Chasing Justice (Gay Detective Romance Novella) (11 page)

“It is. For an automatic paper towel dispenser located in the men’s bathroom of somewhere called
The Foxxx Trot
.”

“Oh.”

“Didn’t I warn you not to come back trailing paperwork?”

“I wouldn’t consider
this
paperwork.”

“It’s still shit I have to clean up, Luke,” Walton said with a sigh. “Do I want to know how this happened?”

“Eddie and I were in the middle of busting Thayer and Julio.”

“He’s ‘Eddie’ to you now?”

Luke shrugged.

“He’s a good cop, Captain. We got along…better than I thought we would.”

“I was hoping working with a Fed would keep you on a shortened leash.”

“Captain, about that,” Luke said. “You know I’ve been having problems lately.”

“Understatement.”

“After talking with Elizabeth, and while working with Eddie, they both suggested I see the staff psychologist. And I think they’re right.”

“That’s good to hear,” Captain Walton said, placing his hand on Luke’s shoulder. “It takes a strong man to admit when he needs help.”

“Working with Eddie on the Thayer case made me see it more clearly.”

“Well, his commanding officer had nothing but good words to say about you and Brock.”

Walton slid a letter with a raised seal on it from its cardboard FedEx envelope. “This was sent overnight from Supervisory Deputy Galen Frazier of the U.S. Marshals L.A. Fugitive Task Force, officially thanking our squad for loaning out one Detective Luke Everett of the NYPD and his stellar police work in light of working with Deputy Marshal Eddie Brock, who, and I quote, ‘can bug the shit out of anybody in under ten minutes.’ Frazier also goes on to say that Thayer was indicted on first-degree murder, two charges of sexual assault with intent, and a laundry list of other charges. Looks like you can finally close that file in your head, Luke.”

Luke nodded. “But we’ll never get him for the vic he did here.”

“We’ll have to take what we can get, Detective. And when you see the staff shrink, you should absolutely tell her about this case. Thayer has been haunting you for two years now. It’s time to let him go.”

“Thanks, Cap.”

“Oh, and before I forget...” Walton reached to the side of his desk and came up with a small padded envelope. “This came along with Frazier’s letter from L.A. It’s marked
Confidential
.”

Luke took the envelope, which had his name on it and the confidential warning. “Thanks, Captain.”

“Luke...good work out there.”

Luke smiled and let himself out of the office. Curious as to what could be in the envelope, Luke went back into the crib and sat on one of the cots to open it.

He ripped the package open and was surprised to find his dark blue silk tie come cascading out.

There was a note as well.

“
Luke
,” it read, “
this belongs to you. I forgot I stuffed it into the pocket of my jacket that night in the car. Don’t think I’ve forgotten that you have something of mine too. The minute we see each other again, maybe I can get it back. It depends. It probably looks better on you
.
If you’re not working tonight, call me and let me know. Then maybe you can put on this tie and nothing else and we’ll video chat. Eddie
.”

Looking down at Eddie’s silver belt buckle he still wore, Luke smiled wistfully and folded the note carefully, placing it safely into his shirt pocket.

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With the launch of their new Mavericks line of gay content, Foyle Media is poised to become even more profitable, and Tristan needs someone to help him manage behind the scenes. Asher eagerly accepts the job, although he’s straight and definitely apprehensive about what he may see on the Mavericks film set every day.

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This 38,000-word romance novella features mature content, no cliffhanger, and an HFN ending
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About the Author

Corynn Crawford lives in Chicago with her partner and their two cats. If she had a house she would enjoy gardening, but looking at the flowers from her apartment balcony will have to do. She would love to travel more often, but who wants the back of someone’s airplane seat touching their knees for twelve hours? She’s interested in photography, but it’s mostly camera phone shots she sends to her mother with captions like, “Look at what the cat did today!” You know what she hates, though? Humidity. Who came up with that?

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