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  “How’d it go with Brett?” Luca asked, finally turning to look at Corey.

  Corey smirked and leaned close. “He’s a great lay. It’s just too bad he has that laugh.”

  Luca snorted, knowing exactly what Corey was talking about. “Oh… my… God! It’s so annoying. He sounds just like a howler monkey. Seriously, every time I hear it, I think I’m at the zoo.”

  Corey laughed hard, holding a hand over his stomach as he nodded. “You’re right,” he gasped. “It sounds just like that which is why I can hardly talk to the guy. I’m always afraid I’m gonna say something funny and be subjected to it so I have to remain stoic and serious all the time.”

  Luca laughed and slung an arm around Corey. “I feel for you, babe, but at least you got laid.”

  “You could have come home with us,” Corey said, winking.

  Luca gaped at him. They’d both decided a long time ago that they’d never sleep together. They were much better keeping things just as they were. True friendship was hard to find and even harder to hold on to. The last thing he wanted was to screw up his relationship with Corey by crawling into bed with him. Besides, he’d never thought it was a good idea to do a threesome anyway. He’d never had the desire to. It seemed like it would be a lot of work anyway. Just figuring out who did what to whom with what seemed like a lot of planning to make it equitable. When he was ready to get laid, the last thing he wanted to do was to try to be fair with both men. No thanks. It wasn’t for him. Judging by the smirk and wink Corey was giving him, he hadn’t been serious about it anyway.

  “Did you see Freddy tonight?” Luca asked, suddenly remembering his earlier encounter.

  Corey shook his head. “I haven’t seen him in a while. Was he here?”

  “Yeah, I ran into him earlier and he didn’t look so good,” Luca said, frowning.

  “The last time I saw him was with you… remember, the night we came here for the birthday party? I’m kind of surprised he’s back at the club scene though.”

  “Why?” Luca asked. “What have you heard?”

  “I heard he’s been hustling but like I said, I haven’t seen him around. He’s not in the back of any of the magazines either,” Corey said, shrugging his shoulders. Luca knew a lot of escorts put ads in the back of skin mags and on popular porn sites, not that he’d ever been in the market.

  “He didn’t look good and I’m pretty sure he was on something,” Luca said, frowning as he took another sip of his Long Island.

  “Yeah, well, I’m not surprised he was high if he’s actually hustling. I could have sworn he was dating someone seriously, though,” Corey said.

  Luca raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

  “After you left Barcelona, a really good-looking guy asked him to dance.” Corey suddenly turned and faced him and then reached out and slapped him on the bicep. “Wait a minute. You danced with the same guy that night.”

  Luca pursed his lips, trying to remember. He’d only danced with one guy the night of the birthday party before Kane dragged him out of the club. In fact, Kane had been really pissed off because he’d danced with the guy. He’d actually accused Luca of being a sex worker because the man he’d been dancing with was some kind of pimp from San Diego where Kane had been an actual detective and not the ATF agent he was now.

  “That guy’s name was Slade, I think. That’s the guy Freddy’s been dating?” Luca asked in surprise.

  Corey looked over at him and nodded before taking a long drink of his rum and coke. “I guess he’s dating that guy. I saw him about a week later and he told me he’d been out with the guy more than once but since then, I haven’t seen Freddy around. You talked to him?”

  “Yeah and let me tell you, Corey, Freddy was out of it. I’m pretty sure he was high. He asked me to fuck him,” Luca said.

  Corey’s jaw dropped. “He actually asked you to fuck him?”

  “He did which is why I know something is wrong. That and the fact that he looks horrible. He was never a really big guy to begin with but now, he just looks gaunt and sick. I’m pretty certain he’s on heroin or something like it. His pupils were pinpricks and he was unfocused, not to mention, the way he looked at me and talked to me. There’s definitely something going on. When I told him I’d like to take him to get some coffee, he got really mad and stormed away but not before saying he couldn’t leave until he’d had a couple dates. In my mind, that can only mean one thing.”

  “He is hustling then,” Corey decided. “That is so weird. He’s got a great job and a big future. His boss loves him.”

  Corey looked just as perplexed as Luca was. His first thought was that he should call Kane and tell him about Freddy. Since Kane knew this Slade guy, maybe he would tell Luca what to do about his friend. Almost the moment he thought it, he realized he couldn’t call Kane or anyone else… unless…

  He turned and set his unfinished drink on the bar before grabbing Corey and hugging him hard.

  “What?” Corey asked, laughing. “What brought that on?”

  “I gotta go, babe.”

  Corey’s face screwed up. “Come on, Luca. You just got here. It seems like ages since we actually hung out together. What’s so fucking important?”

  Luca leaned close and kissed Corey on the cheek before turning and starting to walk away. “I promise I’ll call you tomorrow, babe. I gotta go.”

  “Shit. Luca!” Corey called but Luca was already anxious to get out of the place so that he could make a call in relative peace. He stepped out of the bar and pulled out his phone, walking away from the line of people taking out IDs to show the bouncers standing at the entrance of Barcelona. When he was in a quiet spot, he called up the number he needed and hit the dial button. A few rings later, Kelly Murphy answered.

  “Luca?” She must have saved his number in caller ID.

  “Hey, Kelly. Listen, I kind of need your help. Are you at work?”

  “Just leaving the station, sweetheart. Is everything all right?”

  Luca could hear concern in the tone of her voice. “I’m okay. This is about a friend. Can you come to meet me somewhere?”

  “Where are you now?” Kelly asked. Her voice was always kind and Luca loved knowing that if he needed help, he could call a member of the police force without it being Kane, the man he now called “just another fling that ended badly.”

  “I’m at a club called Barcelona in West Hollywood. Do you know it?”

  “Sure.”

  Luca could tell she was walking and when he heard the beep of her car alarm, he knew she had to be in the parking lot at the police station where she worked.

  “Okay, there’s a small diner around the corner. It’s called Gary’s Place. Can you meet me there? I need some advice.” He didn’t really know what Kelly could do for Freddy but he had to give it a try. If this Slade guy really had Freddy in his clutches—turning tricks for him or whatever—Luca had to make someone aware of the fact that the pimp was working in the clubs. Kane had strongly warned him. He’d made Luca realize that this man was dangerous so Luca had to talk to Kelly.

  “I know where it is. Give me about…” She hesitated as if consulting her watch for the time. “Give me about a half hour. Maybe twenty minutes but either way, I’m coming to you.”

  “Okay… hey… don’t say anything to Kane, okay?”

  “No problem, sweetie. I’m on my way.” The call disconnected and Luca breathed out a sigh of relief, taking off down the block as he walked to Gary’s Place. Once he talked to Kelly, he might get some sleep tonight. He really hoped Freddy was going to be okay. Seeing him in that condition had really freaked him out.

  ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

  Luca looked up from his stack of pancakes as Kelly walked up to the table. She looked great and he couldn’t help but smile up at her. Her gorgeous curly red hair was drawn into a loose ponytail at the back of her neck. He stood up immediately and she put out her arms, drawing him into a tight hug. From the moment he’d met the detective he’
d liked her, possibly because she was warm and friendly, the exact opposite of her partner, Kane. She’d encouraged him to be himself around her and Luca had been impressed by the way she cared about people, putting them at ease rather than putting them at odds like her partner.

  “How are you, Luca?” she asked, taking a seat across from him as the hostess held out a menu. She looked up and said, “The pancakes look good. I’ll have those too.”

  Luca smiled at her and drizzled boysenberry syrup over his stack. “How are you? You look great.”

  “I’m fine, honey but you didn’t tell me what’s going on with you. You sounded worried on the phone.” She let the statement hang and Luca shrugged.

  “This isn’t about me. You know everything there is to know about me,” he said, offering a forced smile. He didn’t want to talk about his feelings about Kane dumping him but he knew that she’d probably pry it out of him. “First things first, I ran into a friend at Barcelona tonight and I’m worried. He looked bad… I mean thin and gaunt with hollow cheeks and I’m pretty sure he was on something pretty strong. It took him several seconds to even recognize me and he was wobbly.”

  Kelly frowned. “Wobbly on his feet? He wasn’t just drunk?”

  “He probably was but there was something more to it. Being drunk wouldn’t make him look sickly and he definitely did. His color was gray and to be honest, I’ve only seen that in people I know use drugs on a regular basis.” Luca couldn’t help but frown as he looked down at the syrup turning his pancakes a brilliant purple as it soaked in.

  “What do you think he was using? Hard drugs?” she asked, sounding concerned.

  “I don’t think he was on the kind of drugs you’d think of as the fun stuff—ecstasy or uppers of some kind. I don’t know. I’ve never tried drugs but he looked unfocused—droopy for lack of a better word. And his eyelids had that half-mast look to them like I’ve seen in heroin users, you know, like they’re about to nod off.” He put down his fork and leaned across the table, talking with his hands. “I swear to you right now, Freddy has never been a drug abuser until now. He has a great job at a Century City law office. He works for a high-priced group of attorneys who pay him well. He has his own apartment and he’s only like twenty-one.”

  “You have your own apartment,” Kelly said, smiling softly.

  “Yeah, but Freddy’s is a hell of a lot nicer than mine. I know he makes great money and he’s always been totally driven to succeed. He’s always been successful—top of his class in college and popular with everyone. The last time I saw him was about two months ago at Barcelona. He looked great. I’m telling you right now, the change in him is profound, like night and day.” He lowered his voice and crooked a finger, asking her to lean closer. “I think he’s hustling.” Luca leaned back.

  “What makes you say that?” Kelly asked, also leaning forward in her seat.

  “First of all, he asked me to go to bed with him but it was in this really desperate way that is totally unlike him. We’ve never had that kind of relationship. Our friendship stops at the edge of the bed. Seriously. He’s never even hinted at wanting to sleep with me. That’s always been off limits for us. And then when I asked him to go with me to get coffee so I could sober him up, he said, he had to stay and have a couple dates first. You know what dates are—tricks. That’s why I think he’s hustling.”

  Kelly nodded and then looked up as her pancakes were delivered. They both tucked into their food for a few minutes. Luca’s pancakes were amazing. Gary’s used real butter, not that margarine crap. He was pretty sure the syrup was homemade; a lot of their food was. The diner was full of club goers who stopped in after dancing so the waitress bustled away to help other patrons.

  “So, if I understand you correctly, you’re worried that your friend Freddy has slipped into a dangerous lifestyle including prostitution and drugs.” Kelly reached across the table and took Luca’s hand. He stared deeply into her kind eyes. “I’d be worried too, Luca, especially if his actions are so out of character, but what can I do to help? I mean, I can check with vice to see if they have any knowledge of his activities and maybe narcotics, though they deal with the dealers and not the end users unless they’re informants.”

  Luca nodded. “That would help and I know you’d be professional no matter how you handled it. But this is the thing, after I saw Freddy tonight, I was talking to Corey, another friend and I asked what he knew about him. He said that the last time he’d seen him was the same night I last saw Freddy. We were celebrating a birthday and we were all there.” Luca cleared his throat, feeling uncomfortable. He suspected Kelly knew about his past relationship with Kane. The two partners shared a lot. She’d even caught them kissing so he was pretty sure he wasn’t outing Kane. Still, it bothered him a bit to spill private things.

  “What is it?” she encouraged.

  He looked her square in the eye and took a deep breath. “The night of the birthday party, this guy asked me to dance. He called himself Slade. He was gorgeous but it was just after the jewelry store robbery and I told him I’d been looking at mug shot books all day. That news made him back off without a word. He just turned and walked away when I told him that.”

  She tilted her head in that way dogs did when they weren’t sure what he was getting at. He went on.

  “Anyway, that night, I was getting ready to go when Kane grabbed my arm and dragged me out of Barcelona. He was super pissed.”

  “Wait. Kane dragged you out of Barcelona? He was at Barcelona?” She looked confused and surprised at the same time.

  Luca shrugged, knowing that he probably looked very uncomfortable to be telling her about Kane’s activities of the night.

  “Yeah, he was there. I don’t have any idea why he was there but apparently he saw me dancing with this Slade guy and he dragged me outside and accused me of being a hustler.”

  Kelly’s eyes widened as she sat back against the cushion of the booth. “Okay, now I’m really interested. Why did he ask you that?”

  Luca sighed. “First he told me that he figured out who I really was. He accused me of being an escort because I knew Slade… whatever. He knew his last name. I can’t remember it. Anyway, he said now that he’d seen us together, he knew I was one of his ‘boys’. When I denied it and told him he was crazy, he told me a story about how he knew the guy.”

  “What did he say?” Kelly leaned forward and picked up her coffee, taking a long sip from the cooling cup.

  “Kane said he knew him from San Diego where he used to be a police detective. He said Slade was a pimp and that I was the kind of guy he liked to keep in his… stable or whatever. I know nothing about hustlers except what I watch on TV or read in books. When I denied it, he told me to stay away from Slade… that he was a murderer but that the cops down in San Diego could never prove it.”

  Kelly nodded her head. “Okay, so what does this have to do with your friend Freddy?”

  “So, as I was telling you, tonight after I saw Corey, he told me that Freddy danced with that Slade dude after I left the birthday party months ago.” Luca was getting excited as he put the facts together. He could understand why cops and investigators did what they did. It was exciting finding random clues and then suddenly see how they all fell into place to form a finished puzzle. “So, it would make sense that this Slade guy picked Freddy up and now has him turning tricks for him. Kane said he’s a real smooth operator.”

  Kelly grinned and ducked her head, chuckling. When she looked up, her eyes were sparkling. “Smooth operator?” She snorted. “You really do have mystery and adventure novels running through your head all the time, don’t you, honey?”

  Luca smiled. “I love mysteries. Nothing intrigues me more.” He picked up his fork again and began eating, staying quiet as Kelly finished off the last of her pancakes as well. When she finally pushed her empty plate away, she grinned at him and then puffed out her lips.

  “Damn that hit the spot but I’m gonna have to hit the gym for an extra hour to
morrow. I wasn’t gonna work my abs since tomorrow is leg day, but now I have no choice. Pancakes are my downfall, Luca, and you’ve found the best place in town… bastard.” Kelly grinned to soften the last word.

  Luca couldn’t help but grin back. “So, now that you’ve heard all of it, I kind of wanted you to take it to Kane. Maybe he can find some more on this Slade guy. If he’s hurting Freddy, I want it to stop. That’s why I called you,” he said, feeling dread wash over him. Every time he thought of Kane, he felt sick inside but coupled with Freddy possibly being in danger, Luca felt like he was losing it.

  Kelly nodded, looking at him in that way all law enforcement officers did. It was like she understood something that Luca just couldn’t put his finger on. Finally, she sighed deeply and Luca knew she was thinking carefully about what to say next.

  “You want me to talk to Kane because you can’t?”

  Luca nodded, feeling his stomach flip. He opened his mouth to say something but pain flooded him. He felt tears burning behind his eyes. Kane was clearly no longer interested in carrying on their relationship and since Luca was pretty sure he was in love with Kane, just thinking about the man devastated him. He closed his trap, mortified to let Kelly see the tears.

  “Oh, sweetie,” she said quietly. “I know what happened and I just want you to know, he’s an asshole. He’s treated you disgracefully and I’m so sorry for that.”

  Luca’s eyes widened. “H-he told you?”

  “Yes and to be honest, even if he hadn’t, I would have known. It was easy to see that he was preoccupied with you every time he saw you. He stared at you, he growled at you, and he pushed you away with the things he said to you. It was clear to me he was fighting his feelings for you which is why he tried to drive you away.”

  “Well, it didn’t work. He pursued me,” Luca said. “I tried to tell him that I couldn’t hide away in the dark and be just…” He paused, nearly choking on the words. He had to swallow hard before continuing. “I couldn’t be just a toy that he could pick up and play with when it suited him.”