The Case of the Voracious Vintner

by Tara Lain

  Okay, so finding a way to save Bo was on tap, and his life could be in imminent danger, so no fucking around. I could burn down the building. Yeah, how? By rubbing two Boy Scouts together? Better have a plan. We’re outnumbered twenty to one—and I haven’t seen anybody come out of the place. Mostly he wanted to go kick these people’s asses and tell them to wake up. What the hell did they think they were doing? But counting on their consciences could be fatal.

  Something tickled his bare arm, and he jumped. Shit. What’s creeping on this ground besides me?

  If he left the trees, he was out in the open and really exposed. His biggest regret was the fact that his cell phone was lying in the middle of the dining room rug where it had fallen when he dragged down his pants. Shit!

  Can I create a diversion? They know I’m out here, so not likely. But what if I go to the street and start throwing rocks at their cars and making a ton of noise? This place is remote, but somebody might hear. Plus they could want to save their cars. Bet Bo could come up with a better plan. Hell, where’s Bo?

  His plan might be stupid, but it was all he could think of.

  Skirting through the trees until he saw some bushes closer to the house, he crouched and started running. At the bushes he ducked down. The distance from where he hid to the street was two hundred yards of open space. Whew. He couldn’t hear any noise other than trees rustling and the faint hum of traffic from some distant highway. No one moved—so he’d better.

  Bent over like a scuttling animal, he took off toward the street and cleared the open space. When the bulk of the building hid him, he slowed. There were a couple of windows ahead of him, but fortunately they’d closed them so tight there was barely any light, much less visibility. Keep moving.

  He scooted under the windows and stayed in the shadow of the building. At the edge, where the wall turned, he paused. If someone’s out there, I can take off down the street. Chances are I’m faster than any of them. If they’ve got a gun, all bets are off, but if they did have one, why haven’t they used it? This is a sex party. No one expects anything threatening.

  Just do it. He inhaled and peeked quickly around the building. No one. Thank you, universe. Okay, go!

  Like some iron band descended from the sky, an enormous arm wrapped around his waist and pulled him off his feet.

  “Fuck!”

  A low voice said, “Look what I caught. Maybe it’s a leather bear?”

  Jeremy struggled like mad, but the man was huge. Jeremy had seen him inside, vaguely, but had been so focused on the people he knew and thought might tell him something, he hadn’t properly assessed this guy’s threat. He gave a cynical smile. Nonno would be ashamed. Hell, will I get to testify against Nonno? Without me, they’ve got no case. That thought pissed him off, and he struggled even harder.

  “Calm down, asshole. And I mean that literally.” He chuckled at his own joke as he dragged Jeremy, still in the bear hug, up the steps of the porch.

  Jeremy slammed back with his soft-sneakered foot and hit the guy’s shin, which hurt him like bloody hell and barely fazed Mountain Man. The guy kicked hard backward against the door, then again, and someone opened it. “Oh my God. You caught him.”

  “Yeah. Aren’t you glad I like to smoke?”

  Somehow getting caught by a dude who went out for a smoke made Jeremy even madder.

  Mountain Man hauled him through the double doors and dropped him in the living room in a heap. Jeremy instantly flipped to his feet and turned to face the scene. Everything in him froze. All the people who’d been there when he escaped were still there—including Bo. The man he loved more than life stood bound and gagged on the same footstool Jeremy had used for his oral sex—with the noose hanging above his head.

  Jeremy stared, ice in his blood instantly replaced by fire. Boiling! He lost it. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing? Who are you people?” He could feel the blood vessels standing out on his temples. “You’re not murderers! I heard you. You didn’t kill Ottersen. You just made a stupid-ass decision to hide your little sex games by dumping his body instead of reporting his death. But put Bo’s head in that noose, and you’ll all go to prison. Maybe some of you will be put to death.”

  Ezra glanced around at people’s uneasy faces, then sneered, “Don’t be stupid. Bo’s about to do the same thing as Ottersen. He was fascinated by the asphyxiation play all evening. You know he was—we all heard him. So, oops, he slipped. Both of them are gone and no one’s the wiser.”

  “Right. You idiot. You dumped Ernest’s body to keep from being found out, and now you’re going to tell everyone what you were doing? And the chances the cops won’t find out are zero. You’re all going down. And how are you going to kill me? You figure both of us slipped? Give me a fucking break. You haven’t got the brains God gave a snail.”

  Jeremy’s blood ran like lava and flamed out his mouth. He narrowed his eyes. “Trust me, asshole. I know murderers—intimately. And while you might not be too bright, you’re no murderer.” His gaze traveled around the room. People looked way beyond nervous. “I’m the son of a criminal and the grandson of another. I understand police, courts, law, and punishment. You guys made a stupid mistake by listening to Ezra in the first place. But it’s very unlikely you’ll go to prison for being an accessory to stupidity. Murder Bo and me, and you might as well kill yourself right after. You’ll ruin any chance of a future, to say nothing of hating yourself forever. Shit. Think, why don’t you?” Calmly he walked to Bo, took his hand, and helped him down. Like Jeremy’s disgusted certainty held them all in place, no one moved to stop him.

  Suddenly the front door of the house burst open. “Police! Drop your weapons and put your hands up.”

  Jeremy ripped the blindfold off Bo’s eyes and quickly stepped behind him to easily untie the awkward knot they’d created. The people around him looked so terrified, he half wanted to laugh. Marybeth silently sobbed against Ezra’s arm. He scowled angrily, but he was pretty much the only one. Gen Renders had pulled a tablecloth around her mostly naked self and was visibly shaking, while Randy had tears on his cheeks.

  A SWAT team in full regalia burst into the room and stopped—no doubt at the sight of a room full of barely clad humans, some of them senior citizens. O’Hara walked out of the middle of the pack of assault rifles and body armor. He put his hands on his hips. “Bo, Jeremy, what the hell is going on here? Why did you call me?” His eyes dropped. “And what in the hell are you wearing?”

  Jeremy squeezed Bo’s hand. He wanted to shove every one of these people into a well or set the house on fire with them in it, but— “Some raunchy sex games being played here, O’Hara. Nothing illegal. However, we tried to call you because Ezra here has something very important to tell you that will clear up your murder case.”

  O’Hara’s brows shot up. “Oh? Seriously?”

  Bo nodded.

  O’Hara looked at Ezra. “Very well, sir, come with me. The rest of you, sit.” He glanced at Jeremy and Bo and gave them a quizzical look.

  “We’ll sit.” Jeremy grinned. He took Bo’s hand and led him to a love seat by the wall, then wrapped Bo in his arms. “Oh God, darling. I was terrified.”

  Bo whispered, “I was pretty scared. I kept thinking, like you, that they’d come to their senses, but I started losing hope.”

  “Yeah.” Jeremy pulled out of the hug and gazed at Bo’s beautiful face. “Am I letting them off too easy if I don’t tell O’Hara? I’d like to boil every one of them in oil.”

  “Tell me why you’re doing it, darlin’.” He smiled softly.

  Jeremy wiped a hand over the back of his neck. “I could so easily have been involved in something terrible if, say, my father had made me drive him to a murder site or even participate myself. I would have desperately needed someone to see that I wasn’t really a murderer. To give me another chance. But they almost watched Ezra murder you and didn’t stop him. That’s hard to forgive.”

  “I’ll tell you what. When we go in to tal
k to O’Hara, I’ll tell him about Ezra. I think he deserves an assload of punishment and an even bigger assload of scared. But I do think the rest would have backed out and might have talked Ezra out of it. Maybe. But I don’t like a person capable of that much ruthlessness walking around unsupervised.”

  “I agree.” Jeremy pulled Bo back into his arms and hugged as hard as he could.

  “Jeremy?”

  He looked up at Marybeth, who was still wiping tears. “Yes?”

  “I just want to thank you for not telling the police we—” She made a sobbing sound. “What we did. Some of the others asked me to tell you too. We’re so grateful. If we can ever do anything to repay you—anything at all—please ask.”

  Bo said, “You must understand that Ezra will have to suffer punishment, perhaps severe. He nearly incited people to murder.”

  She frowned. “Yes. I’m beyond sickened. I don’t even know the man I took for my husband and rather wish I hadn’t.” She pursed her lips. “Thank you again, both of you. We’re deeply thankful for your human kindness.”

  “Bo, Jeremy. You’re up.” O’Hara called from the hall that must lead to the back of the house.

  Jeremy said, “Excuse us,” to Marybeth. She kissed his cheek. He smiled at her, and they walked into a back bedroom that smelled a lot like sex all over the rumpled sheets on the bed.

  O’Hara sat in a straight-backed chair, wiping a hand over his neck.

  Bo said, “Glad you got my message. Did you track my phone?”

  O’Hara nodded, then looked up. “That was one helluva story I got from Hamilton. Do you believe it?”

  “Yes.” Bo nodded.

  “Choking yourself to death? Seriously? For an erection. Haven’t they heard of Viagra?”

  Bo nodded. “There’s something you should know. Ezra tried to persuade the group to hang me tonight.”

  “What the fuck?”

  “He thought they could give you the story of what actually happened to Ottersen and apply it to me. Jeremy came in and told them they were all crazy. He talked them down from the ledge before you got there.”

  “Do you think Ezra would have gone through with it?”

  Jeremy shrugged.

  “Bo?”

  “I honestly don’t know, O’Hara. He’s supposed to be this big Christian. I think that’s why he pushed so hard to dump Ottersen’s body. He didn’t want his churchgoing friends to know his penchant for group sex.”

  “Murder’s not a Christian act.”

  Jeremy snorted. “No shit.”

  Bo said, “We came here because we’d heard that Ottersen was a member of this group and originally suspected he might have inspired jealousy and gotten killed. It wasn’t until we got here we learned about the asphyxiation.”

  “And that Ottersen killed himself?” O’Hara asked.

  “Yes, by accident. Weird irony.”

  O’Hara sat back. “What a mess. A bunch of people who don’t protest a proposal of murder and participated in dumping the body of a self-inflicted death who like kinky sex. What’s wrong with this picture?”

  Jeremy nodded. “Yep. They’re called people. I don’t know many people who couldn’t, under weird circumstances, find themselves in this situation.”

  “Not you. Not Bo.”

  Jeremy smiled. “I’m happy you feel that way.”

  Bo stood. “We’re grateful we don’t have to decide what to do about any of this—you do. But since we’re wildly tired and I think Jeremy has been officially cleared, can we go home? We promise to come in and answer questions ad nauseam tomorrow or wherever you want us.”

  “Okay. We’ve got plenty to sort through here.”

  Jeremy took Bo’s hand, and they walked toward the closed door.

  “Oh, Bo? Jeremy?”

  They looked over their shoulders at O’Hara.

  O’Hara grinned. “Thanks for solving my case. I promise to take full credit. And I also promise not to ask how far you had to go to get this information.”

  Bo and Jeremy laughed all the way to the car.

  Chapter Thirty-four

  SOFT SUNLIGHT, birdies chirping, not a noose or a gun in sight, and the warm pressure of the only body he’d ever wanted next to him snuggled against his back as Bo gazed out the window in Jeremy’s spartan bedroom. To quote O’Hara, what was wrong with this picture? Bo sighed so deeply his chest tingled. Absolutely nothing.

  Jeremy peered over his shoulder. “You sound pretty self-satisfied.”

  Bo rolled onto his back, and Jeremy draped himself across Bo’s chest. Bo smoothed that golden mane. “How are you feeling this morning?” They’d gotten home the night before and barely removed their clothes before they crashed in bed. “Not every week you get drugged, mugged, threatened with death twice, and jerked off in public.”

  Jeremy frowned. “Sadly, it’s probably not over. There’s no way to know how organized crime will react to me testifying against Nonno. Fortunately, Nonno was the last big power center in a disintegrating organization. I think without him, the Russians, Chinese, and other organized crime groups will happily fill the vacuum, but anyone could decide to take exception to my testimony.” He released a long breath. “They could come after me before the trial.”

  Bo kissed his nose. “If we have to go into witness protection, we will.”

  “Witness security is the real name.” His golden brows practically met in the middle. “I could never let you give up your business and your family that way. I’d rather take my chances and stay with you.”

  Bo lightly kissed those perfect lips. “You know what? We don’t have to make that decision today. We need to talk to O’Hara and the FBI. We’ll assess the risk, but whatever decision we make, we stay together.” He smiled softly and let the truth suffuse his soul. “I’ve spent my life doing my duty. Don’t misunderstand. It was my choice, my nature, and my joy. But I’ve thought a lot about it between brushes with death, and it feels like love is a gift. Like God, goodness, spirit—whatever you want to call it—broke off a piece of itself and embedded it in my heart. To ignore that gift in favor of some misguided intellectual exercise seems ungrateful. I choose you, Jeremy.”

  Tears glistened in Jeremy’s eyes. “No one ever chose me before. Not Mother, Father, Grandfather—no one.”

  “I’m happy to be your first.” He pulled Jeremy up those last couple of inches and embedded their mouths together, exploring what for him was the sweetness of the universe.

  Just as the kiss started to ignite other desires, Bo’s phone rang. He pulled back. “Shall I ignore it?”

  “No. It could be important.” Jeremy snuggled into Bo’s chest.

  Bo kissed his forehead and clicked his phone. “Hi, Mama.”

  “Bo, are you okay? We haven’t heard from you for two days.” Her voice sounded shaky.

  “Yes. I was going to call you. I’m sorry to let you worry. Jeremy and I have had a few adventures, but we’re both great. Never, ever better.”

  “I’m so relieved. We didn’t know what to think. We really miss you.”

  “I miss you too, Mama.” And oddly, it was true.

  “When are you coming home?”

  Soft sigh. “Jeremy and I have to figure out the best living arrangement for us, Mama. We’ll talk to you about it.”

  “No, dear, it’s all done. Davey and Cortina have found a lovely house to buy and have invited me and Grandpa to live with them. Blanche and Bettina are getting an apartment together. It’s time you had your home back.”

  Well, step right up and call me gobsmacked. “That sounds like it could work well.” He wanted to dance a two-step.

  “They may need a little help with the down payment or something.”

  “I suspect that can be arranged.”

  “It’s close enough to you that we can—” She giggled. “—meddle in yours and Jeremy’s life endlessly.”

  Bo pressed Jeremy’s face against his chest and laughed. “That sounds perfect, Mama. Just perfect.”
<
br />   “Okay, so get home so we can start planning the wedding.”

  His laugh got louder. “I have to ask him first.”

  “Beauregard Marchand, you can’t leave that poor boy with no parents and no love in his life alone for another moment. I’ve taught you better than that—”

  Bo broke into her lecture. “Yes, ma’am. I promise to get that done, but please let me plan it my way, okay?”

  “Well, all right. But don’t linger, Bo. You know how you are regarding relationships. You can be backward.”

  He suppressed a laugh. “Yes, ma’am. But right now, we have many pressing engagements. So how about we come by later and have a meal together?”

  “That would be lovely.” She sucked an audible breath. “Bo, I’m sorry for all the terrible things I’ve said over the years that could lead you to believe I’m anything less than proud as an admiral’s buttons of you and all you do. I love you, Bo. You’re a fine and honorable man, and you deserve all the happiness there is.”

  He blinked rapidly. “Thank you, Mama. I love you too. Very much.”

  “Dinner’s at six. Don’t be late.”

  “We won’t. I promise.” He clicked off and looked down to find Jeremy’s eyes closed and his breathing coming slowly and deeply. Bo smiled at the perfection of this intimacy.

  Jeremy stirred. “Everything okay?”

  “Yes, wonderful. Sleep now. I’ll tell you later.”

  “Mmm, but I want to fuck.”

  “Darling, we’ve fucked enough to last a lifetime. From here on out, we make love. And we get to do it until forever.”

  He sighed. “I like the sound of that.”

  “Me too.”

  They both settled into a snuggle, and Bo welcomed a bit more sleep.

  Suddenly Jeremy tensed, gasped, and sat up, nearly taking out Bo’s chin in the process. “Oh my God, how could I have forgotten?”

  Bo’s pulse hammered. “What? What’s wrong?” Maybe they needed to leave now?

  Jeremy clambered to the edge of the bed, climbed out, and hurried to his closet. Bo followed uncertainly.

  Jeremy pulled on some jeans commando and a sweatshirt. “Quick. Put something on.