The Reunion Read online

  “The men’s room is down the same hallway,” Kev pointed out.

  “I know, but Greg used it before our run-in with Zeke. He was on the dance floor with Jan when that happened.”

  “Was he at the table when we got back?” Kev asked, trying to remember who had asked for fresh drinks when he’d offered to get them.

  “He was.” Neil frowned. “But Jan wasn’t, I don’t think. She probably went to the ladies’ room when they finished dancing, because Greg ordered beers for both of them.”

  “That’s right. So we have one suspect already,” Kev replied as they left the building.

  “Somehow I don’t see her, or any woman, bashing Zeke’s head in.”

  “Why not? If they were angry enough it would have given them the strength they needed to do it. Right?”

  “I suppose.” Neil shivered. “Let’s not talk about it though, okay?”

  Kev put his arm around Neil’s waist. “Deal. What movie do we want to see on Monday?”

  Neil looked at him, easing away. “You don’t have to pretend anymore. I said that earlier.”

  Kev nodded. “And if you remember, I said ‘Who’s pretending?’.”

  “You’re not serious.” Neil seemed shocked, to put it mildly.

  “Yeah, I am.” They were almost to the car but Kev wasn’t ready to end the conversation so he took Neil’s hand, nodding toward the Quad. “Let’s walk.”

  Neil hesitated. “Only if you tell me what you meant.”

  “That is the idea.” He waited until they’d reached the trees at the edge of the Quad, stopping in the shadows beneath one of them. Still holding Neil’s hand—so he doesn’t run until I’m finished—Kev said, “There’s something I should have told you long before now, like as soon as we met. I didn’t, which was wrong, and I couldn’t figure out how to do it later without pissing you off because I hadn’t been honest to begin with.”

  “If you’re trying to tell me you’re gay, forget it. Unless…” Neil shot him an angry look. “Unless you’re like Zeke. Hiding the fact by playing the field with every woman you meet.”

  “Not quite,” Kev replied, gripping Neil’s hand tighter when he tried to pull away. “I’m bi, and at the beginning I thought if I finally admitted it, you’d walk away because I’d misled you, or you’d think I was coming on to you. I wanted us to be friends with no strings attached before opening up about my feelings.” He shook his head. “Then…it was too late.”

  “So you are like Zeke,” Neil said bitterly. “That was his excuse for not telling me until after he knew I’d fallen for him.”

  “No!” Kev sighed. “I understand why you think that but I’m nothing like him, whether you believe it or not. I liked you the first time I saw you. Damn, how can I explain so it makes sense? I’m a coward I suppose, when it comes to admitting to a guy that I find him interesting. Before you think it happens a lot, it doesn’t.”

  “I would hope not,” Neil said with a brief smile. “You’ve got enough problems with the women in your life.”

  “Don’t I know it? That begs the question. I misled you. If I could go back and change things…”

  “It doesn’t mean you can’t do it now. Well, I suppose you’re trying to.” Neil looked at him, nodding slowly. “Are you really interested in me?”

  “I said I was. I have been since the beginning.”

  Neil’s smile was breathtaking. “Fantastic, because in spite of my thinking you were straight, and my being so stupid about Zeke, I was, I am, interested in you. I just never thought…well, you know.”

  “That there would be any future in it, all things considered. I get it and I’m sorry. I guess it took you telling me everything that happened with Zeke, and our, well roll-playing if you want to call it that, to make me realize it was time for me to be honest with you and let the chips fall where they may.”

  “There’s only one problem.”

  Kev took a step back, frowning. “What?”

  “I don’t want you to think, umm, how do I put this? That I’m rebounding, I suppose, if we decide to see what happens.”

  “Do you think you are?” Kev asked hesitantly.

  “Not at all,” Neil replied emphatically. “There’ve been times recently when I desperately wished you were gay.” He smiled, hugging Kev. “I guess bi is almost as good, although it would be better if you sort of, maybe, gave up on women?”

  “It might be hard,” Kev replied, keeping his expression very serious. Then he grinned. “For you, I’m willing to make the sacrifice.”

  “Only if you’re sure about how you feel.”

  “Neil, I’ve never been more certain of anything in my life.” Then he kissed him. He was relieved when Neil returned it without hesitation. He wrapped his arms around Neil as it deepened; holding him the way he had so often dreamed he would.

  The kiss ended eventually, and Neil said, “Now we have to find out who killed Zeke so we don’t have that hanging over our heads.”

  “That sort of broke the mood,” Kev replied before realizing what Neil had said. “We? I think that’s the detectives’ job.”

  “I know, but what if they decide it was me, or you? We both had reasons to, although they don’t know about yours, I guess.”

  “Other than the fact I admitted I was pissed at him for how he was acting.”

  “True. Who else might have had it in for him?”

  “Probably plenty of people, but how about we put off figuring out who until tomorrow. It’s late, it’s been a very stressful day, and I think we both could use some sleep.”

  “Yeah, you’re right.” Neil eased out of Kev’s embrace then took his hand as they walked back to the car. “Tomorrow’s Sunday. You said you got the weekend off work. We can meet for breakfast and start a list.”

  “Sounds like a plan to me. Of course we could even if I did have to work, since I’m on in the evening.”

  “Yeah, yeah, details.” Neil grinned, giving him a hug before they got into the car.

  On the drive back to Kev’s place, neither of them talked much, although they did keep glancing at each other. After Neil parked in front of the building, he leaned over the console to kiss Kev because, he said, “I don’t want you to forget about me between now and tomorrow.”

  “Fat chance of that,” Kev told him after kissing him back. “What time?”

  “Huh? Oh. Nine?”

  “That works. Want me to pick you up for a change? I think it’s my turn.”

  “Sure.”

  They kissed again before Kev got out of the car. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

  “Not if I see you first.” Neil grinned.

  Kev rolled his eyes. “That is such an old joke. Get out of here.”

  “Yes, sir.” Neil saluted before driving away.

  Kev knew he was smiling like a fool as he walked up the path to the front door—and he didn’t care.

  * * * *

  “I don’t believe it!” Neil resisted cheering as he headed home. If I hadn’t been so blind, or stupid, so involved in how I felt about Zeke, I might have realized there was more to Kev’s wanting us to be friends than our just being friends. I think, no, I know he was willing to accept that rather than not having me in his life at all. If he’d said something…But he didn’t and I almost lost a man I’m starting to care about more than I ever did for Zeke or anyone else. Thank God he finally told me.

  He sobered. What does it say about me that I feel this happy so soon after Zeke’s death…murder? Am I that callous? He took a deep breath. No. I’m human is all. I hate that Zeke’s dead. I wish it was otherwise. But I’d already accepted that I wasn’t going to have anything more to do with him. Knowing Kev did all he could to help me deal with my…emotions, despite how he feels about me, knowing he might fail…He’s a good man and damn it, in spite of what happened, I have a right to be happy, now that I know he cares for me the way I finally realized I do for him.

  He was smiling again by the time he got home. In spi
te of all that happened, something good came out of it. I have Kev in my life as more than a friend, now. Much more, I hope.

  Chapter 5

  “First we need to make a list,” Neil said as soon as they were seated at a small corner table in the breakfast restaurant.

  “First…we have to look at the menu and decide what to order,” Kev countered with amusement.

  “Oh, yeah. There is that.”

  By the time the waitress arrived they’d made their choices, including coffee which she brought a few moments later. By then, Neil had taken a pad of paper and a pen from his pocket, earning a raised eyebrow from Kev.

  “That looks like you’ve been carrying it forever,” Kev said.

  Neil nodded. “I keep it with me in case I get an inspiration about a set for whatever show I’m working on. It’s easier to write it down than try to remember what it was, which,” he chuckled, “I usually forget by the time I get to work.”

  “Short term memory loss at your age?”

  “Busy mind,” Neil retorted with a grin, tapping his forehead.

  “I’ll buy that, for now. Okay, who goes on our list?”

  “Zeke’s wife for starters.”

  “Why would she kill him when she’d started divorce proceedings? If she has a good lawyer, she’d make out like a bandit.”

  “Maybe she wanted it all. Maybe they had a pre-nup, or she plain out hated him and took advantage of the fact there were tons of people at the reunion to sneak in and do the deed.”

  “I don’t think doing the deed means killing someone.”

  Neil snorted. “You know what I meant.”

  “So she’s one suspect,” Kev replied. “What about, oh, what was his name? Taylor something? One of his exes.”

  “Tyler Monroe. As I told the detective, I didn’t see him last night, but with all the people it would have been easy to miss him. He was at the barbecue, so we know he came out for the reunion, and I think, though I wouldn’t swear to it, I saw him at the ice cream social.”

  “He’s not a local?”

  “Uh-uh. According to the info from the reunion committee he lives in Richmond.”

  “You memorized that?”

  “No.” Neil laughed. “I looked it up last night when I got home. He must have gotten the list, too. Everyone did. If he was hoping to renew his acquaintance—” Neil made finger quotes, “—with Zeke and Zeke shot him down…”

  “I’m not sure that’s a reason for murder, but who knows how some people’s minds work, especially if Zeke was vicious about it. I have the feeling he could be if he wanted.”

  “How he treated you proved that,” Neil agreed. “Then there’s Greg and Jan. I wonder…”

  “Umm?”

  Neil waited until the waitress put down their meals and left before continuing. “What if it was her, not her roommate, that Zeke dated? If she fell hard for him, which was easy enough to do, and he dumped her.”

  “Isn’t five years a bit long to be carrying a grudge about that?”

  Neil gave him a sour look. “Like me? Okay, I didn’t hate him—far from it. But the idea is still the same. She sees him this weekend and it all comes back in spades, so she faces him down. Either she wanted closure, or she wanted to start over with him. That could be what we saw, and why Greg obviously wasn’t happy. What if he said something to her about it, especially if he was jealous?”

  “I don’t know,” Kev replied. “She and Greg come across as a happily married couple.”

  “All the more reason for him to be jealous if he thought she still has a thing for Zeke.”

  “Even if she did, they live halfway across the country from what they said, so the chances of her acting on it would be nil if Zeke was even willing to.”

  “Maybe she wanted a one-night stand?”

  “Did Zeke sleep with the women he dated in college?” Kev asked.

  Neil shrugged. “I have no idea. Maybe not, since it was all a cover. But Jan and Greg wouldn’t know that, right? Zeke’s married, she wants to find out what she missed when she was dating him and comes on to him at the ice cream social. Or…hell, I don’t know. All we know is that Greg wasn’t happy about them talking—and whatever it was about, it looked pretty intense.”

  “So he decides to get rid of the competition? Or Zeke made her feel like a fool for even thinking he might want start up with her again?”

  “Possible.” Neil snapped his fingers. “Do you remember what Greg said, just before they decided to dance?” When Kev shook his head, Neil said, “It was something to do with Jan saying Zeke seemed to be making it a point to dance with all the women. Greg replied, ‘He’d better stay away from you,’ then they had a whispered conversation. When it was over, he told her if she wanted to dance it was going to be with him.”

  “Definitely sounds like he was jealous.”

  Neil nodded, adding their suppositions to the list they were making. Then he closed the notebook, saying, “We probably should eat before everything gets cold.”

  They did, and after they finished and the waitress had refreshed their coffees, Neil opened the notebook again. “So far, we have four possibilities, Zeke’s wife, Tyler, Jan, and Greg. Who else?”

  “Any other man or woman at the reunion he’d messed around with. Also you and me, at least from the detectives’ point of view.”

  Neil nodded. “Probably, and they don’t know about Jan and Greg.”

  “Presumably they don’t. Who knows if anyone else witnessed her interaction with Zeke and mentioned it when the detectives interviewed them?”

  “The same with us. At least we admitted it, for whatever that’s worth.”

  “Hopefully, a lot.” Kev gripped Neil’s arm. “We know we didn’t kill him and we can alibi each other if necessary since we were always together.”

  “Except when you made the run for drinks for everyone, which might occur to Detective Payne.”

  “A lot of people saw me going to the bar table and coming back, so I suspect I’m safe enough. Think, Neil. Is there anyone you remember from college who would have had a reason to hate him?”

  “Not enough to kill him.” Neil snapped his fingers. “What about one of his clients? Maybe someone who thinks he messed up their case and wanted him to pay?”

  “That’s reaching, but I guess it’s possible. Was he a criminal lawyer?”

  “I have no clue, but I can find out.” Neil took out his phone, went online and searched. “Intellectual property, whatever that is.”

  “I think it has to do with inventions, copyrights, designs, logos, stuff like that.”

  “Hard to mess that up badly enough that someone would have wanted him dead.”

  “I agree, but who knows,” Kev replied.

  “I know we should get out of here,” Neil said. “The waitress is beginning to glare at us.”

  Kev laughed. “I can empathize.” He flagged her down to get their bill. They paid it, adding a large tip because they’d been sitting there for so long.

  “Now what?” Neil asked when they got back to Kev’s car.

  “Is there anything you should be attending today at the reunion?”

  “A farewell brunch but we’ve eaten already so I think we can pass.”

  “I know we can. It’ll probably be a downer anyway, with everyone talking about the murder. How about we do something fun?”

  “Sure. What?”

  Kev cocked his head in thought. “I think I saw something about an art festival in City Park. How does that sound?”

  “Like something I’d like, if you would.”

  “Yep. So let’s do it.”

  Parking was at a premium in all the lots inside the park, so they found a space on the street, two blocks away. As they walked to the area where the fair as being held, Kev took Neil’s hand, rating him a broad smile.

  “I’ve never done this before,” Neil said.

  “An art fair?”

  “No. Holding hands with a guy in public. I’ve never been b
ig on PDAs.”

  Without blinking an eye, Kev replied, “Not too surprising. I think most of them were discontinued years ago when smartphones came out.”

  Neil rolled his eyes. “That was not what I meant.”

  “Oh. You were thinking of this?” Kev gave him a fast kiss.

  Flustered, Neil looked around.

  “No one was watching and so what if they were? Guys kiss their girls in public. Why can’t two men do it, too?”

  “No reason, I guess. Still…” Neil wrapped his arm around Kev’s waist. “I suppose if they can, we can.”

  “Exactly.” Kev put his arm across Neil’s shoulders and they continued walking.

  It was easy to spot their destination by the tents lining both sides of the paths in one area of the park. When they got there, they joined the people who were checking out the various booths.

  “I will never understand paying that amount of money for a photo when you can go there and shoot the same thing for free,” Neil said at one point.

  “Ah, but can you catch the play of light on the trees the way he did?” Kev asked with apparent seriousness.

  “With the right camera.”

  “I was kidding. I agree with you. A good painting or drawing is something else. That takes a talent I will never possess.” Kev glanced at Neil. “I bet you’re pretty good at it, though, considering what you do.”

  “I’m nowhere near their class—” Neil pointed to the artwork in a couple of booths, “—but I’m decent when it comes to drawing designs for the sets so that the director can see where I’m coming from.”

  “Is that the only drawing you do?”

  “Yes. I have no real desire to go out with a sketchpad to capture, well whatever I see, and then turn it into a finished product. Designing for the theater is my thing and I’m quite happy doing that.” Neil hesitated before saying, “In all the time we’ve known each other I never asked and you never said why you’re a waiter.”

  Kev gave him a wry smile. “You mean just a waiter? Like I should be doing something loftier?”

  “No, and yes. You’re smart, you’re clever, you get along well with people. Wasn’t there something you wanted to be when you were growing up?”