CHAPTER ELEVEN
Due to the late hour, the station was relatively quiet. The few cops we saw asked Hayden why he was there so late, and he said he’d forgotten something in his office. He led me up the stairs—the same ones I couldn’t bring myself to climb a few days prior.
His office was spacious, but he shared it with another detective who wasn’t currently there. He pulled back his chair for me to sit, as if we were on a date.
“Can I see the menu first?”
“I’ll order us pizza.”
His desk was very clean and organized, with a framed photo of a smiling Maya, resembling him by the shape of her eyes and nose. He also had a few stress relief toys. I grabbed one shaped like a banana, figuring I’d need it.
“Before you start with the mugshots, do you mind looking at the photos of the other missing actors? You might recognize some.”
I squeezed the banana. “Okay.”
He pulled out a folder from his drawer. I opened it and browsed through photos of handsome men, some younger than others. They were all smiling in their photos, likely believing their best years were ahead of them, their dreams right around the corner. “I don't recognize any of these men.” Though I could barely recall the faces of the other captives, their hatred had likely driven me to hide them in a dark part of my brain.
The sudden knock on the door startled me. I hurried to close the folder as a young female officer entered.
“Hi, Sue.” Hayden put a hand on my shoulder. “This is Jonah.”
She came to shake my hand. “Hi, I heard a lot about you.” She said to Hayden, “Everything you asked for is in your inbox. Delete it once you’re done. The Chief was loud and clear about this case.”
“Yeah, he was definitely loud.”
She snickered. “You know you’re still his favorite. Anyway, I’m out of here. Nice meeting you, Jonah.”
After she left, Hayden started his computer. His desktop background was of Robocop, his favorite film. He had made me watch it twice with him, including the shitty sequels. He was about to open one of the folders when there was another knock on the door.
My breath caught in my throat when the Chief walked in. He was as tall as Hayden, with gray hair and a gray mustache. While Hayden wore civilian clothes, the Chief wore his uniform like he had been born in it. His hawk nose set under two dark eyes that looked straight at me. I’d met him twice in my life, and he’d been friendly, but the circumstances were different now.
I hurried to my feet, though that might’ve made me seem even more suspicious.
“Working late?” The Chief’s voice was as deep as a rolling thunder.
“We’re not working,” Hayden said stiffly, “just searching online for good places to eat.”
“I see. Jonah, nice to see you again.”
“Hello, sir.” I cleared my throat. “We can’t decide on where to go for pizza. Any recommendations?”
“Are you still vegetarian?”
His memory caught me by surprise. “I am.”
“Try Alfred and Sons. Thick slices, plenty of cheese. They’re generous with their vegetable toppings.”
“Sounds good,” I said. “We’ll go there.”
The Chief nodded and asked Hayden, “Is everything okay with you?”
“Sure. Any reason it shouldn’t be?”
He narrowed his eyes. “You tell me.”
“Everything’s fine, sir.”
“Okay, then.” He turned around. “Have a nice evening, you two. Enjoy your pizza.”
Alone again, Hayden slumped onto the chair next to me, rubbing his face. I wondered if I should offer him the banana toy.
“He shouldn’t have seen you here,” he muttered. “Fuck.”
“We got out okay.”
“He didn’t buy it.”
“Then maybe we should leave.”
“No.” He turned to face me, the familiar stubbornness in his eyes. “We’re doing this.” He opened the file with the mugshots. “I know we’re searching for Bo, but you might also come across other people who worked there. Don’t dismiss a face you don’t immediately recognize. I’ll go order pizza. Be back in a sec.”
Once alone, I grabbed the banana toy and squeezed it.
Just photos . I was just going to look through some photos in the hope of coming across the monster I had fought years to forget. Easy peasy.
Hayden returned as I began clicking between rapists’ mugshots. He moved behind me and placed his hands on my shoulders. I flinched and shook him off. “I don’t want you touching me while I’m looking through rapists.”
He stepped back, and I continued to click.
*
Two hours passed before my body froze in shock. Bobby Doyle, arrested at the age of twenty-five in Oakland for rape. He seemed younger than when I’d met him, but I would recognize that angry glare for as long as I lived.
“It’s him.”
Hayden slid closer with his chair. The pizza carton lay closed, with some slices still inside. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.” I took my chair back to give him room, then stood to stretch my legs while Hayden clicked through more screens.
“It’s like you said—he got out on parole after three years for good behavior. There’s usually more information about the parole process and the committee’s ruling, but I don't see any of that on his file. It’s as though someone just decided to set him free.” Almost apologetically, he added, “It was easier doing things off the record back then. I don’t think they could pull it off today.’
I was positive they still could.
“I’ll try to find his address tomorrow.” He shut down the computer and stood to face me.
“Don’t go looking for him on your own.”
“I won’t do anything without you knowing. Thank you for going through this. Can I touch you now?”
I nodded, expecting him to kiss me, but he pulled me into a hug. “I’m proud of you, Joe. Ready to go home?”
I’d never been more ready to return to my mountain. “Yes.”
“To my home.”
“I won’t be good company tonight.”
“I'll take the risk.”
Too tired to argue, I agreed.
*
We parked our cars in front of Hayden’s three-story building. It was a small, quiet neighborhood, so finding a good parking space wasn't as rare as winning the lottery.
“You have a new couch,” I said once we stepped inside.
“I do. You hated the old one.”
“It was lumpy.”
“Well, there you go.”
The living room was on the smaller side but arranged to feel homey. Hayden's acoustic guitar had an honorary place next to the television. His bookcase carried four books and around two hundred DVDs, mostly of cop flicks. When we started dating, I’d been upfront with him about my short run at acting, leaving out what had caused me to stop and simply stating that it hadn’t worked out.
“I’m going for a quick shower. Join me?”
I wished to stay alone for a bit, to try to stop Bo’s face from floating in my mind. “I’ll go in after you.”
Looking slightly disappointed, he nodded and walked to the bathroom.
I slumped onto the couch, tired and low-spirited. I could still vividly recall opening my eyes for the first time in that cell, seeing Bo as I lay naked and dazed. I demanded to know where I was, and he responded with his fists. For six months, he’d been my personal demon, using my body and toying with my mind while exploiting my every weakness.
And now I was searching for him.
I pinched my arm to put out the growing fire. It dawned on me that the perfect distraction was close by, taking a shower. I had been so focused on my own shit that I hadn’t thought of how this must be affecting Hayden, who also had his life turned upside down.
I can be his distraction, too.
I took off my clothes and walked to the bathroom. Opening the door, I was caught in a thick cloud of steam. Hayden still liked to shower in lava. I barely managed to see his silhouette through the glass door. I left the bathroom door open to let some of the steam out, then walked closer to the cubicle and slid open the door. “Can I still join?”
He wiped water from his face, his naked body a glorious sight. “Depends. Can I soap you everywhere?”
“You may.”
“Wait. I’ll make the water less hot; you’re sensitive.”
“No, you just have the skin of a hippo.”
He lowered the temperature and moved to give me room. The water hit the tight muscles at the center of my back. I shut my eyes and sighed, my body relaxing.
“Doesn’t take much to make you purr.”
I opened my eyes and lowered my gaze, Hayden’s beautiful cock pointing at me like an invitation. I sank to my knees.
He stroked my face and tilted my head to meet his eyes. “Don’t do anything you don’t want to do.”
“If you keep acting like I’m a delicate flower, I’ll bite your cock off.”
“Okay.” He brushed my lips with his thumb, the water splashing on the back of my head. “Open your pretty mouth for me.”
I did, but instead of sliding in his cock, he slid in two fingers. I breathed through my nose as he reached down my throat, challenging my gag reflex. I held his gaze, my sight turning blurry until Hayden slowly pulled his fingers out and licked them.
“Did I pass?”
He answered by sliding his cock into my mouth. I worked my throat to take him deep until his wet pubes tickled my nose. I held onto his strong thighs for balance, encouraged by the growing tremble in his muscles. Through the sound of flowing water, his moans slipped into my ears. He held my head firmly but still left me in control of the rhythm of my sucking.
“Fuck, Jonah. Fuck, I missed this.”
Unable to speak, I held his balls and gently tugged them, pulling more moans from the center of his body. I reached behind his scrotum to massage the skin, my tongue swirling around his crown. The tremble in his muscles turned into a quake, his moans growing into groans. A minute later, he pulled out, his erection slick with my saliva. “I don’t want to come yet.” He helped me up and turned me around, grabbing a bar of soap. I moved the showerhead to aim at the wall and rested my palms against the tiles, my back arched in invitation.
He rubbed the soap up and down my back. When he reached my ass, I spread my legs, gasping at the intimate feeling of the soap brushing against my opening. Hayden moved it in small, teasing circles, spreading currents all across my body. I pushed my ass back to feel more, but he kept his movements slow and steady, driving me crazy.
“Bastard,” I breathed.
He reached with his other hand to grab my erection, stroking firmly and making me squirm. His other hand found its way between my legs, soaping from my ass to my crotch. It took all I had to remain steady and conscious. Luckily, he showed mercy and stopped before I completely lost control.
He washed the soap from my skin before sinking to his knees. “You have the best ass in the world.”
“I doubt it.”
I gasped when he spanked my ass and said, “That wasn’t a question. Say it.”
I cleared my throat. “I have the best ass in the world.”
He spanked me again. “Say it like you mean it.”
“I have the best ass in the whole fucking world! Poets write sonnets about it!”
He kissed the spot he’d spanked. “A bit pompous, are we?”
I braced myself when the tip of his finger pressed against my opening. “Let’s clean you up in there.”
I bit down on my bottom lip as his entire finger slid into me. He gave me time to adjust, then slowly—so freaking slowly—pulled his finger out. He did that a few more times, using water to clean me while loosening my muscles. When he bent his finger inside me, I growled and wished for something solid to hold onto instead of the smooth tiles.
I was losing myself to the rhythm of his slippery finger when I suddenly felt his tongue. It pushed into me, melting me into a puddle. He grabbed my ass cheeks, spreading them wider. I unclenched as much as I could, rewarded by another slippery inch inside.
“Oh, God… I…”
He fucked me with his tongue, his stubble brushing against my sensitive skin. I felt out of my body yet strangely aware of every molecule. I wished to stroke myself but failed to move my palms from the tiles, which didn’t stop me from dripping precum onto the floor.
Hayden pulled his tongue out and stood, turning me around to face him. “Alive?”
“Barely.”
“Good enough.” He ran his finger around my crown and scooped up my precum. With our eyes locked, he licked his finger clean. “You taste like pizza.”
“Gross.”
“Raise your hands.”
I did, and he picked up the bar of soap and slowly rubbed it over each of my armpits.
“You’re going to be shiny and clean for me, Joe?”
“Y-yes.”
“But only until I fuck your brains out, right?”
I nodded, barely feeling the floor beneath my feet. “Right.”
He adjusted the water to wash away the soap, then leaned down and closed his teeth on my nipple. I gasped, embracing the pain. “Harder.”
“You sure?”
“Yes.”
The growing pain turned my vision white-hot, slicing through my chest. “Harder.”
I would have fallen if not for his arms wrapped around me. He switched back and forth from biting to sucking, an intoxicating cycle of pleasure and pain.
“I’m getting dizzy.”
He stopped and straightened, frowning down at my chest. “I went too far.”
I looked down, my pink nipple now red. He’d cut me with his teeth. “You didn’t go too far. It’s fine.”
He adjusted the water to wash away the blood. “I sometimes wish to go too far with you. It’s scary how easily I lose myself.”
I closed the short distance between us and rested the side of my face against his chest, his heartbeat strong and steady. “You’ll never go too far with me, and I’ll be okay with wherever you take us.”
He kissed the top of my head. “That might be the most romantic thing you’ve ever said to me.”
“Must be the rimming.”
He laughed. “You’re as clean as you’re going to get—inside and out.”
“I’m ready.”
“It’s been a long day. We can stop and go to sleep.”
I grabbed his cock. “I dare you not to fuck me.”
He sighed and slid open the door. “You know me too well, Joe.”