Chapter Ten

Andrew needed coffee, and he needed a lot of it. The amount he'd had at Kyler's house didn't do much for the lack of a good night's sleep. Just as he stood from his desk chair to get the sludge Foley made every morning, the phone rang, and something in him knew it would be bad. Call it a cop's gut feeling or intuition. Whatever it was, he dreaded the call.

Stella answered, but it didn't take long for her to patch it through to his office.

When Andrew answered, the last person he expected to hear from was Kyler's boss. Royce got straight to the point. "Brett Lincoln called for a tow. He's over on the Nieves property. Kyler told me to call you, but I should have anyway because he's probably trespassing."

They could bring him in on that. It was enough.

And then another thought hit him. His heart rate increased. "You didn't send Kyler out, did you?"

"No. He told me what happened last night. Said he tried to sell Kyler drugs. Definitely the biggest dealer in Pickleville. I don't partake. And I'm not saying that just because you're the chief."

Andrew smiled.

He hadn't met Royce officially. He had only seen him around town a few times. Since the station was across the street from the garage, most of his glimpses had been in passing. Royce's reputation was good, though. No one had a bad thing to say about him because he had cleaned up a lot of the businesses. TJs bar was one of them. The word around town was that Royce had hired muscle to kick all of the bigots out. It had worked well enough that he felt comfortable letting Kendrick run the place. Royce struck him as a protective guy, so it was doubtful he would let his shy, timid cousin run a business where he'd get his ass kicked for being gay on a nightly basis.

The people in Pickleville talked about everything and everyone. Andrew heard about everyone. The trick was to weed out all the bullshit, and Andrew didn't think Royce would feed him any. "What's your opinion about Lincoln and the rapes? Is he good for it?"

"I don't know. Maybe. He's always been a little punk. He's always been an asshole to both boys, but Kyler in particular. Don't know that it makes him a rapist. But Kyler seems to think he might be, and that's enough for me to keep him away from my boy." Right or wrong, Royce had a strong moral compass.

"Thanks for calling."

"Sure." Royce cleared his throat. "Look, I know about you and Kyler. I wouldn't normally butt my nose in, but he's had a strong reaction."

Strong reaction? "You're like family, vato?"

"Yeah. Kyler's family. So if you're not serious, you should leave him alone."

Was he serious, though? He felt something more, and yeah, he wanted something more than just the one time they'd had, and he'd take spending time in the same space as Kyler. It didn't have to mean sex. It wasn't something he'd ever wanted with anyone else before, but did that imply he wanted a relationship?

"I think I'm serious."

"Be sure." After that, the phone went dead.

Andrew pulled the receiver away from his ear and looked at it. Did Royce just hang up on me? The man had balls.

Andrew shook his head and replaced the phone on its cradle. He made his way out into the main room. When Olivia saw him, she stood as if anticipating what he'd say.

"I need you both to go out to the Nieves property. Arrest Lincoln." Andrew didn't know if he made the right decision not going himself, but they were good cops and could handle it. He couldn't help but add, "Be careful."

As soon as they left, Andrew waved to Stella and left the station. He had to talk to Travis and then to the property owners. Travis was the one person who might know why Lincoln was there. The Nieves' farm bordered his. And Andrew knew he could trust anything Travis told him as the rock-solid truth. He couldn't say that about anyone else, including the property owners.

Andrew stood next to his car, staring at the garage next door as if one of the bay doors would open and give him a glimpse inside. He needed to see for himself that Kyler didn't go out looking for Lincoln. He knew Kyler wasn't that self-destructive. Maybe Kyler took stupid chances like taking a walk in the middle of the night. Or that would have been a foolish choice in almost every other place but Pickleville. The rapist made it dangerous, but before those crimes, there wasn't a reason to think Pickleville was anything but safe.

Andrew pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number he hadn't ever called before but should have a long time ago. It rang a good five times before Kyler answered.

"Hello?"

"Can you take a break? And come across the street." Maybe he should have said who was calling. Kyler could have deleted his number from his phone for all Andrew knew.

Kyler sighed.

"Please."

Kyler hung up. Andrew thought Kyler was his usual prickly self, but then one of the garage doors opened. He jogged over.

Kyler had on a blue jumpsuit with his first name on a patch on one side of his chest and the garage's name on the other. His long dark hair laid in one thick braid down his back. His hands had black grease on them. "What?"

Andrew stepped close enough to touch. He tucked a stray lock of hair behind Kyler's ear. "Thanks for having Royce call me."

Kyler nodded. "I know you suspect Brett for the rapes. He's always been an asshole."

"I'm not ruling him out as a suspect. I don't have evidence to back it up." Andrew had no idea how Kyler knew what Andrew was thinking. He'd never said anything to him about his gut instinct. "Royce mentioned he said a few things to you in the past. Was any of it sexual?"

"If you mean, did it make me want to scrub every inch of myself with a wire brush at the mere suggestion of Brett's touch? Yes. Yes, it did." Kyler blinked.

"So it was flirty?"

Kyler moved his hand back and forth and made a face that suggested it was a matter of opinion. "I don't take it as flirting because Brett says stuff like, ‘why don't you come over here and suck my dick, fag?' and grabs his package. Last night was the only time he said anything that wasn't bordering on homophobic or wasn't outright perverted."

"What did he say last night?"

"Called me pretty. And then said I was a little bitch."

"Has he ever suggested he'd sexually assault you?"

Kyler rolled his eyes. "Every time Brett Lincoln opens his ugly mouth, it feels like an assault, Andy. If there's ever a guy with entitlement issues, it's him."

Andrew smiled at the use of the nickname. "Is that why you think he might be good for the rapes?"

"It was Ethan last night, right?" It took a second to understand Kyler was asking about the victim. The use of his first name was telling.

"You knew him?"

"I get why you're asking me questions." Between the victim's long hair and his slender build, the resemblance to Kyler was there. The two might not be twins or even brothers, but the similarities were enough to peak Andrew's protective instincts.

"I'm worried about you, carino." Andrew cupped Kyler's cheek.

Kyler just nodded. He gripped Andrew's wrist, holding on as if he needed the reassurance of his touch. "Brett scares me, which is the only reason I'm telling you this. Luis and I are going dancing at Rumors in Harbor Shire tonight. If you want to come."

Andrew tried to keep the hope for something more off his face. He could tell he didn't quite succeed by the way Kyler huffed out a sigh and let his wrist go.

"It's bodyguard duty at best, so don't look at me that way."

Andrew smiled. "Whatever keeps you safe, carino."

"I need to go back to work." Kyler gestured to the open bay door and where Royce stood with his arms folded across his chest.

Kyler took a step back and smiled. "We'll probably leave for Rumors at around eight o'clock."

"I'll be at the club before you get there." He wanted to assess things. Maybe ask a few questions of the bartenders while he was there. He'd do that before Kyler got there because once he had Kyler in his arms, he would steal Andrew's focus.

Andrew pulled in front of the Heath's main house instead of going to Jaron and Travis'.

Andrew parked next to all the other cars in the farmyard. It always seemed like half the town showed up for a barbeque or something whenever Andrew visited. As much as it looked like a party, the farm just had a lot of vehicles.

Travis stood against the railing of a circular paddock. He seemed to be watching Carter and not much else. He had on a cowboy hat and a heavy work coat. The articles of clothing spoke of his profession just as much as a cop's uniform spoke of theirs.

Carter rode a horse who wasn't saddled, but he held the reins in one hand. If he steered the horse with the reins, Andrew couldn't tell, but then, he didn't know a lot about horses. Carter ran the horse around the circle close to the railing.

Travis turned and gave him a hug of the one-armed variety. "Hey, man. How's it going?"

"I have a question about the Nieves property."

Travis raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"A suspect is on the property. Just trying to figure out why."

"Suspect? Like the rapist running around." If Travis was alarmed, he didn't show it.

"Not sure about that. He's a suspect for a drug-related incident that happened last night."

Travis cursed.

"Keep an eye out for Brett Lincoln. He's trespassing on the Nieves' land for some reason."

Travis nodded and sighed. "Right. Well, from what I know of Lincoln and his family, I'd say he was probably up to no good at the clearing."

Andrew furrowed his brow. "Clearing?"

"Yep. You'll see a two-track on the left a few miles up. If you go down it, there's a clearing. Jackson, Brad, and I used to go mudding back there after it rained. We also used to drink and smoke weed, but I'm not telling the chief that." The corners of Travis' mouth turned up.

Andrew chuckled. "Right. Just like I didn't drop Lincoln's name."

Andrew's cell rang. It took him a second to dig it out of his pocket. He lifted the phone to his ear and then nodded toward his vehicle. "I gotta take this, vato."

Travis lifted a hand. "Thanks for the heads up on Lincoln."

"Tell Jaron I'll call him later." Andrew pressed the talk button on his phone. "What happened?"

"Lincoln's truck is here. But he isn't. The keys aren't in the ignition, but I haven't opened the door to the truck yet." Olivia cleared her throat. "I think there's blood on the passenger's door. Foley's processing it as we speak. He's doing everything right, boss. I promise."

"Did you do a sweep of the area?"

"Yes, sir. We didn't find anything, but then I don't think we went far enough into the woods. I don't see a trail, but then, I'm no expert on stuff like that. It's like finding a needle in a haystack. Fucking impossible."

"Right. I'll be there in a few minutes." Andrew hung up the phone and headed straight to the sight without a goodbye to anyone.

The two-track wasn't kind to his car. By the time he came to the clearing, he had to wonder if he'd have to ask Kyler to fix it. He parked next to the police car and got out.

Foley had eyes on the truck. He wasn't an expert at forensics, but he paid attention to detail and had enough police experience to know what to look for, so Andrew left him to it. The only thing he thought to say was, "Don't contaminate anything."

Foley nodded. "I've got gloves on."

Andrew could see that he did, but he still thought he should remind Foley. "Be careful where you step."

"Yes, sir. I am."

Andrew scanned the area and then headed to where he saw Olivia. She was barely visible in the darkness of the forest. He walked across the clearing and head into the trees, where Olivia stood. He wasn't but a few feet behind when she spoke. "Why's the truck here?" If they knew the answer, they would find Lincoln.

"Drug buy, maybe?" She turned.

"Maybe. Maybe it's a drug deal gone bad. Or maybe Lincoln got hurt out here and called someone to pick him up." Andrew pulled out his phone. "I'll call the hospital and find out if anyone matching Lincoln's description came in recently."

"I'll take a look around. Just in case." Olivia went to the right, searching the ground as if looking for some imperfection in the stillness.

By the time Andrew got off the phone, he was no closer to answering any of his questions.

He left the trees and went into the clearing again. "Foley, when you finish, go to Lincoln's house and see if he's there. Tell them we're just doing a well-check, given his abandoned truck."

"I already called Joan. No one's heard from him since yesterday. I'll go talk to old man Nieves after I'm done. See if he knows anything. I doubt he'll say either way. He's always been the secretive type. Not sure why."

"Good work, vato." Andrew would have Olivia call a few of the tow companies and see if they've heard anything. In the meantime, he'd get Royce to pick up Lincoln's truck. They'd keep it as evidence for now.