Page 28 of Sprite

He followed Ross and Zane back to a small office that had an oversized desk sitting up against the wall and a sofa that took up an entire wall in the room. The office was nothing like the opulent lobby. The paneling on the walls gave the feeling that whoever decorated the office had done so in the 1970’s.

“Do you want something to drink?” Ross asked him. “The pizza will be here soon.” Ross pulled a bottle of whiskey from the shelf behind the desk along with four glasses.

“I’m on duty,” Crew said. “And with that, I guess we should make this all legal,” he said, pulling his badge out of his jacket pocket. “I’m Detective Montgomery and I’d like to ask the three of you a few questions about the death of Susan O’Hare.”

“Who?” Leo asked. The poor guy looked about as lost as the hot guy who ran into him in the lobby.

“Susan O’Hare,” Crew repeated as though saying her name again would explain everything to Leo.

“I’m still lost,” Leo said. “There was a murder in this club and our fathers never mentioned it.”

Ross’s smirk was firmly in place again as he looked at his husband. “Babe, my father kept this place a secret from me until after his death. Do you really think he’d mention a murdered girl in a club he kept hidden from my family?”

“I guess not, but I’m trying to figure out why my father wouldn’t tell me about the murder,” Leo insisted.

Zane sunk into the sofa and yawned. “Your father didn’t tell you shit,” he accused. “Tony was never a very forthcoming person. Why would you expect him to share something like a murder at his place of business?” Zane said.

“You know, for a silent partner, you sure do have a lot to say, Zane,” Leo grumbled.

“Okay, we can pick at each other later. Let’s answer Crew’s questions so that we can enjoy the rest of our night,” Ross insisted.

“Always the voice of reason,” Zane teased.

“Naw,” Leo drawled, “he’s just bossy as hell.”

Ross winked at his husband, smiling his wolfish grin. “And you wouldn’t have me any other way,” he said.

Leo sighed and smiled back at his husband. “You’re right,” he breathed.

Crew looked between the two of them and cleared his throat. He felt as though he had just witnessed something that he shouldn’t have. He pulled his small notepad from his front pocket, along with a pen, and sat down on the sofa next to Zane.

“So, the three of you didn’t know Susan O’Hare?” Crew asked, trying to get back to the reason for his visit.

“Nope,” Zane said, “but that doesn’t mean that our fathers didn’t know her. How long ago did you say that she was killed?”

“A year ago,” Crew said, “on June 29th. Were any of you spending time in the club last year around that time?” He watched the three men closely, trying to see if any of them had a tell when lying, but he saw nothing.

“I didn’t even know about this place a year ago,” Ross insisted.

“Me either,” Zane chimed in.

“I knew about it, but I never came here. In fact, I thought that it was kind of weird that our fathers bought this place,” Leo said. “I mean, just thinking about them ever coming here grosses me out.”

“Agreed,” Ross said. “So, how did this girl die?” Crew wasn’t sure how much information he should disclose to the new club owners. They were all suspects until he could rule them out, and he hadn’t done that yet.

“She was found in a private room with her throat slit,” Crew admitted.

“Jesus,” Zane whispered, “and, you have no leads?”

“I was just put on the case, but until now, no one can figure out a motive or find a suspect in the case. My boss is trying to keep it from becoming a cold case, but without the information that we need, I can’t stop that from happening. Would either of your fathers be willing to speak with me?” Crew asked. “For some reason, they weren’t questioned the first time around. It was almost as though the case had been swept under the proverbial rug.” Leo and Ross looked at each other and Crew knew that they were going to give him a fight about dragging their fathers into his investigation. There wasn’t a reasonable excuse as to why their dads weren’t questioned in the first place. He wasn’t sure if it was faulty police work or if the notoriousmobsters had paid someone off to keep their names out of the investigation.

“I hate to tell you this,” Ross said, “but our fathers are both dead.” He had heard something about Leo being held and questioned for his father’s death, but he hoped that Ross’s father was still alive. Without either of them, his case was dead in the water. The last thing Crew wanted to have to do was go back to the office to tell his boss that he couldn’t find out anything.

“I’m sorry,” Crew said. “I had heard rumors about your dad, Leo, but I didn’t know about your father, Ross. My condolences to you both.”

“Thanks, man,” Ross breathed.

Zane cleared his throat, garnering their attention. The guy was so quiet that Crew almost had forgotten that he was still in the room with them. “How do you and Ross know each other?” he asked. Crew wanted to ask him why he wanted to know, but Ross had already started telling the story about how they went to high school together and how they both hated each other until their senior year. That’s when they started hanging out at parties and got to know each other. Crew decided that Ross wasn’t the complete jerk that everyone said he was, and that’s when he started to really like the guy. They had stayed in touch over the years, even though they weren’t as close as they were as kids. Zane nodded as though he was good with Ross’s explanation.

---