Desperate Enemies 3 by Adam Carpenter (latest ebook reader .txt) 📕

“Gerry?”

* * * *

“YOU'RE GETTING MARRIED!?!”

Dane laughed at Paolo's reaction, but begged him to listen. There was one more thing. He moved in closer. “Look. . . Aaron was the best thing we had in our lives, you and I.”

Paolo nodded.

“It's a connection we share. That's why I want to ask: Will you be my best man?”

Paolo's response was capacious to say the least. He spilled his drink in his excitement, momentarily considered cleaning it up, and instead rushed to Dane to hug him.

“Hey, no molesting my fiance!”

Sawyer stood in the hallway, the rest of the neighborhood suddenly appearing, all in tow, a joyous reason for their quickly assembled reunion. Even Parker St. John and his mother were present. It took only five minutes to get everybody settled. Paolo poured bubbly all around.

“Oh, bubbles, this ought to be good,” Rose said.

Finally, Dane and Sawyer stood before their friends.

“So come on,” Marc urged, “What's the news?”

Paolo couldn't contain himself. He jumped up. “They're getting married!”

Everybody responded with surprise and cheer, though Sawyer noticed Marc shoot his lover, Rich, a serious look.

Dane shouted above the din. “Well, that's the plan, and of course you're all invited. But first, we have to get through this mess we're in. And we have an idea on how to achieve that.”

Sawyer picked up from there. “It turns out that Eldon Court has a rich history, dating all the way back to the 1800s.” He motioned around them. “These houses have stood here since then.” As best he could, Sawyer related the history of Wonderland and Eldon Court, just as Dane had told him. The rich early-American roots. And it's military significance. Then Sawyer revealed Green's suggestion: Have Eldon Court declared a national landmark.

“Well, actually, I don't think we'd qualify as a national landmark, hon,” Dane corrected. “But possibly a historical California landmark.” The others looked at him blankly, save Jack and Edgar whose faces brightened with realization.

“That's would protect Eldon Court from any kind of construction,” Jack pointed out.

“Or destruction,” countered Edgar.

“Yes. It would preserve our homes the way they are. And stop any plans for the Wonderland Palaces.” Dane folded his arms in happy satisfaction. “And what's more, I'd like to announce a new film project I'm starting: a documentary on Wonderland.” He looked at his next-door neighbor. “Edgar, I was wondering if you would care to help write the script. Maybe add in some of the content from your book.”

Edgar mock-saluted, “With pleasure, mon ami.”

The doorbell sounded. Paolo answered it to reveal Gerald Green on the stoop.

“Hello, folks. Sorry to barge in.” He politely wiped his feet on the doormat outside. To Sawyer and Dane, he explained, “I tried you at your home but no one was there. Then I saw all the lights on over here.”

Dane led Green to the foyer where the others looked on with interest.

“I can't stay. I just came to see Sawyer and Dane for a moment. They speak highly of you. All of you.” He squinted with humility. “Look, I'm an old man, so I guess that gives me the right to speak my mind, no matter how insensitive. Don't play into Danvers Converse's hands. Every time you cheat on each other—”

Rich looked down at his shoes. Paolo sucked in a breath, sneaking an ashamed peek at Parker.

“Every time you fight. . .”

Marc pursed his lips, refusing to look at Rich.

“. . . you help Converse. So stop it. Stop it right now. And if you think, for one moment, that running away will make life easier, then consider this: What happens when you find a new home and another Danvers Converse pops up to cause trouble?”

Jack and Edgar exchanged guilty glances.

“There'll always be someone trying to take away what you have. Wonderland isn't a place where you park your car. Or eat your dinner. Or sleep at night. YOU are Wonderland. Remember that. What you have here is worth fighting for. Draw your line in the sand.”

Green looked at the assembled neighbors and offered one last thought, “Winston Churchill once said that in time of war, the truth is so precious it's protected by a bodyguard of lies. I'd say it's time to figure out what the truth is—about yourselves and about what's happening here—and expose it to the light of day. Make no mistake, this is war.” He moved to the door, passing a beaming Rose Emerson St. John. “Ms. Emerson, nice see you again.”

“Always a pleasure, Gerald.”

Sawyer and Dane walked Green to a cab that was waiting along the curb. The old man turned and tossed something to Sawyer. “Oh, you'll need these.”

They were the keys to Number One Eldon Court.

“It's all yours. Lock, stock and barrel.”

The boys were stunned. “But. . . how? My father—”

“Got a call from his father, Michael Senior.” Green smiled. “A former colleague of mine. We served together up here in World War II. How do you think the house came to be in your family's possession? As I said, we're all connected.”

Dane muttered with irony, “Unified Field Theory. . .”

As Green settled into the back seat, he wished them well. “You boys be good to one another. Enjoy together what not every man was allowed in the past.”

And with that, the cab drove off.

Inside, the old man chuckled quietly to himself. Former colleague. Michael Block and he had served one year together at Eldon Court, watching for trouble at the periscope on the bluff. Six months into that tour, the two men, lonely and horny, though not in that order, acted on impulse. There was no premeditation to what happened, just a release of sexual tension. For Gerry, it was his first taste of another soldier's manhood. And once consumed, he was hooked. After draining Block orally, Green was jazzed enough to turn tail and let his friend fuck him. The experience was euphoric. Block touched a space in Gerry that had never known fulfillment. As he came, Block cried, “Shit!”

Gerry,