Free Whistle Pass by KevaD

tell your mother you don’t want to eat her pork and beans because you’re going to get laid?”
    Charlie cracked up. Laughter rolled out of him. “You didn’t.”
    “Oh, yes, I did. I was on my hands and knees. He spread my cheeks, and just when the head of his hard-on hit me, I blasted a note that could have sent factory workers to lunch break.”
    Charlie gripped his sides. His lips quivered; even more laughter spilled.
    “Gets better.”
    Charlie twisted around, snorted glee. “Oh, God. How?”
    “We were in the backseat of his car with the windows up.”
    Charlie’s head tossed back and forth. “Stop. You’re killing me.”
    “You’d have sworn a skunk died in there.”
    A black Cadillac came around the curve and entered the lot. Gabe grabbed Charlie and pulled him to the seat as the headlights swept over them. “Get down! It’s Perkins.”
    The Cadillac slowly cruised past. The purr of the motor grew louder. Wheels squeaked on the pavement.
    “What’s he doing?” Gabe whispered.
    “Checking the lot, would be my guess. Doesn’t want any witnesses to the meeting.”
    The car passed by them again. Charlie poked his head above the door trim. “He’s heading up the service road.”
    Gabe sat up. “Now what?”
    Charlie’s gaze remained focused out the window. “We wait. Just like with Johnny, Perkins wouldn’t know about me or the picture if somebody hadn’t told him. When he comes out, we follow him and find out who he’s getting his orders from. I’m gonna have a cigarette.” He grabbed his coat and climbed out.
    Keeping his eyes on the lane, Gabe leaned against the door but watched Charlie out of his peripheral vision. Charlie walked to the end of the parking lot, illuminated under three pole lights, and lit a match. A splash of yellow momentarily painted his face. Gabe shivered. The man was so gorgeous. He’d come so close to kissing him but didn’t know if the kiss would have been welcomed, or returned. He chewed on his lip, then chuckled.
    Here he was in a car obtained under false pretenses, spying on the town’s police chief, over a picture he had no business knowing about. God only knew what the outcome of all of this would be. If worse came to worst, he might have to leave the town he was born in and never return. He crooked a smile. For Charlie, he’d do it all over again. The corner of his smile collapsed. Why? The question furrowed his brow. Why, indeed. A running shadow sat him upright.
    The figure bounded across the road into the lot. Gabe turned to shout at Charlie, but the man was nowhere in sight. Gabe sank onto the seat with his head up enough to see who ran past.
    Johnny Upton blew by, hands covering his face. A parking lot lamp’s light flashed red. Gabe swallowed hard. The hands were covered in blood. Johnny stayed on course to the Emergency Room door and flung it open. Charlie appeared out of the shadows and jumped in the car. The Cadillac rolled out of the service road and turned on its headlights once it was traveling north on the hardtop street.
    “Let’s go.” Charlie looked at Gabe. “If you still want to. Otherwise, you can wait here.”
    Gabe turned the key and started the engine. He slipped the car into gear. “In for a penny, in for a pound.” He goosed the accelerator, and the DeSoto flew onto the roadway. “What do you think happened to Johnny?”
    Charlie shrugged. “Failure comes with a price.” He lowered his brow. “Ours might too. You still have time to change your mind.”
    Gabe rolled his shoulders to shed the tension. He responded to the question by giving the engine more gas.
    “You’ve some guts, hotel manager.”
    Gabe beamed at the compliment. “You too, logger.”
     
     
    C HARLIE wasn’t sure if he would have returned the kiss or not. He wouldn’t have pushed Gabe off him, and that awareness didn’t comfort him. He’d come here out of love for one man, and now a total stranger had set his heart banging against his chest when