years because of his failure to age. Apparently his police records
showed him in his mid-thirties, but in actuality Zander was closer
to sixty and yet he had the appearance of a sexy twenty five
year old.
Keeping his own counsel, content just to be out with his mate,
Terry let himself be seated, and watched with a fondness that
was growing by the day as Zander ordered his favorite foods.
There was nothing wrong with his old wolf's memory that’s for
sure but then as he and Zander both would live until they were
around five hundred, that wasn’t surprising.
He was halfway through his creamy fettucine with chicken and
spinach, when Zander spoke.
“Sweetie, I hate to wreck our peaceful lunch, but I have a bit of
a problem and it could be a problem for you too.”
Okay, well clearly calm was a transient state of being. Terry felt
his good mood drop and his stomach threatened to expel the
delicious pasta. Putting down his fork, he took a deep breath and
then met his mate’s eyes hiding his fear. If his mate was going
to dump him, or whatever other bad news he might have about
their mating, then Terry would meet his fate head on.
“It’s nothing like that, I swear. I could never give you up, or
what we have together,” Zander said softly, his hand snaking
out and covering Terry’s on the table between them. It was the
first time Zander had ever touched him in a public place and
Terry’s bouncy spirit just jumped back up again even as he
cursed himself for forgetting their mind link. With being together
so closely since they were blessed with that connection, it had
barely been used.
“What’s wrong? How can I help?”
Zander smiled and Terry’s spirit bounced up further. Nothing
could be wrong with the world when his mate had a smile on his
face. But then Zander told him about what Sully had done, how
he was effectively sabotaging Zander’s career and Terry’s wolf
went into overdrive. How dare that jumped up piece of All-
American handsomeness do something so cruel? Terry’s wolf,
usually a placid and quiet creature, was all for hunting the man
down and biting him, hard.
“The guys at the IA want to talk to you. I’m a bit worried about
how you’ll handle it,” Zander said, the pat on his hand turning
into a full scale hold, which Terry was grateful for.
“Won’t you be there?” Terry could lie through his eye teeth if he
had to, but he’d cope better if Zander was with him.
But Zander shook his head. “No. They asked me to bring you in
this afternoon and they’re going to want to speak to you alone.
It shouldn’t take long, but it’s just…” Zander trailed off.
“What’s wrong?” Terry asked again.
“The guy who will be interviewing you, he thinks like Sully.”
Terry looked down at his tight clothes. Nothing too outlandish,
he had to work after all.
“So…” he said with a drawl. “It’s probably good I found a scarf
then isn’t it. Think I’ve got time to put on some make up before
I have to go before the execution squad?”
Zander may be laughing, which gave Terry’s body a pleasant
hum, but he was actually serious. If he was going to be hated
for who he was, then he was going to go into that meeting with
all guns blazing.
Chapter Sixteen
Terry hated the police building on sight. The memory of being
taken in through the back door in handcuffs hadn’t left him, and
he didn’t think it would any time soon. It wasn’t much better
walking through the front door, even with Zander by his side.
The big man stayed close, which was one thing, but Terry wanted
to disappear under his mate’s arm. He didn’t sense any hateful
feelings although more than one curious look was thrown his
way.
Zander led the way past the admin desk, and then out back,
down a long corridor, before opening the door to a large room
filled with desks, about half of which were occupied. No one
seemed to pay too much attention to his mate, but Terry could
feel eyes boring into him from all sides and as they crossed the
had to remember that.
Stopping by a desk that was cluttered with files and what looked
like random pieces of paper, Zander said, “take a seat, I’ll ring
the idiots and see if they’re ready for you.”
Zander plopped down in the seat behind the desk, and taking
the seat beside it, Terry looked over his mate’s workspace, trying
to glean more clues about his man. Like his home, Zander’s
workspace was impersonal with nothing on it aside from his
office tools, a computer shoved to the side, and a small picture
of Zander and Sully which was probably taken when the two men
graduated from the Academy. His mate looked sinfully delicious
in a uniform.
Terry could have suggested some plants, or a few knick knacks
to make the space a bit more personable, but glancing around
the room, he saw that everyone else had the same drab spaces.
He gave a discrete shudder. He would never be able to work in
somewhere so…professional.
“Okay little one?” Zander whispered beside him and Terry
nodded. Seeing his work space, and the environment that
Zander spent so much time in all added to the puzzle that was
his mate. Terry was, by far the most colorful person in the office
and he felt underdressed. For him at least.
“A little young to be a drug dealer. This a new informant, aye
Samuels?” A rough voice sounded from the other side of the desk
and Terry looked up to see an average looking man – brown hair,
brown eyes, plain face and a brown suit. Definitely average.
“Watch your tongue, McKenzie. Terry’s my boyfriend.” Zander
didn’t look up from the papers he was working on as he
answered, so only Terry could enjoy the look of shock, horror,
and then as Zander slowly raised his head to look at the hapless
man, the bland friendliness that came over McKenzie’s face.
“I didn’t know you were gay,” McKenzie said, looking around as
though he needed support.
“Wasn’t any of your business,” Zander said dismissively.
“But Sully, your dates, was that all lies?” Terry thought he should
feel a bit sorry for McKenzie. Clearly this was a man who lived
vicariously through office gossip and the gossip about Zander
was about to head in a new direction.
“A man can swing on both sides of the fence,” Terry said with a
grin. “At the moment he’s swinging my way.”
“Samuel’s has never even had a girlfriend. He has one-time
dates and that’s it. The gossip mills run to a different girl every
week. Girls. Not males.” McKenzie looked at Terry as if he held
the answer to the biggest problem in the universe.
Terry looked across at Zander who was still working on his
papers. McKenzie didn’t appear to be someone important to his
mate. Leani
ng forward in his chair, Terry beckoned the man
forward and leaned into his ear.
“Once you’ve had dick, you’ll never go back. You should give it
a try sometime,” he whispered so only McKenzie could hear,
although given his Alpha status, Zander probably could too. Did
his mate’s lip twitch? Terry couldn’t be sure, the movement was
so fast.
“Really?” McKenzie looked stunned and horrified all in one go
and that wasn’t an easy look to achieve.
“Just try it,” Terry said, leaning back and running a hand over
his slim torso. He knew he looked good. He refused to leave the
house unless his did and his work depended on it. Apparently
McKenzie thought so too although after giving him and Zander
another long look, he scurried away.
“You’re incorrigible, mate,” Zander said quietly, still looking
busy.
“And you like it,” Terry said just as quietly. He didn’t think
anyone could hear them. There was like a dead zone of empty
desks around Zander’s workspace although he saw McKenzie
talking to another dark looking man by the door. Both men saw
him watching them and disappeared out the door.
Terry sat quietly, not wanting to disturb his mate while the man
was working. He spent his time imagining what he would do with
the plain beige walls, tiled floor and untidy desks. The place
could benefit from some plants, color on the walls and some
filing cabinets. He was deep into imagining what sort of art he
would install, when Zander’s phone rang.
The man tensed, flicking a worried look at Terry before he
answered it. A couple of grunts later, and Zander put the phone
down and stood up.
“You’re on,” he said bluntly.
Once again Terry followed his mate through the room, down
another long corridor before the man stopped in front of an
unremarkable office door. To his surprise, Zander looked around
quickly and then pulled Terry into his arms. Shocked, it took
Terry a moment to respond, but then his arms seemed to get a
life of their own and he quickly hugged his mate back. Zander’s
body was fast becoming a port in any storm for him, and he
could never get enough of it.
“Don’t let them get to you,” Zander whispered into his hair.
“Don’t let anything they say upset you. Please, I couldn’t bear it
if they hurt you in any way.”
“None of this is your fault, my mate,” Terry said quietly,
confident that Zander would hear him. “I know how fabulous I
am, my Mother tells me so. I don’t need to let the opinions of
people that don’t count ruin my day.”
“You are. Fabulous I mean,” Zander whispered. “I can’t do
without you.”
“You won’t have to,” Terry promised, giving Zander one more
squeeze before stepping away. Zander knocked on the door, his
face terse and hard once more. Someone yelled out “enter” from
within the office and Zander opened the door, ushering Terry
inside.
Another brown/beige office, Terry thought before taking stock of
the two people waiting for him.
“My boyfriend, Terry Martin.”
“You can go, Detective Samuels,” the woman behind the desk
said. “We’ll take it from here.”
Zander nodded but Terry could see his mate wasn’t happy. He
guessed Zander wouldn’t go very far. A moment later the door
clicked shut and Terry was left facing a rather pleasant woman.
She was probably about thirty five, blond short hair and dressed
in a nice crisp navy suit. The man beside her radiated hostility
that Terry could sense from ten foot away. Deciding that attack
was the best form of defense, Terry strode over to the chair in
front of the desk and sat down, smiling at the woman.
“Hi there, my name’s Terry. Do you have any paper and a pen I
can use? I forgot to get some from Zander before we came in.”
“Yes, of course,” the woman said with a bemused smile. She
fossicked around in a desk drawer and pulled out a legal pad and
a pen.
Terry smiled his thanks, checked that the pen worked and then
looked up again.
“Now can I have your names please, and designation?”
“I’m Lieutenant Melissa Williams,” the woman said, just as the
man said, “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“Thank you Lieutenant Williams,” Terry said with a smile. Then
he turned to the man.
“I know my rights,” he said seriously this time. “I am recording
your names and will take notes about this conversation, which I
am entitled to do seeing as I am not a suspect or being
interviewed about any crime. My lawyer friend, Richard Thorne
told me it was a good idea to take the notes, seeing as I have a
bit of a fluffy memory. Now you are?”
“You don’t need a lawyer,” Melissa said. “You aren’t in any
trouble, this is an internal investigation.”
“I know,” Terry said putting the smile back on his face. “It’s
about Sully and his homophobic attitude. You know hate crimes
are illegal but when you look as wonderful as I do, you just
attract those sorts sometimes.”
He turned back to the man who was glowering. “What was your
name and rank again?”
“Sargent Croydon,” the man spat out.
Terry carefully wrote that down, determined not to rush. It was
a simple power trick, but effective.
“Right,” he said, once he’d finished writing. “What did you want
to talk to me about?”
“How long have you known Detective Samuels and Detective
Roberts?” Croydon asked.
“Well,” Terry said, leaning back in his chair and crossing one
ankle over his other knee. He knew it wouldn’t do Zander any
good to have these two people know how short their relationship
was. They would never understand the mating concept.
Deflection was in order. “I can’t say I know Detective Roberts at
all. I mean the man hates my sheer existence and I’ve only
spoken to him that day he turned up at Zander’s house
uninvited. I’ve never seen a man so…” He let his words run off
as he tried to think of the right term to use.
“Upset?” Melissa supplied helpful.
Terry snorted. “Try full scale, about to have a heart attack and
shoot somebody angry. I’ve never seen someone go so red in
the face before. I thought I was going to just die when he started
waving his gun about. Poor little old me, in bed with no clothes
on when this mad man just bursts in and starts screaming at my
boyfriend. I mean, how do you think I felt?”
“What were they yelling about? Detectives Samuels and
Roberts?”
“Detective Roberts got some idea that Zander was trying on gay
shoes in an effort to get a promotion. At least I think that was
what his problem was. All sounded a bit farfetched for me.”
“I work for the Police Commissioner’s brother, Madam Morgana,
as a dress designer.” He added when both Melissa and Croydon
&
nbsp; looked at him blankly. “Roberts thought that Zander was
sleeping with me in an effort to impress your big boss.”
“That would hardly be a reason for Detective Roberts to pull out
his gun.” Croydon said.
“You’re telling me. I mean what man pulls out a gun at the sight
of two men in bed together. Pure homophobe, I tell you.
Couldn’t get much worse.” Terry knew he was laying things on
thick, but he had to get these two away from the gun angle.
There was no way that he could explain about Zander turning all
wolfy on the bed.
“So you do admit that you and Detective Samuels were in bed
together when Detective Roberts arrived?” Croydon said.
“The nasty man woke us up!” Terry said crossly. “Like I need to
be woken up by some mad man spouting crap about
abominations and things like that. I don’t need his shit. I think
Zander handled things fairly well considering how rude Detective
Roberts was being. I mean no one invited him over. He definitely
wasn’t supposed to be in our bedroom. Zander hates it if anyone
sees my body and I certainly don’t want some gay-hater drooling
over my boyfriend’s chiseled abs. We’re exclusive you know.”
“So why didn’t you make a report to the police about the threat
with the gun and the hatred you claim Detective Roberts showed
you?” Melissa looked like she was sympathetic but Terry wasn’t
going to trust her.
“Zander asked me not to. I mean, I was a mess when Detective
Roberts left. All that yelling, screaming, and insults flying
around. All before coffee. Not how I like to start my day. I don’t
know how Zander stayed so calm especially when that horrible
man pulled his gun out. But Zander told me that Detective
Roberts was too nice a man to actually shoot me, and what was
I meant to do? Zander said that if I laid a complaint then his best
friend in, like the whole world, would get in trouble, and no one
was physically hurt, so I didn’t worry about it. It would take more
than a few insults to get me down.”
“Detective Roberts claimed that his partner invited him over to
the house, and then insisted that he join you in some weird
threesome,” Croydon persisted.
“Weird threesome, really?” Terry arched a brow, confident he
could pull it off. He’d practiced in the mirror. “If you think it’s