IslandAffair (11 page)

Linda stood, wiping her hands on her shorts with an
expression of distaste. “I have to go now. There’s a nice policeman waiting for
me fast asleep in my bed. Wouldn’t want him to wake up all alone now, would
we?” She picked up her bag and paused at the exit to smile back at them, making
a show of looking around the room.

“You know, it’s a shame they never found the money to
install the sprinkler system. It can be so expensive to maintain older
buildings. In a little while it’s going to get very hot in here. If you’re
lucky the smoke will get you first. I’ve heard it’s a very peaceful way to go.
Just like drowning.” She turned on her heel and left, footsteps cut off as the
door swung shut behind her.

Robin waited, half expecting her to come back but there was
only silence. Her words sank into his mind and panic flooded his veins. She
intended to set fire to the building! He pulled frantically at his handcuffs,
trying to slip them over his hands but succeeding only in giving himself more
bruises. He turned to his knees and leaned close to his hands so that he could
grab the duct tape and peel it off, while his lover did the same.

“John, are you all right?”

“I’m fine. She was waiting outside the station for me, told
me you were here and had had a seizure. When we got here she hit me with
something.” He shrugged. “When I came to I was tied up and she had lost it.
How’s your head, love?”

“It hurts but I’ll live. We need to get out of here.” It was
probably his imagination but it felt hotter in here. He looked around at the
tiled room with the metal lockers and cubicles. Someone would see the flames
and come eventually but it was going to be too late. The firefighters would
find their bodies roasted in here like in a giant oven. How ironic to burn to
death in a building filled with water.

He watched as John yanked futilely at his own handcuffs. He
turned back to the piping and Robin watched as he inspected the joint, pausing
where it was bolted to the wall. “I think we might be able to get this loose,
help me, Robin.” Together they grabbed the sturdy metal and pulled. It moved
slightly, just a fraction of an inch. Rob stood to get better leverage. On the
third attempt something shifted and the bolts felt looser.

The acrid smell of fire began to fill the room and Rob
looked around to see a heavy gray layer of smoke descending from the ceiling.
The fire alarm screamed to life, deafening them. He saw the banked fear in
John’s eyes and together they turned back to their task. Rob planted his foot
against the wall and with one last heave the bolts gave way. The pipe separated
from the wall with a screech and he lost his balance, hanging precariously by
his wrists. He scrambled to his feet and they quickly freed themselves.

The smoke was getting thicker, blotting out the overhead
lights. It squeezed his chest and scratched his throat. John grabbed his hand
and pulled him into the next stall, turning on the shower. He had to shout to
be heard above the noise.

“Get under the water and let it soak you, stay low, beneath
the smoke!” Robin followed his lead, shivering as the cold water seeped through
the cloth, sticking it to his skin. When they were wet John pulled the collar
of his T-shirt up over his nose and mouth, waiting while Rob did the same.

“Come on!”

They dropped to their hands and knees and crawled to the
door that Linda had used. Cuffed hands made him clumsy, the metal biting into
his wrists painfully every time he moved. Smoke oozed around the door’s edges.
Rob put the back of his hand against it, feeling heat radiate back at him. He
shook his head.

“No good. We’ll have to try the other door.”

It felt as if it took an eternity to make it to the door at
the other end of the changing room. By the time they reached it the smoke was
pressing down on their shoulders. This time the wood was cool to the touch.
Robin pulled the door open and they crawled into the large, airy room that held
the swimming pool. Smoke was just beginning to gather under the high ceiling.
The skylights taunted them with afternoon sunlight shining through the
yellowish murk. They stood and Rob led John around the edge of the pool to the
door at the far side. It opened onto a corridor with equipment stores at either
side. It was reassuringly smoke free. Coughing, they dashed to the fire door at
the end. John pushed on the bar, cursing when the door opened about an inch and
stopped.

“It’s jammed.” He stepped back and slammed his foot against
it, putting his weight behind it but it didn’t budge.

“Fuck. FUCK!” Robin threw a kick of his own at it. He forced
himself to calm down as panic threatened to overwhelm him again. His legs were
shaking with fear and exhaustion and adrenaline. “Okay. Can you see what’s
blocking it?”

He watched as John pressed his head against the door. “I
can’t see anything.” Gingerly he stuck his fingers into the gap, feeling around
the edges of the door. Finally he reached up to examine the spring-loaded arm
at the top that was designed to pull the door shut. “Here! This has been
tampered with. Try it now.”

Rob pushed the bar again and this time the door opened,
letting in a gust of smoke-tainted air. He blinked against the sunlight and
they stumbled toward the parking lot. Black smoke poured from the front of the
building and he could see flames dancing behind the soot-blackened glass of the
door. His chest felt tight and his ears were ringing with the sounds of the
fire alarm but they were alive.

Rob felt John’s solid warm presence at his back just before
the other man looped his arms around him. The autumn afternoon was filled with
the wailing of sirens as a fire truck and two police cars pulled into the
parking lot. The firemen flew into immediate action. Rob watched wearily as
they each performed their own task. One of them ran over, unhindered by his
bulky, fireproof gear, to ask if anyone else was inside. They told him that the
building was empty as far as they knew. Hot on his heels came a policeman. With
one glance he took in their sodden appearance and the handcuffs on their
wrists. Shortly after that Rob and John found themselves seated in the back of
one of the patrol cars and on the way to the station.

“You know, Mr. Grant, these are pretty serious accusations
you’re making.”

Robin didn’t bother to lift his head this time, leaving it
cradled on his arms on the Formica tabletop. He turned his head enough to look
at the silver-haired man sitting across from him. “Yes. I know.” He had been
answering the same questions over and over for what felt like hours. “It
doesn’t matter how many different ways you ask me the questions, Detective, my
answers will be the same. I really hope you’ve picked up Linda Shaw ‘cause I’m
going to be really pissed if she’s waiting in my apartment for me when I get
home.”

Rob’s head was throbbing. His wrists sported a matching set
of purple bracelets and all he could smell was smoke. They had removed the
handcuffs long ago but he still felt the ghost of their presence. He wished for
a moment that he had let the doctor who had looked them over admit him to the
hospital after all. As much as he hated the thought of it, at least he would
have been in a bed by now. He needed to go home, shower and climb into bed with
his partner. He could only assume that John was stuck in the same cycle.

“You have to understand where we’re coming from, Mr. Grant.
You and Mr. MacAllister were the only ones in the vicinity of a public building
that was badly damaged in a clear case of arson. Mrs. Shaw on the other hand
has an alibi provided by a sworn officer of the law who says she was with him
all night.” He squinted at Rob. “Mr. MacAllister already showed us he can be
less than honest.”

“Why the hell would we handcuff ourselves inside a burning
building? Why would we want to set the damn place on fire in the first place?”
Robin forced himself to lower his voice. “I don’t know what to tell you,
Detective. She was there. She even told me the guy was asleep in her bed. Have
you checked him for drugs?”

The man frowned at him. “As a matter of fact we did. At your
friend’s insistence.”

“Partner. He’s my
partner
.” Robin lifted his head and
pinned the man with a glare. “It’s not a difficult word, why can’t anyone say
it? If it makes you feel better you can call him my boyfriend, or my
significant other.”

The detective cleared his throat and looked away. “I apologize.
I wasn’t sure how you’d like to be addressed.”

Rob sighed. “No, I’m sorry, Detective. I might be a bit
touchy right now. Partner is fine.”

The other man nodded his acknowledgement before continuing.
“By all accounts Linda Shaw is a quiet, well-liked member of the community. Why
would she suddenly start behaving in a way that is totally uncharacteristic of
her?”

“Hell, I don’t know. ‘Who knows what evil lurks in the
hearts of men’ and all that crap. You must have seen good people snap before. I
told you what she said, she’s obviously responsible for a lot of the other
stuff we’ve been dealing with this week.”

“All right, Mr. Grant, let’s go through this one more time.”

Rob let his head drop back down with a heartfelt groan.
Eventually the endless questions stopped and they left him alone. He woke
sometime later to the smell of coffee. He rubbed his gritty eyes and focused on
the plastic cup steaming gently about six inches in front of his nose.

“Good morning,
leannan
.”

“John?” He cleared his throat and sat up gingerly, wincing
as his neck crunched in protest and a whole new set of aches made themselves
known. They were alone in the tiny room. John was dirty and unshaven, dark
circles shadowed his eyes but he was smiling.

“Ready to go home?”

“Seriously? I thought we were prime suspects?”

“They did as I asked and took a blood sample from the guy
giving her an alibi. When the seed was planted he got suspicious of the fact he
had slept so long. Apparently that’s unusual for him. I got the feeling they
wouldn’t have bothered otherwise. It came back positive for a sedative. They
also found pink paint in her garage that matches the stuff used to paint your
door and her phone records show several calls to you. They still have to match
up her gun to the shots fired at me and find the silver car but they charged
Linda Shaw this morning. Not even her lawyer could stop her homophobic tirade
after that. She confessed to arson and attempted murder, though I’m sure those
aren’t her words.”

Relief washed over him, lifting some of his exhaustion.
“Well, thank god for insomnia.” Rob stood, stretched and stepped into John’s
embrace. He smelled like sweat and stale smoke but Robin knew he didn’t exactly
smell like a rose either. It didn’t matter, all that mattered was the comfort
of each other’s arms. They kissed, uncaring of the red glare of the
surveillance camera in the corner.

“Let’s get out of here.”

The early morning light was just beginning to soften the
peaks of the rooftops and steal back the shadowy corners. John breathed in the
fresh cool air, smiling as he heard Rob do the same. He shrugged off the
oppressive atmosphere of the police station and wished he could shake off the
weariness as easily. Robin looked exhausted and he forced away the worry over
his health, knowing his partner wouldn’t appreciate it.

He put his arm around the slender shoulders and the younger
man leaned into his embrace. The police had offered to take them home but he
hadn’t wanted to spend any more time in their company. They were just doing their
jobs but he’d had more than enough of it. Instead John had called and arranged
another rental car to be dropped off. He hadn’t even winced at the price of the
insurance. Much. He guided Robin toward the dark-blue sedan and they climbed
into the buttery leather seats with a mutual sigh. Robin glanced at him with an
amused smile before tipping his head back and closing his eyes.

“We could just sleep right here.”

“Tempting, but I need to hold you and I can’t do that here.”

“You’re right. Home, James, and don’t spare the horses.”

John rolled his eyes and eased the car out of the parking
lot and into the quiet street. The drive was short and uneventful but tension
crept back into his shoulders and he found himself looking into the rearview
mirror a bit too often. He glanced at his lover. Rob was the picture of
relaxation with his head back and eyes closed but the white knuckles of the
hand clenched against his thigh gave him away. Too much had happened for them
to forget it easily. It wasn’t until they were inside the apartment and the
lock snicked shut that they could relax again.

In the bathroom they stripped off their clothes and dropped
them on the floor, climbing under the shower together. Hot water sluiced over
them and John stood passively while Robin ran the washcloth over his skin,
murmuring softly over each bruise and pressing soft kisses to the small grazes.
When he was done, he surrendered the cloth to John and stood silently in turn.
There was nothing sexual in the contact, more a reassurance that each was
unharmed. John lingered over the scars on Robin’s head, feeling a rush of
renewed anger. If that woman had hit him any harder Rob might not have been
standing here. He knew how dangerous it was for someone who’d had such a severe
head injury to have a repeat blow. With the anger came the fear he had been
suppressing and he began to shake. The washcloth dropped from his fingers and
he wrapped his arms around his partner, feeling Rob return his fierce embrace.

“Shh. It’s okay. I’m all right.”

“God. Rob. I’m so s—”

“No!” Rob grasped his hair, tugging his head back to look
into his eyes. “No apologies. I wanted this as much as you. I love you, John.”

John’s knees wobbled at the long-awaited words. He’d begun
to wonder if Robin would ever say them again or if he’d lost his chance when
he’d left him on the island. He smoothed his knuckles over the stubble of
Robin’s jaw, rubbing his thumb over his parted lips.