luke simply nodded. “Force of habit.”

  “That little piece of gold will prevent you from getting laid, my friend. How long?”

  “We’ve only been separated for a few weeks. I haven’t signed the papers yet.”

  Eddie glanced over at him across the darkened car. “You have kids?”

  “Four. She moved out and took the kids. I haven’t seen them in a while.”

  “Don’t let the divorce bullshit stop you, man. You need to stay in your kids’ lives.”

  “How old are yours?” Luke asked, testing what he thought was an obvious opening about Eddie’s children.

  “Oh, I don’t have any,” Eddie said. “I was never one to settle down.”

  They were both quiet again for a while as they stared out the window across the street at Julio’s building. Luke was still turning Eddie’s question over in his head, wondering if it was simpler to love a man. God knows he couldn’t have done worse than his relationship with Kathy. He knew the long hours away from home and being called in the middle of the night and missing important events in the kids’ lives didn’t endear him to her as the years went on. Toward the end they fought over everything and anything, and at times Luke thought the only time they talked to each other anymore was when they were yelling.

  “Maybe loving a man would be easier,” Luke noted.

  “What?”

  “What you asked before. Maybe loving a man wouldn’t come with all the hang-ups and bullshit like loving a woman does. It could just be two guys drinking beer and watching football.”

  “And fucking each other when the game’s over.”

  That got the exact reaction Eddie was going for, and he laughed at the look on Luke’s face. “My opinion is that life’s too short to worry about anything other than pleasure,” Eddie said.

  “That’s a unique philosophy.”

  Eddie met Luke’s eyes. “You could say that.”

  The other man’s intense gaze caught Luke off guard, and he cleared his throat. “Depends on what the types of pleasure are.”

  “Beer. A good dinner. Weekends off. A nice long fuck. Motorcycles. I like to experience it all.”

  “Motorcycles?” Luke laughed. “My first impression of you was right, then.”

  “Yeah?” Eddie slid his hand along the floorboard, finding the lever that allowed him to recline in the car’s seat. His leather jacket moaned as he got comfortable, and those searching blue eyes found Luke’s again.

  “I thought you had just gotten off a motorcycle and stumbled into the squad.”

  “Only half right. I got off the motorcycle in L.A. to catch a plane, but there was no stumbling. I hadn’t had a chance to hit the bars yet.”

  “You like a good time.”

  “Don’t you?” he asked, his voice lowered.

  Luke laughed. “I wouldn’t even know where to go.”

  “You’ve been married too long, big guy.”

  “Yeah,” Luke agreed, looking at Eddie. “Yeah, I think I have.” He got more comfortable in his seat while still keeping an eye on Julio’s apartment door. “Kathy and I made it twenty-two years.”

  “Let me guess,” Eddie said, “your oldest kid is that age?”

  “I’m easy to figure out, aren’t I?”

  “Nah, I’m good at this sort of thing. Doing fugitive apprehension you spend a lot of time around people. You can get to know them pretty well just by looking.”

  Luke turned in his seat. “What do I look like?”

  Eddie stared at him for a few moments, his eyes tracing over Luke’s form. “You really want to know?”

  “Sure.”

  Eddie shifted to his side in the seat and propped his head in his hand. “I see a man who’s probably been lonely for a really long time, despite the fact that his wife slept next to him for years. You’re handling the separation as well as can be expected, but you’re having a hard time dealing with the doubts and fears of what that truly means. You drink to take the edge off, but you’re no drunk. You understand how much it sucks to have to cook and clean, and you can figure out how to wash your own clothes, based on the suit. You probably work too hard, because it helps keep your mind off the shit at home, but doing what you do gets you pissed off all the time and there’s no way to release it. You have a habit of sometimes acting without thinking, and being more than willing to smack a suspect around to get what you want. You’re precise and detail-oriented, which I picked up from the Thayer file. You also like to hit the weights, and you’re not a bad kisser.”

  Luke frowned, and then blinked, wide-eyed. “Where the hell did you—”

  “Met your partner Elizabeth Mills in the elevator on my way in for the meeting with you and Walton.” He grinned mischievously. “I might have turned on the charm to get some info about the guy I’d be working with. She mentioned the kiss you two had while on that stakeout a few weeks back.”

  “Shit! How in the hell did that come up? What’d you do, slip her a fifty?”

  “I suppose I just asked the right questions.”

  “We haven’t been working together for very long—only about six months—but she and I clicked right away,” Luke said, feeling the need to explain himself.

  “I know how that can be.”

  “The kiss was a lapse in judgment. We both agreed it’s not going anywhere.”

  “You’re having doubts about the future of your marriage, and it was a way to test the waters on your way to possibly becoming single again. I get it.”

  Luke sighed deeply.

  “I take it I hit the nail on the head, then,” Eddie said.

  “Yeah,” Luke nodded, amazed he seemed so transparent. “You’ll have to take her word on the kissing thing, though, I guess.”

  “You never know,” Eddie smirked, turning to look out the window.

  “You...what?” Luke couldn’t tell if Eddie was joking or not. His face was bathed in shadow.

  “Here comes Julio.”

  “Huh?”

  “Our boy Julio. He’s on the move.”

  Luke turned to where Eddie was pointing. A slim figure was headed up the street, carrying a duffel bag.

  “Shit, I missed it. How do you know it’s him?” Luke asked, squinting slightly.

  “You know of any other guy who would be leaving an apartment building at this time of night wearing sequined pink pants that reflected in the street light?”

  “No, I guess not,” Luke said, starting the car.

  Chapter 5

  “Park down there.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I don’t want anyone making the car. It’s obvious it’s a cop ride,” Eddie said with a sigh.

  “Sorry I didn’t have the department’s Jaguar at my disposal,” Luke griped.

  Luke slowly rolled up to the curb, just down the street from the strip club Julio entered. The Foxxx Trot looked particularly busy.

  Luke glanced up through the windshield at the buzzing neon sign throwing purple reflections onto the street. “Suggestions?”

  “We’re never going to eyeball him out here. We’ll walk through the alley,” Eddie said, taking off his leather jacket.

  Luke glanced over to watch him, noticing the white tank top Eddie had on under his jacket. He had a black belt on with a large silver buckle, with his service weapon strapped to his right hip. Laying the jacket across his knees, Eddie ran his fingers th
rough his hair.

  “What are you doing?” Luke asked, confused.

  “We’re going to have to go in there and keep an eye on Julio. If what you said is true, he’s bound to meet up with Neils at some point, right? I want to be there to snag him without emptying the joint, guns blazing.”

  “So?”

  Eddie turned his head to the side, making his curls touch his bare shoulder. “I’m making myself look a little more attractive for the situation. You’re next.”

  “I’m sorry?”

  “We gotta gay you up, big guy,” Eddie said, unclipping his holster from his belt and sliding it into the top of his boot. “Now, look at me.”

  Eddie studied him for a moment, then he reached out to loosen Luke’s dark blue silk tie, removing it and stuffing it into the pocket of his leather jacket. He began to undo the top buttons of Luke’s blue shirt. “Take the suit jacket off,” he ordered, struggling with an unruly button on Luke’s midsection.

  Luke didn’t even hear him; he was looking down, concentrating on Eddie’s fingers manipulating the buttons on his shirt. Eddie’s hands slid to one more button right below his rib cage, and then he adjusted Luke’s collar. There was a lot of chest showing.

  Eddie leaned back to check his work, and unconsciously stuck his tongue out as he did so. “Better. Blue really shows off your eyes.”

  Luke couldn’t get the sight of Eddie’s tongue out of his head. “I...what?”

  “Did you hear me? Lose the suit jacket.”

  Luke did as he was told, finally, and tossed his jacket onto the back seat. Eddie appraised Luke’s look again, and then began unbuckling his belt.

  “You’re not...Brock, you’re not...”

  Eddie looked up at him in the darkened car. “I’m not what?”

  “Uh...I don’t know. What are you doing?”

  “You should put on my belt. The silver buckle will distract from your cop-salary trousers.”

  “You’re really over-thinking this.”

  Eddie slid his belt off with a snap. “You already said you’ve never been in a gay dance club, right Detective Everett?”

  “You know I haven’t.” Luke tucked his holster into the back of his pants and pulled his shirt over it.

  “Then trust me.”

  Luke raised an eyebrow. “Have you?”

  Eddie simply grinned. “Trust me.”

  + + + + +

  Eddie was first out of the car. He slung his jacket over one shoulder and began to walk up the alley that led to the club, not bothering to wait for Luke to follow. “Keep up, Everett,” he called. “We need to make a subtle yet noticeable entrance.”

  Luke locked the car and jogged over to catch up to Eddie. “You’re not doing what I think you’re doing, are you?”

  “You keep asking that a lot. What do you think I’m doing?”

  From behind, Luke noticed for the first time Eddie’s bravado swagger; the way he walked made it seem like he owned the entire street. He put his whole body into it, bringing attention to his chest and arms, like a preening peacock looking for a mate. It was a combination of practiced strut and blind narcissism.

  “You’re enjoying this. We’re supposed to be working.”

  Eddie laughed once Luke caught up with him. “It’s been a while, I’ll admit.”

  “Working undercover?”

  “Hitting a gay bar.”

  At Luke’s blank look, Eddie laughed even harder. “I told you, life is about pleasure. It comes in many varied forms: a perfectly cooked steak; nice tequila; getting your cock sucked—regardless of who those lips are attached to.”

  “So, what, you’re telling me you’re gay?”

  “I suppose so. Does it bother you?”

  “I didn’t expect it,” Luke said honestly. “I’m a little surprised.”

  “Why, because I don’t seem gay?”

  “I…I guess. I don’t know.”

  “There’s a lot happening in the world outside of your closed-off world of heterosexual existence,” Eddie pointed out.

  “Eddie,” Luke said, stopping him by putting a hand on his shoulder, “I didn’t mean to offend you.”

  “It’s all right. You’re learning.”

  “I am?”

  “Yeah, that you can’t tell a gay guy just by looking. That he can be a U.S. Marshal and ride a Harley and bust down a suspect’s door and still want to suck a dick.”

  “But why didn’t you say anything when we were at Club Tingle?”

  “You were being completely awkward without my help.”

  “You were testing my reaction to see how I would behave when you were dropping hints about your sexuality?”

  “Among other things,” Eddie replied, holding the door to the club open for Luke.

  “Such as?”

  As compared to Club Tingle, The Foxxx Trot was what Luke would consider a dive bar. It was small and cramped, with a makeshift stage occupying much of the space toward the center of the room. There was a dance floor made of old stick-and-peel tile, some of it curled around the edges, and the bar was only half the size of the massive one inside Club Tingle. The booths, dated and covered in vinyl, made for cozy seating, however.

  Eddie led them to a corner booth, his hand resting gently in the small of Luke’s back. Neglected beer bottles littered the table, which made Luke wonder why he had chosen it. But when they sat down, it was obvious. They had a clear sight line of the entire club, allowing them to easily see who was coming and going.

  Luke slid into the booth, with Eddie following close behind.

  “You didn’t answer my question,” Luke said after they were settled.

  “Do you really want to hear the answer?”

  “Of course—”

  Eddie leaned close into Luke’s personal space. “We’re undercover in a gay bar, so tonight we pretend you’re mine, Luke,” he whispered, mere inches from the other man’s ear. “Only if it were up to me, we wouldn’t be pretending. And that’s also the answer to your question.”

  “You’ve been flirting with me? Fuck, Eddie.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  Luke stared at him. “Why does it seem like I’m always two steps behind everyone else? My wife decides to leave me, and I had no idea. Elizabeth spills to you about me kissing her, and I had no idea. Captain Walton throws me together with you without letting me know. Now this...it’s fucking irritating.”

  “Apparently all those years of marriage did nothing to hone your skills enough to realize when someone is hitting on you.”

  Luke ran his hand over his face and sighed.

  “Losing your temper and punching me because I came on to you is going to bring us unwanted attention, especially when we’re supposed to be a happy couple out for a drink,” Eddie pointed out.

  “I’m not going to punch you.”

  “You sure? Because I’m too pretty for a broken nose.”

  “Yeah.” He sat back in the booth. “You’ll notice I’m not ‘reacting like a typical cop’ as you said, Brock.”

  “No, you’re not,” Eddie agreed. “How are you reacting?”

  “I don’t...” Luke hesitated, meeting Eddie’s intense stare. “I’m not sure.”

  “Well, you wanted to know, and there it is. Women don’t interest me. I’m a straight-forward guy, Luke. I don’t bullshit—never had a taste for it. Life’s too short, y’know?” He ran his fingers through his hair quickly and got up. “You want a beer?”

  Luke looked up at him. “Yeah. Whatever’s on tap is fine.”

  “Be right back.”

  Luke’s eyes tracked the other man’s intentional swagger across the dance floor over to the bar. In the white tank top and those blond curls, Eddie caused a distinct surge of energy around the men he passed. It was electric...he walked by and heads turned. Eddie smiled at one man who approached and nodded his head in Luke’s direction. The man must have tried to pick him up.

  As he watched Eddie navigate among the many men who we
re hitting on him, Luke knew Eddie was right about his tendency to rush to judgment about people. Years on the streets had made him cynical. He was often cold-hearted when he should have been empathetic, and angry when he should have been calm. He realized he’d been living his life the way he was trained to be a policeman: right or wrong, black or white, on or off. There was no in-between, no moments of doubt, no gray. It was a very narrow way of viewing the world, and Eddie had every right to be pissed off at him for his limited vision. He’d never met anyone like Eddie. Perhaps it was the devil-may-care attitude or the way he simply seemed to get enjoyment out of life, but Luke found himself wanting to know more about him.

  Then Luke could see Eddie talking to the bartender as he waited for the drinks. Interestingly, he kept his right side closest to the bar—his gun side—and kept glancing through the crowd every few moments. He was good at what he did; there was no doubt about that. Luke definitely underestimated him.

  Eddie finally returned and placed two mugs on the table. “I asked the bartender about Julio,” he said, sitting down again.

  “Thanks,” Luke said, acknowledging the beer. “What did he have to say?”

  “The strip show is in about an hour. Julio comes out first.”

  “I’ve had my eyes open. Thayer isn’t here yet.”

  “Maybe he won’t show up.”

  “He and Julio had a really hot and heavy relationship,” Luke said. “I know Julio was hiding something when we asked about Thayer. If Julio’s here, Thayer can’t be far behind.”

  “Or he might be here and we just haven’t seen him.”

  Luke motioned to the dance floor. “It’s a little crowded to see every face clearly.”

  “Mm.”

  Luke continued scanning the crowd, hoping to catch a sign of either Julio or Thayer.

  “Did you go out dancing with your wife?” Eddie asked, his eyes on the dance floor as well.

  “Not really. I worked too much.”

  “Did you ever take her out for a good time?”

  “Sure, dinner every now and then. Whenever I had off.”

  “No, I mean a good time. Like crazy kid’s stuff. Y’know.”

  “No, I don’t know,” Luke said.

  Eddie sighed. “Didn’t you ever take her out and then wind up in a parked car or something? Or have her go down on you in a movie theater? Get crazy and dirty in a bathroom or a closet?”