Taken in Hand

Taken in Hand

by

Shannon West and L.L. Brooks

Up All Night Publishing

TAKEN IN HAND

Copyright © 2013 Shannon West and L.L. Brooks

Up All Night Publishing

Taken in Hand

Page 4

“You’ve got to be kidding me. No fucking way!”

“Sit down, Corporal Williams, and stop being so

dramatic. Are you homophobic?”

“No, not at all.” The handsome young detective ran a

hand through his short, russet brown hair and took a seat in

front of his chief’s desk. “I’m not prejudiced and to each his

own. Hell, I support everyone’s rights. But living in the same

house with another man and pretending to be his
submissive

lover
? Are you kidding me?”

“You know this sick son of a bitch we’re after has

killed another professor and his partner, and that makes a

total of four men. Four men in my town in the past two

months. It’s intolerable. We haven’t declared it, as yet, but

I’m sure we’ve got a fucking serial killer on our hands.

Yesterday we got one hell of a lead. We found out another

professor received a threat in the mail just before the first

killing, and he’s telling us the latest victims did as well. If the

letters connect to the killings, we have a chance to not only

save his life, but catch the killer.”

“What kind of threat? How come we’re hearing about it

from this other professor?”

“The most recent victims and the English professor

were friends, and we found out about the notes when we

interviewed him after the murders. No sign of the victims’

note, but the professor showed us his copy--a piece of paper

with verses from a Bible cut and pasted to the page, along

with a warning at the bottom of the page to ‘
give up your

sinful ways or the wrath of the redeemer will force your

salvation
, or some shit, also cut and pasted. Phillips has the

originals. Before you ask, no fingerprints are on the page

other than the professor’s. It has an Atlanta postmark, and

the warning was clipped from an Atlanta paper. The Bible

verse came from a cheap version, available in several of the

big retail chain stores. No leads in any of it, yet, though

forensics is still working on it. We’re working on establishing

Taken in Hand

Page 5

whether or not the first couple received a letter.”

“I see.”

“What I want to try is an undercover operation.

Someone in the house with the professor, posing as his

lover. I think you’d be perfect. Your presence there could

draw out the killer or get him to make a move. If the

professor agrees to what I have in mind, we can’t afford to let

the opportunity slip out of our hands.”

Chad shifted positions in his chair uncomfortably.

“What do you mean, I’d be perfect?”

“C’mon Williams, you’re young, nice looking—

believable. We’re thinking seeing the professor take a new

lover will set the killer off again, especially in light of the

warning.”

“Okay, fine, I understand, sir, but why me? Why not

Phillips or Johansen? They’ve been in on this case from the

beginning.”

The chief leaned back in his chair to survey him.

“Phillips is pushing sixty years old. Johansen is almost fifty

and not exactly in the best physical shape of his life, as he’d

tell you himself. This professor is young, nice looking, and

no one would believe Phillips or Johansen could possibly be

his preferred partner.”

Settling back in his chair, Chad was unable to argue

with the logic. Phillips was getting older, as was Johansen,

who’d also put on quite a bit of weight in recent months.

Neither of them exactly fit the description of the previous

victims, all of whom had been men in their twenties and

thirties. Also the victims up to this point had been gym-

toned and nice looking.
And they were all gay. Gay men in

D/s relationships.
Damn it, what the hell was kicking his

pulse up?

Chad had fought against the idea he might be more

than a little bi-curious since his college days. Too damn

scared and freaked out to experiment, he had pushed the

idea he was attracted to men more than women way down

deep inside himself. So deep he rarely thought about it

anymore. Okay, so he cruised an occasional porn site on the

internet. Lots of guys looked at porn. It didn’t mean a thing.

Taken in Hand

Page 6

Gay porn?
The evil little part of him kept popping up with an

inner dialogue, pestering him again.
Porn that involved two

men, one wearing leather, with the other tied down and

helpless?

“Okay!” Chad said too loudly, to drown out the voice in

his head. The chief stared at him in alarm. Quickly clearing

his throat, Chad continued. “I mean, uh…okay, I’ll at least

meet with the guy and see if it’s plausible.”

The chief opened a file on his desk. “His name is Adam

Morrison. He’s a professor of…” He looked down to check his

notes. “Renaissance Literature at the University. One of the

victims was not only a colleague but also a close personal

friend, which is why he knew about the threat. With this

threat to him and the subsequent murder, he’s calm enough,

but a little concerned and rightfully so. He volunteered to do

whatever he could to help us find the killer when we

interviewed him yesterday. If we can convince him to pose as

your partner in a relationship, we might be able to entice the

killer to show himself. Of course, you can assure him he’ll

have round the clock surveillance, as well as security

cameras outside, and you’d be on the inside to protect him

at all times.”

“This guy has definitely been cleared as a suspect?”

“Absolutely. Solid alibis for all the murders. He has a

confirmed alibi for the first murder, and he was in front of a

classroom full of students when the last one was committed.

No, he’s solid. Seems to be a nice enough guy too. I think

you’ll get along fine with him. I know you haven’t been on

the case and only have a general idea of what’s been going

on.” He handed Chad a business card, along with the case

file on the murders. “Look over the notes and reports to

familiarize yourself with all the details. You won’t be doing

much investigation, but you still need to know what’s going

on to be able to recognize possible important details that

might come up. That’s the professor’s numbers. Call him

and set up a meeting today. If you think it will work after

talking with him, we can get you moving on this thing right

away.”

Chad took the card and frowned down at it. It was a

Taken in Hand

Page 7

simple white business card with the man’s name, his office

and his cell numbers embossed on the front, along with the

University of Georgia logo. Nothing there to make him feel a

chill slip down his spine or cause the slight tremor in his

hand. Why the fuck was he freaking out about this? He

needed to get a grip and fast. The chief was giving him a

questioning look, not the first in the last couple of weeks

either. Chad had to admit he’d been working on a short fuse

lately, losing his temper and being aggressive enough with

one suspect he’d nearly ended up being on report. Though

he didn’t want to admit it, the stress of the job was getting to

him, too many murders, too many people doing horrible

things to each other.

He got to his feet, pocketed the card, and with a wave

to the chief, made it out to his desk without embarrassing

himself further. Pulling the card from his pocket, he stared

down at it for a moment feeling his heart beating too fast.

Damn it, what was the matter with him? He’d call the guy

and set up a meeting. No problem. He checked his watch

and saw that it was almost eleven o’clock. The guy would

probably be in class now, so it would be a good time to call

and just leave a message. Ask him to get in touch.

With that plan in mind, Chad dialed the number of his

office at the University, expecting it to go to voice mail.

Instead a warm, sexy voice answered. “Adam Morrison.”

Thrown off guard, Chad hesitated a fraction too long.

The voice spoke again, with irritation. “Hello?”

“Yeah, this is Detective Chad Williams with the

Athens-Clarke County Police Department. My chief gave me

your card.”

“Oh, hello, Detective. Of course. What can I do for

you?”

“The chief said you might be interested in helping us

out with our investigation, especially in light of this threat

you’ve received. Can we meet somewhere soon to discuss the

possibility?”

There was only a brief hesitation before he agreed. “All

right. I can meet you for lunch today. I can be there by one

o’clock.”

Taken in Hand

Page 8

“Where?”

“The End Result on Clayton Street?”

“Yeah, of course. I’ll be there at one, then.”

The line went dead, and Chad found himself staring

down at the receiver in his hand.
Hell,
he wasn’t much for

small talk himself, but at least the guy could have said

goodbye. Good to know the professor wouldn’t talk his head

off
. He hung up, opening the case file to study it.

Phillips or Johansen had done a good job of working

up profiles on all of the victims. Two had been professors at

the University, though in different departments, one in

history and one in journalism. One of the partners was a

graduate assistant, the youngest, and in his early twenties.

Another was an attorney in town. None of the men had been

older than thirty-eight.

Both couples had been in openly homosexual,

committed relationships, and their bodies had been found

close together on the floor, tightly bound with ropes in an

intricate style known in Japanese shibari, associated with

BDSM practices. Though they’d all been beaten, death came

as the result of exsanguination, according to the coroner,

from the cutting off of their genitalia.

With no sign of forced entry in the premises, the

primary theory was the men had known their killer and

perhaps invited him in. Burn marks on their bodies told

them a stun gun had been used to incapacitate them, those

marks nearly obliterated by the viciousness of the beatings.