Grave Danger, page 3
After, Cody dropped down over Demetrius. Still inside him, he framed Demetrius’s face between his big palms and smiled as he delivered soft kisses.
“I love you,” Cody whispered.
“I love you,” Demetrius whispered back.
The oven timer started buzzing. They broke into laughter at the same time, and Cody gently slipped out of him. It was always the saddest part of it all for Demetrius, leaving him feeling cold and empty, even though he knew Cody’s cum was still inside him.
“I’ll get the nachos if you need to clean up,” Cody said.
“Yeah, thanks.”
Cody stroked a finger down his cheek and kissed him once more. “You always know how to make me feel better.”
“Yeah?”
“Absolutely. Nachos do the trick every time.”
Demetrius smacked Cody’s bare ass, then watched him run laughing out of the room.
Yeah, Cody would be okay. They both would be okay, eventually.
He got up and went into the bathroom to clean up, hearing Cody cursing from the kitchen and knowing, just knowing because he knew Cody, that he’d taken a bite without waiting for it to cool.
God, he loved that man.
CHAPTER THREE
The next morning, Cody awoke irritable and edgy after a restless night. Every time he’d been about to drift off to sleep, a flash of memory had burst inside his mind and he’d relive the mayor stepping in front of his truck all over again. Feel the initial impact and the thump-thump of the tires running him over. After jerking awake, he’d laid there panting, heart pounding and skin prickling as a wave of adrenaline flooded his system.
With maybe three hours of sleep, he lay on his back staring up at the ceiling. Well, maybe it was more like glaring. The morning light filtering in through the mini blinds looked gray and dismal, a perfect complement to his mood. Demmy was in the kitchen, making eggs and bacon from the smells coming down the hall, and Cody’s stomach rumbled in anticipation. But he wasn’t yet ready to get up and converse with anyone. Not even Demmy.
It had to have been the mayor he’d hit the night before. He’d talked with the mayor often in the past year about animal control. And those conversations inevitably turned to that awful, bloody night the werewolves had run rampant through town, the night he’d almost lost Demmy for a second time. Hell, last night, Cody had even recognized the fucking tie the guy had been wearing as the one the mayor had been dressed in for his open casket service a week ago. It had to have been the mayor.
“What the fuck?” Cody whispered, rolling onto his side and scrunching the pillow up beneath his head. Saying the words helped him feel more grounded, so he said it again. “What the fuck?”
The change in position added pressure to his bladder, and he pressed his face into the pillow, fighting the need as he breathed in the light almond scent of Demmy’s shampoo and the fresh smell of the body wash they both used. It was no use. As a matter of fact, things had escalated. With a groan, he got up, pulled on the T-shirt and boxers he’d shucked the night before, and headed for the bathroom.
He left the light off to avoid being visually assaulted by the overwhelming pink and closed the door. When he’d finished and washed his hands, he walked down the short hall to the living room and dropped onto the couch. The TV was on but muted, tuned to the Today show where Al Roker was talking about weather all over the country. From the looks of it, they were due for a few days of rain. Perfect.
“Hi there.”
Cody looked to the archway leading into the dining room where Demmy leaned in the opening. He wore a T-shirt and some kind of superhero boxers. His arms were crossed and his hair stuck up on the one side, like usual. He looked more amazing than anyone else in the world, man or woman, and a brief sense of disassociation gave Cody a touch of vertigo. How had all of this happened? How had he gotten so lucky?
“Hi,” Cody croaked in reply. The sound of his voice reminded him of the sounds made by the mayor the night before, and he shivered.
“How’d you sleep?”
Clearing his throat helped his voice. “Like crap.”
Demmy sat in the recliner across from the couch, butt on the edge of the cushion and hands between his knees. “How are you feeling about last night?”
“Freaked. Angry. Scared. But, you know, going with it.”
“You still feel sure that it was… him?”
Images flashed through Cody’s mind, still shots of the action, and he felt a little sick. It was like looking at photos on his phone the day after the worst party ever, when all his vague fears became reality.
“Yeah, I’m sure. Even more so now. He was wearing the same fucking tie they buried him in.”
Demmy made a face. “That awful red power tie?”
“That’s the one.”
Demmy flopped back in the chair and let out a heavy breath. “What the fuck?”
“That’s been my mantra through this whole zen retreat.”
“Zero stars,” Demmy said, standing up. “Worst zen retreat ever. Do not recommend.”
That got a laugh. God, he loved Demmy. Through all this crazy shit, he at least had Demmy with him.
“Come on and eat breakfast,” Demmy said, turning away. “Then we’ll get to work.”
Cody stood and crossed the room in three long strides. He grabbed Demmy’s upper arm and pulled him around and into a hug. Cody was always amazed by how well they fit together, even with their height difference. Or maybe because of it, who knew? Either way it was, they worked, and he often kicked himself for not coming to his senses and realizing what was between them years earlier.
“I love you,” Cody said, tightening his arms just a little bit more. “You know that, right?”
Demmy gripped him in return, one arm low and around Cody’s waist, the other up higher to place his hand on a shoulder blade.
“I know it. I love you, too.”
Demmy’s breath was hot and damp against Cody’s chest, making him think of hot, sweaty sex. But other things needed to be done, so Cody loosened his grip and allowed Demmy to take a step back. Cool air rushed in to fill the void left in Demmy’s wake, giving him goosebumps.
“Do I smell eggs and bacon?” Cody said.
“You do. Come on.”
They ate at the dining room table while Demmy looked at his phone, scrolling through the Critter Catchers calendar he shared with Cody and Jugs. After some discussion about who should take which scheduled jobs, Demmy sent a text to Jugs before turning his phone screen side down on the table and giving Cody his full attention.
“You and I are open all morning, so I suggest we drive out to the cemetery and check the mayor’s grave and get that over with.”
Cody made a face.
“And I wanted to go back to something you said last night,” Demmy continued before Cody could start talking. “When you were wondering why it’s always us doing this kind of investigating.”
“Yeah, and I still feel that way today,” Cody said, hearing the edge in his voice. “Why can’t the sheriff’s department run with this?”
“You said Ryan Zellmer didn’t see the mayor. And although he’s got some background with the stranger side of things around town, mostly because of his dad, he doesn’t have the experience we do.”
Cody poked his fork at the few bites of egg left on his plate. “I hate being the one with experience.”
“I hate it, too.”
“Do you? Because you’re always really eager to jump right into one of these cases.”
“I am eager,” Demmy said, now with an edge to his voice. “Because this is a dangerous situation, and we can do something to keep it from spiraling out of control.”
“Like we did with the werewolves?”
Demmy sat back, his right hand going across his chest to grip the spot where his left shoulder met his neck, the place he’d been bitten by Nicolae. A ragged furrow of scar tissue would forever remind Cody of how close he’d come to losing Demmy that night. And now Cody watched as Demmy’s expression switched from surprise to hurt to anger in the space of seconds. He felt the deep claws of regret dig into his gut, and wished he could reel the words back in like some kind of verbal fishing line.
“I’m sorry,” Cody said. “I shouldn’t have said that.”
“No, it’s all right.” Demmy blinked and quickly dropped his hand into his lap. “We both did what we had to do that night to save as many lives as possible. To save this town.”
“Right. I know.” Cody pushed his plate away and sat back in the chair. “Don’t mind me, I’m just recovering from hitting someone with my truck, and then realizing he’d been dead and buried for a week.”
A small smile flickered across Demmy’s face, then he reached across the table. Cody took his hand and looked into Demmy’s eyes, relieved to see the hurt and anger had dissipated, or been pushed down. For now.
“I know that must have been really awful for you,” Demmy said. “I’m sorry you went through it. But if we don’t try to do something to fix it, it could happen to someone else. Someone who isn’t able to get away from the mayor.”
“Yeah, I know.” Cody sighed, gave Demmy’s hand a squeeze, then released it. “But we don’t know anything about zombies.”
“All it takes is a head shot, right? We watched a few seasons of The Walking Dead, we know what we’re doing. Don’t get bit and aim for the head. Also, we didn’t know anything about werewolves or swamp monsters either.”
“When you say these things, it all seems like it’s going to be fine, like everything will just magically work out. Easy peasy. But then we get involved, and all of a sudden the situation takes a hard left and everything goes off the rails.”
“That’s true. But we always manage to put things back on track again, don’t we?”
“Yeah, but sometimes it comes with a pretty high price tag,” Cody said.
“You’re thinking of Rufus and Hap.”
“Them, but also you. You died when we got tangled up in that Esther business. Your heart stopped, Demmy. I was right there next to you and watched them do CPR to bring you back.”
“I know. I can’t change that, and I’m sorry you went through it all alone. But to me, Esther and that whole situation on Heaversford Lake was different than what happened with Nicolae and what we can do now with this business with the mayor.”
Cody made a face. “I’m afraid this ‘business,’ as you put it, is going to turn into a dangerous escalation.”
“It might, but we can’t live that way. If we can do something about a situation, we should do it.”
“Even if it means risking our lives?”
“Every day we risk our lives,” Demmy said. “We drive all around town. We pull animals out of dark, tight spaces in houses. Anything could wrong at any time.”
“But that’s normal stuff. We don’t go looking for dangerous things every day.”
“True. But we’re the best qualified around here to keep the dangerous things away from people who aren’t even aware that dangerous things exist.”
“Lucky bastards.”
Demmy smiled. “I agree. Look, I know we didn’t ask for any of this, but I see it as not having a choice.”
“We could choose not to do anything about this one,” Cody said. “We could sit this one out.”
“Could you really live with yourself if someone died because the mayor has somehow come back to life and dug his way out of the grave and you were the first person to run into him and didn’t try to stop him? You wouldn’t feel at all guilty if someone got bit by him and died? Or, worse, what if they turned themselves and this, whatever this is, started spreading?”
“You’re a regular fucking ray of sunshine this morning, aren’t you?”
“I’m just trying to help you see things as I do. If we can help somehow, we should.”
“You really do just want to do good, don’t you?”
Demmy nodded. “Of course I do. Don’t you?”
Cody hesitated, thinking about it. Then, with a deciding nod, he said, “As long as my husband is by my side and not taking wildly dangerous risks, I absolutely do.”
“Well, good. Because I’m not going anywhere, hot stuff.” Demmy held up his left hand and pointed to the silver wedding band. “You put a ring on it. You’re stuck with me.”
Cody smiled, and it seemed to fit better on his face than it had earlier. “Good thing, because you’re not getting rid of me, either.”
“Six and a half feet of hunky male beefcake?” Demmy sighed dramatically. “I guess I’ll keep you.”
Cody cleaned up the kitchen while Demmy took a shower and dressed. Then Cody showered and dressed, and they headed for the door. Before Demmy could open it, however, Cody stopped him with a quiet, “Hey.”
“Yeah?” Demmy turned to him.
Cody pulled him close and gave him a soft kiss. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
“Good. Now let’s go hunt down a zombie.”
The main office of the Hollow of Eternal Rest Cemetery was a tiny space wedged inside a large stone building. When Cody and Demmy entered, a few employees stood in a group behind a front desk, leaning in and talking over each other in quick, quiet voices. At the sound of the door, a woman looked up and broke away from the others.
“Hello, may I help you?”
“Yes,” Cody said. “We’re looking for the plot number for Mayor George Clarke. We’d like to pay our respects.”
“Oh.” She looked over her shoulder toward the people she’d been talking with, and Cody noticed they’d gone quiet and were looking at him and Demmy.
“Is there a problem?” Demmy asked.
The woman turned back with a forced smile. “No, no problem. It’s just… There’s some groundskeeping work being done in that area right now, and we’re supposed to keep people away from there for the rest of the day.”
“Sounds like some pretty intense groundskeeping work,” Cody said. “We won’t bother anyone. We just want to make a quick visit to his grave to pay our respects, and then we’ll be gone.”
“Yes, I understand. It’s just that the groundskeeping crew is really busy and, um, stretched a little thin, so they’re not able to handle people out in that section, you know? So maybe another day to pay your respects?” The woman’s voice shook a bit, and she looked between them as she talked. Cody almost felt sorry for her. Almost.
Before Cody could say anything more, however, Demmy leaned on the counter and lowered his voice. “Is everything all right? You seem very nervous.” He leaned a bit to one side and looked past her. “All of you seem very nervous.”
“No,” the woman practically shouted, then tittered nervously. “No. We’re not nervous. We’re just talking about a, um, a new company policy that came out. That’s all.”
The door opened behind them, and Cody looked over his shoulder then whispered a curse that caught Demmy’s attention. Lucia Durant, deputy with the Parson’s Hollow sheriff’s department and one of Cody’s many ex-girlfriends, walked through the door. She was followed by Deputy Ryan Zellmer, and a man wearing a dark blue suit with a patterned tie. The man in the suit wore glasses with the kind of lenses that darken automatically when exposed to sunlight, and he dropped his chin to look at Cody and Demmy over the tops of the frames as they entered the low lighting of the office.
“What the hell are you two doing here?” Lucia asked.
“Oh, do you know these two men?” the man said.
“Yeah,” Zellmer said as he hooked his thumbs in his gun belt. “We do.”
“We’re here to pay our respects to the mayor,” Demmy said. “Is everything all right? Has there been some kind of crime that requires members of the sheriff’s department?”
Lucia scowled, then turned to the man in the suit. “If you’ll pardon Deputy Zellmer and I for a moment, Mr. Chapman, we’re going to speak with these two men outside.”
“Of course,” Mr. Chapman said, looking between Lucia and Cody and Demmy. “I’ll be in my office when you’ve finished your conversation.”
Mr. Chapman walked briskly past Cody and Demmy without a second look and disappeared down a hallway behind the front counter. Cody gave the woman behind the counter a tight smile before turning away and, following Demmy, stepped outside through the door Lucia held open. Zellmer waited on the flagstone walkway, his face expressionless and eyes hidden behind aviator sunglasses.
“Always nice to see you out and about, Lucia,” Cody said. “But I have to say I’m shocked to find you at the cemetery.”
“It’s Deputy Durant, Bower,” Lucia said. “And what brings you two out here?”
“We wanted to pay our respects to the mayor,” Demmy said.
“Yeah? You did that at the visitation,” Lucia said. “I was there, remember?”
“I remember,” Demmy said. “But we wanted to pay our respects graveside as well.”
“Do you now?” Lucia looked at Cody. “I remember Bower here saying something along the lines of preferring to have his eyelashes plucked out one by one than enduring a graveside service given by Reverend McDonnell.”
“That was then,” Cody said. “I was a little tired and had been wearing a tie for a couple of hours. I’m feeling much more respectful today.”
“Right.” Lucia crossed her arms. “Why are you really here?”
“Like we said, we want to pay our respects,” Demmy said.
Lucia took a step closer, fixing Demmy with a hard look. “Out with it, Singleton. What’s the real reason?”
“All right, back down with the bad cop routine,” Cody said, taking a step toward Demmy. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Zellmer step closer and suddenly realized how quickly this situation might spiral out of control. It would be best to simply tell the truth, no matter how insane it sounded. Lucia had been through enough with them to take the situation seriously. And, besides, Cody figured the sheriff’s department was visiting because something janky had happened to the mayor’s grave.
“I called in a report of hitting someone with my truck last night,” Cody said, tipping his head toward Zellmer. “The deputy here responded. By the time he arrived, the, um, pedestrian had attacked me and chased me down into the drainage ditch. I am totally serious and stone cold sober when I tell you it was the mayor.”
