Truth Be Known

Truth Be Known

By Sarah L. Riggs

Since they had been reassigned, it was not often that Kansas City Homicide Detective Christopher Andrews visited his ex-partner. Katy looked up at him suspiciously as she led him to the kitchen. “What’s going on, Chris?” She poured two cups of coffee, and set the cream and sugar on the table. “Good to see you, by the way.”

“Good to see you, too.” Glimpsing at the wall clock, which read four-twenty in the afternoon, he sighed, took a seat and stirred sugar into his coffee. “It’ll be sundown in less than three hours. Will your brother be coming over today?”

Katy Brown shrugged. “Don’t know. He’s been keeping to himself a lot lately, and I’ve been kinda busy.”

His eyebrows shot up inquisitively. “Have you two had a difference of opinion?”

“Our opinions are different about a lot of things,” she answered noncommittally. “I still love him, of course, but I’m not his keeper. Evidently I was too ‘protective’ of him, and he can take care of himself. Were you counting on seeing him here tonight?” Her voice took on a teasing inflection.

“Actually, yeah,” he admitted with a sigh. “But it’s not exactly what you’re implying.” He straightened his tie, squirmed a little in his chair, and then put one ankle on the other knee as he began. “Have you heard about the murders in the past few weeks?”

“I heard on the news that there were several murders,” she answered. “I don’t know much about the case. You want to fill me in?”

He nodded grimly. “We don’t have much to go on except that all the victims were gay men.”

She listened intently. “No witnesses, huh?”

“None who saw it happen, although there was some speculation. But, in every case, it was always after a date.”

“He took them out on the town, and then killed them?”

“No, actually, he wasn’t part of the dates. Different couples every time. The only connection is that in every case, the two guys had been out walking around in the Midtown area, and there had always been a big public display of affection.”

“You mean kissing? Groping?”

“Yeah, Katy. Kissing and groping. Evidently, usually a lot of kissing. Two of the surviving boyfriends claimed they felt like they were being watched the night of their date’s murder, and another one even thought he saw glimpses of someone following them.”

“How were these guys killed?”

“Stabbed with a knife,” he supplied, opening his phone, and showing her a sketch someone had drawn of a scabbard-type weapon. “Something a little like this.”

She studied it. “I wonder if this is significant.”

“Don’t know. Could be ritualistic, or could just be somebody who hates gay men. We’ll have to catch him to find out.”

“So,” Katy concluded, “I take it you want my baby brother to help you draw out this killer?”

“Well…” He gave her a apologetic grin. “As much as I like him, my buddy Dave doesn’t fit the role, if you know what I mean. Gareth actually looks the part. He resembles most of the victims. If we make the right moves, he’s almost certain to attract him.”

“Not protocol. Did anybody sign off on this little undercover operation?"

He shook his head. “Nope.”

She cleared her throat. “I get it. But you do realize that means you and Gareth would have to do some serious public … um – smooching.”

He reddened, eyes lowered. “I think I can handle the program.” He wanted to confide in her about his double life, but now was not the time.

“You can? I thought you didn’t like Gareth.”

“I got a little perturbed at him a couple of times because of his smart mouth, but I don’t dislike him. We don’t have to be crazy about each other. We’ll spend a while posing and pretending to be into each other, and then we’ll go our separate ways. You and a few cops will be standing by to watch Gareth’s back, just in case the killer gets the drop on him. My reason for requesting him, though, is… doesn’t Gareth have a black belt in Karate?”

“Second degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do,” she corrected. “Yeah, he did learn to take care of himself. So I wouldn’t have to.”

“Good for him! Perfect! I’m counting on you to help me talk him into doing this. I’ve got to run a few errands. I’ll be back at about seven. Think you can you have him here by then?”

“I’ll do my best,” she promised. “And if he agrees to be your date tonight, I’m taking my camera. No way I’m letting this go down without getting pictures!”

Chris rolled his eyes.

Gareth had refused to answer his phone, so when Chris returned, he and Katy made the trip to his apartment. Gareth opened the door, openly annoyed. “What do you want?” he asked curtly.

Katy marched into the apartment uninvited. “We need to talk,” she said bluntly.

“By all mean, come in. Sit down,” Gareth told them with a long-suffering sigh. “I hope this isn’t going to take too long.”

“Are we interrupting anything?” Katy asked, peering suggestively towards his bedroom.

“Yes,” he answered, indicating his table of model cars. “My work. What I do for a living. I sell these, and they’re not finished. They have to be done by the weekend so I can get them posted on the Peddler’s Market.” He primly perched on the arm of the chair as they sat on the couch. “Well, what’s the point of your visit?”

They told him the story about the murders.

Gareth listened keenly, but when they stopped talking, he shrugged widely. “And you’re telling me this – why?”

“Because we need your help to solve the case,” Katy answered. “According to Chris, the victims all resembled you. He wants to stage a little undercover work and nail this guy. What better decoy could there be than an actual gay guy who knows Tae Kwon Do?”

“And why would I do this?”

“You know that I know that you care,” Katy said, approaching him. She touched his arm encouragingly. “You don’t want a killer loose on the streets.”

He slid down into the chair. “So, I look like your victims?”

“You look like the ones who were killed,” Chris answered. “Same basic body type, small, thin, cute face, lots of hair, moderately flamboyant.”

“You think Gareth’s cute?” Katy teased.

Chris groaned.

“What would I have to do?” Gareth asked.

Chris’s professionalism held up under the strain. “You and I will go out on a date as soon as possible – tonight if you can make it. You can call me as many names under your breath as you want, but outwardly, you’ll be responsible for looking like you’re head-over-heels for me. We’ll discuss it as we go along. The whole point is to get his attention, make him believe we’re a gay couple, and then when we part ways, hopefully, he’ll go after you and we can nab him.”

“What if he surprises me?” Gareth asked quietly. “What if he kills me?”

“We’ll have back-up,” Chris assured him. “I’m not taking any chances. Believe me. There will be eyes on you the whole time.” He pointed at the models on the table. “Do this, and I’ll buy one of your damn cars.”

Gareth glanced at the car table, gave it a few minutes’ consideration, and nodded. “All right, then. Let’s go on this date. Let’s put this murderer in prison.”

It was misting rain at 10 PM, but Kansas City’s night crowd wasn’t deterred in the least. The city was alive with clubbers and lovers. Chris parked his vintage 67 Chevy truck on the curb beside the city’s busiest nightclub, and turned to his gorgeous passenger. Smiling at him, he commented, “You clean up nice, Brown.”

Gareth smiled with grudging admiration. “Yeah, you, too, Andrews.” Keeping an eye out for any prospective predator, he drew a deep breath, and slid to the center of the wide seat into the cop’s arms. He whispered in his ear, “I hope this brings him out of the woodwork. Otherwise, we’re compromising your virtue for nothing.”

“My virtue?” Chris chuckled and closed his arms around the smaller man. “I worked for vice a few years before I got into homicide. Some of the undercover work I did was a little less than ‘virtuous’. Are you sure you’re going to be okay with this?”

“You mean can I pretend to be gay?”

Boldly, Chris dipped down to touch his lips to his slender throat. “I think you’ve got that covered,” he murmured.

Drawing back to elbow’s length, Gareth studied his face. “This suddenly doesn’t really feel like an act,” he said quietly. “Are you sure you’re not secretly gay?”

“We all have our secrets,” Chris said softly, tracing the gold chain around his date’s neck to the cross that rested on his chest. Tentatively, he descended upon his lips and kissed them, relieved when it was enthusiastically accepted and returned. After repeating the kiss twice, he nodded. “You’re very receptive.”

“Well, you’re an excellent kisser,” Gareth told him, his eyes on his lips. “Not what I expected from you.”

“You’re not so bad yourself,” Chris said, grinning. “This won’t be as bad as I thought.” He kissed him again, reminding himself that this was simply a play, and they were the actors. Even so, the kiss lingered, and developed into something that quickened their breathing. When it subsided, he whispered, “The windows are fogging up. Nobody will be able to see us here in the truck. You feel like going for a walk?”

“Yeah,” Gareth answered hesitantly. Gazing distractedly at the cop, he followed him out through the driver’s door. As soon as they had rounded the vehicle to the walkway, Chris wrapped a protective arm around him, and they walked like lovers under the sidewalk’s canopy.

Chris was torn with his own emotions. After all the time he had wasted trying to convince himself he was straight, all the bumbling attempts to romance his way into Katy’s good graces, now it was Gareth – Katy’s brother – who caused his heart to flutter. Truth be known, he had always preferred men over women, although he had enjoyed his share of the fairer sex.

Gareth held his silence for two blocks. He remained plastered to the tall cop’s side, and smiled whenever their eyes met.

They paused at an intersection, and as they waited for the light to change, Chris pressed another soft kiss to his full lips. Gareth savored it. His fingers danced through the short hair and down the muscular back, and his smoldering gray eyes searched the cop’s face as they parted.

Awareness fading in, Chris noticed the walk signal and, taking Gareth by the hand, jogged the width of the crosswalk to the other side. “Thank you for doing this with me,” he said as they slowed to stroll toward the community building. “You’re an awesome date. If anybody is keeping an eye on us, I’m sure they’re one hundred percent convinced that we’re gay lovers. In fact, I’m starting to feel kinda convinced, myself.”

“Yeah, I feel that way, too.” Gareth agreed, and then glanced across the street. “Katy and some cops are over there in those work vans, and a silver SUV just arrived on the scene a minute ago. It paused when we were kissing at the light.”

Chris was impressed. “You’re observant! Nice! We’ll lead him around a little longer, and then…” His eyes displayed a strange foreboding that Gareth did not miss.

“Then what? You’ll walk away and I’ll play bait?”

“I’m starting to not like that idea much,” Chris said ominously, and his arm tightened around Gareth’s waist. “In fact, I don’t like it at all. I’m calling this off.”

“What?” Gareth was appalled. “No! We’ve got him following us, now. We can’t call it off!”

“I’ve got a bad feeling, Gareth. I can’t let you do this.”

Gareth caught him by the lapel of his coat, tiptoed and kissed him passionately as the SUV parked on the curb. The driver got out of his vehicle and strolled along the sidewalk. “He’s right there. He’s watching us, and he’s going to come after me as soon as I walk away from you,” he whispered. “I’m grateful for your sense of duty, Chris, and for your protectiveness, but trust me. I’ve got this.”

After another long kiss, he gave Chris a bittersweet smile. “You can pick up your model car at my apartment tomorrow. I have a nice old Chevy truck you should like a lot.” He cupped the taller man’s cheek, and stepped back. “See you later.” He broke free and walked away at a fast pace.

Chris made a grab for his hand and missed. Gathering himself, he straightened, plunged his hands into the deep pockets of his coat and turned to walk the other way.

Nothing had ever been so difficult.

The shadowed man hung back, making certain Chris was out of the picture and would not come running to his rescue. Gareth tried to emphasize his telltale sashay to be sure the predator could see he was gay as he continued along the way.

Just as he was crossing the darkest intersection in Kansas City, the large man sprang out to grab him. For the sake of catching the perpetrator in the act, Gareth allowed himself to be hauled to the walk signal pole. A scabbard was raised, and Gareth screamed.

The deep voice began, “This is what happens when men…”

The threat was cut off by a woman’s command. “Back away from him! Now!” It was Katy with her gun. “Or this is what will happen to you!”

Ignoring the woman and the weapon, the man plunged the knife downward, but Gareth sidestepped and threw a series of punches, quickly overcoming his assailant. The knife went flying into the distance, and the man hit the sidewalk, his arm twisted at an unhealthy angle.

The old Chevy truck skidded to a stop beside them and Chris jumped out. “Are you okay?” he asked hurriedly, seeing blood on Gareth’s hand.

“Not my blood,” Gareth assured him. “It’s his. I think I broke his nose.”

Chris touched his hair, his face, and examined his clothes and hands. When he was satisfied he was uninjured, he put on rubber gloves and retrieved the knife. “Now he goes to jail.” He said, dropping the weapon into a plastic bag.

“I couldn’t help but notice you two were getting along pretty well,” Katy said, grinning. “It was actually kinda hot. I took plenty of pictures, you know. I have blackmail material for a long time to come.”

Wearily, Chris grinned, but did not attempt a comeback.

The killer had been processed, and was being held without bond in jail. He had boasted about all the killings, claiming he was ‘cleaning up the city’. He was adamantly opposed to homosexuality.

The next morning, Chris knocked on Gareth’s door. When it opened, Gareth let him in with far more welcome than he’d received the previous day.

“Did you sleep?” Chris asked.

“Of course not,” Gareth answered. “Did you?”

“Hell, no.” He yawned. “Maybe tonight.”

Indicating that Chris wasn’t wearing his suit and tie, Gareth asked, “So, you’re not working today?”

“No, I took the day off.”

“So, we could actually catch up on our sleep right now,” he said suggestively. “I’ve got a nice queen-size bed and blackout curtains.”

Chris gave it ten seconds’ thought, made up his mind, and nodded. “That sounds wonderful.”