Chapter 3

Aaron woke with a start and then realized where he was. Morning light began to shine into a small bedroom. A closet and bathroom door were on one side, and a dresser with a mirror was on the other. There were no paintings hanging on the walls. It was spartan and masculine.

He listened for noise, wondering if Garrett was awake.

The big man frightened him a little. His macho alpha dog presence made Aaron think of the military. But not just a foot soldier. Garrett gave him the impression he was special ops, or marines. That man wasn’t your average vet.

As the exhaustion of last night left and the deep sleep had helped rejuvenate him, he began to think of the events that brought him to this man’s home.

Nothing made sense. What did make sense is that Henderson was indeed just mugged. A victim of a high crime area. That he could understand.

But if he was framed? If he was set up to take the blame for the murder? That made zero sense to him.

As he battled to put the puzzle pieces together, Aaron lay in bed, just thinking, because it sure felt as if was in a lot of trouble. He just didn’t know why.

~

Garrett awoke after a few hours of sleep. He sat on the side of his bed and yawned, rubbing his face. He heard soft talking. Becoming alert, he noticed the earpiece from the bug he had left in Aaron’s apartment on the nightstand. He snatched it and stuck it into his ear.

‘The local police have labeled it a mugging.’

‘Good. That at least ends their investigation trail.’

‘What about Colorado?’

Garrett pressed the hearing device deeper into his ear.

‘He was set loose on Zefron’s trail. If the kid left town or the country, that’ll keep Colorado occupied. That’s why the director chose him for the assignment. He’ll neutralize Zefron for us.’

Garrett heard them snicker and was a little stunned. He’d been a valued member of the government. But being sent on a wild goose chase? Used? Oh no. That did not sit well with him.

‘So? It looks to me like the kid left town. When we tossed this place yesterday there were suitcases. Those are gone.’

‘Yes. That and clothing. His personal paperwork is also gone. No doubt he left town.’

‘Should we keep someone on this place in case he comes back?’

‘I’ll ask the director. He’s running this show.’

Garrett blinked in shock again. This situation is known by the director? No way.

The noise of footfalls, and then a door closing followed, then the microphone at the other end went silent.

Garrett took the listening device out of his ear and thought long and hard about this mess and the fact that he had been drawn into it.

He recalled the director’s comment. He had used the term neutralize . So did that mean he wanted Aaron either brought to his office or killed ?

That wasn’t something to be taken lightly. In Garrett’s mind, there was an insinuation on the director’s part for Garrett to kill Aaron as if he posed a serious threat to national security.

Garrett did not see Aaron as a threat. Not to anyone. The kid was completely na?ve and clueless.

But this wasn’t the first assignment Garrett had with the same orders. He had indeed been sent on missions abroad to assassinate enemies. But on those missions, the targets were obviously notorious and there was no doubt he was doing the right thing for his country.

But this one?

That sense of this being strange hit him from the first moment he entered the director’s office to receive this intel. He had learned to trust his gut instincts. That’s how you survive in war.

Something else was going on here, and it wasn’t trivial. Orders to kill a civilian weren’t common. And the file he received on Aaron didn’t reveal any clandestine behavior or a threat to national security. The only felony on the kid’s rap sheet was car theft.

Garrett had a dark feeling this was high level government corruption, and they were trying to divert the scent of their trail away from themselves and towards an innocent patsy.

He stood from his bed and washed up in his private bathroom, planning tactically while he brushed his teeth and shaved.

~

Aaron heard the water running in the master bedroom. He opened his suitcase and brought his toiletry bag into the guest bathroom. As he went through his morning routine, he wondered what he was going to do. He couldn’t stay at his apartment anymore.

He had no family here in Baltimore.

He was an only child, orphaned at a young age, sent to foster homes, and moved from place to place until he was old enough to get a job and find cheap housing.

Then, he fell in with a lousy crowd and well… that’s when he got a criminal record, and his life took a turn for the worse.

He dressed in shorts and a T-shirt since Baltimore summers were getting hotter every year, not to mention humid.

He made the bed and straightened the small space considerately, then opened the bedroom door. The scent of coffee was in the air.

He crept his way closer to the kitchen.

Pausing at the arched threshold, Aaron admired Garrett in his khaki shorts and beige sleeveless tee. Dude.

Holy shit.

He was jacked.

Aaron’s mouth watered at the size of Garrett’s deltoids and his quadriceps were broad and defined.

Garrett paused while he set out cups on the counter and looked back at him.

The man was so strikingly handsome with his steel blue eyes, Aaron was set on fire.

“How’d you sleep?” Garrett asked in a deep voice as he poured freshly perked coffee into mugs.

“I dropped dead on the bed.” Aaron drew a chair out from a kitchen table for four, and sat down to conceal his erection.

Garrett set the two mugs on the counter and slid bread into the toaster slots. His hands were huge and callused.

Aaron became embarrassed he was so attracted to this hunk.

“Milk or sugar?” Garrett asked.

“Milk is fine.” Aaron tipped cream into his mug.

While Garrett placed small plates, butter and jam on the table, Aaron held the aromatic coffee to his lips.

The kitchen was also bare bones. No frills. No women’s touch. No doilies or floral paintings.

The wall did have one framed print. Some military insignia he didn’t recognize.

“Can I ask you a question?” Aaron set the cup down since the coffee was way too hot to drink.

“Sure.” Garrett took the browned bread out of the toaster and set it on the table with butterknives. Then, he joined him.

“Why did you look for me? What’s your connection?” Aaron took a piece of toast and buttered it.

“I can’t answer that.” Garrett also used butter and jam and took a big bite of his toast.

“Can’t answer.” Aaron nodded and sliced his buttered toast in half. “What are you going to do with me?”

“I’m not sure yet.” The muscular man ate the piece of toast in two bites.

“Should I be worried?”

“No.”

Nodding, not having a choice because Aaron was no match for this dude anyway, he shut up.

“Can I ask you questions now?” Garrett brushed the crumbs off his hands and drew his mug closer.

“Yes.” Aaron grew lost in Garrett’s eyes. Blue. Bright blue. Man? You should be a poster-boy for the military. I’d enlist!

“What was your involvement with the government? Tell me how this happened.”

After eating two slices of toast, Aaron nudged his empty plate aside and sipped his coffee. “I was convicted of a crime, paroled, and then violated my parole and didn’t show for court. So, I got a warrant.”

Garrett drank his coffee and didn’t say a word.

“After I was picked up, a judge told me some dude wanted to ask me questions. I said okay.” Aaron shrugged and focused on Garrett’s square jaw and high cheekbones while trying to deal with his naughty erection. “This dude says they sometimes use civilians to help out with sending messages secretly.” Aaron used air quotes with the word, messages.

“He told me if I wanted to avoid jail for the parole violation and failure to appear, that it was like community service.”

Garrett’s focus was laser sharp.

“So? I said okay. I mean, I didn’t really mind jail. The men were—” He shut up.

A slight upturned smirk was Garrett’s response, but man, he had a pretty good poker face.

“Anyway.” Aaron waved his hand to dismiss the gay thing. “So, I agreed. At first, I only spoke to some dude over the phone. An old man. I mean, he sounded really old, with a gravelly voice, with a slight accent. I don’t know the accent. No clue.”

Garrett set his empty cup aside and relaxed on the kitchen chair. Aaron wondered if the man’s thighs were spread wide under the table. He’d love to peek.

“So…” Aaron struggled to keep his train of thought when he wanted to blow this dude’s trumpet. “So… This man. He said his name was Steinmetz but who knows? No one uses their real names in this town. At least that’s what I’m learning. These creeps in the government all use aliases or whatever. They’re a bunch of corrupt jerks.”

Garrett’s focus narrowed as if he were a computer registering each piece of data. Dude looked smart as fuck.

Aaron pushed at his hard dick discreetly and then continued, “So this dude, this old man, he used to call me and send me to pick up packets of information. I never looked at the packets. I meant, why should I? I was instructed not to. They were sealed so if I did look, they’d know, and to be honest, I didn’t care. It beat picking up trash on the highway or sitting in the cell for another year.”

Garrett continued to stare at him as if he were reading his soul.

Aaron crossed and uncrossed his legs, begging his body to behave, but he had a thing for bruisers. Military, buff, masculine gods, and good lord this man was his fantasy. He waited for Garrett to ask him what he was arrested for. It was a natural question.

Garrett rose from the table, put the two plates and knives into a dishwasher, and emptied the remaining coffee in the pot, splitting it between them. He then dumped the grounds, and sat back down. “Did you ever see this man? Steinmetz?”

“Twice.”

“Describe him to me.”

“Uh.” Aaron closed his eyes to envision him. “It was dark. He had me meet him in Leakin Park. I mean,” Aaron shivered comically as he said, “Brrr,” knowing that area was a hotbed for criminal activity.

Garrett’s gaze narrowed, like he was a sniper zeroing in on a target. Dude? Were you a sniper? Man, that’s hot .

“Um… so.” Aaron battled to think straight with this hottie so near to him and with the events that had occurred in the last twenty-four hours. Focusing wasn’t easy.

“He was, uh… maybe seventy? Had a receding hairline.” He drew on his own head, indicating where it was bald. “Small round glasses, and a white beard, oh, and sort of a big nose. He walked with a cane, and cleared his throat a lot.” Aaron finished the coffee. “He seemed strange. I mean, like he was putting on an act.”

Garrett paid even closer attention, if that was possible. “What do you mean? An act?”

“Okay. This is gonna sound stupid, but…” Aaron touched his chin. “Like he was playing a part in a play. I mean, he wouldn’t let me stare into his face. He usually turned away or had me sit in the front of my car and he sat behind me. Always in dim lighting. But, he handed me envelopes of cash. I mean, who was I to complain? I brought paperwork to drop spots and got rewarded in cash. It wasn’t a bad deal until…”

“Until the murder.”

Aaron sighed and slouched in the chair. “Look. The alley we met in was nasty. I really think he was just mugged. I meant, it’s what it looks like, right?” He waited for a comment. None came.

Aaron continued, “But, if it wasn’t a mugging, then I was set up to take the fall. Right? I mean, I was sent to meet this guy and now someone is trying to make it look like I killed him. But he was alive when I left him!”

“The man you met. Henderson. Had you ever seen him before?”

“No.”

“Did you exchange anything? Paperwork? Microfilm?”

“No. We were discussing the microfilm. I was told, by Steinmetz, to tell this dude he had to pay in gold. We were going to meet again once I relayed the information to Steinmetz and…” Aaron shrugged. “Ya know? I have no idea what would have happened next. I’m not in on any of the information. I’m a total outsider.” He leaned his elbows on the table. “But, come on, he could have just gotten mugged, right?”

“No.” Garrett’s gaze was unsettling.

“No?” Aaron certainly wasn’t in a position to argue. “What am I supposed to do now?”

“They expect you to leave the state, or the country.”

“You.” Aaron pointed at him. “You were sent to find me.”

Garrett’s perfect poker face appeared again.

“But this is what I don’t get.” Aaron leaned even closer to the imposing man across the round table. “Why are you helping me?”

After a deep exhale, Garrett replied, “Although I contract out to the government, I’m my own boss. Yes, I do obey a chain of command. But I’m not owned.” Garrett mirrored him so they were nearly nose to nose. “I’m a specialist. A professional. But I also am aware not every job I’m sent to fulfill is legal, ethical, or honorable.”

Aaron’s mouth watered as he imagined kissing Garrett.

“My integrity is where I draw the line. I can read people.”

“You read me like a bold print comic book. Wow, dude.”

~

Garrett read something other than respect in this man’s eyes. Lust. He was flattered. He also thought Aaron was adorable, but until this business was at least understood or sorted, he tried to keep a professional relationship.

“After being in the service for years and training with the best, I learned. But to survive you also must have intuition about people.”

“You do.”

“Yes. I do.”

“Then, what do you suggest I do now?”

“Stay put.”

Aaron sat up and blinked his brown eyes. “Here?”

“Where would you like me to take you?”

“Nowhere! Are you kidding? If they already think I murdered that man and expect me to flee, then I’m not safe anywhere.”

“That’s correct.” Garrett wondered how to get to the bottom of this. He had hunches, but that wasn’t going to help without evidence.

“Do you mind me staying?”

“If I minded, you wouldn’t be here.”

Aaron smiled wickedly. “Ya know. I can fall for a guy like you.” Then he held up his hands comically and said, “Don’t hit me.”

“I won’t hit you.” Garrett stifled a chuckle.

It’d been a while since he’d had a handsome man staying over. A long while. He tended to keep his relationships distant because lovers could be used as leverage if things went to shit.

He had no wife, no husband, no kids, and no family to speak of. So, no one could be used as a pawn against him.

It made life easier.

But staring at handsome Aaron Zefron made life complicated.

Maybe the director had chosen him because he could figure this mess out. Or. Maybe the director had chosen wrong, because he was smart and indeed figuring this out.

Time would tell.

~

Aaron lingered outside Garrett’s open bedroom door as he prepared to leave. The man armed himself to the teeth. A wicked bowie knife, an ankle holster with a smaller caliber gun, a shoulder holster with a forty-five-caliber pistol… it was like he was prepping for war.

Garrett inspected his wallet and pocketed it, then pointed his finger right at Aaron’s nose. “Don’t answer the phone, don’t open the door. Got it?”

“Got it.” Aaron shivered at the potency.

“There’s food in the fridge. Do not… I repeat, do not order food in. No pizza delivery. I’ll be back at…” Garrett read his watch. “Seventeen hundred hours.”

“Huh?”

“Five.” Garrett rolled his eyes and then headed to the front door. He spun around, pointed at him again and said, “Don’t leave the house. Don’t peer out of windows.”

Aaron nodded and held up his hands in surrender.

Garrett left.

Holding his chest at the seriousness of the situation, Aaron exhaled and didn’t move an inch, still wondering how the fuck he ended up in this predicament, because it terrified him.