AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Well, you do come off a little needy sometimes.”
Before Demetrius could respond, Cody entered the office. He wore a white shirt with no sleeves, the material soaked through with sweat, and black basketball shorts. His slightly shaggy brown hair was damp with sweat as well. He looked like a locker room fantasy sprung to life from Demetrius’s teenage years, and a moment of disassociation fell over him as his teenage self and adult self seemed to be sitting in the same desk chair, staring at Cody and secretly fantasizing about the man who was now his husband.
Then Cody scowled at the sight of Oliver sitting in his chair and said in a voice dripping with irritation, “Morning Ollie. Make yourself at home, like usual,” and Demetrius came back to himself.
“Thanks, I will,” Oliver said, tipping the chair back so he could put his feet on the edge of the desk.
“How was the workout?” Demetrius asked.
“Jordie was in a mood,” Cody said. “So we all suffered. Hannah just laid on the floor in a corner for the last six minutes.”
“I don’t think she’s going to last another six months,” Demetrius said.
“Sometimes I don’t think I will.” Cody pointed a finger at Oliver. “Don’t you fucking dare repeat that to my brother.”
Oliver lifted one shoulder in a shrug and smirked as he stared back at Cody. “No secrets between soul mates, right?”
“Ugh.” Cody made a face. “Don’t use that term about you and my brother.” He sneered at the bag of muffins on Demetrius’s desk. “I’m going to wait on my muffin.”
“Probably for the best. Oliver was just telling me there’s been another drowning out at the pond.”
“Fuck.” Cody made a shooing gesture at Oliver and sat in his desk chair once it had been vacated. “Who was it?”
Oliver wheeled Jugs’s desk chair over and sat down as Demetrius said in a gentle tone, “It was Devin Sykes.”
Cody rocked back in the chair as if he’d been punched in the face. “What?”
“I’m sorry,” Demetrius said. “I know you just saw him. You okay?”
“I’m…” His face paled and his gaze seemed unfocused. “I’m just shocked. I mean, he’s our age, for fuck’s sake. What the hell? First his wife and now him? What the fuck?” He looked up and a clench of sympathy went through Demetrius at Cody’s pleading expression. “What the fuck is going on?”
The phone rang.
Demetrius pushed his muffin aside, let the phone continue to ring, and said over the sound, “I wish I knew. But we’re going to figure all of this out. I promise you that.”
A single nod, and Cody’s expression relaxed a touch. Demetrius scooped up the phone before the call could go to voicemail.
“Critter Catchers, this is Demetrius.”
“It’s Zenona.” Her voice was quiet, just above a whisper, and Demetrius pressed the phone tighter against his ear. “There’s another victim.”
“We just heard about it,” Demetrius said. Cody frowned at him, and Demetrius mouthed Zenona.
“Lucia was here looking for Michael, but he works nights.”
“Michael? Oh, the medical examiner?” Demetrius made a face. “There’s enough work for an overnight ME?”
“Not the point,” Zenona whispered frantically. “She checked the body out at the pond and found the same bruising on him. This time both ankles.”
“Devin was a swimmer,” Demetrius said. “He would be the last person I would expect to die this way.”
“I wanted to let you know ahead of time, because Lucia accompanied the body here, and she said something about Cody being one of the last to see Devin before… before this.”
Demetrius looked at Cody and something in his expression must have given things away, because Cody’s face tightened. He swore and looked away, shaking his head.
“What’s going on?” Oliver asked.
“I’m most likely going to jail,” Cody said, then got up. “I forgot a change of clothes today. I’m going home to shower before I’m hauled off to the station.”
