Page 47 of Caged
"Good. Then I'm going to go, but have fun with Jess, and don't believe anything she tells you about me unless it's really good." Marshall reached out and pulled Danny into his arms. "I like that I can do this now."
"So do I." He rested his head on Marshall's shoulders, loving the way his arms felt around him. He was so secure and safe with Marshall. Being daring, he lifted his head and took the initiative to kiss Marshall first this time. He got the response he wanted. The kiss was long, deep, and left him almost shaky.
"I'll see you in a few hours."
Danny watched him go, wondering if he'd be brave enough to climb into Marshall's bed tonight, but even if he didn't, he was looking forward to at least holding each other on the couch.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Marshall slammed his fist down on the arm of his chair. "I've got you, you bastard." He grinned as he printed off the information he found.
"What's up?" Jeremy asked from the computer beside him.
"Might not be much, but it's something. Danny told me that Larry always got flowers for his mother. I'd had trouble finding where she was buried. Oddly, there is no record of burial. She died back in the eighties. But Danny said he got flowers and would always be gone a long time to go visit her grave. So I figured if this is one tradition Larry has, he isn't going to break it. I just needed to find out where the grave was. It took some digging, but I found an old ranch up near Colorado Springs. Larry's grandfather owned it. There's a family plot on the land."
"Can you just bury someone on private property?" Jeremy asked.
"You can, but you still need a permit and to go through a funeral director. It's pretty simple and mostly about the paperwork. I'm assuming she's buried there. I just found a permit for burial that was drawn up three days after his mother's death. The property doesn't look like it's owned by the family any longer. It's owned by a company called Lights End. A film company that does a lot of documentaries on historical sites. The thing is, I'm only showing one film being released a year. With a runtime of maybe an hour at most. That isn't enough to keep any company afloat. Yet, their tax records are showing they are a multi-million-dollar company."
"What are they covering up?"
"Exactly, and how is Larry involved? Does he just have permission to visit the family grave, or is he part of whatever is going on with Lights End and that is how he's making his money? Larry hasn't filed taxes in nearly twenty years. But he also has no income to show so the IRS wouldn't flag anything odd."
"Yet he lived a pretty stable life in that house next to yours." Jeremy narrowed his eyes.
"Right."
"Keep digging. I think you're on to something. If nothing else, you know he goes there either on her birthday or death day would be my guess. So that gives you two days where you might be able to catch him at the location. When's her birthday?"
"January third and her death date is September first. I'm going to talk to Danny and see if he remembers Larry tracking snow in about the time he went to see her. That should give us a clear idea which day it is. It might be a long shot, but right now, it's all we have." Marshall sighed. "I want this fucker so bad I can taste it."
"You'll get him. The police have nothing to go on. Find him and we'll go take him down," Jeremy promised.
"I never thought I might want to be part of the team that goes out, but on this one, the temptation is there. I won't do it. I'd end up fucking things up, but I'd love nothing more than to have that satisfaction of looking Larry in the eyes as he pays for what he's done." Marshall tapped his pen on the desk. "I see little things in Danny that make me want to ask questions, but I'm afraid to. I'm not sure I really want to know everything he's been through. Besides, I'm trying to get him to move on from all that, not bring it back up, but damn it's hard."
"Use that anger and motivation to focus on what you can do. We've got a ton of sick fucks out there who we can catch. Let's bring them down so we don't have to see any more Dannys struggle to get past the abuse." Jeremy handed over a printed paper. "Info on a grandfather uploading photos of his granddaughters. He's not doing it from home. If you have the time, can you follow the trail and help us figure out where he's working from?"
"On it." Marshall turned back to the computer. Nothing bothered him more than someone who would abuse their own family members. If this grandfather was hurting his granddaughters, he'd be happy to see him suffer a little. God, the world was a horrible place.
As he worked, his mind was on everything that happened with Danny. He rolled his shoulders, the stress of everything getting to him. He wanted Danny. Loved what they shared, but was it right to do what they'd been doing? Was he doing more harm than good? Danny wasn't someone to play with. If he got in a relationship, it needed to be a serious one. Was Marshall ready for that? He pinched the bridge of his nose, part of him wishing he'd told Danny no to the kiss. Another part of him couldn't wait to do it again. His cock hardened at just the memory of what they'd done together.
Great, now he was getting aroused at work, which considering what he did for a living should never happen. He pushed away from the computer and glanced at Jeremy. "I need a drink. You want anything?"
"I'm good, but thanks." Jeremy didn't even lift his head from whatever he was working on.
Marshall made his way to the kitchen, debating if he should just give up and go home, but he didn't want to bother Danny and Jessica's time together. He pulled a cold bottle of water out of the fridge and sat down. At least he'd have cake or cookies to go home to when he finally did leave.
He heard the front door open and close, then glanced up to see Rani walking in. He grinned seeing his best friend. "Well, isn't this a surprise. We never see you during the day. I was starting to worry you were a vampire."
"Funny. I actually have a whole day off. I slept in a bit, went to the gym, and now I plan to kick back in front of the TV and do nothing the rest of the day."
"Sounds nice."
"How're things going at home? Danny okay?" Rani poured himself a glass of iced tea and sat down at the table.
"He's doing really good. Had a bad nightmare the other night, but I think that will be the norm for a while. He's struggling with a few things, but honestly, with all he's gone through, he's doing amazing."
"Anything I can help with?" Rani offered.
