Even though he spent the next few hours driving around, including stopping by Jazmon's place—which was still cordoned off with yellow tape—and Anderson's place, he couldn't find he professor. Finally he wound up at the station. He compiled a list of hotels surrounding Anderson's house and began making phone calls.
"Hi. This is Detective Leo Sung Kim of the NYPD. I'm wondering if you have a guest staying there by the name of Anderson Williams."
"What's your badge number, Detective?"
Leo made a face but offered the number anyway. "Seventy-four fifty-eight."
"Thank you. One moment please."
Leo tapped the pen against the side of the computer screen while the really bad rendition of "Hallelujah"
drove him crazy. Finally the desk agent picked up again.
"I'm sorry, detective, but no one's here by that name."
"Thanks…"
Hanging up, he crossed that hotel off his list and continued. When he finished the list, he flopped back in his chair thoughtfully for a moment. Anderson wasn't at any of the hotels around his place and there were way too many other hotels in the city to even begin calling.
"What are you doing here this late?"
Leo looked up at his partner. "Sit down for a second. I need to run something by you."
Daniel pulled up a chair and fell into it.
"Anderson is missing."
"What do you mean missing?"
"We had an argument over his father and he stormed off in the middle of the night. I've checked hotels, motels, bed and breakfasts—nothing."
"Er, wait. What?" Daniel arched a brow. "He was with you? I thought you would get some uniforms to sit outside his place or something. Since when do you babysit?"
"I'm not babysitting him. It's not like that." Leo shook his head. "We both know we can't spare the manpower for that. If I'm going to use the few uniforms can borrow, it should be something substantial."
"Shit. I know that look. Did you sleep with him?"
Leo said nothing.
"Damn it, Leo. Do you know how much trouble you could get into if the boss finds out?"
"Just let it go, all right? Trust me on this."
"Okay… Does he have any other family or friends in New York?"
"No family—but he does have one friend. I just don't know his last name. I ran his first name through the system but nothing so far."
"Maybe you're over thinking it. Try Google." Daniel shrugged.
After Daniel walked off, Leo frowned and opened his browser. He was fresh out of options. Typing Byung's name into Google, he blinked at the number of results he found—all of them coming back to a singer. Leo rubbed his eyes. How many people could there be in New York with the name Byung?
Going back into the NYPD computer system, he found Byung's number and called.
"Hello?" A sleepy voice called.
"Hi I know it's late, but my name is Detective Kim from the NYPD."
"Is something wrong? Is this about Anderson?"
At least I know I found the right Byung.
"Anderson isn't there, is he?"
"No. Why would he be here? He said he was staying with you."
Leo wanted to cry. "We had an argument and he left. I have no idea where he went and I've spent the last few hours calling every place I can possibly think of."
"So, in other words, you lost him."
He could hear Byung's irritation. "Do you know where he could have gone?"
"No," Byung replied tersely. "But I'll call around and let you know."
Without another word, Leo heard click then the dial tone. He did lose his temper and slam his fist into his desk then. It was either that or the phone. Daniel walked back with two cups and handed him one. Thankfully, he took it and sipped from the dark liquid. It tasted horrible but was still welcomed.
"Thanks."
"Did you find him?"
"No…"
"What did you two argue about anyway?"
"It's not important. It was stupid. It was about his father and so not important. What are you doing here this late?"
"Couldn't sleep. Kept having nightmares about Mary sitting on my chest and holding my nose."
Leo shook his head. "You two shouldn't be together."
Daniel grunted and Leo let it go. He had bigger problems.
Chapter Nine
Anderson spent the night in the Carter Hotel under his middle name and his mother's maiden name. He figured if Leo cared enough to look for him, it wouldn't dawn on him he would be using an alias. The room was small but clean, and after a long time sitting at the window watching the cars go by on Forty-Second Street, he climbed beneath the covers. He didn't really slept and by the time six in the morning rolled around, he was in his car heading out of town. It took him twenty-seven minutes but he made it to Bayonne, New Jersey, before his stomach was growling like mad. Nothing was open so he found a quiet place to park. He grabbed a blanket, a bottle of water, and some granola bars from the trunk before climbing into the backseat. He had a quick snack then tried settling in for some shut-eye. It wasn't easy to get comfortable back there, especially with his size, but soon he'd drifted off, but sleep didn't last long. Soon the nightmares swam through his head, causing him to wake up shouting for his father. A woman walking by the car stopped briefly to stare at him before hurrying off down the sidewalk.
Anderson muttered a profanity under his breath and after packing up his things, he went on the hunt for food.
On Broadway, close to West Twenty-Ninth Street, he came across Vinnie's Breakfast Hut and Pizzeria. He pulled into a parking space out front, fed the meter, and hurried inside.
It took a moment for his eyes to get accustomed to the change in light but afterward, he read the menu. He settled for two slices of pepperoni, a bottle of water, and a cookie and sat by the window while he waited for them to warm up the pizza. His phone vibrated again. He took a deep breath and pulled it from his pocket. Anderson's eyes widened. There were eighteen new text messages—all of them from Byung.
Deleting them all, Anderson dialed his number instead.
"Hello?"
"Byung? It's Andy."
"Andy? Where are you? Are you all right?" Byung's Cantonese spilled from his lips, one word after another, one question after another until Anderson's head started throbbing slightly.
"Byung! Dude!"
"Sorry. Leo is freaking out. He's worried. I'm worried. You're not at home. You're not at his place. You're not at the university—what is going on?"
"I did it again. I expected too much too fast in the worst case scenario."
Byung groaned.
"Don't worry about it," Anderson continued. "I need some time to mourn. I need to be away from people right now."
"What do I tell the detective?"'
Anderson went quiet for a moment while the server placed his meal before him. He pulled a pepperoni off his pizza and shoved it into his mouth. He wanted to tell Byung to tell Leo to go fuck himself or to take a long walk off a short pier, but he chewed the spicy meat thoughtfully.
"Well, you don't have to tell him anything. But if you're insisting, tell him you spoke to me and I'm fine."
"Come on, Anderson. We both know he's going to want to know where you are."
"I'm an adult, Bee. I can take care of myself."
Taking a breath, Anderson hung up and eyed his pizza. He suddenly wasn't feeling hungry but he knew his stomach had to be empty. It'd been hours since he'd eaten anything. He called the server to keep an eye on his food so he could rush out to the car. He grabbed the papers he had to mark and went back to his food. Once he ate, he tried keeping his mind on his students. They had kept him from breaking down in the last little while.
Anderson wasn't sure how long he'd been sitting there or how many cups of water he'd downed but suddenly a shadow entered the pizzeria. He circled the mark on the final paper and looked up. His eyes bulged.
"You."
Leo sat across from him silently but said nothing.
"How'd you find me?"
"I tracked your phone. It bounced off the tower outside so I assumed you were here. Why are you hiding from me?"
"Not everything in my life is about you." Anderson frowned and packed the papers into a folder. Zipping it up, he placed it into his bag, and dropped the bag at his feet. He sipped from his water bottle and leveled his eyes on Leo. The cop's eyes looked tired, his hair a mess, and the beard on his face had come in more. Still he was delicious. Even then he reminded Anderson of the men Jazmon would warn him about. Shaking his head, he looked out the glass window at his car.
"You found me. So what?"
"I was worried about you, all right? I didn't mean to hurt you and I know I did. When I'm stressed, I say stupid things. I've stayed to myself for the past few years because I can't deal with intimacy. It's the most awkward thing for me."
"Then tell me
why
you're here? Were you just worried your suspect would come after me and you'd be in trouble with your boss?"
"Is it really that important?"
"Yes. I'm curious."
Leo licked his fabulous lips and reached across the table to hold Anderson's hand. A jolt of electricity surged through him, leaving Anderson wanting to climb across the table. But he sat still.
"I came after you because we have something building here. I don't quite understand it but I want to. Come back home with me. I'm doing my best."
Anderson smiled. He didn't know what he expected from Leo but it wasn't this. Turning his hand over, he laced his fingers with Leo's. He lifted the hand to his lips, brushing them over Leo's hand. "We should get back—but I have a class at three today, so if you don't mind me disappearing for a few hours."
"Are you kidding?" Leo sounded incredulous. "You're not kidding."
"Normally I wouldn't be teaching today, but I agreed to help some students who missed a few classes at the beginning of the semester because of an exchange program with a university in Canada."
"I'm going to be your shadow."
Anderson laughed. "My shadow… We'll see about that tonight."
Leo growled at him.
Anderson shivered and pulled his hand back to reach for his bag and placed it on the table. "Have you eaten?"
Leo shook his head.
"I'll buy you a pizza? On me?"
They walked to the counter. Leo eyed the menu. "Can I have a medium cheese pizza? I don't think my stomach can handle much more of anything."
When it was ready, the two sat together so Leo could eat.
Anderson then allowed Leo to walk him to his car. He groaned when Leo's lips found his. He'd almost forgotten just how well Leo kissed him. Their tongues snaked around each other's, sending charges of fire through him, ricocheting off his spine and jerking his dick to life.
"We should stop," Anderson moaned.
Leo chuckled. "We should. I'll see you tonight?"
"You bet."
Chapter Ten
Anderson sat in the empty lecture hall long after the impromptu session was over and he'd packed up his things, just thinking back to what happened with Leo. If he was being honest with himself, he'd admit the only reason they slept together was because he was sad and Leo was probably too emotionally bankrupt to soothe him in any other way. That realization took the wind out of Anderson's sails and for a brief moment he had to lean against a desk to catch his breath.
It was just a booty call, Andy boy. Get over it.
Maybe he should talk to Leo about it; especially since he had prided himself in being the man to stay away from so-called booty calls—to have only meaningful relationships. With Leo, it was just a fluke. It had to be. There was no way he could be smitten by a man who carried a gun for a living. What if he did what he always does—discuss it with Leo and the cop walked away? What if Leo truly thought it was a once in a lifetime thing and wanted to walk away once the killer had been caught?
A sinking feeling filled Anderson's stomach so he tried shaking off his thoughts as best he could and grabbed his things. But Leo wanted more—he said so when they sat in the pizzeria in New Jersey. No, this wasn't Leo's problem. Anderson's wall was starting to get in the way and he'd somehow transferred the fear to Leo. The detective was fairly straightforward with his feelings and Anderson was going to desperately cling to that and pray things worked out.
As he hurried down the long corridors, he was deep in his head again. Anderson pushed away the heat he felt when he thought of Leo touching him and focused on his father's murder. There had to be something he knew that could help Leo with the case. It couldn't have been something that just came around. No one in the right mind got up and decided to decapitate a judge and expect to get away with it.
But no matter how much money he'd spent on his education, he wasn't a cop. He couldn't decipher things that weren't there and make them relevant. He admitted silently right then a cop's brain was a whole other machine. But all of his thinking about it didn't stop his mind from wandering. Since his father's death, his brain seemed to be going to one specific place—his mother's old yearbook. Perhaps it was nothing, but he just couldn't help himself.
"Do you see this, Andy?" his father asked, carefully turning the pages of the old book. "This belonged to your mother."
"Mom?" Anderson asked. His mother had died a year before from cancer. They had caught it too late. There was nothing to be done but to make sure she was comfortable. His father never spoke much of her anymore so when he did, Anderson gathered himself and listened. He remembered so many things about his mother—her beauty, her smile, and that she always smelled like lilacs and roses. She had this big smile that made every bad dream he had go away, up until the night she died. She had a voice that sounded like an angel's and she would use it to sing him to sleep at night. He was young, but Anderson knew beauty. And it was in his mother.
"This yearbook contains pictures of everything that was important in her life. You see, we both went to Harvard—she was this beautiful girl with big brown eyes. She came into our meeting and asked if she could take a photo of us. Well of course the others said no, but I was instantly in love." He trailed off, looked at Anderson before turning the page to point to one specific picture. "The others gave me a hard time about it but I couldn't help myself. She was just so beautiful—and after we graduated, she gave me this photo as a wedding present."