You Do What You Have To - 44

 

 

"If you tell me you do what you have to… I've heard that way too many times from him."

 

"Nonetheless it's true, Micky," Wren replied. "If it makes you feel any better—which it probably doesn't—if we'd known how sexually perverted Mackenzie was and what he's apparently been putting Robin through, we'd have pulled Robin out long before now." 

 

"I suppose that's good to know." Micky clenched and unclenched his hands. "Do you think, with what Alex knows, you can shut Mackenzie down? Or whatever it is you do?"

 

"We won't know until we talk with the boy," Hawk said. "With luck, what he knows will tie Mackenzie to Tanzer and Yours Truly. That's the best case scenario. Other than that, if he's willing to testify against them, that should put an end to Tanzer's business."

 

"I will," Alex said from the doorway. "And I bet a couple of other kids will too if you can get them out of there." He looked at the men then asked hopefully, "I don't suppose you have something I can wear, do you?"

 

"Come on," Wren replied. "I think I can find you something, though you'll swim in it. Then you can tell me everything you know about the house where they were keeping you, and any of the men working there."

 

"Men and women," Micky heard Alex say as he left with Wren.

 

At the same moment, Hawk's phone rang. He answered immediately, talking softly as he walked away to stand by the front window. Micky couldn't tell by the look on Hawk's face if the call was about Robin, and if so, if it was good or bad news. I guess they've learned not to show what they feel, given what they do. 

 

Hawk came back, sitting at the other end of the sofa. "That was Eldon. He's at the hospital." He took a deep breath. "Robin's back looks like raw hamburger, to quote Eldon. His ass is so badly bruised that Eldon wonders how he managed not to pass out while he was driving. His wrists and ankles are badly abraded from being restrained."

 

Micky felt tears well up and forced himself not to cry. "How… How long will they keep him there? Can I go see him?"

 

Hawk actually smiled. "This is Robin. He's tough. Tougher than he looks. He's already awake and insisting that the doctor's 'do their thing' as Eldon put it, so he can get out of there. Eldon says he told them 'I have a dog at home that's probably ready to bust a gut since I'm not there to let him out to do his business.'."

 

"That sounds like Robin," Micky said. "Are they going to release him? And how did he explain his…the damage?"

 

"Since it's obvious what was done to him, Eldon said Robin told the docs he'd gotten mixed up in a bad BDSM relationship and his Master did it when Robin told him he was breaking it off."

 

"I guess that works."

 

"As much as anything could." Hawk stood again, looking at Micky. "Why don't I find you a shirt, then, if you want, you can come with me. I suspect Robin was right and Thor is probably dancing a jig trying not to pee on the kitchen floor."

 

 

Find out --- 'Is It the Truth...or Lies?'

 Is It the Truth...or Lies?

https://www.jms-books.com/edward-kendrick-c-224_229/is-it-the-truthor-lies-p-4419.html

 

https://www.amazon.com/Truth-Lies-Edward-Kendrick-ebook/dp/B0B87416J1/ref=sr_1_1?qid=1659473514&refinements=p_27%3AEdward+Kendrick&s=digital-text&sr=1-1&text=Edward+Kendrick

 

GENRE: Gay Mystery Romance
LENGTH: 53,029 words
RATING:

Steve Richmond's day off begins normally enough. Then, he's abducted by someone who thinks he had information they needed about one Nate Loman. Only the intervention by the man's partner keeps Steve from suffering a beating ... or worse. It seems he was not the 'Steve Richmond' they were looking for.

Thanks to his ex, Steve is put in touch with Jace Evans, a bodyguard who is willing to protect Steve from his kidnappers if they came after him again. His fee? Twenty a day and a few home-cooked meals.

From there, things get complicated. First, someone tries to get into Steve's place but Jace sends them packing. Then, Jace comes up with information about Loman and why people are looking for him. What he learns brings both Loman and his enemies out of the woodwork, putting Steve in greater danger.

Can they trust what Loman tells them becomes the ultimate question. And will they survive long enough to separate the truth from the lies while dealing with their growing attraction to each other?

EXCERPT:

Steve had been up and moving for twenty minutes when his phone rang at ten-to-nine Wednesday morning. It was Jace, telling him he was outside the (motel) room. Erring on the side of caution, Steve peered through the peephole in the door, saw him, and went through the steps to open the door to let him in.

"You look like you need another ten hours sleep," Steve commented.

"I'd settle for two more. I didn't get to bed until after three, but at least it was worth it. I found out who our Mr. Loman is."

"Great! Who?"

"I'll tell you at breakfast. I need food and a ton of coffee."

Steve chuckled. "I bet you do. There's a place not too far from the shop that's decent, if you want to try it."

"Sounds good."

They got there ten minutes later, stood in line for another five -- which Steve said was amazing as there was usually at least a fifteen minute wait -- before they were seated at a table along one wall.

"Coffee!" Jace proclaimed as soon as the waitress came over. She grinned and filled his cup -- and Steve's as well when he said he wanted some. Jace drank half of his, sighed in relief, then perused the menu. Steve knew what he wanted, so when she reappeared they were ready to order.

"Okay, who is he?" Steve asked when she left.

Leaning in so only Steve could hear, Jace told him.

"It's not much," Jace said when he finished, "but it's a start. I have no idea who the two guys are who dealt with you, other than that they must be part of the gang."

"And they want the jewelry back, whether they know what Loman was or not."

"I'd say that's a good guess. Now I have to figure out who the real Steve Richmond is they're looking for and what his connection is to Loman."

"Maybe one of the people he works for? Is Loman a Fed?"

"No. It seems that he's a cop out of Chicago by the name of David Thompson who was brought in by the FBI to infiltrate the gang. I'm presuming they wanted to use him because he had no connection to them, making him a wild card. That way, they could deny any accountably if things went south." Jace went silent when the waitress returned with their meals -- and didn't continue until he'd made his way through most of his ham and eggs. "As I see it, the first thing I need to do is locate the other Steve Richmond."

"How can I help?"

"You can stay out of sight while you're at work, for starters. Let Paul handle the customers. Have you told him what happened?"

"No. When he asked, I said I did a pratfall from a wobbly chair while trying to change a light bulb. Okay, I didn't say pratfall but ..."

Jace chuckled. "Got it. Keep it to that for now. I don't think it would help if he knew what really happened, other than to make him afraid of anyone who comes into the shop. If one of them showed up they'd pick up on it in a heartbeat, putting him in danger, too."

"Maybe ..." Steve frowned in thought. "As much as I hate the idea, maybe I should close for a few days until we know they aren't looking for me anymore?"

"If you do that, they'll double their efforts. Act normal and it might bring them out of the woodwork."

"Normal would be my going back to the apartment after work."

"Nope," Jace replied. "You're too vulnerable there since they know where it's at. They're highly skilled burglars so breaking in would pose no problems."

"Then why haven’t they already?"

"My guess is the one who showed up last night was going to do just that until he saw me. The game with trying to unlock the door was his way of finding out if you were alone. If you were, he'd have come back later when he knew you were in bed and done whatever."

"Kill me." Steve shuddered.

"Unfortunately, probably. He should have dealt with his stupid partner, first. He's the one who asked you about Loman."

"For all we know he has."

"True. Not that we'll find out until this is finished."

Steve gave him a dour look. "When Hell freezes over?"

Jace gripped his hand. "Keep the faith. It will end. It takes time but it will." He quickly pulled his hand away.

 

You Do What You Have To - 43

 

 

 

 

 

Eldon's house was in a middle-class area of the city, set well back from the street and surrounded by a tall brick wall. Shades of Robin's house, and with as much security.

 

Wren, another of Robin's brothers, was waiting when they arrived. He told them that Falcon, the next to oldest of the brothers, was staked out at Robin's place in case he showed up there.

 

"You take care of each other," Micky said, stating the obvious.

 

"We're family. It's what we do when things look like they've gone bad," Wren replied with a brief smile as he took Micky and Alex up to the spare bedroom.

 

There were two beds, and after washing up, Alex curled under the covers on one of them and instantly fell asleep. Micky wasn't so lucky. He lay awake, staring into the darkness, going over everything that could have happened to Robin. He envisioned him a prisoner at Mackenzie's—being abused, and worse, by the bastard—or dead and tossed away in some secluded spot where no one but the animals would ever find him.

 

I don't care what he said, if anything's happened to Robin, I will kill Mackenzie, Micky vowed. He was startled at the depths of his emotions, putting them down to all he'd been through since meeting Robin—and exhaustion.

 

Finally, he fell into a restless, dreamless sleep, only to be awakened he didn't know how much later by someone shaking his shoulder.

 

Hawk stood there, a finger to his lips as he glanced at Alex's sleeping form. He handed Micky a bathrobe and when Micky put in on, led the way down to the living room.

 

"You've found Robin?" Micky whispered before realizing he really could talk aloud.

 

"Yeah. He showed up at his place. Falcon said he took one look at him and hauled him off to the hospital."

 

"Hell! How bad?"

 

"Bad. Fal told me he didn't know how Robin managed to drive home. I suspect, sheer willpower, and a need to get away from Mackenzie while he could."

 

Micky dropped down on the sofa, rubbing his temples. "Will he…? He's not going to die is he?"

 

"No. He's a tough kid."

 

"He's not a kid," Micky said angrily.

 

"True, but he is the youngest."

 

Micky nodded, staring at Hawk, and Wren, who had just come into the room. "He said you didn't know about what Mackenzie was…was doing to him."

 

"Not until now," Wren replied, his expression filled with loathing. "All we knew was that Robin was using sex to embed himself into Mackenzie's life and his household."

 

"That doesn't bother any of you. Or so he said," Micky spat out.

 

Hawk shook his head. "That's not true. It does, but—"

You Do What You Have To - 42

 

 

"Hawk? You're kidding. Never mind. How soon?" Micky asked.

 

Eldon chuckled briefly. "Not kidding. All four were named after birds, and don't ask. Describe exactly where you are."

 

"We ended up in the alley behind the address I gave you. Turned right on the sidewalk, crossed a street and went left and right into another alley and about halfway down."

 

"Got it. Hawk should be there in fifteen to twenty. Is it safe for you to get down to the alley?"

 

"I think so."

 

"How will he recognize you?"

 

"I'm in slacks, Alex is wearing briefs. That's it."

 

"That does make things easier."

 

"What about Robin?"

 

Eldon went quiet for a moment. "If he's at Mackenzie's home, the best I can do is wait outside and hope he's able to get out of there in the morning."

 

"What if he isn't," Micky barely whispered.

 

"Mackenzie won't kill him, if that's what you're worried about. He might rough him up some, if he thinks Robin's done something to betray him. It could just take Robin time to…"

 

"Heal," Micky spat out angrily.

 

"Yeah. Okay, you'd better get moving, and so should I. Hawk will bring you to my place once he's certain no one's following."

 

With that, Eldon hung up. Micky explained to Alex what they were going to do, and soon they were hiding behind a Dumpster in the alley. Almost to the minute, a man shuffled down the alley. He looked as if he was homeless, so Micky remained quiet until the man said quietly, "The Hawk is flying if you need a lift."

 

"We do," Micky replied. "If it's safe."

 

            "Safe as aces," the man replied, taking off the watchcap he was wearing to reveal wavy blond hair that closely resembled Robin's. Micky stepped into view, keeping a tight grip on Alex. Minutes later they were in a dark sedan, heading, Hawk said, to Eldon's place.

 

You Do What You Have To - 41

 

They raced down the metal stairs to the end, leaping the last four feet to the alley floor. Micky heard shouts from above them, kept a tight hold on Alex, and they ran hell-bent-for-leather to the end of the alley.

 

"That way," Alex gasped out, pointing right.

 

Micky followed his directions as they sprinted to the corner, then across an empty street and down to another alley. Micky could hear shouts behind them and prayed that the men wouldn't see them as they veered into the alley.

 

Part way down, Alex said, "There."

 

Micky saw what he meant a second later and hoisted the boy onto a closed Dumpster, pulling himself up as Alex scrambled up a fire escape. Following, Micky found himself on the roof of a building. For a second he couldn't see Alex. He heard a hissed out, "Over here," and hurried toward what turned out to be the housing for a swamp cooler. Alex had pulled off one of the panels enough to squeeze inside. For once, Micky was glad he was thin since there was barely enough room for him to get in next to Alex. He pulled the panel back into place with a sigh of relief.

 

"Now we wait," Alex whispered, pressing against Micky.

 

The boy was shaking. At first Micky thought it was because he was afraid. Then he realized he had to be cold, since all he had on were his briefs. He eased his arm around Alex's shoulders, trying to warm him as much as he could.

 

And they waited. It seemed like hours, although when he checked the time on his phone, Micky saw only about an hour and a half had passed since he'd gotten to the house. Shielding the phone so the light wouldn't show through the grilled panel, he tried to call Robin. It went to voicemail. He tried again ten minutes later with the same result.

 

"Where the hell are you?" he muttered after a third, unsuccessful, attempt.

 

"How are we going to get away from here to somewhere safe?" Alex asked fearfully.

 

"I'm working on it," Micky said a bit more sharply that he ought, he supposed. But he was worried. Robin should have seen his number come up on his phone and called back.

 

Forty-five minutes passed. Alex was shivering so hard that Micky was afraid he'd catch pneumonia. Finally, in desperation, he called the emergency number Robin had given him in the event things went bad.

 

"Yo," a sleepy voice answered.

 

"'This is your captain speaking' would be better than 'Yo'," Micky said in reply, just as Robin had instructed.

 

"Who is this?" Eldon growled.

 

"Micky Payne. I've been trying to get hold of Robin, and he's not answering. I have a boy with me you might want to meet, but we have no way to get to you or to Robin's place, even if we knew how to."

 

"How bad is the situation?" Eldon asked.

 

"With us? We're on the top of a roof a block or so from where I met the boy." Micky gave Eldon the address of the house belonging to Yours Truly. "I don't know why Robin isn't answering but it can't be good. He was at Mackenzie's club the last time I talked to him."

 

"Fuck and double fuck. Okay. I'm going to send his oldest brother to pick you up. He's closer than I am. His name is Hawk."