“I swear, Marlon, I had no idea that was a secret. You never tell me anything, so I figured if I knew something about you, the rest of the force had to know already. I was just making conversation. I can’t help it if you don’t open up to me like you did Sam.” His voice lowered. “Was that why Sam moved? Did his wife find out about you two getting all… what’s the PC term…homoeroticin the backseat?”
Marlon felt his short nails dig into the palm of his hand, and he squeezed tighter. It took all his willpower to keep silent. Sam had moved to be closer to his wife’s family back East, as his mother-in-law was ill. It was ridiculous to let Andrew’s accusations about his old partner get to him. Sam wouldn’t have cared; he would have laughed them off, especially coming from someone like Andrew.
“Now, you know I’m open-minded, and I don’t mind sharing my space with you, but I will have to ask you to shower separately from now on. I don’t want my body to become a distraction or get in the way of your professional feelings about me. I guess I’m not asopen-minded as Sam was.” Andrew readjusted his position, angling his body toward Marlon, but let his hand rest on his seat belt release. “Things need to stay professional, and in that manner, I’m going to start taking a bigger lead at times. I have genuine concern that your relationship is impairing your ability to see people as the threat they are to our community.”
Marlon couldn’t bite his tongue any longer. “What the fuck, Andrew? You know that’s a bunch of shit.”
Andrew just shrugged. “Maybe not. I was surprised to discover that I wasn’t the only one you were keeping secrets from. When I mentioned to a few other officers my experiences with your unwillingness to ask for identification at certain times, they seemed as concerned as I feel. Especially when I brought up your boyfriend’s… Vahin, was it?Vahin’sappearance. Others noticed a clear conflict of interest there.”
Despite his fury, this threw Marlon, and he was certain the chief hadn’t heard this part of the gossip mill yet. And Marlon could bet which “few” officers Andrew had spoken to about his “safety concerns.” The anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant sentiments were high, despite the chief’s efforts to keep his force neutral.
“You’re a bitch, Andrew.”
Andrew didn’t rise to the bait. “And I’m keeping my eye on you. And the chief. Keeping our city safe is a matter meant for higher positions than his.”
Marlon glared at the fucker for several more seconds as he got his tongue back under control, then put the car in gear and pulled back out onto 17th. No wonder the chief was being so careful. Marlon hadn’t considered the senator uncle would do more than guarantee Andrew’s job and might go after the chief’s position.
