When he told them his attackers had called him a faggot, she gasped, kicking herself when Brandon"s voice faltered, his gaze sweeping over Patrick"s rigid back before watching the faces of the other men in the room. They said nothing and she realized they assumed it was a generic insult, not a specific label.
Brandon shot one more look at Patrick, then sighed. She was probably the only one who heard the heartfelt fuck he muttered before he spoke aloud again. “I guess you guys should consider this a possible hate crime,” he said, his voice matter-of-fact.
“You think you were attacked because you"re a cop?” McGuire asked.
Brandon stopped to think on that for a moment, eventually nodding. “That is a possibility,” he allowed.
Carter nodded. “We"ll be looking at the Benedettos first. Mario could be out for revenge.”
Patrick turned to study the detective"s faces, his eyes narrowed. “Shit. That could be it.”
McGuire looked up from his notebook. “You were the other arresting officer. You have any problems tonight?”
A chill ran down her spine at the idea that the mob might be seeking revenge.
“Nothing,” Patrick said without having to think about it, which only made her feel marginally better. “I got back from the station late and then was home alone. I didn"t hear or see anything unusual.”
McGuire pursed his lips, obviously considering what might be going on.
“Interesting.” He returned his attention to Brandon. “Is there any other reason you can think of that might lead someone to attack you? You have any enemies other than the Benedettos?”
Destiny watched Brandon straighten up in the bed, his gaze casting to Patrick quickly before focusing on nothing at all.
“I can"t think of any,” Brandon said without looking up.
She stilled in her seat. What was wrong with him? Glancing up at Patrick, she saw him staring down at Brandon, deep lines of concern creasing his face. “Where were you again?” Patrick asked quietly.
Brandon repeated the address and she couldn"t understand his grimace or why Patrick turned away and closed his eyes with evident frustration. She tried to picture the street.
Then she figured it out. Damn.
58
Destiny Calls
Resignation was stamped in every line and curve of Brandon"s face as he made direct eye contact with McGuire. “You might consider looking into crimes against gay men in the area.”
McGuire and Carter said nothing, looking at Brandon as if he might have spoken in Greek.
She wanted to slap both their faces. She knew goddamn good and well Brandon didn"t want to say what these nimrods were going to force him to say. But how could he not? If someone was attacking innocent men on the streets, he couldn"t risk obstructing the investigation. Even while she understood this about Brandon"s very nature, she wanted to rail against how unfair it was that his choices, his privacy, were being taken away from him.
Suddenly nervous, she jumped to her feet, busying herself by picking the blankets up off the floor and tucking them over Brandon, offering him what little protection she could.
Patrick turned and leaned against the wall by Brandon"s bed, his arms crossed over his chest. He stared at his two colleagues, his face bland.
It was painfully clear the detectives weren"t figuring it out. “It"s possible,” Brandon continued, “that they"ve seen me in that neighborhood before and assumed that I was gay because I sometimes go to the Blue Door Tavern down the block.” He left out that he and Patrick had been there just the other night. She couldn"t decide if she was relieved or pissed off by the omission.
She was definitely pissed off by the look on Carter"s face. “The Blue Door is only for gays on certain nights.”
Destiny"s stomach lurched at his tone when he said the word gays.
Brandon sighed. “Yes, and those are often the nights I"m there.” He stopped and shot a look at Patrick, one that spoke of fear and apologies, then stared directly at Carter. “Jesus, Carter, do I have to write it down in your little notebook for you? I"m gay. Well, actually, I"m bisexual—not that it"s any of your business—and it"s possible those men attacked me because of it.”
The silence that followed this pronouncement was awful. Destiny watched the detectives" faces closely and she didn"t like what she saw. McGuire, at least, looked mostly surprised. But Carter looked disgusted.
She turned back to Brandon but he was watching Patrick carefully. No doubt wondering, as she was, if he was going to blow a gasket. He sure looked like he was considering it. His thunderous expression was probably what forced Carter"s face back to neutral. Carter was damn lucky Patrick had offered him that warning.
No doubt trying to keep things on track, Brandon returned to recounting the details of his attack, his outing to his fellow officers complete. The fallout would be what it would be. Brandon would have to see it through and she and Patrick would stand by him.
59
Samantha Wayland
She listened to Brandon and watched Patrick, wondering how this was going to impact him. He was Brandon"s best friend and he wasn"t pretending to be surprised, which Carter and McGuire would no doubt have noticed. Not to mention he was standing over Brandon"s bed like some kind of giant avenging angel. But what his colleagues didn"t know was that Patrick was also bisexual. Hell, she wasn"t sure if Patrick had figured that out yet. She sent up a silent prayer that this wouldn"t scare Patrick away from his feelings.
She returned her attention to Brandon when he mentioned the return of Big Ugly Biker Dude. She smiled. “What are the chances?”
“Would this be the man that chased the assailants away?” McGuire asked, his tone all business. He had been taking furious notes the whole time. Destiny hoped he was a good guy. She was pretty sure Carter was a lost cause.
When Brandon confirmed Biker Dude"s role in the night"s events, Patrick finally stood away from the wall and stopped staring holes through Carter. He crossed
