Murder Times Four Box Set

Chapter 4-2

“Now that was fun,” Luke said as we left the club just before eleven. “But this isn’t.” It was raining, making our dash for the van an exercise in trying to get to it before we got soaked to the skin.

We succeeded, though we were far from dry. As we took off, I checked my phone for messages, since I’d turned it off while we were in the club. There was one from Tyler, sent about five minutes ago. All it said was, Get the hell back home.

I told the others, then called Tyler back. “What’s going on?” I asked him as soon as he answered, dreading his reply.

“Not another murder,” Tyler assured me. “But it looks like the killer was more than pissed that no one was around. He took it out on your place.”

I sucked in a breath, envisioning my house in charred ruins. “How bad?”

“Not a bad as it could have been, thanks to Eliot,” Tyler said. “He told the cops, and then our favorite detective, that he and Frank were on their way home, after Frank picked him up from the restaurant. They were just about to turn off Pinecrest onto the Lane when they saw broken windows on the ground floor side of your house. It was the same in front, so they called the police then went in to see if something had happened to you.”

He paused, and I heard him talking to someone before he continued. “I got here maybe fifteen minutes ago, after the cops. I was sure you were dead.”

“I’m not,” I muttered inanely.

“Obviously. But your house…Whoever he is had a great time trashing it.”

“s**t! Why is Detective Jarrett there, if it’s just vandalism?”

“Ask him yourself,” Tyler said, and a moment later Jarrett was on the phone, so I did.

“Because this has to be connected to the murders,” Steve told me when I asked. “I’ve got a CSI team here. With luck, they’ll find something that will tell us who we’re looking for.”

“Not if he’s as smart as he has been so far,” I said before asking him, “Did the guy vandalize anyone else’s house?”

“Not that we know of so far. I have one of my men checking from the outside. Mr. Sanders said you and almost everyone else who lives here went out together. Right?”

“Yep. We should be there in, maybe ten minutes.”

“Good. Tell them they won’t be allowed to enter their houses until my men check to be certain it’s safe. Whoever he is, he didn’t do anything to Mr. Sanders’ place, or the Hall-Kendall house, so with luck, yours is the only one.”

“Luck?” I muttered, earning me a tight laugh from Steve.

He hung up, and I relayed the news to the others. We got to the Lane in less time than I’d predicted, thanks to David’s heavy foot on the gas. By then the rain had ended. He pulled to a stop across the street from my house and we all jumped out of the van. Steve corralled us as soon as we got to my front yard, assigning two officers to go with the others to check their houses.

“Can I go inside?” I asked Steve. He said I could, and went in with me. Two men, wearing booties and hair-coverings, looked at us, then returned to what they were doing. If the gray powder on the some of the surfaces was any indication, they were searching for fingerprints.

The living room looked as if a whirlwind had gone through it. Because the windows were broken, there were puddles of rainwater on the floor. Every piece of furniture that could be knocked over—was. The dining room was in the same shape. The kitchen fared a bit better. Maybe he’d gotten tired of playing by then.

The biggest indignity, and it was my fault, was the open box that had held the parts for my home security system. Said parts were strewn around the downstairs, as if he was taunting me for not installing them the day I got the kit.

Back in the living room, I righted the sofa and sat, burying my face in my hands. I felt Steve sit, too, and heard him say, “Be glad he didn’t go upstairs.”

“Some consolation, I guess,” I replied bitterly.

He squeezed my shoulder. “Think positive. You have friends who can help you get things back in order. But not tonight. Are you up for some questions?”

“Sure. I guess.”

“What time did you leave tonight?”

“Around seven thirty.”

“You were all together the entire evening?”

I shot him a look. “Yes. The longest anyone was gone from the table was to go to the men’s room. Why? Don’t tell me you think one of them is responsible for the murders and this. And the attempted break-in at Luke and David’s place.”

“I have to consider all options. As we said, last time we talked, you seem to be his target for some reason.”

“Then why hasn’t he tried to kill me?”

“That could have been his intention this evening. But you weren’t here.”

“That sort of let’s out almost everyone on the Lane. I was with five of them, and Tyler knew we were all going to the comedy club. He’d have been with us if he didn’t have to work.”

“True.” He leaned back, looking at me. “From the notes I have on Detective Irvin’s interview with you, you told him the Dunns and the Nelsons have no problem with the fact the rest of the homes on the Lane belong to gay men.”

“True. Well, as far as I can tell from the way they act. They’re always involved in any activities here, like the barbecue the day of Jake’s murder. We’re one big, happy family, to be clichéd. At least we have been. Now…?” I shrugged. “I think we still are.” I blew out a breath as I looked at the mess in the living room. “I don’t see one of them doing this, if you want my honest opinion. It has to be someone else. Someone who doesn’t live on the Lane. It has to be!”

“I’m still debating that, but you’re probably right. Which brings us to my next question. One I asked you before. Do you have any enemies?”

“As I told you, none that I know of. My relationships are casual and end without hard feelings on either side. My friends are the people who live here. I mean real friends. The people I work with are just acquaintances.”

“I totally get that. It’s the same with me, with the hours I work.”

I was surprised at the feeling of loneliness I heard in Steve’s voice, and wondered why a good-looking, seemingly personable man would feel that way. Not that it was any of my business. Maybe he was married and went straight home to his wife and family when his day, or night I guess, was over, rather than hanging out with his co-workers. I glanced at his left hand. No wedding ring, which probably didn’t mean anything. Some married men don’t wear one.

“What about the people at Piquant?” Steve asked, bringing me back to the here and now.

“Same deal. I’m there to make films. When I’m finished, I leave.”

“Alone?”

“Absolutely. If you’re trying to find out if my working there is some sort of turn-on for me, and I go home with one of the actors. No way. It’s a job and nothing more. Besides—” I chuckled “—it gets real old after a while. A c**k is a c**k, no matter what it’s doing. It’s the people who watch the movies we make who are aroused by them.” Then something he said when we first met hit me. I lifted an eyebrow. “Like you.”

“They’re…interesting,” Steve replied, without batting an eye.

“So you’re…?”

“Gay? Yes. One of the reasons my lieutenant assigned me to the second murder.”

“I thought it was because Detective Irvin was on sick leave.”

“That, too. But the lieutenant figured I’d be better able to deal with all of you, without getting uptight about things, than some of the others. Unfortunately, not every detective on the force is open-minded when it comes to gays.”

“Just like anywhere else.”

“Yeah. Which brings up another question.”

“Let me guess. Have I had any run-ins with some homophobic SOB? For that matter, have any of us?”

“Yes. Have you?”

I shrugged. “Nothing overt. No one’s come after me with a baseball bat, or said to my face that the only good queer is a dead one. I don’t flaunt what I am. I’m not stupid.”

“Do you go to gay clubs? All two of them here in the city.”

“Occasionally. I think we all do. Okay, those of us who are single.”

Steve nodded. “The Greens are quite obviously gay, since they’re married. The same holds true for Eliot and Frank. They live together, so it wouldn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out.”

“Unless they were just housemates. But around here…Yeah, it’s pretty obvious they’re partners.”

One of the CSI men came over, telling me he needed to fingerprint me. While he did, he asked who else had been in the house recently. I gave him a list of names—all of them belonging to the guys on the Lane.

“Why don’t you wait until morning to get their prints,” Steve suggested. “It’s past midnight, and they’re probably all in bed, or heading that way.”

“If the guy didn’t break in and trash one of their places, too,” I said.

“If he had, my men would have let me know,” Steve replied. “I should let you get to bed too, although I’d suggest you go to a motel.”

“No kidding. Until I get the windows fixed and…How did he get in, in the first place?”

“As far as we can determine, it was through one of the broken windows. Both doors were locked when we got here.”

“Then how did you get in?”

“One of the responding officers did the same thing—came in through a window. After checking to be certain you weren’t here, dead or dying, he unlocked the deadbolt on the front door and opened it for his partner.”

“Okay. Makes sense.” I got up, looked around, then sighed. “I have my work cut out for me. Thank God I’m off tomorrow.”

“Get some sleep and things will look better.”

I snorted. “As if.” Then I went upstairs to pack a bag with what I’d need for the night.

When I got back down, Steve was the only one there. “If you want a ride, there’s a motel about two miles from here that’s not too bad,” he said.

“Thanks, but I have my car.”

“Just thought I’d offer. I’ll be back in the morning to talk to everyone else. I’d do it now, but like I told my man, they’re probably already in bed. They’ll be more responsive in the morning, and perhaps they’ll remember something important by then.”

He walked me to my car, after I locked the front door. Not that it would keep anyone out, but it is an ingrained habit. For a brief moment, I thought about calling a glass company to come out and board up the windows. But the damage was already done, and the rain had stopped an hour ago, so why bother. I needed sleep more than I needed to wait around for who knows how long until they showed up.