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With his shoulder pressed against the wall, Andrei tapped on the security panel to pull up an image of the person on the other side of the door. “Who’s there?” he called.
“Detective Hollis Banner,” replied a weary voice. “Now open up, or I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow—”
Andrei swung the door open and even from across the room, Rowe could see the bodyguard’s smirk. “You’re not blowing anyone in here.”
Hollis straightened, his eyes pointedly traveling down the length of Andrei and back up before stepping through the open doorway. “Dream on, ponytail man. You’re not my type.”
As the cop entered, everyone relaxed and returned to where they were before. Ian smiled brightly at the detective, while Lucas glowered at the man. Rowe could only shake his head at the ongoing antagonism.
“Good morning, detective,” Ian said, and Rowe watched Banner straighten just a little more at Ian’s enthusiasm. “Would you like some coffee? Can you stay for breakfast?”
Hollis moaned, shoving one hand through his hair, sending it in twenty different directions. “Coffee would be so good.”
Rowe shoved to his feet. “Sit, cop,” he said, pointing to his now empty chair, which would put Hollis directly besides Ian. Sure, it also put him directly next to Lucas, but then that was part of the fun. “Black?”
“Splash of cream and two sugars,” Ian corrected and then blushed brightly. Even Hollis looked stunned as he dropped into Rowe’s chair. Ian stared down at the table, unwilling to meet anyone’s eyes. “That’s how you ordered it at lunch.”
“That was weeks ago,” Hollis said, his voice little more than a rough whisper.
Ian shrugged and Rowe wanted to laugh, he looked so damn adorable. “I just have a good memory…when it comes to food.”
“What do you want, cop?” Lucas snapped, shattering the moment. Rowe rolled his eyes heavenward and quickly made the detective’s coffee as Ian instructed. Apparently, he needed to have a long talk with Mr. Vallois about letting the young leave the nest.
“Have you found him?” Ian demanded.
Hollis’s shoulder slumped and he murmured his thanks when Rowe placed a mug of coffee in front of him. The cop sipped it while Rowe dropped into a chair on the other side of Ian. He reached over and squeezed the young man’s shoulder, trying to ease some of the tension that had pulled his muscles as visibly tight as a bowstring. Rowe wanted nothing more than to slowly torture Gratton, to find him in some dark alley and spend the next several hours working the man over until his mind and his body were broken. Ian, he imagined, just wanted the nightmare to finally be over.
Banner lifted his eyes and they locked with Rowe’s. “I’m sorry for your loss, Ward, but I can’t say that your appearance is filling me with joy. I’m sure you’ve heard how your boys have been driving me crazy the past few weeks.”
“Lucas filled me in.”
Putting the mug on the table, Hollis pushed his right hand into his hair and tugged a handful away from his scalp. “See this? Gray. I’ve got gray hair now. I’ve taken on pimps, drug dealers, and Cuban cartels. Not a single gray hair. A few weeks chasing after your boys and I’ve got gray hair.”
“Try Just for Men hair color,” Andrei suggested with a smirk.
“Is that what you use on your boyfriend?”
“Can we get down to business?” Lucas snapped.
Hollis grinned at Lucas and Rowe felt the first hint of an honest-to-god smile in weeks. “All business with you. This is foreplay. You’d think ponytail would have taught you about that.”
“Please,” Ian murmured, placing his hand on Hollis’s wrist. The cop’s expression softened, the evil grin disappearing as he looked at Ian.
“Sorry.” Hollis cleared his throat, turning serious. “We haven’t found him. We’ve hit a lot of dead ends, but we’ve got a new line that we’re following. We’re checking out neighbors around all of you.” He paused and looked at Rowe. “There were a lot of pictures to go through and one of the ones of Snow showed him standing in front of your house. We could tell it had been taken from inside your neighbor’s house across the street. He’d killed them and it looked like he used their house for several days before he moved on. Probably when it became clear that you weren’t going to be back anytime soon.”
Dismay filled Rowe. The Parks, Sylvia and Dave. He hadn’t known those neighbors well, but they’d always offered up friendly waves and hellos. “They told me he’d been using a place near Ian’s, too. Anywhere else?”
Hollis nodded. “The house opposite Andrei’s apartment building was empty. Up for sale. We found Gratton’s fingerprints there. Doesn’t look like he stayed long.”
Andrei grunted, seemingly unmoved by the fact that Lucas sat straighter in his chair, every muscle in his body tensing. “I haven’t been staying there much recently.”
