Six Degrees of Lust (50 page)

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starting to realize being alone is not such a bad thing. I’m working

on me, doing what’s best for me, and Julian wasn’t.”

“I have to agree with that. It doesn’t sound like it was a healthy

relationship.”

“Not at all. But it’s all good now. I’ll be out of the country

for a while. You remember about those editorials I told you I’m

shooting in Europe, right? And I’ve discovered this boy I want

to paint. If things go according to plan, I’ll be working on that as

soon as I come back to New York.”

“I’m sure the distance will help with leaving the Julian

situation behind you.”

“Exactly. Then I’ll be going back to my old hunting grounds.

Get my dancing on, see if I’ve been missed,” he finished with a

laugh.

“Which is where?” Logan took a long, deep drag from his

cigarette, letting it warm him up from the inside out.

“Why, Tangerine, of course! Best meat market in the city.

Not that I want to hook up, but I’ll definitely check out the boys.

Have you ever been there?”

“Way too many times. More than I care for in the past month

alone.” He put the cigarette out and looked at Chris straight in

the eyes. “I’d suggest you stay away from that place.”

Chris frowned. “Why is that?”

“Don’t you watch the news?”

“Not if I can avoid it!” A nervous laugh escaped him. “What

is it?”

“There’s a serial killer in our midst, Chris, one that preys on

gay guys.”

“Are you serious?” He covered his mouth with one hand, the

other arm holding his stomach, stunned by such news and the

fact that he’d had no idea. As a gay man with mainly gay friends,

that was something he should’ve heard about; then he realized he

hadn’t seen most of those friends in months. Had he been that

consumed by his drama with Julian?

356 Taylor V. Donovan

“Eleven bodies sound serious enough to you? Most of the

victims were last seen at Tangerine, so you stay away from that

place, you hear me?”

“Oh my lord…” Christian whispered, his mind working fast,

probably wondering if he knew any of the poor guys. Then he

straightened up and swatted Logan’s shoulder with one of his

perfectly manicured hands. “Are you out of your mind? You tell

me there’s a killer and you’ve been to Tangerine ‘more times than

I care for in the past months’?” He finished, making quotation

marks with fingers “What is wrong with you?”

“Not a thing. My presence in Tangerine is part of an ongoing

investigation. We’re on this fucker’s ass and won’t stop until we

catch him.”

“When you told me you were a federal agent I thought you

meant you worked for the IRS or something like that.”

“I’m a Special Agent with the Bureau,” Logan clarified. He

could tell Chris was really upset.

“The Bureau? As in FBI bureau?” The moment Logan

nodded Chris bombarded him with a hundred questions. “Why

is the FBI involved? Are you working with the NYPD?”

“We’re in charge of the investigation.”

“Why is that?”

“Because bodies have been found in different states and that

makes it a federal case.”

“Which states?”

“New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New Hampshire,

Rhode Island. We started interviewing artists and gallery owners

in the area after the killer left some artwork with the victims.”

“Are the pictures you showed to Gabi when you went to

Metaphora related to the case?”

“Yes.”

“I want to see them before I leave for Europe.”

“I can email them to you.”

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“That works. What do you want me to do with them?”

“Just look them over and let me know if you’ve seen them

before, okay?”

“Can you email them tomorrow?” Logan nodded and smiled

his thanks to the guy. “I’ll look into it. I just don’t get why some

people can’t live and let the rest of us do the same. That’s why I

don’t pay attention to the crap I get. Don’t need anyone telling

me I’m going to hell because I like to do guys.”

“What crap is that?”

“Anti-gay propaganda and literature. They have it all over

the place now. The internet, the mail…” He shook his head and

sighed. “Please. If there’s anything we can do to help, we will.”

“Thank you, Chris.” He smiled and grabbed the guy’s arm

softly. “But tonight, let’s just have some fun, okay?”

“Hold on a second.”

“What is it?”

“Just…hold on…give me a minute…” He massaged his

forehead with his fingers and paced around a little, which

confused the shit out of Logan. “What about Texas?” He finally

asked.

“What about it?” Logan repeated carefully.

“Have any bodies been found in Texas?”

“Why do you ask?” Not wanting to influence Christian,

he didn’t mention there was a chance similar crimes had been

committed in that state.

“Brax was here a few months ago. I remember he was upset

because he got word of a murder,” Chris explained, finally

stopping in front of Logan, his expression dead serious. “Same

shit. Gay guy, last seen at a club.”

“Are you sure? When was this?” Logan couldn’t believe what

he was hearing. Could it be possible? Could it be the same perp?

They were still waiting for either Detective Callahan with the

HPD to come back from his way too long medical leave or his

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newly assigned partner to contact them. They hadn’t been able

to confirm a thing, and Duncan wasn’t traveling to Houston for

a few more days. The new wave of murders had delayed his trip.

“Yes, I’m sure. Positive. Brax was very upset over it. He

mentioned it wasn’t the first body the police had found under the

same circumstances.”

“Shit!” Logan covered his mouth with both hands and started

pacing himself. “When did it happen, Chris?”

“Well, Brax was here in early May. That’s when he mentioned

it. I’m not sure when the other murders took place. Do you think

it could be connected?”

“One thing we don’t believe in is coincidence, Chris.” He

walked over to his friend and hugged him tight. “Thank you for

the information. We’ll look into it.”

“Will you keep me posted?”

“Definitely.” He smiled “Will you stay away from Tangerine

when you come back to New York?”

“I promise.”

“Thanks.” He hugged Chris again, then turned the guy’s tall,

lean body towards Besitos. “Now, I insist we have some fun

tonight. Please?”

“Come on.” Chris flashed Logan one of his flirty, infectious

smiles and grabbed his hands, pulling him towards the restaurant’s

door “I haven’t danced in…forever. Let’s go shake our asses

some. ”

And so they danced, and Logan had an excellent time,

alternating between the party room and the sidewalk whenever

they wanted to have another cigarette, and he managed to not

think about the Leviticus case for a few hours, or worry out of

his mind about Sasha, a kid that reminded Logan way too much

of himself.

Briefly he considered asking more questions about Gabi and

finding out her feelings toward Sam, but quickly squashed that

idea. A guy like Christian would never discuss his best friend’s

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painful past, and Logan admired the man for it. Besides, after

listening to Gabi that night, he wasn’t sure he wanted Sam to talk

to her anymore.

Especially not now that he seemed to be doing slightly better.

Sam deserved some happiness in life. He’d punished himself

enough for something he’d never been quite responsible for,

even if everybody else involved thought it was fine to hold him

accountable.

And if his best friend didn’t return from his vacation with

a few chinks in his armor, Logan would eat his favorite comic

book series.

All nineteen volumes and one hundred and twelve animated

episodes of it.

August 30, 2009

South Beach, Florida

The bright morning sun coming through the window was

unbearable, waking Mac up way before he was ready. Shit. Why

didn’t he think to close the curtains before going to bed? Slowly

he tried to open his eyes, but they seemed to be glued shut, and his

head felt like someone had poured cement straight into his brain,

making it very difficult to remember a goddamn thing. Then he

heard a soft moan and couldn’t help but sigh in complete bliss.

Every night Sam went to sleep almost at the edge of their

gigantic bed, but somehow always ended on top of Mac. His

black head rested on his shoulder, his arm surrounded Mac’s

waist, and his long leg covered Mac’s, firmly keeping him in the

bed.

Mac sighed again, happy to be sharing his body heat with the

sexy guy… sad that their vacation together was about to end. He

literally tried to shake that thought away and ended up wincing

miserably. Why the hell did his head hurt so fucking much?

He took a deep breath and waited to see if he’d woke Sam

up, but the guy just snuggled closer to Mac and snored a little.

Careful not to disturb him, he kissed his black head softly and

rearranged the covers around them.

Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and let clips of the

previous two days play in his mind.

They’d been like kids at Busch Gardens, going from one

amazing ride to the next, eating all kinds of junk between

attractions and taking pictures of everything in sight. Mac had

even managed to capture several of Sam’s sexy smiles.

After the park they’d gone for seafood and turned themselves

362 Taylor V. Donovan

in early to enjoy another night filled with passion, but still

managed to make it to the golf course around seven a.m.

Sam wasn’t able to relax.

At all.

He was far too competitive to just hit the ball and go with

it. Instead he’d put his all on the course, set on reaching Tiger

Woods’ level by the time they checked out of the hotel a little

before eleven.

Mac stretched a little and smiled.

It was Mac who drove them back to South Beach while

Sam dozed off on the passenger seat. They had sex as soon as

they made it to the hotel, and dinner was served in their room,

accompanied by the greatest wine. Then dessert had turned into

more sex.

They showered, finished the wine, and finally left the room.

Next stop was a gay bar with hot Go-Go boys and really good

music. That’s where the body shots started. After a while Mac

had made a comment about his admiration for the way people

let loose when they danced and Sam had said they should go to

a club.

Yeah… that was… yeah…

No way would Mac ever be able to forget what went down at

that club.

There was swaying, bumping, and grinding. Sweat and hot

breath and he’d been out of his mind crazy about the way Sam

had rubbed his perfectly pert ass against his cock all night long…

about the way in which Sam had kept him tucked against his side

whenever they’d gone for a drink.

He remembered going for a walk on the beach and stopping

by a tattoo parlor on their way back to the club, but everything

was a blur after that.

Had Sam really almost slugged a guy for shaking his ass

too close to Mac’s crotch even though the sexy guy had done

everything but pee in a circle around him to mark his territory?

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Had they gotten into a fight or something?

Mac really didn’t think so, but made a mental note of keeping

a safe distance between himself and other males if Sam happened

to be around, as his guy seemed to believe thirty feet was still too

damn close.

Watchful of his throbbing head, he disentangled himself

from Sam and swung his legs over the bed to try and get up, only

to be stopped by a strong hand on his thigh and some mumbling

he couldn’t understand.

“Wheuing?”

He brushed Sam’s hair away from his forehead and smiled at

the guy. “What was that?”

“Where the fuck are you going?” First he winced, then he

groaned. “God, I think my head’s internally bleeding.”

“Going to the bathroom, I’ll be right back.” He kissed Sam

lightly on his forehead and got out of bed. Once his stomach

settled down, he made it to the bathroom without throwing up

all over the place.

After using the toilet he washed his face, brushed his teeth,

and gulped down a glass of water, but it wasn’t until he looked

at his reflection in the mirror that he noticed the bandage on his

left forearm.

“What. The. Fuck.”

Mac knew they’d stopped by the tattoo place, but what the

fuck had happened after that?

A loud blast came from the bedroom, but he was too

distracted by what he suspected was new ink he didn’t remember

getting to care enough to go check on Sam.