Sex & Mayhem 01 Road of No Return (35 page)

The process of removing the puddle of blood from the club lounge had been painful, and he had to constantly tell himself it was not blood that he was soaking up with kitchen towels and washing off with a rough sponge, or he wouldn’t have been able to go through with it. It took lots of disinfectants, but he managed to make the whole floor cleaner than it had probably been since being laid.

Stitch avoided Zak’s gaze when he got back and sat in the driver’s seat. He started the engine as calmly as an old lady. Zak couldn’t help but glance at Stitch’s hands, expecting to see red under his fingernails, but fortunately they were scrubbed clean.

Zak swallowed hard, turning his head to face him. Stitch was pale, with dark circles around his eyes, shoulders set as if fastened to a wooden frame. “Did you clean it all?”

Stitch nodded and drove toward the quickest route out of town, but Captain wouldn’t keep his ugly mug shut.

“Of course he did. He’s a fag, not an idiot.”

Zak inhaled a gulp of air and leaned forward not to be too close to the bastard behind him. “Just shut up already.”

“None of this would have happened if it wasn’t for the homophobia in the club,” Stitch snarled at Captain, keeping his eyes on the road. “If being out wasn’t such a sin against humanity, I wouldn’t have been so freaked out about Cox telling everyone.”

Captain snorted in the back seat. “If we knew you’re such a pussy, we wouldn’t have patched you.”

“You think this was always so obvious to me? You know shit.”

“And you’re not a pussy,” added Zak, much to Captain’s apparent amusement.

“Come on Stitch, now you have a personal protection poodle? What did you do to make him defend you so viciously? Suck his balls?”

“Shut the fuck up, Captain.” Stitch frowned and turned into a smaller pathway leading to the forest and swamp. “I did whatever the fuck it is people do in relationships. I am sick of hearing this shit. You don’t wanna know so stop asking!”

Zak had only just rested his back against the seat when Captain lunged forward, and his heavy, leather-clad arm rested against Zak’s chest, keeping him in place like an over-the-shoulder restraint. Even without Captain, this ride had been far from enjoyable, and Zak was constantly reminding himself to keep his dinner down. He almost forgot to breathe, unconsciously imagining that arm pulling up to choke him.

“So it’s a ‘relationship’ now, huh?” growled Captain. “You fucking bringing him flowers every Sunday?”

Stitch looked toward them, but didn’t let Captain provoke him. “Yes, it’s a fucking relationship, Jesus Christ! And no, I don’t bring him flowers. I walk his dog, paint the house, and we fuck like there’s no tomorrow. That enough for you, or do you wanna know exactly what we do? What the fuck do you want?”

Captain did exactly what Zak had feared. Within a split second, the muscular arm went up to press at his throat, but before he could as much as attempt to free himself, Captain pulled away as if it had been just a joke.

“Fuck,” he uttered through his teeth. “This wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for this freak.” A powerful kick shook Zak’s seat, but he didn’t even try to reason with the unreasonable.

“It’s not his fault that I don’t like pussy.” Stitch briefly turned around and smacked Captain’s leg. “I am done doing what others try to push me to do. Aren’t we supposed to be fucking outlaws? Living life without rules? Who says I can’t fuck a guy if I want to? Fuck that.”

For a moment, Captain’s face froze but only to explode with a snarl. “We’re not bound by civilians, that doesn’t mean we don’t have fucking rules.”

Zak swallowed, eyeing Stitch in silence. He didn’t want to read too much into Stitch’s words, especially not after seeing him kill a man. It hadn't been planned, and Cox’s cruel words had been the trigger, but that didn’t change anything about the contents of the trunk. He wanted to make a hole in the ground and scream into it until his voice would give out. If only he could bury all his worries and doubts this way. Cox didn’t deserve this. He’d been a good guy, with dreams and hopes for the future that would never come.

Zak glanced through the window, watching the passing trees as they drove. He was too numb to despair yet, but logically, what was he doing? He was helping to get rid of a body. He never thought he would be
that
guy. He used to joke with some of his friends about being so close they would call one another if need arose to hide a body. But he wouldn’t have done that for them. His eyes slowly turned to Stitch, who clasped his hands hard on the steering wheel, oddly pale in the face.

“They’re
our
rules. Why don’t we just change them?” Stitch turned into yet another small path and ventured deeper into the trees.

Captain leaned forward and grabbed both the front seats. “Because no real man wants to fraternize with a fag. Since you met him you even started lagging with club business. We need to expand. How can you not see that?”

“That has nothing to do with Zak. I’m pulling back because I don’t want to get shot while dealing drugs. Is that so hard to understand?” Stitch scowled at Captain.

“Then buy a fucking Vespa,” spat Captain and leaned back in the seat. He didn’t open his mouth for the rest of the ride, and for once Zak was missing his voice. The silence made him think too much, and the more focused Zak was on the cramps in his stomach, the more he believed that he could smell decay, which didn’t make any sense. After all, the body had to still be warm.

Stitch parked the car in the mud by the swamp. The eerie lighting from the car and the sounds of thousands of insects reminded Zak of an
X-Files
episode.

“Why? ‘Cause I don’t wanna mule drugs? I don’t need more trouble in my life,” Stitch hissed and got out of the car, slamming the door behind him.

“It’s club business, and you’re the only one who’s got a problem with it. The vote passed, Stitch,” growled Captain, exiting the car as well. He kicked Zak’s door on his way to the water but Zak wouldn’t give him the satisfaction and only moved outside more quickly, despite all the cramps in his body.

“It’s bullshit,” Stitch grumbled and went over to the trunk. “I don’t even want to talk about this. Let’s get this body to the gators.”

Zak looked to his hands when Captain turned his smirking face toward him “I’ll get some stones, yeah?” he muttered, stepping away the moment the trunk was opened.

“Thanks.” Stitch sighed like an old man when he looked inside.

“I just don’t get it,” Captain continued opening his fugly mouth. “You were with Crystal for so many years, and it was fine.”

Stitch snapped. “No, it wasn’t fine! That’s why we got divorced. You really are as dumb as a rock.” He pulled on something that sounded like a plastic bag.

Zak looked away and switched on the flashlight in his phone, looking for stones or other heavy objects that could keep the body under the water. The situation was surreal. He had never done anything illegal. Okay, he’d done the petty stuff everyone does, but he never did anything that he actually considered ‘criminal’. It all changed since he met Stitch. He had been turning a blind eye to the Hounds’ activities, and now he was helping to feed the gators with a man he had slept with. A police officer. An overall decent man. Did it make him a bad person that he was willing to let Cox disappear without a trace because he didn’t want Stitch to be taken away from him for something that was clearly the result of misjudgement? It hadn’t been a cold-blooded murder, and Zak wanted to believe with all his heart that he was doing the right thing, even though most would disagree. But who could possibly benefit from Stitch doing time? If anything, putting him in jail would make his family miserable. And Zak would lose the only man who ever made him feel so intensely alive.

“Because it doesn’t make sense!” Captain helped Stitch pick up the body parts with a grunt. “Why would you swap a life with Crystal for this dude? The blow jobs can’t be that good.”

They carried the body toward the shore. It was barely visible in the darkness, but Zak still noticed Stitch shake his head. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. When you fall in love, even a kiss is mind-blowing. You don’t fuck other people, because there’s only one person you want to be close to. When he fucks me, it’s like I give him a part of my soul,” his words became quieter. “I’m not looking for other guys, and I don’t wanna do it with anyone else.”

Zak turned around to face them, his heart tumbling all around his chest as if it wanted to break free and crawl to Stitch’s feet. He wasn’t a natural sap, but that was the most romantic thing anyone had ever said about him. Had Stitch reconsidered his decision to break up? Because Zak had already made up his mind, even if it meant being an accessory to manslaughter.

Captain dropped his side of the bag, and it fell down with a dull thud. “Did this fag make you his bitch?” he uttered, sounding genuinely surprised.

Stitch let go of the load as well. “You are not fucking listening, are you?”

“You’re fucking delusional,” growled Captain, kicking the carcass. “You need to be fucking locked up.”

“Let’s just get on with it. You can sit in the fucking car if you want. Zak, you got those rocks?”

“Yeah, give me a second.” Zak breathed in the damp air and shut himself away from the conversation at the shore. He gathered a few stones and carried them back as quickly as humanly possible. He was happy that he kept the car keys on him because Captain walked back to the vehicle without another word.

The next half an hour was the longest thirty minutes of Zak’s life. Whenever he tried to help, Stitch just told him to stay away, which Zak supposed was noble of him. Especially since killing people wasn’t some routine thing for Stitch either. He had to be traumatized by having to cut a body into pieces. Zak knew he was, but at this moment, Cox’s death was too surreal to sink in. It could be shock, but he felt cold inside, only focused on getting back into the safety of their home. An alligator peeking out of the water, with its eyes glistening in the light from the car, wasn’t helping Zak’s nerves. With every body part Stitch threw into the swamp, Zak’s palms got more sweaty, his imagination leading him to scenes where the reptiles attacked Stitch, and it would be too late to save him. He’d seen enough blood tonight to last him a lifetime.

“I heard what you said,” he eventually uttered into the silence, glancing at his lover. He wanted to hug him, but there was no way he’d do that with that one-eyed bastard watching.

Stitch didn’t look back at him, dragging the last, and biggest, bag toward the swamp. Zak gagged at the thought of what was in there. “Yeah,” he muttered.

Zak shuddered and hugged himself as a flash of cold went all the way through his body. “What changed your mind?”

“I never changed my mind.” Stitch grunted as he threw the bag as far as he could into the black water.

Zak sighed, rushed toward him, and pulled him away from the shore. From the corner of his eye, he noticed the water getting rough in the moonlight as reptiles crept closer in the darkness, ready for some fresh meat. “Will you come back home with me?” he uttered, cold sweat sliding down his back.

Stitch took a deep breath and held onto Zak’s hand. “If you’ll have me,” he whispered. “This was such a shit day, wasn’t it?”

Zak squeezed his hand tightly with a shuddery sigh. A man who had trembled with pleasure in his bed turned into gator feed, and Zak was choosing to betray him. The death could still be discovered, they could still be charged with murder, but he was determined to keep himself in one piece. “I just want to kiss you so badly.”

Stitch bowed down to him and gave the kiss Zak so deeply craved. His soft, warm lips were somehow making all the black thoughts flee into the depths of Zak’s mind. “I can’t please everyone.” His voice was so weak it was getting lost in the sounds of splashing water and buzzing insects.

Zak pushed himself against Stitch and gasped as adrenaline shot into his brain. Stitch’s scent was sharper than ever, spiked with all the stress and fear of the passing day. “I love you.”

“I know, I love you too.” Stitch kissed Zak’s lips once more and stroked the side of his head. “Let’s go home.”

Zak held on to him. It was so hard to let go after all that had happened, but he finally untangled himself from the firm chest and faced the dark silhouette of the car with a small smile on his face. “How do you know?”

“You just helped me dump a body in the swamp so I wouldn’t go to jail.”

Zak swallowed, choking up, but he nodded and brushed his hand against Stitch’s. He might regret his decisions in the future, he would mourn a man who didn’t have to die, but at the moment, all he wanted was to bury himself in Stitch’s arms and forget.

On the way back, the car was silent as a funeral procession. At times, Stitch thought Captain had fallen asleep in the backseat, but as soon as they stopped by the clubhouse, he came to life and bolted out of the car, slamming the door behind him. A part of Stitch understood that tonight’s confession was a hard pill to swallow, but it needed to be done. He hoped that in a year’s time, they would look back at this dark time and overlook their differences.