Stake Out... (Studs & Steel Book 5)

by Heather Mar-Gerrison

  I chuckled, “I imagine that’s exactly what they’re expecting, Blaine – we’re being sent as a pair so we take it in turns.” I felt my face going red as I imagined something else we could be taking in turns at and immediately felt really bad for allowing my thoughts to turn dirty around my best friend.

  Blaine just nodded though, “Uh, right – yeah – I guess you’re right.”

  I sighed and took another swig of my drink, “You could probably bring your sketch pad.” I mused, “There’s lots of things out in the woods that you can draw.”

  He nodded, went a little pink and fiddled with his shoelace. Had I said something wrong? “Hey, you could even draw me.” I said with a laugh.

  He blinked and looked at me in surprise, “Would you mind?” he asked.

  Mind? Fuck, no! I could totally pose naked... I grinned. Probably best not to mention the posing nude – he might take it the wrong way... “Course I don’t mind.” I said, “I’d be honoured.”

  He smiled shyly, “I’ll uh, see then.”

  Blaine

  All I could think of was the life model that used to pose for my mother’s art class... Actually, that wasn’t true. I was forcing myself to think of her because I wasn’t picturing her at all – I was picturing Denny, deliciously naked and hard for me – and I was getting very hard, not to mention kind of breathless, at the thought.

  I forced myself to remember the model. I’d fancied her at the time. Well, I hadn’t really. I’d just been fascinated with her naked body. At the time anything remotely naked turned me on. She’d been okay to look at for an older woman and I’d been pretty damned curious about what women looked like when Mum kept bringing paintings of a nude woman home with her. Looking at the paintings, I’d had a weird feeling in the pit of my belly and it was probably the first time I’d actually realised that my penis was for something other than peeing with...

  It made me realise that I really wanted to see what that woman looked like in real life.

  I’d still been pretty much obsessed with boobs a couple of years later when Molly Anderson started flirting with me and I couldn’t stop myself going on about them to Denny all of the time. Strangely, he’d never really shown much of an interest but I didn’t really think much about why he wasn’t interested until that summer when we were sixteen. The summer that changed my life...

  I’d turned sixteen in April, three months after Denny. I’d been used to my body reacting to anything remotely sexy for a couple of years since my hormones had kicked in with puberty but suddenly I started to get all of these other feelings. Feelings that I’d recognised as completely normal when I’d been lusting after Molly Anderson and her big squashy boobs (and I’m not gonna lie – they felt fucking awesome) didn’t feel quite so comfortable when they were for my best friend and my new obsession with his dick.

  And my God, I honestly tried my best to ignore them. I’d really tried to brush them off as just one of those things and that I’d woken up with a boner because I had to have been thinking of Molly at the same time as I was thinking of Denny... but I knew, deep down that I was lying to myself and that it was just my stupid naivety allowing me to ignore what was staring me in the face.

  It wasn’t as if I didn’t know there were gay people in the world, I did know that – but the only ones I knew at the time were celebrities and the way Dad spoke about them, they were all shamelessly promiscuous and had no morals. As far as he was concerned, being as straight as straight could be, they’d all obviously chosen to be gay just for the fame and notoriety... Normal people that you passed in the street or went to school with weren’t gay...

  It really didn’t help that I didn’t know anyone that had come out. There were a couple of guys at school that I’d wondered about a couple of times. Marlon Bridges was exceedingly camp but perpetually single and Dixon Campbell in sixth form had the reddest lips possible – and I swear he wore eyeliner too – but I’d never seen him with another guy either.

  And you know, I was only sixteen and call me stupid if you like, but honestly, I had no idea that mere mortals sometimes fancied people of the same sex as themselves – or at least I didn’t think it was something that didn’t take a conscious effort. Everyday folk just did what their parents did, didn’t they? They weren’t celebrities. They were just normal. And therefore, to my innocent mind, they were straight. These weird feelings were clearly just a mistake... With straight-laced parents like mine, who I’d have been mortified to confide in, there was no way I could have known that my feelings were actually pretty normal – and that I was, quite clearly and whether I liked it or not – bisexual.

  Chapter 5 – Same old...

  Hendrix

  Hendrix opened his eyes and blinked in the brightness. Where the hell was he and why did he feel like utter shit? His eyes met with a familiar pair. It was his cousin, Daryl – Lenny’s younger brother. Oh, Christ. He was almost as bad as Lenny... “Nice to have you back.” Daryl drawled, “Now are you gonna try explaining why you were trying to kill yourself?”

  He wasn’t trying to kill himself but that had nothing to do with Daryl and he wasn’t about to admit to anything. He’d learned around his cousins since his brother had died and left him homeless that the less said around them, the better. “That’s none of your fucking business.” He snapped. “And I want my fucking money back too.” Of course it was Daryl who’d taken it. No one else had known about his secret hidey-hole in the bottom of his wardrobe when he’d lived at home before he’d had to move out after everyone died on him, but Daryl had known about it and he’d obviously remembered it. No doubt that was first place he’d checked when he’d broken into his flat. The sneaky bastard. Still, he told himself, he should have known better than to keep on using the same idea. He should have known that Daryl wouldn’t forget...

  And Daryl would do anything for his brother – he was afraid of him and with good reason. Lenny was a vicious bastard when he was crossed.

  Daryl shrugged, “Call it a loan.” He said with a grin, “Where the fuck did you amass all that money anyway?”

  Hendrix shrugged. It was none of his goddamn business. Daryl was no better than his brother, but where Lenny saw Hendrix’s sexuality as a tool to be used and make money from, Daryl was more likely to rip his head off if he thought he was gay and had earned the money from sleeping with men. “This and that.”

  Daryl scowled menacingly and cracked his knuckles, “Well, that’s not what I heard.” He said, “I heard that you’re some kind of cockslut that fucks guys for money. Are you?”

  Hendrix sighed. It was bound to get out sooner or later. “I needed the money to get out of here.” He muttered.

  Daryl stared at him, “But fucking men for money, dude – that’s fucking gross.” He paused, eyeing Hendrix curiously and he knew what was coming next. Daryl was so easy to read, “So are you actually gay or one of those gay-for-pay type of guys?”

  Hendrix shrugged, willing himself not to roll his eyes. He wondered what difference it would make to Daryl and decided to go for the truth – he’d find out anyway, sooner or later it would become obvious. “Well, obviously.” He said, “And there are worse ways of making money.”

  Daryl shook his head, “No, mate.” He said with a snort, “There really aren’t.”

  Hendrix thought about the way his brother had looked the last time he saw him and swallowed back the bile that rose up into his throat. Drugs were far worse. They destroyed people. Giving a guy a blowjob for a tenner wasn’t hurting anyone... “So why did you bring me here?” Hendrix asked, “What’s the deal?”

  Daryl grinned, “We’re gonna be fucking minted, mate – there’s a massive shipment coming in – we’ve just got to intercept it and we need all hands on deck.”

  Hendrix’s blood ran cold. This was why he’d wanted out. He was sick of the double-crossing and the stealing and the general bad-living that went with it all. He wanted to leave all of this happiness-draining lifestyle behind and make a new life fa
r away from it all – with Mason. The sweet, loving, beautiful Mason who wouldn’t know a spliff from a bong and was going to be rich one day, but rich from earning his money honestly. How Mason had ever been attracted to Hendrix in the first place was quite beyond him but even if he never saw him again – he would be forever grateful for the few months he’d had him in his life... He’d at least shown him a better way of life than the one he’d been born to. He’d given him hope.

  “Count me out, dude.” He said firmly, “I made a deal with Lenny – I fuck the guys and he takes his commission. I don’t have anything to do with the drugs.”

  Daryl shook his head, “Maybe he changed his mind.” He said with a grin, “Because he sent me to get you.” He chuckled.

  Hendrix swallowed. Fuck. Lenny must have known something, “Then you’d better tell them I died.” He muttered.

  A look of panic crossed Daryl’s face, “I can’t do that – Lenny’ll kill me if I say that – you know that as well as I do. I was sent to find you, dude.”

  Hendrix shook his head and rolled his eyes. He was never going to get away. “Fuck my life.” He muttered. He’d never been able to be his own man whilst ever Lenny was alive... “Right, then,” he said with a sigh, resigned to the fact that he wasn’t going to be able to get away from the gang for a while. “What do I have to do?”

  Chapter 6 – Crime of passion?

  Denny

  Blaine flopped down in the chair next to mine at the station and tossed the folder on the table in front of us. It was the case that we’d been working on for a couple of months and it was going absolutely nowhere. This latest ‘stake-out’ would probably be a complete waste of time, too but I wasn’t about to start complaining since it meant a whole lot of alone time with my favourite person in the whole world.

  Blaine was getting really irritated with it because it was interfering with his time. Something I really didn’t care too much about, being a perpetual bachelor but Blaine was in a relationship of sorts and Catherine was actually really nice. I hated her on principal only. She was getting something from Blaine that I could only dream about...

  Blaine scowled at me, “This is fucking stupid,” he growled, “Surely someone’s gotta start sweating soon.”

  I nodded, “They will, mate.” I said softly, but I wasn’t entirely convinced. The entire community had gone tight-lipped on us. No one was talking – but we knew they all knew something about what had gone down and it was so frustrating that up to now, they were keeping schtum.

  He let out a long sigh, “Fuck me,” he said, rubbing his face, “What the hell is with them? They’re almost incestuous, this lot.”

  I looked at Blaine with what he would definitely call my ‘furrowed brow’ look, “Incestuous?” I asked with a laugh, “I don’t really think that’s the right word, dude.”

  He chuckled and shrugged his shoulders, “No, okay – maybe that’s not the right word – but they’re all in each other’s pockets, aren’t they? So much so, that not one of them will spill the beans – the guy could die – and that makes at least one of them a murderer. Why would you protect someone like that?”

  I shrugged, “God knows – maybe they all hate him. We already know that at least one of them hates that Brendan guy so much they put a bullet in him – he might be alive at the moment – but he’s gonna be in that coma for at least another week before they decide to try to bring him round. And we really need to try to figure out what happened to the young guy – Hendrix. His boyfriend is convinced he was kidnapped – and there’s no body but all that stinking blood – so what the hell happened to him? Was he murdered and dumped? Or kidnapped like Mason thinks? Or was it some elaborate attempt of his own to make him look like he was murdered? And if that was the case – why?” I had so many questions and no answers. I usually loved a case but this one was virtually impossible. If the underworld wouldn’t spill their guts, we had no chance.

  Blaine shrugged, “Maybe it was a cry for help – you know – a suicide attempt that went wrong and someone found him and took him to hospital...”

  I shrugged, “Yeah – it’s possible – but if that was the case then surely he’d have reappeared by now...?”

  He sighed, “Maybe he’s left the country and it was a massive hoax...”

  I shook my head, “Nah, he was definitely moved – whether he’s dead or alive now is another matter, of course.”

  Blaine nodded slowly, “He was well known as a rent-boy... And it’s widely assumed that his cousin, Lenny Roblinski was his pimp. Was Brendan a client or something? Was Brendan involved with Lenny maybe?”

  I shook my head, “No.” I said with certainty, “Lenny’s definitely straight. He pimps out that young kid – he doesn’t take part in the activities himself.”

  He sighed and nodded, “Well, maybe Hendrix had just got sick of him taking all the money when he was doing all the work and decided to end it all.”

  I nodded. That made sense but where the hell was his body – that bit was creepy. “What about Brendan, then? Who pulled the trigger on him?”

  He shrugged again, “Crime of passion?” He said. He was sleeping around wasn’t he?”

  I nodded, “Allegedly.” I agreed. I didn’t actually think he was. I was more of the opinion that he’d done something else to piss one of the clan off and they’d taken their revenge – but until he woke up we had nothing.

  He scratched his chin thoughtfully, “maybe we should go and interview them all again. If it is a crime of passion, then the one who’s done it is gonna be dying on the inside for what they’ve done to him. That’s gotta be eating him up. My money’s on it being the boyfriend.”

  “Oscar?” I asked incredulously. No way...

  He nodded and shrugged, “Sure.” He said, “Who wants to be cheated on?”

  He had a point... Brendan was a very ‘out’ gay man who liked to put it about a bit – or at least he had been in the past. He could well have just rubbed his boyfriend’s nose in it one time too many. His distraught appearance could all be for show but I didn’t think so, somehow. I felt that Oscar was actually the innocent party in the whole thing and genuinely loved him.

  I tapped my chin with my finger, “I guess it could have been his boyfriend,” I conceded, “or maybe it was another one of the guys from the estate that deal – being out and proud isn’t all that he’s about. Buzz has had to throw him out of the club for taking drugs in the bathrooms on more than once occasion – there was no proof that he was dealing but, come on – no one gets that rich that fast. You can bet your life the Roblinskis are either jealous of his status – or he’s undercut them and they’ve had enough of being taken the piss out of.”

  “Seriously?” Blaine asked, his eyebrows going up, “You really thinks so?”

  I shrugged. “Oh, God. I don’t know – it’s just a theory...”

  He nodded, “And these guys – the Roblinskis. They’re the ones we’ve got to watch – and bug their apartment?”

  I nodded, “Yeah.” I said, biting my lip and looking at him anxiously. Would he flip? “I think it might be down to me that we’re being sent. I mentioned it to Harley after I saw something weird...” I trailed off, feeling my face growing hot. Blaine was about to freak out on me for checking things out without him... “I uh, I might have been doing a bit of sniffing around on my own while you’ve been busy with Catherine...” I tried to keep the envy out of my voice that he and Catherine were getting it on, on a more or less permanent basis but it was a struggle.

  Blaine narrowed his eyes at me. He knew as well as I did where Brendan liked to hang out and meet new men, “Where?” he asked, a frown appearing on his gorgeous face, “At Studs?”

  I nodded. I was sick to the back teeth of trying to pretend that Blaine didn’t know that I was as gay as a rainbow in my own time, “Actually, yeah.” I admitted going a little red, “It’s kind of cool, that place.”

  He narrowed his eyes at me, “I don’t want you going there alone again, y
ou hear?” He said, “Those sorts of places are fine if you’re gay,” he blushed bright red, “and, uh – out.” He added at my raised eyebrows, “But if you’re not out, you’re just asking for trouble.”

  I shrugged and nodded, “Fine.” I said, “But I knew Harley was going to be there. I wasn’t actually alone.” And I’d been that often, I knew most of the staff now too...

  That seemed to placate him a little, “Alright, I guess that’s fine. Whose been talking there, then?” he asked gruffly.

  I shrugged, “No one specific. Seth, the guy that works behind the bar, said that he knew who Brendan was. He reckoned he was a fairly regular punter, which we already knew,” Blaine nodded, “But he reckoned since he got thrown out for taking drugs in the bathroom – which was months before he met Oscar, by the way – he behaved himself and just went to dance. He also said that he’d never seen him hang out with any dodgy looking people and he never left with anyone. So it doesn’t look like he was cheating on his partner...” He frowned.

  It was most likely to be the Roblinski family – let’s face it, they were responsible for most of the petty crime in the area and this was just them stepping it up a little. The question remained – what the hell was the connection? If we could only establish that – we could likely solve the whole thing and get Lenny Roblinski sent down for a long time... “We’ll get to the bottom of it one way or the other – it’s us on the case.” I grinned.

  Blaine nodded again, giving me a little smile and scratching his neck absently, making my dick twitch, “Hmm.” He murmured. “You’re right – we just need to establish a motive.”

  I rolled my head on my shoulders. Despite my growing erection, I was feeling quite tense. “We do,” I agreed, “But I reckon someone else is gonna have to work on the finer details – we’ve got a reprieve from the case, with us going out to the cabin. I wonder who’s gonna take over this end of the case while we’re out in the middle of nowhere.”