Lessons Learned (Sequel to 'Hitman's Creed) – 12

 

 

“Thank goodness. That’s one less thing to worry about,” Glenn said when Joey called to let him know Nate had been found and was going to be alright. “Did he see the perp?”

 

“No. He said he glanced up from where he was standing in the street and saw something on the edge of the parapet that looked like a rifle barrel to him, just like we thought. He was going to sneak up the stairs to the roof to see who was there but the perp must have seen or heard him because he surprised Nate at the bottom of the stairs, hit him over the head and that’s the last he remembers until he came to in the basement. He tied him up ‘like a Christmas turkey’ according to Nate, and left him in the dark. He tried to get to his phone but couldn’t so he just lay there and hoped someone would find him before he starved to death.”

 

“Okay, so I’m still working blind.”

 

“Glenn, this isn’t your job. Now that we know Nate’s safe the chief’s got us all on the lookout for the man with the Ranchero. He’s sending some of the guys back to checking the rest of the vacant properties outside of town.”

 

“Joey, this is anyone’s job that has the skills and the know-how, and I’m one of them,” Glenn retorted.

 

“Yeah, but…”

 

“I’ll be fine.” He paused for a second. “You did good. I’m proud of you.” Before Joey could reply he hung up and then turned his phone off.

 

So either you’ve been in town for at least a few days, to know that house was empty at the moment, or you’re working for someone here in town. I’m betting it’s the former.

 

He wasn’t certain why he thought that, mostly instinct he figured. If the man had been around for a few days he’d have cased the area for a safe place to go to ground until he’d finished the job. Obviously he wasn’t staying at the house where he’d left Nate. From what Joey had said the cops went through the place and found nothing to say he’d done more than dump Nate there.

 

For sure you didn’t drive around after you took him looking for a vacant house. You headed straight there, got rid of him and then… Where did you hide the car? Not too far away I’m betting. It’s too distinctive. Why the hell did you...?

 

Glenn snapped his fingers. Stupid, stupid. Turning his phone on again he called Harv.

 

“You’ve got the in,” he said as soon as Harv answered. “You said you’d never seen the Ranchero before, but what if someone had it stashed away. You know, like working on it, or just some relic from their past?”

 

“Possible…” Harv replied slowly. “It’s more likely someone had it in their garage, just storing it. If they were working on it they’d have noticed it was missing. I’ll make a couple of calls and see what I come up with. You want me to tell Chief Leades what I’m doing?”

 

“No. I want the word to sort of leak out that I’m the one interested in the information, not the cops.”

 

“Hang on a second. You taking this on on your own?”

 

“Yes. My gut says this guy’s after me. I want to draw him to the house, not have him taking potshots at me here in town where other people might get hurt. If he knows I’m getting close, hopefully he’ll do his best to find out where I’m living.”

 

“What makes you think he doesn’t know already?”

 

“If he did he’d have already shown up there. I suspect whoever sent him knows my general location but that’s it. Our perp could have been in and out of a lot of the towns around here before he hit on this one. Chances are he got lucky and saw me when I came into town a couple of days ago and now he’s winging it more or less.”

 

“Joey’s going to kill you when he finds out you’re going all ‘lone wolf’ on this.”

 

“Hopefully he won’t know until after it’s over.”

 

“Right,” Harv said with a small chuckle. “Okay, I send out feelers and make it unobviously obvious you’re behind them.”

 

“Thanks, Harv.”

 

Now I have to figure out how to get Joey out of the house long enough to make this work. And that is going to be the biggest problem of all.

Lessons Learned (Sequel to 'Hitman's Creed) – 11

 

 

“Ready?” Eck asked, taking the keys when Joey handed them to him.

 

Joey nodded, standing to the side of the front door while Eck unlocked it, his gun to his side. Two more deputies were stationed behind the house. He wondered if they felt as nervous as he did. Probably not. They’ve been cops for a lot longer than I have.

 

Eck inched the door open first, then shoved it the rest of the way, dropping to one knee, his gun at the ready. Silence greeted them and Joey felt foolish. Then they heard a muffled sound which seemed to come from the basement.

 

“There,” Eck mouthed, pointing to a door they could barely see through the arch to the kitchen.

 

They inched forward, the crepe soles of their shoes silent on the linoleum of the kitchen floor. When they reached the door Eck tested the handle then opened it slowly. With no lights on, they could barely see the flight of stairs leading down.

 

Eck signaled for Joey to stay where he was and then, testing each step, he went down to the basement. Joey’s finger tightened on the trigger of his gun. He forced himself to relax even as he waited tensely, certain that at any second he’d hear gun shots.

 

Instead, a few minutes later, Eck called out, “Found him. He’s alive.”

 

Somehow that didn’t ease Joey’s fears as he raced down the stairs, almost tripping over the last of them, realizing as he did he should have turned on the light. Alive doesn’t mean he’s alright.

 

He saw an open door to the right, a dim light showing. Taking a deep breath he entered what looked like a small storage room. Eck was kneeing over a prone form, hiding most of it from Joey’s sight.

 

“Call it in, and get an ambulance out here.”

 

Stepping to the side so he could see, even as he made the call, Joey sighed with relief. Nate looked like hell, blood caking his hair and one temple, but his eyes were open and when he saw Joey he smiled weakly.

 

“Remind me next time I get nosy to ignore my instincts to see what’s going on,” Nate murmured.

 

Joey chuckled. “I have the feeling Rory’s going to tell you that more times than you want to hear it.”

 

By then Eck cut had the ropes binding Nate’s wrists and ankles. When Nate tried to sit up Eck put a firm hand on his shoulder to stop him. “You don’t move until the EMTs tell you it’s okay. Got it?”

 

“Can he talk?” Joey asked, kneeling down beside Eck, brushing Nate’s hair back off his forehead as much as the dried blood would allow.

 

“Depends. If you want him to tell us what happened, no. I think that should wait until the bigwigs are around to take his statement.”

 

“Alright. I just wanted to know,” Joey looked at Nate, “did you see who did this to you.”

 

“No.”

 

“That answer’s that.”

 

There was the sound of sirens and moments later the EMTs came down, turning on the lights on the way. After checking Nate over they loaded him on a stretcher and got him upstairs and into the ambulance to take him to the clinic. Once there, the doctors would make a decision whether he needed to be transported to the county hospital in the next town.

Lessons Learned (Sequel to 'Hitman's Creed) – 10

 

 

“Any word?” Harv asked, looking up from his desk when Glenn walked into the office at his garage.

 

“Not that I know of, no.” Glenn leaned against the edge of the desk, glancing out the window across from him at the interior of the auto repair shop. “Have you heard anything?”

 

“Not ace-duce and trust me I’ve been keeping my ears open. Nate’s disappearance is the prime topic of conversation but no one has mentioned seeing anything out of the ordinary.” Harv chuckled. “Believe me if they had they’d have said something. Nobody’s happy about the idea he could have been kidnapped, or worse. We don’t get things like that happening around here. Well except the thing with Joey’s father and that was almost three years ago.”

 

Glenn nodded, his thoughts going back to where he’d set up surveillance if he was here on a job. So far, and he’d only walked half the downtown area, he hadn’t spotted anywhere he’d even consider using except the rooftops.

 

As the silence lengthened, Harv shoved the bills he’d been working on into a pile and stood up. “Whatever you’re thinking, it’s got you off in the stratosphere. I’ll leave you to it.”

 

“No, wait. I need to know if there’s anyone in town who might be holding a grudge against someone else. One bad enough they’d act on it if they thought they could get away with it.”

 

Dropping down in the chair again, Harv shrugged. “This is a small town so most everyone gets along pretty well on the whole. Yeah there’re spats sometimes but nothing major.”

 

“Such as?”

 

“The usual. Someone’s dog making a nuisance of itself and the owner doing nothing about it, a neighbor cutting a limb off a tree where it’s hanging over his fence. Mr. Hawkins down the street had two kids arrested for shoplifting. That didn’t sit too well with their parents. They though he should have come to them first.”

 

Glenn smiled slightly. “Typical small stuff, and nothing more major than that?”

 

“Not that I’ve heard, and I would have I think. You can always check with Miriam. She might know something I don’t. Doubtful, but…” He grinned.

 

“Yeah, I will.” Glenn pushed off the desk. “Thanks and…”

 

“If I hear anything you and Chief Leades will be the first to know.”

Lessons Learned (Sequel to 'Hitman's Creed) – 9

 

 

Joey drove slowly, keeping his eyes open for anything out of the norm. He might only have been a cop for a couple of years, and a small town one at that, but after living with Glenn for the past six months he had some idea of what he should be looking for.

 

Not that I’ll find anything, but it doesn’t hurt to be even more aware of the surroundings than I usually am.

 

He really wished he’d been sent out with the searchers to check the vacant buildings outside of town. At least then he’d have felt a bit more useful.

 

Stop feeling sorry for yourself. Think about what Nate’s going through.

 

He slowed in front of one house where he knew the owners were on vacation and scanned it carefully to be certain no one had tried to take advantage of the fact and break in.

 

Hell, that’s something we never considered.

 

Getting on the radio immediately to tell Chief Leades, he shook his head when the man told him to check on the houses of the other residents who had left notice with the department they would be out of town. 

 

That’s what I get for opening my big mouth, he thought in amusement.

 

He was about to drive on to the next one when it occurred to him a man with even half the skills Glenn had would know how to break in without leaving any evidence. Pulling into the driveway, he got out and did a more thorough check, walking slowly around the house, looking for anything which said someone might be inside. Satisfied no one was he went back to the car and headed to the next one on the list.

 

Six homes later and he decided it was a wild goose chase. Every one of them was, as far as he could tell, empty.

 

But… what if...?

 

He started over again, needing to canvass neighbors on all sides of each house in question to see if any of them had noticed anything out of the ordinary.  

 

On his third stop he hit possible paydirt. The older couple who lived next door said they were night owls. The man had stepped out into his yard for, as he put it, ‘a breath of fresh air’ and thought he’d seen the curtains moving in the house in question.

 

“I put it down to maybe they forgot to close the window all the way,” he said, “and forgot about it until just now.” 

 

Of course Joey knew all the windows were closed. That was one of the first things even a rookie would have checked. He thanked the man and called in to report to the chief.

 

“We have a set of keys,” the woman told him when he’d hung up. “In case of emergencies you know. The Reynolds are our age so we sort of keep an eye on each other when we’re all home.”

 

When he asked, she went to get them, and then he went back to his car to wait for backup.

Lessons Learned (Sequel to 'Hitman's Creed) – 8

 

 

Morning came, and with it the tension both men had been able to dispel returned.

 

While they ate breakfast Joey kept glancing at Glenn with a worried frown. Glenn finally stopped eating, saying, “If someone’s after me, or anyone in town, I’m going to find them first.”

 

“How? You don’t even know where to begin.”

 

“That’s where you and all the deputies and volunteers the chief can spare come in. Start a search of vacant properties, both in town and outside of it.”

 

“I’ll suggest it, if he hasn’t already thought of it.”

 

“Hopefully he has, if he’s as good at his job as he should be.”

 

“He is. What about you?”

 

Glenn tapped a knuckle against his lips. “I think I’ll take a stroll through downtown. Maybe hang out at Harv’s place for a while, and then head back here.”

 

“You’re setting yourself up? No way!”

 

“Actually I’m not. I want to look at the area the way I would if I were here on a job, obviously something I’ve never done before. To my way of thinking, since he was up on the rooftop over the bookstore, whoever his target is must be someone who passes by there on a regular basis, works close by, or hangs out at Harv’s garage. The man’s not going to give up; I just have to figure out what other spots he could use. I doubt he’ll go back to that roof unless he’s stupider than even I think he is. As far as that goes he probably won’t use any roof now.” 

  

“Just… be damned careful,” Joey said as he got up to take his dishes to the sink. “I don’t want to be dispatched to a shooting and find out you’re the victim.”

 

Glenn came up behind him, wrapping his arms around his waist. “Not going to happen.”

 

Turning in his arms, Joey looked up at Glenn. “See that it doesn’t. I kinda, sorta would miss you if it did.”

 

Glenn cocked an eyebrow. “Only kinda, sorta?”

 

“Okay, maybe a bit more than that.”

 

“I’m not feeling the love here.”

 

“Damn it, Glenn, if anything bad happened to you I’d die. Is that love enough for you?”

 

“Yes,” Glenn said softly. “That’s more than enough. I promise I’ll be very careful.” Dipping his head he kissed Joey. “Now you’d better get moving or you’ll be late.”

 

Joey nodded, gave him a lingering kiss in return, then snagged his hat from the hook by the back door and headed out.

 

You be careful too, Glenn thought as he rinsed the dishes and put them in the dishwasher, because if the man is after me you’d be good bait if he needed it. And if anything happened to you… His mouth tightened. Slamming the dishwasher door shut he went to get ready for his trip into town.

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'.)