by John Inman
“How?” Jamie asked.
“In the basement,” Derek answered, his eyes bright. “Remember what we saw in the basement.”
Jamie blinked. “What? What did we see?”
Derek’s smile widened. He laid a hand to Jamie’s cheek. “I’ll show you.” The smoke billowing down on top of them and the fire spreading relentlessly above their heads finally tore them apart. Derek knew they had only one way back to the city, and they’d better hop to it before the house burned down around their ears, otherwise the opportunity would be lost.
Caught somewhere between inane giggles and tears of relief, they stumbled away from the flames on the ceiling. They clattered down the rickety attic staircase, ran hand in hand along the turn in the hallway to the other set of stairs, then through the Harry Potter door into the basement below.
Where the motorcycle still stood. Tommy’s motorcycle. Buried under the tarp. Just as Derek knew it would be.
Epilogue
THEIR NEW apartment was a mess. Boxes everywhere. Nothing unpacked. Jamie wasn’t entirely sure everything would fit when it was unpacked. He stared down at his injured hand. The cast was off and the skin was all itchy and flaky from being bound up in plaster for six weeks. His finger worked, albeit creakily, but the missing fingernail was still a horror to look at. He couldn’t wait for it to grow back.
“How’s your finger?” Derek asked, sitting across the kitchen table and sipping his morning coffee, watching him.
“Fine,” Jamie answered by rote. “How’s your head?”
They had pretty much run this comedy routine into the ground by now, but that didn’t stop Derek. “No complaints yet!” he announced grandly, and they both smiled, if somewhat wearily.
In truth, the stitches on Derek’s scalp from the blow he received from Tommy that night still bothered him. He had headaches now and then, which he never used to have before. But the pain was slowly ebbing. His hair was growing over the scar at an incredibly slow rate, which irked him no end, but one day he felt certain the damn thing would be well hidden, and that was good, because frankly he was tired of looking at it.
The doctors had told them both they’d be right as rain in a few more weeks.
Tommy’s motorcycle, which Tommy had planned to use for his own escape, had carried the two of them through the trees that night instead. As far away from the house as they could get. And as quickly. It was a long, miserable night for both. Injured, wet and cold, weak from blood loss, it was only out of sheer stubbornness that Derek steered the motorcycle onward through the forest for almost eight miles before they finally ran across a gravel road. They followed it for three miles more until it landed them in the backcountry town of Spangle, California, where they eventually located the sheriff’s office between a laundromat and a hardware store. After imparting their tale of woe to the gaping patrolman on duty, every cop on the Spangle police force was summoned, a total of three. They were dispatched immediately to the murder scene by helicopter. Since the bridge was still out, and since the storm was still coughing up rain and spitting lightning, it was the only way they could get there. Jamie and Derek both got the distinct impression this was the most exciting thing that ever happened to the Spangle Police Department, and in their opinion, the cops were having way too much fun considering the circumstances.
As it happened, the house did not burn down. Apparently, either the rain or the wind doused the flames from the lightning strike before they could eat up enough wood to burn the ancient structure to the ground, along with the evidence and bodies it contained.
Of which there were plenty.
Jamie was glad Tommy had died in the fall (or jump) from the attic window. It saved Derek and him from attending a trial as star witnesses. As it was, there would be no trial at all. They were interviewed by numerous law enforcement agencies, but that was the extent of their participation. They ignored requests for interviews by the local press, and eventually the whole thing died down as they had hoped it would.
Now they were getting on with their lives. Together.
Derek passed an envelope over the table and placed it in Jamie’s hand. “The mail came. This is for the both of us, but I’ll let you answer it.”
Jamie grinned. “Hey, thanks! Our first joint mail. How romantic is that?”
He tore open the colored envelope and extracted a card. He read it twice, then tossed it across the kitchen, nailing the wastebasket dead center. If he’d been playing basketball, it would have scored two points.
Derek watched the card sail through the air, then turned his eyes back to Jamie, looking a little confused.
“Nice shot. What was that?”
Jamie dug through a bag of cookies that rested on the table. He popped an Oreo in his mouth. “It was an invitation from my sister Lainie.”
“An invitation to what?” Derek asked.
“A party.”
Derek stared at him. He glanced through the kitchen window. It was nice to see sunshine for a change. Then his eyes traveled back to Jamie. “A party,” he said again. The word plopped out of his mouth like a wad of stale gum.
“Yes,” Jamie sighed. “A party. And I don’t know about you, but I think maybe our days of accepting party invitations are over. We went to one party, and look how that turned out.”
“You’re right,” Derek said. “It was the worst party ever. Why risk fate by going to another?”
An odd silence settled over them.
“Why didn’t you ever tell me about Jerod?” Jamie asked. He averted his gaze, staring out the window, not at Derek. He had waited weeks to ask. Now, he knew, the time had come.
Derek, too, had known the question was coming. Inside his head, he had rehearsed his answer a hundred times, but still, now that it was time to speak the words, he hesitated to say them.
“I think… I was ashamed. Then later, after I heard about his death, I think I purposely forgot the time I spent with Jerod. It was as if I pushed it out of my mind.”
Jamie’s eyes found their way back. “You knew you hurt him?”
“Yes,” Derek said. “I knew. But I never thought….”
Jamie finished the words for him. “You never thought he would kill himself.”
Derek squeezed his eyes shut. Suddenly the sunshine pouring through the window seemed too bright. Too unforgiving. “No. I never dreamed he would do that.”
Jamie’s hand snaked out across the table and landed atop his own. Jamie’s voice was gentle. Derek could hear the love in it. It was there. Like a kiss on the ear.
“It’s not your fault, you know. Jerod’s sadness was built-in, I think. It had more to do with his own weaknesses and his own upbringing than it had to do with you.”
Derek felt a burning at the back of his throat. “I hope so.”
They stared at each other for a long moment. Then, simultaneously, the sadness began to evaporate from their faces.
With his free hand, Derek reached across the table and snagged a cookie of his own. A moment later they were grinning at each other, their front teeth blacked out by Oreos, which made them grin even more.
“About that dog you promised me,” Jamie said, far too casually.
With a groan, accompanied by an exaggerated eye roll this time, Derek snatched another cookie and sat there methodically chewing it to mush.
“What about it?” he finally asked.
“It has to be a big one,” Jamie said. “I don’t want some nellyass Chihuahua. You promised.”
Derek narrowed his eyes. “You extracted that promise while I was in fear for my life. And your life too, I might add.”
Jamie’s left eyebrow shot up into a suspicious little arch. “And your point is?”
Derek sighed. He scooted his chair back and rose to his feet, leaned over the table, and planted a virginal kiss on Jamie’s forehead. “I’ll get the car keys,” he said.
“Where are we going?”
“My baby wants a dog. We’re going to the Humane Society. Wh
ere else?”
“Really?”
“Really.”
Jamie’s eyes misted up. “I love you, you know.”
“I know,” Derek said. “I’m a loveable guy.” After a moment of reflection, he added, “Bring the stupid cookies.”
More from John Inman
Ashley James and Tucker Lee have been friends for years. They are city boys but long for life on the open trail. During a three-hundred-mile hike from the Southern California desert to the mountains around Big Bear Lake, they make some pretty amazing discoveries.
One of those discoveries is love. A love that has been bubbling below the surface for a very long time.
But love isn’t all they find. They also stumble upon a war—a war being waged by Mother Nature and fought tooth and claw around an epidemic of microbes and fury.
With every creature in sight turning against them, can they survive this battle and still hold on to each other? Or will the most horrifying virus known to man lay waste to more than just wildlife this time?
Will it destroy Ash and Tucker too?
Robert Johnny just turned thirty, and his life is pretty much in the toilet. His writing career is on the skids. His love life is nonexistent. A stalker is driving him crazy. And his cat is a pain in the ass.
Then Robert orders a chimichanga platter at a neighborhood restaurant, and his life changes—just like that.
Dario Martinez isn’t having such a great existence either. He needs money for college. His shoes are falling apart. His boyfriend’s a dick. And he has a crap job as a busboy.
Then a stranger orders a chimichanga platter, and suddenly life isn’t quite as depressing.
But it’s the book in the busboy’s back pocket that really gets the ball rolling. For both our heroes. That and the black eye and the forgotten bowl of guacamole. Who knew true love could be so easily ignited or that the flames would spread so quickly?
But when Robert’s stalker gets dangerous, our two heroes find a lot more to occupy their time than falling in love. Staying alive might become the new game plan.
Danny Sims is in over his head, torn between his abusive lover, Joshua, and Jay Holtsclaw, the bartender up the street, who offers Danny the one thing he never gets at home: understanding.
When Joshua threatens to get rid of Danny’s terrier, Danny knows he has to act fast. Afraid of what Joshua will do to the dog and afraid of what Joshua will do to him if he tries to leave, Danny does the only thing he can do.
He runs.
But Danny isn’t a complete fool. He has enough sense to run into the arms of the man who actually cares for him—the man he’s beginning to trust.
Just as their lives together are starting to fall into place, Danny and Jay learn how vengeful Joshua can be.
And how dangerous.
Joe Chase and Ned Bowden are damaged men. They each bear scars from surviving the world they were born in. Deep scars, both physical and emotional.
When fate offers its first kind act by bringing the two together, suddenly their scars don’t seem so bad, and their lives don’t feel so empty.
Yet that kindness comes at a price.
Just as Joe and Ned begin to experience true happiness for the very first time, the world turns on them again.
But this time it turns on everyone.
The world of writers, readers, and reviewers is a close-knit family of friends, fans, and fiction fanatics. That’s the world Milo Cook and Logan Hunter reside in—thriving on the give and take of creativity, the sharing of stories and ideas, and forever glorying in their boundless love of books and the words that make them breathe.
But sometimes words can cut too deep. And when they do, there is inevitably a price to pay.
What begins for Milo and Logan as a time of new love and gentle romantic discoveries, becomes before it’s over a race for their lives and for the lives of everyone they know.
Who would ever suspect that an entity as beautiful as the written word could become a catalyst for revenge? And ultimately—murder?
Readers love John Inman
Nightfall
“This is a beautiful love story. I urge you to crack open this intensely thrilling novel and discover for yourself just what happens when the lights go out.”
—The Novel Approach
“…Nightfall is very good and it paints a brutal picture of what humanity can become. But on the flip side, we see in Joe and Ned the best of what humanity offers….”
—Joyfully Jay
Words
“If you like a little murder with your romance, this is a book for you. It’s very entertaining and very mysterious!”
—Diverse Reader
“I can happily recommend this story for its deft satire with a great balance of romance, thrills and suspense.”
—Jessie G Books
Ginger Snaps
“If you like light and fluffy with an HEA, you’ll love the books in this series. I highly recommend you pick up this series if you haven’t already.”
—Love Bytes
“For those who need a dose of sweet humour that is effortlessly timed then this is the book for you.”
—Gay Book Reviews
JOHN INMAN is a Lambda Literary Award finalist and the author of over thirty novels, everything from outrageous comedies to tales of ghosts and monsters and heart-stopping romances. He has been writing fiction since he was old enough to hold a pencil. He and his partner live in beautiful San Diego, California, and together, they share a passion for theater, books, hiking, and biking along the trails and canyons of San Diego or, if the mood strikes, simply kicking back with a beer and a movie.
John’s advice for anyone who wishes to be a writer? “Set time aside to write every day and do it. Don’t be afraid to share what you’ve written. Feedback is important. When a rejection slip comes in, just tear it up and try again. Keep mailing stuff out. Keep writing and rewriting and then rewrite one more time. Every minute of the struggle is worth it in the end, so don’t give up. Ever. Remember that publishers are a lot like lovers. Sometimes you have to look a long time to find the one that’s right for you.”
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: www.facebook.com/john.inman.79
Website: www.johninmanauthor.com
By John Inman
Acting Up
Chasing the Swallows
A Hard Winter Rain
Head-on
The Hike
Hobbled
Jasper’s Mountain
Laugh Cry Repeat
Love Wanted
Loving Hector
My Busboy
My Dragon, My Knight
Nightfall
A Party to Murder
Paulie
Payback
The Poodle Apocalypse
Scrudge & Barley, Inc.
Shy
Spirit
Strays and Lovers
Sunset Lake
Two Pet Dicks
Words
THE BELLADONNA ARMS
Serenading Stanley
Work in Progress
Coming Back
Ben and Shiloh
Ginger Snaps
Published by DSP Publications
7&7: An Anthology of Virtue and Vice
The Boys on the Mountain
The Second Son
Willow Man
Published by DREAMSPINNER PRESS
www.dreamspinnerpress.com
Published by
DREAMSPINNER PRESS
5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886 USA
www.dreamspinnerpress.com
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of author imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
A Party to Murder
© 2019 John Inman.
Cover Art
&n
bsp; © 2019 Paul Richmond.
http://www.paulrichmondstudio.com
Cover content is for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted on the cover is a model.
All rights reserved. This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of international copyright law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines, and/or imprisonment. Any eBook format cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact Dreamspinner Press, 5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886, USA, or www.dreamspinnerpress.com.
Digital ISBN: 978-1-64405-136-8
Trade Paperback ISBN: 978-1-64405-146-7
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018961343
Digital published March 2019
v. 1.0
Printed in the United States of America