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

fist until Anderson yanked his mouth away, shoved upward roughly, and a hot, wet burst shot out against Leo's hand.

"Damn, seeing you come looks so good," Leo whispered, kissing Anderson's nose then lips.

"Maybe we should switch."

"I would love to, but I have to go find my partner. I haven't been able to get hold of him. I made coffee but I don't have much in way of food in the kitchen."

"Don't worry. I have to go to the gym first then lecture."

"Do you have to?"

"Yeah. My students need me right now as much as I need them."

"Be careful today, please?"

Anderson said nothing. Though he was still breathing a little hard and studying Leo intently.

"I'll be careful."

"What time do you leave?"

"What time is it now?"

"Seven in the morning."

"I should be leaving now," Anderson replied with a smile. "I'd better get up."

"I'll leave you a key in the kitchen on the counter," Leo told him. "Don't forget to take it when you leave."

After sharing another kiss, Leo reluctantly left the apartment. He took a moment to sit outside the building, just watching it. He didn't want to leave until after Anderson but he really had to get on track again to catch the killer. The thought he'd crossed the line with Anderson had flowed through his mind. But didn't he deserve to be happy now? He'd done everything else by the book and still he was thirty-five and single. Still, he should be concentrating on the killer. Once they caught him he could focus on his happiness.

With one final look at his building, he looked around, started the ignition, and pulled away from the curb.

The CB radio in the car crackled from time to time and he turned it down. He didn't even bother turning on music. He just didn't want anything to mess with his train of thought. He tried calling Daniel but didn't have any success in reaching his partner.

He stopped at Daniel's house but there was no one there. It was strange because normally Mary, Daniel's wife, would be home. They didn't have any children yet so she was usually there typing away at the computer. She worked for a publishing house in England. It was amazing how the internet worked.

He looked through the windows out of habit but nothing moved on the inside, so he got back into his car and sped away. When he entered the station house, his partner wasn't at his desk so he checked the break room to find Daniel sitting in a corner peering at a file. Falling into the seat across from Daniel, Leo tilted his head.

"Why do you have a cell phone?" Leo wanted to know.

"You called? Damn, sorry. Mary and I got into it again and I thought it was her calling."

"Caller ID, Daniel."

"I didn't bother checking. I figure if it was the station calling they'd use the radio since I was sitting in my car most of the time."

It was a dumb excuse. What cop went without answering their phone or even checking the display? Leo didn't feel like arguing so he let it go. "What are you two fighting about now? Does she still think you're gay and hiding it?"

Daniel frowned. "That's not even funny. I don't even know how the hell she came up with that. I swear she sits at home and come up with shit to annoy me. Like she sits and brainstorms. That has to be the only damn explanation. No sane person could come up with this bullshit out of the blue."

"Trust me, Dan. I don't think you're that important in the grand scheme of things."

"I guess. She picks on everything. I can't do anything right."

"Sounds like most marriages. You guys just have to learn not to take it so personal all the time like it's the end of the world."

"But I try to walk away. That doesn't work. She just follows me, runs her mouth, and just drives me so fucking crazy. I don't know if I'm cut out for this. We've been arguing a lot lately. And it's over stupid shit—nothing of consequence. I can't take a shit without her riding my ass about something."

"I believe two people in love should work out their crap. But if all you do is argue, have you thought maybe you should just let it go before one of you kills the other?"

"Too late for that," Daniel muttered.

"What does that mean?"

Daniel took a breath and closed his file. "We're too old to break up now. It's just mindless arguments. Eventually she'll get bored and give up this whole gay crap for some new stuff."

"So you can both sit around—you watching sports, withering away, and her, knitting and wishing you'd eat shit and die?"

Daniel laughed. "Sad, but true. No one else would put up with our bull anyway. What's up?"

Leo eyed Daniel for a bit. There was something about the mood he was in that worried Leo but he took a breath and leaned back in his seat, hearing the chair creak slightly. "Did you get the lab results and stuff?"

"Yeah. So I guess you heard."

"I heard. Don't know what to make of it. I'm still stuck on the break-in. I was thinking I'd swing by there today and go over the scene, now that it's been cleaned. Maybe there is more to see in the tidy than in the mess."

"You're going all deep on me again. Anyway, the prints came back from the lab too. There's nothing there. All the prints are from Jazmon and a few were found of Anderson's in the kitchen. It seems the guy is smart and wore gloves."

"What about the break-in?"

"They're still running those. They're mostly partials. I don't think there's a break there."

The door to the break room burst open and Isha hurried in. "Damn you two are hard to find. Listen we caught another case and they're asking for both of you."

"Son of a bitch," Leo muttered. He followed Isha and his partner out the door, stopping only