Page 30 of Heart Me Up
“What’s the name of the club you go to?” He told me. I thanked him and went to see his husband.
Nico Hawthorne was Marcus’ physical opposite. He was about five and a half feet tall, maybe 140 pounds. He’d refused medical treatment and had also refused to allow the officers at the scene to take pictures of his injuries. He was wearing sweatpants and was wrapped up in a giant Nike hoodie that must have belonged to Marcus. His face was red and blotchy, wet with tears.
“This is fucking bullshit,” he spat. “Marcus didn’t do anything I didn’t ask him to. I have a fucking safeword, you know?”
I asked him about the blood. He scoffed and waved a hand in the air. “The whip he was using leaves mostly welts, but Marcus knows I like to see a little blood. And I mean alittleblood. Like the skin is barely broken so only a few drops come through. I stopped bleeding like five minutes later. Those cops saw my husband and made assumptions.” He pressed his lips together and turned his head away, no doubt to avoid voicing some additional thoughts about the responding officers.
“Do you usually do this sort of thing at home?”
Nico told me the same thing Marcus had mentioned about their club being closed during the day. “Call the club; someone will answer even though they’re closed. Ask for Mistress Olivia. She owns the place. She knows us.” He eyed me as if to gauge my reaction. “As soon as we leave here, I’m going to make Marcus order me a ball gag so we don’t give those assholes next door any more reasons to complain.”
“Probably a good idea,” I allowed. Nico relaxed a little.
Excusing myself, I went back to my desk. I found club’s website, and Amy eavesdropped avidly as I called and asked to speak to Mistress Olivia. She was extremely helpful and verified the Hawthornes had been members of her club for years.
“Having your private needs used against you like that is one of the worst experiences, I can tell you,” she said. “Thank you so much for being open to our community.”
“Oh, um, one more thing.” I spun my chair around in the vain hope Amy wouldn’t be able to listen in. “Um, if I run into any other cases like this in the future where I need some help understanding, um, the dynamic, um….”
“Call me anytime, Detective,” she purred. “Or come by the club. It could be enlightening.”
I wasnotready for that. “Oh, um, thanks. Maybe one day.”
After hearing what I’d learned, Captain Driscoll dropped the charges, personally apologizing to both the Hawthornes and releasing Marcus from custody. They left, Nico loudly telling Marcus to buy him a ball gag as they walked through the station. Marcus muttered about seeing if they could get out of their lease.
All in all, a good afternoon’s work.
* * *
Everyone except Silvia arrived on time for our emergency game night, or as Carlos called it, Game Night 911. I was hoping Silvia’s church meeting would run long so she wouldn’t make it at all. My being gay already pushed her envelope. Adding BDSM to the mix, even if I wasn’t actively participating, might be too much for her to handle.
Amy and Mike arrived first, carrying pizza and beer. Carlos and Artie brought pie of all things. “We were at that bakery down on Hillwood when Amy texted,” Carlos told us.
Artie rolled his eyes and jerked his thumb at his partner. “This guy just wanted an excuse to flirt with the girl behind the counter some more.”
Carlos grinned wickedly as he went into the kitchen to set the pie down. “Two birds, man, two birds.”
We settled in around the dining table like we’d done last Tuesday. Before I’d met Craig, I marveled. How could that have been only a week ago? I looked at my friends, and they hadn’t changed. Artie’s sunburn was almost completely peeled off, but otherwise they seemed the same as they had last week. But I had changed. My life was changing. And I was positive it was for the better.
“Hey, Foster, is this the guy?” I turned to Carlos. He was standing in front of my fridge, pointing at my electronic photo frame. Then he jumped. “Wait, how do you make this thing go back? I need to see the other one again.” He started poking at the buttons on the frame.
I stood to help him. “Which one?” I had the frame set up to automatically download photos I’d marked Favorites in my phone. The photos changed every minute or so.
Carlos turned toward the rest of the crew at the dining table. He put his hands on his hips and announced. “The one where you’re at Henry’s with your arm around the guy with the dog collar.”
Well, shit.
“Hold up now, there’s apicture?” Amy jumped out of her chair and practically ran to the kitchen, joining Carlos in poking at the buttons on the frame to make it show the photo they wanted.
“Wait, didn’t you go on a date with him? When are we going to meet him?” Artie asked as he stood up to join the others in the kitchen.
“You’re not. We’ve been on one date. I don’t want y’all to scare him away.”
Amy, whose face had been practically pressed against the photo frame, didn’t move her body but turned her head slowly toward me like a horror movie doll. “I’m your partner. I need to meet him. Especially if,” she tapped the photo frame. “You’ve put a collar on him. Didn’t your great aunt say that was a big commitment?”
The razzing that followed was deafening, and I finally gave up, pulling out my phone. “Craig, I hope you’re ready for this,” I muttered.
Chapter13
