Hunted Page 3

  Hearing what he already suspected, only made Octorian’s guts twist. “We had an argument. I threatened divorce. He must’ve taken it to heart. I love him and I want him found.”

  “Hey, Mr. Vanderhuff what happened in your private life isn’t any of my business. You hired me to do a job and that’s what I’ll do.”

  “What are you going to do after leaving the hotel?”

  “Actually I was going to call you. I have the list of his family members but after what you told me about them, I doubt he’d go there. Do you know of any friends or ex-lovers he’d contact to hide out with for a while?”

  “No. Jace was a virgin when we met.”

  “Are you sure? Some people have been known to fake these types of things.”

  Octorian chuckled. Obviously he’d never been with a man. “I’m sure.”

  “Alright…well I’ll scratch that off the list. Did he ever mention any one place in the world that he’d like to visit? Ever fantasized about going to a specific place?”

  “No. I’ve taken him all around the world and back. He loved Paris and Rome but no more than the next person.”

  “No, I don’t think he would’ve gone that far. He would’ve had to use his passport to leave the country and I’ve already checked that this morning.”

  “Prynce, I’m suffering every moment that he’s gone. I need him back to make this right with him. Where do you think a young gay man with limited funds would be hiding?”

  There was a moment of silence. “He has to be somewhere where he could get lost in plain sight. Somewhere where people won’t take notice of what’s going on around them. Somewhere big, a city I would say.”

  “Where, Prynce?” Octorian demanded.

  “Maybe Chicago, New York, Miami, L.A. Those would be my guess.”

  “No, he wouldn’t go to California. Lots of people from his model days would recognize him.”

  “Then I’ll check the other three.”

  “Call me as soon as you know something.”

  “Will do.”

  4

  With his hair pulled back in a ponytail, Jace started out for his day. While walking down the street, he recalled the day he was at the House of Shea and Travon approached him while conditioning his hair.

  “Boo, what is up with all these bruises on your lovely skin?”

  Jace tried to cower in his seat as he pulled the robe tighter, trying to conceal said bruises. “I-It’s nothing.”

  “Sugar, you can pull that robe till it’s wrapped around your neck like a second skin. I’ve already seen the bruises. And hon I have to tell you. Ain’t no dick worth walking around with someone’s handprint abusively tattooed on your body. Boo, you need to get out.”

  Like a flowing river, Jace had broken down in the chair and laid bare his troubles. By tale’s end both men were in tears.

  “I want to leave,” Jace confessed aloud.

  “Then you shall.”

  And that had been the start of Operation Escape. Travon told him how he could get him false identification via his cousin. He’d have to have five grand upfront and someone he could trust who could get him out of the house.

  Jace took care of his part and Travon’s cousin came through on his end. He’d used a picture from Jace’s modeling days. When the Id were ready, weasel mailed them to Travon, who kept them until Jace was ready. Jace had been so scared that Octorian would catch him and then real hell would be unleashed upon his body.

  Till date, he still didn’t know where or how he gained the strength to carry out the plan and leave the hotel. All he was certain of now, was thank God he had.

  As his thoughts slipped from the past, Jace stopped at a newsstand and purchased a newspaper before entering a pizza shop. Upon ordering lunch, Jace sat at a booth scanning the Wanted Ads.

  His goal was to secure a job, add to his emergency stash and escape the country. Only then would he feel completely safe from Octorian.

  Hey, this looks promising, he thought as his gaze fell upon a Help Wanted ad for a pub named, The Silver Bullet. He fed the bar’s address into his new phone’s Google Maps and discovered it wasn’t far from his current location.

  The ad stated that the bar was seeking a new bartender.

  That he could do.

  He’d done some bartending when he was working his way through modeling school. It was how he paid for his pictures and such. After finishing his lunch, he hailed a taxis and went directly to the bar.

  It was now a little after 3pm. The Bullet was getting prepared for its evening crew. Stepping into the heavy double wooden doors, Jace was immediately reminded of a Texas roadhouse. The bar was made of a rich cherry wood, while mirrors and glass decorated the walls. The table and booths were also made of the same rich cherry wood, however dark leather cushioned the booth’s tall backs and seats.

  “Hi, you looking for someone,” a pretty chestnut-haired girl asked as she wiped down the bar.

  “Uh, I’m here about the bartending position.”

  She smiled. “You’ll need to speak with Mickey. He’s in the back, hang on a minute.”

  Jace stood at the bar, looking over the place. It was big but not overly so. Depending on the bar’s reputation, it should bring in a full crowd.

  “Mickey says for me to bring you back,” the girl’s voice broke into his thoughts. “Follow me.”

  As they walked into the back hallway, she smiled up at him, “I’m Lydia Edwards.

  “Jace Myers.”

  “I sure hope you get the position. You should see some of the people who have applied. I swear, I think some of them just want the job to have access to booze all day,” she laughed.

  “Wow, that bad?”

  “And then some.” She led him to an office and knocked on the door. At the words ‘come in’ she escorted him inside. Mickey was a white haired man in his fifties. He looked up at Jace and said, “Sit down.”

  “So son, you done any bartending before?”

  “Yes. I have three years of experience. I use to bartend for my uncle Patrick, but his place burned down nine months ago,” Jace stretched the truth a bit.

  “You have a little bit of an accent. I’d say, a little southern.”

  “Yes, his place was in Atlanta.”

  “Any other experiences, anything that can be checked?”

  “Uh, no sir.”

  “Mm.” Mickey sat back in his chair and looked the young man over thoroughly before him. He was a pretty lad. That was for sure. “You in any trouble with the law?”

  “No sir.”

  Mickey considered himself a level-headed person and good judge of character. “How about this, you fix me a drink and if I like it, I’ll give you a shot.”

  Jace smiled. “Okay.”

  “What’s your name?”

  “Jace. Jace Myers.”

  “Well Jace, let’s go get that drink.”

  Back at the bar, Jace washed his hands and began preparing a drink for Mickey. “You look like a Mojitos kind of guy,” Jace smiled. Taking out an average sized glass Jace added, 1.25 oz. spiced rum (Captain Morgan), 12 mint leaves, 1 tbsp. sugar, 0.5 oz. lime juice, 2 oz. soda water, extra mint leaves for garnish and crushed ice. Stirring it, Jace slid the glass over to Mickey.

  “Can you start tonight?” Mickey asked.

  “Sure.”

  “Lydia here will show you the ropes. The crowd will start pouring in around 5. We get a rowdy crowd in here, so yeah…it gets loud but never violent. We have a few people on tab. Lydia will show you who. Come on back and fill out the paperwork and then the place is all yours.”

  Two and a half hours later, Jace got his first glimpse of what the night may hold in store for him.

  Cobra tossed the guy with the ponytail up against the wall with a hard smack, his cheek kissing concrete.

  “So help me Weasel,” Cobra’s partner swore. “If you have anything to do with Cheryl Carter’s kidnapping, I’ll lose my badge to put you where you belong.”

&nbs
p; “Yo chill. I don’t know nothing about that.”

  The dark-haired Adonis with bulging biceps, pressed his arm tighter under the man’s neck, cutting into his air supply. His partner paced the area around both men, his finger tapping his chin as if deep in thought.

  “I don’t know Weasel. You’re the man with the knowledge on the street. Now this little girl is only eleven and we’re hearing tales of a kiddie porn ring. I can’t help you if you don’t help me.”

  Cobra pressed his arm tighter under Weasel’s neck.

  “Ah-can’t-breathe.”

  “Sorry man. You’re gonna have to give me something and I’ll call him off. Right now…there’s not much I can do,” Barney shrugged nonchalantly.

  “Y’all-are-cops. Can’t-do-this,” Weasel choked as tears pooled in his eyes.

  Dude with his arm under Weasel’s neck growled, “Yeah we’re cops and getting scum off the streets is our job. You’re dirt and I’m the vacuum.” He tightened his arm. Tears were now running down Weasel’s face.

  “Give me something,” the other cop taunted.

  “K-k just-call him-off.”

  “Cobra.”

  He backed off.

  Weasel took huge gasps of air as he tried to fill his lungs again. “Cobra, really,” Weasel choked out as he rubbed his neck.

  The dark-haired cop shrugged, “What can I say. With a last name like Stallone, my parents had a huge Sylvester Stallone addiction.”

  Weasel chuckled.

  “Now what the hell do you know?”

  “There’s talk about this guy named Spike. He’s supposed to be running some kind of sex crib in Brooklyn. I swear, I don’t know where it is. All I know is that some heavy hitters, some mega rich dudes want to buy fresh young girls or boys. The kind that are pure. They don’t want to dip their sticks in anything that could be diseased. So they buy’em young, untouched.”

  Cobra hauled back and punched Weasel in the mouth. This dropped him to the ground.

  “And that doesn’t bother you. These underage kids are being taken and placed into sexual slavery and you’re okay with that!” Cobra raged. His hand reached for his gun as Weasel’s eyes widened and he threw up his hands begging for his life.

  “I-I didn’t say it was okay. I ain’t the one taking them or-or using them. I only know what I heard, man.”

  Barney put his hand on Cobra’s arm. “Calm down.”

  “Where can we find this Spike guy?” Cobra asked, pure rage flowing through his veins.

  “I-I’m not sure. I heard that he goes to a bar named The Silver Bullet. Folks call it The Bullet. It’s on West Houston Street. What days he’s there, I have no idea.”

  “What does Spike look like and if you give me the description of that guy off of Buffy, I’m going to hurt you bad.”

  “No. He’s about 6 feet, a hundred eighty to about two hundred pounds white blond hair that he wears in a ponytail. His eyes are like unusually pretty, like a purple/blue. I think it’s called amethyst or something like that. I hear he drives a white Dodge Magnum with tinted windows.”

  “You hear a lot, you know.”

  “That I do.”

  “Well hear this, if we find out that you’ve talked to anybody about this little encounter, we’ll find you and put you so far under the jail the rats and roaches will be your only companions. Does a permanent stay at Riker’s Island sound pleasing?”

  Weasel’s eyes widened at that. The last time he was there, he’d been made the bitch of a big bald man named Bull. Bull was serving three consecutive life sentences. Oh hell no did he want to run into him again.

  “I swear, I haven’t seen you guys. Never met you.”

  “Good, keep it that way.”

  “You know, you had me worried there for a minute. I thought you were going to kill dude,” Barney said as he and Cobra climbed in their unmarked car. Barney Goldman has been partners with Cobretti Stallone for the last six years. They’d made detectives three years ago. Currently they were working the missing tweens case. Within the past seven months kids from the ages of 10-14 have been kidnapped in and around NYC. During this time there’s been little to no tips in the case. They’ve been subjected to combing the lows of the streets in search of possible leads. The subject of this case was sensitive for Cobra because his ten year old sister Ashley had been taken and killed twelve years ago. That tragic incident sired him to become a cop.

  “No, I wasn’t going to kill him,” Cobra sighed.

  “Man, you gotta get a grip on those emotions. I know the thing with Ashley-.”

  “Don’t go there. If I can keep just one kid from meeting the same fate, I’ll do that very thing.”

  “I hear you partner. I truly do and you know I’m with you.”

  “I know what you need,” Barney spoke again after a moment of silence. “You need to take the edge off. When was the last time you got some boot-tay,” he teased.

  Cobra laughed at his silliness. “It’s been a minute.”

  “I told you Diana can hook you up with this guy that works at the library with her. She says he looks like Johnny Depp.”

  Cobra laughed. “Yeah sure he does. I bet he looks more along the lines of Gilbert from Revenge of the Nerds. The last guy I let you hook me up with had a bad over-bite and the breath to match. He seriously thought he was going to wrap his lips around my cock. Nah-not a chance.”

  Barney was laughing so hard he almost had to pull over. “Hey, he wasn’t that bad.”

  “Yeah sure.”

  “Well in my defense when I saw him, it was dark.”

  “And there you go. You’re no longer allowed to pick any dates for me. Your cupid card has been revoked.”

  Again Barney laughed.

  Most on the force didn’t know that Detective Cobra Stallone was gay. It wasn’t that he was hiding it. He just wasn’t one to flaunt it. Kinda don’t know don’t need to know. It never mattered to Barney that Cobra was gay. Hell, he was a hell of a friend and a great partner.

  “So, are we going to The Bullet, this evening?”

  “Looks that way. What would make my night, is if Spike shows up.”

  “Shit, that would make both our nights.”

  “Since we’re a few blocks from my place, let’s swing by there and I’ll change clothes. Then we’ll hit your place. After that, it’s straight to The Bullet,” Barney suggested.

  “Cool. I don’t want to do surveillance all night in these same grimy gear I‘ve had on all day.”

  “Mm, make sure you put on those Dolce and Gabbana jeans and one of those tight muscle shirts. Never know, could be some cute guy in there.”

  “Man, you don’t let up,” Cobra laughed. “We’re not going there for a hook-up. We’re going to hopefully find a suspect.”

  “And if you can get your pole smoked, it’s all good.”

  “Why are you so interested in my love life or lack of, all of a sudden?”

  “Because I’m your friend and you need to get laid. It’ll take the edge off.”

  “Shut up man, just hurry up and change,” Cobra said as they parked in front of Barney’s condo.

  Cobra and Barney walked in the doors of The Silver Bullet a little after 8pm. The place was crowded. A few games of pool were underway as was a game of cards at one table. Cobra lift one eyebrow at that. As far as he knew there was no gambling or card playing allowed in bars. But hey, this was NYC anything was possible. Obviously the owner had no problem with it either.

  “I’m going to grab us a table,” Barney said.

  “Ok. I’ll check the restroom.” That proved to be pointless as to turning up a suspect. However, he was surprised to find the place so clean. There were no writings on the walls and the commodes and urinals were spotless. The décor was modern. Obviously the owner spent a little coin in keeping the place up to date.

  “What did you order us?”

  “Genuine draft.”

  Just then the young attractive waitress came over. “Good evening, I’m
your waitress Lydia. What can I get you guys?”

  “Uh just the menu for right now.”

  She smiled brightly at them. “You guys new here?”

  “Why, does it show?” Barney teased.

  She shrugged. “Maybe a little.”

  Cobra shook his head as the girl walked off. “Diana would beat you with one of those library books if she caught you flirting like that.”

  Barney erupted in laughter. “There’s nothing wrong with harmless flirting.”

  “Really. In our job we’ve seen people skinned for less.” Cobra’s eyes scanned the room carefully. Damn, no sign of anyone fitting Spike’s description. Suddenly his eyes stopped.

  “Man, I think I’m going to get this chicken club sandwich. It sounds good,” Barney said. “What are you going to have?” When Cobra didn’t respond, he looked up and followed his line of vision. There was a cute blond-haired guy with his hair pulled back in a ponytail, working the bar. The guy looked like he belonged to a boy band.

  “Cobra, buddy.”

  “Huh.”

  “I got the door. Why don’t you go over there and introduce yourself.”

  This time Cobra didn’t give him any lip. “Yeah, I might just do that.” He was on his feet before he finished talking. Now sitting at the bar, he fully gave the guy a once over. He was about 5’8, 165 pounds. Whereas Cobra was 6’1,248 pounds of raw muscle. He had the sexiest grey eyes he’d ever seen. They were almost like icicles.

  “Hi, what can I get for you?” the guy asked.

  “How about your name and number?”

  Jace blushed. This guy was really handsome in a rugged sort of way. He was also a little scary. He looked strong as hell. And those arms. Imagine him getting mad and snapping on someone like Octorian was known to do. They probably wouldn’t survive.

  “Uh, sorry that’s not on the menu. What would you like to drink?”

  Cobra smiled, so cutie had a little backbone. He found that…intriguing.

  “Surprise me. By the way, I’m Cobra,” he found himself saying.

  Jace swallowed. “I make a mean Apple Martini.”