To Serve and Protect II
A Change of Venue
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...
Introduction of the Characters
Andrew Butler, 35, and life partner with…
Michael Brady, 35, and Andy’s Neanderthal man.
David, age 20 is Michael’s biological son from a past adventure when he was 13 and a foster child at the girl’s parent’s house.
Thomas Sullivan, 52, is life partner to…
Dr. Aaron Smyth, 49, head of the Medical Center of Vermont
Shane and Adam Sullivan-Smyth, age 18, are identical twins that Thomas and Aaron adopted because they were orphaned.
Jonathon Davis-Butler, 20, son of Billy Davis and adopted son of Andy Butler
James Peterson, 33, Michael’s current boyfriend
Theodore (Teddy) Vandercamp, 35, Andy’s neighbor and pretending boyfriend
Chapter 6
The telephone rang and instinctively Andy reached for the receiver.
“NO!” Michael shouted but Andy had already picked up the phone.
“Hello?” he said groggily.
Silence greeted him at first. He thought perhaps it was James, that he might not appreciate Andy answering the phone in the house, especially in Michael’s bedroom.
But then he heard the strangest inhalation of breath, like someone choking, barely able to breathe.
“Andy!” A chilling voice. “Sweet, sweet Andy… back home again.”
Michael snatched the phone from Andy, “Who the hell is this?” he demanded to know.
As Andy watched, Michael’s face hardened and aged as he ground his teeth.
“You son-of-a-bitch…” he began; then he cursed and slammed the receiver down. He made a nimble leap over Andy, staring at the phone base.
“Michael, what the hell is going on?”
Michael ignored him and jerked open the drawer beneath the phone, pulled out a pen and pad, and jotted down the number displayed in a small box on the phone.
“Michael?” he repeated.
He shook his head, standing, walking around to the foot of the bed to find his robe. Aware that he was about to turn the light on, Andy made a mad dash for the towel, wrapping it around him as Michael reached the wall and hit the switch, flooding them with light.
“Don’t you worry about this,” he told him. “Excuse me, but I … I’ve got something to take care of,” he told him. “Important.”
“Michael, damn it, don’t do this to me; don’t close me out; tell me what’s going on!” Andy demanded.
But Michael was already out the door, closing it behind him. His turn, Andy determined. He threw the door back open, and began to follow him, until he remembered that all he had on was the towel. He dashed for his own bedroom and grabbed his black silk robe, put it on and hurried downstairs… to the living room.
Michael was on the phone there, despite the fact that it was nearly two in the morning.
“I’ve got a number this time,” he was telling someone tersely. He looked up; saw Andy, his eyes narrowed angrily. He read out the numbers he had written down. “Yes, fine … thanks and do let me know.”
He hung up.
“Andy, will you please go up to…”
“Not on your life,” he said, shaking his head.
He crossed his arms over his chest and approached him determinedly. “We gave up our marriage, we’ve got new lives, but I’ll be damned if I’ll have any ghosts following me this time when the movie is done. Michael, I swear, if you don’t start talking to me, I’ll walk out of this house tonight and take the first flight back to Vermont. Now, what is it?”
Michael sank down onto the sofa, “You can’t do that, Andy.”
“Why not,” he asked determinedly, staring down into Michael’s eyes.
“Because I’m afraid, is why not.”
“Of what, Michael? My God, honey, you’re a cop.”
“Of what might happen…”
“To whom?” he asked.
He hesitated, and then shook his head, “To you, Andy.”
Andy sank down on the sofa beside him, “Michael…”
“Damn it, Andy, you said I didn’t believe you. Well, you didn’t believe me. Believe me now, Billy didn’t just die, he wasn’t a suicide, his death was not an accident.
“Michael, damn you, I’m telling you again that I didn’t run to the guest house to see him that night!”
“I believe you, Andy.”
“Then…”
“Andy, it wasn’t you, it was someone though, and that someone killed Billy. And I’m damned afraid that someone may be ready to kill again.”
Andy stared at Michael blankly, aware that he was serious. He shook his head, trying to grasp the reason Michael could be so certain Billy had been murdered.
“I don’t understand…”
“Andy…”
“But I’m trying to understand.”
“Think back, you know as well as I do that Billy wasn’t in the least bit suicidal.”
“But he had done drugs, the coroner’s report said so, it said that he had a near lethal dose of heroine in his system,” Andy reminded him painfully. “Michael that was one of the reasons we fought over him all the time.”
“I know; his drug use was one of the reasons we fought. I had told him, as well as you, that if he didn’t stop them, I was going to toss him out. And what did you say to me … that was no way to help someone with a drug problem.”
“In retrospect, you were probably right, he’d have become a street person now, if he had lived.”
“Who are you kidding, he prided himself on his looks and body, how else did he ever get into the modeling business?”
“Well, it doesn’t matter now who was right and who was wrong, Michael, the drugs killed him.”
“The smoke killed him, Andy.”
“Yes, but he wouldn’t have been out flat while he burned to a cinder if it hadn’t been for the drugs in his system.”
Michael nodded, running his fingers through his hair. “Yeah, he took drugs, but he never overdosed,” Michael pointed out.
“That much is true, but that night he took too much; it left him unconscious. Besides the heroine, he’d been smoking pot or whatever he smoked in that blasted Oriental pipe of his. Didn’t the fire marshal attribute it to the possible cause of the fire?”
“He did,” Michael said. “But what I found strange, is where they found his body, next to the fireplace with the pipe beside him.”
“Why would that be strange, Michael, there had been a chill in the air and he was probably starting the fireplace and when he turned on the gas, he may have blacked out. The fire in the bowl could have caused the explosion,” Andy reasoned.
“I don’t believe it, Andy, not now or then. And...” he added quietly, “…someone out there knows Billy was murdered. Someone who’s afraid of us doing the movie,” he looked directly at Andy, as if he knew who it was.
“Why are you looking at me like that? How the fuck would I know who had a motive to kill Billy? Besides, you’re only saying that because of those phone calls.”
Andy was more concerned about Michael at the moment than the possibility that he might be right. That, in itself, was very strange and frightening. Michael had closed himself off from him after Billy’s death. And yet, immediately after the funeral, when everyone was in shock, he and Michael couldn’t have been closer. Perhaps because they’d clung to life, but then they had begun to fight, and Andy knew Michael had been suspicious of him; he had really hated him for it, and Andy still did.
Amazingly, Andy taunted himself; that hadn’t stopped him from leaping into bed with Michael. He really should have gotten around more over the past decade.
‘Sleeping around wouldn’t have been any help now,’ he thought.
Andy had never before realized just how serious the issue of Billy’s death was with Michael, that there had been more than the suspicion he might have been closer to Billy than he had ever let Michael know.
“I’ve had a number of phone calls,” he finally told him.
“Threatening phone calls?” Andy asked.
“Some. It’s strange though, there are two callers. One threatens that someone else might die if the movie is made, while the other says I’m the only one who can make things right.”
“Pranksters make phone calls; people make phone calls for kicks. Those nine-hundred numbers are making a small fortune for entrepreneurs aware of the fact that some people get off on things they can say and hear on the phone!”
“Andy, I don’t know how to knock sense into you!” Inwardly, Andy wanted to hit Michael and knock some sense into him.
“Michael, let’s look at this clearly. Ten years ago we had really achieved happiness. It wasn’t a temporary flash in the pan kind of happiness, but one that proved to last-for-all-time kind of happiness. We were both respected and honored detectives; we were married and had a beautiful son. We weren’t rich, but we had enough money where we didn’t have to worry. We had this…” he waved his hands around the room, “…house, which most policemen rarely earn enough to rent, much less own it.” Andy took a deep breath and exhaled it. “Then Billy came for a visit with Jonathon, and the happiness we had woven around our lives began to unravel. We … you … found out that he’d been doing drugs, and that sent you into a maelstrom of fury. Billy took his addiction to far and as a result, his carelessness killed him. Our love was like Humpty Dumpty, and it fell off the wall and no one, not even us, could put it back together again.”
“Andy, I’m actually enjoying this, we are talking and not fighting. You were always so passionate in your beliefs and ideas, and you haven’t changed one iota, but I’ll admit it, I am completely lost.
“My point is, Michael, Billy just didn’t give a damn about life anymore. Maybe if he had lived, he just might have committed suicide. He was a very popular and desired male model; why, his face was everywhere, from billboards to magazines, and he modeled for the best of our designers. But he just lost his way in the success he achieved and gave up on life. He rose too quickly to the top of his art and he couldn’t handle the sudden success and money.”
“And you’re still defending him, Andy.”
“Michael, he’s fucking dead! I can’t help but defend him. Look how many men and women in his field exist as he did — money, sex and drugs. In a way, we weren’t much different from them; we attained success in our jobs, we were comfortable, money-wise, but with all that, we still ended up divorced.”
Andy turned his face away, he’d been fighting tears for quite a while and he’d be damned if he was going to allow Michael to see him cry again.
“Andy, Billy was your best friend.”
“Oh yeah, he was, and I dug his sorry ass out of trouble time and time again, growing up.”
“You sound bitter, babe!”
“I am, because he taunted me about everything from our past; yet when he was in trouble with his addiction and needed my help, he didn’t bother to come to me.”
“Andy, Billy used you, all right; please see it; I do. He fucking used and played you like a musical instrument and you danced to whatever tune he chose. Besides, I never knew the truth of what was going on between the two of you.”
Again, that bitter edge was in Andy’s voice and he gritted his teeth, angered, but he was determined to remain calm and cool.
“You didn’t want to talk about it … this … ten years ago, so what kind of accusation is that now?”
“It’s not an accusation, Andy, all that I’m saying is that I’m confused,” he said quietly, his eyes lowering. He looked at Andy again, lifted a hand awkwardly and shrugged. “I wonder why, Andy. I was confident, even as a kid; assured, I knew where I wanted to go and how so, and when I met you, I knew that I wanted to go with you. Billy had the ability to make me strangely insecure.”
“And you are still wondering if I slept with him?” he demanded flatly.
“Andy…”
“I’m telling you now, Michael, with nothing to gain or lose, that there was never … ever, anything between Billy and me, never.”
“That might be true…”
“Might? You fucking asshole, you’re dating James and my life has been my own for a decade, so why the hell would I be lying to you now? And you have your nerve; you were the one who always had men throwing themselves at you!”
“The hell I did!”
“The hell you didn’t, and you dare say something to me like that ‘might be true.’ I…”
Andy broke off abruptly, hearing a car coming around the curving driveway.
“They’re home!” Andy gasped, forgetting the argument as a strange sensation of panic seized him. He leapt up, staring at Michael. “What do we do?” he gasped.
“About what?”
“About what? You know, about what we did,” he asked as he motioned with his head toward the upstairs.
Michael arched a brow to Andy and replied with an edge. “What’s the matter, Andy? Are you worried about Teddy? Andy, he won’t know if you don’t choose to tell him.”
Andy wasn’t sure why he felt so hostile toward Michael, but he did.
“Oh, I get it, Michael; you won’t tell my sweet thing if I don’t tell yours, is that it?”
“Yeah, something like that.
“And look at us, you in a robe which is more opened than closed, and me in this slinky robe,” he said and both of them quickly pulled their robes together and tightened the belt.
“Go make coffee, you always did make it better than I did. I’ll meet you there once they come in,” he told Andy and for once, he didn’t mind being told what to do.
Andy made a face at him, dashing for the kitchen and behind him; he heard the sound of a key twisting in the front door lock. A second later, the foyer was alive with the sound of laughter as the three men came in.
“Dad, you’re still up?” David asked, surprised to see him sitting in the living room.
“We both are, Andy is in the kitchen doing something,” he told him.
“Andy is still up at this hour? I’m shocked,” Teddy said as he made his way to the kitchen, followed by Michael and the others. “Sweetheart, what on earth are you doing up, it’s well after two in the morning?” he asked as he came around the counter and wrapped his arms around Andy’s waist from behind.
“Ah … I couldn’t sleep so I decided a bite to eat and a coffee might help me,” he lied; he hated lying, but since he had been back and with Michael here, he’d grown too accustomed to doing it.”
“Now, sweetheart, how many times have I told you the danger of calories taken in at night? We both know that they go directly to your tummy and thighs. I just got that six-pack chiseled on your abs, so please don’t undo it with calories.”
“I won’t, but I want something … a coffee with no sugar will be good and won’t damage my thighs or tummy.”
“Andy, you could eat a horse right now and go to bed, and you would never damage that awesome body you have,” Michael mistakenly said, which Jonathon was quick to pick up on.
‘You bastard … you’re still lusting over my guy,’ Jonathon thought.
“Coffee’s done. Anybody else want a cuppa?” Andy asked calmly as he poured a cup, but inside he was trembling.
‘Why did you have to go and pay me a compliment, Michael,’ he mentally asked. ‘It’s bad enough we’re both naked beneath our robes, which anyone with a brain could see we have been up to something.’
“A tad bit nervous, Andy,” Michael whispered to him as he poured himself a cup.
Andy quickly moved to Teddy, who pulled him against him in a comforting hug.
“My God, honey, you’re trembling,” Teddy noticed.
“I told you that I was hungry, I always tremble inside when I am starved,” he lied.
Teddy went to the refrigerator, opened it and after he’d searched the many shelves, pulled out a glass with celery in it. “Here, there are no calories in these … at least fattening ones. Eat away, honey.”
Andy grabbed a stalk of celery and took a bite, chewing noisily as the others watched.
“If you’re all going to stand there and stare at me, I’m going to bed. Goodnight!” he exclaimed and marched quickly off, celery and all.
‘Oh yeah, you and Michael did the deed,’ Jonathon thought as he watched his dad leave. ‘Because you are naked beneath the robe, and you never sleep naked,’ he added and turned to Michael, where he noticed when the man turned, that he, too, was naked beneath his robe.
“Hmmm,” he murmured without thinking.
“What was that for,” Michael asked him.
“You tell me,” Jonathon asked in return and followed Andy upstairs.
“Dad, wait up,” he said, catching up with Andy just before he entered his room.
“Yes, Jonathon?” he asked pausing at the door.
“You reek of sex,” he told him, which caught Andy off guard. “You and Michael had sex, didn’t you?”
“That is none of your business if we did or didn’t, Jonathon, now goodnight!”
“So you did just wake up and come downstairs for a bite to eat?” he asked and Andy nodded. “Then why are you naked?” he asked, as he shoved his hand beneath the gaping robe.
“Jonathon, stop … someone will see us, and I told you that we are not ever doing that again,” Andy scolded.
“Aren’t you entitled to some happiness, Andy? After all, we both know that this charade with Teddy is just for Michael’s sake. Besides, you were really into it when we fucked,” he said and instantly, Andy slapped his face.
“Hey … what was that for?” Michael asked from the top of the stairs.
“He was being fresh and deserved it,” Andy said, turned and slammed the door behind him once in the room.
Michael noticed that Jonathon’s crotch protruded and that, coupled with the slap, meant to him that something had happened between the boy and Andy that was very inappropriate.
“David’s downstairs waiting for you,” he coolly said to Jonathon.
“He’s your ex, remember it,” Jonathon said, pausing in front of Michael with daggers in his eyes.
“And you remember that he’s your father,” Michael countered.
Jonathon passed him but as he did, his shoulder hit Michael’s in a silent challenge. Michael ordinarily would have decked a guy for such a threat, but he chose to ignore it. Because the last thing he needed was to further alienate Andy.
‘I’ll find out what is going on … trust me, I will find out,’ he mentally promised and stepped inside his room.
* * *
Michael softly knocked on the door between the bedrooms, and Andy instantly opened it.
“We need to talk, Andy,” he persistently said.
“It’s almost three a.m.; I think it can wait until tomorrow.”
“Fine, but you and I are going to talk.”
“About what?” he asked.
“About Billy and the night he died as well as what just happened in the hallway between you and Jonathon.”
“We can talk about Billy all you want, but when it comes to my son, what goes on between us is none of your business, Michael.”
“You’re sleeping with him … aren’t you?”
“Don’t be ridiculous … he’s my son and incest is not my thing.”
“That’s not an answer, because we both know that he’s adopted and not blood related. So tell me, are you?”
His accusation was no different then, than it had been ten years ago. He did what he was accustomed to doing, whenever someone rudely crossed the line with him; he slapped his face hard and then stepped back.
Normally, Michael would have struck him back, but this time, he simply smiled as he put his hand to his face, saying, “I got my answer, Andy, but beware, you are treading on thin ice with him and Teddy.”
He turned away, closed the door softly behind him and locked it.
“Oh good, you’re still up,” Teddy said as he peaked into the room.
“Yes, but not for long. What do you want?” he asked a tad angrily.
“Hey, what’s the attitude for?” Teddy growled.
“I’m sorry, I just hate being here, Teddy,” he said. “Because no matter where I go in this house, all around me is … me. I decorated this house and everywhere I turn, I remember…”
“Then let me take your mind elsewhere,” he said pulling Andy to him.
“It’s late, honey, and you’re tired,” Andy tried to deter him, but already, Teddy was undressing.
“I’m never too tired for you, sugar,” he said as he slid out of his jeans and tossed them to the floor.
‘Damn, but he does look fantastic, with his chiseled body and handsome face,’ Andy thought.
A soft knock on the door sent Teddy running for the bathroom, leaving Andy alone in the room. It hadn’t come from the adjoining door, but from the hallway door. Andy quickly donned his robe and cracked the door open.
“I’m sorry if I disturbed you, Dad, but I want to say … I’m sorry and I will never again step across the line with you.”
“Shhhh, I’m not alone,” he motioned with his head toward the bathroom. “Teddy is hiding in the bathroom, thinking that you might be Michael.”
“Why hide, you and he are engaged, or so Michael thinks?”
“Even so, we’ll talk about this tomorrow, son. Now sleep tight and pleasant dreams, honey,” he gave him a soft kiss to the very cheek he had slapped. “I’m sorry that I slapped you, but…”
“I deserved it, Dad,” he turned and walked back to his room.
As he closed the door, he could have sworn that he had heard the adjoining door close as well. He locked his door and got Teddy from the bathroom. He had had the worse night of his life, he thought with the exception of when he had lost Billy and later, Michael.
“I’m going to take a quick shower,” he said. “Don’t leave until I’m done,” he pleaded and Teddy nodded, still naked.
“Shall I redress?”
“Maybe later, but for the moment, stay as you are,” he said.
He turned on the shower, adjusted the water temp and then stepped beneath the hot spray. Andy sudsed himself and set his face beneath the spray, rinsing away his sudden tears, as well as his fears.
‘Don’t think,’ he thought. ‘If you think too long, you’ll remember all the reasons why you shouldn’t be here. You’ll remember how you felt, the warm liquid fire that left you nearly delirious, when your hand touched Michael’s. Then you’ll remember Jonathon, and how you felt making love with him.’
Andy felt as if his life was falling apart. He was pretending to be engaged to Teddy; he’d slept with his son… okay, not his son, but he still slept with him, and to complicate it all, he’d slept with Michael, the one man he truly loved but who still thought him a cheater.
‘But you are still in love with Michael, you fool, You can reason in your mind all you want, but it’ll still have the same outcome. You want Michael back and the life you had together, restored.’
He turned around; a bit too quickly to let the water sluice through his hair, he slipped and screamed.
“Sweetheart, are you alright?” Teddy asked from the other side of the door.
“I’m fine … I slipped on the soapy residue in the shower; just give me a second,” he told him and when he looked up from where he was sprawled on the shower floor, there stood Teddy with a hand extended down to him and with worry in his eyes.
‘Those eyes … why did he have to have such hypnotic eyes?’’ he asked himself.
Teddy helped Andy to his feet. Andy was embarrassed and his face glowed crimson as he stepped from the shower. With one foot firmly on the rug, the other slid on the remaining residue and he lunged forward into Teddy’s arms and plummeted to the floor, with Andy atop Teddy.
“All you had to do was ask if you wanted me,” Teddy grinned and flashed perfectly white, straight teeth. “I’d better let you dry off before Michael comes charging in,” he told him and together they rose to their feet.
‘Oh, the danger’s not outside this room … it’s right here,’ Andy thought when he noticed how seductively, Teddy’s eyes surveyed his body.
Andy managed to wrap the towel that Teddy handed him around himself, but that was as far as he got. He stood there shivering, thinking that he should move, but was unable to do so. Even though the feelings he’d been dealing with, they were still ingrained in his memory, but now he had a sudden desire for Teddy. Seconds ticked by, and the guilt and shame had ebbed and a deep sense of need and longing had replaced them.
’Andy, what are you doing? You’re using this man to win back Michael, so why are you toying with his heart?’ he warned himself. ‘This is wrong … wrong in so many ways,’ he thought, yet he did not care.
He had no sooner thought the words, when Michael came charging into the room…
To be continued…
Posted: 03/28/14