Loren

Epilogue

After the bath, and a hot make-out session, Mac threw some clothes on and made a quick round of the perimeter of the apartment building. There were police stationed in the lobby, at the back entrance and two on the penthouse level. When he returned to the apartment the lights were out and he made my way to the bedroom.

Loren had lit the fireplace in the bedroom and was lying in bed, covered only by the sheet. Mac could see the obvious signs of Loren's arousal and intentions of setting a romantic scene for them. He walked over to the bed and sat on the edge.

"You have a lot of clothes on." Loren said reaching out to unbutton Mac's shirt.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" Mac asked his eyes gleaming with the love he was feeling for Loren. Loren shook his head that he was. Mac lay down on the bed, still fully clothed and pulled Loren into his arms. "This is going to sound so stupid...or silly...or something...but every part of my body craves you...I want to show you how I feel about you...but...I want to be able to devote one hundred and ten percent of myself to you and right at this moment I can't..."

**********

Mac's Story – The Confrontation

"Come with me...please Loren." I was standing in the entryway dressed for work not wanting to leave the apartment.

"I'll be okay Mac. I know not to open the door to anyone...not even you." He said smiling. I pulled him into my arms and kissed him deeply. "Okay...you are the only one I'll let in. But no one else."

"Come with me, please..." I begged one last time. I hated that I had to go to the station but Cappy, aka the Chief, wanted a face-to-face update. I knew that the group of men that Loren was a part of was concerned with the newest development. As of last night not only was Shelby Cantrell missing now we couldn't locate Lancaster Dorey and the tail Simpson had following Palo lost him two days earlier."

"Mark, I love you...go to work...I'll be right here, safe and sound and locked in the apartment."

"You do?" I asked. It was the first time he had said it and it took me by surprise.

"Of course I do silly..."

"Then come with me." I said kissing his lips gently.

"Go" He said pointing to the door but not letting go of me.

"No...I'm going to call Cappy and tell him and Simpson to come here."

"Mark, stop it. Go to work. There are enough police here to protect Fort Knox."

*

I waited until I heard the lock on the door click before heading down the corridor to the elevator. I couldn't shake the bad feeling I was having. I pressed the button and waited turning back to look at the door again. 'I'll make him come with me.' I thought to myself starting back to the apartment but the elevator doors chose that moment to open. I stepped in and let me finger hover over the 'L' button making my final decision. The doors slowly closed but the elevator didn't move.

Sighing I closed my eyes trying to do the right thing. Opening them again I took a deep breath and pressed the button. But the moment I pressed it my body filled with heart stopping panic. That smell. I sniffed again. The tale-tail sign of patchouli oil lingering in the elevator. I had only smelled it one other time...and on one other person...I started pushing buttons to stopped the elevator, my heart was beating so hard but I knew I had to keep myself together enough to protect Loren.

Finally the elevator stopped two floors down and the doors opened. I pushed my way out and ran to the stairs taking them two at time. When I reached the penthouse level I knew I had to contain myself. I couldn't just barge in, gun blazing and expect everything to be okay. Soundlessly I made my way to the front door and with gentle ease tried the door, it was locked.

Turning I headed back towards the kitchen entrance. Again I tried the door, with little resistance the knob turned and cracked opened. Holding my ear to the crack I could hear faint voices coming from the other room – I just couldn't tell which room.

I slipped into the kitchen, took off my shoes and moved to the swing door between the kitchen and living room. Again I stopped, held my breath and listened intently. The voices were muffled letting me know that they were in the bedroom.

Slowly I let out his breath and took a few seconds to think. I backtracked and went to Jessie's room. I knew there wasn't a bathroom in Jessie's room so he had to have access to Loren's some way without having to go through the bedroom. I looked around and didn't see anything at first but then looked to the closet. Opening the door I found on the right side of the closest a door that led to the bathroom. I pulled gently on the door, it cracked open slightly and I could finally hear Loren's voice.

"Please don't do this...I'm begging you...please Waldo, put down the gun..."

"I want you naked." He said. "Get undressed so I can look upon you one last time."

"Waldo please don't do this." Loren continued begging.

I moved as quietly as I could into the dark bathroom. From the other room I heard a gun cocking.

"...I said to get undressed...that's right...pants too...I need for you to explain to me Loren because I still don't understand. I am your perfect mate. I am your intellectual equal...my cock always satisfies you...we make a striking couple...and yet I'm not enough for you. No...you had to let that shithead Lancaster Dorey fuck you with the disgusting fat cock of his. You rode his fat cock like it was the best thing you ever had before..." I wasn't sure, but it almost sounded like Waldo was crying, which was a bad thing. Keeping his emotions in check would keep Loren alive longer while I worked my plan out.

"What do you mean Waldo?"

"Oh don't look so surprised, I was right there hiding in the storage closest watching you ride his cock. You loved every second of him filing you...but I was willing to forgive that...and now Lancaster doesn't have to worry about his 'fat cock' anymore...he doesn't have to worry about anything anymore..."

"What did you do Waldo?" The horror in Loren's voice made the hair on my arms stand up.

There was movement in the room. Waldo told Loren to lie down on the bed. And I could hear Waldo pacing around the room.

"When I pulled the trigger last Friday night thinking and I had shot you I thought I would feel regret...but I didn't Loren. I actually felt exhilarated. Maybe I felt that I was finally free of you...or maybe the act of murder was an aphrodisiac. I left here and went back to my apartment and woke that little slut I had paid handsomely to fuck and did just that, I fucked him senseless. My cock stayed hard for hours..." Waldo let out a weird laugh, like he was proud to be turned on from the murder. "Look what you reduced to me. You made me pay for sex, never in my life did I ever have to pay for sex. Men used to clamor to be with me, but no more, they don't want to have to listen to me drone on about how much I love you, only the men I pay will listen me."

"Did you kill Bill also?" I could tell by Loren's voice that not only was he scared but he was shocked by Waldo's revelation. He could have never believed he would have done anything like this.

I moved from the bathroom to the closest. I could see clearer into the room and was watching Waldo as he silently tied Loren to the bed posts. When he was done he pulled a chair up to the side of bed and sat down, laying the gun on the nightstand next to him. He crossed his long legs and folded his hands comfortably in his lap. He appeared to be extremely calm and collected which for me was a good thing.

"Yes dear boy...I did. After I shot you...I mean poor Mr. Redvern...I was in the process of hiding the shotgun when I heard a noise coming from the bedroom. I slipped into the kitchen and out the back door. From the stairwell I could see a panicked Bill Wallace running from the apartment frantically pulling the last of his clothes on. You have to imagine my surprise at seeing him there. First of all he's probably one of the best kept secrets in this city. Who would have thought that Mr. Conservative himself, the one who always had a beautiful woman on his arm enjoyed the finest thing life could offer – another man's cock? I knew he hadn't seen anything, the apartment was too dark and my face was covered but I knew at that moment that Bill was destined to serve another purpose..."

Waldo stood and ran his hands over Loren's body. Jealousy filled my pores but I had calculated that I wouldn't have been able to get from the closest to the bed before Liebacker could reach the gun. I couldn't take any chances when it came to Loren.

"At five the next morning our little group of men met. We conveniently omitted Sam and Shelby from the meeting. We had already taken the first steps to protect all of our secrets by having your newest pet, our Detective McParson, assigned to the case. As you've probably found out the main reason the esteemed Mr. McParson was hired for the Manhattan division was to handle a sensitive case like this – if ever one arose. Cappy made a good choice in that hire. McParson is so scared that his dirty little secret might leak that he is willing to protect everyone's secrets no matter what the cost. I even sicked Standish on him knowing full well that he had been drooling for McParson for years. McParson didn't know if he was coming or going once he met Standish..." Liebacker stopped and stepped away from the bed. There was a long pause while he was gathering his thoughts before he stepped backand took Loren's limp cock in his hands.

"...but as always you distract me and I digress...let's see, where was I? Oh yes. More than anything we needed this case to be wrapped up as quickly as possible. I don't think our little circle cared one bit who was arrested for the crime, just as long as their secrets were safe. On my own, I came up with the solution. By killing Bill, making it look like a suicide, the case would be closed, you would be buried and we could all move on with our lives. To be honest my love, I think the men in our group, save your uncle were more than okay that you were dead. You and your public romances, especially with Lancaster and Shelby, were drawing too much attention to us and sooner or later they were going to have to deal with you. There had been talk for months to oust you from the group."

Frustrated that his touch wasn't getting Loren sexually aroused he moved away from the bed again and sat back down in the chair, resuming his calm position as he made his confessions to Loren.

"But your fucking new playmate blew through my ideal plan when he announced that Bill's death was another murder and not a suicide. When Cappy called to tell me what had happened I was ready to shoot your new lover myself, now thinking about it I wish I had. How dare he make mincemeat of perfect plan like that?" Waldo showed a brief fit of anger before reining himself in and resumed speaking.

"Then two hours later you miraculously rose from the dead and once again everything was sent into a tailspin. Once again all the attention was focused back on the case and once again everyone was shitting in their pants. And once again I needed to devise another plan to get rid of you. You have to die Loren it is the only way. But once again your lover knew what was best for you and he made you disappear again. Cappy told us he didn't even know where McParson had taken you...you just disappeared. So I had to sit and wait. In the mean time I decided it was time to do some more cleaning up."

Waldo stood up and walked over to the bed. His hand was inches away from the gun. Over the next few minutes Waldo told Loren in graphic detail how he killed Lancaster, Palo and finally Shelby. He appeared to be so proud of killing Shelby, of finally ridding the earth of this poorest excuse for a man he had ever met.

Waldo picked up the gun and walked to the end of the bed. I could see Loren clearly and saw that he was crying and for the briefest moment I wondered if it is was because he was scared or over the loss of his former lovers.

"Now you want that Detective. I see how you look at him, how you used to look at me. How could you choose him over me? Waldo seemed to cry.

"Choose him? Waldo we've been over for years. I didn't choose him over you, I moved on from you."

"No...I can see still see the love in your eyes towards me. That's why I can't understand...why him? Him in his cheap suit and vulgar language...he who hides from own shadow...he's not worthy of your Loren, why can't you see that?"

"No Waldo...it's me that isn't worthy of him. Mark wants me for myself and it's not about the sex or money – it's me he cares about. No one's ever wanted me like that before – not even you."

I had to battle the tears that were fighting their way to the surface. I could hear the contempt in Loren's voice as he spoke to Waldo and hoped that it wouldn't send Waldo over the edge.

"My dear boy a man like 'Mac' as he so likes to be called doesn't have the capability to love a man – he only knows how to get his sexual satisfaction from them and then throw them away."

"NO! You are the one that is like that Waldo. You conquered me that first night just like you wanted to. You put me on display to your friends and told them to look but don't touch. I was your trophy for a job well done. Mark...he's good and kind and he wants me...we haven't even been together yet, we both want to wait..."

Waldo burst out laughing, interrupting Loren who looked at him with a shocked expression, Loren had never heard Waldo so uncontrolled before.

"Loren he's a user...you think what? That he's taking his time? What does he expect that you'll be a virgin on your wedding night? Loren...we all use everyone for sex...that's just the way we are built."

"No Waldo...you are wrong...dead wrong..."

"Since I'm holding the gun I'd say that you are the one that is dead wrong my little pet..." Waldo simply laughed. "It's funny...I had hoped that you would try and entice me with sexual favors in exchange for your life...but I can see that isn't going to happen..." Waldo dropped his head in resignation. "In that case I guess we should get this over with." He sighed deeply. "Mac was right about one thing, when I murdered you...I mean Mr. Redvern I shot him in the face purposely...I had to erase that beauty from your face off this earth. That is how I intended for you to die, and that is how you are going to die..." He walked over to the bed, taking his handkerchief out of his pocket stuffing it in Loren's mouth to silence him. "Don't go anywhere." He laughed leaning over and kissing Loren fleetingly on his forehead.

Waldo left the room giving me my opportunity to get to Loren. I rushed into the room as quickly as I could, removed the gag from his mouth and started to untie his hands.

"Hurry Mark, he's crazy...we have to hurry..." he cried.

"Crazy?" Waldo said coming back into the room holding the cocked shotgun pointed at me. "Maybe I am...but I've got a bigger gun so how crazy am I now? It doesn't matter to me if you die first Detective. In fact wouldn't it be lovely when the police find the two of you in bed together and your dirty little secret uncovered..." Waldo let out another laugh and walked closer to me.

"But you'd be dead too Mr. Liebacker because as soon as you pull the trigger so would I and I'm a pretty good shot..."

"No Mark, please...I couldn't bear to lose you..." Loren cried. He had freed himself from the restraints and had come to my side.

"Seems we are at an impasse doesn't it?" Waldo said moving towards the window. At first I thought he was going to close it, to muffle the sound of the gunshot blast but instead he sat on the sill and stared at us.

Tears pooled in his eyes as he looked first to Loren then to me and then back to Loren again. "You really do love him don't you?" Waldo asked incredulously.

"I do Waldo...we are the missing part of each other's life we've been looking for..." Loren turned to me and smiled, "and the minute me met we both felt it."

"Show me how much you love him. Kiss him for me. Kiss him like you used to kiss me."

For a long moment Loren hesitated. He didn't want to share something as personal as us kissing with the likes of Waldo but knew he had to. "I love you Mark..." he closed his eyes and brought his lips to mine. For a brief second I allowed my attention to sway from Waldo to Loren but stopped and broke the kiss off.

Tears were flowing unrestrained from Waldo has he lifted the shotgun.

"It won't work Waldo," I said, "I found the gun in the grandfather's clock after you left on Monday and took the shells out of it..."

Lowering the gun Waldo shook his head in disbelief.

Once again he had failed to succeed in his goal and knew that there was nothing left for him. He looked to Loren and in a low voice said 'good-bye', leaned backwards, and fell out of the window.

We ran to the window to try and stop him, but it was too late. Looking down we could see his crumpled body hit the sidewalk.

Waldo Liebacker was dead.

****************

April 19, 1973

Mac – Epilogue

Lying on my side watching the love of my life sleeping so peacefully I can't help but feel how blessed I am. Next to him Jessie is curled in a small ball, his arm lying across Loren's chest. Sleep didn't come easily for Jessie tonight. It's the first night in over twenty-five years that he wasn't tucked safely in Standish's arms.

Our love, our mentor and our friend left us earlier today. Death came suddenly but peacefully to him. We had just finished eating lunch. Loren, Jessie and I were deep in a conversation and looked over to Standish for his opinion. At first we thought he had fallen asleep at the table but then we saw it...Standish had passed on.

We all hope and pray that death comes to our loves ones quickly, quietly and painlessly. But the reality is that we never want our loves ones to leave us. Standish lived a good and healthy life for eighty-five years, twenty-five of which as a part of a family we created between the four of us.

I slipped from the bed and walked out to the wraparound porch that overlooked the acres and acres of grapes vines. Who'd of thought that a city guy like me, or all of us for that matter, could be successful vintners? But we were and had over five hundred acres of prime grapes in Napa Valley to prove it.

The move to Napa came nine months after the Waldo Liebacker debacle.

I really never returned to my job after Waldo took his swan dive. Cappy told me to take a few days off after I completed the paperwork and closed the case. Another set of detectives were assigned to investigating the deaths of Shelby Cantrell, Lancaster Dorey and Palo Siente but that case was closed after two months and to this day the bodies have never been found.

I started with taking two days off and then called in another for another two.

I finally came to the realization that I was tired of being a cop. After ten years as a homicide detective I had seen enough dead bodies. It was time for me to be among the living. I had always lived frugally and had enough money put away that I could take my time making my decision what I was going to do next in my life.

Ironically Loren was at the same crossroad I was at. With Bill Wallace gone and Art Kennedy long retired he was the lone partner left at the advertising agency. He had no desire to run the agency or even do that nine-to-five grind anymore. Like me he felt there was something else he was supposed to be doing with his life.

Standish told us we needed to take some time to ourselves and suggested that we go to Europe for a few months. I guess I should clarify that, when Standish 'suggested' something it meant that he had already bought us passage on a ship heading for the South of France. He had arranged for us to stay at a villa a friend of his owned for a month. From there he was sending us to Northern Italy to stay at one his favorite places. It was a hundred year old estate that a couple he knew owned and catered to men only clientele.