His cell phone rang and he excused himself to get it. As he walked to the back of the house, he glanced back to see Anderson kneeling before the Jessops and laying a hand on Mildred's shoulder.
"Kim."
"Hey, Leo, it's Isha. I didn't know who else to call."
"What's going on?"
"I really wanted to tell you this face to face but the captain told me you're in Elmont right now?"
"Yeah. What? You sound rattled."
"One of my guys managed to put together a broken vase from Anderson's place. He found a partial print on it. He was swamped with work so I told him I'd run it. I tried running it for a while but nothing. And you know how stubborn I am. After staring at it for a bit, I realised it was flipped upside down and that's why running it wasn't really working."
"Isha! Damn it!"
"I'm sorry, Leo. But this is hard for me. I don't even think it means anything but I… the partial came back as Daniel's."
Leo went numb. He fumbled with the counter in the kitchen and fell against it heavily. "Which Daniel?"
"Your Daniel."
"Wha—I mean… my Daniel?"
"Yes, Kim. Daniel Fergis. NYPD."
"That… that has to be a mistake. There's no way Daniel's print is anywhere in that house. It shouldn't be. It's a mistake. Maybe it was contaminated. Run it again."
"I did. Four times. It still comes back Daniel."
"That doesn't make sense… Why would Daniel…? Listen to me. I need you to do me a favor. Don't ask anyone else for help and don't let anyone else know the results you just gave me. I need you to run a background into Daniel. Go beyond everyone else. Dig deeper."
"Leo. I'm the ME!"
"Who used to be the best in the labs. Do this for me, Isha. Keep this on the DL. Find out all you can about Daniel. I don't want to believe my partner is in this. There has to be a different explanation. I'm going to stick around here until I can figure out what to do. I don't know how long they're going to pay a couple of cops to watch this house and I can't leave coach and Mildred high and dry for this joker to come by here."
"All right."
"Be careful."
Isha promised she would and Leo walked back to sit down with the others.
"What's wrong?" Anderson asked.
"Nothing," Leo lied. "Coach, can we spend the night?"
"Of course," Mildred said. "What kind of question is that? We have a guest room upstairs with an en-suite bathroom. Make yourselves at home."
They dispersed. Mildred escorted them up the stairs. They left Coach looking out the curtains of the front window right after he locked the front door and slipped the security chain on. Leo felt awful.
"Here you are, gentlemen."
"Thank you," Anderson spoke. "We really appreciate this."
She smiled at Anderson, touched Leo's cheek before closing the door behind her. Leo was looking out the window, arms folded across his chest.
"Why do you call her Nana?" Anderson questioned.
"What?" Leo shook his head and glanced at Anderson, feeling more lost than he'd ever felt.
"Mildred. Why do you call her Nana?"
Leo smiled then. "Because she's the closest thing to a grandmother I have. She's loved me over the years like I had her blood in my veins and I can't think of a better name to call her."
Anderson nodded.
He hoped the conversation would end there but Anderson's next words caused him to hang his head.
"Something happened during the phone call," Anderson's voice was low, yet crisp. "What was it?"
"Has Daniel ever been to your place?"
"Your partner, Daniel? Why would he be at my place?"
"Has he?"
"Leo, now is not the time to get jealous over some non-existent relationship with someone who seems to have a problem with me. I didn't know who he was until my dad died."
"And you're sure he's never been to your house?" Leo pushed. "Maybe at a holiday dinner and one of your friends brought someone you didn't know. That could happen."
"No. He's never been there," Anderson stressed.
"What do you mean he seems to have a problem with you?"
"The other day while I waited for you at the station, he asked me if we were seeing each other. I told him it was none of his business but he gave me this look."
"Andy, why didn't you tell me?"
Anderson shrugged. "I thought he was just trying to protect his partner. I mean a gay cop is one thing but a gay cop screwing a victim's son could cost a cop his badge."
Leo made no reply.
Anderson took his shoulder and tugged. "You're not making any sense."
"Isha managed to run a partial print they found at your place," Leo admitted. He couldn't meet Anderson's eyes. It would kill him if Daniel was really the one out to get him.
"Who's Isha?"
"It's not important. What is important is they found a match to the print from your place. It belongs to Daniel."
The room went silent then. It was the silence that came when something was just said that ended the world. It was a bad, heartbreaking kind of quiet that made Leo want to bang a fist into the wall. He refrained. He kept telling himself just because Daniel's print was found at Anderson's didn't mean he did anything wrong. It could be that his gloves ripped when they were clearing the scene. Or it could be Daniel forgot to put his gloves on and touched something. Any number of things could have happened.
"Maybe it's from when you guys were there after the break-in."
Leo shook his head and they went quiet once more.
"So what now?"
Leo looked at Anderson, who was now sitting on the bed.
"I asked Isha to look into Daniel's background."
"Are you sure that's a good idea? It can't be safe for her and what if Daniel found out she's looking into him—and he's the bad guy?"
"I've thought of that."
"I have my laptop now. Could you get access from here?"
Leo shook his head. "No. I need to have the programs installed on it. Don't worry. Isha will let us know what she finds
if
she finds anything. I asked her to be careful. If Daniel did anything wrong, as long as he doesn't know we're onto him, Isha will be fine."
Walking across the space, Leo knelt in front of Anderson and rested his head gently in Anderson's lap. He didn't realize he was holding his breath until Anderson sank his fingers into Leo's hair and massaged gently. Leo exhaled long and slow, feeling the small of his back throb in exhaustion. He wrapped his arms around Anderson's legs for comfort and closed his eyes. He wasn't sure how long he stayed that way but Anderson didn't move or complain. Instead, the professor simply caressed the back of Leo's neck, dragging his fingers through Leo's hair.
It was precisely what he needed—to feel close to someone.
Moaning, he eventually, reluctantly, lifted his head.
Chapter Fifteen
Anderson finally talked Leo into getting some sleep. For a while after Leo was snoring softly beside him, Anderson simply sat there, holding him against his chest and trying to remember the last time he felt so at ease with a man. His last relationship ended abruptly when Anderson realized love wasn't in Ken's cards. Turning, he kissed Leo's head, praying if anything happened between them it would be real.
Finally he laid Leo gently on the bed and made his way down the stairs. He had dinner with Mildred and the coach then sat in the living room with Coach Jessops. Mildred had long since cleaned up, with his help, after dinner and went up to the bedroom to read. He wished he'd brought some work to mark because it was so quiet. Standing by the window, he stared out wondering how this was all going to end. No matter how long he thought about it, he just didn't see a happy ending in sight.
"He's a good man, you know."
Turning around, Anderson shoved his fingers into his back pockets. "I'm sorry, what?"
"Kim—Leo. He may act tough and no-nonsense but he's a good man."
Anderson said nothing about the way Leo'd laid his head into his lap earlier. He'd seen a part of Leo in that one action that spoke so much more about him. Perhaps Anderson was reading too much into it but he saw a man who wasn't afraid to let a lover hold his very soul.
Damn, I sound like a fucking Hallmark card.
He sucked in some air and made his way across the room to sit with the coach. "How long have you known him?"
"Since he was about fourteen. He was somewhat of a terror then until your father got his hands on him."
"How did that happen? Leo hasn't said much about how they met. All I know is he loved my dad."
"Well, your father had a friend who worked in the school system as a teacher. He's dead now—heart attack. His name was Christopher…"
"Christopher Mason. I remember him and when he died. My father was very sad."
"Yeah. They met in university. Anyway—one day, Christopher had your father come in to talk to his class about the legal system. Halfway through the talk, the fire alarm went off and people started darting from the classrooms. Not your father, he searched until he found the kid with the red paint on his hand."
"Leo? And what red paint?"
Coach laughed softly, fondly. "They kept pulling the alarm too many times for no reason. So what the fire department did was have this thing put on them. If someone pulled the alarm, a dye pack burst and stained the person's hand. Leo wasn't a bad kid. His mother was sick; his father was—I don't even know where his father was or what happened to the man. He just needed some structure. Once your father got a hold of him—complete three sixty."
"My father had that effect on people. That's one of the reasons I didn't go into law enforcement. I considered it but I just couldn't be him."
"I'm sure Jazmon didn't want you to be another him."
"It's just that he had a way with people. He always told me he saw people at the worst times in their lives; they just crossed a line and didn't wander too far. Sometimes he was able to push them back across that line and help them stay there. Other times, he had no choice but to put them away. Those were the times he hurt the most."
Coach Jessops nodded silently for a moment before his shoulders rose and fell heavily. "I still cannot believe he's gone. There's a hole now."
"In more ways than one."
"What do you think is going to happen?"
Anderson shrugged. "I don't know. I've been living in limbo since my father died. Leo is doing the best he can—I know he is. But he's tired. He's worn out. I don't think he's slept in days."
"How'd you get him to sleep just now?"
Anderson blushed deeply and cleared his throat. Walking away from where he was sitting, he folded his arms and looked out the window.
"I'm an old man, Anderson. I know how this works." Coach Jessops laughed softly. "I have been married for forty years."
"It's not that."
"Then what?"
Anderson turned to look at the old man he was speaking with as though they'd known each other for years. "It's just strange to talk to a straight person about…"
Coach Jessops nodded. "I know."
"How did you and Mildred stay together for so long?"
"Hard work."
Anderson chuckled. "I was afraid you were going to say that."
Coach Jessops walked over to where Anderson stood and rested a hand on his shoulder. The man leveled his brown eyes on Anderson and for the first time since his father died, Anderson felt the love and patience of a father. "Just remember. Everything that's worth having takes time. It takes patience. Hell, I courted Mildred for five years before she said a full sentence to me."
"Five years? What were you, a biker?"
"You would think so, huh?" Coach shook his head. "Nope. I was a nerd. I was into all the classic books and research. She wanted a biker."
Anderson laughed. "Yeah, girls and the bad boys."
"But I wasn't one—you see. After five years, I guess she knew love when she saw it."
"Do you think Leo would know love if he saw it?"
Coach nodded.
"I guess I don't love him enough. He can't see it. Sometimes he looks at me and I think he's looking at the most beautiful creature in the world. Then other times he looks at me and I'm not sure what he's seeing."
"Don't be silly. I see the way you look at him. I want my son to find someone to look at him the way you look at Leo. Maybe he's too caught up in catching the killer and can't see what's right in front of him. But once he bags the bad guy, he will be clear headed and he'll see. Don't worry. These things take time. You can't rush love."
Anderson groaned but he knew Coach Jessops was right. He knew he felt something strong for Leo but would he go so far as to call it love?
"I'm an old man, so my days end faster than you young guns. I should go see how Millie is doing. If you want to watch television, feel free. You have access to the kitchen, so make yourself at home."
"Thank you." Anderson nodded. "Good night."
He watched Coach Jessops leave the room but instead of watching television, he warmed some dinner leftovers, grabbed a couple bottles of water, and climbed the stairs back to the bedroom. When he entered, he found Leo sitting up on the bed with a pained look in his eyes. Anderson placed the tray down on the floor and sat on the side of the bed.
"Baby?"
Leo smiled sadly and kissed his cheek. "I woke up and you weren't here."
"I was talking to the coach… learned some very interesting things about you."
"Is that so?"
Anderson nodded with a bright smile. "And I brought you something to eat."
* * * *
Leo ate silently but he watched Anderson. He was rubbing the back of his neck the same way Leo would when fatigue was setting in. They were alike in so many ways. Swallowing the lump in his throat, Leo shoved some more potato into his mouth and chewed. It was either that or say something stupid. "You look tired, professor."
"No one has called me that outside of classes before," Anderson said. "Somehow when you say it, it sounds sexy."
He swallowed the last of his roast beef and placed the plate on the ground. Easing forward, he folded his legs and took Anderson's hands. "Get some sleep."