Love Lies Bleeding by Remmy Duchene (carter reed txt) 📕

"We will talk later," he assured his partner before following the officer out to the front. He greeted Anderson with a handshake then escorted him into an interrogation room.

"Have a seat." Leo motioned to the chair.

"That's fine. I think I'll stand." Anderson folded his arms over his massive chest.

Leo took a seat. "What can I do for you?"

I'm here to check the progress of my father's case."

"These cases don't move as fast as on television and we don't have any fancy music montage to pass the time."

"In other words, you have nothing."

Leo bit his lower lip and tilted his head. He leaned forward in the chair, resting his elbows on the desk and met Anderson's eyes. "We have nothing definitive right now. But you can't rush these cases. They will take time and you have to be prepared for that."

"May I ask what exactly are you doing to find this bastard?"

"We just got the full report back from the medical examiner and we're still waiting for a bunch of other lab results that could put us where we need to be. But until then, you have to be patient. I can understand you're upset right now but I—"

"Of course I'm upset. Wouldn't you be, walking in and finding your father in that state? But I'm also enraged at the killer who could do this to another human being. Have you looked into the fact this guy may have done this to someone else? I mean who just makes their first kill and starts with cutting someone's head off?"

Leo felt like a moron. He hadn't even thought to look into that. He made a mental note not to let his feelings for Jazmon Williams cloud his judgment but it was getting to be a major pain in his ass.

"Of course we're looking into that," he lied. "Like I said, you have to give us a chance to do our work and do it properly."

"I get it. You can't rush this."

He watched the way Anderson walked over to the two-way mirror and stared through it as though he could see beyond it. Leo knew better.

"There's something I need to talk to you about, Anderson."

The dark-skinned Adonis turned and leveled sad eyes on Leo. Any control Leo had then was quickly vanishing. Anderson's beautiful lips pressed into a determined line left his perfectly chiseled features brimming with dark danger. Rubbing his sweat-covered palms against his thighs, he took a breath and rose to stand beside Anderson.

"There's another reason why I have to be careful with this case," Leo explained. "I knew your father."

"What do you mean you knew my father?"

"I mean your father and I had been friends."

"My father isn't gay, detective, so you're going to have to be a little bit more specific with this kind of conversation."

Leo frowned. "That's not what I meant. Your father is the straightest straight man I've met. I never had a father growing up and my mother was very ill. Your father helped her the best he could, whenever he could—made sure I went to school, had enough to eat, saw a doctor, and stayed out of trouble—that kind of thing. So I have a personal stake in this case too."

"Should you even be working this investigation?"

"Yes. As long as I show I am not being blinded by that relationship, I can work it. But they are watching me like a hawk. The thing is, I know this may be upsetting to you, but I have as much to lose as you do. I have a big stake in this case too. So whenever you get the idea to question my loyalty to it and your father, just remember without your father, I could very well be dead."

* * * *

Anderson stared at the detective, trying to rein in his temper by squeezing his thumb into his thigh. After a little bit, he turned away from the detective and faced the wall. He braced his hands against it before pressing his forehead to it. He inhaled deeply and counted to ten silently trying to calm himself down. Anderson then asked his questions again, more calmly this time. "Let's start again. You knew my father?"

"You even said my name sounded familiar."

"Yeah. I still can't remember if he mentioned you. But knowing my father, the only person he would tell would be my mother. He just couldn't keep anything like that away from her. Look, I don't mean to be an asshole"—his voice was low, more like a rumble than speaking—"but the only people my father was 'unfair' to were those who broke the law. He wouldn't have hurt anyone and for this to happen to him—I don't understand it.

"I don't either. I've been a cop since I was twenty and I still don't understand how people can do what they do to each other. I'm sorry, Anderson. But I don't have an answer there either."

Anderson turned and flopped down against the hard chair. He removed the class ring he wore and placed it down against the table. "Harvard," he replied and with a single finger, tilted the ring towards the detective. "He gave me that the day I started working at NYU. That's his class ring—maybe that'll help some. There's an engraving on the inside. I never did know what it meant. He always clammed up when I asked him about it. If you're gonna take it, I need it back."

Anderson watched the way Leo examined the ring. There was something special about Leo, something just so breathtaking. Perhaps it was the brown of his eyes or the way his hair fell into his eyes when he bowed his head. When Leo finally looked up again, Anderson kept eye contact with the detective for a while longer than necessary. "Just promise me you will get this guy."

Leo smiled but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "There's no such thing as a perfect murder, Anderson. Just remember that."

Anderson nodded.

"How are you holding up?"

"My best friend is