Fire and Fog

by Andrew Grey

  “How is that possible?” he asked himself and realized the words had crossed his lips, but they probably sounded like a moan. His noises increased as Dwayne took him deeper, his strong, powerful hands soothing over Robin’s heated chest. Robin was losing control of his own body and his mind. He gave up both and let whatever was going to happen take him along for the ride. Within seconds Robin realized it was more than worth it.

  Dwayne sucked him hard and deep. Robin’s hips thrust upward. He wanted more and had to have it. Dwayne gave him whatever he needed, and Robin accepted it, balancing on a knife’s edge until Dwayne pulled away.

  In his hazy mind, Robin wondered if he’d done something wrong, and then Dwayne was there once again, kneeling between Robin’s legs, kissing him as Robin wrapped his thighs and calves around Dwayne’s waist. He was ready to be taken away, and it seemed Dwayne was determined to help him on the journey.

  Dwayne fumbled a little with the preparations since it was dark. Robin waited patiently for him to return, and then Dwayne was there once again, his lips next to Robin’s, hot breath teasing his face while Dwayne’s cock pressed at his opening but didn’t go farther.

  Robin didn’t trust himself to say anything without screaming in frustration, so he kept his lips either kissing Dwayne or pressed tightly together. He wasn’t going to wake Charlie at a time like this, but oh God, he needed what he knew was coming. Robin wound his arms around Dwayne’s neck and tugged him down, kissed him hard and gasped against his lips as Dwayne pressed forward, entering him.

  The stretch and burn were nearly overpowering. Robin hissed and breathed through the intensity until it eased and was replaced by warmth that bloomed from within. Robin moaned softly, doing his best to swallow the sound.

  “God, you’re amazing,” Dwayne whispered into his ear and sucked lightly on the lobe as he gyrated his hips just enough for sparks to flash behind Robin’s eyes.

  He tried to watch Dwayne, but the room was too dark. He closed his eyes and soon discovered that while he couldn’t look at anything, he could feel everything, and he reveled in it. Sensation built upon sensation like ripples in a pond, breath upon breath, ebbing and flowing until the sensation proved too much and broke over him in a rush that sent Robin flying through the air, full of wonder that he hoped would last forever.

  “Robin?” Dwayne asked, stroking his face. “You need to say something.”

  “Oh God,” he gasped and slowly relaxed.

  “I thought I broke you.”

  Robin shivered as Dwayne withdrew, and soon he settled on the bed next to him, wiping Robin’s skin. Robin was too floaty to care at that moment and closed his eyes once again, settling under the covers and willing this feeling of perfection to last as long as possible. Dwayne held and kissed him for a long while and then got out of bed, only to return and press soft fabric into his hands.

  “I think we need to have these on just in case.”

  It took Robin a second to realize it was underwear, and he somehow managed to pull them on and settled back into sleep.

  “MOMMY!”

  The cry rattled the walls. Robin was up and on his way to the room without thinking.

  “Mommy!”

  Terror crawled up Robin’s spine as he raced into the small room. Charlie lay on the bed, shivering and crying, the covers over his head.

  “It’s okay. I’m here.” Robin pulled down the covers and took Charlie into his arms, comforting him as best he could, through what he wanted to think of as a nightmare, but those weren’t real. This loss was real, made even more so by the fact that it was four in the morning. Tears followed as Robin explained once again, and all he could do was try to comfort them away.

  Dwayne joined him a few minutes later. He knelt next to Charlie, and thankfully he went to Unca Dwayne easily and clung to him. “It’s all right. I have him. You go to bed and get some rest. You have to work early.”

  Robin nodded and stood behind Dwayne, resting his head on his shoulder. Just like that, he knew there was no doubt. He was in love, deeply, and there was no going back. Now he could only hope Dwayne felt the same way.

  Chapter Seven

  “HOW ARE things going for you and Robin with the little one?” Red asked toward the end of their shift a few days later. The entire town seemed to have gone to sleep, and it was blessedly quiet.

  The last two days had been busy as hell, each and every shift keeping them running, and once each one was over, they wrote reports for hours. Then Dwayne went home, and Charlie woke in the middle of the night, calling or screaming for his mother.

  “Last night he slept all the way through, which was the first time. It’s so hard for him. Whenever he comes home, Robin tells me he runs through the apartment, checking every room. He doesn’t say anything, but Robin knows he’s looking for his mother and hoping she’ll be there.”

  “How about the funeral and things?”

  “Gretchen was cremated, and we’re having a memorial service on Wednesday at the funeral home in Maryland. It’s where she lived. Robin had lunch with his mother today, and apparently she cried hard when he explained things to her.”

  Red nodded. “I bet she did.”

  “But they hadn’t spoken in a long time,” Dwayne said.

  “Maybe not. But she still lost her daughter and all the possibilities. They could have reconciled and repaired their relationship. Now that will never happen, and I’m willing to bet Robin’s mother understands that. Is she going to the service?”

  Dwayne sighed. “Robin told her about it and said she was welcome. He said on the phone that it was a difficult meeting, but that he was understanding a little more about what happened, and his mother was willing to defy her asshole husband to see him. Overall I think it was probably good.” He rubbed his eyes. He wanted to think he was just tired, but it was more than that. “Robin also said that today was the first time his mother had seen Charlie. She cried as she held him.”

  Red pulled into a spot where they could watch the traffic on Hanover and put the car in park. “Sounds like things got pretty messed up.”

  “Yeah. Oh, hey. What about you and Terry? Did you figure things out?”

  Red turned to Dwayne. “Yeah, we did. His photo shoot is next month, and I’m going with him.” He smiled. “Terry and I talked about it. If I don’t want to be left out of parts of his life, then I need to participate in them. They’re also talking about having him do some commercials, so I think I’ll be using some of my vacation time to be there when they film.” Red really did seem happy, and there was no hint of the tension that had been hanging over him.

  “That’s awesome. Glad things are working out now.” Dwayne frowned. “Speaking of working out… or not working out. The locksmith was a dead end. I was finally able to really go over the schedules, and there were three different people who answered those calls.” Dwayne put his head back. He’d been so sure it was a good lead. “I even checked with the boss to make sure.”

  “Did you believe him? Could he be involved? The fact that they all used the same locksmith can’t be a coincidence. There has to be something we’re missing. I just wish I knew enough to figure it out.” Red scratched his chin. “Maybe we should talk to a different locksmith. Maybe one with no connection that we can find. Then we might stumble on something that Halverson’s is trying not to face.”

  Dwayne snapped his fingers. “Yes. We need to learn the process that they use if we’re going to understand how it could possibly be abused. I don’t think Halverson is involved, but he also doesn’t want to believe that any of his people are either.”

  “Exactly. We need to get some background information.” Red leaned forward to peer out the window, then sat back once again. “The man who told Mrs. Garwood about the house said he’d heard about it at the bar a few weeks ago. He was at the Gingerbread House and got into a conversation with some guys. One of them matches the description of our suspect, but just barely. He said he had a friend who was looking for a house, and
a guy passed over a card, which he gave to Mrs. Garwood. The rest follows a predictable pattern.”

  “Then maybe we need to start spending some time at Faye’s and the Gingerbread House on our off hours. It’s a long shot, but my guess is that he frequents places he’s familiar with.”

  “You’re probably right, but it’s still a slim chance. I have an APB out but haven’t gotten any hits yet. I made it for the entire area because of what happened to Robin.”

  Dwayne groaned. “I hate it when good theories don’t pan out.”

  “We all do. Tomorrow we’ll go over everything, and I’ll ask Aaron in Vice to check over things for me just in case we missed anything. He’s a really good guy, always willing to give his insight.”

  “Thanks. This whole thing is really starting to piss me off. Not only are innocent people being taken advantage of, but—”

  “It’s personal because it happened to Robin,” Red added for him.

  “Yeah. I want to catch this asshole. We’ve run his aliases and every permutation of them, and there are too many hits to narrow it down, even for Carter, and he’s some kind of computer genius.”

  “Yes. But we need to find a few more facts and that might be our break. So we’ll keep our eyes open and get involved with every case like this that comes up.” Red yawned and reached for his cup of coffee. It was probably cold by now, but Dwayne did the same. Cold coffee was better than falling asleep on the job.

  Their shift finally ended, and they went back to the station to finish up paperwork before leaving. Dwayne crept up the stairs at home, trying to be quiet. He was tired of this shift and grateful he had just a few more days before he rotated to days and more normal hours. Robin had left a light on for him, and though he didn’t want to wake anyone, he got a snack and turned on the television, set the volume low, and slumped on the sofa.

  “You’re home,” Robin said as he came out in only his boxers and sat next to him, curling right in.

  “How was Charlie today?”

  “Better in some ways and still having a hard time in others. We got him enrolled in day care, and he’ll go tomorrow. It’s a relief and another worry because he’ll be in someone else’s care. He liked it when we visited this afternoon.” He sighed softly, probably to give himself a chance to get his thoughts together. Dwayne waited and gave him time. “I know he keeps looking for his mother. Donald said he fell when he was over there and cried for Gretchen and wasn’t consoled until Alex offered him a cookie. Charlie took it, held it until he was done crying, and then ate it and went back to playing.”

  “Kids are resilient and definitely a little strange,” Dwayne teased.

  “I guess what concerns me is that eventually Charlie is going to forget Gretchen. He’s four, and soon enough he’ll look to me and I’m the one he’ll remember.”

  “Then you have to be the one to tell stories about her and show him pictures. Make sure he remembers her. I think that’s part of why she asked you to care for him. You know Gretchen as your big sister. So tell him everything you can about her.”

  “I will.” Robin hugged his arm. “What about you?”

  “Me?”

  “Yes. I know there’s been a lot of change, so much of it in the past few weeks that I’m struggling to keep up, but what about you? All that’s happened is…. Well, it’s been shoved on you by me.”

  “Are you asking if I’m staying with you?” Dwayne turned, the television forgotten.

  “I guess I am. I can start looking for another place. I have the money for Charlie and me to move into a small apartment of our own. I….” Robin stroked Dwayne’s cheek. “I promise I’ll understand if all this is too much. You were a hero. You rescued me and gave me a safe place. You helped me get my head on straight and helped me begin to heal in a lot of ways. But you didn’t agree to take me in permanently, and then a kid….”

  Dwayne sighed. He should have known something like this was coming. “Do you want to move out?”

  “I didn’t say that. But I can’t… I won’t assume that you’re willing to just open your life to me and Charlie and everything that entails. He’s a kid, and that’s a long-term commitment. It isn’t something anyone can expect another person to deal with just like that. I know Charlie is here and all, but you need to be given the choice of what you really want to do.”

  “If I didn’t want you and Charlie here, I’d tell you.” That was the simplest way Dwayne could say what he was feeling at that moment. “You’re right—there’s been a lot of change in the last few weeks. Some of it has been harder to deal with. Not that it’s been bad or anything, just very different.”

  “I know.”

  “I don’t think you do.” Dwayne drew a quiet breath. It was late, probably too late, but he’d promised Robin he’d tell him the story. “Don’t you have to work tomorrow?”

  “At ten,” Robin told him, snuggling in closer. Dwayne could sit just like this for hours and not move a muscle.

  He checked the clock on the cable box and groaned. It was already almost midnight, and if things happened as they usually did, Charlie was going to be wide-awake and running around the apartment by seven in the morning.

  “Just say what you need to say.”

  “Okay. You know I was a police officer in Topeka. There was another officer, Kalvin. He was a nice guy and had been on the force for almost a decade. Everyone liked him, and he took me under his wing because I was a rookie and needed to learn the ropes. It surprised me just how different things were in real life as opposed to school.” Dwayne shook his head. “Anyway, Kalvin and I worked together for a year or so, and then I realized he was watching me… not as a fellow officer, but like possibly more. So I started watching him back because he was really good-looking and I already thought of him as a friend. But nothing happened. I was put on a different shift, and then we rarely saw each other. And I wish things had stayed that way.”

  Robin yawned and then leaned closer. “Whatever it is, you know I’ll understand.”

  That was true. “After a few months, I moved back to first shift and things were like they were before. He was flirting with me when we were alone. I knew it and so did he. Every time I was around him, I got this warm feeling in my belly. He was nice to me, and it seemed that I might have found someone who was interested in me… beyond just friends. So I asked him to go to dinner, and afterward I asked him back to my apartment for coffee. One thing led to another.”

  “You slept with him,” Robin said, clamping on to his arm.

  “We didn’t sleep much, but yeah. And not just once. We’d get together after work at least once a week, have a beer, eat, and end up back in my bed. Kalvin was athletic and very active. He also liked things fast, and I didn’t worry about being too strong for him. It was nice, and over the few months that followed, things got more and more serious. At least I thought we were getting serious. I mean, we saw each other for months and talked all the time.” Dwayne grimaced. He hated talking about this part.

  “Did he dump you?” Robin released his arm and turned toward him.

  Dwayne glanced at Robin but then looked away. It was easier to talk without actually seeing him. “His wife did.”

  Robin let out a small gasp. “He was married? And you didn’t know?”

  “Nope. I didn’t have a clue. He didn’t wear a ring, probably so he could pick up guys any time his wife was out of town, and she’d been traveling a lot, so Kalvin was on the prowl… and I fell for it. She raised holy hell. They could hear the screaming in Kansas City. She brought charges, but they didn’t stick. What really hurt was that Kalvin wasn’t man enough to stand up and admit what he’d done. Instead he said I’d seduced him and led him astray. I was the one everyone blamed. He’d been on the force for a decade, and I was the new guy who went after happily married men.” Dwayne clenched his hands into fists. “I tried to ride it out, but it wasn’t going to happen. I was harassed, and the guys who weren’t vocal just avoided me. So it was impossible to do my wo
rk, and I knew if I got in trouble, I was on my own.”

  “Did the captain do anything?”

  “The bastard offered me a severance package if I’d leave.” Dwayne growled and hoped he didn’t wake Charlie. “I really didn’t have a choice, so I took it and figured I’d move on and try to get a job somewhere else.”

  “So that’s why you came here.” Robin smiled at him.

  “Yeah. Except of course the whole story was reported in the papers because nothing else fucking happens there, so my mom and dad learned I was gay from the morning news because I hadn’t told them yet. They were angry and upset that I would do such a thing to a nice family man.”

  Robin’s mouth gaped open. “They didn’t take your side?”

  “Any more than your stepfather did. They believed what was in the papers, and because of their religious beliefs, it was easier for them to do that than to try to understand their own son. They said they were disappointed in me and that I should get some help so I could be right again.” Dwayne still didn’t want to think about what they meant. It had hurt like hell and still did. He closed his eyes and tried to push back the pain that welled from the depths of his soul even as he was being hugged so hard he thought his ribs might crack.

  “Sometimes parents are a huge pain in the ass.”

  “I had no idea what to do and was as low and unsure of myself as I’ve ever been in my life. My friends had vanished and my family was as cold as January. I was lucky I managed to find the job here and move away.” Dwayne sighed. “I guess I should consider myself lucky that no one tried to hurt me physically. Hell, there were times when I wished they had tried just so I could have beat the shit out of someone. It might have made me feel better to make someone else hurt as much as I did. Oh, I got harassed plenty, but it was all verbal.”

  “And your parents never came around. I remember the phone call from your mom.”