Homecoming - 11. Chapter 11

Adam raced to the top of the staircase skipping two steps at a time.

“Stay here,” Kyle told Justin, as he ran to catch up with Adam.

Patrick’s body was shaking as he fought with the cold grip on his wrist to release him. Adam was suddenly behind him and saw the impaled man staring blankly ahead. His blood-filled mouth dribbled out the reddish black-bile that ran down his chin dripping to the floor.

“I’m here,” said Adam, in his ear. Patrick stopped screaming and relaxed against Adam, but he still tried to yank his hand free from the hold on it. Adam grabbed Patrick’s arm and pried the fingers that clamped around his wrist.

Kyle came up to help and was stunned by what he saw. He watched as Adam freed Patrick, who grabbed his own wrist and tried to rub away the icy sensation that stationed under his skin. He continued to watch the man as life left his body.

Adam and Kyle pulled him away from the horrific scene as Adam turned him away and guided him towards the stairs. Justin was coming up when he saw Adam coming down with his arm around Patrick, who was still in shock and holding his wrist. Justin turned and headed back down to clear way for the three. Kyle followed with his cell to his ear.

“What happened?” asked Justin, seeing the color drained from Patrick.

“Someone’s up there and—it’s not good,” Adam responded, not wanting to say more so not to upset Patrick.

“Hello, yeah, this is Kyle Potter, I’m at the Potter’s cave near the ghost town. I need the sheriff, there’s been an accident and we believe someone’s dead. Yeah, Troy Potter is my father. Yeah, okay, we’ll wait outside until they get here.” Kyle disconnected, then pressed a number to speed dial their father. Adam watched his older brother keep a level head as he glanced his way and nodded. “Does Patrick need to go to the hospital?” he asked, listening to his dad’s cell ring.

“I don’t think so. Did you check for a pulse?”

“Yeah, he’s gone.”

“Hello,” said Troy, on the other end.

“Dad, you need to get down here. There’s been an accident. Dad, it’s Eric Perkins.”

“What? What was he doing there?”

“I don’t know we stumbled on him, in the torture room on the upper platform. I’ve already called the sheriff. I wouldn’t bring mom or Tina. It’s not pretty.”

“I’ll be right there, Where’s the others?”

“Here with me, we’re going outside to wait.”

“Good, see you soon.”

They disconnected and Kyle returned his cell to his pocket.

“Let’s get them upstairs, Adam.”

Adam followed his brother’s advice and they all headed to the surface.

************

Paul had woken Mia, and their lovemaking started all over again. He never thought holding her would be just what he needed. He kissed her tender lips and settled holding her close to his body. Her soft, curvy figure fit his brawny physique. Paul wasn’t a body builder or trained in gyms. He was active around the farm and working on the events. He loved getting his hands dirty and working up a sweat.

He breathed in the scent from Mia’s neck as he rested with his eyes closed. His arm was draped around her and his fingers entwined with hers.

Mia never had time for relationships, she was always too busy with getting her business off the ground doing what she loved. She opted out of getting a normal job like a lot of her friends and developing any long-lasting relationships.

She wanted to succeed on her own and without anyone’s help. When her best friend Patrick offered to fund her dream, she thanked him, but told him she needed to fail or achieve on her own. He respected that, but still helped in other ways by word of mouth and helping her at conventions.

She wanted to ask him about joining her this weekend, but he had other plans visiting his boyfriend’s family. Then it hit her. She turned to Paul and studied his face. Paul opened his eyes and stared back at hers. He shifted forward to kiss her, but she placed her hand on his chest and stopped him. He was disappointed that Mia denied him another kiss and started to think she was having second thoughts.

“Hey, everything okay? I mean—if you want me to leave— “

“What? No way.”

“Then why won’t you kiss me?”

“I’m thinking.”

“Well, I find one can think much better after a long kiss.” He tried again and she had to push firmer on his chest that had short hair that she loved running her fingers through.

“Paul, are you related to Adam Potter?” Paul relaxed, and looked at her for a moment, wondering why the one person’s name he didn’t want to hear came out of her mouth.

“He’s my little brother,” he said, eyeing the ceiling.

“Little brother, wow. And runs a detective agency?”

“Yeah. Why all the questions. He’s gay you know?”

“I know. He’s dating my best friend.”

“Who’s your best friend?”

“Patrick Valdez.”

“You know him?”

“We’ve been buds for years. Oh man, what are the odds of meeting like this?” she smiled. “And why did you say he was gay? Did you think I wanted to hook up with him?”

“Adam gets a lot of attention from men and women.”

“And you think I’m shallow enough to sleep with you and then want to be with Adam?”

“When I first met you, I wanted to kiss you right there. And when I came here I never thought in my wildest dreams you would let me hold and make love to you—several times.” Mia smiled, and leaned over and kissed him.

“We are two adults who wanted the same thing. Now we can get to know each other.” Paul settled back and gathered Mia into his arms.

“Well, I live with my parents, and my brother Kyle. I have three brothers, I’m the second born. One you already met, Adam who’s the youngest. Damian is the oldest and lives overseas. Kyle and I help manage the family farm and the live LARP events in our town, and I have a successful blog.”

Mia sat up and turned to Paul kneeling on her legs looking down at him. He placed his arm behind his head and smiled up at her while his free hand rest against her smooth leg.

“Okay, I live with a roommate who travels on business a lot. His name is Randy. I run my own costume/set design business from home on my website, except when I travel to events to promote my work. No siblings. Both parents living and my best friend Patrick Valdez is now dating your little brother, who you have nothing to be jealous about.”

“Can I spend the night with you?”

“I don’t see why not.” Paul pulled Mia back down to hold her again when the worst thing happened. His cell rang. He looked around and saw it on the floor near the door.

“I’ll be right back.” He climbed out of bed and walked naked over to it. When he squatted down to pick it up Mia whistled a tune of approval at his ass. He stood, looked back at her smiling and shook his head. checking the caller ID and saw it was his dad. He answered his cell. “Yeah dad,” he said

“Paul, where are you?”

“I’m—over a friend’s place, why?”

“I need you to meet me at the cave. There’s been an accident, Kyle… “

“Something happened to Kyle?” he asked, cutting his dad off.

“No, listen. Kyle and Adam took Justin and Patrick over there to see the cave. But found someone in the upstairs chamber. It was Eric Perkins.” Paul face dropped from a smile to a panic.

“Are—are you sure?” he asked.

“Kyle seems sure. Can you come?” Paul didn’t want to go, but he knew he had to. His stress returned and his stomach ached.

“What about mom?”

“I made an excuse about Kyle needing a key and left him and Tina at home. There’s no need for them to worry. Not until I’m sure what happened.”

“Good ideal. I’ll be there soon.”

They hung up and Paul turned to Mia, who climbed out of bed and slipped on her robe.

“Sorry, I’m going to need a rain-check.”

“Is everything alright?”

“Yeah—well, no. There’s been an accident at the cave and I need to meet my dad there.”

“Is Kyle ok?”

“Yeah, but I just need to go.” Paul picked up his jeans and slid them on and found his tee shirt crumpled up with Mia’s. He gathered up her clothes and draped them neatly over a chair. Once he pulled his shoes on he walked over to Mia and this time she allowed him to kiss her.

“Alright,” she said. “If you want to come back later you can.”

“I just might be tempted. I can take you out to breakfast tomorrow.”

“Cool, we can go to the ghost town together.”

“I’ll drive us.” He kissed her one last time and reluctantly left.

**************

Kyle, Adam. Justin and Patrick were waiting by the door. Adam and Patrick sat on the grass covered ground against the wall. Adam used his jacket to drape over Patrick’s shoulders. He had asked several times if he needed anything but Patrick only responded by shaking his head no. Kyle and Justin talked amongst themselves about what Kyle saw but kept it out of earshot from Patrick.

“He doesn’t look good,” said Kyle, about Patrick.

“Yeah, well, he’s been through this sort of thing,” replied Justin, smoking a cigarette. He found a half-filled pack in the inside pocket of his coat. He’d offered one to Kyle but was told he didn’t smoke.

“What do you mean he’s been through this?”

“Patrick was the victim in the case the Harlequin killer. Patrick’s last boyfriend was killed in a graveyard while they were fucking on top of an above ground grave.”

“While they were having sex? Man, that must have been maddening.”

“Lucky for him Adam was driving by and saved him.”

“So that’s how they met?”

“Yep,” said Justin, trailing off to focus on his cigarette. Kyle saw something when Justin looked over at Patrick, who was staring at his hand while he rested his head on Adam’s chest.

“Do you and Patrick get along?”

“We’re not best friends, if that’s what you mean.”

“You, like Adam,” he said, straight out. Justin glared at him for a moment, then his eyes dropped. Kyle wasn’t stupid. He’s been measured against his brothers for likeability many times. Neither were out to hurt the other on purpose, but the scars were left. “Well, I never told you my intentions. Why would you think of any of this as nothing but having fun?”

“And it is, fun. I enjoy hanging out with you.”

“But you rather be in Adam’s company. In Adam’s arms.”

Justin inhaled the tar and exhaled it through his nose. The cigarette wasn’t giving him pleasure anymore and Patrick’s words were coming back to haunt him.

“Don’t worry. I won’t turn Adam against you. If he asks I’ll just tell him it was, what it was. Two guys having fun.”

“I’d like to stay your friend.” Kyle looked at him for a long while and a sharp pain inched into his chest.

“Maybe one day. But, not today.”

“Okay, fair enough.” Kyle saw lights coming towards them.

“Come on, the sheriff will have questions.” Kyle walked off. Justin stubbed out his cigarette, putting the bud into his pocket. He followed Kyle over to Adam, who was getting Patrick to his feet.

The sheriff arrived with an ambulance behind him. He pulled up to the cave entrance. Sheriff Chris Owen climbed out of his cruiser. Standing a good six feet and strapping, he was in excellent form for a man in his sixties. His uniform was the basic beige. He wore his dark brown, grayish hair longer than most of his men. He kept it neat and always got compliments on how it suited him.

He and Troy Potter grew up together from birth. Their parents were friends and Chris and Troy grew to love the same things. In fact, he was with Troy the day he met Anton. He was Troy’s best man and Troy was his. They even had kids around the same time, except Troy had four sons and Chris had two sons and two daughters. They spent as much time, as their schedules would allow them, together.

When he got the call, he was relieved that it wasn’t one of the Potter’s, but to hear it was Eric Perkins sent up red flags. He remembered listening to numerous complaints from Perkins about Troy’s LARP and having to put them on record. He managed to calm him down and he’d go home, but ever since his wife died, he has made it his mission to badger Troy Potter every chance he got.

He walked up to Kyle and saw Adam standing behind his big brother. The one young male standing behind Kyle he didn’t know, but the other one Adam had his arm around was a familiar face. Patrick Valdez was the town’s celebrity gossip, being one of the rich and famous. He was shown his picture several times by a few people at the station and the diner he had his early breakfast and lunch, whenever his wife was tired or on an errand and couldn’t make him either meal.

“Glad you’re here sheriff,” said Kyle, holding out his hand to his godfather.

“Hey Kyle,” said Chris, shaking his hand and looked over at Adam. “Good to see you Adam, wish it wasn’t about bad news.” Adam walked Patrick over and shook Chris’s hand with his left, not wanting to let go of Patrick. “And who do we have here?”

“This is Patrick Valdez,” said Adam, glancing at him. He remembered Patrick was hesitant about giving his full name to the police, but now seemed disconnected from the conversation. “He found the body.”

“I see.” Chris turned to the EMTs and waved to come over. Then he looked back at the Potter brothers. “I hate to ask this, but can one of you show them where the body is?”

Adam was about to speak up, but Kyle beat him to it. “Sure, I can.” He turned back to the opening and led the way as the EMTs followed. Chris looked at Justin.

“And you are?” he asked, the fair-haired male.

“Justin Shi, I’m Adam’s assistant.”

“Assistant?”

“For my detective agency,” said Adam.

“Oh yeah, your parents told us over dinner. Congratulations,” he smiled.

“Thanks.”

“Other than Adam, did either of you know the victim?”

“No,” said Justin. Patrick just shook his head no but didn’t make eye contact.

“Mr. Valdez would you like the EMTs to look at you? You could be suffering from shock.”

Patrick shook his head more frantically and pressed his face against Adam’s chest trying not to cry.

“He’s staying at my family’s farm. I’ll get him home to rest.”

“Well, I do have questions to ask him first, but it seems he doesn’t want to talk now.” Two more sets of headlights came up. Chris saw it was Troy’s Rover and Paul’s pickup truck. “Adam, I have to go inside can you tell your dad and brother to wait out here for me?”

“Sure,” replied Adam. Chris walked off and entered the cave.

Troy and Paul parked their vehicles off to the side and climbed out. They saw Adam, Justin and Patrick but Kyle was nowhere in sight.

“I thought Kyle was alright,” snapped Paul, moving towards the cave.

“Paul, Kyle is fine. The sheriff wants us to wait out here,” Adam said. Paul started to ignore him and was about to go towards the cave when his father spoke up.

“Paul if the sheriff wants us to wait, we wait.”

“Then where is Kyle?” Paul directed his question at Adam.

“He’s showing the EMTs where the body is.”

“What? Why didn’t you? You’re the ex-cop/ detective,” he snapped.

“Kyle volunteered before I had a chance to.”

“Just great Adam. Tell me again that you’re the train professional?” Adam wanted to tear into Paul but again his father stepped between them.

“Paul enough! This isn’t the time or place. Kyle must have gone in out of obligation. He is older than Adam and he knows the caves better than any of us. He’ll be fine. He’s not alone.”

Paul sucked in his words he had for Adam and turned away crossing his arm over his chest.

“Now Adam, are you sure it was Eric Perkins?” asked Troy.

“It’s him except now he has an ax through his back.”

“An ax? How the hell did that happen?”

“Well, from what I saw, it looks like one of the props.”

“Where?”

“Upstairs platform.”

“I know it. It wasn’t meant to be used and the ax blade was foam. We worried that someone might trip on the stairs. We were going to block it off with barrels tomorrow.”

“So, who could have changed the ax?”

“I have no idea.”

“Does mom know?”

“Heavens no. He would have found a way to come with me.”

“But you’re going to have to tell him.”

“I know, and I will. After I get some answers.” Troy looked over at Paul, who was staring intensely at the cave door. He directed his attention to Justin. “How are you Justin?”

“I’m okay, I didn’t see him. Patrick found him.”

“Patrick?”

“Yeah, we were all wondering around and he went upstairs first. Dad, Perkins was still alive and he grabbed Patrick wrist holding it until he passed away.”

“My god.” He looked at Patrick and saw him staring off at nothing. “He’s in shock, he should go to the hospital.”

“He doesn’t want to.”

“Well, he shouldn’t be out here in this chill, go put him in your jeep.”

“It’s in the lot.”

“Then put him in my Rover and sit with him until the sheriff comes back. Justin, you should go to.”

“I’m alright.”

“It wasn’t a request, go.” Justin reluctantly allowed Adam to lead them to his father’s Rover, and they all climbed into the back seat. Patrick sat in the middle and rested against Adam. Justin turned to Adam and saw him staring out at the cave.

“You should be in there,” said Justin, who saw Patrick clinch Adam’s arm.

“Yeah, well, it’s not my decision,” said Adam.

“Adam, the sheriff could use your help,” Justin continued. Patrick sat up and looked at Adam.

“Patrick, are you okay? Do you feel like you’re going to be sick?”

Patrick paused before answering, glaring out Adam’s window at the cave.

“Do you think you can help the police?” Adam was surprised by Patrick’s first words in a while.

“Well, it couldn’t hurt,” replied Adam.

“Then maybe—you should go see if you can assist the sheriff.”

“I don’t want to leave you alone.”

“I won’t be,” he said, turning to look at Adam’s assistant. “Justin will be with me.” Justin caught Patrick’s cold stare when he said the words. He turned back to Adam. “Go on, I’ll be fine.” Adam kissed him soundly and opened his door to climb out. “Adam, take your jacket,” said Patrick, taking the coat off and giving it to Adam.

Adam took his jacket and kissed Patrick once more before closing the door and heading over to his father and brother. Patrick moved over to where Adam was sitting and rested back in his spot still looking out the window. Justin settled back and considered not saying anything but then Patrick spoke up.

“He really likes being a detective,” he said, more of a statement than a question. Justin looked out and saw Adam talking to his dad.

“It’s in his nature,” said Justin.

“And what do you know about—his nature?” asked Patrick, still not looking at him.

“He’s been in the military, he was a cop, then a detective now he owns his own agency.”

“Did Adam tell you all of that?”

“I did my research.” Patrick turned to him and looked at him dead on.

“Kyle knows you like Adam. That’s why he’s not texting or calling you to see if you’re alright?” Justin didn’t respond. Patrick sat back, crossing his arms, staring at him. “Is that why you shared your thoughts about Adam getting involved with this murder?”

“It’s not declared a murder or suicide until after the corner’s seen the body. For now, it’s an accident.” Patrick rolled his eyes at Justin and looked out his window. “And to answer your question Adam is in the law enforcement, so yes, he should help if he can. He didn’t want to be here he wanted to be out there. That’s something you’re going to have to get used to.” Patrick turned back to Justin and smiled at him.

“It’s so sad,”

“What?”

“This act you’re doing with Adam. The reliable secretary, is not going to gain anything but a pat on the head. Where I—well—he wants me.”

“True, but for how long?”

“Forever.”

“Can you really handle Adam being a detective? Or do you feel you can change him?”

“That’s none of your business Justin. Your place is filing not counseling. Remember that.”

“If you feel so threatened by me why don’t you ask Adam to fire me?” Patrick placed his hands in his lap.

“Because Justin, I don’t feel threatened by you. You’re nowhere near my level.”

“Adam is?”

“I love Adam and he loves me and that’s all you need to know. Now, if you want to go and open your heart to him and ask him to choose between you or me then I say go for it. I promise—I won’t say, I-told-you-so, when he turns you down.”

“You’re so confident Patrick. Your money doesn’t buy everyone. And I know for a fact Adam is not happy with—your money.”

Patrick stared back at Justin, who just hit a nerve with him. He turned and saw Adam walking towards the cave entrance with his father and brother. When they went inside, he opened his door and climbed out.

“Hey, Adam wants us to stay here.”

“Be a dear, and go tell him I needed air, and went for a walk.” Before Justin could respond Patrick closed the door and walked off. Justin tossed back his head and wish he didn’t get into words with Patrick. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath and sighed it out. He opened his door and went after Patrick.

*************

“Dad,” said Adam, walking up. Troy turned to him. “I want to help. I won’t tread on Sheriff Owen’s crime scene I’m just going to look around.

“Maybe you should leave this to the local police, Adam,” said Paul.

“I’m just going to look around and if I find anything I’ll tell the sheriff,” assured Adam.

“Yeah, but you’re a private detective and have no jurisdiction here.” Adam looked at Paul.

“Go on Adam, do your job,’ said his father.

“Adam, can’t you turn the hero button off? Your boyfriend is in shock and our event could be canceled because of this.”

“Paul, a man is dead,” said Troy.

“Yeah, well, maybe he wanted this to happen.”

“What are you saying, that Perkins wanted to be killed by a battle ax?” said Adam.

“Perkins has been giving us trouble since his wife died. Just recently, he burned a scarecrow on our fence.” Adam looked at his father.

“He wasn’t thrilled that this event was happening,” said Troy.

“Well, does the sheriff know?”

“Anton wanted to talk to him first.”

“What? You allowed mom to talk to a guy who tried to set fire to the house?”

“Perkins was just missing his wife and your mom wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. He’s never been this aggressive before.”

Paul turned away infuriated by how his dad was oblivious to what Perkins had been doing to his mate. Adam moved to the cave door and entered with his father and brother behind him. None of them heard the car door of the rover slamming.