The City PI and the Country Cop (10 page)

Teague listened, shaking his head as Hoyt
defended what they had planned. When the detective hung up, Teague
said, “Too bad we couldn’t be doing this with him present. You’re
running up a nice phone bill.”

Hoyt chucked. “Too true. Not the bill, but
the fact it would be easier to do this in his office. Since that’s
not an option however, at least he’s not fighting me on what we
need to do and my being out there with the two of you.”

“Good. Okay.” Teague looked seriously at Hoyt
and Keir. “Take a minute think about what we’re planning. Look for
any big holes or problems. We don’t want to lose Keir because we
screwed up somewhere.”

“Yeah, I’d rather that didn’t happen,” Keir
muttered.

There was a long moment of silence before
Hoyt said, “I’m not seeing anything we’ve missed. Still, as I said,
it’s all a gamble. The killer could be halfway across the country
by now or he could lay low for couple of weeks or…” He
shrugged.

“Or he could go after me tonight, we catch
him and it’s all over but the shouting,” Keir stated.

“We can hope,” Teague replied. “Hang on. One
more thing. Keir, you need a safe word to let us know if the killer
tries to grab you.”

“Good catch,” Keir said. “How
about…nightmare? It’s not something that would come up in casual
conversation with a john and,” he chuckled dryly, “if our man does
try to drag me somewhere to play his game it will be a nightmare if
you don’t get there in time.”

“That works,” Teague agreed. “All right,
unless either of you has an objection, let’s get moving. Keir, hit
up the fast food place now and then get to the park.”

Keir gave Teague a mocking salute then donned
his battered tennis shoes and a well-worn hoodie. Grabbing his
backpack, he strapped the ratty sleeping bag across the top.
Finally, he put the wireless ear phone Teague handed him into his
ear then left the room after making certain the coast was
clear.

“This is going to work,” Hoyt said, sounding
as if he was trying to convince himself it would.

“I think so. We’ve got all the parts in
place. Now the killer just has to bite.”

“The sooner the better as far as you’re
concerned,” Hoyt replied, sounding glum. “Then you can get back to
your real life.”

“We both can,” Teague replied with a small
smile. “This has have thrown yours way off kilter.”

“In more ways than one,” Hoyt agreed without
elaborating.

Teague saw the play of emotions on Hoyt’s
face and said quietly, “You probably don’t know it, but Keir seems
to think we should…umm…”

“Hook up?” Hoyt asked, now almost smiling.
“Yeah. He did sort of probe about my feelings when it comes to
you.”

“He didn’t!”

“Yeah, he did. Your employee has a strong…not
sure it’s a matchmaker gene but I suspect he likes you enough that
he wants you to have…well, you know. That is if you don’t already
but if you did he wouldn’t be doing that so…” Hoyt stumbled to a
stop.

“I don’t. I never seem to have time to even
look.”

“Running your agency keeps you
that
busy?”

“You have no idea. As strange as it seems, I
think this is the first time in forever that I’ve been able
actually concentrate on just one thing, not five or twenty. Usually
when my day is over either I stop for a fast meal or go home, throw
something together and then collapse.” Teague smiled wryly. “Never
let anyone tell you that owning your own business is easy, because
it’s not.”

“So…” Hoyt said slowly, “you’d be open to
maybe…? No, that won’t work. We can’t be seen together right
now.”

Teague cocked an eyebrow. “Open to what?”

“I was going to suggest we go get dinner
before you hit up The Red Calf.”

“I wish we could. It would be nice to do
something other than live and breathe this case. For both of us, I
suspect. I think spending time with you would be fun.”

“As friends.”

Teague looked at Hoyt, barely nodding. “To
begin with anyway. After that, who knows?”

“I do. You’ll be leaving as soon as this is
over so there’s no chance anything could develop,” Hoyt replied,
walking to the door.

“Wait.”

Hoyt turned, his expression questioning.

Teague took out his phone, scrolling through
it. “Which restaurant has decent food and delivers?”

“You have to get to The Red Calf.”

“It’s four-thirty. Will works, from what he
said, so I doubt he’ll be there before six at the earliest. Does
the place we ate at a couple of nights ago deliver?”

Hoyt broke into a smile. “They do. And it’s
early enough they should be able to get it here soon if we don’t
get fancy.”

“Good.” Finding the restaurant’s site, Teague
said, “Sandwiches should be easy enough. What do you want?”

Hoyt came back to look over Teague’s shoulder
at the menu. They each chose one and Teague called to place the
order, paying with a credit card he used when he did agency
undercover work. It didn’t match the name he was using at the
moment, but since the delivery person would come right to the door
it didn’t matter.

As soon as he hung up, Teague said, “It’ll be
here in half an hour or less.” When Hoyt took out his wallet,
saying he’d pay Teague back for his meal, Teague waved him off. “I
invited you on this…date? I pay.”

“If you insist. Not sure it qualifies as a
date though.”

“As long as we don’t talk about the case,
it’s a date in my book.”

Hoyt chucked. “So what else
is
there
to talk about? Sports? Movies? We already told each other our life
stories the last time we ate together.”

Teague sat on the end of the bed. It was that
or the lone desk chair and the bed was more comfortable. “Do you
ski?”

Obviously taking his cue from Teague, Hoyt
settled on the foot of the other bed. “I did when I was younger.
Not that I was terribly good at it but it was something to do that
didn’t involve sitting on my ass in a patrol car.”

“Or spending time at home?”

Hoyt shook his head. “When I got back from
college the first thing I did was get a place of my own, for
obvious reasons. Not the house I’ve got now. That came more
recently.”

“You were close with you mother though? I got
that impression from what you said about her teaching you to
cook.”

“I was. She accepted that I would never—”
Hoyt chuckled softly, “—give her a dozen grandkids, in her words.
I’d stop by the house to see her when dad was at work. It wasn’t
the best solution I suppose, but it made all our lives easier.”

“No holidays together?” Teague asked, leaning
back on his elbows while he studied Hoyt.

Hoyt snorted. “What do you think? The most my
dad would say to me, if we did happen to be in the same room
together, was hello before he buried his nose in the newspaper or
stared at whatever he was watching on TV. Somehow that wouldn’t
have made for a very happy Christmas for Mom.”

“I’m sure. Another nosy question. How many
people in town know you’re gay?”

“Most of the locals, I’m sure. I never made a
secret of it once I came back. This may be in the middle of nowhere
but with the ski resort so close, the majority of the townies are
fairly accepting, whether they approve or not. That’s what makes
these murders so—”

“We’re not talking about that. Remember?”
Teague said, wagging a finger at Hoyt.

“Yeah. Sorry. Force of habit I guess. Okay,
what do you do in your free time?”

“Sleep?” Teague replied with a laugh. “I told
you I’m a workaholic.”

“I don’t believe you never take time for
yourself.”

Teague shrugged. “Rarely. When I do, I find a
movie I think I can tolerate and head out for an exciting night at
a theater. Me and a box of Junior Mints.”

Hoyt swung around to face Teague directly,
shaking his head. “I’d have figured you for peanut butter cups or
chocolate raisins. Something at least marginally healthy.”

“Since when is any candy healthy?”

“I did say ‘marginally’. Personally I’m a
Three Musketeers fan.”

“That’s your serve and protect coming
out.”

“Nope. It’s the fact that I like the nougat
filling. There’s something about it that’s…Okay, I shouldn’t say
this but it’s sexy.”

“Sexy candy?” Teague arched an eyebrow in
amusement.

“What can I tell you? In my book it is.
Chocolate. You can roll it around in your mouth…” Hoyt coughed,
looking away. “Stupid, huh?”

“Not in the least. I’m sure we all have
something that turns us on that other people would never think
could do that.”

“Yeah? What’s yours?”

“Humm.” Teague stretched out, looking up at
the ceiling. “A man who knows what he wants and goes after it.”

“That’s got nothing to do with…food
or…things.”

Turning his head to look at Hoyt, Teague
replied quietly, “I know. But you asked what turns me on. That’s
it.”

“So if I—”

Hoyt didn’t get to finish because there was a
knock on the door. Their dinner had arrived. Way too soon to
Teague’s way of thinking as it effectively broke their mood, as
much as he wished it hadn’t.
Would he have made a move? Would I
have reciprocated?
He smiled sardonically to himself.
A
question I might never get to answer.

Although the feeling of growing intimacy had
been disrupted, they did banter some while they ate. Mostly about
what movies or TV shows they liked—and hated. When they finished,
Teague opened his bag and took out an ear phone like the one Keir
was using. Giving it to Hoyt, after apologizing for bringing up
business again, he started to explain how it worked.

“I know,” Hoyt told him with a dry smile. “I
am a cop, albeit in a small town.”

“Should have figured as much. I’ll go to the
park just after dark and contact you as soon as I’ve located Keir
to let you know exactly where we are.”

“I’ll be there. Well hidden since chances are
the killer knows my face,” Hoyt said, pocketing the ear phone.

Then it was time for Teague to get moving.
For a second, as the two men got to the door, they paused and a
look passed between them that had nothing to do with their jobs,
and everything to do with the fact they both felt there could
indeed be something going on between them—given the chance. Looking
away, Hoyt told Teague to wait a couple of minutes before leaving
and slipped outside. When Teague left Hoyt was gone.

* * * *

“I wasn’t certain you’d really show up, Don,”
Will said when Teague slid onto the stool beside him at the bar of
The Red Calf.

“And pass up an invitation for drinks with a
nice man?” Teague replied with a smile. “Not likely.”

“Would you like one?” Will asked, holding up
his martini glass.

“I’m more of a beer guy,” Teague responded,
ordering one when the bartender appeared. Returning his attention
to Will, Teague said, “You never told me your last name. But then I
never told you mine. It’s Teagan.”

“Endicott.” After taking a sip of his drink,
Will said, “Are you enjoying…I think you said the tail end of your
vacation?”

“I am. It’s a very nice town and the people
seem friendly.” Teague chuckled. “I think I’ve visited every shop
along Main Street when I wasn’t exploring the park along the
river.” He took a drink of beer before adding, “The park seems to
be a hangout for kids, although I’m not sure they’re locals.”

Will’s expression tightened momentarily then
he nodded. “Like any city or town, we get some runaways looking for
handouts or what have you. Strange you saw any today though. I
heard the police were kicking them out of town. Something to do
with that kid who was found dead.”

“Locking the barn door?” Teague commented
dryly. “They may be trying to get them to move on, but I saw at
least two homeless boys, if that’s what they are, as I drove by the
park on my way here. So I guess the cops weren’t totally
successful. Oh well. Hopefully they’ll be cautious if they’re doing
what I suspect they are. And enough of this topic.” Teague smiled
at Will. “How long have you lived here?”

“Only, damn, it’s been almost a year now.
Time flies as they say. I think I told you I came here the same way
you did, as a tourist. Since I was between jobs at the time, I
decided to see if I could find something here, got lucky and
settled down.”

“It would be tempting. It’s a beautiful area.
I was thinking of doing one of the rafting trips tomorrow. That is
if they have one for rank amateurs. I don’t think I’m into doing
the whitewater kind.”

Will chuckled. “Whitewater rafting is
exciting, but they’ve also got what they call family trips that are
reasonably calm. Especially at this time of year. At least that’s
what I’ve been told, since I’ve never actually taken one of the
tours.”

“What do you do for entertainment?”

Waving his hand around, Will replied, “Hang
out here. Okay, before you get the wrong idea, I also hike on the
weekends. After all, why live here if you don’t take advantage of
what the mountains have to offer?” Setting his glass on the bar,
Will stood. “Don’t go anywhere. I’ll be right back.”

Teague watched Will stroll across the room,
heading, he presumed, to the hallway leading to the washrooms.
Teague smiled in relief when Will stopped at a couple of tables
momentarily to talk to men who were probably his friends.
He may
just be saying hello, but with luck he’s also letting them know the
park is…open for business, so to speak. If he heard about the
police sending the homeless kids packing, his friends probably did,
too. From the look of this place, despite what Hoyt sort of hinted,
it’s not a pick-up club. Probably because more than half the people
here are straight. Accepting, apparently, but still…

Will returned a few minutes later, scooting
onto his stool before picking up his glass to take a drink. “I wish
it was the weekend,” he said with a sigh.