Let the Music Play - 25. Fact Finding

“Hi, Jerry!” Helen yelled from across the pool as The Scar got out of the Land Rover. She was glad to see him; she’d been concerned that he wouldn’t accept the invitation to unwind, and Jerry, in Helen’s opinion, was far too tense for his own good.

Walking towards Helen and Barbra, who sat on loungers near the pool, The Scar fussed with his slacks and polo shirt as he assumed his character of ‘Jerry’, the amiable flamer. Helen nodded approvingly as she said, “I’m glad to see you’re dressed a little more sensibly for the climate. I also firmly believe that business suits have no place on a vacation. Thanks for coming back; you need a vacation, and I aim to see that you get one. Now tell me, how is Vlad?”

Taking a seat next to Helen and Barbra, Jerry replied with a sad shake of his head, “I’m afraid the prognosis is not good. We nearly lost him yesterday, but he should be okay for a few more weeks. He very much appreciated the kangaroo and told me to relay his thanks. He was also delighted with the scooter; he’d been needing it for a long time.”

Barbra and Helen shared a sad look, and then Helen asked, “Is there anything we can do?”

Carefully looking at his feet and struggling to maintain the proper air of grief, Jerry savored the irony as he replied, “No, all we can hope is that the end be quick.”

“I’ll at least send you back with several more kangaroos.”

Struggling to suppress a smile, Jerry nodded, replying in sincerity, “Yes, I have no doubt that they would delight him. He adores kangaroos.”

Helen smiled, and got to her other point, “You are staying with us for a few days, aren’t you? We are leaving here in two days and heading up to the Great Barrier Reef. You really must see it, I hear it’s spectacular.”

With a nod, Jerry agreed. “Yes, I can stay with you for a few days, but then I really must get back to work.”

* * *

In the living room of Jon and Eric’s cottage, Jon shifted uncomfortably on the sofa, wincing slightly as his board shorts rubbed against a particularly tender spot. “Damn Helen and those Speedos! I’ve got a freaking sunburn on the upper back of my legs,” Jon complained in his brother’s general direction.

Eric looked up from his video game and laughed. “I warned you to put on extra sunscreen there. I did, and I’m fine.”

Fixing his brother in an angry stare, Jon replied, “Yeah, bro, you put on extra sunscreen before we left the boat and then told me about it when we were surfing. I’d have had to paddle all the way back to the boat. That was really helpful.”

“I do what I can,” Eric replied with a snicker, before his face turned serious and he said, “Jerry is back. I saw him with Helen over by the pool.”

His mild sunburn forgotten, Jon lowered his voice a little to ask, “Are you still getting bad vibes about the guy?”

“Yeah, big time. I’ve been trying to figure out what he might really be up to. We all looked over the contracts and Helen is right, there’s no risk to us; if he doesn’t deliver, we don’t have to pay. Maybe we should try and get in touch with Lump when we get back home; Jerry is his dad, so maybe he knows something. Then there’s that guy who picked Jerry up; that was one mean-looking dude, and he barely spoke. I get bad vibes about him, too. Sure as hell I don’t think he’s a charity worker.” Eric scratched his head, trying to figure out what their next step should be.

Jon slowly nodded in agreement. “Yeah, that was pretty weird. Another weird thing is Jerry’s been pretty damn vague about what he’s doing down here and where he went to. He said Brisbane, but that Land Rover looks like its been doing some offroading; it’s damn near caked with red dust. Hey, I’ve got an idea... You played around with that GPS thing you got Chase for his birthday, right? Didn’t you say it had some kind of record function, so it could tell you where you’ve been?”

His head snapping up from the now-forgotten video game perched on his bare stomach, Eric stared at his brother for a few moments before breaking into a big grin. “I like the way you think bro. Chase has it with him, too; Brandon helped him put in a map chip for Australia. The only problem is the battery is only good for a few hours. Even if we stashed it in his Land Rover, it would conk out when the battery died. We’d also have to get it back to get any info out of it. Hey, wait, it has a power cord; you can plug it into a car’s cigarette lighter.”

“Yeah, so it could be wired in somehow. I bet Brandon would know; he’s good with electrical stuff. Maybe we better bring him and Chase in on this.”

Jumping up off the couch, Eric headed for the door, still displaying a slight limp, one that he would have for several weeks. “Yeah, let’s go see ‘em.”

Jon followed his brother out the door, padding across the grass to Brandon and Chase’s cottage. Eric pushed the door open and stepped inside to find it empty, and then he noticed that the bedroom door was closed. Pressing his finger to his lips, he pointed at the closed door, and then tapped his thumb against his bare chest, grinning wickedly before whispering, “Let me get ‘em. They’re in the bedroom, probably fucking again.”

Jon rolled his eyes and shook his head, as if to clear it. “Don’t those two ever stop? Damn, sometimes I think they’re even hornier than you are,” he whispered.

Flipping his brother off, Eric crept over to the closed bedroom door. Eric looked back at his brother with an evil grin. Turning back to the door, Eric pounded on it hard, yelling, “Open up, it’s the police; come out with your hands up!”

The sudden noise jolted Brandon out of a sound sleep, and he rolled away from Chase as the pounding rang in his ears, and again he heard the yelled orders through the door. Bolting upright, Brandon turned to look at Chase, only to meet an equally confused and startled set of eyes. Finally, the mental fog clearing, Brandon muttered, “That sounds like Eric.”

Hopping out of bed and pulling on their discarded shorts, Brandon and Chase walked towards the door, but Chase grabbed Brandon’s shoulder to stop him and whispered, “Let’s get him.”

Snatching the door open, they caught Eric in mid-pound. Eric smiled sweetly and said, “We thought you were fucking and didn’t want to startle you.”

Scratching his head and glaring at Eric, Chase replied, stifling a fake yawn, “We were sleeping, bro, and you don’t sound like a cop. They’d say either open the door, or come out with your hands up, not both. So, what’s up? Or did you just come by to harass us?”

Eric chuckled and said, “We need to talk to you guys; harassing you was just an unexpected bonus.”

Moving fast, Brandon lowered his shoulder, charging at Eric, catching him in the stomach and wrestling him to the ground as Chase piled on top. Chase hollered at Brandon, “Pin his legs,” as Chase began tickling the bottoms of Eric’s feet. Squirming in Brandon’s grasp, Eric howled with laugher, trying to twist free.

After having exacted a measure of revenge, Brandon and Chase let Eric go. Chase chuckled at his brother’s expense and said, “He’s ticklish the same place I am, on his feet.”

Jon, seated on a couch, stopped laughing long enough to say in Brandon’s direction, “I told you those two are alike in a lot of ways.”

Plopping himself into a recliner, Eric tried his best to look picked on, but no one was buying it. Brandon and Chase settled into the sofa across from Jon. Deciding that it would be a little more believable coming from him, Jon said, “Jerry’s back, and Eric and I think there’s something going on with him. Something about him is making Eric pick up bad vibes, or whatever the hell it is that Eric does. I’ve never known Eric to be wrong about anyone when he’s this positive, so I believe him.”

Feeling both puzzled and concerned, Brandon said, “Jerry pushed me to get together with Chase. He even helped me pick out the necklace I gave Chase for his birthday. Are you guys sure about this?”

Eric shrugged. “It’s just a feeling I have. I haven’t liked the guy, ever. All I’m saying is we should look into the guy a bit, do a little fact finding.”

Brandon shared a look with his boyfriend, and Chase said, “Eric is hardly ever wrong when he’s this sure.” After thinking it over for a few seconds, Brandon reluctantly nodded his agreement. Chase turned towards his brothers and asked, “What exactly do you want to do?”

With a smile, and not a little relief that they had signed on so easily, Eric replied, “Just don’t tell Helen. Okay, mainly, I just want to keep an eye on the guy, maybe poke around a bit. He’s handling our shipping, so we need to know if he’s up to something. He said he was going to Brisbane last time he left, but that Land Rover has been doing some serious dirt-roading. I just think it would be good to know if he’s going where he says he’s going. Would you let us use your GPS?”

Curious, but growing cautious over what his brothers had cooked up, Chase asked, “Okay, but use it how?”

Jon fielded that question. “Brandon, we need your help with this. The GPS has a recording mode, but the battery would only last a few hours. It can run off a car’s cigarette lighter, so we were hoping you could wire it into something on Jerry’s Land Rover, like maybe the fuel pump. Then, when he comes back again, we’ll at least know where he’s been and then maybe we can check the places out later, or get Günter to help with that. I don’t think we should bring him in now though, he might tell Helen and we need something to show her before we do that.”

Glancing out the window, Eric said, “There’s a chance this might not work; unless Jerry comes back in the same vehicle, we won’t get the GPS back, and if that happens I’ll get you another one, bro.”

His first instinct was that Helen should be told, but faced with his band mates’ clear choice on the matter, Brandon settled for asking, “Why not tell Helen now? If we don’t trust Jerry, why not just tell Helen that we voted on it and no longer want to do business with him?”

Jon and Eric exchanged a look, and Jon answered for them both, “It’s kind of complicated with her. She’d do it if we asked, but she wouldn’t be happy about it. She likes Jerry and feels sorry for him. There’s also the problem with the shipping; we’d have to find someone else on very short notice, and he has gotten us some great deals. It would cost us a lot if we dump him now, but after the tour we can, no problem. The other thing is she’s like a mom to all of us – and you know that includes you – so we can’t pretend she’s just a manager. If we show her we can deal with things on our own, maybe she’ll ease up on her overprotective act.”

Eric added, “The other part of it is more personal. Remember when you joined us, we told you that Jerry was at one point a business partner of our father? Remember Jerry saying he was working on Dad to at least talk to us again? If there’s any chance of that happening we don’t want to blow it, but we do need to find out if Jerry is on the level, at least in his business with us. He’s hiding something, I’m sure of it.”

Making his decision, Brandon nodded. “Okay, I’m in. I’ve seen Eric’s intuition, or whatever, enough to know there must be something to it. I guess there’s not much harm in attaching a GPS. The fuel pump wire won’t work as a power source though; it turns off when the ignition switch is off. I’ll look up some wiring diagrams for Land Rovers online and see what I can figure out, but my best guess is the starter motor. That always has power; it’s just the starter solenoid that runs though the ignition switch. Maybe I could tape the GPS to the top of the starter and then just hook in a wire to the power and to ground. I can probably get to it from underneath so we don’t need a key. What I do need are some tools and some time under the vehicle.”

Smiling, Eric asked, “What kind of tools do you need, bro?”

After thinking it over for a few seconds, Brandon replied, “A small adjustable wrench, but pliers might work if that’s all we can get. Duct tape and electrical tape, but either one would do. That’s about it; I can use my knife to strip the wires.”

Eric stood up, grinning, saying as he turned to the door, “I’ll be back with the stuff in a few.”

Strolling into the resort’s office, Eric sought out the maintenance director, which was the title bestowed upon the resort’s lone handyman. Following the receptionist’s directions, and pausing only to flirt a little, Eric headed off for a row of cottages on the opposite side of the resort. Finding the handyman working on an air conditioner behind one of the units, Eric smiled in his most disarming way and asked, “Could I borrow an adjustable wrench, some electrical tape, and some duct tape? I’m staying here with my band and we need to do some repairs on an amplifier.”

Noticing the man’s hesitancy, Eric fished a U.S. hundred-dollar bill out of his wallet and offered it with a smile, “We really need them, and we won’t tell anyone. It’ll be our secret. I’ll have ‘em back by tomorrow.”

The handyman didn’t hesitate; he flipped open the lid of his toolbox and handed Eric what he’d asked for, knowing full well that even if he never got them back, he could easily replace the resort’s wrench and tape and still have most of the money left for his own pocket.

With a happy grin, Eric took the adjustable wrench and the two rolls of tape and with a quick “thanks” headed back towards Brandon and Chase’s cottage.

Strolling in through the door, twirling the electrical tape on his finger, Eric dropped the wrench and duct tape on the glass table in front of Brandon. Chase had already retrieved the GPS and its power cord, and they lay on the table ready for Brandon’s efforts. Brandon looked up from the wiring diagram he’d found with the laptop computer via the resort’s wireless, grinning as he saw what Eric had acquired. “Any idea how we can do this? It’s going to take me about ten minutes under that Land Rover to get this done, and that’s if everything goes right,” Brandon asked.

Eric shrugged, glancing out the window before saying, “He’s parked next to Günter’s cottage, where he’s staying. Maybe you can slip away and do it while everyone is at dinner tonight? It won’t be dark by then, so you’ll have enough light. Chase or Jon can go with you and be your lookout and I’ll try and keep everyone occupied if needed.”

Once everyone had agreed, Eric grinned, flicking a thumb in the direction of the beach, “That’s settled, so let’s go jet-skiing.”

After two hours of riding the jet-skis, the members of Instinct kicked back on the beach to soak in the sun. Eric, a little restless as always, suggested, “Who wants to go up the coast a ways? We can try doing more jumps off the breakers, too. That was great.”

Jon nodded. “I’m in.”

Brandon and Chase shared a look, both feeling a little drained due to their lack of sleep the night before. Chase spoke for them both, “We’ll kick back here for a while. You guys go get crazy.”

Springing to his feet, Eric raced Jon to the jet-skis. Brandon and Chase sat silently, watching as the others headed out and up the coast. Brandon took a furtive glance around to confirm that there was no one close by. Seeing that the nearest guests were fifty yards up the beach, Brandon reached over and entwined his fingers with Chase’s, barely believing how lucky he’d been in so many ways.

Chase gave Brandon’s fingers a squeeze, and bumped his bare shoulder against his boyfriend’s before saying, “Brand, this is just perfect. You and me, together on a beach... I could stay here forever like this.”

Brandon replied by giving Chase’s fingers another squeeze, relaying his feelings without words as together, they stared out at the sparkling, azure sea.

* * *

Getting dressed for dinner at the resort’s restaurant was a simple matter thanks to the casual atmosphere; all the members of Instinct had to do was return to their cottages and throw on t-shirts and shoes. After their day at the beach, all were hungry, but Brandon’s thoughts kept wandering towards what he’d need to do after dinner. Eyeing the tools and GPS on the table after he and Chase had pulled on their T’s, Brandon took advantage of Jon and Eric’s absence to ask Chase, “Do you really think something is going on with Jerry? He seems like a good guy to me.”

Chase nodded, and walked over to look down at his GPS before replying, “Yeah, I know what you mean, but he does act kinda weird sometimes, and Eric does have a way of reading people. I’ll let you in on a secret that nobody but Jon, Eric, and I know: we came up with the name for the band one night when we were drinking: ‘Instinct’ refers to Eric’s ability, or whatever the hell it is. Eric was drinking tequila and I don’t think he remembers, but Jon does. Eric’s always been good at reading people, at least once he gets to know them. Remember how he figured out what was going on with The Shadows?”

With a chuckle, Brandon replied, “Yeah, he’s read me a few times, too. Okay, I don’t feel good about this, but I’ll do it.”

* * *

Helen, Barbra, Günter, and Jerry strolled towards the restaurant, and Barbra asked, “Can you stay with us for long, Jerry? I know how busy you are, but we all need a break sometime. I’ll even try to make sure Eric doesn’t chase you into the pool again.”

After a quick laugh, Jerry replied, “I am not sure. A day or two perhaps, but I might need to leave tomorrow. I have many needy children to attend and there is also my shipping business.”

Giving him a scolding look, Barbra replied, “Jerry, I have a business too, you know. I run a fashion design studio, and I’m here until just before the Brisbane concert. It won’t kill you to relax a little, Jerry; it’s not like the world will end if you take a few days off.”

With a reluctant shrug, Jerry replied, “Perhaps, but I simply have to ensure that the needy children whom my charity aids are receiving everything they need.”

The members of Instinct arrived in time to hear Jerry’s remark, and Eric knew it gave him an opening. With a disarming smile on his handsome face, Eric said, “Hi Jerry, good to see you again. You sure are dedicated and I really admire that. How far away are you going? Didn’t you say Brisbane? That’s not too far; you can always come back.”

“Greetings, my dear boy, and thank you for your concern. Yes, Brisbane is where I am working, and it is not that far which is why I am here now, but soon you will be off up north to the Great Barrier Reef. I could fly up easily enough, but I can’t in good conscience spend money that could be better used to help a needy child.”

With a slight pout for effect, Eric said, “But we will see you again before we leave Australia, won’t we?”

With a gracious nod, Jerry replied, “Of course you will. No matter what, I will be in Brisbane when you perform your last concert there.”

They made their way into the restaurant, sitting at a large round table. While the others took seats, Jerry maneuvered to claim the one to Eric’s left.

Their orders were taken, and drinks served. To Eric’s ire, he knew that it would be pointless to order any tequila, so he decided to try some Australian beer. Scanning the menu, one name caught his eye; XXXX, which he later found out was pronounced four-ex, billed as a local Queensland beer. Thinking that any x-rated beer just had to be good, Eric made his selection.

Brandon and Chase, sitting next to each other on the far side of the table, relaxed a little, though Brandon’s thoughts never strayed far from his coming task. He glanced around the room, taking in the decor of bamboo and potted palms which surrounded the linen clad tables. Each table held several candles, and Chase looked at the one closest to them, its flickering flame, dancing in the warm sea breeze entering through the restaurant’s open sides, reminding him of the beach campfire they’d gathered around.

Dinner was served, and the food, ranging from prime beef to fresh fish and produce from the Eumundi Markets, proved to be excellent. Once they were done, Jon asked Brandon, in as casual a voice as he could manage, “Hey bro, could you give me a hand with my computer? I think it’s infested with spyware.”

With a nod, Brandon agreed, and got up to leave. Helen noticed that Chase was staying at the table, which puzzled her slightly; she knew he and Brandon were usually joined at the hip.

Seeing no opportunity to get Eric alone to ask a few questions, Jerry leaned back in his chair, smiling, patting his stomach as he said, “That was utterly superb. The food here is indeed excellent, and I thank you all for your gracious hospitality. I think perhaps I shall make an early night of it.” Jerry stood up, and with an overly-flamboyant wave bid everyone adieu, before turning and walking towards the door.

Watching Jerry get up from the table, Eric’s mind raced; he knew he had to delay him a few minutes, somehow. Standing up as Jerry passed through the door, he glanced over to find Helen engaged in an animated conversation with Barbra and Günter. Exchanging a quick worried glance with Chase, he said, loudly enough for all to hear, “I’ve got one of Jon’s disks in my suitcase. I better go get it in case Brandon needs to re-install everything.”

Quickly walking out the door, Eric wheeled towards the cottages, breaking into a jog as he saw Jerry passing by the pool. Eric caught up with Jerry, startling him as he trotted up alongside, with Jerry between him and the pool.

“My dear boy, you gave me a fright. You aren’t going to dump me in the pool again are you?” Jerry asked with a smile. Eric grinned and shook his head, so Jerry added, in a conspiratorial tone of voice, “I do hope you know that I harbor no ill feelings whatsoever for that impromptu swim. All in good fun, after all. In fact, I need your advice on something. Is there any chance I could ask you to join me for a drink here at the bar?”

Breathing an inner sigh of relief that Jerry was providing the diversion himself, Eric smiled and replied, “Sure Jerry, I’d like that. I guess I’ll have another four-ex beer.”

As they walked towards the poolside bar, Jerry asked in his most amiable voice, “As I recall, you have a taste for tequila, do you not?”

At the mention of that magic word, Eric’s eyes lit up for a moment, a fact that did not escape Jerry’s notice. With a shrug, Eric replied, “Yeah, but after what I did to you, Helen had the hotel staff cut me off from having any.”

Giving Eric a friendly pat on the back, Jerry cocked his head to say, “Fear not, dear boy. Let your friend Jerry handle that. You order me a cognac and I’ll order your tequila. How do you like it?”

Eric smiled as he replied, “A tequila sunrise, with a shot of tequila on the side, please. Thanks, Jerry.” Eric was delighted; he had to delay Jerry, but if Jerry was providing the delay himself, and offering tequila as well, that sure couldn’t hurt, could it?

* * *

Struggling as he lay under the front end of the Land Rover, Brandon loosened the nuts on the starter motor, which held the heavy cable to the battery. After a few turns, he was satisfied. Working as fast as he could, he placed one wire from the stripped ends of the GPS’s power cord around the terminal post, twisting it into place clockwise before tightening the lock nuts down again. Pulling the two wires of the power cord apart, he gained enough length to reach a screw on the starter’s casing. He used the Philips head on his knife, loosening it enough to mount the wire, then tightening it back into place to provide the ground.

Jon, standing as the front end of the Land Rover and trying to appear casual, urgently whispered, “Are you done yet.”

Struggling as he used the duct tape to secure the GPS unit, which he’d already wrapped in electrical tape for protection, to the top of the starter motor, Brandon whispered back, “Almost. Give me another minute.” Brandon finished securing the GPS, and gave everything an extra wrap with the duct tape to be sure. The moment he was done, he returned his knife to his pocket and scooted out from under the vehicle, wrench and tape in hand. As soon as he stood up, he and Jon walked hastily away, heading for Jon and Eric’s cottage as the sun finally touched the horizon.

* * *

Sitting by the pool, just out of the bartender’s view and enjoying the spectacular sunset, Eric took a long drink of the even more delightful sunrise, chasing it with the shot of tequila; shaking his head as he always did, as the fiery liquid burned its way to his stomach. Jerry swirled his cognac around in his snifter, taking a sip before asking, “You look like you’ll be needing another set. Allow me, my dear boy, allow me.”

As Jerry walked towards the bar to get their next round of drinks, Eric felt the fiery tequila coursing through his veins, and reminded himself to try and be mellow, at least until Brandon had enough time to get the GPS in place.

* * *

From the pathway at the far end of the pool, Chase paused on his way back to the cottages to see Jerry and his brother drinking, and he saw Eric take a shot. Right after Eric took the shot, Chase saw him shake his head, in a way he did only when drinking tequila. Chase’s eyes opened wide, and with thoughts of utter disaster echoing through his mind, he sprinted towards the cottages.

* * *

Eric gratefully accepted the second round of drinks. Finishing off the first Tequila Sunrise as Jerry set the new sunrise and shot on the table, Eric waited until Jerry had sat down again before saying, “Thanks, dude.”

“Anytime, my dear boy, anytime. Now, I really do need your advice. This concerns little Vlad, the sick child I gave that scooter too. He’s having a bit of difficulty learning to operate it, and I was hoping to ask for some advice.”

Eric took his second shot of tequila, and felt the buzz starting to build. Looking at Jerry, and listening to his words, Eric wondered how such a flamer could be closeted. That led to another line of thought; was Jerry really gay at all? Eric decided that it couldn’t hurt to find out. “Yeah, I’ll do anything I can to help Vlad,” Eric said, as he crossed his arms and grabbed the hem of his T-shirt. He pulled it off at a casual pace, taking care to give his muscles a subtle flex, and then tossed the shirt on the seat beside him before adding, “Tequila makes me so hot.” Eric leaned back in the chair, casually tracing the tip of his thumb down the cleft of his tanned and defined chest, as he watched Jerry’s eyes.

Jerry smiled, giving Eric an appreciative nod, “A spectacular young man like you could get into all kinds of trouble,” he said with a lascivious smirk, his eyes never leaving Eric’s, a fact which Eric did not fail to notice. Jerry settled back into his own chair, his eyes turning towards the spectacular sunset as he added, “Vlad is having problems operating the scooter. Perhaps it is the motor. I noticed a few stripped screws on the cover plate. Did you have to get inside to make any adjustments?”

With the tequila beginning to roar through his mind, Eric barely noticed the question, and concentrated instead on testing Jerry. Putting his hands behind his neck, Eric stretched, flexing his lithe muscles as he said in an offhand but intentionally meaningful way, “Tequila makes me a little crazy too, and when I’m on it I’ll try anything once.” To drive home his point, Eric looked over at Jerry while slowly licking his lips.

“Well, my dear boy, I really must know, did you need to make any adjustments to the scooter?”

His suspicions now confirmed, Eric stood up, enjoying the building rush of the tequila as he barely remembered to watch what he said. “Kinda. It was running a little weird. We tried to get the cover plate off to check inside, but one of the screws wouldn’t budge, When I tried it again though, it ran fine.” Eric kicked off his shoes and grabbed one of the large plastic tables. Heaving it into the pool, much to the distress of several guests who were seated on the far side of the pool, he smiled as it landed with a splash. Taking a running start, he cannon-balled in beside it, Jerry forgotten. The bartender, alerted by the splashes, turned and saw the table in the pool, followed by Eric, and kept a wary eye on what was going on.

* * *

Dashing through the door of Jon and Eric’s cottage, Chase blurted out, “Eric’s with Jerry. Jerry was heading back here so Eric went to delay him. We’ve got to get to the pool, like right now.”

Jon couldn’t see why that was such a bad thing, so he asked, “The GPS is in place, so what’s the big deal?”

Locking his eyes on his brother’s Chase said, “Eric's drinking tequila. You know he’ll say damn near anything when he’s...” Chase never got a chance to finish, because Brandon and Jon nearly knocked him over as they raced for the door.

Running flat out, they stormed up to the pool as Eric surfaced by the floating plastic table. Spotting his band mates, Eric yelled, “Come on in, the water’s fine but bring some furniture.”

“Yep, tequila,” Jon muttered, looking over his shoulder to cast a concerned eye in Jerry’s direction.

Jerry shrugged as he stood up and downed the last of his cognac. “I just bought the dear boy a drink. He’s not bothering anyone, let him have some fun. Well, I’ll leave you boys to it, good night.”

Jerry was only six feet from the pool’s edge. He turned towards the cottage he shared with Günter, and took a single step before freezing in place as a shower of water from the pool descended on him, accompanied by Eric’s maniacal laugher. Jerry hesitated a moment, and then resumed his walk, as Eric hollered at him from the pool, “Hey Jerry, why don’t you stay and have some fun?”

With a friendly wave over his shoulder, Jerry left the pool area. Jon turned to Brandon and Chase to say, “Let’s keep Eric entertained so he stays out of trouble.” Jon stripped off his shirt and kicked off his shoes, diving into the pool near Eric and the floating table. Brandon and Chase shared a laugh and followed suit as the other guests beat a hasty retreat to a more distant pool, and soon a water war erupted as the band mates battled over the floating plastic table, their laughter filing the darkening air.

Half an hour later, as the tequila wore off, Eric put the table back where he’d found it and dove back into the pool. Joining his brothers and Brandon where they floated at the far end, he said, “My memory is kind of foggy, but I don’t think I told Jerry anything. I also learned something: Jerry isn’t gay.”

Puzzled, Brandon asked, “He told you that? He sure as hell acts gay.”

“I took my shirt off and watched his eyes. I even flexed a little and hinted that I’d do anything. He never took the bait. He didn’t even check me out. I don’t think he’s gay.”

Jon laughed, giving Eric a splash before replying, “So because he didn’t find you irresistible, he’s straight? Wanna dial back the ego a little there, bro?”

Returning a barrage of water, in Jon’s direction, Eric laughed, “Shut up. I’m not being vain, I’m sure: he ain’t gay.”

Lolling against the side of the pool, Chase thought it over. If Eric was that sure, he decided, then so was he. Except for one thing. “Okay, but you were drinking tequila, and I know how that fucks you up. Can you really be sure?”

Eric met Chase’s inquiring gaze, and stopped to think for a few moments before replying, “Yeah, I was pretty well lit. Maybe I can’t be sure. I’ll test him again when I’m sober. At least,” Eric checked over his shoulder to make sure they still had privacy, and that the bartender was too far away to hear, “at least the GPS is in place.”

Getting a thoughtful look on his face, Brandon said, “I hope Jerry doesn’t find it. He helped you pick it out for Chase when he took us shopping that time, so he’d probably recognize it.”

Jon shrugged, lounging back against the side of the pool. “I wouldn’t worry about that too much. What’s the worst he could do?”