“Oh god, this is good,” he murmured as he inhaled the food. Marty stood behind him, gently massaging his tense shoulders.
“Did you have any luck finding the boy?” Marty asked.
Grant groaned. “Fuck no. Other than that picture on the tape and the note in the bushes, it’s like he disappeared without leaving any trace.” He ate another bite. “There were reports of an old SUV in the neighborhood, but it turned out to be from a maintenance company that was working with a neighbor to clear their gutters. Nothing nefarious other than a guy making a living. Yeah, this guy appeared on video, but other than that he’s a ghost. We’ve distributed the picture to news media in the area,and they’ll run it on the morning news and every news broadcast today, and with the parents’ permission, they’re running a picture of our missing little boy. But how hard can it be to find a guy at six foot three or -four that looks like that? Someone has to remember him.”
“Unless that isn’t what he really looks like?” Marty said. “What if those are prosthetics? That nose is almost comical, and so is the brow line. Add a few latex features, and you’ve changed your face completely, making yourself unrecognizable. You make yourself into a completely different person.” Marty continued rubbing Grant’s neck, and he slowly began to relax. “And maybe that’s what this is all about.”
Grant stilled. “How so.”
“Okay. So maybe this is a person who hates his life. Maybe he’s taking these kids and changing his appearance because he wants to be someone else. Someone in control… someone who’s all alone and wants a family that they can’t have. I don’t know, I’m just saying that’s a possibility.” He paused.
“If that’s so, then all the media attention isn’t going to get us anywhere, because we’ll have people looking for someone who doesn’t exist.” Grant swallowed the last bite of omelet and stood. “All of this would be for nothing, and it could tip our hand.”
“I was only supposing,” Marty said.
“Yeah, but it makes sense. At least the mask part.” Grant began pacing.
“Do you have that picture?”
“Yeah. We were able to clean it up some more.” He pulled out his phone and showed the new image to Marty. He took the phone and looked closer at the image. “Yeah. The nose and forehead don’t look quite right.” He smiled. “I see it now.” He enlarged part of the image. “Right there, his left ear. He has a cauliflower ear, and look, part of the lobe is missing. It was either removed or cut away. He can’t disguise that without greatdifficulty or drawing even more attention to it. At least not without Hollywood-level makeup skills. That is what you have to get out to everyone. That’s the one feature we know is real and could help identify him under all the play acting. That is part of the real person underneath.” He handed the phone back, and Grant turned and hugged the stuffing out of him.
Marty could hardly breathe for a few seconds, but then Grant backed away and stabbed at his phone again. “Chief, sorry to bother you, but we need to update that release to the press about our suspect.” Marty took the dishes to the sink as he half listened while Grant explained what he thought they should do. The chief must have agreed, because Grant came back relieved and a little more relaxed than he had been all evening.
Once Marty had taken care of the dishes and put the kitchen to rights, he turned around, leaning against the counter. “So, officer, are you officially off duty now?”
“Yes. Until eight in the morning,” Grant answered breathily.
“Then you’re all mine until then, and I can have my wicked way with you.”
Grant smirked. “If I don’t fall to sleep.”
“Then I think you and I should go upstairs, and maybe I can peel away that uniform to see if you’re carrying any concealed weapons. Though judging by certain bulges, I’d say that you definitely have a loaded gun in there.” He took Grant’s hand and led him though the house and up to his room before lightly pushing him down on the bed.
“Geez. I didn’t think you’d be this forward.”
Marty growled. “Look, I spent all last night in the same bed with you, trying to let you sleep and not taking advantage because all I wanted to do was wake you up and ride you like a damned horse. But I didn’t because you needed your rest.”
“I see.” Grant put his hands behind his head. “And that’s the sort of thing you’re interested in?”
Marty leaned over the bed, glad that Grant’s uniform shirt had snaps, because he pulled it apart, exposing his broad chest. “What I’m interested in is you, in case that hasn’t been apparent.” He paused. “But I understand if you would rather just be friends. A man with a kid is a lot to take on, and if you want the two of us to go on as we are and just… well, not go there… then….” He was suddenly nervous.
Grant sat up and wrapped his arms around him, pulling Marty to him. “I know exactly what I want.” He kissed him hard and pulled at the hem of Marty’s shirt, getting it over his head before once again taking possession of his lips. “And maybe your life is a little messy—so is mine. Are you sure you can put up with someone who works the hours I do?”
Marty met Grant’s intense gaze. “It looks like we’ll both have priorities that need to be taken into account. But I guess we’ll never know if things have a chance between us unless we give it a try, and some things are really important.”
“Like what?” Grant asked.
“Making sure that we’re compatible.” Marty drew closer. “Though I really don’t think that’s too much of an issue. I didn’t think I had a kink, but seeing you in your uniform gets my heart racing.”
Grant chuckled. “Are you sure it’s not just a uniform thing?” He cocked his eyebrows, and Marty scowled.
“Please. I’ve seen a lot of your colleagues in their uniforms in the past few days, and they haven’t done a thing for me. So no, it’s not a uniform thing, it’s a you in your uniform thing.” He tugged off Grant’s shirt, running his hands over the light hair in the center of his chest. “You are stunning in this thing, and from what I’ve seen so far, just as stunning out of it.”
A scream split the night, and Marty jumped off the bed, hitting the floor at a run. He raced down the hall to Cameron’sroom to find him sitting up in bed, trembling and holding Binky like a shield. “What happened?”
“The bad man. He came here to get me. I sawed him, and then I waked up and I was scared and….” He began to cry, and Marty held him. “I don’t want the bad man to get me again.”
“You’re safe here. He isn’t going to get you as long as you’re with me,” Marty whispered, and rocked him slowly. “I won’t let anyone hurt you, I promise. I know he made you scared and that he put you in the dark, but I won’t do that. You are safe here.”
