“Why don’t you get on with whatever you’re up to,” Nicole said, hitting Kent on the shoulder.
The profiler turned away from his wife to face Ruben. “No, actually I texted. 911. Urgent case. Make sure Nicole is okay.” Kent’s eyelids squinted. “I believe it was that last part that got your speed up.”
“Oh yeah,” Joshua chimed in. “Ruben was all, ‘we’ve got to get over there now. No, Joshua you can’t take the time to find your Avenger’s compass. We have to go now.’”
“Thanks, Joshua,” Ruben stated.
* * *
Wow, not only was Joshua standing in the holy sanctum of the Kent-Nicole bedroom, watching the All-mother nurse their baby, but Ruben had just paid Joshua a compliment.
“You’re welcome,” Joshua responded.
Funny, Ruben didn’t look all that happy. What had happened to manners?
“The case?” Nicole interrupted, as she repositioned. That blanket looked a little precarious.
Kent sat down on the edge of the bed. Joshua already had received a head’s up, so went over to the big screen TV on the wall and hooked his laptop up.
This should be a fun one. You know, as long as Joshua didn’t have to go out into the field. After Debbie Downer, Joshua seriously doubted he’d ever go out, even in the surveillance van, again. Ever.
“Are you sure no one wants anything to eat? Drink?” Kent suggested although it seemed more of a stalling technique than an actual offer. Otherwise, Joshua totally would have asked for a hot chocolate, but the way Nicole was glaring at her husband, Joshua decided it wasn’t the right time.
“I don’t know, how about some herbal tea,” Nicole shot at her husband.
Kent waved off his wife’s scorn. “Trust me. After you hear this, you won’t care about your chai-lemongrass-flax seed concoction.”
“It was just rose hips,” Nicole replied.
Ah, to be on the inside of their relationship. Joshua couldn’t believe his luck.
So, why was Ruben all pouty? The guy really needed to learn to live in the moment. All that Paggie stuff was in the past. And now he had this great opportunity? The guy didn’t know how good he had it.
“Well?” Ruben asked.
Kent smiled. Oh, that smile. Joshua could stare at it all day long.
“Well?” Kent reflected back, as only the profiler could. “Ruben and I are going undercover to a cooking class…as a gay couple.”
* * *
There were some days when Kent seriously wondered whether all the pain and suffering was worth continuing in law enforcement. Overall it was a thankless job that took as much of a toll as it benefited society.
This was not one of those moments.
No, this was one of those moments that made it all worthwhile. Just the look on Ruben’s face. The sputtering. The blushing cheeks that made it all the way up to his bald head. His hands flailing at his side.
Yes, yes, crime fighting was worth it, if not just for moments like this.
“Kent…” Nicole warned.
“What?” Kent asked. “I mean it. That’s our cover.”
“First off,” Ruben finally managed to choke out. “What?”
Ah, their little Hemingway.
“We’re going undercover into a cooking class. I believe a serial killer has moved to the area and will strike there.”
“Yes, yes, I understand that part…”
“Oh, the gay couple thing. Well, we could go as two straight men to a couple’s cooking class, but I think that might be a dead give-away.”
“Kent…” Nicole growled again.
“What?” Kent answered. “This is the way it has to be.”
“Yes, but you don’t have to have quite so much fun,” his wife reminded him. Spoil sport.
Ruben took in a breath, drawing himself up to his full height. The detective always did that when he was trying to remind Kent how much taller he was than him.
If size didn’t matter, height certainly didn’t.
“Fine,” Ruben stated bluntly. “What’s our cover story?”
Kent nodded to Joshua. This really was the tech’s area.
* * *
Joshua got all giddy. Kent had chosen him. Him to do the briefing. This might possibly be one of Joshua’s greatest days. Not the greatest day, because, get real, making up Kent to pass as dead to Nicole was the greatest day of his life. Joshua seriously doubted if anything would ever surpass that moment.
However, this one did come pretty dang close.
“Well?” Ruben asked with a sour expression.
“Well?” Oh, Ruben had no idea exactly how prepared Joshua was. “You two have been a couple for four years, but there’s been trouble.”
Ruben sighed, crossing his arms. “I assume our problems are my fault.”
“You are a bit sensitive,” Joshua answered. “And you feel like Kent is putting in too much time at work.”
“And he does?”
“Oh, he owns an internet start-up helping handicapped children.”
Chuckling, Ruben shook his head. “Of course. Even outside of law enforcement, Kent would be a knight in shining armor. And I’m what? A house husband.”
“Oh no,” Kent replied with that smile that made Joshua’s heart race. “You’re an accountant.”
“Of course I am,” Ruben commented.
Joshua was so very glad that the detective appreciated all the hard work that Joshua put into the cover story.
“So Kent booked this cooking class to try to rekindle your relationship.”
Ruben rolled his eyes. Like Kent would do something so awesome if he was gay.
Ruben put a hand up. “I get it. I’m a bottom. Got it.”
“But…”
“What time does the class start?” Ruben asked over Joshua’s objections.
Kent looked down at his watch. “We should get a move on.”
“But I’ve got like five more pages of details,” Joshua said. Okay, he probably whined it. But still, this was a big deal.
Kent came over, actually came over and put his arm around Joshua’s shoulders. “You know what? I think you nailed the characters so well, we understand them to their depths. No need to explain.”
Okay, maybe this was the greatest day of Joshua’s life.
* * *
He and Kent got to Ruben’s car. Of course Kent didn’t have one. He and Nicole “shared” her Mustang.
“I suppose you want to drive, being the top and all.”
To Ruben’s surprise, the profiler shook his head and opened the passenger side door. “I like empowering you.”
With a groan Ruben got into the car. This was going to be an extraordinarily long night, if Kent’s current mood was any indication. Just think. Ruben could be happily ensconced in Houston by now. Free of Kent and his machinations.
Ruben glanced up. Nicole stood at the window, cradling little Logan. She gave a little wave. He was sure it was for Kent, but somehow the action made this fiasco worth it.
“Seriously, you need to step on it. I don’t want to be late, then have you blame me, again,” Kent said. His voice was ever-so slightly higher pitched and just a hair faster. How could he transform himself so completely with such small changes?
Kent laughed. “Don’t worry. Just be yourself. No one will suspect.”
Why? Why did Ruben allow himself to get these situations?
“So, there is a crime we are investigating, correct? This isn’t just for your amusement?”
Kent leaned back in the car seat. “This is nice. Heated?”
“Yes,” Ruben answered. “The case?”
Per usual, the profiler waved off Ruben’s concerns, because why would he need to know what kind of killer they were after? To Kent that was the least of their concerns.
“In one thing, Joshua was correct here on page three,” Kent said, flipping through the legend that Joshua had given the profiler. “You are really going to have to tone down your open hostility toward me for thi
s to work.”
“Really?” Ruben said. “Because I think I am projecting being pretty fed up with you, pretty damned well.”
CHAPTER 2
Indeed Ruben was. Kent could let it go, but what would be the fun in that?
Before he could explain further what he needed out of Ruben’s performance, the detective put his hand out and cranked up the radio. Gipsy Kings, Kent was pretty certain. Whoever it was, it was loud. Loud enough to stifle all conversation.
Score one for Ruben. How very passive-aggressive of him. Maybe he was taking to this role a little better than he suspected.
The trip across town was fairly easy. Only a few minor traffic jams, since it was the tail end of rush hour.
Ruben parked the car a few blocks up from the cooking studio. The car was pure cop. It wouldn’t do to have anyone from the class see them exit such a law enforcement vehicle. Especially since everyone in the class was a suspect.
Straightening his suit as he exited the car, Ruben looked over. “So are you going to tell me anything about this killer? Or are you just going to spend the evening busting my chops?”
Kent ignored the detective’s outburst. He shook his finger at Ruben. “This is one of the things you need to work on if the relationship is going to last. Trust.”
Ruben snorted, doubling over laughing. A good belly laugh. “Trust? You? Oh, it must be your sense of humor that has kept us together so long.”
My, oh, my, Ruben was on one tonight. This whole evening might be a whole lot more interesting than Kent originally imagined. He had expected Ruben to pout through the night, but it looked like the detective was going to keep him on his toes this evening.
They walked up to the door. Kent made sure to open it for his pretend lover. Kent was the top after all.
Ruben gave an appreciative nod as he entered the small studio. “Maybe if you did that a little more frequently when we were alone, we wouldn’t have to be here.”
Kent smiled. Ruben was really going to take this the distance.
If only Nicole could be here. But then that would kind of defeat the purpose, now wouldn’t it?
* * *
Nicole bounced Logan on her hip, as Joshua set up the feed. Apparently Joshua was a little more sneaky than Nicole gave him credit for.
“I figure with all the kidnappings going around,” Joshua continued, because did Joshua really ever shut up? “I fit Ruben’s tie tack with a micro-camera.”
“What did you tap for Kent?”
“What is the one thing he is never without?” Joshua asked.
“Someone else’s phone?” Nicole queried.
Joshua tapped his nose. “Yep, so I loaded spy software on the phones of everyone I could think of. Let’s see whose he has tonight.”
Logan fussed a little. Nicole put him up on her shoulder to burp him. As the screen bloomed to life. They were getting the visuals from Ruben’s tie tack and the sound from Kent’s phone, which appeared to be Jimmi’s. The “couple” were making their introductions around the room. It looked like another nine couples were at the cooking class. It was led by exactly whom you would expect. A perky blonde who was a cooking instructor-slash-life coach-slash-partnership counselor.
Nicole strongly suspected that she had been a cheerleader in her youth. She just had that peppy fake smile.
Stop it. Nicole admonished herself. She was a big enough woman to admit that she was jealous of the cooking coach. She had the perfect body. The perfect hair. She looked well rested and up for an adventure. Everything that Nicole was not at the moment.
After the baby, Nicole’s body was far more lumpy than it had ever been. And trying to work out? She’d never been the best before, and now? Now it felt like her body was in full rebellion. Her legs were thick trunks that had no intention of slimming down.
Her hair hadn’t been the most coiffed either, but now with Logan constantly tangling it with his little fists? Nicole had given up on brushing out all the snarls. Let’s just say ponytails were her new best friends.
When was the last time that she and Kent had gotten dressed up and gone out? Dear God, that had been before Logan. Well before Logan in fact. With her ankles swelling to the point they qualified as “cankles,” it had been take-out and at home dates for those last three, maybe four months.
Yes, in fact she was jealous of an undercover operation. Was it any wonder?
Nicole stroked the fuzz on little Logan’s head. She loved her son without reserve, but if his father came out of this mission alive, they were going on a date night…outside the house. Imagine that.
* * *
“Talk to me,” Nicole said as Joshua turned away, allowing the detective to rebutton her shirt.
“About?” He glanced over his shoulder to find Nicole’s eyebrow up. So he continued. “I really don’t know much.” Again with that eyebrow. “Kent has been tracking unsolved murders in the region and found seventeen.”
“Similar MOs?” Nicole asked. “Never mind. Of course not. They probably had nothing in common.”
“Well, one thing,” Joshua said. “At one time or another the victims all used the site Meetup.com.” By the look on Nicole’s face, she didn’t know what he was talking about. “It’s a great site where you can find people who share your same interests in your local area. So you can meet in person.”
Nicole still didn’t seem to really get the idea.
“Say for instance, this is just an example mind you, that you really love Chris Platt and want to meet up with other fans of his. You go to the site, join the Chris Platt Appreciation Meetup and go to a group meeting every other Sunday at 3pm…”
“Just an example then?” Nicole chuckled. “Did they all attend the same type of Meetup?”
Joshua shook his head. “No, their interests were all over the map. Long-boarding, hiking, and oddly, Jerry Lewis fan clubs.”
“Clubs?”
Joshua nodded. “Clubs. The guy has a wide fan base.”
“So how did Kent hone in on this cooking class?”
“Your guess is as good as mine. We were scrolling down Meetups for tonight and he pointed to this couple’s cooking class and said… ‘That’s the one,’ and we were off.”
Nicole sighed. “Sounds like Kent.”
“And no, I don’t know the plan,” Joshua rushed on. He knew the question to come. “Kent just told me to get a story ready for him and Ruben as a couple.”
Again Nicole sighed. “Yep, that’s my husband.”
They looked to the screen as the couples got settled into their stations to start cooking.
“So no idea who Kent is targeting?”
“None,”” Joshua stated.
He wished he knew. Wouldn’t that be something, but alas, Kent was enigmatic as he was handsome.
The guy was a quadruple threat.
Now to watch him in action.
* * *
Kent surveyed the room. He was striving for a slightly socially awkward vibe. Like he needed to check in to make sure everything was okay, which was exactly the opposite of what he was doing. He needed to see that everything wasn’t okay.
There was the bleached blonde, rah-rah-sis-boom-bah coach. Joshua had checked her out pretty thoroughly. She hadn’t lived in the cities where the other deaths occurred. Plus, the chick just didn’t seem quite bright enough to plan and execute seventeen people.
Although she did have some well-defined biceps.
“Gay, remember?” Ruben whispered to Kent as he bumped his hip. Kent had to say, Ruben was playing the wounded lover very well. Subtle, not overbearing, but believable.
“Right, honey,” Kent replied, leaning over and giving the tall detective a kiss on the neck. Kent had expected the tall Latino to flinch or at the least give Kent a punch in the shoulder, but he did neither. If anything he played coy, using his fingers to wave Kent off.
“Ahhhh,” a woman cooed behind them. It was the Masons. Cherie and Burt? Kent really hadn’t paid attention. Burt had a bel
ly that flopped over his pants, reddened cheeks and a pasty complexion. The guy was a walking ad for erectile dysfunction, and poor Cherie was trying to pretend she didn’t notice.
It wasn’t either one of them. Psychopaths and sociopaths, strove to appear normal. They wanted to blend in, appear to be members of the herd. A wolf in sheep’s clothing. Those two were sheep in sheep’s clothing.
Still, he gave a fun little wink to Cherie. Poor girl needed a bit of excitement in her life. This cooking class wasn’t going to do it.
“Oh, Kent…” Ruben said. The guy was pitch perfect. “You remembered.” Ruben’s eyelids narrowed as he whispered. “Seriously, you remembered.”
The detective was referring to the box of groceries in front of them. This cooking class had the unique feature of making a recipe that you had a hard time with. In this case it was Ruben’s grandmother’s sugo alla puttanesca. Translated, “pasta sauce as a whore would make it.”
Those Italians.
“I wasn’t even talking to you when I told that story,” Ruben said leaning into Kent.
Kent leaned right back. “Even when it doesn’t seem like I’m listening to you, dear, I am.”
This was the moment. Kent went in for the kiss. Ruben, God love him, waited until the last second, then pulled back, putting a hand on Kent’s chest. “You know how I feel about PDA.”
Was Ruben enjoying this? It certainly seemed to be true. If so, it was the first time the man had enjoyed himself in quite a long while.
Rapidly, Ruben prepared the multitude of ingredients the pasta sauce called for. Since he’d complained that he couldn’t make it the way his Grandmother had. Kent had thought it the perfect recipe for this undercover operation.
For one, it was a long-ass recipe, so it gave them time to hang out until the end of class. For another, Kent knew that Ruben had an emotional connection to this recipe which would help him sell their cover. However, it appeared that Ruben really didn’t need any help in that department.
Miss Sunshine came to their table, her neck scarf bouncing with each step. She tossed Ruben a couple of small fish. “You need to double the anchovies. That’s what makes the sauce sing.”
2nd Cycle of the Harbinger Series: The continuation of the #1 Hard-boiled/Police Procedural smash Plain Jane Page 35