The Merger – 44

 

Life moved on for Mike and Josh. With the arrest of David Leades and his cronies, Leades' Distributors was out of business. Both Leades and Charles Comstock had been denied bail and were sitting in prison, awaiting their trials.

On a more personal level, things were less smooth. Josh, usually so calm and cheerful—at least in Mike's opinion—was becoming withdrawn. For the last week, he'd done what he needed to when it came to handling his part of the business, but at the end of the day he'd come up with one excuse or another to go home alone. After spending so much time together over the previous three months, Josh's sudden desire to be alone meant only one thing as far as Mike was concerned. Josh was getting tired of their relationship and was trying to ease out of it. Without hurting my feelings by coming right out and saying let's end it.

Finally, Mike decided to bite the bullet and ask. It was a hot Saturday afternoon in late August. Mike knew Josh would be home from his weekly bodyguard job and doing the same chores they both generally did on Saturdays—cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping, the works.

He pulled into the lot beside Josh's apartment building, glad to see Josh's car was there. He parked, went around to the building's entryway then pushed the buzzer for Josh's apartment.

"Hello?" Josh's voice came over the intercom.

"It's me. Buzz me in."

"I'm…busy," Josh replied. "Maybe later?"

"Josh. Damn it, buzz me in. Please?" The pause was long enough that Mike was certain Josh was going to ignore him. Finally, the door buzzed. He grabbed the handle, opened it, and strode to the elevator. A few moments later he was walking down the fourth-floor hallway to Josh's apartment. He knocked when he got there.

When Josh opened the door, it was obvious something was wrong. Very wrong. His eyes were red and bloodshot, as if he hadn't slept well—or at all—the previous night. His hair was a tangled mess, and he was wearing a ratty T-shirt and old cutoffs. Mike reached for him, only to be rebuffed when Josh turned away to walk into the living room, going to stare out the window with his back to Mike.

At least he didn't slam the door in my face.

Mike closed it then followed him. One look around the room told him Josh had done nothing in terms of cleaning house—and probably hadn't even attempted to. A book lay open face down on the coffee table with a couple of dirty, empty cups next to it. He could see a pair of slacks and a shirt through the bedroom doorway, tossed on the bed as if Josh had stripped them off the moment he'd returned home that morning and left them where they'd landed rather than hanging them up. That was not at all like the Josh he knew and cared about. He glanced into the kitchen, seeing dirty dishes in the sink.

"Okay. What's going on with you?" Mike asked. "You've been avoiding me for the last few days. This—" he swept his arm around, "—is not you." Taking a deep breath, he said, "Are you trying to break it off with me and don't know how to tell me? If so, just spit it out. I'd rather know than wonder."

"No!" Josh whirled around, shock on his face.

"Then tell me why you've been acting like this."

Josh scrubbed one hand over his eyes. "It's…it's personal…and weak…and I don't want you to see me being weak."

"Why the hell not? We all have times when we are. It's part of being human and alive." Mike walked swiftly to him, gathering him in his arms. When Josh stiffened, Mike gently rubbed his back. "Tell me, please. Nothing you can say or do will make me think any the less of you." He looked directly into Josh's eyes. "Believe that."

Josh slumped into Mike's embrace. Barely above a whisper he said, "Today's the…the anniversary of the day my brother…the day Bobby died."

"My poor man," Mike replied softly. I'm such a self-centered idiot, thinking everything's got to be about me. When will I grow up? With one arm around Josh's waist, he led him to the sofa. "Sit, and I'll…" He grimaced, settling beside Josh when he complied. "I'm not sure what I'll do, other than listen if you want to talk or hold you if you don't."

"It's not usually this bad," Josh said, resting his head on Mike's shoulder. "Most times I just…remember him as he was, before it happened, and say a prayer for him. This week—" he shook his head, "—I can't get the image of him dying out of my head. Maybe it's because of all you and I have been through recently. Comstock. Leades. Seeing all the guns. Seeing Comstock and George getting shot."

"Possibly," Mike agreed softly. "Probably, I suppose." He tipped Josh's chin up so he'd look at him. "Why didn't you say something? Talking about how you're feeling might have helped. And before you go there again, I would not have thought you were being weak. That's not you, not at all. You're one of the strongest people I know."

"Except now."

"Even now, damn it. For the last week or more, you've carried the pain you're feeling and didn't break. Pushed me away? Yeah." He kissed Josh's forehead. "Which, honestly, scared the hell out of me. I thought you wanted out—maybe not from the agency, but from us, from what we've been building between us."

"Never," Josh protested. "You're the best thing that's happened to me in forever." He sighed deeply. "I should have trusted you and said something."

"And I should have asked sooner," Mike told him. "I apologize. I won't make that mistake again. I promise."

"Thank you—not for the promise, although that's part of it, but for being here. For making me talk, even though you were afraid of what I'd say. No one's ever cared enough to care." Josh grimaced. "Which is a rather redundant way to put it, isn't it?"

"Maybe, but I understand what you're saying. I do care, Josh. About what you feel, for who you are, for everything about you that makes you what you are. A very special man." Mike brushed one finger over his lips then kissed him tenderly. "Now," he said when the kiss ended, "how about you put on something a little less grubby and I'll take you to dinner."

"You don't—"

"I want to, so get moving."

Josh finally smiled—an open, happy one, even though Mike thought he saw a lingering trace of pain in his eyes. "I'll be back in a minute."

Mike took advantage of his absence to pick up the dirty cups, taking them into the kitchen where he made quick work of putting all the dishes from the sink into the dishwasher. He wasn't aware that Josh had come into the room until he said, "Thank you."

"No problem. Are you ready?"

Josh nodded, hugging him hard. "I am…now."

The Merger – 43

 

Before they went down to the precinct, they stopped by the office. Mike gathered together everything he'd found out about Leades, printed it up then put the papers in a folder for Detective Irvine. After going over all the information, Irvine agreed there wasn't enough, as it stood, for him to have done more than open an investigation into Leades' Distributors. "Starting from scratch, based on what you have here."

"So we're out of the dog house?" Mike asked.

"Provisionally," Irvine replied. "I've applied for a search warrant for the warehouse and talked with the owners of both the trucking firm and the company the merchandise belongs to. The trucking company gave me permission the search the truck without a warrant. It's at the impound yard and I'll be going over there as soon as the company that was the victim of the robbery sends me a list of what the truck should contain. If the contents match the list, we're good, and the two men who were with the truck will face robbery charges."

"What about Leades and his man?" Josh asked. "Will the charge of receiving stolen goods stand up in court?"

"If we find some of the electronics from the truck inside the warehouse, which we will, and Leades can't prove—and I use the term loosely—that he bought them from a company he believed was going out of business, we'll have him."

Mike snorted. "I doubt he'll have invoices for the goods, since he wouldn't have known exactly what the truck contained until after he was able to go through everything."

"Yep," Irvine replied. "He might have some faked invoices for other items in the warehouse, but all we need is this shipment to put him behind bars. As for the warehouse man we arrested with Leades? He's claiming he wasn't aware the goods were stolen. Proving if he did or not might be difficult, but he's a small fry. If he walks, he walks." Irvine shrugged then got up, indicating the interview was over. "Thanks for alerting me," he said to Mike. "But next time…" He shot Mike a hard look.

"Bring you in from the get-go if we run into anything else like this. Got it."

After they left the precinct house, Josh said, "He didn't scalp us, which is good. It means we can get breakfast before we go running."

"You're serious about running? On less than six hours sleep?"

"Yes," Josh replied firmly as they arrived at the car.

With a sigh, Mike agreed. "But you get to carry me back to the car after I collapse."

"Which will not happen," Josh said. "Stay the pace, as they say, and there will be a reward tonight." Wrapping his arms around Mike, despite the fact they were standing on a public sidewalk, Josh kissed him then grinned. "A preview of what it will be."

Mike smacked Josh's ass. "I think I could have figured it out for myself."

"After all this time, I would sure as hell hope so."

The Merger – 42

 

It was close to two in the morning when they heard a truck then saw the headlights as it came into the larger lot from the street. Both of them picked up their cameras but didn't move closer to use them until they heard the sound of the gate opening. Mike inched forward at that point, peering through the viewfinder. The semi was backing up to the loading dock. As it did, the roll-up door opened and two men stepped into view from the warehouse, silhouetted by the light behind them. One was burly, the other taller and thinner with dark blond hair.

The driver parked the truck, turned off the lights, then he and a second man came around the truck, leaping onto the dock to join the others.

"You're late," the taller man said.

"Yeah, I know, Leades. There was an accident on the freeway," the driver replied as he opened the rear door of the truck.

Mike was already recording the conversation, as well as taking pictures of the four men. The logo on the side of the truck said it belonged to a well-known trucking firm that various companies used to make deliveries, rather than having their own fleets. As the truckers and the burly man began unloading boxes, taking them into the warehouse, Leades watched, his arms crossed over his chest. "Be careful, damn it," he barked a couple of minutes later when one of the men, carrying a larger box, stumbled as he stepped out of the truck.

"Sorry," the man replied, but the look on his face said he'd rather have told him, "Fuck you."

"Did you get shots of the license plate and DOT number?" Mike asked Josh.

"Both of them," Josh replied, his words coming through Mike's earbud. "For pros, they got a bit careless. It's pretty obvious the DOT number's been altered, if you look closely—which with this camera is a breeze."

"I only buy the best," Mike said with a low chuckle. He thought for a moment then asked, "How would you feel about a change of plans?"

"Meaning what?" came Josh's whispered reply.

"I know a detective in the robbery division who would be real interested in what's going down here."

"You can get hold of him at this time of night?"

"Probably," Mike replied as he crawled away from the edge of the roof, bringing his bag and camera with him. He beckoned for Josh to do the same. When they were close to the fire escape, Mike got a cord from his bag, plugged it into his camera then his phone to transfer the photos he'd taken to the phone. He did the same with the ones Josh had gotten, then placed the call. He was transferred twice before reaching Detective Irvine.

"Why are you bothering me in the middle of the night, Mike," Irvine asked once Mike had identified himself.

"I thought you might be interested in someone who's receiving stolen goods. If you get your ass in gear, you can catch him in the act. Give me a second and I'll send you some photos."

"Go for it," Irvine replied, so Mike did. It didn't take long before Irvine asked, "Address?" which Mike gave him. "Stay where you are," Irvine told him, "and don't do anything stupid."

"Me?" Mike laughed softly.

"Yeah, you. I know you. I'll be there with back-up, ASAP," Irvine said before breaking the connection.

"He must really trust you," Josh said, still using his mic.

"I've given him good info before that he's acted on, so he knows I'm on the up-and-up. Now we sit and wait for the fun to begin."

It did, less than fifteen minutes later. Four squad cars pulled up silently behind the warehouse, disgorging officers, guns drawn. As Mike and Josh watched from their perch on the roof, the officers, led by Detective Irvine, approached Leades and his men.

"Stop what you're doing," Irvine called out. "Put your hands on the top of your heads and lace your fingers. You are under arrest for hijacking and robbery."

For a second, it seemed as if the men would resist. Then they obviously realized they were outnumbered and complied with Irvine's order. When he approached Leades, Irvine said, "David Leades, you are under arrest for receiving stolen goods."

Leades protested, saying, "I don't know what you're talking about. I purchased everything from a company that is going out of business."

"Told you he'd say that," Mike said to Josh. 

"Tell that to the judge when you're arraigned," Irvine replied as he had Leades put his hands behind his back so that he could cuff him.

The four men were escorted to two of the squad cars then would be taken, Mike knew, to the precinct house to be booked.

"Shall we go join the good detective?" Josh asked.

"You bet." Mike put everything back in his bag before they made their way down to the street then the lot behind Leades' Distributors.

"I should read you the riot act for not letting me know sooner what was going down," Irvine said with some asperity.

"I know," Mike replied. "But we didn't know if something was going to happen tonight or not. Everything we put together was conjecture, with no proof to back it up."

After instructing two of the officers to secure the truck and the warehouse, Irvine leaned against his car, looking at Mike and Josh. "Give me the short version of how you knew about this, when, and why." Mike did, with input from Josh. When they finished, Irvine said, "I want you down at the precinct first thing in the morning to give me a full report."

"It is the first thing in the morning," Mike pointed out, shutting up when Irvine didn't even smile. "Okay, we'll be there."

As he and Josh walked back to the car, Josh said, "Once again the mighty A and H Agency saves the day. And this time without any damage to life and limb."

"Thank goodness. Since he expects us there way too soon, I suggest we try to get some sleep."

"I agree, and you're driving, so at your place," Josh told him.

"Yep. And all we're doing is sleeping."

Josh rolled his eyes. "No duh. Who's got the energy for anything else? Oh, hell, there goes our Sunday…well, this morning's run."

Mike chuckled, putting his arm around Josh's waist. "I think we can postpone it until this afternoon."

"And break with tradition?"

"Josh, honestly…"

"Kidding," Josh replied. "Just kidding."

The Merger – 41

 

"Are we ready?" Josh asked Saturday evening as he got into Mike's car.

"As ready as we're going to be," Mike replied. He double-checked that he'd packed the night-vision scope for his camera, although he doubted he'd need it. "After all," he'd said when Josh had asked, "there should be enough light from the one over the loading dock, plus whatever comes from the warehouse when the door is open. For damned sure they don't off-load the goods in the dark."

Josh had chuckled. "But if they do, you're prepared."

They each carried one of Josh's Tasers and Mike also had a pistol in the inside-the-waistband holster concealed at the back of his jeans.

The drive to the warehouse had been done virtually in silence. They were dressed in dark jeans; black, long-sleeved T-shirts; and dark running shoes. When Josh had suggested, tongue in cheek, that they should darken their faces and hands, Mike had considered it for all of two seconds then replied, "We'd scare the hell out of anyone who saw us walking around down there."

It was just after nine when they arrived in the virtually empty warehouse district. Mike parked a couple of blocks from their destination, they got out, each of them instinctively touching the shoulder bags containing their gear, then began the walk down the side street leading to the warehouse next to Leades' Distributors.

"We have company," Josh said under his breath.

Mike saw what he meant. Two obviously homeless men were eyeing the fire escape he and Josh needed to use to get up to the roof. He quickly went over to them, saying, "If you're thinking of crashing up there, don't."

"Why not?" one of the men asked, eyeing him warily.

"I've seen cops checking it out when I was on my way to work."

"You work around here?" the other man asked.

"Yep. Me and my friend here are security guards for a warehouse a block from here." Mike pointed down the street. "We're running late 'cause my damned car decided to run out of gas."

"Serves you right." The first man cackled then said, "Still, thanks for the warning."

"No problem." Mike grinned. "We guard the warehouse, not the whole damned area. So if you're going to sleep somewhere around here, it's no skin off our noses. I just figured I'd warn you that rooftops probably aren't your best bets since the cops have started checking them pretty regularly."

The two men nodded, the second one giving him a thumbs-up as they walked away.

"Let's hope the cops really don't do that," Josh said while they waited for the men to disappear from view.

"No kidding." Mike jumped for the bottom of the fire escape ladder, pulled it down, and moments later they were on the second-story landing. As they had the previous evening, he boosted Josh up so he could scramble onto the roof, then with Josh's help, got up there as well.

Silently, they crossed to the far side, staying well away from the edge. Josh inched over, close enough to see down into the lot behind Leades' Distributors. Mike waited for Josh to signal it was okay before joining him.

The lot looked just as it had the last time they'd seen it—lit by the light over the loading dock and the one by the gate in the fence.

Mike took one of his cameras from the bag. Lying on his stomach, he looked through the viewfinder, focusing the camera in on the roll-up door. The image was so sharp that even in the less-than-optimal light he could make out the scratches and minor dents on the individual slats. He widened the focus to take in more of the lot then checked again. Now the view encompassed the area from the door back to approximately ten feet into the lot.

Satisfied, he left the camera where it was and retrieved a second one from his bag. Moving down to the corner of the roof, he got on his stomach again then looked through the viewfinder to check if the angle was right for getting shots of the truck's cab and front license plate. It was, so he beckoned for Josh to join him, handing him the camera when he settled down on his stomach.

"Remember," Mike said softly through the mic he was wearing, "we want pictures of the plate and the DOT number, which should be on the door."

Josh took a look then nodded, replying just as quietly through his mic, "Now we wait and hope they make a delivery tonight."

Mike gave him a hug, slithered back far enough to stand without being visible from the lots—the main one and Leades'—then went back to the first camera. Lying down again, he took a shotgun mic from the bag to record anything that might be said by the men as they unloaded the truck, and then settled down to wait.

The Merger – 40

 

As soon as they closed the agency for the day, Mike and Josh headed to their respective apartments to change from their work clothes to something more comfortable—and darker. Then Josh picked Mike up, since there was no reason for both of them to drive, and they stopped at a diner close to their destination to eat supper.

It was just after eight thirty and beginning to get dark when they left the diner. As they drove to their destination, Josh noted, unsurprisingly, that ninety percent of the buildings they went past were warehouses, with an occasional convenience store or small eatery interspersed on the main road going through the center of the ten-block square area.

"There," Mike said as they drove down one of the side streets, pointing to a small warehouse. It sat between two much larger, two-story ones that took up most of that side of the block. "The delivery entrance must be in back."

Josh turned at the next corner then into the area running behind the buildings. The two larger ones had several loading docks set directly on a paved lot, which was wide enough to let trucks access them. The warehouse belonging to Leades' Distributors had a narrow, fenced-in lot of its own off the main one, allowing a truck to back up to the small loading dock in front of a tall, roll-up door.

"They don't want anyone seeing what's being delivered," Mike said.

A logical conclusion, Josh thought, since deliveries to the other warehouses would be visible to anyone walking or driving by when they were happening.

Josh snorted. "Gee, I wonder why?"

Like the others, the Leades' warehouse was dark, no light shining through the two windows at one side of the entrance. The lot, however, was lit by two floodlights, one over the loading dock and the other by the entrance gate.

"They don't want trespassers," Josh said, slowing the car so they could get a better look. Since, at the moment, the area was empty, he pulled to a stop to study the fence and gate. "No trespasser is getting through or over that without setting off alarms, unless they know what they're doing."

"You can bet the same holds true for the building."

"No kidding." Josh continued driving, looking for somewhere they could leave the car so they could do a walk-by of the warehouse. He found it in the lot behind one of the convenience stores two blocks away. He slung his bag over his shoulder when they got out of the car, and then they returned to the street fronting the warehouse. The only illumination came from the streetlights on the corners of the block, lights over the entrances to the warehouses, and the occasional headlights of a passing car.

"A mugger's paradise," Mike said as they strolled with apparent casualness past the Leades' warehouse.

Josh nodded as he read results of the scan he was doing that would tell him what sorts of security were on the doors and windows of the warehouse. "Very high-tech," he murmured. "Not that we're going to break in, but interesting." He did that again with the warehouse next door for comparison. "Also good, but not nearly up to what Leades has on his building. I'd say that's a good clue that Leades doesn't want anyone coming in to check out his merchandise without him being there. You'd think he had drugs or illegal firearms in there, too."

"Hell, for all we know, he might," Mike replied. "Not that there's any way of finding out, even if we get inside as potential buyers for what he sells to people like Palmer."

"True. Now, let's check out the back to find a good vantage point to watch the warehouse."

That turned out to be relatively easy. One of the warehouses—across the alley from the lot belonging to the one to the left of Leades' building—was three stories tall and had a fire escape that went to the roof. The jump from there to the roof of the two-story warehouse opposite the one belonging to Leades was no more than ten feet, so getting to it was doable, as they discovered when they tried. There was a parapet running the length of the roof, giving them relatively safe cover to take photos, using a telephoto lens, of any trucks making deliveries to Leades' warehouse.

"I wish we could get closer, though," Mike said when they were back on the ground. "We'll be a good fifty feet away."

"Let's not press our luck," Josh replied.

"Still, if you could get me through the gate, I could hide behind that—" Mike pointed to the dumpster next to the loading dock, "—and get close-up shots of what was being delivered and the men doing the work."

"No," Josh replied adamantly. "You're not risking your life. You'd better believe they're armed. They'd have to be, to have hijacked the truck in the first place."

"Okay. You're right. Now, if we could get to that roof—" he gestured to the building on the right, next door Leades' warehouse, "—we'd have a better angle for photos and we could hear anything that was being said."

Without replying, Josh walked to the side street they hadn't driven down yet. "We can," he said. "Another fire escape. Of course, it doesn't go to the roof, but… Come on." After making certain there were no cars or people in sight, he jumped, grabbing the lower rungs of the ladder to pull it down. Then they climbed up to the second level. "Give me a boost," he told Mike. When Mike did, Josh was able to crawl onto the roof. Lying flat, he held out his hands, Mike took them and pulled himself up to join Josh.

"You're stronger than you look," Mike said. "But then I knew that." He winked, getting a grin from Josh in return.

They crossed to the edge of the roof, where they'd have a good view of the Leades' loading dock.

"Perfect," Mike said. "Thankfully, there's no moon to silhouette us while we're up here, so we're set for tomorrow night."

"And Sunday, if necessary," Josh replied. "It won't be this easy if we have to do daytime surveillance during the week."

"We bring our gear at night and camp out up here."

Josh rolled his eyes. "Not."

Mike laughed as they returned to the street the way they'd gotten up to the roof—then back to where they'd parked the car. "Your place or mine?" Mike asked once they were driving out of the area.

"Mine. That way I don't have to get up at the crack of dawn to go home to change clothes before meeting my Saturday morning client."

"Let me pick up my car, then, or I'll be cabbing it home."

Josh grinned. "You can get up when I do and I'll drive you home."

"Umm, no? Saturdays I like to sleep in, no matter which bed I'm in."

"I know. Lazy man." Josh shook his head when Mike gave him the finger. Half an hour later, with both their cars parked in the lot next to Josh's building, they'd showered and were in bed, doing what they liked best—making love before falling asleep spooned together.