Six Degrees of Lust (20 page)

He called a few days later and we went out to the most terrible

deli I’ve ever seen.”

“What makes you think he lied about his name?” Logan asked.

He usually took the lead during questioning, as his soothing

voice put people at ease… or made them completely horny, as

evidenced by Ryan’s come-hither look.

“I called him Peter a few times and it just flew over his head.

He said he’s from NYC, but he had an accent. He was doing his

best to disguise it by speaking slowly or enunciating, but I could

tell. Something from the South… Louisiana or Texas… Maybe

Georgia. It was very obvious when he lost his cool and started

on his religious bullshit. He said I need to repent; that the final

countdown had just begun. He’s a ’phobe, definitely a fanatic.

And he’s gay, but tried to pretend he isn’t. There was also this

smell, kind of sweet and intense. It wasn’t him… his clothes,

perhaps… He never gave me his address and called me from a

blocked number. I tried to take a picture of him but my hand was

shaking a little, so it came out a tad blurry and out of focus.” He

took his cell phone out of a very tight pants pocket and pulled

up a picture he immediately showed to Logan. “Like I said, a little

blurry. Maybe your team will be able to blow it up.”

“What do you do for a living?” asked Sam, impressed by

Ryan’s observations.

“I’m a nurse, but investigative procedure is a hobby of mine.

That, plus I never miss Law & Order. I’m a big fan,” he said with

a huge smile. “I can come to your office and give a description to

your sketch artist whenever you want.”

“Tomorrow morning, nine o’clock.” Sam’s phone vibrated in

his pocket but he ignored it, knowing Logan had just forwarded

the picture from Ryan’s phone to the entire team. “Did Peter

offer to buy you a drink?”

136 Taylor V. Donovan

“Yes, but I took it directly from the bartender. I don’t mess

around with that.” He took a deep breath and shook his head a

little. “This is so scary, you know… Peter or whatever his real

name is, he doesn’t look like he’d hurt anyone, but when he

starts ranting…” He shook his blond head again. “At first I was

thinking it was gay bashing, but once I got away from that deli it

hit me. All those murders… That’s who you’re after, right? The

fucker who’s been killing gay guys?” Sam didn’t answer. No need

to, as Ryan was obviously smart enough to figure it out. “I look

like them… like the victims…”

“Any idea why Peter would single you out?” Duncan asked.

“Had you seen him before, here or anywhere else?”

“Earlier that night, yeah… I remember seeing him briefly

when I was dancing.” He narrowed his eyes in concentration.

“You know what? Forget Louisiana and Georgia.” He tapped

the table with his knuckles. “At the deli, when he lost control,

he spoke with a drawl. And he wouldn’t pronounce his g’s. He

sounded just like the hotties from Texas I met right here the same

night I did Peter.” Ryan’s expression became dreamy at the same

time every muscle in Sam’s body tensed up. “Gorgeous, both

of them. I had my little heart set on the super tall, super ripped

blond one with the amazing green eyes but alas, he’s straight. I

could’ve spent hours licking that body of his. One word from

him and I would’ve had his babies. He—”

“Can we focus here?” Zane’s deep, whip-like voice interrupted

the guy’s rambling, but Sam was having problems moving on.

“When exactly did you meet them?” Sam asked. He needed

to know.

“May fourteenth. I remember because it’s my sister’s birthday

and—”

“Did you make a move on him?” Sam asked. “Him on you?”

“Didn’t I say he’s straight? Such a waste.” For a moment all

Sam could think of was how lucky this little asshole was that he

hadn’t touched Mac, and how he still wanted to smack him just

for thinking about it. Had Mac been his man, he probably would

six DegRees of Lust
137

have anyway. He didn’t share too well.

Then he remembered how very much gay Mac was and had

to shift a little, mortified he was getting hard in the middle of

an investigation but not surprised by it, as the same had been

happening whenever he thought about the blond from the

moment they’d met.

He still thought about him.

Sam had known a few hours wouldn’t be enough.

“So they were all Texans,” Logan said, glancing in Sam’s

direction. “Any chance they were together?”

“Absolutely not. Peter didn’t belong with them. You see,

the hotties were with some friends from here. You could smell

the money and class in all of them, you know. Peter isn’t like

that at all.” He rubbed his forehead with the tip of his delicate

fingers and took a deep breath. “I’m so happy I was able to take

that picture, and like I said, I’ll describe him to the best of my

recollection and will do anything I can to help you guys catch

him.”

“Now, hold on a second.” This came from Duncan. “We

appreciate your help, it’s been invaluable so far, but this is where

we take over. You need to concentrate on—”

“My safety. Yes, I know that. I don’t leave myself exposed,

just in case this jerk has it out for me. I’m not stupid. I’ve been

taking different routes to work and making sure I’m not being

stalked, but I refuse to let that man dictate how I live my life.

Tomorrow I’ll make copies of the picture and ask my friends to

help catch this killer.”

“We don’t know if he’s the killer, Ryan.” Logan took a business

card out of his pocket and gave it to the guy. “See you tomorrow

at nine. Did you come here alone?”

“I’m with friends. Leaving with them, too… unless any of

you guys want to take me home?” The come-hither look was

back in full force.

“Not a chance.” Sam slid out of the booth.

138 Taylor V. Donovan

“Not on the clock,” Logan said.

“Not with witnesses,” Zane countered.

“Not even gay,” Duncan finished, getting up after Zane. “Be

careful getting home, and see you tomorrow.”

As soon as they made it to the sidewalk Sam sent the guys

home. It made sense to wait till the morning to discuss the night’s

events with Bobbie and Mik, plus he didn’t want to risk any

questions about his completely out of line behavior.

Logan just followed him to his SUV.

“Not tonight, Lo.”

“Is this where you met him?” Of course he’d ask anyway.

“I met him at the airport the day I went to Buffalo,” he said,

not bothering to pretend he didn’t know who his friend was

talking about. “We bumped into each other and I gave him my

card. He called me, then I picked him up here two days later.”

“On May fourteenth.”

“May fifteenth. It was after midnight.” And why that was

important, Sam didn’t have a damn clue.

“Why does Ryan think he’s straight?”

“No idea. Mac isn’t a flamer but he’s definitely carrying a

torch.”

“Mac?”

“His name’s Machlan.”

“So. On May fifteenth you picked up Machlan… two whole

days after meeting him at the airport… and weeks later he comes

here for a few hours to see you,” Logan said, and it was obvious

he was getting to a few conclusions Sam knew wouldn’t be far

off the mark.

“Not tonight, I said.”

He couldn’t talk about this just yet. He was doing his best to

put Mac and the amazing sex they’d had behind him, but that

wasn’t going too well. There shouldn’t have been anything left of

six DegRees of Lust
139

their time together for Logan to pick on anyway, but there was,

and it was more than Sam cared to admit.

“Do you need a ride home?” he asked as soon as he reached

his SUV.

“Nope,” his friend said, not offended at all by Sam’s reluctance

to talk about Mac. “Christian asked me to stop by this bar he’s at

if I had the time and the night’s still young, so I think I’m going

to go. Want to tag along?”

“Thanks for the invitation babe, but I’m tired. You go and

have a great time with your friend, okay?”

“Sam… There’s something I’ve wanted to tell you for a

couple of weeks now.”

“What is it?” Sam had never seen the other man look so

uncertain.

“Maybe tonight isn’t the best time, though. Perhaps when

you’re in a better mood.”

“You know I hate suspense, so might as well tell me now.”

“Okay.” Logan took a deep breath. “Christian knows this

girl… They’ve been best friends for years. Tall, killer curves,

awesome long hair… Gabriela Moreau is her name.”

Sam was stunned. He didn’t know what to say, so he just

stared at Logan and waited for his friend to give him the details.

“I met your ex-wife a little over a month ago,” Logan

confirmed in a very low voice. “Duncan and I stopped by the art

gallery she co-owns with Christian and showed her the pictures

of the paintings from the crime scenes, but she didn’t recognize

any.”

“You know what?” Sam shook his head and opened his SUV

door. “You’re right. I’m not in the mood for this right now.”

What the hell were the odds Logan would meet someone that

was friends with the ex he’d been avoiding like the plague for

over ten years? “Just do me a favor. Never, ever ask me to hang

out with you and this Christian guy. Last thing I fucking need is

to run into Gabi.”

140 Taylor V. Donovan

“Okay.”

Sam felt like hugging his friend for not suggesting it’d be a

great opportunity for Sam to have that talk Logan kept insisting

he needed to have with his ex.

“We’ll talk about it later.”

“Okay.”

“Stop saying okay. It freaks me out when you agree so easily

to what I say.” That made Logan chuckle. Sam leaned forward

and pecked his lush, pierced lips briefly. “You’ve been seeing

quite a bit of this guy.”

“We’re just friends. Met and hit it off… you know how it is.”

“Should I be worried?” Sam half teased. “Am I in jeopardy of

losing my best friend?”

“Don’t be a jerk!” Logan smiled and squeezed Sam’s shoulder.

“You ought to know that will never happen.”

“Thanks for telling me, though. Go now. Don’t let me keep

you from having some fun.”

“See you tomorrow, babe.”

It wasn’t until Logan was out of sight that Sam let go of

his control and smacked his forehead against the steering wheel.

Could this night get any weirder? First he acted all jealous for the

first time in only the gods knew how long over a man that Sam

was pretty sure he’d never see again, then he found out Logan

had met his ex. He didn’t know which was worse, so he refused to

think about either and concentrated on what a significant break

they had just made on the Leviticus case.

He took his cell phone out to take a look at Peter’s picture,

and that was when he noticed he’d also gotten a text from Mac.

He couldn’t pull it up fast enough.

How about just one more time?

Sam bit his lip.

He knew he shouldn’t. Those ten hours together a mere five

six DegRees of Lust
141

days ago were supposed to be the end of his association with

Mac.

He hadn’t said goodbye.

He’d just gotten dressed and left the room while Tex was still

sleeping. It was the only way he’d been able to leave.

When?

Friday night. Same deal, same time.

It’ll be the last time.

He hit send and waited for a reply.

It never came.

June 20, 2009

New York City

“I can’t believe room service only has sandwiches after ten

o’clock.” Mac threw the menu on top of the nightstand and went

to grab a pair of jeans and boxers from his duffle bag.

“What are you doing?”

Sam’s eyes followed the blond from his position on the bed.

He probably shouldn’t be lying there, like hanging out while he

recovered from their most recent round of hot and steamy was

something he was fine with. He wasn’t. But he was feeling too

lazy to move just yet.

They’d had some of what was probably the most energetic

sex of his entire life for the third time since he’d arrived hours

ago and Sam was finally too tired to move. And he was especially

too tired to try and understand what had crawled up Mac’s ass.

Sam wasn’t freaking out over the fact that he’d hugged and

cuddled and held another man for hours. Not yet, anyway. But

he was pissed off that Mac wasn’t lying down next to him, totally

appreciating the many exceptions Sam had made for him.

“I need to get something to eat,” Mac said, lifting a leg to put

his boxers on and giving Sam a peek of his beautiful, hairless,

heavy sack. “I’m starvin’ here.”

He was also all kinds of anxious, but Sam didn’t point that

out. Being anxious himself, he really didn’t want to stir that pot.

“What’s wrong with sandwiches?”