When do people stop hating?
While asking himself that question, suddenly there came a knock on the door.
“Oh, go away,” Eddie said, exhausted.
But the knocking continued.
Finally he clicked the TV off, managed to get to the door, and once again was looking into a pair of baby blue eyes he hadn’t seen in a while.
“What the hell do you want?”
“My God, you look like death warmed over. Are you all right?”
“I will be if people will stop knocking on my door. Goodbye,” he said, and slammed the door in his visitor’s face. After turning away, he heard the door open and Adam come in. Turning back, he said, “Did you not get the message? Go home. Stay out of my life. You’re not wanted.”
“Is that right? I don’t believe it. I still have those baby blues, and the red knit shirt, and red socks. I seem to remember you liked those.”
“That was another guy. He’s not here.”
“Eddie, let’s stop this, and get down to brass tacks. What’s the problem here? Why don’t you want me around?”
“Why?” Eddie said, looking right into Adam’s eyes. “I don’t like people who lie to me.”
“Lie? When did I lie?”
“It was the same as a lie. Why didn’t you tell me that you owned KingStar?”
“I don’t own the company. My sister, Ada, is the CEO of KingStar. Me? I’m just her good-for-nothing younger brother that she wants to whip into shape so I can take over KingStar when she has to step down. I show up when I want to, and sometimes I even go abroad—like Sweden?”
“Yeah, that reminds me. If you didn’t turn yourself into a woman, what did you go there for?”
“Sweden does other things, too, you know. Everything’s not a sex change operation there. I went to Stockholm to see Doctor Otto Schembre. He has a top-of-the-line dermatology practice there.”
“You went all the way to Sweden for a fuckin’ skin rash? My God, we have good skin doctors here, too.”
“I told you, I’m a good-for-nothing younger brother that would rather do anything than be cooped up in an office all day, and that’s what I have to do if I’m in town. So, I go abroad a lot just to keep from having to act like an adult.”
“You know what you need? You need someone to take you in hand and give you a good spa…” Realizing what he was about to say, his words faded, he turned his back, and said, “Get out of here.”
“A good spanking? It seems that I’ve had a few of those, and it didn’t seem to do any good at all.”
“I’m not getting mixed up with any spoiled brat, so do what I said, and get out!”
Suddenly the phone rang, and Eddie reached over and said, “Yeah, Eddie Scarlett here.” He stood there listening for a moment, and then said, “I’ll be right there.” He grabbed his jacket, and said, “I’ll expect you to be gone when I get back.”
“Who was it?”
“None of your business.”
“It was a job, wasn’t it?” Panic and fear filled Adam’s eyes. “What kind of job? A dangerous job?” He ran over to Eddie. “No! Don’t go. I won’t let you.”
“What do you have to do with it? It’s my work. I have to go.”
“No, tell them you’re sick. You’ve got a fever…something.”
Eddie stopped, and looked at Adam. “Adam, I’m a cop. These are terrorists that have plans to blow up the friggin’ United Nations building. I have to go in there and pretend to be one of them, get all the information I can, and then close in when the time is right.”
“Eddie, this has to be the work of a gang. Like any gang, you’ll have to prove you’re one of them by…I don’t know…taking drugs…killing someone. If they don’t know you, this is the way they tell whether you’re undercover or not. They know that if you’re a straight arrow you won’t do anything like that. And if they suspect you’re not who you say you are…my God, they’ll kill you, Eddie. Please don’t go.”
Eddie looked down at Adam’s hands that were desperately grasping his jacket, and pulled them off, but before he could get away, Adam grabbed him and kissed him. “What the hell…” Eddie said, and when he looked into Adam’s blue eyes, he saw fear, and something else. Was that—my God, was that love?
“Looks like the Demon’s got you by the balls, Adam.”
“No. No.” Adam said, breaking his hold and walking away. “I’m fuckin’ rich, remember? I can’t be tied down. You can fuck me, beat me, but you’ll never keep me. I’m a wind. I go where I want. I’m here one minute, gone the next. You’ll never tame me, not in a million years.”
“When are you going to grow up, Adam? When are you going to attach yourself to a star and ride it until the end?”
“A rugged, over-the-hill undercover cop, a star?” Adam said. “You do think a lot of yourself, don’t you? Face it, Eddie, there’s no way to tame me, no way to destroy me. You’ll be the first to go. You keep going undercover and one day it’ll be the end for you, and when that day comes I’ll be on my way while wiping the dust of yesterday off my feet.”
“Why, you little twerp.”
Suddenly Eddie reached down, caught Adam’s jeans by the waistband, jerked him forward, and brutally ripped at the zipper.
It took every bit of self-control that Adam had to keep from crying out like a wolf worshipping the moon. And still Eddie rode Adam’s cock with his hot mouth while Adam squirmed, chest rising and falling. Finally, Eddie began to massage Adam’s balls while continuing to ride Adam with his mouth. Adam couldn’t help it. He threw his head back and moaned. With that, Eddie moved his mouth, and then began to lap at the tip of Adam’s cock, as pre-come bubbled out of it.
Adam couldn’t take it. He grabbed a fistful of Eddie’s thick hair and pushed the man’s head back over his cock, forcing Eddie down.
Eddie began to pump harder, moaning and grunting over Adam’s cock as he continued to fondle Adam’s balls.
It felt so intense, so incredible, so amazing. Arching his back, Adam cried out, his body trembling as it filled with so much want and passion he nearly passed out. But Eddie was unmerciful. He pumped harder, and Adam could feel the pressure building in his balls. He trembled as he felt an orgasm building and climbing higher and higher until he finally felt the explosion leave his body. Then after a booming cry to heaven, he slumped, exhausted.
As Eddie leaned forward over Adam’s sluggish body, he licked Adam’s ear, and said, “You’re welcome.”
“You conceited basta…” Adam’s words faded when he saw Eddie get up, and put on a jacket. “Where the hell do you think you’re going?”
“To the precinct. I’m an undercover cop with a job to do. I believe you can find your way out.”
“Didn’t anything I said have any effect on you?”
“Oh, sure. I’ll never forget…now what was it,” Eddie began, lifting his voice in a ridiculous sing-song mocking effect, “I’m a wind, here one minute, and gone the next. You’ll never tame me…”
“Bastard. Go on, get out there, get killed. No one cares.” When the door slammed shut suddenly Adam broke down in tears. “He’s gonna die, I just know it.”
* * * *
Adam was walking through a neighborhood that seemed to shimmer as if in a dream.
He looked around, his wild imagination showing him violently graphitized neighborhoods that had ugly hoods of every kind peeking out of shadows, around corners, all with knives, guns, and all looking to kill Eddie Scarlett. Even in his sleep, a spear of icy fear slivered down his spine, and he lunged up from his bed in a cold sweat.
He jumped up and began pacing, determined not to go to sleep again, so he forced himself to stay awake by remaining glued to the TV news to catch any kind of word regarding the United Nations Building—but nothing.
He couldn’t stay still, he just couldn’t. He had to find out what he could about Eddie, so he went to the precinct and began asking questions to anyone who would talk to him.
And then
the strangest thing happened.
He got a visit from Vinnie Torrio.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
“I’m here to see you. To try and talk some sense into you. First of all, stay away from the precinct asking questions. There’s nothing there that concerns you, especially the undercover operation that’s going on right now.”
“You mean that United Nations thing?”
“United Nations thing? What the hell are you talking about?”
“The undercover thing that Eddie’s into right now.”
“He’s not doing anything at the United Nations building.”
“He’s not? But that’s what he told…my God, he lied to me.”
“Of course he did. You were asking too many questions. He couldn’t tell you the truth, but he had to tell you something to shut you up.”
“What the hell do you know about any of this?”
“I’m his friggin’ partner, and we work well together, Eddie, and I. Don’t ask me anything else, I’m not allowed to discuss it with you, but I can tell you to stay away from the precinct. If you keep asking questions something is bound to slip, and you’ll endanger his life.”
“But if he’s in trouble…”
“Adam, Eddie can take care of himself. It’s his job. As a man on the street he can do anything he wants, but when he’s on a job he’s not Eddie Scarlett anymore, he’s someone else. Got it? Is that clear enough? If you want to keep Eddie safe, don’t try and find out where he is. When it’s over he’ll come back to you.”
“Or not.”
“Or not,” Vinnie confirmed.
“You are a jerk, Vinnie.”
“Look, I know you care about him, but you saw how he was at KingStar. He wasn’t Eddie Scarlett, he was Joe King. Remember joking? Joe King? It was a code name, the key word that he used to connect with me. What you saw him doing during the day was nothing. The real work goes on under wraps, down in the dirt, while everyone else is somewhere else not giving him a second thought. Adam, he’s a professional undercover agent, and if you want him dead, just go right on ahead and make a pest of yourself until you learn the truth.”
“But it’s hard to just sit still, and wait. I’m so worried about him. If there’s anything I can do…”
Adam, my God, don’t you understand? If you think for a minute you’re helping him by landing in the big middle of all this, think again. The last thing in the world he wants is to see you right now. If that happens the truth of who he is will come out, and not only will Eddie be dead, it’ll be your finger that pulled the trigger, or your hand wielding the blade of the knife that stabs him in the heart. Do you want that on your conscience? In trying to protect you, he’ll expose himself to the enemy, and it’ll ruin everything. If you care about him don’t make it any harder for him than it already is.”
“All right, I understand, but isn’t there anything at all I can do?”
“Yes there is. Just stay away, and stop stirring up a lot of dirt that can only hurt Eddie. If that dirt happens to get to the wrong person, it’s goodbye, Eddie. If you stop now, and let him do his job, before you know it, you’ll see him come through that door as good as new.”
“I know what you’re saying, but you just don’t understand how I feel.”
“I don’t understand? Let me tell you something. I love Eddie, too. We’ve been working together for about two years, and I fell in love with him the first time I ever saw him, but for some reason he can’t see me. Maybe my eyes are not blue enough, or maybe it’s because I don’t like red, or my name isn’t Adam. Hell, I don’t know. Back when I was at KingStar I had heard that Joe wasn’t going to participate in that little undercover caper, and I was disappointed. That meant I would have to work with some joker that didn’t know half of what Eddie did. But I had to accept it, especially when I heard it was because of Eddie’s health. I think it was because the chief was concerned that he needed a rest, or something like that, so when he did show up I was more than a little surprised. Anyway, when he introduced himself to me as Joe King I knew things had changed. Let me tell you, I was glad. But then he started asking about you. I didn’t know why he kept asking about you, but every time he did I felt a stab of jealousy that cut into me like a knife. The day I groped him in the coffee room wasn’t only a show, I meant it. And when he poured that coffee down over my head…” He snickered. “…that was priceless, and unexpected. Eddie is famous for doing things like that. He’s so fuckin’ unpredictable. So don’t tell me I don’t understand. I do.”
Vinnie’s confession made Adam speechless. He was noticeably silent as he looked at Vinnie, seeing the man for the first time as competition for the man he loved. This caused Adam to feel a big stab of envy because these two men were in the same business, and could discuss things he and Eddie could never discuss. He felt a twinge of sadness, but to hide it, he played the creep, and said, “You? You think he’d look twice at you? Not on your best day.”
“You piece of crud, if it wasn’t for trying to protect Eddie, I’d let them blast you into the next century. Just so you know, I’ll still take him away from you if I can, and if you pull something that puts Eddie’s life in danger, I’m coming after you, so don’t get too comfortable.” Vinnie slammed the door open, and growled, “I’m out of here.”
Chapter 7
Time had no meaning for Adam.
He thought of nothing but what Vinnie had told him, the words echoing over and over in his head until he thought he’d go crazy. If Vinnie was right, he had no choice but to wait, and pray that Eddie would be home soon. He didn’t even go home anymore, he lived in Eddie’s house, leaving the TV on, and flipping between the news channels, and hoping for some breaking news.
Now, as he sat down to a sandwich and began to eat, he looked up when he heard a news anchor come on and announce that some big king pin of the underworld had been killed, and a mysterious character was the central figure who was responsible for bringing the entire drug cartel down.
The incredible news shocked the whole city, especially when they told the exciting story of how the unknown, blank-faced agent had covertly infiltrated the gang, and brought them down. They even gave a list of names that included a couple of VIP’s, and one who was even killed during gunplay. It was a media explosion that blasted the TV news all the rest of the day, but the only thing it meant to Adam was that it was over, and Eddie was that much closer to coming home.
But it didn’t happen.
When days went by, and there was still no word from Eddie, Adam knew something must have happened to him. Adam was getting desperate. He was almost to the point of doing the one thing he’d been told not to do, and that was call the precinct. And then the phone rang. He jumped on it as if it were a lifeline, hoping it was Eddie.
“Eddie?” he shouted into the mouthpiece.
“Wagner Funeral Home, two-thirty.”
“Oh, God!” Adam whispered, a flood of fear squeezing his gut, telling him Eddie was dead. “Who is this?” he shouted, but the line went dead.
He quickly looked down at his watch, and learned he had exactly forty-five minutes to get to a funeral home he’d never heard of, and didn’t even know existed. With nerves of steel, he slammed into his car, got out his map, and careened around corners, ran stop signs, traffic lights, and almost hit a kid on a skate board, but he finally made it.
Now, as he got out of his car and hurried along the parking lot that led up to the funeral home, he noticed a sign with the name of someone whose funeral was taking place. Adam’s heart began beating hard, until he recognized the name as Eddie’s police buddy who was killed in the line of duty.
Thank God, he breathed to himself. Why then had he been told to come here? As he looked around, he saw beyond the building a beautifully manicured acreage of different styles of tombstones, tall, beautiful trees, occasional benches, and wide paths that meandered around the grounds. It was a pleasing, restful sight until Adam happened to see a man who looked a
lmost as if he were homeless leaning against a tree, present, but not a part of the crowd that milled around the open gravesite. He was dressed in an army jacket as he stood leaning against the tree, the trunk wide and round, suggesting that the tree was old, the bark pierced and ripped by all who had rested there before him. His dark hair was oily and unkempt, as if he hadn’t known the pleasure of a shower or a comb since his early days in the war. His once green army jacket was now faded to a light grey, and his shirt was torn and sweat-stained beneath his jacket. He wore an old pair of denim blue jeans that were shredded at the knees and hung at least three inches above his ankles, exposing scuffed, worn shoes, but no socks. His eyes were filled with loneliness and despair, as if he had realized a lack of purpose in his life. His long, slender nose was set above a mouth full of white, even teeth, and little lines at the corners of his mouth gave his face the look of someone who used to smile often, but the firm set of his square jaw revealed a portrait of a man who knew only failure.
As Adam glanced around the grounds, he saw mourners begin gathering around an open grave, and knew it must be for the cop who’d been killed. He saw people standing behind a line of folding chairs where the family was sitting. There was music, a ceremony, and a uniformed cop presenting a folded flag to the man’s family. All together there were urban types, city slickers, and teenagers. Grey heads, permed heads, balding heads, old heads, young heads, and heads that wagged as they spoke. As each of their gazes wandered around curiously, they seemed to skip over the socially unacceptable figure of a man leaning against a tree. Someone who wanted to pay his respects to the dead, but didn’t dare count himself among those of respectability, those who called themselves his family and friends.
Adam paced around for a time, constantly glancing at his watch until the service was finally over. He didn’t know why he was here, since no one had approached him, so he turned to leave. As he passed the homeless man, he heard an utterance that was a gravelly mix of whiskey roughness and educated brogue.
Tarnished Hero Page 7