“Ye . . . Ye . . . Yeah he’s bad,” Terry agreed. “T . . . T . . .To the bone.”
Chapter 18
“Da . . . Da . . . Dan looks like your boyfriend broke into another La Jolla mansion,” Terry said as he walked up to the bar where Dan set next to Mathew.
“Oh, when did this happen?” Dan said turning around and to look at the handsome blonde boy who looked perfect, like he imagined Billy Bud looked in Moby Dick. It was only when Terry tried to talk that the image of perfection was shattered. And behind those pale blue eyes, Dan always found a hint of lingering anger.
“La . . . La . . . Last night. To . . . To . . . Took a couple of valuable painting and left crayon sketches from a beach house in La Jolla.”
Dan shook his head. “Gerry isn’t the La Jolly Cat Burglar!” he surprised himself by saying. It was a thought that he been brewing in the back of his mind for days. “It’s somebody else!” he continued in a more confident tone.
Terry shook his head. “N . . . N . . . No it’s Gerry!” he said nodding his head. “Yo . . . Yo . . . You just say that because you are in love with him.”
“Maybe,” Dan said turning his back on Terry.
“You really don’t think Gerry is the thief?” Mathew asked in a surprised tone.
“No, I don’t. And I’m beginning to think that he didn’t steal my rings,” Dan shook his head. “I think I couldn’t get past my anger to see the obvious.”
“And what’s that?” Mathew asked.
“He’s too smart to have stolen my rings. And he had too much to lose!”
“I don’t know, Dan, all the evidence points to Gerry. You might be letting your emotions rule.”
“That’s possible. I admit that I can’t get him out of my mind. I clicked with him like I’ve never connected with anyone else before. When I close my eyes, I can smell his scent.”
“I thought we were connecting, Dan,” Mathew said in a surprised tone. “I’ve been enjoying the times we have spent together.”
“You should. I paid for each time we’ve been to bed,” Dan said and then shook his head. “Sorry, that wasn’t very nice of me. I don’t usually lash out like that. I guess I’m touchy about pinning the crimes on Gerry and feeling guilty for accusing him.”
“So you are convinced that he’s not the La Jolly Cat Burglar?” Mathew asked.
“No, I’m not sure of anything, Mathew.” Dan slipped off the bar stool and laid some bills on the bar. “I think I’ll call it a night.”
“It’s early?” Mathew said.
“Yes, but I’m tired,” Dan said and walked way before Mathew could respond.
Dan yawned as he drove into the parking lot of the Rescue Mission. He hadn’t slept much last night. All he could think of was what an ass he had been to Gerry not once given him the benefit of the doubt. It wasn’t like him to be so stubborn! I guess it was because I was in love with him and felt betrayed and rejected when I thought he had stolen my rings. Damn, it had been love at first sight for him. He was already planning his life around Gerry that morning when he got out of bed. Then to find his rings missing! I snapped. I just hope that he stayed at the shelter, the night of the break-in. If so, it will prove that he is not the La Jolly Cat Burglar. And if he’s not then he probably didn’t steal my rings either.
If Dan had been a religious man, he would have said a pray as he entered the Mission Rescue Shelter. The front room of the rescue was decorated with vintage second hand furniture, two raggedy sofas facing an oak desk behind which set a white haired old man with wire rim glasses.
“You can’t check in until after five. Come back then,” he said without looking up from the leger book filled with columns of numbers.
“Trying to balance the books?” Dan asked.
The old man slowly raised his head with an annoyed look on his face which instantly changed when he saw Dan. “Sorry, I thought you were looking for a place to spend the night. If I allowed it, the homeless would spend all day here.”
“You only allow them access after five?” Dan asked.
“Yes. They have to sign in. The doors are locked after seven at night until seven the next day. It’s to keep some of the . . . well less fortunate ones from wondering off in the middle of the night. Why do you ask?”
“A friend of my might have stayed here a couple of nights ago. I need to verify that he was here.” Before the old man could protest Dan continued. “There was a break in a wealthy man house in La Jolla. If he was here at the shelter it will prove he’s innocent.”
The old man removed his glasses. “You mean we might have the Crayon Boy in our mist. That would be a wolf among the lambs for sure.”
“No, I don’t think he’s a . . . well he might be a wolf, just not the one robbing houses in La Jolla,” Dan said.
“Do you have a name for this wolf?”
“Gerry Blunt.”
“He’s been sleeping here the past four nights,” the old man said without glancing at any records.
“You remember him?”
“How could I forget. It’s not often we get clean cut handsome men seeking shelter. Said he was saving up for an apartment and needed a place to sleep. Even donated $20 dollars a night. A quiet boy that minded his own business and didn’t talk much. But I saw him with some of the young boys. We get families here too. He was teaching them to box so they could protect themselves. Seemed to know what he was doing. And all the kids loved him.”
Dan looked surprised. “He was a golden glove champion but I didn’t know he had a knack for teaching boxing. That’s a new wrinkle.”
The old man pulled out another ledger book. “What the date?”
Dan told him.
The old man run his finger down the ledge. “Yeah. His name is here. He was with us that night. He was signed out the next morning. We make them sign out so that we can keep count. Sometimes somebody will try to hide in the building instead of going back onto the street.”
“Are you positive Gerry Blunt checked in on the date I gave you?”
“One hundred percent sure.”
“Thanks,” Dan said and quickly turned to leave.
“Ah . . . how about a donation?”
“Don’t worry, I going to send you a nice fat check!” Dan called over his shoulder.
All this time I was wrong! I caused Gerry so many problems. Why didn’t I listen to him? Why didn’t I at least give him a chance? Dan stopped as he reached his car. His stomach was suddenly churning. He bent double. He puked on the cement of the parking lot.
Dan straightened up and leaned against the car for along moment before getting behind the wheel. I got to find Gerry! Dan realized he didn’t know where to look. He considered just driving around the area near Daddy’s Boys and Gerry’s old apartment, but shook his head. It would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Daddy’s Boys! Maybe Spike or one of his other friends would know where to look? Yes, Daddy’s Bar. Dan glanced at his watch. The bar opened at 10AM. Maybe Spike or Terry would be at the bar. He knew that Mathew almost never came to the bar before 5 AM.
The bar was empty except for Bucky.
“Dan, you must be turning into a wino coming in so early. I hate to see an upright man like you turn into a lush,” Bucky said as Dan walked up to the bar.
“Nothing like that, Bucky. Do you expect Spike or Terry in soon?”
“I thought you and Mathew were as tight as money could buy?”
“Okay, I deserved that pun.”
“Just so you know he is a cold fish under that easy smile and bedroom eyes. Money makes his world turn, not love or sex,” Bucky said.
“I know that. I know that, but I needed some company. Sometimes it is better to just buy some fake affection to help get over the rough times.”
“So why are you looking for Spike and Terry. Want to spend a little less?” Bucky asked smiling.
“You don’t think they would go to bed with me for free?”
“Maybe Terry would
but not a chance with big dicked Spike. Hustler is the word for him. Look it up in the dictionary,” Bucky paused and shrugged. “As I said, Terry might. He’s the most handsome guy that comes into the bar, but the moment he opens his mouth his value hit the bottom. The guys from La Jolla want an escort they can take out to dinner and to a show before hitting the sack. They wouldn’t be caught dead in a fancy restaurant with stuttering Terry. Good thing he has a day job.”
“Oh, he has a job?”
“Yeah, he a whiz kid with computers. Mathew is good geek but Terry is a geek’s geek,” Bucky said. “So, if it is not to get your nob polished, why are you looking for them?”
“Actually, I’m looking for Gerry. I thought one of the two might know where I could find him?”
“Oh, that loser.”
Dan opened his mouth and closed it. No, I’m not going to tell him that I’m sure the La Jolly Cat Burglar isn’t Gerry.
“Yeah, I still have his stuff at my place and I want him to come and get it.”
“I’m with you. I wouldn’t be doing him any favors especially if he stole some valuable rings from me. I heard Terry telling Spike he saw Gerry going into the Ramrod. That he’s hustling pool over there with the fairy bikers.”
“Thanks. I try and see if he’s there.”
“Hell, if I were you, I’d just throw his stuff into the street. Tomorrow is trash day!”
“Yeah, that’s and idea if I don’t find him. Thanks Bucky. Later.”
They all turned against him because I swore he stole my rings! I have a lot to atone for, a hell of a lot,” Dan thought and suddenly felt his stomach churning as he walked past the security guard and on to his car.
The drive to the Ramrod wasn’t long enough for Dan to calm down. Dan was nervous for one of the few times in his life. The last time being when he first piloted a 747. Damn, that was ages ago. Now I’m as nervous as a school girl on her way to say she sorry for accusing her boyfriend of cheating.
Unlike Daddy’s Boys the parking lot of the Ramrod was busy it featured a row of motorcycles of all makes and models but the predominate brand being Harley Sportsters. Dan had been in a couple of biker bars in LA and expected the Ramrod to be similar.
Wrong!
Damn, they must have a perfume with a cent of stale cum and beer, Dan thought as he walked in. The floor crunched. He glanced down. Peanuts shells! I wonder how often they sweep them into the trash. However frequently they cleaned the floor, it wasn’t often enough from the scent.
Dan expected leather. He got leather vest, exposed hairy chests and leather pants with big bulges in the crotch that had to be socks because it was practically impossible for so many men to have exactly the same size bulges. If someone had taken a biker bar from LA and relocated it to San Diego after sprinkling it with a massive dose of fairy dust the results would be the Ramrod.
What a joke! Dan thought as he took in the stares of the occupants gave him as if an alien had just entered their watering hole. Dan’s roaming eyes located the pool table and Gerry. The boy seemed to have the ability to blend. Even though he wasn’t wearing a leather vest or leather pants, he looked right at home holding the pool stick while wearing jeans and a blue T-shirt with the sleeves rolled up like Marlon Brando in The Wild Ones. And with the tats on his arm and his sweltering dark looks he did resemble a young Brando.
Gerry was watching a big bearded man wearing pants so tight that he must have been poured him them, take a shot. The stripped 5 ball smashed in the top left pocket but the cue ball rolled in the right top pocket.
“Shit!” the man said. “I should have made that shot.”
“You hit the cue ball too hard,” Gerry said. “On a shot like that you have to use finesse instead of brute force . . .” Gerry eyes widen a little as he spotted Dan. “Ah . . . give me a moment, Bruce,” he added as he walked over to Dan.
“Look, Dan, I know you have my stuff. I’ll get it as soon as I can get an apartment.”
“I’m not here to bug you about the things from your apartment,” Dan said.
“Oh.”
“I could use a glass of wine,” Dan said. “Join me at the bar.”
“You better stick to beer unless you like Mad Dog 20 20.”
“Yeah, in that case a Coors.”
“Hey, Jack, a Coors.” Gerry called out to the bartender who was wearing a nose ring and ear rings even larger than Bucky’s.
“He’s not a cop, is he?”
“No. He’s okay. Just old fashion,” Gerry said as he winked at Dan. He turned back to face Dan. “First how did you find me and second why?” he asked not smiling.
“There was another beach house robbed in La Jolla the other night.”
Gerry took a deep breath. “Don’t tell me you came here to accuse me of being the robber?”
Dan shook his head violently. “No. I came here to . . .”
“To what? Tell me the cops are looking for me?”
“No, to tell you that I was wrong. I know now that you aren’t the La Jolly Cat Burglar. I went to the Mission Rescue Shelter. You were checked in at the shelter the night of the robbery,” Dan paused and took a deep breath. “I was wrong. I was wrong about you stealing my rings. I was wrong about you being the cat burglar. Gerry, I am so sorry for all the trouble I caused you.”
Gerry started to answer but Dan held up his hand.
“Let me finish. I fell in love with you the first moment I saw you in Daddy’s Bar. I have never been so instantly attracted to another person. I thought my dream of finally having a lover had come to pass. Then my rings went missing. I felt betrayed. I had lowered my emotional barriers and taking you into my heart. Yes, I know that sounds corny, but it’s the truth. Then when I found my rings had been stolen. I thought that you had just dated me to steal them. That you were just another hustler from the bar.”
Dan stopped talking, grabbed the bottle of Coors and took a deep swallow before he continued.
“You can hate me. But I just wanted to say. I did and still do love you! I haven’t been able to get you out of my mind. I’ve even been paying Mathew to have sex with me hoping it would distract me. But having sex with him only reminded me that what I feel for you I could never, never feel for him or anyone else. Please, please, come home with me!”
“Dan, you are asking a lot!”
“I know.”
“No, you don’t. You don’t know what I went through in prison. I would rather die than go back. And because of you, I almost did.”
“I know, I know!” Dan said shaking his head. “To my dying days, I never forgive myself for not believing you.”
“I did look guilty!” Gerry admitted with a sigh. “But Dan. You hurt me so much by not believing me.”
“I know and can never make it up but at least let me try!”
“But maybe you are right, we shouldn’t let this ruin your lives. I can’t forget you and you seem not to be able to forget me,” Gerry said looking at Dan.
“Someone must have entered the house after you left,” Dan said. “Someone that hates you, Gerry?”
“Yeah, well that list seems to be long at the moment.”
“Gerry, I am so sorry. Damnit. I love you. Please come home with me.”
“And give up all this?” Gerry said sweeping his hands around to include the entire room.
Suddenly both men were laughing as they stared into each other’s eyes. As one they moved toward each other to embrace in a hug.
“No kissing in my bar?” the bartender said in a gruff voice only to laugh when Dan pulled back and glanced at him.
“Just joking, Mate.”
“He’s Australian. They seem to have this strange down under sense of humor. You know, totally screwed,” Gerry explained.
“Mate, I’m mortally wounded. All the tiny kangaroos just turned over in their mothers’ pouches!”
Gerry shook his head. “See what I mean.”
Dan laughed. He nodded his head. “Let’s go home.”
&nbs
p; Gerry glanced at the bartender. “Catch you on the flip side, Mate.”
“Sure thing,” Jack said with a snort. “Just don’t flip me over, I don’t to back door.”
“He would have been a hit on the old Gong show,” Dan said.
“I’ve heard of that 70’s show. My grandfather . . .”
“Okay, I get your point,” Dan said as he reached out and ruffled Gerry’s gelled hair. “Come on and help the old man into the car.”
Dan found he couldn’t stop talking as he drove home. Maybe it’s nerves, he thought as he ended the story of his first flight on a 747 as he pulled into the drive way of the house.
“I’ve been going to ask you about the neon green doors,” Gerry said as they got out of the car.
Dan shrugged. “My wife had passed. I was starting a new life here in San Diego and thought I needed to make a statement. You know . . . a fuck you if you don’t approve of me and my lifestyle kind of thing,” Dan said as they walked through the back yard. He opened the back door, switched off the alarm and turned and grabbed Gerry. “I’m so sorry . . .”
Gerry pressed his lips against Dan’s interrupting him.
The veneer of control slipped and suddenly their tongues were probing, twisting inside each other’s mouths as the penned-up passion flowed like an electric current from one man to the other. As they kissed their crotches touched. Gerry cock responded to the bulge pressing against it. In a flash, the older man had a rock hard cock. Feeling Dan’s stiff cock against his crotch Gerry pulled back.
“Don’t you dare use that line from the May West movie!” Dan snapped.
Gerry smiled. “The thought never entered my mind.” He dropped to his knees and grabbed the zipper of Dan’s jeans. “But another one did,” he added and unzipped the older man’s fly. As Dan watched Gerry reached his fingers inside and grabbed his cock. Gerry struggled for a moment to get it out but finally Dan’s long cock popped out.
While looking up into Dan’s excited eyes, Gerry took his cock in his mouth.
“God, that feels so good when you do it. With Mathew it was like I had my cock in the mouth of one of those cheap blow up dolls.”
Heart Thief Page 10