by Jerry Cole
Luke looked like he was going to argue, but then quickly shut his mouth and looked away. Eventually, he nodded. “I think you might be right. I’m sorry this all got so deep so fast.”
Jack kissed the side of his head. “I’m not sorry for any of it.” He got the car back on the road. Luke eventually settled back and seemed to calm down, though he didn’t say much for the rest of the drive.
They pulled into the parking structure under Jack’s condo and got out. Luke was looking owlish again, but followed Jack into the elevator.
“This is… a really nice building,” He muttered as they got out of the elevator.
“Yeah, can’t complain too much. The condo fees are murder, but it’s worth it for the location. I barely use my car.” He unlocked his front door and held it open for Luke.
“I can imagine,” Luke replied faintly, walking into the large living room area. He was looking around, and Jack winced as he realized that this, maybe, was a bit of a mistake. Luke was already embarrassed about the money issues he was having. Luke now recognizing that Jack had a very, very expensive condo wasn’t going to help this situation at all.
“I’m just going to rinse off and change clothes. I’ll be out in just a few minutes. Do you want any coffee or anything?”
Luke shook his head. “I’m good, thanks.”
“Okay, feel free to look around.” He pecked Luke on the lips and retreated into his bedroom.
***
Jack’s condo was large. Luke wandered through it, feeling slightly voyeuristic, but he had quickly figured out that Jack had been going through a few of his things while he was showering, so really this was all just a fair trade. He was trying not to feel jealous as he looked up at the vaulted ceilings and wainscoting and other nice details that made the place look classy and new. His furniture was large and leather and also looked expensive.
There were a handful of mementos from the time Jack spent in the army, but they weren’t obvious, and they weren’t anything that really told Luke what the guy had been up to. There was a photo of what had to be a very young Jack standing next to a very young Anya. Both of them were wearing fatigues and looked exhausted and dirty, and both of them were doing that smile for the camera people only do when they know it’s the only thing that will make the photographer go away and leave them in peace. It was an odd photo to have on display, Luke thought.
A family photo next to that showed Jack’s parents and younger sister, all looking happy and tanned on a family vacation in Florida at an amusement park. Jack couldn’t have been more than a teenager in that photo, but Luke would recognize his eyes anywhere, and it was clear he had inherited them from his mother. His father was a bear of a man, which explained Jack’s own physique, and his sister wasn’t tiny. A handful of pins from the theme park had been stuck on a lanyard, which was draped over the photo.
It was all very… displayed, Luke thought. Like Jack didn’t have anything messy or chaotic spoiling his condo, so it looked like a display in an upscale furniture store and not a place someone lived. Compared to Luke’s house, which he knew was a bit of a mess in addition to desperately needing renovation, it was so pristine it was almost eerie.
Luke wandered into what looked like the study and carefully switched on a light. This room was a little less sterile, and there were some papers scattered around. A stack of copies of Jack’s cookbook were in one corner, and Luke picked one up curiously. The version of Jack on the cover was airbrushed and edited to look even more like a hunk than he did in real life, and the title of the book was entirely bland. In the Kitchen with Jack LeJune seemed uninspired to Luke, but then what did he know. He set the book back down and glanced around again before turning the lights off and meandering back into the living room, and then into the kitchen.
The kitchen, at least, did have personality. It was huge and had clearly been expanded at some point, and the appliances were all big and industrial. The cabinets were black, and the backsplash was off-white subway tile. It screamed ‘semi-professional cook’ if Luke were any judge. Jack had a better stove than his catering kitchen did.
“Want something to drink before we go?” Jack asked from behind him.
Luke jumped a little. “No, no I’m good, thanks.”
“Did I scare you?” Jack grinned a little as he finished toweling his hair. He was dressed in a t-shirt for a brewing company and jeans but looked handsome as ever. Whatever soap or aftershave he used smelled incredible.
“No, sorry, I was just admiring how nice your kitchen is and got lost in thought.” Luke waved him off.
“Hmm.” Jack sounded unconvinced, but he threw the towel into what must be the laundry room and wandered back into the bathroom to drag a brush through his hair. “You’ll like Leslie, I think. She was at the wedding, but you probably didn’t talk to her.” Luke followed him to the bathroom to watch the other man carefully styling his hair and oiling his beard, wondering if he should try growing a beard again.
“No, I was too busy putting fires out to chat much.”
“Yeah, definitely. But Leslie is great, and she seemed really, really eager to sue this guy for you.” He looked at Luke in the mirror and smiled reassuringly.
“That’s what scares me. Why is she so enthusiastic about this?”
“From what I understand, this family has been openly flaunting how many officials they bought off for a long time. I think this just gives her a chance to get even with them. There are a lot of lawyers who really, really hate these people.”
“I just hope I’m not going to regret this,” Luke sighed.
“It’ll be okay, I promise.” Jack turned around to kiss him.
***
The meeting was a whirlwind of introductions with Leslie and a few other lawyers at the practice, discussions of what Luke did and didn’t know about the situation, and a lot of signing paperwork.
“Someone is helping to cover this up, because a lot of the evidence that should have been used to charge the guy just kind of vanished.” Leslie was tapping her fingers on the wood of the large conference table. “I mean, everyone knows they’re connected to half the city, and they pay the other half, but to just make all of this stuff go away seems…” she huffed a breath out of her nose.
“Too convenient,” one of the other lawyers, Jamie, finished. “Like how is it possible we have results from the breathalyzer but not from the blood test results for how drunk Brock was? We know they took blood, but then everything goes missing, and the police just shrug?”
“Did they actually manage to destroy it or did it get hidden somewhere? That’s what I want to know,” Leslie asked, mouth quirked.
Luke just shook his head. “I’m sorry for not trying to get this going sooner. I expect that would have made it easier.”
“It would have,” Jamie agreed, “but you were overwhelmed and grieving. We take the cases as they come. There’s no point in wishing things were different. And even without some of this stuff, it’s going to be hard to argue it wasn’t his fault.”
“They said that my parents were exhausted and swerved into his lane. That it was their fault because they were driving so late on so little sleep,” Luke said, bitterly.
Leslie’s mouth was a hard line. “That seems like so much bullshit, and we’re going to find some experts to say as much.”
It was overwhelming and crazy, and by the time it was all over, Luke was exhausted. He dozed off in the car as Jack drove him home, and woke up only when they pulled into his driveway.
“Hey… you gonna be okay to go into work this afternoon?” Jack asked as they went back into Luke’s house.
Luke sighed. “Yeah, I just need a cup of coffee and a nap, and I can go in and do final checks for the events this weekend. I’ve got good staff behind me, so I’m sure they’ve got it handled.”
Jack hesitated. “I’m glad you’re taking the money so you can hire some more people.”
Luke nodded. “I… yeah. She was right. I can’t go on like thi
s much longer. I’m a danger to myself and everyone around me.”
Jack kissed him quickly, then moved to leave. “I’ll text you later, but I’m hoping we can meet up again soon? Like… in a few days?”
Luke finally smiled an actual, genuine smile. “I’d like that. I really, really want to see you again.”
“Good,” Jack grinned back.
Chapter Nine
Two months later:
Luke ducked into the storage room as his phone began to buzz and then ring loudly. He quickly apologized to Lorrie, the chef he had been talking to as he scurried around the corner and through the doors, and she laughed and waved him off. He pulled the phone out and saw Leslie’s name on the screen. His stomach clenched.
“Hello?”
“We have a court date.”
Luke swallowed hard and tried to keep his emotions under control. He wasn’t succeeding. He was in the process of organizing for a small anniversary party in Snoqualmie, WA and everything was going fairly well, but the call from his lawyers had sent everything spinning.
“Luke? Luke, are you there?”
“Yeah… yeah, sorry, Leslie. Just had a moment. When is the court date?”
“January 5th. They tried again to get us to settle out of court, but the money they’re offering is still just insulting.” She sighed heavily. “Are you okay?”
“I’m… just overwhelmed. Kind of caught between glad this is moving forward and dreading what will happen on the court date, you know? Wondering if I did the right thing. Wondering if my parents would have wanted me to handle their deaths like this.”
“I wish I could answer those questions for you, but from what we’ve dug up, The Walfords have been covering up shit like this for years from several members of the family, and now they just think they own the city, so they don’t even have to deal with it at all. I’m still angry at how gutless the prosecutors and cops are being about all of this.”
“Yeah… I just worry people will see me doing this when the business is struggling and think it’s just about the money and not about justice.”
“Who cares what they think? Even if it were just for the money, your parents loved their catering company, and trying to save it isn’t a crime.”
Luke sighed. “Yeah… I guess you’re right.”
“I’m usually right. You’ll get used to it.” Her tone was light. “The other good news is that we finally got the records regarding what his blood alcohol levels were after the crash.”
“Really? I thought they were claiming it was all lost for good.”
“They were… and I’ll give them credit, it sure as shit took forever to get them, but eventually I managed to locate the original blood samples. They were retested, and he was almost three times the legal limit.”
“But that was why the DA claimed he couldn’t charge Brock Walford…”
“Sure was. Now he has no excuse, and everyone is going to know it. I think this is going to set off a huge stink of a criminal trial, and if the DA is smart, he’ll press charges before this goes to court. I’m not going to hold my breath about it, though.”
“Yeah…” Luke swallowed hard again. “This just keeps getting crazier and crazier.”
“They may try to talk us into an out of court agreement now and offer a lot more money. What do you want to do if that’s the case?”
“I…” Luke paused. “I want to go ahead… with court… I think this needs to be public. They’ll try and make me sign a gag order or something. And I want this in the open air. You said that this isn’t the first crime they’ve covered up, and I don’t… I need this to be in the open.”
Leslie made a noise of agreement. “Okay. Well, you may get a lot more calls from reporters, and people at your events may start asking questions. Stay frosty, okay? You don’t owe anyone any explanations or discussions.”
“Yeah, will do.”
“I’ll forward everything you need to know before then, but really you just need to show up and look decent. They aren’t going to want you to talk a whole lot. Just wear a clean suit and try not to dwell on it too much, okay?” She said goodbye and hung up.
Luke turned his phone off and looked down at the black screen, willing it to give him some answers about whether or not he was doing the right thing. He could hear Nate showing their new hires around and explaining where they kept all of the extra glassware, napkins, chafing dishes, and fake flowers and ivy. Doubtless, all of them would forget everything in seconds, but he was reasonably certain that Nate would be able to handle everything. The loan had allowed him to hire new people and get Nate and his two full-time chefs health insurance and small raises. It wasn’t a lot, but he hoped it would keep them from moving on too quickly.
He was lost in thought for a good ten minutes at least until a crash echoed from the hallway, and he hurried out, shoving his phone in his pocket.
One of the new hires was picking up a bunch of plastic water glasses from the floor where they’d fallen. Most of what was used in the catering company was glass, but Nate had obviously opted to train the newbies with plastic for this specific reason.
The girl, who couldn’t have been more than seventeen, was apologizing profusely, and Nate was assuring her that this was why they practiced. They all looked up when Luke came back in.
“I’m so sorry, Mr. Hong! I think one of the plastic glasses cracked…”
He waved her off. “Don’t worry about it. I once dropped an entire stack of cake plates in the middle of a ballroom. Every last one of them broke, and the entire wedding was clapping. Most embarrassing moment of my entire life.”
She nodded, still looking upset.
“It’s a question of when you’ll break something, not if,” Nate agreed, mopping up the water from the cups. “Just don’t trip into the wedding cake and everything will be fine.”
“Has anyone actually done that?” one of the other new hires asked, aghast.
Luke started laughing. “Oh yeah, my mom did. It wasn’t a wedding cake, though, it was a fancy anniversary cake shaped like a castle. I wasn’t there to see it, but there is a video where you can see her in the background tripping over the DJ’s electrical cords and going straight into the cake table. Luckily everyone thought it was hysterical, and they salvaged the part of the cake she didn’t fall into.”
Nate nodded. “I was there, but I didn’t see it either. There was colored fondant everywhere in the aftermath, though. Huge mess. We had to call a specialized carpet cleaning company to get it all off the floors.”
“It’s a good lesson, though. Always make sure you assess trip hazards when you’re doing the setup.”
The three teenagers all nodded, looking wide-eyed and nervous, now realizing that there were more terrifying things than just destroying highball glasses.
***
That evening, Luke stopped at the house and loaded Pao in his carrier, then got back on I-5 and made his way downtown to Jack’s building. The security guy at the gate checked his ID and then handed him an RFID badge before waving him through. He was polite and professional, but Luke thought he detected a little smirk behind the mask. Whether it was at Luke’s rather sad and elderly car or Pao’s yowling, or just because he guessed that Luke and Jack were a “thing” now, Luke couldn’t guess. Luke parked and grabbed Pao’s carrier, then headed into the elevator. Jack had assured him that he’d purchased a litter box, bowls, and bag of Pao’s food, so he just needed to bring the old man himself.
Luke was hesitant about this since Pao didn’t generally travel well, but as Jack had pointed out, his condo was closer to both of their jobs, and there was no real reason Pao wouldn’t be comfortable there once he’d had some time to adjust. They could spend most of the week at the condo and then spend weekends at Luke’s. Jack already had grandiose ideas of how he was going to remodel the house, but Luke had put his foot down and wasn’t agreeing to anything beyond replacing some of the worst furniture, and he was pointedly not allowing Jack to pay for any
of it. It was the middle of December and, with new hires and a lot of the money stress reduced, Luke finally saw a light at the end of the tunnel. They had been booked to cater to a shocking number of Christmas parties, large and small, several last minutes. Luke suspected Anya and Eve’s involvement in a few of them but didn’t bother to ask.
The elevator doors opened, and Luke headed to Jack’s door, which opened before he even got close enough to knock.
Jack smiled widely. “Hey! You’re just in time, dinner is almost ready. I heard Pao complaining all the way down the hall.”
Luke looked down at the gray, hard-side carrier and laughed. “Yeah, surprised you couldn’t hear him from the parking garage. He’s been complaining since we left home.” Jack moved aside, and Luke came in, then set Pao’s carrier on the floor so that he could take his coat off.
“Aw, Pao, I’m sorry buddy, but I promise you’ll like it here if you give it a chance.” He turned around to grab a small bag of cat treats from the small table by the door and shook them, and Pao immediately went quiet.
“Now you’ve done it.” Luke hung his jacket on the hook and crouched down to undo the latch on the carrier.
Pao, the ever-regal, stuck his head out and peered around incredulously, then carefully stepped out of the carrier and looked up at Jack. Jack shook the treat bag again, and Pao sauntered over to stand in front of him, still looking around at the new space warily.
“That’s it, buddy. See? Nothing scary at all.” Jack shook two treats out of the bag and set them in front of Pao. Pao pounced on them, and Jack gave him a few quick pets.
Luke just smiled at the two of them. Jack wasn’t really a cat person, but he was making an effort, and that’s all Luke could really ask for. “It does smell great in here… what’s for dinner?”
“Fancy macaroni and cheese with spinach and artichokes and some salmon? I forgot to ask if you like fish…” Jack stood and looked suddenly worried.
“I like anything, don’t worry. The only thing I won’t eat is capers.” Luke pushed Pao’s carrier under the hall table with the door open, figuring that the cat might want to hide in a space he knew if he got overwhelmed. Luke had stuck Pao’s bed in the carrier before they left. He stood up, and let Jack pull him into a kiss.