Twisted (13 page)

“No problem, sheriff.”

“Fine, I’m going to talk with Mike now. The deputy is in the bunkhouse talking with Jason. You can tell everyone you found a body, but nothing more, okay?

“Yes, sir.”

He got up and headed into the house. I was warmed up by now and jumped out of the hot tub, put the cover on, grabbed my towel, dried off, and wrapped it around me in record time. When I got in the house, every pair of eyes in the living room turned to look at me. Mike and the sheriff were in the office. Sandy finally asked the question everyone was thinking.

“Jeff, what happened?”

“Lemme get dressed and I’ll tell you, okay?” She nodded, and I ran up the stairs and to our room. Mike had laid out clothes for me on the bed, so I got dressed pretty quickly and headed back downstairs. I sat down on the couch in the living room. Smitty handed me a beer. I took a long swig. It tasted great: cold, wet, and revitalizing.

“When we were out skiin’ this morning, we decided to go along the river, past where the road is closed for the winter. We saw a bunch of ravens, and I reckoned there was a dead deer there. It wasn’t a deer. It was a person.”

“What! Was it anyone we know?” Sandy was usually the first to speak up.

“I couldn’t tell. It had snowed since they died, and we couldn’t see a lot of detail. We didn’t want to mess anythin’ up if there was an investigation, so we just headed back and called your dad.”

“What is it with you and bodies, Jeff?” There went Josh, speaking first and thinking later. “I mean, three guys died last fall around here, and now you find another body.” I gave him a long, cold look. He suddenly found his feet real interesting and wouldn’t meet my eye.

“You think maybe I had something to do with any deaths, last fall or now, do you?”

“No, not at all, Jeff. I just didn’t think. It’s a horrible thing, findin’ a body. We’re all kind of shocked.”

“You okay, Jeff? Like Josh said, that can’t have been a pleasant thing. You need a shot of whiskey?” Smitty had a concerned look on his face.

“When Mike gets done talking with the sheriff, I reckon neither of us would say no to that.”

It took about the same time for the sheriff to take Mike’s statement as it took for mine. They came out of the office just about the time Jason and the deputy came in from the bunkhouse. Jason still looked really green. I asked the sheriff if they’d like to stay and have dinner, but they had work to do, given the find we’d made this morning. No sooner than they had left, Smitty came in with a bottle and two glasses for me and Mike.

“Where’s mine? I saw the body too.” I reckon Jason was gettin’ back to normal. Smitty gave him about a third of a shot.

“Now, not one word outside of this room about the whiskey, or I’m gonna make sure you eat nothin’ but your brother’s tofu casserole for the next six months.” Jason really turned green at this and nodded at me. I picked up my glass, touched Jason’s and Mike’s glasses, and downed the glass in one gulp. The whiskey was like a cold, liquid fire going down. The sharp anise taste hit my throat, and I could feel heat in my belly. Jason had shot his little glass and was trying hard not to gag. Smitty set up a second round.

“Much obliged, Smitty. I think I’m gonna pace myself a bit. I wanna be able to eat all that delicious food Sandy, Maria, and José have been cookin’ for us all day.”

“Are you all right, guys? That cannot have been a nice thing to find.” Maria was looking at each of us with concern on her face. I could see the rest of our friends mirroring that concern. I smiled back at her.

“I reckon we’ll be okay in a bit. I know you guys are curious, but the sheriff asked us not to talk about it too much, and I really want to try to put it out of my mind. So, what game are we gonna watch?”

“USC is playing Michigan State in the Rose Bowl, boss. That sounds like it will be a good game.” José picked up my cue and started talking football.

Renee jumped in too. “You men will have to teach me about football. It really doesn’t make sense to me.”

“Anyone of us would be glad to teach ya, Renee.” When he spoke, Mike looked at Josh, who nodded.

“I’m gonna fix the big tray of nachos Maria and I put together.” Sandy got up and headed to the kitchen. Mike jumped up and followed.

“I gotta make a call, but as soon as I’m done, I’ll give you a hand, Sandy.”

“Thanks, Mike!” They disappeared into the kitchen. Smitty turned to Jason.

“You a big football fan, Jason?”

“Not really.”

“We all enjoy it quite a bit. You aren’t gonna get bored, are you?”

“No, I just like hanging with all of you.” The last bit of the Rose Parade was on TV. We settled down watching that for a bit. Mike and Sandy came in with a huge tray of nachos. The cheese was all bubbly hot, and Sandy had put on beans, taco meat, chopped tomatoes, onions, lettuce, jalapenos, and avocados. She decorated it with sour cream and had a stack of paper plates, forks, and a couple of jars of salsa. Mike followed with a bunch of beers and a bottle of non-alcoholic O’Doul’s, which he gave to Jason. Jason looked like he was trying to wag his tail. We all dug into the nachos. José finally raised his beer and proposed a toast.

“To friends.” We all echoed that and drank. Jason looked at Smitty.

“This beer tastes funny.”

“How do you know what beer tastes like, Jason?”

He backpedaled pretty quickly. No doubt he was thinking of Smitty’s tofu casserole. “Um… I just thought it would taste different, not so watery.”

“Amigo, that is American beer. American beer is okay with American dishes like nachos.” José smiled at Jason as he spoke.

Mike gave him a funny look. “Nachos ain’t Mexican?”

“No, Mike, they are not. Just like burritos and quesadillas made with flour tortillas. We eat them all the time now, but they are American.”

“I never knew that, Maria.”

“Whatever they are, they’re good. Thanks, Sandy.” Sandy blushed at Smitty’s comment.

Mike had sunk into the couch next to me and was leaning against me. He spoke softly. “I called my da… him. I told him about Jason, and he’s gonna come out and talk to him tomorrow. I thought he was gonna shit cinder blocks three at a time sideways, he was so happy to hear from me.”

“Did you talk with him much, or just about Jason?”

“Just about Jason.” Mike gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. I heard someone whistling the theme to
Brokeback Mountain
, but when I looked around, everyone had innocent looks on their faces. It was getting time for the kickoff. We’d made short work of the nachos. At halftime we planned on having the menudo that José had made with Maria’s and Sandy’s help. The game was a good one. Both teams were playing excellent defense and were struggling to score. When Michigan State finally made a touchdown, we all cheered. Just then the phone rang.

“Lucky Jeff Ranch, Jeff speakin’.”

“Mr. Connelly? This is Heather Jamison from Channel Four Nightly News. I’d like to talk with you about the body you found this morning.”

“No comment.”

“Mr. Connelly, I can guarantee my station will give you the best coverage.”

“I appreciate it, ma’am, but the sheriff asked me not to talk about it. Let me get an okay from him, and then we can chat. Does that sound fair?”

She snapped at me over the phone. “You and I both know he’s not going to okay that. That’s why I’m calling you. The public has a right to know. What difference does it make to you what he thinks?” She really was abrasive, and I was starting to get annoyed.

“Well, I reckon if the sheriff ain’t gonna okay it, we really don’t have anythin’ to talk about, now do we?” As I set down the phone, I thought I heard her say somethin’ like, dumb hick. Everyone was looking at me quizzically.

“Reporter, wantin’ a statement about what we found today.”

“News travels fast, doesn’t it?” Smitty looked at me.

“After the rustlin’ last year, our phone was ringin’ off the hook.” Sandy had a worried look on her face. We went back to watching the game. During one of the many commercial breaks, a news anchor broke in to report a possible victim of the West Coast Cutter was found today by some skiers in a small town just east of the Cascades. It didn’t take a whole hell of a lot of imagination to figure out what town and which skiers. The phone rang several times more during the first half, and each time it was a reporter wanting to talk with us. I finally turned the ringer off and let it go to voice mail. To give the ladies a break, Smitty, José, and Josh dished up the menudo, heated up the tortillas, and set out chopped onion, oregano, and chili sauce to accompany it. We were eating when the halftime show came on. It was, of course, interrupted by a newsbreak showing the very end of the road and some paramedics carrying a body bag to an ambulance. Sheriff Johnston kept saying no comment. He finally did say that a body had been found, but there was no official cause of death and the situation was being investigated.

I was more than happy when the game started up again. It had been a close game and well played throughout the first half. The second half was plagued by penalties against USC, and a few spectacular fumbles. Finally in the fourth quarter, there was an interception by Michigan State and a fifty-yard run for a touchdown, winning State the game. After the game, we cleaned up together and got the house in order. Jason went and checked the two rooms that were gonna be occupied tomorrow, and pronounced them in shipshape. Sandy had done that earlier, and I was happy to hear he was spot on.

After conferring with Sandy and Mike, I decided to make my stew with port and stout for dinner tomorrow. No one had listed any food difficulties. Finally the day was done, and everyone had headed off to home, hotel, or bunkhouse. Mike and I each had a final shot of whiskey and headed upstairs. A wind had come up, and a light snow was falling. The skylight cast an eerie, dark light. Mike was snuggled up with me. I felt a sudden need to be close to him, as close as possible. After the horrible specter of death we had seen earlier, I wanted to celebrate life. I pulled him into me, and he met me halfway, mouth open, anticipating the kiss. I could taste the anise flavor of the whiskey. I kicked the covers off and languidly crawled on top of him. I had my knees between his legs and my arms were holding me above him. The hair on our chests and bellies was touching, but no skin. He rubbed my shoulders and hair.

“I like the way you moved when you were climbin’ up on top of me. It’s real graceful and sinuous, kinda like a panther.”

I gave him a little growl and kissed him again.

“I could look up at you like this forever, Jeffy.” He smiled a satisfied smile. “You know when I say your name when we’re intimate, your eyes just light up?”

“I reckon they would. I love it when you say my name.” We continued to kiss and just move our hands all over each other. I could feel the roughness of the calluses on Mike’s hands as he moved them over my shoulders and back. I felt the roughness of his beard on my lips, the soft and tingling sensation of the hair on our torsos touching. Those sensations competed with the taste of him, a taste which I’d come to identify as Mike, and with his scent, a clean masculine scent composed of sweat, the muskiness he was givin’ off due to arousal, and the faint scent of the Irish Spring soap he liked. The faint light from the skylight cast the room in grays, blues, and silvers. After a long while, I got up on my knees and grabbed some lube from the nightstand. I lubed his ass up and my cock. I pushed his legs back so his knees were back by his ears. I slowly pushed against him. His hole resisted me for an instant and then opened to accommodate me. He sighed in pleasure as I slid in.

“You doin’ okay, buddy? That feel good?”

“Better than okay, better than good. That’s incredible. I love havin’ you inside me.”

“I love bein’ in you. You’re so tight, just takin’ hold of me and drawin’ me into you.”

I began a slow and easy fuck, taking my time and reading his reactions. He was moaning and whimpering with pleasure. I put some lube on his cock, and he began to stroke it in time with my thrusts.

“Sweet ass, buddy, feels real good.”

“Oh yeah… Jeffy.” He pulled himself up with one arm and began to kiss me as I pumped that beautiful ass of his.

“Fuckin’ you is incredible, buddy. Bein’ inside you is so hot. You like that, does that feel good?” I asked him as I moved side to side a bit.

“Real good. Fuck me, Jeffy, keep fuckin’.” He was squirming more. Just to tease him I pulled out and positioned the head of my cock right on his asshole.

“Fuck me.”

“What’s that? What do ya want?”

“Fuck me, Jeffy, please, I want you in me again. It almost hurts when you take it out.” I slid in and just held it there. His eyes rolled back in pleasure, and he gave a contented little moan.

“That’s what you want, ain’t it, buddy, your Jeffy’s big cock in you, fillin’ you, makin’ you feel real good.”

“Yeah, real good.”

“You know, when I hold still like this, it’s like I can feel your heartbeat.”

He put his free hand on my chest. “Our hearts are beatin’ in unison.”

“Christ, buddy, just bein’ this close to you is so fuckin’ hot.” I still hadn’t moved my cock since sliding back into him. He began to clench the muscles in his ass, using it to squeeze my cock.

“You like that, Jeffy?”

“Awesome. I love it when you fuck back.”

“Just hold it there. I wanna ride that huge cock of yours.” He began to squeeze even harder with his ass and buck against me. He really was riding my cock.

“Hell yeah, Jeffy. God, that’s good. I feel so full with you in me, complete, full.”

He was pulling on his cock, hard. I was lost in the intense pleasure of the feeling. Every time he whimpered in ecstasy, it excited me even more. I felt so incredibly hard. It was like my brain and my cock were perfectly synchronized with Mike’s brain and ass.

“Fuck yourself, buddy. Ride my dick good. Fuck yourself hard.”

“Hot, fuckin’ hot. It feels so good, ridin’ your big dick. Yeah, fuckin’ myself. You in me, feels like we’re one, in synch, in unison. Gettin’ close, Jeffy. You?”

“Yeah, buddy, real close.”