Ellery Mountain 1 -The Fireman and the Cop (7 page)

By the end of the week Finn was going stir-crazy. Max was staying at his place when work at the mayor’s office was over and there had been no emergency callouts. Well, nothing apart from a small restaurant fire in the diner attributed to a build-up of grease and a sneaky smoke by a staff member. That had been the sum of excitement in Ellery and Finn was
this close
to losing it.

He’d been back at work two days but he felt the itch of irritation under his skin. He wasn’t sure if it was that Max was keeping his distance, or that there were no leads in the case of the person who wanted to kill him—if indeed that was actually real—or whether he spent most of his time around Max hard and wanting.

Max’s voice or proximity was enough to send blood south and he was fine—sore, but his legs were fine. This was ridiculous. Hell, he’d even resorted to walking naked from kitchen to bathroom but there was nothing. Not even a glimmer in Max’s eyes.

Then Friday happened.
Finn took his turn in hosting the regular meet up. He refrained from pointing out he was totally freaking fine as people had taken to looking at him with pity. ‘Poor guy, trapped in a fire, then crashes his truck. Clearly he needs looking after’.
Kieran arrived first and made himself at home, grabbing beer and chips and slumping on the sofa. Finn chose his own seat and the throaty roar of the Ducati heralded Daniel. Evidently Daniel arriving was some kind of unspoken nod that Max should leave, and making some really crap God-awful excuse for needing to be in the office, he left. Not even with a kiss or a hug, or anything remotely affectionate except a goodbye.
Daniel and Kieran exchanged glances.
Damn it, if they didn’t move out of reach then they were well on course for getting the brunt of Finn’s agitation.
“He said he didn’t want to interrupt,” Daniel said.
“We told him it was fine,” Kieran added.
In a smooth movement that belied some of the stiffness in his legs, Finn threw open the front door.
Max turned around midway to his car, surprise showing on his face.
“Get in the house,” Finn pleaded.
Max stood still for a second. “Finn—”
“Enough words. I want you to know my friends.”
Max shrugged and, squaring his shoulders, came back up the four steps and stopped in front of Finn, who blocked the doorway. Finn reached up and twisted his hands together behind Max’s neck.
Pulling him down he whispered, “Meet the guys, then let’s go to bed.”
How Finn managed not to climb Max like a freaking tree at any given point in the evening he didn’t know. Yet, somehow he pulled it off and they had a good night. Neither Daniel nor Kieran showed any problems with an added Friday guy and the four of them talked well into the night. It was only when midnight passed that Daniel made excuses to leave and Kieran got the hint as well. When Finn shut the door behind them and finally it was just him and Max, the tension started to increase.
“Finn…” Max looked nervous. He dug his hands into his pockets.
“I’m fine,” Finn said. “My chest is fine, my knees are fine.” He stood then pressed himself against the larger man. He twisted his fingers into Max’s hair. “Don’t make me kneel when I suck you off, though…” He deliberately tailed off and Max groaned.
That image was enough to get Max moving. Within minutes, kissing and pulling and guiding each other, they were both in the bedroom and Finn flicked on the sidelights.
“Lube, condoms—”
“Drawer—”
“Jesus…” Max muttered.
He had Finn pinned to the bed with hands and his chest again and Finn wriggled in pleasure. He gripped hard to the material of Max’s T-shirt and tugged him closer until it was bunched up under his arms. He couldn’t wait to touch his skin and tracked a pattern of touches across his back and down his sides as Max kissed him like there was nothing else they needed to do. Finn slid his hands to his own jeans and unzipped them.
“Off,” Finn demanded.
Max was quick to join in and he stood up and away and divested himself of all his clothing. Finn wriggled off his jeans and slipped off his T and boxers and near sighed at the completion of their naked bodies next each other in something other than a comforting embrace.
Max was hard and strong, and Finn wanted to touch and taste more and nothing was stopping him. Laughing, he pushed at Max until he was lying on the other man, pinning him to the bed. Max’s muscles bunched and released beneath his touch. At any moment the bigger, stronger man would have the upper hand, but before that happened Finn was prepared to take advantage. Kissing his way down past Max’s throat to his chest, he concentrated on the cinnamon-coloured discs, sparsely covered with hair. When Max bucked him up off the bed he knew he had found a pleasure point and with the devil inside him he licked and nibbled and sucked each nipple until Max was incoherent and begging for a touch to his dick. Finn could get with that programme.
He kissed his way down acres of taut, toned skin and reached the start of Max’s treasure trail. The texture of it against his tongue was exciting and he loved the insistent bump of Max’s dick next to his lips. Max wanted Finn’s mouth on him—that was obvious. Finn teased and kissed and licked and enjoyed every plea from Max.
“Please,” Max said. He twisted his hands into Finn’s hair and attempted to guide Finn’s movements.
Finn kissed around and above and below but avoided the one thing that Max was demanding until the grip Max had in his hair had gone past firm to painful. With a chuckle he tasted Max in one broad stroke of his tongue. Fuck, the scent and the sensation were overwhelming and all ideas of teasing were out of the window. Taking him down in a long swallow, he had Max incoherently babbling nonsense mixed in with curse words. Finn felt powerful and in control.
“I want…fuck…my mouth on you…” Max said and Finn wasn’t going to deny that.
He shifted his body to give Max access to his own dick, but nearly lost his insistent rhythm after Max pulled him roughly to him and closed his lips around Finn’s cock. Hell, he was going to lose it and he wanted Max inside him. He reached diagonally to where he had dropped the lube then pushed it up to Max’s chest. He only let go after he felt Max take it. He closed his eyes and spread his legs a little more. He wanted Max’s fingers in there, one, two, hell anything, then he wanted Max to fuck him into next week.
He felt the cool slippery lube and Max’s fingers as he pushed and explored. Max kept on sucking and drawing his dick deeper each time. Unable to concentrate on what he was doing to Max with Max himself driving Finn to the edge, he released him and grabbed a condom. Rolling it expertly onto Max’s cock, he whimpered. Max licked and loosened him ready for this. Finn consciously rocked himself from Max’s mouth to his fingers then before it got too much he was twisting around and away. If Max didn’t get on with fucking him soon then he was going to come just from touch alone.
Max looked at him with a serious expression. “What do you want, Finn?” he said.
Finn wasn’t ready to stop and discuss. It had been months since he had done this. He wanted Max to make him
feel
.
“In me,” he said, his voice shaky.
Max arranged him on his back, lifted and separated his legs wide, and pressed himself against Finn’s hole. With determination on his face he pressed forward and Finn winced at the burn before Max stopped.
“Finn?”
“Not hurting me,” he managed to grind out, “it’s been too long.”
Max held his position for a few seconds then in one smooth move he was in, seated to the hilt, a look of ecstasy on his face. Finn had never seen anything so fucking perfect in his life. Max set the rhythm—hard, fast, punishing. Finn kept his eyes open the whole time and watched the expressions play on Max’s face. Max curled over him, pegging his prostate on seemingly every pass. Finn needed more contact and moved his hand to circle Max’s dick. All he needed was just a bit more, just one more…just…
Max captured his lips in a kiss, hot and wet and hard. Connected as they were, Finn’s balls tightened and he came harder than he ever remembered.
Max stuttered in his movements and he closed his eyes briefly then opened them wide, and Finn could see orgasm take Max over the edge. Beautiful.
They did a cursory cleanup but what Finn really wanted was to curl together and fall asleep.
“That was…you’re beautiful…” Max whispered praise against Finn’s hot skin. “Thank you,” Finn murmured. “Thank you.”

Mountain Cabins.”
“I’ll drive there, I’m five out,” Max confirmed. “Ellery Cabins,” Max said to a waking
Finn.
“Daniel and his mom… Kieran…” Finn said.
He was dressed and ready in seconds and Finn rolled out of bed with utter focus. Max
didn’t even consider waiting for Finn. A minute could be the difference between controlling
a fire or letting it spread.
“I’ll follow you there,” Finn said as Max left the house.
Max jumped the steps, climbed into his truck and gunned the engine. He headed up the
mountain to where the cabins were and could see the glow in the sky well before he reached
the entrance to the Ellery resort. That didn’t bode well. What he found was chaos. Two
cabins were on fire. There were maybe eight or nine others and Max’s first instinct was that
this fire could spread. There was a woman in PJs and a blanket standing in shock being held
by Daniel, and Kieran standing next to them. Quickly, he pulled on his fire-retardant coat
and pants, safety-toed boots, fire helmet with its shield and his SCBA and listened for
Quinn’s instructions.
No more than ten minutes had passed since his callout, but even he could see it was too
late to save the two wooden structures. He assisted the team and listened to the chatter.
There was a body in the second cabin. By the time they got here, that cabin had been burning
well and there’d been no chance of getting to whoever the hell was inside. Bile rose inside
him—he’d seen enough death to have a healthy respect for it but that didn’t mean it didn’t
make him sick.
The other cabin was destroyed as well, but apparently the owner, it seemed to be
Daniel’s mom, had woken and managed to get out. It wasn’t until they were putting up the
hoses that he looked around to notice that Daniel, his mom and Kieran had disappeared. He couldn’t see Finn either and he assumed Finn had taken the others to another cabin, or even back to his house. This was a bad fire and Finn wouldn’t want anyone to see what was in
cabin one.
“Whose cabin is it?” one of the other volunteer guys asked. “Was it Fitz? Is he still in
there?”
“He’s out back. Max, come back here,” Quinn called from the other side of the
blackened shell of the cabin.
Max crossed to where Quinn stood then looked down at the face of the man who had
stumbled out of the cop building fire where he had rescued Finn. Mike Fitzgerald. He wasn’t burned. He wasn’t actually in the structure itself, but he was dead from a
bullet wound through his forehead. His broken body was left on the back porch. Whoever
had killed him—and it had to be murder—had set a fire to cover their tracks, maybe in the
hope that the fire would destroy evidence. The fire had spread, radiated to the other cabin,
but the dead man remained untouched by fire.
The scene was still, and the smoke burned his nostrils. The destruction was absolute
and the coroners had arrived to remove the body. Their first reaction matched Max’s instinct.
Fitz had not died in the fire, he’d been murdered beforehand with a bullet to the face. The
fire damage to his body, what little there was, had been post-mortem.
So much destruction. There wasn’t just a firebug to deal with, there was murder.

Daniel’s cabin was easy to spot, the gleaming red Ducati parked up under an overhang. Max knocked on the door and Daniel opened it with a look of defeat on his face. Gone was the confident, cocky Marine and in his place was a son worried for his mom.

“It’s all gone, isn’t it?” Daniel asked simply.
“I’m sorry, we couldn’t save anything.”
Daniel nodded. “At least Mom got out. Was Mike…is he…”
“I’m sorry,” Max said gently. He was used to this. This wouldn’t be the first time he had

delivered bad news, and it wouldn’t be the last. “Is your mom okay?”
“She’s okay. She’s lucky that Kieran heard shouting and saw the fire. He went to my mom’s cabin—she was awake and he helped her out.” He shook his head. “I was asleep. I should have been more alert—”

“You can’t blame yourself. You couldn’t have done anything more. I’ll take Finn home if you like, if he wants to go.” He might well want to stay with his friend and be a support for him and his mom.

Daniel frowned. “Finn isn’t here, Max.”
“He was following me. Right behind me.”
“I haven’t seen him.”
Max stumbled back a step. Exhaustion gave way to an unsettling wash of icy fear. If he

wasn’t with Daniel then where the hell was he? Back at the house? He had to be. Dialling the number even as Daniel called after him, he half ran to his truck. The call connected and a voice that wasn’t Finn’s answered.

Finn blinked the blood out of his eyes. The worst part of this, with a probably broken arm and definite concussion, was that if he made it out of this alive he was due another hospital stay. His head pounded and the blood trailed down to his mouth.

“He’ll be here in a minute or so,” Neil said. There was nothing in his voice, no excitement, or regret, nor did he appear to want a response.
Finn had followed closely behind Max out of his front door, but he’d opened it to Neil, the ex from college. The one he’d called a restraining order on. Everything had crystallised in the moment that the baseball bat had connected with his arm as he’d lifted it to protect himself. His radius bone had broken with a sickening snap. Neil had swung again and cracked him upside the head, stunning him enough to allow Neil to push and shove him with the bat back into the kitchen. Finn had crumpled to the floor, pulling himself into a ball in a vain attempt to lessen the effect of the blows, every blow accompanied by Neil’s curses.
Suddenly, the blows had stopped and there was complete and utter silence.
Sickness rose in Finn but he tried to focus. “Why are you here?” he asked through blood and a swollen split lip.
“You didn’t think I would leave you, did you?” Neil looked puzzled and Finn imagined he saw hurt across the other man’s face. “You were always meant to be mine. You just kinda forgot.” The last he added on a laugh dripping with sarcasm.
Finn resisted answering. First rule in the Academy—let the bad guys deliver their monologues, it inevitably gave you extra time. Although what he was going to do with the extra time he didn’t know. He couldn’t fucking move. One of the blows had opened a gash on his temple and another had cracked a few ribs.
“I saved up all I could and bought myself a car. Came all the way here and I see you helping that old guy and your world is all kinda calm so I stirred it up a bit. Got your attention. And the attention of that fireman who pulled you out. I was gonna do that, you know. I watched for a while, and I waited and I was gonna go in and pull you out, then you’d see past what everyone said about me and you would see the real me.”
Finn watched with growing horror as the man in front of him was lost in his own creation. He moved slightly and waited for Neil to stop him. But he didn’t. No sign at all of seeing the small shift. His cell was in his jacket, which had fallen to the floor no more than twelve inches away. He chanced another few inches towards the cell and the feel of the bat connecting with his knee was a pain unlike he had ever felt.
“Don’t you fucking do that,” Neil screamed. He leaned over and picked up the jacket before checking in the pocket and pulling out Finn’s cell phone.
Another smack to the head and Finn felt his consciousness slip away.
How long he had been unconscious he didn’t know, but Neil pressing down on his arm sent pain screaming through him and he couldn’t fight being awake.
“I only wanted your attention. Was going to save you.” He muttered the words and there was an emptiness to his tone that scared Finn. Neil was in his own world, in his own twisted reality. “You need to stay awake and listen to me. I saw what he did. That man, the big guy. He carried you out and then I knew he’d won you.”
What the hell? Won him? Finn started as Neil stood. He wasn’t sure how many more blows his chest could take.
Neil dropped the baseball bat at his feet and for a second Finn stared at the obscenely scarlet blood-tipped end. His blood. The blood he could taste in his mouth and that dripped in his eye. Fear of a very different kind knifed in him as Neil pulled out a revolver and methodically checked the safety and the bullets inside.
“I don’t like to make too much mess,” he said matter-of-factly. “The old man tonight. He wasn’t really the kind of guy this town needs. Do you agree?”
Finn wondered if Neil actually wanted an answer. Indeed, if he wanted anything outside of some manic episode of blood-soaked revenge.
“Answer me, Finn baby,” he said. He punctuated the words with a tilt of the gun and clicked the safety off. The noise was harsh in the otherwise quiet room.
“No,” Finn said. That was what he thought Neil needed to hear.
Feed their fantasy enough to stay alive
.
“You don’t believe that,” Neil laughed. “You and your bleeding heart. I bet you think an alcoholic who wastes your time is worth a minute or two. But me…” He stopped and stared into the distance. “I wasn’t worth that minute, was I?”
“You hurt me,” Finn snapped. He couldn’t help himself. He knew he should stay quiet but the words dripping from Neil were like acid on the skin. “You scared me.”
Neil pointed the gun directly at Finn and Finn closed his eyes. If this was the end he didn’t want his last image to be one of a madman. He wanted to remember his mom, his brother, his friends, and Max.
“That’s my boy,” Neil chuckled. “There’s the fire I liked in you. The one that had you fighting me. You loved it, when I hurt you, it turned you on.”
“No—”
“Enough. I’m not here to listen to you. I’ve had everything I can handle tonight.”
The cell rang in his hand and he turned it over to check the screen.
“Oh look,” he began conversationally. “It’s your new lover.” He connected the call. “You’d best hurry, big man,” he said with a maniacal laugh.
“Don’t you fucking hurt him,” Finn rasped. He coughed at a mouthful of blood and tried to push himself to stand. Neil might as well shoot him because there was no way that Finn was letting Max get hurt here.
Finn managed to stand. He shoved him hard against the gas range and gasped as the pain ripped through him. He stumbled, clinging to the range but managing to at least stay upright.
“I’m not going to hurt him,” Neil defended. “I’m going to shoot his face off like I did the old man.”
The relief that had washed over Finn at Neil’s initial words was killed in an instant. He pushed aside the sickening fear that threatened to engulf him and focused on what he could do to get himself out of this. Get him talking.
“Why did you cut the brakes?”
“That was perfect, wasn’t it? You and that fucking truck. That is what you used to leave me and that was as perfect a means to show you who was in charge.”
Finn coughed and saw blood flecking the cream range. He slid and coughed again as his fingers rested on the gas. Covering the action with a low moan, he turned the knob. He wasn’t sure what the hell it would achieve but it was all he had at his disposal. At least if he was shot now maybe he could take Neil with him? He closed his hand around the handle of a heavy saucepan, but there was no way he could lift it with his hand with broken bones. Fuck.
“You killed a man and set a fire,” Finn pushed out. “To cover coming for me?”
“It’s not been the same with anyone else. No man has been the other half of me like you were. Then you told on me.” Neil’s voice took on a sing-song tone and there was madness to it. “And they took me away. Did you know that? They put me in small empty white rooms and told me I didn’t understand. But I pretended I did and I got out of there damn quick. Why did you do that? Tell on me?” Neil took a step towards him and, reaching around Finn, he chuckled as he turned off the gas and moved the saucepan out of Finn’s reach. “Always the sly one,” he said.
“I was nineteen,” Finn said. “I didn’t know I was doing it wrong.”
For a second Neil tilted his head and looked thoughtful. Then his lips twisted in a sneer. “You knew. You told them I had hurt you. But I was making love to you and I didn’t want to share you.”
“That wasn’t love—”
The sound of a car pulling up outside was enough to stop his speech cold.
Max?
“Company.” Neil crossed to the window and moved the blind with the snub nose of his weapon.
Finn knew how dark it would be out there. You couldn’t see people until they were in the glow cast by the soft porch lights. Neil slunk back in the shadows and waited.
Footsteps sounded on the stairs and the porch then the door was pushed open. Finn recognised the figure straight away. Daniel? Daniel stood there with his hands in loose fists at his side and Finn could see a look of pure innocence on his face.
“Okay, Finn?” he asked firmly.
“Daniel—”
“Where is the fireman?” Neil’s voice was strong from the shadows. Then just as suddenly an uncertain tone as he whined, “I want to kill the fireman.”
Daniel turned to face the assailant in the corner and Neil stepped into the halo cast by a small lamp. The gun was up and Neil’s eyes were wide.
“Tell him to go, Finn,” Neil said. “Tell him to get the fireman for me. You’re no good. My Finn loved you, he told me he wanted you, but he won’t touch you now. He’s with his fireman, no, he’s with me…” Neil shook his head.
Finn saw Daniel’s hand clench into a fist, relax then indicate two fingers. Was there someone out there? Was it Max?
“No,” Finn managed to force out. He didn’t want anyone hurt. “Please go, Daniel. I don’t need you here, I’m going with Neil. Then Neil won’t need to hurt anyone.”
“He already has hurt someone, Finn,” Daniel said. “Already killed a man tonight. Not with his hands, though, with a gun.” Daniel snorted his contempt.
The gun pointing at Daniel’s chest wavered a little. “I could have killed him with my own hands,” Neil said with a frown. “A few more chances and I coulda been a Marine just like you.”
“You think you could? You don’t look the type. Too skinny and weedy,” Daniel goaded.
Finn groaned. Why was his friend poking the hornet’s nest? Why not leave well enough alone?
Don’t rile him up
.