Chapter Twelve
Jet
“Have I told you how great it is to have you back? Krasinski’s a good deputy, but he doesn’t shut up about his girlfriend.”
Emerson looked a hell of a lot better than after the shooting.
“Yeah. Guy needs to chill with the ladies.”
Amused, I caught his eye. “Did you actually say that? You? King of the hookups?”
He made a face. “That’s getting old. I dunno. Maybe you’re right and I need to look for one special person. Settle down and stop screwing around.”
This was a whole new Emerson. Maybe the shooting had gotten him to see that life was too short to waste on people who didn’t give a damn about you.
“Your girlfriend wasn’t taking good care of you? She seemed pretty worried at the station when I saw her.”
“Amber?” He shrugged. “After a few days, she bailed. Said I wasn’t fun anymore. Like, what the fuck did she expect? I fucking killed a guy, and she wanted to go out clubbing and have sex.” Emerson’s shoulders slumped. “She didn’t care about me.”
I felt for him. Having Harte made me realize how empty my life had been without him. Now instead of looking forward to action on the tour, I couldn’t wait to get home and be with him. I loved seeing his smile when I walked through the door.
We drove along, and it was a quiet ride, where we stopped one car for a busted taillight and gave them a warning, and another for blowing a stop sign, which warranted a ticket.
A call for an alarm going off at Mrs. Chester’s house turned out to be a short in her wiring.
She gave us homemade chocolate-chip cookies to take with us for our trouble.
Emerson chomped on one as I started the car. “So, how’s Harte McKinney?”
It didn’t make any sense to keep it from him. I had planned to speak to Gleason at the end of tour. “He’s good. Better than good, as a matter of fact.”
“Yeah?” Emerson’s knowing green eyes met mine in the mirror.
“Yeah. We’re…dating. I guess that’s what you’d call it.”
“I mean, no shit. Kind of figured that out from the beginning.”
I knew I was blushing, but I stayed quiet.
“What’s it like?” Emerson asked. “With a guy, I mean.”
I stopped at the red light and turned to him. “I know you didn’t just ask me about sex with a man.”
Emerson’s mouth dropped. “So you’re really doin’ the deed?”
“Emerson,” I snapped, using his full name so he’d know I was annoyed. “Do I ever ask you about you having sex with your girlfriends? That’s fucked up if you think I’m gonna say anything personal about me ’n Harte.”
Chastened, he hung his head. “Sorry. You’re right. It wasn’t cool.”
Mollified, I decided to throw him a bone. “But guess what I did last night.”
Emerson’s brows rose. “I dunno.”
“Hung out with Devlin Summers and Brody Martin.” I smirked. “We were at their house.”
“What?” he sputtered. “No fucking way, you lucky bastard. Tell me everything.”
Just then a call came in on the radio. “All units. Reports of a disturbance at Sweeny’s Pub on Main Street. Owner requesting assistance.”
Emerson grabbed the handheld receiver. “7-Adam-13. We are responding.”
“Damn, it’s seven o’clock. Couldn’t they have held off one more hour until our shift was finished?” I grumbled.
Lights and sirens on, we sped through the streets to downtown. Sweeny’s was our local bar, where most of the townsfolk hung out after work, and with it being Friday night, I knew from experience it was ladies’ night and therefore crowded. I braced myself for some typical macho bullshit.
A crowd had spilled from the bar to the parking lot, and people were milling about. Emerson and I parked and got out of our vehicle.
“What’s the problem?” I asked Theo Sweeny, the owner, who waited on the steps. His face registered relief. Theo and I went to high school together. His father had retired and Theo now ran the bar.
“Jet. Glad it’s you. A motorcycle gang came gunning in here and started bothering my customers. We serve everyone. I don’t care who your date is.”
A chill ran up my spine. “What’re you talking about?”
“Come on in. I’ll show you.”
In the parking lot, there were some dickheads running their mouths, but Emerson had it under control. “I’m going inside,” I called out to him.
“All right. We’re not gonna have a problem here, am I right?” He glared at the two men, who shuffled their feet and glanced away.
“No, sir.”
I followed Theo, where a few leather-clad guys looked ready to pop off. In a booth along the wall sat three men. The couple held hands, their faces pale, while their friend opposite them gazed at everyone else with defiance, a hard thrust to his jaw.
“What’s going on?” I stood by their table.
The man sitting alone rose to his feet. “I went to get a drink at the bar for me and my friends, and those two”—he pointed at the bikers—“started making stupid comments that we should drink for free because it’s Ladies’ Night.
I told them to keep their bigoted opinions to themselves, and they got in my face and started calling me names.
” He met my eyes. “No one calls me a limp-wristed swish and tells me I’m too pretty to be a man and that I have a blowjob mouth.
So I asked them if they were hinting they wanted me to give them one. ” He smirked at them.
“Motherfucker,” one of the bikers growled. “Stay away from me.”
“You’re right,” I told the man at the table. “No one has the right to talk to you or anyone like that.” I could see he was a little surprised by my answer. I turned to face the motorcycle fools. “Well? What do you have to say for yourselves?”
“Fuck you.” One of them snickered, and his friend joined in. “We don’t wanna see no queers. And he better stay away from me, or I’ll—”
“You’ll what?” I took several steps toward him and stuck my face in his.
“And you don’t want to see any queers? Well, too damn bad for you.
Because you’re looking at one right now.
So why don’t you say some shit to my face instead of theirs.
” I heard shocked murmurs all around me, but I didn’t care.
He and his buddy were about two inches shorter than me and twenty pounds lighter, and I drew my lips back in a feral sneer.
Their grins faded, and one of them paled under his beard.
“You’re lying,” the loudmouthed one said, but less cocky than when I walked in.
“Yeah? You want to make me prove it?” He took a step away from me, but I matched it with one forward. “I suggest you get your bigoted asses out of this bar and Appleton Falls before I decide to lock you up on hate speech. Got that?” I pulled out my cuffs. “Or are you gonna make my night?”
“This bar sucks anyway. Full of ugly girls.” They both hustled out to the shouts, hisses, and jeers of the rest of the customers. Emerson walked in and joined me.
“What happened outside?” I asked.
“Nothing. Just some jokers who let adrenaline get the best of them. Harmless idiots.”
“Officer?”
The man who’d spoken up gave me his hand. “Thank you. I appreciate your help, but it wasn’t necessary to say you’re gay to get them to leave.”
We shook. “I have to make a report. Can I get your names?” I took down their information and addressed his table.
“I’m sorry you had to experience this. And for the record, I don’t say things I don’t mean or that aren’t true.
Appleton Falls might be a small town, but I’m sure you know queer people exist everywhere.
I hope you enjoy the rest of your night, and Merry Christmas. ”
I walked away with Emerson at my side. “Dude, that was great. Good for you.”
I might look put together on the outside, but inside I was a mess.
“Jet, Jet, hold up.” I took a deep breath and stopped to allow Theo to catch up to me. “Th-thanks for everything in there.”
I nodded, giving him a weak smile. “Yeah, well, that’s our job. I’m glad it ended without an incident. Take it easy.”
“Wait a minute. Can we talk for a second?”
All I wanted was to get out of there, but Theo was a friend, and I couldn’t brush him off.
“Sure.” I caught Emerson’s eye. “Give us a few?”
“No problem. I’ll start writing up the report.” He flew to the patrol car, obviously wanting no part of the conversation.
Theo had always been a quiet kid, somewhat of a loner.
His father had kept him on a short leash since his mother had walked out on them years earlier, which hadn’t allowed him time for parties or after-school activities.
His bright-red hair had turned a rich, dark auburn and freckles dotted his fair skin.
Big, light-green eyes stared at me with an almost worshipful gaze.
Theo shoved his hands into his pockets. “So, uh, what you said…”
I sighed. “Yeah, well, it’s not something I talk about off-the-cuff. Like, hey, how’s it going? And by the way, I’m bisexual.”
Theo blinked. “Well…me too.” He chewed his lip. “But I’m not bi. I’m gay.”
Now it was my turn to stare. “You are? Oh, wow. Yeah. I guess neither of us felt safe back in the day to say anything.”
“Definitely not me. My old man probably woulda beaten the shit out of me.” Pain flickered across Theo’s face. “I don’t tell anybody ’cause I figure it might hurt business. Folks here…I dunno. I’d rather be safe than sorry. But after what you said, it’s good to know I’m not the only one.”
Still processing the shock, I said, “It’s okay. People can surprise us in good ways as well as bad. But I’m around if you ever need to talk.”
His eyes lit up with hope. “Uh, are you dating…or seeing anyone? Maybe we could meet for coffee…”
I hated to disappoint him, but I had to let him know I was involved. “I’d love to connect again as friends, but I am seeing someone, and it’s pretty serious.”
Theo retreated immediately. “Oh, yeah, of c-course you are. And sure, that’d be great. Whenever. I’m happy for you. It’s not easy up here.”
“It happened out of the blue. Just keep your eyes open. You never know when you might meet someone.”