One Plus Two Equals… - 35

"And the night you came here, and left after telling me what happened was a dream?" Julyan asked. "You said you needed to kiss me 'Not as a game but with…' You never finished that sentence, Auden. With what?"

"If I told you, you wouldn't believe me."

"Try me," Julyan said softly.

Again Auden's words were so low Julyan could barely hear them. "With…love."

Julyan enfolded him in his arms. "Is it so hard to admit?"

"I have no right to."

"You do!"

"You love Duane."

"In case you haven't noticed, you're part of him just as he's part of you. It took me too long to understand that. I do love him, with all his faults, and I have no problem with the idea of loving you, even though your faults make his seem tiny by comparison."

Auden arched an eyebrow. "I'm not all that certain that's a compliment."

"Suck it up and deal. It might be all you get until the next time."

"The next time? Oh. Yeah. I guess, given that it's almost time for the two of you to think about going to work, I should shift." Auden smiled as he leaned in, murmuring "Close your eyes."

Julyan did and felt Auden's gentle kiss. Then it changed. It was still gentle but different. He opened his eyes to find it was Duane kissing him and sighed fearfully. "Do you hate me now?"

Duane looked thoughtful then shook his head. "There was a moment there, at the beginning, when I did. Jealousy is an evil master and hard to escape. Then I understood what I'd been telling you all along was the truth. He is part of me. How could I hate you for loving him or him for loving you?"

"I love you so much." Julyan's eyes glimmered with tears of happiness. "More than I thought possible."

Brushing away one of the tears as it started to fall, Duane replied softly as he kissed his temple, "Perhaps as much as I love you."

"More," Julyan murmured, curling into Duane's embrace even though he knew they should be getting ready for work. "This is too weird."

"It is, I agree, but how do you mean it?"

Turning his head to look up at him, Julyan chuckled. "Whoever heard of a triangle involving only two people, but it's exactly what we have here."

"I hadn't thought of it that way but you're right, a triangle or a ménage à trois."

"Uh-uh. À trois doesn't work because you can't have sex with yourself. I mean…"

            Duane laughed. "I get what you're trying to say." After kissing him soundly he suggested, albeit reluctantly, that is was time for them to get moving.

One Plus Two Equals… - 34

Later, much later, their passion spent, Auden held Julyan in his arms. "If I hurt you, forgive me," he whispered so softly Julyan could barely make out his words.

Somehow Julyan knew what he was saying had little to do with the roughness of Auden's lovemaking and that it was only partially spoken to him.

"He'll forgive you," Julyan replied almost as quietly. "After all…he is you. And you are him. It's me he may not forgive."

"He will. He loves you."

"And you?"

Auden chuckled. "Wouldn't that be a bit egotistical for him to love what is essentially a part of him?"

"Not really." Julyan turned in Auden's arms so he could look squarely into his eyes. "If you don't love yourself how can you expect someone else to love you? However that wasn't quite what I was asking."

"Explain, please."

"Do you love me, or even like me? Or did you just need to know someone could care enough to accept what you are and let you…?" Julyan waved one hand over the bed.

Understanding and pain flashed across Auden's face. "Is that why you allowed this? To make me feel…accepted? If so you can forget it." Auden pushed Julyan away, glaring at him. "Only those who use me for their own ends accept me. It's Duane who people care about, Duane that…that someone can fall in love with."

"I could love you."

Auden shook his head. "No, you could love Duane, you do love him. I just… come as part of the package, the part you'd happily dispense with if you could."

Ignoring his words, Julyan asked again, "Do you love me, or even like me?"

"I can't allow myself to care for anyone," Auden replied defiantly.

"That's not what I asked." Julyan cupped his face in both hands. "Do you feel anything for me?"

"Lust," Auden replied with a smirk.

"No shit. I picked up on that from the beginning. Damn it, Auden, I'm serious here and you're trying to turn it into some kind of joke."

Auden dropped his gaze. "It's the only way I can handle things."

"Things, meaning emotions?"

"Meaning anything that doesn't have to do with my job," Auden replied tensely.

Uncertain why he was pushing Auden, only sensing it was necessary, Julyan pressed on. "Why did you approach me on the roof that night?"

"I believe you did the approaching."

Leaning back on his hands, Julyan nodded. "Technically, yes, but it was you who kissed me that night, and the next one."

"A game, that's all. Don't flatter yourself that it was more."

One Plus Two Equals… - 33

For the next month life continued on as normally as was possible for Julyan and Duane. The restaurant remained popular with its customers, to the point that Duane hired two more waiters and another cook to help in the kitchen. Every few nights Duane would disappear just as before. He told Julyan the job, which was the reason he was here in the city, had become several jobs. New Orleans was, after all, a hub of supernatural activity, more so than most other large cities, and not all supernaturals were friendly, to put it mildly.

Auden appeared twice at the condo, both times because he was severely wounded and didn't have the energy it took to shift. When that happened, Julyan cleaned and bandaged his injuries despite Auden's protesting it wasn't necessary.

"I heal, and fast," Auden had growled.

"And if they're infected," Julyan replied tartly. "Duane told me what happened the first time. Well, the first time I dealt with you, with him, with the both of you being wounded."

Auden smiled slightly despite the pain. "I suppose I owe you for that."

Backing away, Julyan held his hands out in front of him defensively. "You are not kissing me again."

"At the moment, no. I don't have the energy." The smirk on Auden's face vanished as quickly as it had appeared. "Go, get out of here and let me sleep. I promise Duane will be here when you return."

Again Julyan had seen the flash of something close to longing in Auden's eyes before he'd closed them. And again he wondered how he would react if Auden tried to do more than just kiss him, presuming even an attempt at a kiss was to happen again.

* * * *

"You're late."

"I told you I was going to Jack's to get the rest of my things," Julyan called out as he set the box down on the floor beside the door. Then, suddenly, he realized it wasn't Duane who had spoken. Stalking into the living room he gave Auden the once over, looking for whatever wounds had forced him to appear as himself rather than Duane. When he saw the man was apparently in good shape, he scowled. "Why are you here?"

"To see you."

"Well you've seen me, so please shift."

Auden shook his head, his eyes full of something Julyan was hard pressed to name, or to deal with. "I… I need…" Then with all the grace of a predatory animal Auden was on his feet. Before Julyan could move he found his upper arms held tightly in Auden's grip. "I need someone to care, if only for an hour."

"Why me?"

"Because," Auden replied, some of his smug self-confidence surfacing again, "you do care and you want to know what it would be like."

Julyan shivered at the intensity of emotion which flooded him and yet had to ask even though he knew the answer, "What 'what' would be like?"

"Damn, why are you forever asking questions?"

Julyan had an insane urge to reply, 'Because inquiring minds want to know', but didn't get the chance to say even one word as Auden roughly pulled him to his chest. Any desire to resist fled with the touch of Auden's lips to his. He felt a yearning to ease Auden's loneliness that he was unable to explain.

Lust and tenderness melded unbelievably in the kiss, each warring for ascendancy. When Auden swept him up, carrying him to the bedroom, Julyan's only thought was, This is right. This was meant to be.

One Plus Two Equals… - 32

"Screw you!" Julyan growled angrily. And yet he didn't try to pull away from Auden's hold on him. He looked into those amber eyes, sank into their gaze, and kissed him. It was like kissing fire. Heat seemed to course through him. He tried to end it, to break free of the passion which was devouring him. Never had he shared a kiss as intense as this one. Panicked, he put his hands against Auden's chest, forcing him away.

Auden let him, a strange smile on his face.

Julyan was shaking, his voice barely a whisper. "What did you do to me?"

"Kissed you." Auden traced the tip of his finger over Julyan's lips. "Kissed you the way I've wanted to. Not as a game but with…" His face seemed to crumble. "I need to go. I have to…" He was on his feet in one fluid motion. Gently he drew his fingers over Julyan's eyelids and Julyan closed them. "It was only a dream, Julyan, nothing more. Just a dream," Auden murmured.

When Julyan opened his eyes Auden was gone. "Just a dream." He touched his lips. "No, no, not a dream."

Hands gripped his shoulders from behind. Half turning, he looked up into Duane's face, saw fear and desire in his eyes. "Kiss me," Julyan begged, a sob in his voice.

Duane did, his lips soft and gentle against Julyan's, his tongue teasing, seeking entrance. Julyan opened to him as he had to Auden. Again he was engulfed in the heat of a kiss, however this one held more than just blazing need, although that was there. It was the caring, perhaps even love which united them and Julyan fell into it, not wanting this kiss to end.

It had to though. The need to breathe demanded it. They broke apart and Duane's eyes searched Julyan's. "It wasn't a dream."

"I know." Julyan looked away. "It was him."

Duane nodded. "He needed…to feel something. To connect in a way he rarely can, if only for a moment." He sat, easing Julyan onto his lap. "Don't hate him for that."

"How could I? He's as much a part of you as you are of him. He terrifies me, but…"

"You still feel something for him."

"Yes," Julyan whispered. "Is that horrible of me? It's not what I feel for you, it could never be, but still…"

"It's not horrible, it's human." Duane kissed his temple. "The lure of the forbidden, at least I think that's what you're feeling."

Turning his head, Julyan looked plaintively at Duane. "I wish I knew."

"Juls…" Duane hesitated before continuing. "If you…if you want to find out…"

Julyan shook his head almost violently. "I don't! How could I? It would be a betrayal of all I feel for you."

The relief Duane felt was written starkly on his face.  His whispered, "Thank you," cut off when Julyan's mouth took his in yet another kiss. It continued as he lifted Julyan from his lap into his arms, stood, and carried him to the bedroom, ending only because it was nearly impossible to undress otherwise. As they fell onto the bed, Duane murmured, "I think we're past just caring."

"And into love," Julyan said softly. But deep down inside, as much as he tried to deny it, there was still the burning question. What would he do if Auden appeared again?

One Plus Two Equals… - 31

"Hell, no!" Duane looked at the text message and then at Julyan.

"I take it you're leaving." They'd just arrived at Duane's condo, set on having a nice late evening together. Now it seemed that wasn't to be.

"No choice, I'm afraid. Look, if you want to stay…"

Julyan nodded, stepping into Duane's space to wrap his arms around his waist. "Promise not to come back in pieces?"

"Believe me, I'll do my best to keep it from happening, or rather Auden will."

"I guess that's all I can ask of…of both of you." He kissed Duane, "For luck," then watched as the front door closed behind him. "This sucks," he grumbled, plopping down on the sofa. Glancing around he saw the TV remote, snagged it, and began surfing the channels to see if there was anything even vaguely interesting. He found an old movie and settled down to watch it.

Somewhere along the line Julyan must have fallen asleep because he woke with a start when someone shook his shoulder. "Duane," he said sleepily, "what time is it?"

Auden chuckled. "Well after three in the morning."

Julyan sat up so suddenly he was dizzy for a second. "Where's Duane?"

"I think you know the answer to that."

Finally coming fully awake, Julyan scowled at him. "All right, to rephrase the question, why are you here and not him?"

"I wanted some time with you?" Auden sat down on the sofa, nudging Julyan's legs out of the way.

Julyan scooted as far from him as possible, huddling into the corner of the sofa. "Why?"

"I find you…interesting."

"Yeah, right. Well, I don't find you particularly interesting."

"Really now?"

Wrapping his arms around his knees now, Julyan shook his head. "Not the way you mean the word."

Auden moved closer to rest on hand on Julyan's knee. "Why don't I believe that?"

"You should, because it's true."

"Then why are you trembling?"

"I'm not," Julyan said in denial before he realized Auden was right, he was. "Leave me alone."

Auden smiled. "For a kiss."

"No way."

"Afraid?"

"No," Julyan spat out.

"Good." Auden closed the distance between them to cup Julyan's face in his hands. "Then kiss me."

One Plus Two Equals… - 30

Jack cocked an eyebrow when he saw Julyan and Duane hurry around the corner of the restaurant to the front door where everyone was waiting. "You're spending an awful lot of time with him," he whispered to Julyan. "Do I need to start looking for a new roommate?"

"Two nights is not 'a lot of time'. And no, I'm not planning on moving out."

"Well damn, and here I thought I could move my latest girlfriend in." He ducked when Julyan took a swipe at him.

A few minutes later, as everyone was getting ready to open, Duane went into the kitchen to check on Maxine and Phil to see if they needed any help. They didn't but Maxine drew him aside, a knowing gleam in her eye.

"I take it you and Julyan are becoming closer." She wrapped one finger around another to indicate how close.

"We're… working on it."

"Why do you sound so unsure?"

Duane chuckled. "Oh, I'm sure we're working on it, we just haven't gotten beyond that point, if that makes sense."

"You've at least tested the waters, I hope."

"Good grief, Maxie," her husband muttered.

"It's a legitimate question."

"Yes, Maxine, we've been to bed and before you ask…"

"I wasn't going to," she protested. "I may be nosy but I'm not that bad."

Duane laughed, thanked her for her concern, and went back to open the restaurant for the day.

One Plus Two Equals... - 29

"This gives me a lot to think about."

"Is that good or bad?" Duane asked.

"It's damned confusing is what it is." Julyan pulled away so he could really look at Duane. "I like you; I like you a lot, to be honest. But now that I know Auden is your other half and not some stranger trying to come on to me for whatever reason I…his doing that doesn't bother me as much as it did."

Duane snorted softly. "So you're saying I'm in competition with myself for your affections."

Julyan gave his words serious thought before replying. "You have my affections, and perhaps in time my love. That's yet to be determined and of course you might not feel the same. But there is something about Auden, something which… Damn it, this isn't fair to you and it is you I care about. I told him that."

"Yeah, I know. I was there lest you forget."

Suddenly Julyan's eyes widened in shock when something occurred to him. "When you and I…when we were making love…"

"Yes, he was there. Oh, I wasn't conscious of him if that's what's got you worried, but I knew he was there and he’ll remember it, just as I remember what he does when he’s the one in charge."

"That's going to put one big crimp in things. How can I go to bed with you again knowing he's watching? Although…" Julyan shivered when he realized the idea excited as well as appalled him.

"I wish we could test the theory." Again Duane took Julyan in his arms, this time to kiss him gently.

Julyan responded. There was no way he couldn't, even though a small part of his mind was thinking about the fact Auden was there too. He hadn't been lying; he did care for Duane, now even more than he had before because Duane had trusted him enough to reveal his secret. "We can test the theory," he murmured when the kiss ended.

"But not right now, I'm afraid," Duane replied with a smile. "I'm sure I have a bunch of employees standing around outside the restaurant wondering where the hell I am."

"Oh shit, is it that late?" Julyan glanced at the clock beside the bed. "It is!" He jumped out of bed, searching for his clothes. "Now's when it would be nice if you were a wolf-shifter. You could teleport us there, or whatever it is they do."

Duane laughed as he headed to the bathroom. "Sorry, but that is not one of my talents."

One Plus Two Equals... - 28

There was something in the tone of Auden's voice, a subtle ache behind his words, which surprised Julyan. He reached for him, for a moment needing to comfort him.

"Don't," Auden said sharply, slapping his hand away. "I'm not some child who needs…" His hands clenched and unclenched. Then, as if unable to deal with whatever he was feeling he began shifting.

"Auden, you're human. You have the right to have feelings, emotions." Julyan reached out again, gripping his arm. For a moment he saw both men and then it was Duane who sat there.

"He'll never admit to that," Duane said quietly. "To have feelings, to give free rein to his emotions, could mean his death, and…" he caught Julyan's gaze, "mine."

"It's not fair. He deserves to be more than some… some killing machine for… for whoever your boss is."

"We are what we are, Juls. He sees the world as black and white, I see the grays. At least that's how I think of it. He has feelings, never doubt that, but he'll either act on them instinctively, like when he kissed you on the roof, or bury them as he did just now."

"So you're aware of what he's doing when he's…him."

Duane nodded. "Aware, but that's all. I have no control over him when he's 'out', any more than he can control me when we're 'me'."

Julyan frowned. "So, in theory, you could always be you and never shift."

"In theory, yes, but if one of us did that it would be denying what we are. As I've been trying to explain, we're two parts of a whole." Duane took Julyan's hand, pulling gently until the younger man came to him then wrapping his arms around him. "Think of it like this, if it helps. Suppose instead of shifting from myself to Auden I was able to shift and become a wolf. A wolf shifter needs both halves to be complete, it's in their natures. Denying one part of themselves would destroy them. It would be the same for Auden and me."

Looking up at Duane, Julyan nodded. "I think I understand." He chewed his lip thoughtfully. "I don't know if it's the right word, but in stories of wolf-shifters, the human half is compelled, I guess you could say, to become a wolf from time to time. Is it the same with you?"

Duane chuckled. "In those stories, and there is truth behind them, the full moon causes what you're calling a compulsion. We don't have to deal with anything that strong. However, with that said, when Auden isn't needed for what he's trained to do I still feel the desire to be him from time to time. He's the wild, free part of us, I'm the more staid, controlled half. In Freudian terms, as I said earlier, we're Id and Super-ego for lack of a better way to put it."

One Plus Two Equals... - 27

"I'm still pissed at you." Julyan came closer.

"For hiding this from you?"

"For…yeah, sort of, but more, because somehow you used Auden to make me realize it was you I liked." Tentatively he sat down on the edge of the bed. "Are you two different people?"

Duane nodded, then shook his head, chuckling when Julyan told him to make up his mind. "Obviously to some extent we're the same or I wouldn't have had the wounds he got when he took out two particularly vicious creatures. Creatures who, from the information we finally were able to put together, were plotting to do some major ecological damage that would have made the furor over that oil spill look like a tempest in a teapot."

"Shit."

"To put it mildly."

"So if Auden's the big, tough guy who does the dirty work, what is your part in this?"

"It's hard to explain since we're essentially one and the same in some respects. I suppose you could call me his cover. Everything is in my name. On paper he doesn't exist. I set up 'camp' wherever we're needed, he does the job, then I, we move on to the next one."

"Oh." Julyan looked down at the floor so Duane couldn't read the hurt on his face.

Duane carefully touched Julyan's shoulder, waiting for him to pull away. When he didn't, Duane asked, "Do you believe what I've been telling you?"

Lifting his eyes, Julyan gave the smallest of nods. "I don't disbelieve it."

"Like you don't 'disbelieve' in Santa because no one's proved to you he does or doesn't exist. Do you need proof?"

Julyan chuckled although he knew what Duane was asking. "That Santa exists?"

Duane smiled. "That I can't prove, but…"

"Show me," Julyan said, his voice taut with anticipation and fear.

Hiding his own fear that showing him would be the final nail in the coffin of what had been their budding relationship, Duane shifted. It wasn't instantaneous. His slender frame lengthened, grew more muscular. His hair darkened, his facial features hardened into those of a man used to being into control of any situation. In the end it was Auden who sat where Duane had been.

"Like what you see?" Auden asked, a smirk on his face.

Julyan, although still in shock, reddened in embarrassment. Auden was stark naked and it was unbelievably erotic.

"I'm not him, Juls. Don't expect me to act the same."

"Don't call me that! That's his name for me, not yours."

“I know that, obviously,” Auden's lip curled up in amusement. "How about I kiss you instead?"

"No!"

"Afraid of what could happen if I did?"

"No. Yes… No, no I'm not. Nothing will happen because you're not the man I want."

Auden smiled. "Actually, I am, just not in this…form. As Duane said, we are both different and yet the same. He's the emotional, dare I say loving part while I'm the tough, sensual half of the whole."

"He's damned sensual."

"I suppose in your eyes he is since he's the one you care for."

One Plus Two Equals... - 26

"I become the most barbarous and vicious of all animals," Duane replied. "Another human being. In my case another man, one who is stronger and wilier than I'll ever be."

"You don't think much of us, do you?"

"Us? Meaning you think I'm not human?"

"Are you?"

Duane smiled just slightly, seeing by his question that Julyan seemed to be accepting what he'd been telling him. "I consider myself human, yes. Different, enhanced, for lack of a better word, but still human in my heart and mind."

"And the man you shift to?" Suddenly Julyan's eyes widened. "Auden. That's why… The eyes… The times you've said almost the same things he has." He sprang from the bed, backing away, fury in his expression. "You bastard! You… you…"

"Son of a bitch, fucking asshole, motherfucker? Stop me when I hit the right one."

"All of them. Every damned one of them. You've been toying with me, trying to seduce me as Auden while you were coming on to me as…as yourself. Trying to make me think you cared for me."

"Julyan," Duane said softly, reaching out a hand to him, "I do care for you, more than I'm sure you will ever believe. I wasn't toying with you."

"What the hell do you call what you, what Auden was doing?" Julyan ignored his hand although he didn't move any farther away.

"When I shift and become Auden, well…he’s bolder than me. He's a man who sees what he wants and does his best to take it. Id to my ego maybe, for lack of a better description. He's also…"

"Also?" Julyan asked when Duane stopped speaking.

"There are other supernaturals. Not many. It's not like in the stories where there are as many as there are humans, living side by side with humans without them knowing. But they do exist and some of them are not nice creatures."

"So?"

"So Auden, well, by extension both of us work for an agency formed to deal with them. It's why he was up on your roof. I swear he had no idea you lived there the first time you met him."

"Not true. You said yourself you knew where I lived from my application."

Duane nodded. "I would have, if I'd actually done more than glance at it. You know filling it out was just a formality."

"You have an answer for everything, don't you?"

"I've been around long enough I've learned I need to."

Julyan inched closer to the bed now, his fascination with what Duane had been telling him overriding his anger. "How long?"

"Not thousands of years, if that's what you're afraid of. A bare sixty years."

Julyan couldn't help it. "You don't look a day over forty."

Duane clutched his heart. "You wound me to the core."

"You're addicted to that gesture."

"Yeah, I guess I am." Duane studied Julyan then, trying to figure out exactly where he stood with him now.

It's release day for 'Hunting a Killer'!

Hunting a Killer

https://www.jms-books.com/edward-kendrick-c-224_229/hunting-a-killer-p-3029.html

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08177S3Q4

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1134683039?ean=9781646560387

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/hunting-a-killer

GENRE: Gay Mystery Erotic Romance
LENGTH: 35,859 words
RATING:

When the police call the slaughter of his mother and brother a home invasion gone bad, Mika doesn't believe it. Because he has no way to prove otherwise, he closes down, refusing to talk about what happened.

That is until Buck, a bouncer at a local bar Mika visits, convinces Mika to open up to him. When he does, Buck not only learns about the murder, but also that Mika grew up living off the grid until his father died, two years previously, at which point his family moved to the city.

They begin to bond as they try to figure out the reason behind the murders, which may revolve around the family property in the mountains. All they have to do is prove it, without being killed in the process. Only if they can will they take a chance and move their growing friendship on to something more.

EXCERPT:

"Going to order a beer and stare at it," Buck teased. "If so, you're too late. We're about to close."

Mika shook his head. "I couldn't sleep so I figured maybe if I took a walk ..." He swallowed hard. "Okay, not quite the truth. I was wide awake, tossing and turning, and I remembered what you said, and you're the only person who has even seemed to give a damn even if you don't know me, and ..."

"You need to get everything out before it breaks you."

"Yeah. I know it's asking a lot, and it's late, and you probably want to get home ..."

Buck chuckled. "Do you ever finish a sentence?"

For a second, a smile flashed over Mika's lips. "Apparently not tonight."

"Come on inside. I have closing chores, and then we can go get some coffee?" He looked at Mika in question.

"If you're sure."

"I am."

Mika settled by a table by the door while Buck did what he needed to so he could leave. When he finished, he suggested they head to an all-night diner two blocks from the bar. He was certain going there was a good idea, even though he wasn't sure why he'd offered. All he knew was that this man he didn't really know except very casually, if that, was hurting and needed someone to listen to him.

They found a vacant table in one corner of the diner and ordered coffee.

"Go ahead and eat, if you're hungry," Mika said.

"Naw, I'm good." Buck waited for the coffee to arrive before saying, "When you said your brother was killed --"

"Murdered," Mika interjected.

"Okay, murdered. You implied your mother was, too. How?"

"Do you honestly want to know, or are you doing some Good Samaritan thing because you feel sorry for me?"

Buck immediately decided honesty would be better than hedging. "It's obvious you're suffering. I have the feeling you haven't talked to anyone about what happened. Or more, you've talked to the police and perhaps relatives, maybe a friend or people you work with, but you haven't let it all out. Because of that, it's eating a hole in you." He tapped his chest. "Here, and probably in your head, too, if that makes any kind of sense."

Mika nodded. "It does. The cops think it was a home invasion. My uncle?" He shrugged. "He probably agrees with them, though he never said. He's the only relative I've got left, now."

"No father? Okay, dumb question. You just said you've only got your uncle. Is he here in town?"

"No. He flew in after hearing about the murders, took over the funeral and burial arrangements because I'm too young --" he rolled his eyes, "-- hired some lawyer to handle everything else, and left. He never was close to us when my father was alive and after he died, Elias, that's my uncle, got mom to agree to move here then pretty much walked away." Mika grimaced. "He's good at that."

"Off topic, sort of, but how old are you?"

"Twenty-five."

"Hell, that's not too young."

"Tell that to Elias. Anyway, no, I didn't open up to him, given his attitude. The guys I work with sympathized with me about what happened, but that's it."

Buck took a drink of coffee, studying Mika. "You sound as if you don’t believe it was a home invasion, or a break-in, or whatever."

"We live ... lived in a lower middle-class neighborhood. If you were looking for a place to rob, would you choose a small house in an area of small houses where it was pretty obvious the people were struggling to make ends meet?"

Buck chuckled. "I wouldn't, but then I'm not a burglar, even a stupid one." He paused before asking, "How were they killed? Shot, like they surprised the guys?"

"Shot, yeah, but not until after they ..." Mika took a deep breath. "It looked like they tortured Reko and Mom, first. They were slashed with a knife, or knives. Cut ..." He shuddered, closing his eyes, saying, "I walked in on the scene. There was so much blood."

"Damn. No wonder you're so, well upset doesn't begin to describe it."

"It doesn't. The detective, his name is Windom, suggested the killers tortured them, trying to find out where they kept any valuables." Mika's mouth tightened. "As if there were any. All of us worked just to pay the mortgage and keep food on the table."

"If it wasn't a burglary or home invasion, then why were they killed?"

"I don't know! It's not like we had any enemies. We only lived here for a couple of years. How could we have made enemies?"