The City PI and the Country Cop (24 page)

“Fuck! What the hell? How? Why? When?”

“Two hours ago. He just got out of surgery.
He’ll live, but it was touch-and-go for a while there.”

Hoyt heard the pain and anger in Teague’s
voice and wished he was there to help him deal with everything.
“Are you at the hospital? Are
you
alright?”

There was a long pause as Teague breathed
deeply. “I’m okay. I was winged but it’s minor.”

“How minor?” Hoyt asked, not certain he
believed Teague.

“A flesh wound, I swear. Not even as bad as
the one I got when Irwin shot me.”

Blowing out a long breath, Hoyt asked, “Did
they catch the shooter?”

“No, but I caught a glimpse of him before he
disappeared. Damn it, Hoyt!”

“You know who it is?”

“Yes. Who, but not why, although I can hazard
a guess. I know he hates me. I know he blames me for what happened
to Chris. But why now, after all this time?”

“Chris’s brother?” Hoyt said, remembering
what Teague had told him about the man after the trial. How he had
been ready to testify that Teague had an ulterior motive for being
a witness against Bradley Irwin.

“Yes,” Teague replied succinctly. Then he
went quiet and Hoyt could hear someone talking to him in the
background. He returned, saying, “The police need to talk to me
again.”

“I’m catching the next flight out. Do you
want me to go to the agency when I get there, or to your
place?”

“The…the agency I guess. I have to talk to
everyone there. Let them know and…”

“Okay. Look, I know it’s bad. Worse than bad,
and maybe now it not the time, but…” Hoyt paused, then said, “I
love you and we’ll get through this together.”

“Love you, too,” Teague replied, and hung
up.

* * * *

Hoyt got lucky. There was a flight leaving an
hour after he’d gotten Teague’s call, and there was available
seating on it and on the connecting flight out of Denver. He threw
some clothes into a bag, grabbed his keys and wallet, and was out
the door five minutes after making the reservation. As he drove to
the airport he thought about all Teague had been through
since…
Since he and Chris were kids. How much more can Teague
take before he finally breaks? But he won’t. I won’t let that
happen. He won’t let it happen. He’s the strongest man I’ve ever
known. No wonder I love him.

Five hours later, after taking a cab from the
airport, Hoyt was standing outside the T Donovan Agency’s front
entrance. He sighed when he saw the darkened waiting room through
the front door and realized that everyone had undoubtedly left.
When Teague said to meet him here, neither of us thought about
how long it would take me to get here.

Taking out his phone, he called to let Teague
know he had arrived.

“And you’re standing out front,” Teague
replied. “I’ll come down to let you in.”

“You’re still…? Sorry, dumb question
considering.”

“Most of us are. We’re…working out what to do
next and…I’ll tell you in a minute.”

Teague opened the front door seconds later to
let Hoyt in. Hoyt took one look at Teague’s anguished expression
then wrapped him in a tight embrace. “How are you holding up?” Hoyt
asked. “And more to the point, how is Keir doing?”

“According to the latest report from Mel,
he’s in intensive care and holding his own.” Pulling out of Hoyt’s
embrace, Teague slipped his arm around Hoyt’s waist as they walked
through the waiting room and down the hall to Teague’s office.
“Everyone’s in here, so it’s a bit crowded, but…”

“I can deal. You didn’t answer the rest of my
question.”

Teague paused before opening his office door.
“I’m doing okay. Keir’s like a son to me so I’m torn between
worrying about him and being fucking pissed off at Paul Frye for
hitting him instead of me.”

Hoyt almost laughed at the way Teague put
that. Probably would have if the situation hadn’t been so dire.
“Have they caught him yet?”

“No. He was long gone by the time the police
arrived.” Opening the door, Teague ushered Hoyt into his office,
saying to the assembled group sitting and standing there, “Some of
you haven’t met Hoyt yet. He’s going to be joining the team.”

“Soon, I hope,” Jake said, coming forward to
greet Hoyt. “Now we need you twice as bad as before.”

Hoyt nodded, then shook hands with the rest
of the people as Teague introduced them.

“Okay, back to what we were talking about
before Hoyt got here,” Teague said, leaning against the desk. “As
you know, Paul Frye seems to be in the wind at this point.”

“You’ve talked to his brothers?” Hoyt
asked.

“About an hour ago. Neither of them has heard
from him. They’re in shock about all this and promised to let me
know if he tries to contact them.”

Hoyt frowned, rapping a knuckle against his
lips. “Does anyone mind if I ask a couple of questions, just to
clarify things in my mind?”

“Not if it will help us,” Max, one of
Teague’s investigators, replied, getting nods from the others.

“Good. First question. Where was Keir
shot?”

“In front of my building. I told you that
already,” Teague replied.

“No, I mean where was he hit?”

“Oh. In the chest. It missed his heart and
spine, hit a lung, well you don’t need all the details. Hell—”
Teague shook his head, “—I don’t have them myself. Needless to say,
a few inches one way or the other and he’d be dead or
paralyzed.”

Hoyt nodded. “Next question. Did he step in
front of you?”

Teague cocked his head, obviously trying to
picture what had happened. “No. We were side by side.”

“So you were both viable targets. Who was hit
first?”

“Me,” Teague replied. “There were two shots.
The first on winged me. The second one hit Keir dead on.”

“So…Okay. Paul Frye grew up in a small town.
Do you know if he and his brothers hunted? That’s something that’s
big in Faircrest and a lot of other small towns in the area.”

“Yeah, they did. They went out every deer
season, as soon as they were old enough to use a gun.”

“So we can presume that Paul knows what he’s
doing when it comes to shooting something. That being the case,
Teague, why aren’t you the one lying in the hospital right now? Why
Keir?”

“Shit,” Jake spat out, looking at Hoyt. “We
never thought about that. He’s right, Teague. Even an amateur would
have been able to hit you a second time, if his first shot didn’t
do the job.”

Teague blew out a long breath. “So what
you’re saying, Hoyt, is that Keir was the intended target?”

Hoyt nodded. “It could have been the
circumstances. Frye might have intended to shoot you, but then
decided that killing Keir in front of you would hurt you worse.
That you’d blame yourself for what happened. Or, Frye could have
been waiting for the right moment, when you were with someone else,
intending to lay a huge guilt trip on you for being the reason the
other person was killed.”

“We have to find him before he tries again,”
Max said adamantly. “Next time it could be one of us. Or he might
go straight for you Teague.”

“The police have a BOLO out on Paul,” Teague
replied.

“You think that will stop him?” Hoyt asked.
“He’ll just lay low until he gets another chance. We have to set
him up somehow.”

A couple of the other investigators shot
looks at Hoyt, as if to say, “Who put you in charge?”

Apparently Teague saw them because he stated
firmly, “Hoyt, in case some of you don’t know, is a cop. A
detective. He’s well versed in what it takes to find and stop a
killer.”

“Was a cop,” Hoyt murmured. “Until
today.”

“Is, was, it still comes down to the fact
that you know what you’re doing.” Teague turned to the others. “He
has a point and you all know it. We have to draw Frye out.”

“So who’s going to be the bait?” Jake
asked.

“Me,” Hoyt answered before anyone else
could.

“No,” Teague said sharply.

Quietly, Hoyt replied, “I have a vested
interest in catching Frye. I want you alive at the end of this.” He
glanced at the others. “I know all of you do, too, but mine is more
personal, in case you weren’t aware of that.”

Max snorted. “Trust me, Hoyt, most of us know
the two of you are a couple. Hell, Teague spent the last week or so
looking like a teenager who finally scored the date he wanted for
the prom.”

“I didn’t!” Teague protested, rolling his
eyes.

“Yeah, you did,” Pam told him with a wide
grin.

Hoyt chuckled before saying, “Back to
catching Frye. Teague, does the agency have access to tactical
vests?”

“Access to? We own several.”

“Good. I’d rather neither of us get dead
while we do this.”

“Get dead?” Jake chuckled. “Is that a small
town term?”

Hoyt flipped him off and continued. “When
Teague comes and goes from here, or from his condo, that’s where
he’s most vulnerable. So the only person who’s going to be with him
at those times is me. Always. The rest of you steer clear.
Okay?”

“Won’t is look like a setup if it’s just you
and him all the time?” Max asked.

“I hope not. We’ll make it clear there’s
something more between us than just the boss and a new
employee.”

Jake raised a hand to stop Hoyt. “You’ll need
one of us around, but not overtly. If this works Frye will be
concentrating on the two of you. Your backup, probably me or Max,
will be watching for him. From what Teague said, Frye was on the
street when he shot Keir, not up on top of a building.”

“True,” Teague agreed. “He was across the
street, shot, and then ran.”

“As up close and personal as he could be
without walking right up to the two of you,” Hoyt said. “My guess
would be he
wanted
you to know who was shooting, Teague.
Wing you to get your attention, shoot Keir, then make a run for it
once he knew you spotted him.”

“He sounds crazy,” Pam said, shivering.

“Crazy with hatred,” Teague replied
quietly.

“As my mother once said…” Hoyt glanced at
Teague, adding with a slight grin, “Yes, she was full of pithy
quotes. Anyway she told me once that the first reaction to truth is
hatred, and in this case that could be what’s going on. Frye
doesn’t get that being gay isn’t a choice so he blames Teague for
what happened to Chris.”

Jake nodded. “Teague told me about the
memorial service and how Paul Frye implied Teague was the reason
Chris was murdered.”

“Yep,” Hoyt said. “Then, before Irwin’s
trial, either Paul got in touch with the defense attorney or vice
versa, wanting to discredit any testimony Teague would give. Paul
may have seen Irwin as a hero who was eliminating gays.”

“This is all guesswork,” Teague pointed out.
“And it gets us no closer to catching him.”

“Nope. You and I will do that with…Jake?”

“Yeah, I’ll be the backup,” Jake said.

“And hope Paul strikes again and soon.”
Teague smiled dryly. “I do have an agency to run and right now
we’re down two men. With Jake sticking with me and Hoyt, it makes
three.”

“Then let’s get the show on the road,” Jake
said. “I’ll get you both vests. At least being winter it won’t be
obvious you’re wearing them.”

Jake left the office, and at Teague’s firm
suggestion everyone else headed out as well, leaving him and Hoyt
alone for the moment.

“Thank you, for everything,” Teague murmured.
“You’re one smart man.”

“I think so,” Hoyt replied, stepping in front
of Teague. “After all, I chose you to love.”

“Not sure that was such a smart move. It
seems like, since we met, we’ve been doing nothing but chasing down
killers or attempted killers.” Teague frowned. “Attempting
killers?”

“Either/or, I got what you meant. Still—”
Hoyt rested his hands on Teague’s shoulders, “—when it comes down
to it, it all revolves around the murders of Chris and the other
boys. With that solved, and once we get our hands on Frye, we
should be home free. We can get back to leading normal lives
again.”

“Or a new life when it comes to you.”

“One I am definitely looking forward to.”
Hoyt leaned closer, intending to kiss Teague, when the office door
opened.

“Go ahead,” Jake said with a laugh. “I’ve
seen people kiss before. Even two men. Get it out of your system
and then put these on.” He held up the vests.

Taking Jake at his word, Hoyt did kiss Teague
and got one in return that made him wish they were still alone.
Then, he and Teague donned the vests. After checking to make
certain they all had their phones on vibrate so they could
communicate via text, Jake suggested the pair wait for five minutes
after he left the building before they took off, “So I can get in
position to follow you, in case he’s out there.”

With that set, Jake left, followed five
minutes later by Hoyt and Teague.

* * * *

“Well, we made it home without Frye taking
potshots as us,” Hoyt said, setting his bag down in the entryway of
Teague’s condo before both he and Teague took off their jackets and
hung them in the closet.

Teague liked the idea that Hoyt had called it
‘home’, even though he was fairly certain is was just a figure of
speech as far as Hoyt was concerned.
After all, he did make it
clear he’s going to find his own apartment. For all I know, he
already has some places in mind, thanks to the Internet.

“Now we hope he was watching. If he was, you
coming up here with me should give him all the right ideas.”

Hoyt nodded, but his reply had nothing to do
with what Teague had just said. “Take off your shirt. I want to see
for myself that you weren’t badly hurt.”

“Don’t trust my word?” Teague asked,
uncertain whether to be pissed, or to like the idea Hoyt was
worried enough to want to make certain. Teague quickly unbuttoned
his shirt, and slid it off his shoulder enough to let Hoyt see the
bandage on his bicep.