Dracul's Revenge 02: Anarchy in Blood (15 page)

“Thank you, Cynthia.” Cameron stood and buttoned his suit jacket.

“Yes, sir,” Aaron answered Rick’s call.

“Are you in the building?” Rick asked.

“I’m in Cameron’s office.”

“Good. Follow him to my study.” Rick hung up immediately, bitterness in his speech Aaron had never heard before.

“Something is seriously wrong,” Aaron said, pocketing his phone.

He followed Cameron out of the office and down the hall to the room off the Oval Office that Rick used to unwind between meetings. Aaron knocked once before entering, Cameron right behind him.

Aaron expected to see Wetherby but was pleasantly surprised to find Rick alone in the comfortable study. Aaron sat in his usual chair and allowed Cameron the chance to sit on the sofa beside Rick.

Rick held out his hand, silently asking Cameron to do just that. “We have a situation.”

“Yeah, I gathered that much,” Cameron answered, taking a seat next to Rick.

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Rick appeared nervous, his brow slightly damp.

“How bad is it?” Aaron asked.

“I had to tell Benjamin Wetherby about us,” Rick confessed. “He’s going to talk to the Feds and the local cops about the dates on that list.” Rick gazed into Cameron’s eyes. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know what else to do. According to Wetherby, the authorities could use the information to try and link me with the murders that’ve been going on.”

“What did Benjamin say?” Cameron asked.

“That he’d already suspected the two of us were involved. He thinks he can get the cops to bury the information, but, like me, he also knows there’s a chance it could get leaked to the media,” Rick explained.

“And Larissa?” Cameron scooted closer and accepted the embrace of Rick’s arms.

“I told her it was her call on how she wanted me to react if the press got wind.”

“And?” Cameron prompted.

“She said she’d let it ride for now, but if the affair is made public, she’ll demand a divorce to save face.” Rick shrugged. “Better than I expected, actually. I guess I never knew exactly how much being First Lady meant to her.”

Cameron appeared uneasy, his gaze flitting to Aaron before returning his attention to Rick. “What does all this mean for
us
?”

Rick gave his lover a quick peck on the lips. “I guess that’s up to you. Broomfield could easily use the information to discredit me in the eyes of the American people. As a matter of fact, I believe he’s doing that as we speak. He’s been warned by the authorities not to go public with the information, but he’s a politician and will do whatever’s in his best interest.”

“Why’d you tell him in the first place?” Aaron asked.

“I didn’t. Benjamin said it was a matter of procedure. The Vice President is supposed to be informed in legal matters concerning the President. Although I think the unofficial rule was put in place to protect the President from a Vice Presidential slip-up, it might just have the opposite effect in this case.”

Cameron shook his head. “I still think Broomfield’s behind those pictures leaked to the media.”

“And I still agree, but so far we haven’t been able to ascertain where they came from.”

Rick rested his forehead against Cameron’s. “For now, I think we need to discuss how we ANARCHY IN BLOOD

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want to proceed. Should we carry on as usual or try to let the rumours die down before spending more private time together?”

Aaron suddenly felt like an intruder. He stood and cleared his throat. “If it’s okay with you, I’ll go call Gray. Maybe he can push his guys to find out what the hell Matthews’ real motivation is.”

Rick tore his gaze away from Cameron long enough to nod. “Thanks, Aaron. You know you’ve always been like the boy I never had.”

Aaron excused himself from the room and once again retreated to the Rose Garden. He flipped open his phone and called Gray.

“Hey, honey,” Gray answered.

Aaron’s blood pressure dropped dramatically at the soothing voice of the man he loved.

He quickly filled Gray in on what was going on. “…so that’s about it. Until we see what hand Broomfield will play, we’re in limbo.”

“Damn. That’s a hell of a way to start out your day.”

“Something like that. I don’t think Rick will give up his relationship with Cameron even if it means losing the presidency. I could be looking for another job before long.”

“Does that piss you off?” Gray asked.

“Not at all. I hate that Rick was put into this position in the first place, but I think he’s handling it with a great deal of character. Still, if I lose my job because of this, my name will be mud in this town.”

“Don’t worry. If something like that happens, we’ll figure it out and work through it together.”

“God, I can’t tell you how much I needed to hear you say that.”

There was a brief moment of silence between them before Gray spoke again. “This isn’t the way I’d planned on telling you, but I want you to know I’ve fallen in love with you.”

Aaron sighed, and dropped to the stone bench behind him. “I feel the same way. I’ve suspected for several days, but when you answered the phone a minute ago, I knew.”

Activity beyond the White House gate caught Aaron’s attention. “Uh oh.”

“What?”

“We’ve got members of the press arriving in droves. I think the proverbial shit is about to hit the fan.”

“Oh, fuck. I’m sorry, honey.”

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“Me, too. I’d better get inside,” Aaron said, making his way towards the door. “Call you later?”

“You’d better. I’ll get my people on their contacts. See if we can find out anything else,”

Gray answered.

“Thanks. From the looks of it, we’re going to need all the help we can get.”

* * * *

The day had been a complete cluster fuck. Not only had Broomfield taken the ‘gay’ ball and ran with it, he also publicly called into question Rick’s relationship with the murder victims. He pointed to the already-released photos as evidence of questionable conduct.

In an effort to further distance himself, Broomfield refused to call the President by his title and instead continually referred to him as Richard Douglas.

Just as Rick had predicted, several high ranking officials came to his defence. Senate Majority Leader Nathan Griggs, the most vocal of the bunch, went as far as publicly calling Broomfield’s motives into question.

At the end of the day, there seemed to be three clear divisions. Those supporting the President, those supporting the Vice President and the Democrats who didn’t know what the fuck to think of the entire mess.

Aaron shut down his computer. “Are you about finished for the day, Janice?”

Looking as tired as Aaron felt, Janice nodded. “Hopefully.” The loyal secretary bit her bottom lip. “You don’t think Rick played any part in the murder of those boys, do you?”

Aaron shook his head. “You’ve known him longer than I have. What does your heart tell you?”

A grin replaced Janice’s scowl. “Glad I’m not the only one who looks beyond the rumours to the true man beneath them.”

Aaron smiled and shrugged into his coat. “Try to have a good night.”

“I will. You, too.”

“No doubts on that one. I don’t even plan on turning on the television.”

There was a cold drizzle falling as Aaron made his way to the corner where Gray’s sedan sat waiting. “Sorry I’m late,” he said, climbing in.

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Before he could fasten his seat belt, Gray pulled him in for a quick, but deep, kiss. “I’ve missed you today.”

Aaron sat back in his seat and buckled up. “I missed you, too. Have you had dinner?”

“Nope. I was waiting for you. Anything special in mind?”

“Take-out and back to your place if that’s okay.” The last place Aaron wanted to be was sitting in a public restaurant at the moment.

Gray reached over and ran his knuckles across Aaron’s cheek. “If you’d rather, we could always just go to my place and order a pizza.”

Aaron turned to kiss his lover’s hand. “Sounds heavenly.”

Aaron closed his eyes and tried to shrug the awful day from his shoulders. He suddenly remembered one very important detail. “Shit. Do you mind going by my place? I’m out of clean clothes and I need more of my medicine.”

“Not at all.” Gray turned at the first available street and headed towards Aaron’s apartment. “If you feel up to it, why don’t you pack a suitcase? Unless of course you don’t want to.”

Aaron reached over and squeezed Gray’s thigh. “Thanks. It would make things a hell of a lot easier.”

Aaron settled back into the seat feeling perfectly content. Packing a suitcase wasn’t a commitment by any stretch of the imagination, but it was a step in the right direction.

Turning onto Aaron’s street, he groaned at the numerous news vans parked in front of his building. Why hadn’t he expected this?

“Maybe we should just keep driving,” Gray offered.

“I have to go home sooner or later unless I want to show up for work in stinky clothes.

You can just drop me off and circle the block while I get my stuff together.”

Gray shook his head. “And leave you alone to fight your way through that mess? No way.”

Gray eventually found an open parking space a block down and shut off the engine.

“You ready for this?”

“As I’ll ever be.” Aaron opened his door and pulled his coat collar up as far as he could before taking off at a fast clip towards his building.

They were still a good fifty feet away when the reporters recognised Aaron and the shouting match began. Used to being surrounded by press while travelling beside Rick, ANARCHY IN BLOOD

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Aaron tried not to let the flashes throw him from reaching the front door in the shortest amount of time.

“Mr. Baker! Is it true President Douglas is a homosexual? Aaron! Did the President ever come on to you? Is there a reason you look so much like the men found dead near the White House?”

Of all the questions being shouted by the crowd, the last one hit him the hardest. His steps faltered, but Gray was right there to put a supporting arm around him and steer him through the guarded security door.

By the time they reached the elevator, Aaron’s stomach was churning. “Maybe I should just stay here. No sense in leading all those assholes over to your place.”

The doors opened and Gray led Aaron inside. Once the world was shut out by the shiny brass doors, Gray pulled Aaron into his arms and kissed him. “You just get packed. I’ll figure out a way to get us both out of here.”

* * * *

While Aaron packed, Gray called in re-enforcements. After putting his plans into operation, he went into the kitchen, checking to see what kind of food Aaron had. Of course, there wasn’t much, considering Aaron had been spending most of his time over at Gray’s place.

Aaron came out of the bedroom and set his suitcase down by the door. “What’s the plan?”

“Kaplan and Tina are on their way over. Once they get here, I’ll explain everything.

How about some spaghetti? It seems to be the only thing you have that isn’t bad and won’t take too long to make.”

“Okay.”

Aaron shuffled in, joining him in the kitchen, but Gray took one look at the exhaustion on his lover’s face and made a decision. Gripping Aaron’s shoulder, he turned the man around, pointing him back towards the living room.

“Go, curl up on the couch, and try to take a nap. I’ll wake you when dinner’s ready.”

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He escorted Aaron to the couch, not giving him any time to argue. Kneeling, he took off Aaron’s shoes, and, after Aaron lay down, covered him with a blanket off the back of the couch. Gray brushed a kiss over Aaron’s brow and pushed back those blond curls he loved.

“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of everything.”

Straightening, his retreat to the kitchen stopped when Aaron wrapped a hand around his wrist. He looked down to see Aaron watching him.

“I’m just tired. Once I get some rest, I’ll be able to handle this better,” Aaron whispered.

Gray crouched down next to him and smiled softly. “Ah, but you see, you don’t have to handle this by yourself anymore. I’m here, and, together, we’ll get through all this bullshit.”

Aaron nodded and shut his eyes. Gray trailed his fingers over Aaron’s cheek before standing and moving to the kitchen.

The pasta was almost finished and the sauce bubbling when Gray’s phone rang.

“Mills.”

“Hey, boss. I’m outside and will be buzzing in a few minutes, once I wade through the circling pool of sharks parked in the street.” Tina’s voice held disgust for the news reporters.

“They’re just doing their job, Tina,” Gray commented, even though his opinion of them was pretty much the same as hers.

When he was terminated from the Secret Service, the media had a field day with the circumstances surrounding his firing. He’d learned several different ways to get into his house without using the front door. Of course, that led him to redoing his own security.

“Great. Is Kaplan with you?” He pulled the spaghetti off the stove and dumped it in the colander.

“Yeah. He’ll wait for us to call him before he comes in.”

“Tell him to give us ten minutes, then to buzz us. He can come up and have dinner with us while I explain the rest of the plan.”

“Gotcha. I’ll be buzzing in five.”

“Fine.”

He hung up and set his phone on the counter while he mixed the pasta and sauce together. A minute after he got it in a bowl and on Aaron’s table, the intercom buzzed.

Rushing over, he hit the connect button. “Yes?”

“Damn, Harold, let me in already. These bags are fucking heavy and I can’t get my keys out of my pocket.” Tina’s strident voice made him blink.

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“Yes, dear.”

He pushed the button to open the entrance door for her. He had Aaron’s door open by the time she made it upstairs. She handed him the bags she carried and stepped inside.