Free L.A. Boneyard by P.A. Brown Page A

Desmond Hayward, was listed in stable condition and would probably be released later that day, pending test results.

    L.A. BONEYARD 61
    Back home, he called Trevor, and told him what the doctor had said. Trevor was just on his way in to see his lover. Was there anything he wanted him to take to Chris?
    “Sure,” David said. “A big hug and kiss.” Then he had to add, “But not too big a kiss,” in case Trevor wondered at the lack of his normal jealousy towards the man who had almost been Chris’s lover.
    “Sure,” Trevor said easily. “I’ll let him know you’re thinking of him. What’s this I hear about you guys getting a dog? Where did that come from?”
    “Long story. I’ll let Chris explain it to you.”
    Sweeney came into the room and insisted on being picked up. David let the tension flow out of him as he stroked the purring cat. The next morning he and the dog spent a tension packed hour staring at each other. David would have called the pound then and there, but he remembered Chris begging him to take care of the dog. Finally he gave up the uneven battle, heading back in to work. Jairo was already at his desk, a half-eaten bear claw beside the dregs of station coffee.
    David eyed the cup. “That stuff will kill you.”
    “What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger.” Jairo pulled a pencil out from behind his ear. “How’s Chris?”
    “Fine. They’re keeping him in a few days for tests.”
    “Bet he’s a happy camper.”
    “You don’t know the half of it.”
    “So, what’s on tap for today?”
    “I want a report on that overpass toss job. ID, anything the M.E. can tell us. Who was she and why did someone throw her onto a busy freeway.”
    “Isn’t that Central Division’s radio car area?”
    “Let me worry about that. Just get the data for me.”
    Jairo grabbed his bear claw, and crammed it in his mouth, scooping his jacket off the back of his chair. “What are you going to be doing?”

    62 P.A. Brown
    “I’ve got some reports to finish up. If you want, we can meet up for lunch.”
    “Sure, Little Thailand again?”
    “One?” David asked. “Make sure you start a murder book on the autopsy you attended. I started the initial incident report, and the one for RHD, you can finish them up. I’ll warn you now, they expect details. Don’t try to bluff through it. They’ll see through it and nail your scrote to the wall. Then they’ll tell you to write it again.”
    Jairo grimaced. “Later.”
    David called CHP and got the name of the first responding officer. From him he found that the case had been assigned to Central division; a Detective Yamagata was the lead.
    He called Central, only to find that Yamagata was out. He left a message to call him, then waited to hear what his protégé was up to. He would have been more than happy to hear Jairo had asked for a transfer to another division, but he doubted Jairo would be so accommodating. For some reason, he seemed determined to disrupt David’s life as much as possible. It didn’t help that Chris wasn’t around to buffer his clumsy seduction attempts. And that thought enraged him. Since when did he need someone to run interference with his honor? He wasn’t a slave to his libido. Chris was the only one who had been able to insinuate himself past David’s defenses. He’d damn near given up everything for Chris, his job, his future, his life. Surely what they’d forged was stronger than a casual lust from an almost perfect stranger.
    David sighed and leaned his forehead against the steering wheel. The late morning sun had already heated the leather wheel cover to an almost scalding level. He welcomed the burn.

CHAPTER NINE
    Monday, 8:15 PM, Cove Avenue, Silver Lake, Los Angeles David spent a short twenty minutes with Chris at the hospital, but he was heavily sedated and barely aware of David’s presence. He tried to talk, keeping his tone chatty and full of funny happenings about the dog and his day, but his heart grew