Free Infected: Shift by Andrea Speed

supernaturally canny, but you were a newbie kid once yourself. That couldn’t have been a great time.” And the way he’d tightened up, the thin filament of disgust in his voice when he talked about Switzer… something about that felt intensely personal.
     
    Holden stared at him straight on, his eyes flinty and jaw taut. “These are my people, Ro. I may not be on the street anymore, but I still feel that these are my kids, and I don’t like anyone exploiting them. Especially not prick cops with a Napoleon complex.”
     
    Was that really it? Part of it, but Roan was sure Holden was holding back on him. Still, if he didn’t feel like talking about it, who was he to press? He didn’t want to talk about his scars either. So Roan held up his hands as if in surrender and sat back against the sofa. “Fair enough. I’ll make some inquiries, see if I can find out if there’s anyone in the department who’s heard some gossip about Switzer. Cop shops are as gossipy as any other place where there are too many people with not enough to do.”
     
    Holden relaxed in increments. “I can tell you Jasmine wasn’t a hooker. There’s rumors of a drug habit that I’ve been unable to concretely prove. Oh, and our helpful hockey client finally remembered Jasmine lived with a roommate who may still be living in the same apartment. Can we have him tested for brain damage?”
     
    “Wait for the checks to clear first. He give you a name?”
     
    “Brandon something or other.”
     
    “Wow, that’s illuminating. I should have that pared down to a few thousand people by lunchtime.”
     
    “Too late, it’s already lunchtime. Have you two been at it all morning or what?” The usual sparkle in Holden’s eyes returned, and it figured sex was the trigger.
     
    “No.” Not all morning. He had stamina, but at a certain point, you needed sleep. And fluids.
     
    “You know, if you want to do a three-way, I’m up for it. Couple of hot guys like you? That’s a freebie. I’m good in three-ways. A couple once hired me for an entire weekend.”
     
    Oh, the sordid things you learned about people. “A gay couple?”
     
    He scoffed. “Yeah. I don’t do women. I have nothing against them, but ever since that one time in high school, I don’t even attempt to sleep with them.”
     
    “One time in high school? So you gave it a try?”
     
    “I tried. It didn’t work. Nothing screams “gay boy” like having a raging teenage hard-on twenty-three-and-a-half hours of the day, and then suddenly being unable to get it up around a naked woman.”
     
    Ouch. “If you didn’t know you were gay before….”
     
    “Yeah, that’s an eye-opener. I always felt I deserved credit for trying, but no one would give it to me. Certainly not my preacher dad. Apparently, if I prayed enough, I could’ve gotten wood.” He rolled his eyes in disgust.
     
    “Is that how it works? No wonder I’m gay—I’m an atheist.”
     
    “There you go. Damned from the start. What was my excuse? Oh yeah—according to my dad, my junkie mother. Gotta love hypocrites, don’t you?”
     
    “Love wasn’t the word I would have chosen.”
     
    “Please note the sarcasm.” There was a muted mechanical hum, and Holden reached into his jeans pocket, pulling out a very slim cell phone that Roan recognized as his “work” phone. Meaning the one only his clients used. Holden checked the number curiously before answering. “Ben, how is my guy today?” His voice had dropped to a sexy, slinky tone, and Roan had to suppress the urge to snicker.
     
    He got up and walked back to the kitchen, mainly because he didn’t want to eavesdrop on this conversation, but also because he was starving. The Frappuccino just seemed to be pointing out to his stomach that there was a meat and starch quota not being filled here.
     
    After a couple of minutes, during which it seemed Holden was negotiating both a meeting time and a price rate (What was Ben asking for? Oh God, he so