To Serve and Protect

By: BJ Williams
(© 2013-2014 by the author)
Edited by: Gerry Young

The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...

Chapter 7

As Thom paced the room, Craig had been pulled aside and had been conversing with a state police officer. Although Thom’s mind was on Andy, his eyes kept keen on Craig and the officer that was talking to him.

“Thom, can you come over here for a moment,” Craig called out and Thom immediately walked over to him.

“What’s up, sir,” Thom chose to use sir, instead of Craig, when he was around other officers.

“This is Lt. Jeanine Campbell who is with the state police, as well as the leader of the task force,” he said to Thom as he introduced the two. “I think … well, I’ll let her tell you,” Craig said and shifted the conversation to Jeanine, who didn’t look comfortable with the surroundings.

“Is there somewhere that we might speak privately,” she asked Craig, as she looked at the others that had assembled in the room.

“I’m sure that there is an empty office around here that you can use. Like I told you, I am adding him to the task force,” he said which was a surprise to Thom.

“When did this come about?” Thom asked.

“A few minutes ago; now go with Jeanine and let her bring you up to speed,” as he walked away, another officer stopped Craig at the door, Thom noticed that he had pulled Craig aside, and they were quietly talking; he made a mental note to ask him later about it.

Jeanine and Thom found an empty room where she could freely talk without being overheard. As they stood there, Thom felt as if he were under some kind of scrutiny, because her eyes never once left his from the moment that they had met.

“According to Craig, you have a special interest in this case,” she asked, and Thom nodded.

“Travis Butler was my partner and best friend, as is Andrew, his son,” he told her.

“Why don’t tell me what you think about the killings, Thom,” she asked as they sat facing each other.

Did she just ask me as if I was a suspect?

He gave himself a mental shake before he began to talk. He wasn’t sure that he liked her tone of voice or for that matter, what her tone insinuated.

“First off, I am sure that whoever is committing these killings is a cop,” he began and she nodded. “Secondly, I think that other than the way that each was killed; there is a common denominator that is connecting them.”

“I see, and do you have any idea as to what that connection might be?” her voice was more than suspicious; it sounded like she was waiting for him to make a confession.

“No ma’am, and I don’t like the tone of your voice. I love both Travis and his son, Andrew, and I would die if I could, before I would have let anything happen to them,” he said.

“It’s Jeanine and not ma’am, I so hate it whenever someone calls me that. And as for the tone of my voice, that’s just me and I am not interrogating you. I apologize if it sounds like I'm doing so, but we’ve had too many murders, and I need to see that they end and our killer is brought to justice.”

“Thank you for clearing that up,” he told her and relaxed as he sat back in his chair.

“While you have been up here, we received some evidence that you are not aware of,” she sat back and watched his reaction, and when Thom raised a brow, she continued. “We had a street person found naked and dead along the river where we think the killer got out of the river. His body was found by a security guard, who then alerted the police.

“How was he killed?” Thom asked.

“Blunt force trauma to the head with either a club or a rock,” she told him. “Also, when the CSI team investigated the area, they found a button with attached material from a police uniform next to the dead man’s body and…”

“Then we need to…”

“We are already on it, and as we speak, members of the task force are searching the hamper where soiled uniforms are deposited for cleaning.”

“I knew it, I just knew that he was cop, did you find anything else?” he inquired and she shook her head.

“This is the first really significant break we have had in the case.”

“I think a guard should be…”

“Already on that also, I am having a round the clock guard put on the room where both Andy and the boy will be in. As of yet, we have no idea who the boy is.”

“I do, his name is Jamie, but as for the last name, I haven’t a clue,” Thom told her and instantly, she raised a brow of suspicion.

You did say that, if given a reason, you would come out.

“What I am about to tell you must be kept between us,” he began and her demeanor showed that she was suspicious of him. “I mean it, or else I will remain quiet,” he threatened.

“Fine, I’ll keep whatever you say, between us, but…” she paused for what Thom took as ‘effect’. “If I feel that you are in any way a suspect, all bets are off,” she added and Thom nodded in agreement.

“I don’t think you’ll consider me a suspect, but I do have a gut feeling about what I think is the common denominator,” he, too, paused for effect. “It’s me, I’m the common denominator,” he told her and she gave him a dry smile as if to say, I suspected it.

But how could she, it wasn’t common knowledge that he was gay and she had never been around when I had used the hustler’s services. I also need to be careful how I word this, because what I did was illegal and it could mean my career.

“I knew each of the victims,” he told her and waited for her logical next question.

“How did you know them,” she asked and saw how uncomfortable he was to tell her. “Alright, Thom, let's put all our cards on the table here. I say this because I sense that there is more that you would like to say, but can’t, not without implicating yourself. Am I right?” she asked and Thom nodded. “I promise to weigh everything you say before I make a judgment.”

Thom let out a long sigh as he looked at her.

“I’m gay and I’ve been with all of the victims,” he blurted out and when she did not speak, he continued. “I’ve had sex with all the hustlers as well as my partner, Travis and his son, Andrew,” he confessed and silently prayed that she would not arrest him.

“I see,” was all that she said and got up and walked to the door, but paused. “I need a moment before we continue,” she said and left the room.

It felt as if time stopped and that eternity had begun before she returned. When she did return, her expression gave Thom no hint of what she was about to say.

“As you had asked of me earlier, so do I now of you, what we say will not leave this room,” he nodded his agreement. “What you told me took a lot of courage to do, and if you had been the killer, you would not have told me half of what you said. I also realize that you did implicate yourself in a known crime, and that being the soliciting of sex. But, and this is a big one,” she continued. “If I were to arrest you for that, I might as well do so to me, because I, too, have solicited sex from dancers at the area strip bars,” she could tell by Thom’s expression that he was putting what she had told him together. “I’m gay also, Thom,” she admitted.

“Oh, wow, talk about not seeing that coming,” Thom said as he sat back and ran his fingers through his hair. “But, aren’t you married,” he asked as he pointed to the wedding band on her left hand.

“Oh this, this is just a rue to keep other officers from hitting on me,” she confessed as she held up her left hand to look at the ring. “Now that we have it all out in the open, let’s discuss this common thread that links the killings.”

“At first, I didn’t put my having been with these victims as to the reason that the killer chose them, not until I overheard someone talking and mentioning how there had to be a common thread. I ended up thinking deeper on the matter and it came to me, that I had slept with every one of the victims.”

“Then the logical question would be, who would be jealous enough to kill his competition?”

“Don’t you think I have asked myself that question at least a million times, and each time that I do, I cannot come up with a name. Well I did, but he was a victim himself — my partner, Travis.”

“This is true and he was the very first victim, so that rules him out,” she said. “Then what about this … have you ever turned away someone’s affections?”

“What do you mean, turned away?” he asked.

“Well, has there ever been someone that hit on you, as in made a sexual pass at you, and you turned him down?”

Thom covered his mouth with his hand as he sat back and thought about her question. He let his mind roam back to every time that he had been in a gay bar and had some guy hit on him.

“Let me narrow it down for you,” she said when he had not answered. “Is there a cop that may have hit on you and you told him no thanks?”

The words had not been out of her mouth a second when he remembered what he saw when they had left the waiting room to talk privately … the cop talking to Craig.

“That bastard, he’s just outside in the waiting room talking to Craig,” Thom told her, both stood and rushed from the room.

When they reached the waiting room, it was empty. The other officers must have left once Aaron had talked to them.

“Thom, hold on here for a moment,” Jeanine told him as she grabbed his arm to stop him from leaving. “We can’t just approach him and accuse him without proof,” she said. “Let me make a call to your precinct and talk with my man there who is going through the used uniforms.”

Thom nodded and went with her to find a phone. They went up to the nurse’s station and after she flashed the woman her badge, she used the phone. Thom stood away from her and he stoically stood as watching her every expression and when her face lit up, he knew they had their strangler.

She hung up and pulled him down the hall to the room that he had been talking in. “Mark — he’s my lead man on the team — he found a wet uniform and guess what, it was missing a button.”

“Then we have him,” he said and her face went pale. “What … what is it?” he asked.

“The label is missing as to who it belongs to,” she told him.

“WHAT!” he exclaimed in frustration. “Can’t we catch a break or what,” he demanded to know.

“It’s not all bad, we’ll just have to wait until the uniforms are laundered and when he goes to pick it up, we’ll nab him.”

“And until then what happens, he’s free to continue his killing spree?”

“We’ll watch him; I already have assigned Mark to tail him. I also told him to remove the uniform and to bring it with him when he meets me.”

“Then I’m going with you, Jeanine, because…”  She interrupted him.

“I can’t have you there, you are too closely involved, Thom, to remain objective. We only have your suspicions that he’s the man, and until we get some solid proof, I need you to remain apart of all this.”

She could tell that Thom did not like what she told him, and that he was to ready to crucify the guy.

“Besides that, what if he’s not the one we suspect, what if it’s some other dirty cop?”

“I know it's him; my gut tells me it is; besides, there was never another cop that ever hit on me,” he assured her.

“Maybe so, but until we have solid evidence to back up our suspicions, you are to remain away from this case and … away from him. Am I clear on this?” she asked.

“Fine, I’ll stay away, but if he attempts to finish what he started with Andy and the boy, I’ll tear him limb from limb,” Thom assured her and she knew he meant it.

“Professionally, I can order you to stay away from Andy, but I won’t, because personally, you have every right as his friend to visit him.”

She placed a hand on his arm and gave him a look that said to him that she understood his frustrations.

“I know how you feel, Thom, but we need to do this by the book, or else he’ll walk on a technicality.”

“Alright, Jeanine; I understand where you're coming from, and I promise to keep my distance from him. But do me one favor; could you set it up that no one be allowed into Andy’s room but staff, his mother and me?”

“That I can do and I’ll do that right now,” she promised and together, they left the room. “Now go home and get some sleep, and as your commanding officer, that’s an order,” she said with a sympathetic smile.

“I’ll go see Andy first and then I promise to go home,” he told her.

*        *        *

Thom found out that while he and Jeanine had been talking, that Andy and Jamie had been moved upstairs to a room. When he found the room, he saw a state police officer sitting outside the door. He stood when he saw Thom approaching and held up his hand to stop him.

“Sorry, but no one is allowed in,” he said as he stood between Thom and the closed door.

Thom knew that it had been a solid twenty minutes since he and Jeanine had last spoken. After he left her, he had stepped inside of a restroom to splash cold water on his face to keep him alert.

“Lt. Campbell assured me that I would be allowed in to see Officer Butler,” he told the officer.

“Name,” he asked and Thom showed him his badge as well as his department issued ID. “Sorry sir, I did not realize that you were Detective Sullivan, go right on in,” he stepped aside and allowed Thom entry. “The doctor is in there with him,” he added and Thom nodded.

“Ah, Thom, I was wondering if you would be in,” Aaron said after Thom had closed the door. “You look like hell, Thom,” he told him.

“I’m exhausted, as you must be, but I needed to see him before I went home. Has there been any change, Aaron?”

“None, but his vitals are holding and that is a good sign,” he told him before he turned to the other bed, where Jamie lay comatose. “His vitals are not doing well, and I am afraid that we are going to lose him.”

Thom looked at Jamie, who simply looked as if he were sleeping. He remembered the last time that he had been with him, and how he had told him that he needed to get out of that business. Thom had even told him that he would support him until he could find gainful employment. Jamie had agreed with him, but now Thom wondered whatever happened to change his mind and end up here.

“His name is James, but he went by Jamie. He’s a nice kid and hated hustling and was supposed to stop hustling,” Thom confided.

“Like I said, he’s not doing as well as Andrew. Now why don’t you go home and get some sleep?” he suggested to Thom.

“I think that I would fall asleep half way home if I were to drive now,” he told him and Aaron smiled.

“Then go use my private sleeping quarters, I promise that no one with disturb you. I was going to crash for a few hours myself, so you take the bed and I’ll crash on the sofa.”

“I’d like that, because I seriously don’t think I could stay awake to drive,” he told him, but in his mind he had another thought.

‘You could always join me in the bed,’  but didn't, not yet, he decided.

After Thom said goodbye to the guard, he and Aaron took the elevator down to the floor where Aaron’s suite was. While they silently stood in the elevator, Aaron reached over and squeezed Thom’s hand tightly. Aaron stood so close that Thom could smell his cologne, and it intoxicated him.

“Here we are, the second floor,” Aaron said before Thom could pull Aaron to him.

Thom walked alongside him and stopped to let Aaron unlock the door to his mini apartment. They stepped inside and Aaron walked over to the window and drew the drapes closed, which plunged the room into darkness.

“Wait … I’ll find the lamp,” he did and switched it on, and the light spread a soft glow around the room.

Thom desperately wanted to hold Aaron … and more. He looked at Aaron as he removed his lab coat, undid his tie and removed it and exposed a part of his chest as he undid the top two buttons.

“There, now that feels much better,” he said as he draped the tie over his coat. “Follow me,” he instructed, Thom followed him into the bedroom, and Aaron opened a closet.

He pulled a sheet, blanket and pillow from the shelf and turned, to find Thom standing there, scrutinizing his moves.

“What are you doing?” Thom asked, even though he already knew.

“Getting myself what I need to make up the sofa,” he told him.

Thom took the things from him, and set them back on the shelf, before he turned back to Aaron. Instead of speaking, Thom began to unbutton the rest of Aaron’s shirt. Once he had it unbuttoned, he splayed his fingers across Aaron’s chest and eased the shirt over his shoulders.

The texture of Aaron’s skin was suddenly so fascinating that he longed to explore it with his fingers … his tongue. Aaron’s features were captivating and aristocratic; he was more than handsome; his looks were beautiful, and once again Thom splayed his fingers over Aaron’s rock hard chest.

Thom had fought the desire that had begun to build in him the first time he had seen him. Aaron was busy being a doctor, and Thom needed to remain professional as well because of what had happened to Andy and Jamie. Even now, with all that was happening, Thom knew that he should pull his hands away. He did not, could not, because he needed Aaron as much as Aaron needed him.

The feelings of dread and weariness that had taken such toll on him as they enveloped him seem to melt away.

“Thom, you're exhausted; maybe you should sleep and then tomorrow, we…”

Strange, how life could be, how human emotions could be changed by something as simple as the sound of someone’s voice … or their touch. The way he walked, the power of his smile, chemistry … it was all there and each gave what the other needed.

“I’ll sleep when I’m dead, but for now, there is only you and me;” Thom whispered so softly that Aaron had barely heard the words.

Thom looked at Aaron, and at that moment, he realized that Aaron was a man whom he could love.

“A shower, I need a shower and then…” he didn’t finish, but pulled Aaron along as he walked to the bathroom.

They were barely inside the room before Aaron had slid into Thom’s arms, trembling slightly, clinging to him, his arms slipping around his neck, his body pressed to Thom’s, his lips seeking his mouth. It seemed like an eon of ecstasy that they remained thus, and Thom felt a renewed sense not just of fervor and hunger, but of that deeper rise of emotion that came from the fact that they had made the subtle adjustment from wanting to needing, from carnal chemistry to a melding of body, heart and soul.

How can this be happening? I’ve known Aaron for less than a day, and yet, my heart feels as if it has known him forever.

They kissed. Thom undressed Aaron and then himself, and even managed to turn on the shower, all the while they kissed. Flesh, naked flesh, soap and suds and hands, Aaron touched him everywhere and Thom returned the favor. Aaron had magic hands, taking a slow course of discovery. Light on Thom’s shoulders at first, and then with a pressure that both alleviated strain and created the sweetest strain of a very different kind.

Aaron’s fingers played down the length of Thom’s spine, over his hips and Thom touched Aaron in return. The darkness of Thom’s hands over the pale firmness of Aaron’s chest was arousing. Thom’s palms rubbing over his nipples before his head lowered and his mouth caressed them.

The water sluiced through Aaron’s blond hair, turning it from a length of golden softness to a deeper shade of delight. Thom wrapped his fingers in it and lifted it, turned Aaron against him so that his lips could fall on his nape, below his ear, on his shoulders and on down his back. He turned Aaron and continued his erotic passion against Aaron’s abdomen, his thighs, then between them. He gripped Thom’s shoulders, quivered at his touch, moaned slightly, and then cried out, sliding down in sudsy sleekness to meet his mouth with the furious hunger of his own once again.

Aaron’s hands were first gentle, then fierce, stroking against Thom’s chest. They knelt together in a steaming spray that seemed almost like a fantasy, something keener, sharper, than Thom ever knew before. He stroked Thom’s cock with his hands and tongue, and Thom wound his arms around Aaron, bringing them both to their feet, bracing him against the tile, lifting him until he came back down on him and the hard arousal of his cock slid easily into Aaron.

Thom couldn’t believe what he was feeling for Aaron. It had been so long since his heart felt as if it had been torn from his chest, because of Travis’ death. And yet, here he was with another man, feeling that same overwhelming urge to need, to desire, and mostly, to protect him, a man whom he had known for less than a day. He nearly whispered the words to Aaron that he was more than physically one with him that he was falling in love.

Aaron clung to Thom, his arms were wrapped around his neck as his body responded to the thrusting of Thom’s manhood, buried deep within him. He had promised himself that after … he would never allow his heart to be vulnerable again. But here he was with a stranger, and yet, he felt as if he had known Thom for all of his life. He wanted to tell Thom that he had broken down walls that Aaron had thought to be invincible, but instead, he pressed his mouth to Thom’s, kissed him as if he would never see him again.

They both knew that if they were to say the words that their hearts were feeling, that the other would doubt such words, if they were spoken in the urgent desperation of the desire that drummed through each of them like a summer storm tearing the world asunder, so Thom whispered instead that Aaron was handsome, and the words that Aaron returned were ever more arousing.

Thom became aware of the ancient thunder throbbing through his body, his lungs and his heart, and in a matter of moments they climaxed together in the steamy spray. The winds of the storm that raged between them, eased while they remained entwined.

Later, when they had sudsed again, then dried off and slipped into each other’s arms to sleep, they wound up making love again, until sated and it was then that Thom held Aaron, spooned against him. Thom lay awake; he stroked Aaron’s damp hair, in wonder. He had thought that he would never find a man like Travis again, someone who had loved him fiercely, been brave and funny, sweet and strong, his equal, but able to make him feel his own strengths, that he was very much a man.

And of course, he hadn’t found Travis again. In a place in Thom’s heart, he would love and cherish Travis forever. But he had found someone unique, who was passionate and confident, his own person.  Different, and yet with qualities that resonated in his heart and soul.

Thom adjusted his position slightly, pressed his lips to the back of Aaron’s head and whispered, “I think I’m falling in love.”

Aaron gave no reply. Thom wondered if he had pushed Aaron too fast, if his great epiphany were not exactly shared. But neither did Aaron move nor deny him. Then Thom realized that he had found the words to say what he was feeling too late, at least for that morning.

Aaron’s breathing was soft, rhythmic, and his fingers curled around Thom’s. He was sound asleep, Thom, assumed and smiled to himself. It changed what he was feeling, deepened it, to know that Aaron would sleep so soundly beside him, that they would wake together come evening.

Thom wanted to sleep this way every night of his life, and wake beside Aaron again and again. Then his mind began taunting him. Would Aaron feel the same? he wondered. But would it be enough to really love him, and be tolerant of his job, would he be able to tolerate Aaron’s long hours? He rose in the night and padded naked to the window, looking out at the lights of the city.

He heard Aaron stir, felt him as he came up behind him, his arms encircling Thom’s waist as he laid his cheek against Thom’s back. Words failed him again. He simply turned and took Aaron into his arms, though tenderness reigned, he found himself afraid.

Afraid to break the moment…

Afraid that Aaron did not feel the same.

Aaron gently pulled him to bed and curled once again in Thom’s arms, his back nestled snuggly against Thom.

Take a chance with this man, he’s nothing like … but how can I tell? How can I be sure that this time, life will be fair and let me be happy with him? No one ever told you that life would be fair. Like all things in the world, life is filled with chances and this is your chance at happiness.

He let out a gentle sigh, turned to face Thom, and after a long, sweltering kiss, confessed with words what his heart felt.

“Like you, I, too, am falling in love, Thom.”

There, he said it and at that moment, he told his heart that this man was different, that he was not a man who gave idle promises and then broke them, but was a man who prided himself in his word and kept them.  They made sweet, passionate love, slow and easy, and when they had calmed the storm of love within them, they cuddled once again and fell asleep, each sure in the words they had spoken.

*        *        *

Aaron woke and found that Thom was gone. He called out to him, but received no answer and fell back against the pillow.

I knew what we had begun was too good to be true, he got what he needed and left me.

He rose from the bed, grabbed a quick shower and grabbed a robe that hung behind the bathroom door, slipped it on and walked out to bedroom. He froze, because lying naked on the bed was Thom, and he had a tray with breakfast on it beside him.

“Just in time, baby doll; I thought we might have breakfast in bed,” Thom’s voice was alluring, but most of all, it washed away all of Aaron’s doubts.

Aaron slipped the robe off and let it fall to the floor as he hurried back into bed.

“I thought that you…”

“Had gotten what I wanted and left before you awoke?” he finished the thought as if he could read Aaron’s mind.

“Something like that, and I’m sorry for ever doubting you, and I’m sorry for doubting your words.”

“I don’t know who it was or what he did to ever destroy your trust in men, but I am a man who stands beside my word, because if your word means nothing, then you are nothing also. But then I lied to you, lied when I said that I may be falling in love.”

Aaron’s face showed the hurt and disappointment he felt and when he opened his mouth to speak, Thom placed a finger to Aaron’s lips.

“I realized just a second ago, when I saw the look on your face when you saw me here, I knew then, that I was not falling in love with you, but, I was in love with you,” he whispered against Aaron’s lips.

Thom held him and as he did, he could feel Aaron trembling. He knew that when Aaron was ready, he would tell him who it was that had broken him, but in the meantime, Thom silently vowed to make Aaron forget that man.

They ate their breakfast, made wild passionate love both in bed and then after, in the shower, as each got ready to begin his work day.

*        *        *

Thom arrived at work just in time to make roll call. He had gone to see Andy with Aaron and reluctantly left. His mind was racing in a multitude of directions as he sat there and listened to Craig as he conducted the evening’s affairs. He cast his eyes around the room, searching for one officer in particular, the Riverfront Strangler, and when he did not see him in the room, a worried feeling came over Thom.

“That’s about it for the night, so stay safe,” Craig said and dismissed the men and women officers. “Ah, Sullivan, I need to meet with you in my office,” he said when he came up to Thom.

“Andy’s still the same,” Thom told him as the walked back to his office. “His doctor is hopeful that he’ll soon regain consciousness, but, he is still worried about the possible damage to his brain from the lack of oxygen.”

“And the boy, Jamie, how’s he doing?” Craig inquired, pausing to ok a warrant, when Sarge came over to him.

“Not so good, they have him on life support and without a next of kin to advise, they aren’t too sure how much longer he can remain like that.”

“Has he any brain activity?” he asked, and sadly, Thom shook his head.

“None,” was all that Thom could say without breaking down. “I’m so afraid for Andy, afraid that he’ll never wake up or worse, when he does he’ll not know me and…”

“Let’s not worry about that now, because, as the saying goes, he who worries suffers twice,” he reminded Thom and he nodded. “I do want to address this case. I have … ah here she is now,” Craig looked up and saw that Jeanine had arrived and together, the three walked to Craig’s office.

To be continued...

Posted: 01/10/14