“Mr. Grady?”
He smiled to himself. “Please, just call me Grady.” No matter how many times he told his best friend, Fera Montgomery’s housekeeper, Consuela, to call him Grady, she couldn’t wrap her head around the idea. Fera was Mrs. Fera to her. Athen was Mr. Captain. Not Mr. Lieutenant. He was Mr. Captain. Despina was Miss Desi. Bella was Miss Bella. Sometimes Miss Puppy Girl. Grady adored Consuela. His whole family did. Once, when Despina was sick with flu, she’d come over with a gigantic pot of homemade chicken soup. She’d even lugged a special container for Bella.
“Thees one got no noodles,” she’d told Grady. “For doggies, noodles ees no good.”
Maybe that was true, but somebody forgot to tell Bella. She adored noodles. She adored anything edible, truth be told. And at this moment she was at Fera’s house being waited on hand and food by Consuela.
“Is everything okay?” Grady asked. He’d made three appointments to check on local homes for rent and thought it would be easier without Bella, but he missed her. He worried now that the dog was fretting.
“Ees okay,” Consuela not sounding like it at all.
He tried to keep his tone gentle. “Is Bella okay?”
“Bella ees good. Consuela ees not so good.”
Grady stood outside the swanky apartment building on North Doheny Drive and waited. “What’s wrong, Consuela? Are you sick?”
Before she could respond, the front buzzer sounded and the door to the snazziest apartment building in Beverly Hills opened. He’d driven by this place so many times and always wondered what the apartments were like. He was about to find out. He’d had a harrowing morning and he didn’t need more drama.
“No, no,” she said.
“Consuela, can I call you right back? Just give me two minutes. I promise.”
She hesitated. “Or-kay, Mr. Grady.”
Grady put on his best game face and greeted the dark-haired man who stepped out of the elevator, making his way toward him. Grady took a deep breath. He’d been thinking of houses but most of the ones in Beverly Hills were ridiculously overpriced. After what he and Athen had just been through with Tyler James, he liked the idea of a two-bedroom corner apartment up high with no cameras. No landlords lurking in the garden. No pot grow two doors down.
“Hi, I’m Grady,” he said, extending his hand to the guy who was so handsome Grady couldn’t see straight for a moment.
“Hey, there. I’m Angelo. So glad you could come on such short notice.”
Grady nodded. “Thank you for letting me come right over.” He followed Angelo to the elevator. Inside, he admired the opulent finishes, suspecting the floor and walls were real marble. The gold bits gleamed like somebody had just spent hours polishing them. I have got to fuck Athen in this thing. I can’t remember the last time we had elevator sex.
On the tenth floor, Angelo led the way toward the end of the plush, carpeted hallway. Grady felt as though as he was in a five-star hotel. All was quiet and smelled new and inviting. Huge windows giving way to a view of the city. Grady relaxed as his potential landlord pointed out the many security aspects of the building.
“There are security cameras in the garage, the elevators—”
So much for elevator sex.
“And there are security features that come with the apartment should you choose to rent it.”
All Grady could think was, Palm trees. I see palm trees and more palm trees.
Inside the unit, he took an appreciative gasp at the roomy surroundings. There were two balconies in the living room facing the street. The open-plan layout appealed to his need for space and for total comfort. Huge sofas grouped around a wood fireplace and above it, a gigantic, mounted flatscreen TV would tick all of Athen’s boxes. Grady’s lover didn’t require much. He smiled at the image of Athen sprawled on the sofa with Bella, beer in hand, watching Drag Race. Grady felt happy for the first time in days. Yes. I can see us living here. The big question is the kitchen.
“I know you said the kitchen is important,” Angelo said, his gentle voice intruding his thoughts. “We recently installed an Aga.” He let that little detail sink in as Grady followed him in there, dazzled by the beige and white fixtures. He touched the beautiful quartz countertop, opening cupboard doors and finally, allowing himself to manhandle the most perfect stove in all the world.
The cast iron Aga was beige and had four huge gas rings and four ovens. Four! Grady visualized huge family dinners. My sister will come. Athen’s family will come. Then his attention fell on a beautiful antique wooden mold resting beside the stove. No. I can’t believe it!
“That’s an orthodox—”
“It’s a holy prosphora stamp.” Grady’s words came out in a ragged whisper.
“Wow. You know about those?” Angelo seemed as surprised as Grady was. “My husband is Greek orthodox.”
“So is mine.” Grady reached into his messenger bag and pulled out the tissue-wrapped antique he’d taken from the Arnaz Drive kitchen. “Athen has had this since he was a little boy. It belonged to his paternal grandmother. He inherited it. His sister got his maternal grandmother’s prosphora.”
“Harvey got his from his mom. Wow. Small world, big connection.”
Grady knew he was talking too much but he couldn’t stop himself. “This was the first thing I took out of Tyler James’ house.” Tears swelled then. Grady wanted Athen to be happy and safe. To focus on his work. The prosphora might have just been a wooden seal pressed into unleavened dough before baking it for Greek Easter, but to Grady, it was blasphemy for this precious object to be anywhere near Tyler James.
“You poor thing.” Angelo walked over and touched his arm. “You’ve had a rough couple of days. I’m not going to pretend I don’t know who you are. You’re all over the news. I know you had a horrible time with that actor, Tyler James and I saw you being escorted into your own home this morning to remove your possessions. I’m a big fan of your husband. The two of you were having cocktails at the Four Seasons one night and I loved how he handled that purse-snatching incident with the fake valet driver. The lady who almost got her purse swiped is my sister-in-law. She would have lost her passport, her wallet, some jewelry she shouldn’t have been carrying around, her insulin, and anyway, we are so grateful.”
“Thank you.” Grady recalled that night but couldn’t remember having met Angelo. He’d talked to another man, calming him as Athen dealt with arresting the thief. Grady had been mad at Athen that night and felt badly about it afterward. All he’d wanted was a night out with his man, but as usual, Athen found some crime to thwart. Man, I’ve been getting grouchy a lot with him lately. The memory of the night hit him then. “Wait, your Harvey has a moustache, doesn’t he?”
“Yes. That’s him! You remember! And you two are adorable. Please say you’ll move in. We’ll look after you here. You’ll have total privacy and lots of peace and quiet.”
Grady blinked back his anguish. “I’m sorry. This just threw me. Athen won’t believe it when I tell him. These prosphora could be twins. They both have bronze backings.”
“I think this is meant to be.” Angelo seemed emotional himself. He pointed to the right. “This farmhouse table was a recent find. It came from a Greek orthodox priest’s family. They’re relocating to a new church in Athens.”
Grady took in the solid wooden rectangular table and the big windows with more tree top views.
“All the windows are tinted and double-glazed. Virtually soundproof and heat-resistant,” Angelo said.
“You’re driving a hard bargain.” Grady felt himself unwinding. It would be perfect here for when Desi had homework to do. He could keep his eye on her, chit-chat with her and cook to his heart’s content.
If we ever let her come back to us. Suddenly, he missed her terribly. My beautiful little lunatic.
He focused on the moment. He’d always wanted an Aga. “I can’t believe it,” he whispered again. He knew this model retailed at around nine thousand dollars.
“Believe it.” Angelo seemed nervous.
Emotion pierced at Grady’s very soul. This would be a temporary move since Angelo and Harvey were only offering a six-month lease, but, in his bones, he knew it was the right one. Ever since the news had broken about Tyler’s arrest and everything that went with it, life had become impossible. Grady’s phone hadn’t stopped ringing all morning. People he hadn’t heard from for years were texting and calling, wanting “the goss.”
He just wanted to gag.
The federal prosecutor had warned him not to discuss the case. Everything Grady and Athen had kept at Tyler’s house now loitered with intent in a rental pod outside Fera’s house. Not for the first time he was grateful for Fera and Consuela who’d come to help him pack everything. Of course, the media had seized on every little piece of information they could. They’d blasted Athen and Grady’s names all over the place, as though they were silently complicity in Tyler’s crimes.
Grady couldn’t help fretting that Tyler was now being linked to other unsolved homicides. It had nothing to do with us. We didn’t know. He hoped the media weren’t bugging Fera or Consuela. The rental truck they’d used had lost the TV crew trucks before stopping outside Fera’s place to unload everything, but still... a homicidal movie star made for nonstop news.
Oh, man. I really need to call Consuela back.
He felt protective of his friends. Consuela had had a fierce gambling addiction, one that caused the death of her dear friend, Paulina Martinez, another Beverly Hills housekeeper. Poor Paulina had been murdered in a casino and her husband had rolled her body in a carpet and dumped it with a stranger’s trash one morning. Thanks to Consuela, Athen had solved the case. Thanks to Athen, Consuela had been released from an onerous debt to the casino.
As far as Grady knew, she’d made good on her promise to stay away from gambling. God, I hope she hasn’t started up again.
Grady wasn’t answering anyone’s calls. He avoided everyone, including Athen’s sister, Sia. She kept sending hysterical texts about some of the things she’d seen and heard on the Internet.
Tyler James could have killed my daughter! She’d written more than once.
Grady understood her concern but once Athen knew Tyler was a homicide suspect, he’d made sure Despina was no longer anywhere near the man.
“Let me show you the bedrooms and bathrooms. There’s a bonus room, too.” Angelo took him through the rest of the place. More than anything, Grady loved the fact they were up high but had no close neighbors. The bathrooms were huge and lavish with claw-footed tubs, and there was a bonus room that looked like a movie theater.
“It’s a panic room,” Angelo told him. “This is one of the security features I mentioned. There are others, but we can discuss that later if you like.”
Grady took one more walkthrough and knew this was the best find ever. He stood for a long moment in the living room, staring out of the sweeping balcony windows.
“It’s gorgeous at night,” Angelo said, confirming Grady’s suspicions.
Nobody can see us up here. The watched will become the watchers. We’ll watch sunsets and stars and... He already pictured many happy evenings here at home with Athen and Bella.
“I think my husband will love it,” Grady said. He and Athen weren’t married. Yet. I’m going to ask him though. Because my life is total crap without him in it.
Angelo beamed. “I’m so happy!”
“Oh, wait.” Grady’s momentary pleasure became eclipsed by worry. “Did I mention we have a dog?”
“Yes! We love animals. Harvey and I live two floors down and we have three dogs and two cats. The city maximum.”
Grady smiled at him. Suddenly his conscience got the better of him. “I’m going to say yes. And please don’t be offended but I have a call to make. What do you need from me to make this happen?”
Angelo looked ecstatic. “How soon do you want to move in?”
“How about day after tomorrow? We’re staying at the Beverly Hills Hotel and we’re booked for three nights. Last night was our first. My husband is in the middle of an investigation and I’d like him to not have to deal with moving for a couple of days.” My husband. The more he said it, the better it sounded to Grady’s own ears.
“How about you come over and pick up the papers later today and you can sign everything. I’ll just print everything out.” Angelo’s face flushed a little. “I will need to do a credit check just because Harvey’s a stickler for rules.”
“No problem.” Grady smiled at him. “Do you want my social security number now?”
“Sure.”
Grady rattled it off and Angelo tapped the numbers into his phone. “How is say, three o’clock?”
“Perfect.” Grady felt better already.
“Wonderful. I won’t show the apartment to anyone else.”
“Yes, please don’t. I love it.”
Angelo smiled at him. “Grady, please know, it’s our privilege to have you here. This is a very cool building with some wonderful people in it. We have your back. Anything Harvey and I can do to help ease this transition, please don’t hesitate to ask.”
“Thank you. I mean it. And when I come back, I want to meet your fur babies.”
Angelo grinned. “You got it.”
Downstairs, Grady waited until he was out of the building before returning Consuela’s call. He felt terrible when she didn’t answer. But after several rings she finally picked up.
“Mr. Grady?”
“Consuela. Are you okay? What’s going on?”
“Ees my husband. He work at the monster house.”
“The monster house?”
“Yes. Ees the house the monster buy.”
“Okay.” He tried to follow all this and realized she was probably talking about the house the actor Boris Karloff had bought many, many years ago at the height of his Frankenstein fame.
“My husband ees scared.”
“Why is he scared?”
Consuela started to cry. “He say there is a dead body in the rose garden. He never seen it there before. He say he afraid the police will think he killed her.”
“Killed who?”
“He don’t know. Ees a girl. A girl in a red dress.”
* * * *
Athen and a large proportion of the Beverly Hills Police Department were there when the body of Natasha King was painstakingly excavated from the rose garden of the so-called monster house. The day had taken on a terrible grey pallor that matched Athen’s mood. Seeing a dead body was never easy, but with the recovery of the young woman’s remains, he and Lucy were able to move forward with their case.
Almost worse than seeing Natasha’s bruised and battered body was the moment Cameron Deck was forced to remove his shirt and submit to photos. There was a deep gash on one hip that still seeped blood and probably required stitches. On his right shoulder were claw marks left by a young woman who, though flawed, didn’t deserve to die the way she did.
Athen and Lucy went to the airport to meet Valerie Harman. She still didn’t know one daughter was dead, the other on remand for her murder. She cried and wept in both the detectives’ arms.
“I just have one question,” she said. “Do you think this is my fault? I’d led a different life, would they still be alive?”
Technically it was two questions, but Athen gave her the only response he had. “That’s something you will never know. You did the best you could.”
In the end, Athen knew that Valerie Harman was as flawed as any human being and nobody could have expected the strange and shocking death of a Hollywood hopeful. Terror in Beverly Hills indeed.
By the end of another long day, Athen was anxious to be home with his man. He drove to the Beverly Hills Hotel, stunned when the valet drivers greeted him with applause.
“I never liked that man,” one of them told Athen. “It didn’t surprise me he was the killer.”
“Which one?” Athen asked. Tyler or Cameron?”
“Tyler,” the valet said. “He assaulted a friend of mine once but the police didn’t believe her.”
“I want you to call this man, please. And tell him everything.” Athen gave him Cricket’s number.
In the little bungalow where his heart currently lived, he threw himself at Grady and Bella, covering both their faces with kisses.
“I love you,” he said over and over.
Grady kept trying to tell him that he’d found them a wonderful new place to live, and Bella wanted belly rubs. There was time and space for everything. Athen wanted to fuck his man and he also wanted to call Paulie.
“That can wait.” Grady pushed him back on the sofa.
“Is that so?” Athen asked as Grady straddled him.
“Yes. That’s so.” Grady’s eyes shone as he rubbed his ass across Athen’s lap, making Athen get hard.
Oh, man.
Grady rose and pulled Athen to his feet, unbuckling his pants and pushing down his briefs before removing his own clothing. He straddled Athen again, still half-dressed.
Athen’s phone rang. He glanced at the screen. An 808 number. He recognized it as Kai, the blind Hawaiian tracker’s number. Clearly, he was calling to talk about Allie Madden. He’d been right about her not being in the water. He’d been right about a lot of things. He’d told Athen things he’d never believed possible.
“That blind man told me I’d meet you,” Athen said, looking up into Grady’s eyes.
“Really?”
“He described you to a T. God, Grady. I can’t do this life without you. I can take anything. Shootings. Murder. Riots. I can take it all if I have you.”
“Good thing I’m not planning on going anywhere,” Grady said. “Isn’t there a song called If You Leave Me, Can I Come Too?”
Athen grinned. “I think there is.”
“So marry me.”
“Just tell me when,” Athen said, lifting Grady from his body for a moment. “I need to be in you.”
“Your wish is my command.” Grady moved his body so he was on his knees hovering over Athen’s pointed cock. They never used lube because they both loved how it felt to work their way into each other. It took several minutes but Athen was finally in, letting Grady control the speed and depth with which Athen took him.
He smiled when they came together, Grady’s cock erupting between them. Athen slumped back against the sofa as Grady leaned into him. They kissed for long minutes.
“I gotta make a call,” Athen said, his voice husky from their passion.
“Of course you do,” Grady joked, rocking back on Athen’s cock.
“You’re making me hard again.”
Grady nodded. “That’s the plan, Sam.”
“Hold on. I gotta call my other husband. The work husband.” Paulie took his call. “Hey partner,” Athen said. “I got a question for you. How do you feel about a promotion? You want to go for your sergeant’s exam?
Grady ran his hands over Athen’s chest. There was time and place for everything. And it was time for a partner. In life and in work.
Anything to chase away those Fancy Man Blues.