“Do you want to sleep on the couch,” Jordan wondered after they watched a few episodes of Arianna’s favorite show, which it turned out both men liked as well.
“I was going to crash in Ari’s apartment, but I think I would rather stay here,” Vince said as he stretched. “I think you’ll be safer if I’m closer.” Vince walked toward his car to gather his overnight bag. He looked into every car parked around Jordan’s and every car parked around Jordan’s apartment. If he saw anyone sitting in a car he would have approached them, but there was no one.
He made his way back to Jordan’s, past Arianna’s front door. He couldn’t have imagined what would happen when he knocked on it just a few days previously. How could he have fallen so hard in such a short time, and with two people? He didn’t care how it happened, he was there and he wouldn’t let anything happen to either of them. He couldn’t protect Arianna, but he could protect Jordan, and he would do it with his life.
Arianna parked several blocks from Juan’s house and walked the rest of the way. She wore her lone red wig and a dark hooded sweat jacket. If anyone saw her they would be hard pressed to recognize her as the elegant blonde Jane Brown.
She stayed in the shadows along the darkened, sleepy street. She had her knives and her gun, just in case she ran into trouble on her way there. She wouldn’t use them on Juan, she wouldn’t have to. She walked around to the back door and knocked. It must have surprised him, because he turned on the back light and yelled out, “Who’s there?”
“Jane,” she said in a low voice. The last thing she wanted was for one of his neighbors to hear her scream out her name.
“Who?” He asked again as he opened the door. He smiled when he saw her and stepped away to allow her entry. “Red head, huh? I kinda thought the blonde hair wasn’t quite natural.”
“It isn’t,” she remarked with a smirk. She looked around his kitchen. There were signs of his family, with a child’s drawings on the fridge. “Cute,” she snipped as she walked through to the living room. She noted the family photos, the religious symbols on the walls. This man didn’t deserve this life. Maybe his wife would find a good man when he was gone; maybe not. She turned to him with a glowing smile, and raised her arms toward his shoulders. He grinned arrogantly as he moved his hands toward her hips. He fell to the floor before he could touch her, as she hit him square under the ear and knocked him out.
She searched around his garage for only a few moments to find a good length of rope. She tied it in a noose and wrapped it around his neck. He was still out, thankfully. She wasn’t sure if she could get him off the ground, but she didn’t need to. She sat him up and wrapped the other end of the rope around a heavy wood banister. She wore leather gloves, no fingerprints or DNA would be found at the scene.
She slapped him hard to wake him up. He had no idea where he was, or what he was doing there. He didn’t even realize he had a rope around his neck until she dangled the other end in front of his face. He grabbed at it then, but it was too late. She pulled the rope tight, and he choked as he fought for air.
“Do you remember a skinny white kid named Jordan?” He began to fight for his life, flailing his arms and legs. “You raped him during one of your many stints in jail. He was just a kid, you monster. And you ruined his life.”
He tried to talk, tried to argue, but he couldn’t. He shook his head violently. “You’ve been found guilty, Juan Martinez. Your sentence is death.” She felt no mercy, no sympathy for him. She felt nothing but anger and hate.
“No,” he whispered over and over. But it only took about two minutes before he quit whispering, and he quit fighting. She held the tension on the rope for several minutes longer; wanting to make sure he was dead. She tied the rope off, and snuck out the back of the house, and back toward her new car.
She felt light as she climbed into the SUV and asked it to take her back to the motel. She didn’t drive past his house again. She drove slowly, patiently. She would leave the hotel the next morning, before his body was found, and head toward Ohio and the second name on her list.
“So what exactly is Ari doing,” Vince wondered as Jordan carried a blanket and a pillow to him.
“She’s killing some people for me,” he answered without emotion.
“Oh?” Vince couldn’t imagine that Jordan would have anyone he wanted dead; especially not enough to ask Ari to kill them for him. She killed sex offenders, not school bullies.
And then it clicked for him; Jordan’s sexual insecurities, his virginal behavior, his unemotional attitude. He was raped. This was one time he couldn’t remain silent.
“I was raped. It started when I was twelve. I looked up to him, I admired him. I even thought I fell in love with him. And then when I was sixteen I had a girl call me gay because I refused to have sex with her. Something snapped in my head, you know? I didn’t know if I was gay or not, but I was angry as hell because that man took that choice away from me.” Jordan stood as still as a statue. He did nothing at all but listen.
“I killed him. It didn’t help. I was still confused, still unsure of what was going on in my head. I actually came to like what he did to me, you know? I was just a kid, and I was getting blow jobs and having orgasms. It felt good physically. But he wanted to fuck me in return. I didn’t say no. I was a kid.” Vince began to cry then. He hadn’t cried in years, but he felt he could cry with Jordan, because Jordan understood.
He sat down beside Vince on the couch, and wrapped his arm around his shoulder as he had with Ari. Vince laid his head on Jordan’s chest and sobbed, just as Ari had. Jordan had never mourned what happened to him. He’d never cried and got it out. He just put it in a box and tucked it away inside him. Maybe he’d mourn when they were all three dead. And he trusted Arianna to do that for him.
His phone rang, and he saw it was her. He answered it as he rubbed Vince’s hair. It didn’t feel weird, it felt nice. “Hi, Ari,” he said gently. Vince sat up immediately and wiped his eyes.
“Hi, Jordan,” she whispered. “How are you?”
“I’m fine. Vince is here with me.” Vince looked hopeful immediately. Jordan left his hand around his shoulder.
“How is he?” She wondered. She missed them both, of course, but still didn’t feel guilty that she’d left Vince when she did. She was back in her motel room, in her bed. She wished they were both with her, so she could sleep between them.
“He’s having a bad night,” Jordan said truthfully.
“Tell him I miss him,” she said gently. “And I miss you too. Scratch the first name off your list.”
“Thanks,” he said with a sigh of relief. “I love you Ari.”
“I love you too,” she said with a grin, “both of you.”
“She loves you and misses you,” Jordan said when he hung up the phone. “Both of us.”
“Is that okay with you,” Vince asked as he laid his head back on Jordan’s chest.
“Yes,” Jordan answered honestly, and put his hand back in Vince’s hair.
Chapter Fifteen
Vince woke up on Jordan’s couch to the scent of eggs and toast. The only thing that Vince could think of that would make this better would be waking up with Arianna. He sat up quickly, and asked, “Did you sleep?”
“Yes, I slept well.” Jordan carried two plates full of food toward the table, and poured juice and milk. “How about you?”
“I slept great,” Vince said with a stretch. Jordan couldn’t help but glance at the bigger man. He was starting to get comfortable having him around. He felt safe for the first time since he went to jail.
“You still didn’t tell me the plan. When do we contact the Secretary? I’m getting nervous,” Vince stated.
“I don’t want to do it over the phone,” Jordan stated. “We need to do it in person so she can’t doctor any tapes and make it look like I threatened her.”
“I’ll go with you,” Vince said as he dug into his eggs. “But I want you to know, I don’t think this is a good idea. Call her and warn her, and get it over with.”
“Okay,” Jordan said, and grabbed his phone. He called the Secretary’s personal number, and as it rang he thought of what he wanted to say.
But he faltered, and when she answered with a curt, “Who is this?” Jordan handed the phone off to Vince. He made sure it was on speaker so Jordan could hear also.
“Hello, Madam Secretary,” Vince said with his raspy, rough voice. “I’d like to introduce myself. I’m Vince Argento.”
“You have some nerve, you little prick. Didn’t your boss tell you to back off?” Her voice was angry, overconfident; the self-assurance of a powerful person who had people in her pocket.
“Yes, as a matter of fact he did,” Vince stated. And then he stared at Jordan hard. Jordan took his tablet and touched the screen several times. Then the phone call between the Secretary and White played loud enough for her to hear.
“You have my phone bugged?” She sounded incredulous, as if the thought was unimaginable, that someone would have the balls to do to her what she did to others.
“No ma’am, but I do have very, very powerful friends.” He said it without arrogance. “We know everything about you, Madam.”
She said nothing for several moments. “It’s that kid, Stewart, isn’t it?”
“Yes, and he’s a genius,” Vince said. “I’ll let him tell you exactly what’s going on.”
“I have a computer program. If I don’t enter the code three times a day, all of your files from your personal computer will be released to the press.” He started out shaky, but Vince put his hand on his shoulder, and he became stronger. “If Arianna, Vince, or I are killed, your information goes to the press. If you so much as think about hurting Arianna, I’ll know. Your secrets aren’t safe any longer, Secretary.”
“You wouldn’t release anything to hurt your girlfriend,” she stated. “I don’t believe you.”
“Arianna isn’t on your computer. All of your correspondence with her was hard copy.” Jordan nodded at Vince.
“So that’s it, Ms. Tremblay. The game’s over. Arianna isn’t prosecuted, you’re not prosecuted, everyone’s happy, got it?” Vince finished up the conversation, and before she could say anything, he hung up.
“I don’t feel right,” Jordan shook his head. “It’s just too easy.”
“There was nothing easy about that,” Vince said, and patted his shoulder. “We just have to hope she holds up her end of the bargain.”
“I guess,” Jordan frowned. “So I’ve already showered. You can go now.”
“Okay. Are you leaving now or,” Vince wondered as gathered his clothes.
“No, I’ll wait, we can walk out together.” Jordan didn’t want to admit it, but he still expected the Secretary to try something.
He cleaned up the kitchen and gathered his books. He had class that afternoon, and then church that evening. Church, he thought as he listened to Vince in the shower. He thought of Vince’s big body naked. Having a photographic memory, he could picture it precisely. Vince really was beautiful, an unimaginably perfect specimen of the male form. Jordan wondered if Vince could show him how to get a body like that.
And then his memory took him back to Vince having sex with Arianna, and how he climaxed as he watched them. Arianna’s bright blue gaze didn’t leave his, and he could remember every bit of pleasure she expressed with them.
Church, he thought again. God would forgive him for what he did, because he did it out of love. Love was what God wanted for us, above everything else. And he loved Arianna and Vince more than he ever thought possible.
He stood at the table as Vince walked out of the shower in just his towel. The door was open to the bedroom and he had a great view of his hulking body. Vince dropped the towel and turned slightly, so that Jordan could see all of him. His manhood was hard and standing straight out. He arched his back and put his hands in his dark, wavy hair and made droplets of water fly.
He smiled at Jordan, a loving, honest smile that didn’t judge him or find him inferior. And Jordan saw that same thing that he saw in Ari’s eyes when he first met her. He saw something inside Jordan that he wanted, that he was attracted to. Mr. Universe found insecure, gangly, self-conscious Jordan Stewart attractive. He smiled back, and watched as he dressed. It wasn’t weird at all, Jordan thought as he gathered his books.
“Do you want to go to church with me this evening,” he asked as Vince walked toward him in his navy slacks and light blue shirt unbuttoned at the neck. Jordan approached him, slowly, and buttoned the remaining buttons and tied his tie. Vince’s heart swelled as he watched Jordan through heavy eyelids. God it was going to be torture wanting him this much and not being able to do anything about it. But Vince would accept that torture just to be around him.
“I’d love to go to church with you tonight,” Vince said huskily.
“Good,” Jordan said as he pulled on his coat and his gloves, then put his bag over his shoulder. “Dinner at 5:30?”
“Wouldn’t miss it,” Vince agreed. He wrapped his arm around Jordan and gave him a manly hug. Jordan didn’t pull away.
Arianna set her alarm on her phone for 5:30 am. She wanted to get an early start. She woke up happy, knowing that Jordan could begin to heal. She wasn’t tired as she went to bed early. Her entire attitude was changing. Her life was changing. She felt whole in a way that she’d never thought possible. She was one lucky woman, she realized as she packed up her clothing and headed for her new car. Then she realized that Jordan had left his bagful of money with her as well. She had nearly a million dollars at her disposal. How long did he expect her to be on the run? She hoped it wouldn’t be that long. She couldn’t wait to get back to her guys.
“Wait,” Vince said as he walked down the steps in front of Jordan. Something was wrong, he just didn’t know what. He pulled the fob out of his pocket and started the SUV. It came on without incident. “Hand me yours,” Vince ordered, and repeated the act. He got the same reaction. “I just felt a little antsy, that’s all.”
They walked down the steps and toward their separate cars. “See you tonight?” Vince asked with happiness twinkling in his eyes.
“I’ll see you tonight,” Jordan grinned. As Jordan watched Vince screamed and fell to the ground. He held his left shoulder, and Jordan saw blood soaking his light blue shirt. He ran to Vince and put his hand on his shoulder to stop the bleeding. Then he heard a car start, and rev its engine.