Taken in Hand (19 page)

to the door, Chad gathered up the wine glasses and soiled

napkins, taking them into the kitchen. It was hard to walk

with the massive erection he had, but he gritted his teeth,

determined Adam shouldn’t know.
Like he could miss the

huge bulge in the jock strap.
Chad made another trip for the

cheese tray, curious as to the low voices he heard in the

foyer as he returned to the kitchen. He was rinsing glasses to

put in the dishwasher, keeping his groin turned toward the

sink, when Adam came back in the kitchen. Before either

could say a word, a loud pounding took them both at a run

to the door.

Adam barely turned the knob before Cole shoved the

door open. “This was on my windshield.” He waved a sheet of

paper in Adam’s face. “There’s one on Benjamin’s too.”

* * * *

Adam seemed to be lost in his thoughts, drumming his

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fingers nervously against the arm of his chair. All Chad

could think of was those chilling words on the notes tucked

under the windshield wipers.
I gave you fair warning.

Retribution is near.

Bring it, you sick son of a bitch.
He clenched and

unclenched his fists. He’d like to get his hands on the

asshole for about five minutes. It would be all he’d need.

They found the same note to Adam stuck in his mailbox.

They’d called the police, dialing nine-one-one, and

keeping to their cover. Chad barely had time to slip back into

jeans before a patrol car hit the curb. Phillips and Johansen

arrived after the patrol officers contacted them and wanted

names of everyone who had been at the group session to

hunt down and interview, theorizing that someone had

followed them from the church. They’d interview Preacher

Rubin, too. With the new notes, the killer had given them a

connection to the church to justify it and wouldn’t serve as a

warning to Jeremy.

Chad kept his mouth shut until the frightened guest

went home. Once they were gone, he turned on Philips and

Johansen. “How the hell did he get by the surveillance

team?”

Philips answered. “They were following you in case this

guy changes his MO. They had to stay behind the other two

cars and hold back until they were sure you were all inside.

They didn’t get back into position soon enough is all we can

figure. It was just dumb ass luck he wasn’t spotted.”

“What about the cameras?”

“Some guy all dressed in black, baseball cap pulled

down over his face and collar turned up. We know he was

here, but it’s too vague to get an ID from.”

“Double the team. I want someone on Adam at all

times and someone watching this house when he’s gone.

That bastard could have come in and been waiting for us.”

“I’ll talk to the chief about it.”

“It’s not negotiable.”

“Calm down, Williams, I’ll pass that on. It’ll be up to

the chief. You know that. Did you pick up anything new

tonight?”

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“Only that the family moved around a lot, and he

repeated that his father died a couple of months ago. I didn’t

have time to dig any deeper.” He shot a look at Adam to

remind him why and tipped his head in his direction. “Adam

thinks he’s one of those sympathy addicts and lies for

attention.”

“Why?” Philips asked.

“Just a feeling he gives me,” Adam answered. “Hearing

he’s lied about his past doesn’t surprise me. He glories in the

attention he gets when he’s telling people how he’s suffered

and how righteous he is. Why are you interested in his father

if the man’s already dead, regardless of when?”

“Motive,” Chad explained. “The profiler thinks the

killer could be taking his rage against his father out on

similar men.”

“Was his father a college professor?”

“Insurance salesman,” Philips answered.

“Was he gay?”

“Not that we could find.”

“Then why is he killing gay college professors?”

All three men stared at him for a moment. “Fuck if I

know,” Philips retorted.

“Maybe one sexually abused him,” Johansen

suggested.

Adam gave him an incredulous look, rolled his eyes

and stood up. “I hate to be rude, gentlemen, but it’s late. I

have an early class in the morning. Stay if you like, but I’m

going to bed.”

The detectives cleared out quickly after that, leaving

them alone. Adam disappeared into his bedroom. The whole

ordeal with the police had taken over two hours, and Chad

was tired both physically and emotionally. He finished what

he’d been doing when it all started and put the last glass

into the dishwasher before turning back around to see Adam

standing with his hands shoved in his pockets, just watching

him. It startled him, since he thought Adam was already in

bed.

“You did well tonight, Chad. Very convincing.”

“Thanks.” Chad stared steadily back at him,

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determined to not be the one to drop his gaze first, but

finally unable to hold it in the face of Adam’s steady regard.

He sighed and dropped his gaze to the floor. “I’m going to call

the station. See if they got any prints or anything on those

notes.”

Adam nodded. “I’m going on to bed then. I…uh…I’ll see

you in the morning or after I get home, whatever.”

“Sure.”
Don’t worry, asshole, I get it. You don’t want me

in your bed tonight. No problem. Well, shit, I shouldn’t be there

anyway.

Adam started to leave but then turned back to him.

“Look, I don’t want this to be awkward between us. Last

night was…”

“A mistake,” Chad said in a cool tone. “I get it. Don’t

worry about it.”

Adam’s eyes darkened, but he turned on his heel and

took a couple of steps down the hallway, before pausing and

looking over his shoulder. Not making eye contact, he said,

“You know every man in the room wanted you tonight. I

could see it in their eyes.”

He turned and left. Chad listened for the bedroom door

to close before he turned off the lights and went to the guest

room. If Adam wanted this to be over between them, then

why the hell did he say things like that to him? Every man in

the room wanted him? He could truthfully say no one had

ever said those words to him before tonight.

Feeling hurt and angry he fell down on top of the

covers on the bed and stared up at the ceiling for a long

time, trying to make his mind a blank, but it wasn’t working.

After what was probably the most intense sexual experience

of his life the night before, he didn’t know how he was

supposed to be feeling. Once he’d convinced himself he was

gay and definitely attracted to Adam, suddenly Adam wanted

to distance himself from him in every way that had nothing

to do with the case—except he kept giving out mixed signals.

That annoying part of his mind that kept intruding on his

thoughts reminded him he was the one who started the

whole distance thing, but he firmly told it to shut the hell up.

He didn’t want to think about how Adam’s hands had

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felt on him earlier or how much he wanted to be in the

bedroom lying beside him. The sex between them must have

meant nothing more or less than Adam playing around with

a new toy the night before—which happened to be him.

As late as it was, he decided to wait until morning to

call the station and just go to bed. There was little chance

they’d get the notes processed before then. He undressed

and put on a pair of his old underwear and fell back on the

bed. Two hours later he awoke to his cell phone ringing

insistently in the dark.

He struggled to come awake and find it, trying hard to

get his eyes open enough to see. What had ended up being at

least a full glass of wine had relaxed him enough that he’d

fallen into a deep sleep, so that he mumbled “Williams,” into

the phone and then had to repeat it when the voice on the

other end, said, “Hello? Hello?”

“This is Williams,” he growled. “Who is this?”

“This is Sgt. Bailey from nine-one-one.” Waking up a

little more, he recognized her voice. She was graveyard shift

supervisor, a nice lady in her forties who was attractive in a

comfortable, motherly way. She was also really sharp and

competent. “Sorry to wake you Corporal Williams, but Sgt.

Johansen wanted us to call you. There’s been a murder, sir,

and I’m sorry to have to be the one to tell you, but it’s Sgt.

Phillips.”

“What?” he shouted into the phone, wide awake in an

instant. “What are you talking about?”

“The officers on the scene say he must have walked in

on the killer. He was at the home of some people from the

University. Some of the ones he’d taken a report from earlier.

From what the officers have been able to piece together, he

had some further questions for his report. He said he wanted

to double check something and doubted they’d be asleep yet.

He sent Sgt. Johansen home and never called for backup.

We started getting calls about shots fired from the neighbors.

We couldn’t raise him on the radio, and officers were

dispatched to the scene. They found him inside the

residence, fatally wounded. He died on the scene before they

could take him to the hospital.”

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A sick, sour feeling rose from the pit of Chad’s

stomach. Almost afraid to ask, he said, “Whose home was it,

Sgt. Bailey?”

“Benjamin LeCroy and Samuel Rosser.”

“Oh God,” he said softly, feeling the bile at the back of

his throat. “Tell Johansen I’m on my way.”

“No, sir, he said to tell you to stay put. He’ll talk to you

first thing in the morning, as soon as he gets more

information.”

Chad took a deep breath, trying to calm down. “LeCroy

and Rosser, were they…?

“They weren’t hurt at all. They didn’t arrive home until

it was all over. They stopped for something to eat after

leaving your location. Most of it’s guess work so far, but they

think Sgt. Phillips saw something suspicious and went to

check or was ambushed when he approached the property. It

appears he was shot outside the residence, though his body

was found inside, and his service weapon is missing. That’s

about all the information I have now.”

“Thanks, Bailey. Thanks for calling.” He hung up and

got dressed quickly. Johansen wanted him to stay put, so

security measures both here and at the other houses must

be thin after what happened. Probably most of the patrol

officers were at the crime scene. Shit, how did this keep

happening? He felt like he was about to shatter into pieces.

He wanted to put his fist through a wall or kick something.

He debated over telling Adam and decided he should. He’d be

angry if Chad didn’t wake him.

He went down the hall and knocked on Adam’s door.

He expected Adam to call out to come in, and startled when

the door quickly opened up. “Chad? What is it? What’s

happened?”

“I-uh-I came to tell you about your friends, Benjamin

and Sam…”

Adam’s face blanched of color, and he took a step

back. “Oh my God, are they…?”

“No, no, they’re okay. The killer was at their house

though, apparently waiting for them to come home. Sgt.

Phillips—you remember him, right? Older guy, about sixty,

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with gray hair?”

“Yes, of course.”

“He was outside waiting for them to come home so he

could ask a few more questions for his report. They’re not

sure of details as yet, he must have noticed something

suspicious, went to investigate. Someone shot him. He never

called for backup.” Feeling like he was about to explode,

Chad slammed his fist into the door beside him. “Shit! Why

didn’t he call for backup?”

Adam grabbed his arm and held on, not trying to stop

him, but perhaps trying to soothe him or calm him down.

Chad looked at Adam, feeling tears prickling the back of his

eyes. “He was shot, Adam. Shot and left for dead inside the

residence. He died at the scene a few minutes later. The

killer suckered us. He fucking suckered us, calling all the

attention to here and leaving them exposed.”