Lessons Learned (Sequel to 'Hitman's Creed) – 7

 

 

They arrived at Harv’s house to find he was alone. His wife had gone to a meeting at the church, taking the kids with her, he told them as he led them into the large living room. After asking if they wanted a beer, he went in the kitchen to get some  while Joey called the chief to let him know what little they’d found out. Harv returned just as Joey said, “He’s going to pass it on so everyone’s on the lookout.” 

 

“For what?” Harv asked, handing him and the Glenn a beer.

 

Joey explained, and then asked if Harv had seen an El Camino around.

 

“It wasn’t an El Camino; it was a ’70 Ranchero, yellow with brown paneling.”

 

“When?”

 

“Earlier today, ‘round about three I’d say. Probably wouldn’t have noticed if it had been anything else, but that one’s almost a classic. Shame the owner let it get so messed up.”

 

Joey nodded. “So we heard. I don’t suppose you saw the driver.”

 

“Nope, sorry.” Harv chuckled. “I was more interested in the car than who was driving it.”

 

“Which way was it going?” Glenn asked.

 

“North.”

 

“Driving slow?”

 

“Yeah sort of.”

 

“Okay. Thanks.”

 

“Hope it helped.”

 

Since Joey was back on his phone, relaying the latest information to the chief, Glenn told Harv he had. “Now we just have to try and find out where he’s gone to ground.”

 

“My bet would be out of town. Maybe some vacant property.”

 

“Oh great,” Glenn muttered. He remembered the last time he’d gone looking for some one doing that. It had been Joey’s father and he’d ended up getting shot in the process.

 

Harv nodded since he knew the whole story. “Just a thought. Hopefully if he has it’s also where he stashed the kid and you can rescue him while the man’s not there.”

 

“If…” Joey said, having finished his call. “The chief put out an APB on the car.”

 

Glenn chuckled. “You mean he called all five deputies?”

 

“Four. I’m the fifth.”

 

“I know.” Glenn tossed back the last of his beer. “We should get going and let Harv get to bed.”

 

“We should.” Joey got up, collected the bottles and took them into the kitchen. When he got back Glenn was standing by the door with Harv.

 

“Of course I’ll let you know,” Harv was saying.

 

“Thanks.” Glenn waited for Joey to join them after which they said their good-nights and left.

 

* * * *

 

“Let you know what?” Joey wanted to know once they were in the car.

 

“If he hears about anyone making inquiries about someone in town. The same way the coffeehouse is for the ladies, his garage is a local hangout for the men in town. He’ll keep an ear open just in case.”

 

“Okay. So what now?”

 

“Now we go home. There’s nothing more we can do. It’s too dark to go searching abandoned properties safely.”

 

“But…”

 

“Joey, if Nate’s alive the man’s not going to kill him. He’d have done it already if that was his intention. He might even be keeping him alive to use as a hostage if things go wrong.”

 

“Did you do that?”

 

“No, but then I planned ahead and I was the best of the best at what I did. Well, at what I still do, although now I’m on the side of the angels.” He chuckled.

 

Joey laughed. “Since when does the government have angels work for them?”

 

Keeping a straight face, Glenn replied, “Since I joined?”

 

“Yeah right.”

 

Glenn grinned. “When we get home I’ll show you how ‘angelic’ I can be.”

 

“I believe the word you’re looking for is devilish.”

 

Glenn looked at him in mock horror, glad that for a few moments at least he could make Joey relax and smile. He knew it wouldn’t last long, but for tonight he would do his best to make him forget the world outside their home and their bed.

Lessons Learned (Sequel to 'Hitman's Creed) – 6

 

 

“An El Camino should be easy enough to find,” Joey said as he and Glenn headed back to Glenn’s car.

 

“Have you seen any while you’ve been on patrol?”

 

“Well… no.”

 

“Have Chief Leades ask everyone else, but I’m betting they give the same answer. If the guy we’re looking for is a pro he’s either found a good place to stash it or this was a one-time use while he was checking out sites for a hit.”

 

“Harv. He’d be the one to ask.”

 

“True.” Glenn waited for Joey to get in then took off, heading for Harv’s house.

 

“You really think the guy’s a hitman?”

 

“Yeah, Joey, I do. At least from the evidence on the roof, plus the fact Nate’s come up missing at the same time.”

 

“So Nate’s probably dead by now,” Joey said quietly.

 

“That all depends. If it were me and Nate didn’t see my face I’d just have him hidden somewhere until after the job was done. We get paid for taking out the target without making a spectacle of ourselves in the process. This guy’s already fucked up royally, if what we’re thinking is what’s really going on.”

 

“It wouldn’t be a fuck up if you hadn’t figured things out.”

 

“Yeah it is because there’s no reason for Nate to have taken off. Just the fact he’s missing has everyone on high alert which will make this guy’s job twice as hard. He had to be new or stupid, or both.”

 

“And looking for you.”

 

Glenn turned to glance at Joey, seeing the worry on his face, and squeezed his thigh. “We don’t know that. People hire hitmen to take out someone for a lot of reasons, a business rival, a lover who spurned them, inheritances. You name it someone will think eliminating such and such a person will solve all their problems. A paid pro doesn’t ask why, they just do it, take the money and move on.”

 

“That’s how you lived your life, how you were living it when we met.” Joey knew but he still couldn’t help asking, or more just stating the fact.

 

Glenn pulled the car off to the side of the road before answering. He gripped Joey’s shoulders so the young man would listen. “You know it was. Unlike now I never questioned why my target needed to die. If the money was right and it was a safe bet I’d succeed without getting caught I did it.” He loosened his grip and dropped his hands. “I wasn’t a… a good person back then and I’ve told you that. Yeah, there were times when I thought about leaving the business but I never went beyond thinking until I met you.”

 

Again that was something Glenn had said before, but Joey still couldn’t help the leap his heart took knowing that in some small way he’d been responsible for helping Glenn become the man he was now. “You were a good person. You just let it get buried somewhere inside you.”

 

“Joey…” Glenn cautioned.

 

“I can’t help it, it’s what I believe and you’re never going to change my mind.”

 

With a shake of his head, Glenn leaned in to kiss him. “I know, you poor deluded young man.”

 

“I am not!”

 

“Are too but I’m not arguing the point now.” Glenn started the car again. “Let’s see if Harv’s seen the El Camino.”

Lessons Learned (Sequel to 'Hitman's Creed) – 5

 

 

No one slammed doors in Joey’s face, but it wasn’t until they got to the home of the woman who owned a small dress shop across from the cut-through that he and Glenn learned something which might be helpful.

 

“I was changing out the display in my front window,” she told them once they’d all been seated in her pristine living room. “It was almost closing time which is when I usually do that so there will be something new for people to see in the morning. Anyway, while I was, I saw a car I didn’t recognize. Well not a car really, or maybe it was. It looked like a car but it had a truck backend if that makes sense. I think that’s really why I noticed it.”

 

“An El Camino I bet,” Glenn told Joel before asking her, “What color?”

 

She closed her eyes as if trying to picture it. “It probably used to be yellow but it was so dirty I wouldn’t swear to that.”

 

“Did you see Nate at all?” Joel asked.

 

“He’s that nice young man who always looks so serious with black hair? Oh, that didn’t come out right did it? I mean he has black hair and is always serious except when he’s with that cute Rory.”

 

“That’s him. Was he around then, when you saw the car?”

 

“Not that I saw but I wasn’t paying attention after the man dumped a load of fertilizer in the back of the car, or truck I guess.”

 

Glenn frowned. “Fertilizer?”

 

“Well it looked like one of those big bags of the stuff Mr. Patterson sells so I thought that’s what it was.” She chewed her lip momentarily. “That’s sort of strange though because Mr. Patterson’s store is two blocks away from mine.”

 

Joey shot a look at Glenn before asking her, “Do you remember what the man looked like?”

 

“Vaguely. He was tall, about as tall as Mr. Tanner here, with light brown hair and a plaid shirt. His hair was cut so short my first thought was he had to be a soldier if you know what I mean.”

 

“I do, and it doesn’t ring any bells with me,” Joey said.

 

“He’s not from around here, I can tell you that. I know almost everyone, especially if they’re over twenty, which he was.”

 

Joey chuckled. “You and me both. Is there anything else you remember?”

 

After a moment she shook her head. The two men thanked her for her time and then left.

Lessons Learned (Sequel to 'Hitman's Creed') – 4

 

 

By the time Joey had finished what he was saying Glenn was halfway up the stairs, being very careful not to damage the footprints. Joey followed, equally carefully.

 

“I don’t think those are Nate’s footprints,” Glenn muttered. He pointed his light to the edge of the roof above the bookshop.

 

Joey immediately saw why he’d said that. The wind had done its thing up there as well as in the cut-through, leaving a fine layer of dust and debris on the rooftops. Footsteps led from the stairs to where Glenn was pointing.

 

“If I’m reading this right, and I’m damned sure I am, someone went over there, set down what they were carrying, probably a case because the mark is rectangular, and then knelt behind the parapet. He took something out of the case, and I’m betting I know what.”

 

Joey frowned. “A gun?”

 

“Yes. Best guess he was sighting it in on something or someone. That means Nate just might have seen something.” Glenn walked across to the area in question and knelt a few feet away. “Okay, Nate looks up for some reason, maybe our perp made a noise. He steps back to try to figure out who’s up here, sees the rifle barrel and decides to investigate. If the man spotted him…”

 

“He’d want to stop him before he could raise the alarm.”

 

“At least we have one possible scenario. The problem is how the man got Nate from the cut-through to… whatever. A car probably, which wouldn’t have been able to come into the cut-through.”

 

“And who is the man after? There’s no one around here anyone would want… dead.”

 

Glenn must have had the same thought because he nodded. “It was always a possibility.”

 

“But you said… No one knows you’re here. You told me that and I believed you.”

 

Glenn gripped Joey’s arms. “Calm down. This is the real world and as such there’s always a way of getting information no matter how well hidden it is. No one should be able to find me, ‘should’ being the operative word in that statement. I’ve covered my tracks to the best of my abilities, and my abilities are primo.” He chuckled softly. “Hoffa has nothing on me.”

 

“Hoffa’s dead,” Joey muttered.

 

“Perhaps, perhaps not. No one may ever know for certain. Which is what I’m saying, I’m as well hidden as he is, if he’s still alive.”

 

“Not quite, if someone’s hunting for you here.”

 

“Which we don’t know, and right now that’s not the issue anyway. We need to find Nate.”

 

“I… yeah we do. We need to re-interview everyone at either end of the cut-through about strange cars.”

 

“Any strange vehicle,” Glenn agreed as they headed down the stairs. “Unfortunately by now they’re probably all at home.”

 

“Not a problem. I don’t think there’s anyone in town I don’t know so we’ll go rapping on doors.”

 

Glenn smiled. “Now see, that’s where you have a distinct advantage over me. If I paid any of them a visit they’d probably slam the door in my face.”

Lessons Learned (Sequel to 'Hitman's Creed) – 3

 

 

“You’re the one with real experience in this sort of thing,” Joey said a few minutes later as he and Glenn crossed the street from where they’d parked in the lot beside Harv’s garage.

 

Glenn cocked an eyebrow. “What makes me the expert? You’re the one with the police training.”

 

Joey smiled slightly. “And you’re the one who can look at things from the viewpoint of the perp.”

 

“Yeah, yeah, rub my past history in.” Glenn chuckled so Joey would know he was kidding.

 

“Past? You still do it, more or less, unless the trips you say are for your job are just excuses to step out on me.”

 

“I would never step out on you.” Glenn swatted Joey’s ass. “And you know it.”

 

“I do.” Joey glanced around, figured it was dark enough, and gave him a swift kiss.

 

“Keep your mind on business,” Glenn growled.

 

Joey sobered. “So what are we looking for?”

 

“Signs of a struggle for one thing, if the searchers haven’t messed things up. As you said to Chief Leades, unlocked door, though it’s doubtful it would be now even if it was when Nate came down here, if he did.”

 

“He has to have, and there has to be a reason he did. He’s totally into Rory, he wouldn’t have missed meeting him at the coffeehouse come hell or high water, and for sure he wouldn’t have gone off with someone, even someone he knew, without letting Rory know.”

 

“So if we’re right, and it is only a supposition, someone lured him in here.”

 

Joey nodded, scanning the pavement ahead of him. As far as he could tell there was nothing indicating Nate had been there, to say the least having been taken or something worse. Cramming his hands in the back pockets of his jeans he started to move deeper into the cut-through before realizing the only illumination came from the lights over two doors on the wall to his left. He muttered he’d been stupid not to bring a flashlight when one appeared in front of him. “At least one of us was thinking.”

 

Glenn chuckled softly. “That’s why you keep me around.” He aimed the penlight he was carrying at the base of the door nearest to them then brought it up slowly along the handle side. “It’s clear,” he said.

 

“How do you know for sure?”

 

“The stuff in the corners there.” He pointed his light to the small drifts of dust and debris where the door met the wall at the bottom. “If someone had gone in or out in the last few hours it would have been disturbed. If I don’t miss my guess it piled up there this afternoon when it was so windy.”

 

“Duh. Okay.”

 

“You’d have figured it out eventually.”

 

“I hope.” Moving forward, Joey looked at the next doorway, trying to see it the way Glenn would. “Same thing here,” he commented. Walking on a few feet he stopped at the bottom of a rickety set of wooden stairs set into the wall. They led up to the roof of a shop which faced the street behind the bookshop. “Okay, someone was on these since the windstorm.”

 

Glenn came up behind him, training his light on the stairs. “Why do you think so?”

 

“Umm, maybe because I can see footprints in the dust, smartass?”

 

Glenn chuckled. “Good call. They go up and down. Which came last?”

 

“Coming down, because they overlay the others, and whoever made them was moving cautiously. There’s just toe-prints, not the full shoe.”

 

“Very good. Still we don’t know who made them. It could have been Nate.”

 

Joey nodded. “If he saw something up there, or more like he heard something because he couldn’t have seen anything from where he was standing.” Stepping back he looked up at the buildings. “It’s straight across from the top of the stairs to the roof of the bookshop.”

Lessons Learned (Sequel to 'Hitman's Creed') – 2

 

 

Joey and Glenn arrived at the police station in the center of town, parking in the lot half a block from the front entrance. When they got inside Joey led the way to the chief’s office where the deputies who weren’t already out searching for Nate were assembled. Chief Leades nodded as Joey joined them.

 

“Here’s what we have so far,” the chief said.  “Nate was last seen a block from ‘M and J’s Coffeeshop’. He was looking in the bookshop window according to the woman who saw him. That was at approximately four-forty five p.m. His roommate said they were supposed to meet at the coffeehouse at five.”

 

“Were there any cars parked close by?” Joey asked.

 

The chief consulted his notes. “None that didn’t belong to people who live here if that’s what you’re asking. At least according to Harv, and he should know. He says he stepped out of the garage to talk to Mrs. Tennor at about that time. He didn’t see Nate but he noticed there didn’t seem to be the normal number of parked cars. He put down to it’s being close to supper time, especially since there was a fair amount of traffic.”

 

Knowing Joey’s uncle Harv, Glenn was certain what he told the chief was accurate. So he asked, “Did he say there were any which weren’t from around here?”

 

The chief glanced at Glenn with a jaundiced eye. He accepted his presence at the meeting only because of his relationship with Joey and the rest of the Fairburn family, and because he’d shown up with Joey. “Harv didn’t say but come on; he was talking to someone, not paying any real attention to the surroundings. I figure we’re lucky he noticed as much as he did.”

 

Joey frowned. “So Nate must have gone into the bookshop or down the cut-through beside it to the next street.”

 

“The bookshop’s out. Mr. Michaels says no one came in after four-thirty.”

 

'Mr. Michaels is seventy and nearsighted,' Joey thought, though he didn’t say it aloud. 'Nate would have had to tap him on the shoulder before the man would have known he was there.'

 

Just then Eck, the chief deputy and Joey’s sister Mary’s boyfriend, came in. He cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention. “So far no one within a five block radius of the coffeehouse has seen Nate since he was reported missing. Mr. Samson let us into Nate’s apartment. Everything’s in order there. No clothes missing according to Samson.”

 

Joey nodded. “Rory should know.”

 

“Expand the search,” chief Leades ordered. “The boy can’t have just disappeared. Someone has to have seen him, or something suspicious.”

 

“What’s along the cut-through?” Glenn asked Joey sotto voce, “Any doors leading into shops or their basements?”

 

“A couple, yes.” Joey turned back to the discussion, suggesting what Glenn had hinted at, that someone check the cut-through doors to see if any were unlocked.

 

The chief sort of smiled. “Sounds like a good job for you. We need every hand which is why I called all of you in. Unless anyone has something to add I suggest you all get moving. Eck, tell them where you want them to go, please, since you’re in charge of the search.”

Lessons Learned (Sequel to 'Hitman's Creed) – 1

 

(Previously published in 2012. No longer available.)

 

“You need a haircut.” Glenn twisted a strand of Joey’s hair around his finger and tugged lightly.

 

Joey looked up from what he was doing, rolling his eyes. “You’re thinking about my hair? I must be doing something wrong here.”

 

“Oh no, you’re doing everything just…” Glenn groaned as Joey’s mouth engulfed his cock again.

 

It had been six months since Glenn had finally succumbed and admitted to himself, and to his much younger lover, that age really did not matter in the grand scheme of things. Since then Joey had moved into his home, and his life, full time.

 

“You’re driving me…”

 

Joey sat back on his heels. “Crazy, around the bend, up a wall?”

 

“All of the above?” Glenn gripped Joey’s arms, pulling him down and into a heated kiss. Their cocks rubbed together and he knew he wouldn’t be able to hold back much longer.

 

And then the phone rang. In point of fact both of theirs did.

 

“You are so kidding me,” Joey growled against Glenn’s lips. “I know I turned mine off.”

 

“You thought you did.” Glenn reached blindly for the bedside table. He’d have ignored it if the ring wasn’t the one he’d set up for emergency calls. Finding it, he answered, trying to keep the frustration out of his voice as he felt Joey slide off him so he could get to his phone.

 

“Nate’s what?”

 

Glenn heard the edge of panic in Joey’s voice even as he tried to focus on what Mary, Joey’s sister, was saying. Then he understood the panic when Mary told him that Eck, her boyfriend and, like Joey, one of the town’s deputies, had called to let her know Nate was missing. 

 

“Missing how?” Glenn asked, sitting up, all thoughts of what he and Joey had been doing forgotten as he listened to Mary.

 

“Missing?” Joey’s voice echoed in the background. “How can he be missing? I just saw him a couple of hours ago as I was getting off my shift. He said he was on his way to the coffeehouse to meet Rory. He seemed fine.”

 

The two men listened to their respective callers, Glenn snagging the pen and paper from the table on his side of the bed to take notes. When the conversations ended he turned his gaze to Joey only to see he was back on the phone again.

 

“Chief, it’s me. Mom just called to say Nate…” Joey paused, listening, then said, “Alright I’ll be there as soon as I’m dressed,” and hung up.

 

“Anything?” Glenn asked as he headed to the closet.

 

“Just that he didn’t show up at Mom’s place and Rory is frantic. Mom called Eck who of course told Mary, which is why she called you I guess.”

 

“Since your phone was busy,” Glenn agreed. He took out a pair of jeans, grabbed another pair for Joey and tossed them to him.

 

Glenn had discovered he liked Nate, once he’d gotten past the fact that Joey and Nate had been almost but not quite lovers before he’d come back into Joey’s life. The young man was nice and very down-to-earth. Not the type to just vanish on a whim. He was somewhat less enthusiastic about Nate’s choice of a new boyfriend but it wasn’t his place to say anything.

 

“You planning on going barefoot?” Glenn asked a couple of minutes later when they were dressed, or almost dressed in Joey’s case.

 

“Ugh. Yeah.” He sat down to put on his shoes then bounced to his feet again. “Now I’m ready.”

 

Hitman's Creed - 64

 

Glenn flinched but didn't drop his gaze. "I'd hoped there wasn't, but if there is then all I can say is he's a lucky man to have won your love. You deserve someone you can love who loves you in return."

A long silence ensued after Glenn's words, neither man looking away from the other. "That's the problem," Joey finally said, "I don't love him." He glanced away then. "I like him, he's a good man, we have a lot in common." He shook his head slowly. "But… as my mother put it, the passion isn't there."

"There's more to loving someone than just passion," Glenn replied even though he felt he was cutting his own throat by pointing that out.

Joey sank down onto the stairs. "I'm not a callow fool, I know that. But there still has to be more to love than just enjoying each other's company." He smiled bleakly, catching Glenn's eyes. "Doesn't there?"

"You're asking the wrong man here. I've never been in a situation where I could even ask that question. However, I'd say yes, there does have to be more, for me at least. Have the two of you… you said you didn't have a roommate but does he spend the night?"

Joey couldn't help but smile. "You can kill someone without a second thought, but you're afraid to ask in so many words if I'm sleeping with him. Well the answer is that I'm not. We've known each other for a while now but we've never gotten beyond kissing and a bit of touching."

"Thank God," Glenn muttered before he could stop himself. "Sorry, that was unnecessary."

"Maybe, but it was an honest response. If I'd said that I was sleeping with him I doubt you'd have reacted the same way, or I hope you wouldn't have."

"Believe me, if you'd said you were my first impulse would have been to find that man and…" He chuckled softly. "I wouldn't have though. If I thought you were happy with him I'd back off and… back off."

Joey cocked an eyebrow. "That's it, you'd just back off."

"It would hurt, but yeah. I want to see you have what's best for you and if he's it, I have no right to interfere."

"Well that's a damned noble statement."

"It was rather, wasn't it?" Glenn replied with a slight smile. "Doesn't mean it's not the truth though."

"So you wouldn't fight for me? I think I'm hurt."

"If I thought I stood a chance, damned straight I would, but no one can fight love."

"Well, Mr. Tanner, you're right about that. Oh, that is your real name isn't it, I hope."

"Yeah, Glenn Tanner is me, the real me."

"Good. Now as I was saying, Mr. Tanner, you're right, you can't fight love so will you please for once stop trying to?"

"Meaning?"

"Ever since the day we met you've done all in your power to push me away. Well it's time that stopped." Joey inched a bit closer to Glenn as he said that.

"What about… what's his face?"

"Nate? We've talked and he… knows about you. He said he understands and I pray that he does, as callous as that may sound. You on the other hand…" He moved another inch closer.

"Are going to be stuck with you?"

"I hope you don't really think of it that way, but yeah, you are. I'm tired of the games. You're not too old, I know what you do, and what you did, and I can deal with it. Are there any other barriers you can think of that I need to knock down?"

"Umm, no." Glenn eyed him with cautious amusement.

"Good. Then damn it will you kiss me. I've been waiting for over two years to see what it would be like."

"I'm still too old for you," Glenn muttered as he closed the distance between them.

"We'll see about that once I get you to bed," Joey replied with a broad grin. He wrapped his arms around Glenn's neck. "But I think you can keep up."

"Damned straight I can," Glenn growled. And then he kissed him.

The End

(Next up: 'Lessons Learned'. The sequel to 'Hitman's Creed'.)

Hitman's Creed - 63

 

"Not true. I do it, just for the…" Glenn made quotes with his fingers, "the good guys."

"That was the trade-off; they wiped the slate clean in exchange for your becoming their private hitman?"

"I prefer the term liquidator, and, yes, for two years I was exactly that. Now I'm freelance."

"Freelance?"

"They have jobs for me, I can say yea or nay, depending."

"Why not just totally walk away now that it's safe?"

Glenn smiled a bit. "I guess because now I am working for people who are trying to keep the world safe, as cliché as it might sound. I'm one of the best around, and that's no brag, so why not put it to use in some positive way to make up for how I was before."

"I suppose it would be naive of me if I didn't get that what you're doing is necessary."

"But you don't like the idea. Understood."

"Did I say that? Don't go putting words in my mouth. I'm a cop, maybe just a small town one but I do know there are people out there who don't deserve to be left alive. Unfortunately there's nothing I can do about it, being what I am, how I am. That doesn't mean someone else shouldn't."

Glenn cocked his head in agreement. "So now you know what I am, and why, well part of the reason why, I did my best to keep you at arm's length."

Joey nodded slowly. "When you ran… umm, was it after that when you decided to talk to those people?"

"Yes. At that point I really had nothing to lose. I could have stayed, no one knew who I was and I'd made damned sure no one from my past could ever find me. But I didn't see that as an option. I..." Glenn pressed his lips together as if trying to keep the words in. "Even if you had been willing to be with me, as old as I am, everything we might have had together would have been based on a lie."

"Damn it," Joey growled, "will you drop it with the age thing. I've had that up to here." He touched the top of his forehead. "I can see what you were thinking however. At that point, if you'd admitted what you had been, I would have run like hell, and if I found out later it would have been the end of it because you hadn't trusted me enough to tell me."

"Exactly. So as I said, I had nothing to lose by trying to get my life onto the track I wanted. I had something to offer them if they were interested, in exchange for my… freedom, I guess."

Joey frowned. "You could be sitting in the penitentiary right now."

"True, that was a definite risk but at that point I really didn't care. Well…" he added with a small grin, "not too much anyway."

Joey looked around then, taking in the house and the property that surrounded it, before returning his gaze to Glenn. "Why did you come back?"

"Because this is my home."

"Oh." Joey tried to hide the hurt he felt. "Well, welcome home. Thanks for being honest with me about… everything. Now I guess I should leave and let you get back to whatever you were doing."

"Fixing the roof." Glenn watched as Joey stood. "I also came back because you were here," he said very softly. "Against my better judgment, but I did."

Although Joey felt unbelievable elation when the meaning of Glenn's words sank in, he showed none of it on his face. In fact he frowned, his hands tightening into fists. "And what if there's someone else in my life now? What then?"

Hitman's Creed - 62

 

Joey pretended not to understand what he knew Glenn was asking. "Do I like being a cop? You better believe it. Am I still living at home? Nope, I've got a place of my own."

"With a roommate?"

"No, all to myself."

"Ahh." Glenn essayed a small smile. "Like me."

"No one in your life?" Joey resisted crossing his fingers in hopes that there wasn't, even though he knew it would be for the best if there was.

"No. Never been that lucky, though there was a time when I hoped…" Glenn's face closed down.

"No you didn't," Joey said harshly. "You did all you could to push me away."

"What makes you think I was talking about you?"

"Oh, yeah, well I guess…" Joey stood suddenly. "I have to leave."

"Sit. Please." When Joey didn't, Glenn sighed. "Yes, I was talking about you."

Slowly, hesitantly, Joey resumed his seat on the stair. "Did you really hope?"

"In my own way, yeah, when I was willing to admit it to myself. Which wasn't often. I knew it wouldn't have worked but that didn't stop me from wishing."

"Why wouldn't it have worked? Because you thought I was way too young for you I get, but…" Joey studied him. "There was more, wasn't there?"

Glenn nodded, returning Joey's look. "We were diametrically opposite in too many ways. The age thing and, well you wanting to be a cop, which by the way was, is a good thing in my book."

Joey leaned back against the railing and asked, "If that made us, as you put it 'diametrically opposite', then would I be wrong in thinking you were on the other side of the legal fence?"

"Way on the other side. I can tell you this now without fear of any repercussions."

When Glenn said nothing more Joey cocked an eyebrow. "How far on the other side?"

Glenn shrugged. "I was a contract killer, a hitman."

After a very long pause during which several emotions crossed Joey's face, including shock, some surprise then acceptance, Joey said, "That explains a lot." He chuckled. "I was sort of thinking you were a spy or some sort of black-ops."

"Not even close back then."

That's when something Glenn said hit him. "You keep talking about that being in the past but aren't you… I mean even if you quit doing that, the police still have to be looking for you."

"I took a chance, made a trade-off with people who have the power to make me a person of non-interest now. Not that anyone ever knew who I was except for a few middlemen."

"You must have been damned good at what you did and how you did it." Joey was surprised at how calmly he was taking all of this.

So was Glenn when it came down to it. "Why aren't you walking away as fast as you can now that you know?" he asked.

"Hell if I know," Joey admitted. "Partly because I find that part of you… interesting? It explains a lot. Partly I suppose because you've implied that you don't do that anymore."

Hitman's Creed - 61

 

Glenn looked at his handiwork and nodded. 'That should end that problem, I hope.'

He’d just finished the repairs to the place on the roof where wind or maybe a squirrel had torn up two of the shingles. As long as he was up there he decided to check the rest of them for damage, so he made his way to the peak of the roof where he could see it in its entirety. The back side looked fine. He turned his attention to the front and paused when he thought he saw a car on the road that ran past his place. When it vanished from view behind the trees he shrugged and went back to what he was doing.

Then he froze when he heard it pull onto the lane. Seconds later it came into view. The sun hit the windshield so he couldn't see who was driving. 'Just a nosy parker, better get rid of them.' He slid down the back side of the roof, detached the safety rope tied to the chimney from around his waist, climbed down the ladder, and went around to the front yard.

"Well, well, what brings you to my neck of the woods?" Glenn said, trying for casualness he definitely didn't feel when he saw Joey get out of the car.

"Just checking to make certain someone hadn't decided to break in here." Joey replied. The excuse he'd finally decided to put to use sounded lame even to him. "Someone reported they thought someone was up here and…" He shrugged.

"And it never occurred to you that I might have come back? It is after all my house."

"Yeah, well…" Joey looked down at the ground, mumbling, "Now that I know it's just you I should get going."

"Don't go." Glenn immediately regretted the harsh and yet pleading tone in those two words but he couldn't retract them now so he amended it. "Stick around. We have a lot to catch up on."

Joey bit down on his lip as he considered the wisdom of doing just that. It was why he was here and yet… Finally he looked up and nodded. "Might as well."

Glenn thumbed toward the front porch steps. Joey nodded again and followed him, sitting guardedly on the edge of one.

"So you're a cop now," Glenn said with the hope that statement might make Joey relax a bit, if it were possible for either of them to do such a thing.

Joey nodded. "I am."

"I knew you'd make it."

Joey lifted his eyes to look at Glenn. "Yeah, you did have that kind of faith in me at least. And you? Are you still running around rescuing people from bad guys?"

"Nowadays, yeah, sort of. Wasn't really doing that back then. Helping all of you was just… It just happened."

"A lot of things 'just happened' back then," Joey replied somewhat snarkily. "At least that part ended… successfully?"

"All things considered, yes it was successful. How's Mary doing now?"

"She's alright, seeing a guy on the force, he's older but they seem to be making it work."

"Does he know...?"

"What happened to her? I have no idea. That's her story to tell when the time comes."

"And your mom?"

Joey smiled. "Mom is mom. She's good."

"And Harv? And hell I don't care about how he's doing. How are you doing? Do you… are you...?" Glenn looked away, not wanting to see Joey's face if he said he was involved with someone.

Hitman's Creed - 60

 

Nate pulled out of Joey's embrace to look at him. "What's wrong?"

"What makes you think anything is?"

"Your mind wasn't on what you were doing."

Joey smiled, touching Nate's lips with a fingertip. "I was kissing you and believe me my mind was definitely on that."

"No it wasn't." Nate leaned back against the arm of the sofa, pulled his legs up to wrap his arms around his knees, and shook his head. "Is something wrong at work, or with your family?"

"All right, yes something is bothering me. I keep worrying about Mary. She's so young compared to Eck," Joey replied, lying through his teeth. No way would he say anything to Nate about Glenn. After all what was there to say? He hadn't even seen Glenn since his rumored return. He could have checked it out, could have made a run up to the house while he was on patrol with the excuse that he was there to make certain the place hadn't been broken into. He'd even contemplated doing that, and chickened out.

He came back to the moment to hear Nate say, "…is only a number."

Nate sighed when Joey looked puzzled. "Pay attention. I was saying that age is only a number; it's what they feel in their hearts that counts. If you were ten years older than me instead of just one would that make a difference as far as you're concerned? I know it wouldn't to me."

"I… no. No of course it wouldn't. I'd still feel the same way for you that I do now. At least I guess I would." Joey smiled at him. "I mean how can I say for certain? I'm not ten years older. I suppose I'm worrying because she's my sister and I don't want to see her get hurt."

"Which makes you a good brother. That's one of the things I really like about you, you care about everyone."

"Especially you." Joey grinned at Nate because he needed to get back into the moment, not remain in the past. He took Nate's hand to pull him back beside him. "Now where were we?" he teased.

"I was about here…" Nate shifted, "your arms were here…" He wrapped Joey's arms around him again then shook his head and moved away again.

"What now?" Joey asked with a frustrated groan.

"If you do care about me then tell me what's really going on in your head. Perhaps Mary is part of it, but I don't think that's all." Nate watched Joey's face as he said that and saw it shut down. He stood and walked away from the sofa then turned back to look at Joey. "Is there someone else?"

Joey wanted to deny that there was, especially since there really wasn't except in his own mind. He owed Nate the truth however. "This is hard to explain," he began.

"Then there is." Hurt flashed across Nate's face.

"Not in the way that you're thinking." Joey patted the sofa but Nate shook his head and stayed where he was, his arms crossed over his chest. Joey nodded and continued. "A little over two years ago I met a man, a much older man, who…" He blew out a long breath. "I thought we had made a connection even though he kept trying to push me away. I thought that I loved him."

"That explains why you're worried about Mary and Eck," Nate murmured, avoiding the last part of what Joey had said because it hurt too much.

"Yes, in a way, even though they seem to be making it work. I couldn't. Make it work that is. If he cared for me he wasn't willing to admit it, at least to me. Instead, he… ran."

"And you've been pining after him ever since. That doesn't say much for how you feel about me."

"No! No. It took time but I finally got him out of my head then I met you." Joey smiled at him. "I do care for you, don't doubt that for an instant."

"You care… but. I can feel there's a big one coming."

Joey chewed his lip and nodded slowly. "I think he's back in town."

"You think, you don't know? How is that possible?"

"He's got a house but it's not in town. Eck said someone was living there now."

"The man." Nate sighed deeply. "Why haven't you gone to see him, or have you and you just don't want to tell me?"

"I haven't. Nate, damn it. I want to, I think, but I don't know. We, you and I, have something between us. It wouldn't be fair to you…"

"Screw fair," Nate spat out angrily. "What's not fair is my wondering if at any moment you will go to him and that just maybe whatever you thought might have been happening before..." He sighed again. "Joey, you need to find out. Maybe he's back just because it's his house, or maybe he returned because you're here." Slowly he walked back to the sofa and sat, but not too close to Joey even though he did reach across to take his hand. "You and I can't move on until you face this man. If he, if you," he dropped his eyes, "if you do love him and he loves you…"

"And if we don't?" Joey squeezed Nate's hand. "Now that you know, how could you be willing to be with me anymore?"

"Because I do care for you. It's not love, yet, but I do care." He looked at Joey, his face as serious as his voice. "Go talk to him. If it works and you want to be with him I'll understand. If it doesn't," he smiled slightly, "I'll be here for you however you want me, as a friend or more."

"You're damned amazing," Joey said with heartfelt sincerity.

Nate shrugged. "I'm just me." Then he leaned close enough to kiss Joey softly. "Now go. See what happens, for all our sakes."

Joey stood slowly, bent to brush the softest of kisses across Nate's lips, and started to say something. Nate shook his head. "Just go." Joey nodded, touched Nate's cheek, then left.