Ten long minutes later, the front door opened, and Scott stepped inside.
“You’re early.” Ted stood, unsure what to do or say.
Scott shrugged. “I didn’t have your number to call and let you know.”
Ted pulled out his cell phone, and they swapped numbers, but with any luck after tonight, neither of them would ever use them.
“Let’s go.” Scott turned, and Ted followed him out, closing the door behind him.
In the drive, the big black truck sat, engine running. Scott went around to the driver’s side, and Ted got in the passenger side.
The cabin filled with their scent, and Ted could smell their arousal, but he grabbed the door handle, and Scott gripped the wheel. Both of them seemed determined not to let what happened last night happen again.
“We need to talk,” Scott said between gritted teeth. Ted watched him, and if he didn’t know better, he’d say Scott was pissed as hell.
“That’s never good.” Ted couldn’t think of what he’d done to irritate Scott. Well, besides being his mate.
“I did some checking around.”
“Oh?”
“About you.”
“Oh.” Ted waited for the shoe to drop. He had a feeling he knew right where this conversation was headed, the same place shit always flowed—downhill.
“You were kicked off the force three years ago. Implicated in the death of your partner, and the word is you were taking protection money.” Scott’s grip turned white-knuckled.
Ted tensed. “So?” He didn’t owe any explanations to Scott, not now. They were just an hour away from being out of each other’s lives for good, and the last thing he wanted was to drag Scott any closer.
“So? What the fuck do you mean, so?” Scott’s explosion took Ted by surprise.
“What does it matter to you?”
“It matters.” Scott shook his head. “I’m the sheriff. It might be a little one-horse Cajun hick town to you, but I’m respected here. I can’t associate with someone like you.”
“Like me?” Now Ted’s hackles stood on end. “Look you self-righteous prick, I know exactly what you heard from the boys in blue, but I’m telling you, there’s two sides to every story.” He crossed his arms over his chest and set his jaw. He’d kept the truth hidden for years to honor Douglas’s family, buried and festering like an old sore.
“Two sides?” Scott pulled the truck over to the side of the road and faced Ted, eyes blazing. “You were tossed off the force, just escaped jail time, and your partner was killed because of you.”
If Ted had been a cartoon, steam would have been coming out of his ears about now. This guy had no right to look him up or to confront him about this. But something deep inside Ted wanted Scott to know the truth. As much as he hated it, Ted valued Scott’s opinion of him, and this hurt.
Ted leaned forward and poked Scott’s shoulder with his finger. “Listen to me. My partner was shot because he walked in on a robbery in progress. The perp panicked and shot him and the clerk. I was outside on the sidewalk writing a ticket.” Man, Ted really didn’t want to get into this, but Scott just dragged him there.
“That’s not I was told.”
“Yeah, I’m sure you were told a whole lot of things about me, none of them good.” Ted looked out the window. “Do you believe them?”
Scott ran his hand around the wheel, his fingertips tracing the outer edge. He seemed to deflate as he exhaled a long slow breath. “Okay, tell me your side.”
Ted sighed. “I will, but it can’t go any further, you hear me? No one knows, and that’s how I want it to be.”
“Sure, man.” Now he had Scott’s attention. Swear a man to secrecy, and he was all over it.
“I told you Douglas was my happily married patrol partner in the Quarter for three years, right?”
Scott nodded. “Was he in the closet?”
“No.” Ted shook his head. “Douglas was straight. And he was dirty. He was taking protection money from a Vietnamese shop owner. That night, he suggested we stop for coffee, but he really stopped to pick up his payment. He walked in on the robbery.”
“Did you know?”
“I had no idea he wasn’t on the up-and-up.” Ted ran his hand over his face. “The perp shot the clerk and then shot Douglas. I heard the shots, ran in, shot the perp. Douglas bled out, lying on the floor. He died in my arms.” Ted turned his face away to hide the hurt he knew still showed in his eyes. “I couldn’t stop the bleeding. There was so much blood.” He placed his hand on the door window, and just like that, he saw the thick, sticky red fluid oozing through his fingers as he pressed his hand to Douglas’s chest. Douglas’s eyes looking up at him as he gasped for air.
Scott didn’t say a word, but Ted felt his heart hammering in his chest.
“I was in love with Douglas, but he was straight as they came. He adored his wife and those kids, and they adored him. He was their hero.” Ted’s voice cracked.
“So you took the fall,” Scott whispered.
Ted nodded. “I couldn’t let them suffer. They’d have lost not just a husband and father, but all the honor, glory, and benefits. The cop community would have turned their backs on the family, and I couldn’t let that happen.”
“Damn.” Scott rested his head on the wheel and exhaled. “I didn’t want to believe it, Ted.”
“But you did.” He wouldn’t admit how much that hurt.
“Yeah. One cop to another, what you gonna believe?”
“Hell, you don’t know me, I shouldn’t expect anything more. I’m a disgraced ex-cop, a PI, and gay. Three strikes, right?”
Scott looked up into Ted’s face. “Come here.”
Those two words, more than any of late, had some sort of power over Ted. Maybe it was just Scott’s voice or the tone of command, but he slid across the seat and into Scott’s arms. It took everything he had not to bawl like a baby. To let it all out, the anger, the sorrow, the grief he’d held inside for so long.
Strong, safe, comforting, Scott held him tight. “I’m so sorry, cher. Sorry you lost everything. Sorry you fell in love with someone who couldn’t give back to you. Sorry no one knows what you did for his family.” Scott rubbed Ted’s back, soothing him with his touch and voice.
“It’s okay. It was my choice.” Ted straightened and pulled away, trying to put distance between them. He cleared his throat. “I don’t regret it, and I’d do it again for the man I loved.”
“Lucky man.”
Scott leaned in and kissed Ted, but this time it was so soft and tender it nearly broke Ted’s heart. Goddamn fate. Whoever was up there hated him, really hated him.
He just couldn’t catch a break.
“No, Scott. Don’t. It’s just too hard.” Ted pulled back, his hand resting on Scott’s chest for a moment, and the hard thumps underneath his palm nearly weakened him, nearly drove him back into Scott’s arms.
Scott let him go and pulled the truck back onto the road. “We’ll be at my mom’s in ten minutes. I have to warn you, she’s a little eccentric.”
“She cast a love spell on us, so I’d say that pretty much says it all.”
“She’s my maman, and I love her.” Scott shrugged. “But sometimes, I could kill her.”
“I completely understand.” Ted’s own mother had kept in touch with him after he left NOPD, but his father had cut him out completely. Being gay was one thing, but being a dirty cop? Not even his father could get past that sin.
“Look, Ted. I just want to say, I hope you’ll understand about the mate thing.”
“Don’t worry. I understand. You’re straight, even if your wolf isn’t.” Ted shrugged. “You have a career in a small town that might not be too fond of their sheriff having a male partner. Your wolf gang—er, pack—won’t like it and might kick you to the curb. I get it. I didn’t stand a chance, did I?”
“Not really.” Scott sighed. “But my wolf really, really likes you.”
“It must. It got you to let a man suck you off.”
Scott groaned. “Don’t remind him.” He rubbed the bulge at his crotch.
“Sure. Keep your cool, wolfman.” Ted snorted. “I’m saving it for someone who appreciates it.”
Scott growled at the mention of another man.
Ted just laughed. “You can’t have it both ways, Scott.”
“Tell that to my wolf.”
»»•««
After they’d turned off the main highway, the truck jostled over a gravel road with only its headlights to guide the way. All around them the darkness was a solid curtain of black, almost like something physical.
Scott pulled up in front of a small raised cottage and parked. “We’re here.”
“Right. Let’s get this over with.” Ted got out and waited for Scott to join him.
They walked up the steps, and Scott knocked. The door opened, and a small woman with a cigarette dangling from the corner of her mouth stood in the doorway, wearing a flowered housedress and pink fuzzy slippers. The word Princess was embroidered across the tops of them.
“That’s him?” She eyed Ted, then nodded. “Come on in, cher.”
“Thank you, ma’am.” Ted nodded and stepped past her into the living room. A black cat stared at him from the back of the sofa.
“So, you’re the mate for my Scott, huh?” Her eyes twinkled. Maybe she thought this was the funniest joke ever.
“Not exactly. I think both Scott and I have determined that wouldn’t be a good idea.” Ted glared at Scott, folding his arms across his chest.
“Maman, please. Just do the ceremony.” Scott ran his hand over his face.
She nodded, went into the kitchen, and came back with a flowered pillowcase, a candle, and a box of matches. “Scott, you carry the shovel.”
They followed her outside. Scott picked up a shovel leaning against the side of the house. “Here, take my flashlight, Ted.” Scott handed it to him.
Ted flicked it on and shone the light on the ground, ahead of the old woman.
The cat padded along, weaving in and out of the light as it danced around Scott’s mother’s feet, always just one step away from tripping her. They reached the end of the clearing around the small house and stopped.
The cat sat.
“This has to be done just right, or it won’t work. Even then, I’m not making no promises.” She took a deep drag of her cigarette and flicked it into the damp woods. It hissed as it hit water.
Ted shone the light around. They stood on the edge of the swamp. Here and there, moonlight shimmered off the dark soup.
“Are there alligators?” he asked.
“Sure. Snakes, gators, and mosquitoes big enough to carry off a small child.” She cackled at the joke. “And don’t forget”—she paused for effect—“the rugarou.”
Ted jerked the flashlight to her face, and she cackled.
“He’s a skittish one, Scott. Good-looking, but skittish.”
Then she stepped into the darkness, and Scott motioned for Ted to follow. He played the light on the ground and found the path she took.
The cat didn’t follow them.