Chapter Two
MIGUEL
I took off my sunglasses and sat back, looking at Raven who exchanged a serious glance with me before turning the letter over. It was blank. He picked up the discarded envelope. There was no stamp or address. Instead, Benedict Flores had been typed using an old-fashioned manual typewriter. He pushed the letter back into the envelope and eyed me once more before handing it back and looking at Aston. “Well, it’s a blatant threat and it was clearly hand delivered from the lack of address or return address.”
“Yes, it was delivered to Mr. Flores’ office like the others,” Aston said.
Raven nodded. “From a messenger service?”
“We thought so, but the investigator I employ checked all the businesses offering messenger services and he came up with nothing. Therefore, I can only presume the company was a fake.”
“I see,” Raven said. “Were the other letters all like this…delivered the same way?”
“Yes,” Aston replied. “All of them were delivered by hand and sealed in a manila envelope.”
“And…where are those?” Raven asked.
“I’m so sorry. Mr. Flores’ secretary threw them away. She routinely opens all his mail unless it’s marked personal.” He held up both hands, looking apologetically toward Tawny Flores. “I’m sorry. When I complained about this, she apologized. Apparently, Mr. Flores received almost two hundred pieces of mail a day and he never instructed her to save the envelopes. I’ve been told that she’s been reprimanded over the incident. As far as the tone of the letters…yes, they were all threats. They got gradually worse, but this is the last one, received only a week before Mr. Flores’ death when he returned home from a plantation he owns in the Caribbean.” He sounded contemplative.
“And you’re worried that these people or this person will come after Mrs. Flores, now that Mr. Flores has passed on?” I asked.
“Yes,” Tawny replied, turning to me. “Why do you say person? Obviously, it’s more than one since they say we’ll kill you.”
“Because saying that there are a group of people coming after you, makes the threat sound more dangerous than if it came from a single person,” I replied. “I assume the stone they refer to is the ruby you told us about?”
“Yes,” Aston replied before his client could say anything. “It couldn’t be anything else. Like I said, the pigeon’s blood ruby is valued at two million dollars.”
“It’s the most valuable piece of jewelry I own, irreplaceable…priceless to me because Benny gave it to me. The last time I wore it was the night of the benefit I told you about.”
“And you’re certain it was stolen during a burglary even though the police ruled that out?” Raven asked.
“Yes.” She nodded. Tears tracked down her face. “Please, help me get the ruby back, Mr. Mathis.”
“I have a request for you, Mr. Aston,” I said. The elegantly dressed man turned to me.
“Anything.”
“First, I’d like to interview your in-house investigator to see what he turned up and next, I’d like to see all the other letters and get a look at the safe.”
“Also, the police report,” Raven added.
I nodded.
“Well, that’s easy enough to arrange,” Aston said. “I’d like you to start immediately if you don’t mind. As you can imagine, poor Tawny has been through enough and I’m frankly worried for her safety.”
“We can start as soon as you can make your investigator available to us,” I said, disliking the way he called his client by her first name. It was fine in private since attorneys often grew close to their clients over time but in my opinion, using it while sitting in front of strangers in a business meeting was just wrong.
“He’s out of the office on another of my cases today but I will have him call you to set up an appointment tomorrow morning since I’m not sure of the exact hour he’ll be back in town. I’ll also arrange to have you see the safe if that would be a convenient time?” Aston said.
“Of course,” Raven said, smiling. “And our PA will send over the contract to sign for engaging our services.” We both stood and so did Aston while his client remained seated. The bodyguard boyfriend stepped closer, putting a large hand on her shoulder. She turned her head and covered the hand with her own. If they were putting on an act, it was a good one.
“Thank you for meeting us on such short notice. Expect my—” Aston’s words were cut off when there was a loud commotion at the entrance to the patio.
We both turned to see what the noise was, and I spotted the security guard arguing with someone taller. The man was dressed in a tailored suit much like Raven and I were. It was approaching happy hour, so I figured some businessman had left the office early and shown up for cheap margaritas and free Mexican appetizers…until I spotted the bulge of a weapon underneath his jacket. I watched for a few seconds, noting the man’s back since it was the only thing I could see. He was arguing with the guard who’d raised his voice so loudly that by now, I could hear it carrying all the way across the ten yards separating us. The man raised both hands, using them in a shushing motion. He suddenly turned his head and looked back over his shoulder…directly at me.
I felt the ground shift under my feet as I recognized…a dead man. “John?”
“Who?” Raven asked
If I could have torn my gaze away from the man to acknowledge Raven’s question, I would’ve, but I was staring at the first man I’d loved…and lost, almost eleven years ago.
When he frowned at me with a double take I’d never forget, in a much older face than I remembered, I blinked, but not before starting to walk toward him. When he recognized my intent, he seemed to shake off his surprise, and bolted, almost immediately disappearing from sight in the direction of the parking lot. It struck me that the second he’d realized I’d seen him and recognized him, he’d taken off running. He’d known I would come after him.
He didn’t expect to see me. That I’d known from his expression. I knew them all. At the time of his recorded death, I’d worked with him for more than seven years. His frown was a dead giveaway, but it was the double take that sealed the deal. I’d seen it many times on missions when we’d gone into dwellings and found something unexpected. But rarely had I ever seen his expression morph from surprise into fear as I had today. Perhaps that was what struck me more than anything else.
Had this man, whom I’d shed blood for, whom I’d loved, meant harm to us? Or someone else in the restaurant? And why, when he’d recognized me, had he turned and run?
It was inconceivable. John never ran but then this could be personal.
He was the bravest of all of us and before we’d lost him in a sandstorm, the best team leader we’d ever had. Stepping into his role after we’d left him and our vehicles buried in desert sands, was the hardest thing any of us had ever done. We were Marines. We didn’t leave one of our own behind. And if it hadn’t been for being ordered out of Afghanistan where we were based, we’d have stayed and searched until we were satisfied that he’d really been killed…drowned in sand. We hadn’t been allowed to go back officially into the Taliban controlled territory and our whole unit had grieved that almost as much as the loss of our friend.
“Miguel!” Raven shouted when I’d gone twenty feet, weaving between tables and servers on the busy patio. I ignored him and sped up, hearing him calling after me. I knew he’d be following, though, I wished he wouldn’t. I was going to have a hard enough time explaining not only who John was, but what he’d meant to me when I’d lost him. By the time I’d finally reached the entrance where the security guard was standing, several seconds had passed, and John had a huge advantage. I couldn’t explain what in the world he was doing there, but if I was able to catch him—which seemed unlikely—I was going to make damned sure he did some explaining of his own.
I pushed past people standing in line at the entrance to the patio and ran out into the parking lot, looking left and right, knowing that John would’ve parked his vehicle himself and not taken advantage of the discretionary valet parking offered during the day. Calabasas was a more affluent area of the San Fernando Valley, and I figured a lot of the cantina’s patrons took advantage of valets even during lunch and happy hours.
I could only speculate, but if John were following me and Raven—or perhaps someone he thought the widow to the Flores estate had hired to find the ruby, it might explain him running away the second he saw me. Clearly, he hadn’t expected me to be at Sagebrush. But then again, it may have had nothing to do with us and my imagination had just gone into overdrive.
Cars were lined up at the valet stand and people had formed a long queue at the entrance of the restaurant itself, waiting for a table inside. I had no idea the restaurant was so popular but at the moment, the only thing I cared about was how hard the popularity of the place was making my job. Sorting John from the crowd wasn’t impossible but if he decided to do something stupid like jump into a car and tear away from the place, he could inadvertently hurt someone. Why was he running from me anyway? And how had he turned up here, alive and seemingly in perfect health? Why had he come armed?
I was still standing just beyond the line waiting to get into the patio when Raven caught up to me. I glanced over at him, noting his stoic expression. I frowned. “I saw someone.”
“You saw someone?” he asked. “Who? Why’d you take off like that, Miguel?”
Raven sounded almost angry at my lack of response to his questions, but at the moment, I couldn’t be bothered to answer them. I perceived a long, drawn-out explanation in my near future but I ignored him, still searching the lot and then the entrance to it. “He’s not here.” I took off running toward the street, cursing the fact that I had little traction on the gravel lot due to the dress shoes for the meeting. I heard Raven following close behind as I got out to the street. Looking left and right, I spotted him just at the end of the block. John turned to look back at me a second before yanking open the passenger door of a Jeep and diving inside. The car tore out into traffic causing several cars to jam on their brakes with a series of angry horn blasts.
And then he was gone…as if he were a ghost who’d never been here at all.
I bent over with my hands on both knees and sucked in several gulps of air as Raven caught up once again. He put his hand on the small of my back, and I glanced up at him, feeling miserable. I straightened as his hand fell away. “I’m sorry, Raven.”
He frowned at me. “Who was that, Miguel?”
I sighed. “Come on. I’ll tell you but first, I owe Aston and his client an apology.” We turned and began walking back to the restaurant. Tawny Flores, the bodyguard/boyfriend, and her lawyer stood at the valet station, waiting for their car to be brought around. They all turned in our direction as we walked over. I felt my face color as I apologized for the abrupt exit.
“I’m so sorry I left the way I did. I was uncomfortable with that man arguing, and he was carrying. Then when he turned, I’m sure I saw someone I recognized,” I said, shaking Aston’s hand.
“We were worried,” Tawny said. She’d pulled her lace veil back down over her eyes and it was hard to see her expression beyond it. My mind’s eye flashed back to the numerous women in burkas populating Afghanistan, a country I often wished I could forget. The garb covered their bodies from head to toe unlike Tawny Flores’ short, black dress that showed off a petite and near perfect figure.
“Forgive me.”
“Of course. Do you think he was a threat to us?” Aston asked.
“I’m not sure. But we’ll be investigating this further,” I said.
“Thank you. In any case, I’ll call your office after I drop off my client to give you my investigator’s number and Mrs. Flores’ address so you can get a look at the vault as we discussed.”
“Thank you,” Raven said, shaking his hand. He turned to the widow. “It was very nice to meet you, Mrs. Flores.”
She held out her small hand and he took it. “You too, Mr. Mathis. I hope you can find my ruby.”
“We’ll do our very best,” Raven said, glancing at the bodyguard, acknowledging him with a nod. “Mr. Mancuso.” The man gave a tight-lipped nod back.
A sleek, black Mercedes drove up, and Mancuso opened the back door for Tawny. She slid in and Aston turned to look back at us. “I’ll be in touch. I look forward to seeing you at the Flores estate in the morning.”
We both nodded as Aston joined the widow in the back before watching Mancuso tip the valet, get behind the wheel, and drive away.
We walked side by side to Raven’s truck at the back of the parking lot in silence. As he moved to the driver’s side, I followed. He turned in surprise as I pushed him back against the door and before he could say a thing, I kissed him. His arms were around me in an instant as he kissed me back almost desperately. It was several seconds before our lips parted.
“I really am sorry,” I said, resting my forehead against his.
“Talk to me, baby. Just tell me what that was all about. Who was that man?”
“Let’s go home. I have something to show you.”
“But Aston said he’s going to call as soon as he gets to the office. Shouldn’t we go back?”
I reached up and cupped the side of Raven’s smooth cheek, smiling at him. I loved this man so much, my heart felt like it’d burst. I shook my head. “Judy’s there. She’ll send over the paperwork for us. What I have to show you can’t wait.”
Raven’s brow creased in confusion, and I leaned forward, kissing over the furrows before stepping back. I walked around to the passenger seat and climbed up into the big, black vehicle. He started the engine and we headed toward home. “Do you want to talk about this now?”
“When we get home, Sunshine. Like I said, I have something to show you, and it may take a bit of time to figure out what I can say about everything.”
“So, this is about the military…when you were in the Marine Corps?”
I cracked a tiny smile. My man really was tenacious in everything he did. “Yeah. It’s about the Corps. Let’s leave it for home. Okay?”
He glanced over at me as he pulled onto the 101 Freeway. “Yeah, okay. When we get home then.”
I was grateful. I had pictures to show him, and I had a flag. It’s all I had left of a man who was more than a brother to me. We didn’t speak after that, but as I sat there, I made a deliberate effort to put the image of John’s shocked face out of my mind, the guilt of having left him behind, and tried to think of less complicated and better things to take my mind off the present. I thought about Raven’s most recent book review. These days, Nightcrawler was my safe space and I really felt like I needed one right now.
Book title: The Art of Floor
Author: Yun Mae
Publisher: Self-published
Genre: M/M Erotic Romance
Review/rating by Nightcrawler: 2 Stars
Synopsis:
This timeless tome, set in feudal China, tells the story of a young, gay scullery lad, whose entire youth is spent on his hands and knees.
My Review:
If you’re into gay erotica, this book sounds promising…right? There, you’d be wrong, my friends. If you’ve followed my blog, you know by now, I’m up for a gay romance at every turn so you, dear readers, wouldn’t be surprised that any book with a title of The Art of Floor would appeal to me. Especially when the author of such writings, promises to deliver a steamy man-on-man romance which will curl my toes. This book, however, fails that test to the hundredth power since I apparently totally misinterpreted what that “art” was. As a result, my toes remain as straight as can be…no doubt the only thing straight about me.
Instead of being the always-riveting story of a teenaged sex slave, forced onto his hands and knees, the youth in this book grows up scrubbing…you guessed it…floors.
And here I was, prepared to enjoy other fun things which could be done with a teen after he’d grown to manhood on calloused knees. I know…I freely admit to feeling more than a bit let down, much as you no doubt do, if you’ve read this review to this point. I live vicariously through my book boyfriends as you well know. But as sometimes happens, in this case, it wasn’t to be. Now, I must insert here—because sadly, no other inserts are forthcoming in this book—that there is no sex on these pages, gay or otherwise.
I was hoping—futilely, I admit—that there would be some gay erotic romance once the boy had grown to his majority since after all, it was listed on the M/M erotic bookshelves. Unfortunately, unless you’re into Mop & Glo without the mop or the glow, you’d be as disappointed as I. Alas, this book was as dry as they come and in the case of a mis-shelved gay sex book, was absent even the least bit of lubrication…unless you count dirty wash water.
Instead, the entire premise of this book was how the master of the castle has purchased this young lad and put him on his knees wearing only a soiled loincloth, forcing him to scrub floors. Maybe I’m not giving The Art of Floor the recommendation it deserves but I’ve always liked books with an actual plot. How Yun Mae could fill four hundred and fifty pages with paver polishing, I still haven’t worked out, but he’s done it. So, bear with me as I “wax” metaphorical as I will admit here that I might have missed the whole point of the book. Once again, I find myself quoting Sigmund Freud…
“Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.”
I found myself smiling as I recalled the review just as Raven glanced over. He smiled back. “What’s on your mind? You look happier.”
I reached across the console and took his hand in mine, leaning over to bring it to my lips and giving it a kiss. I sat back and smiled. “It’s nothing. I was just remembering the review you posted this morning.”
“The Art of Floor? Yeah, that was a real barn burner.”
“Four hundred and fifty pages of floor polishing?” I laughed, shaking my head. “I just can’t believe some of these authors. Where do they come up with these plots?”
“I think the plot of that book was that there was no plot,” he said.
I grunted in agreement. “How do you get through them? I mean, if a book was that plotless, I’d fall asleep halfway through.”
He sighed, squeezing my hand. “Trust me when I tell you there have been many nights when I’ve fallen asleep reading them. I think The Art of Floor was one of the worst.”
“So, how do you keep on reading?”
“The answer to that is simple enough. It was listed as a gay romance. Duh .”
I laughed. “You kept waiting for the master to rip off the loincloth and do some real damage to that ass.”
Raven grinned, keeping his eyes on the road ahead as he transitioned onto the 5 Freeway, not far from home. “I was so tempted to send the author some of my favorite porn after that review just so I could prove to him that his book was the furthest thing from a M/M erotic romance as there ever was.”
I grinned at him. “So, you’d categorize the porn you watch as romance, huh ?”
He grinned, staring straight ahead. “Some of it’s romance. The one we watched on Saturday was definitely romance.”
“The one with twelve guys in the locker room trying out various positions for cream pies?”
Raven nodded. “Yeah, that was sooo romantic,” he singsonged.
“And this is why I love you, Sunshine.”
He looked over at me and smiled fondly. “And I kinda love you just a little bit too, Miguel.” He paused for a few seconds before turning his eyes back to the road and smiling sweetly. “Now you wanna watch it again, don’t you?”
I chuckled, squeezing his hand as I relaxed back in the seat and closed my eyes. I didn’t even realize I’d fallen asleep until he stopped the truck in front of the house.