Page 2 of Buck Baxter and the Mysteries of Love

“You think there’s a bad boy inside me?”

He hitched an eyebrow. “Uh-huh. And later tonight, I wouldn’t mind that bad boy insideme.But first, I got work to do… and so do you.”

I sighed. “Tell me about it. Stella’s been riding my ass for weeks to try and drum up new business, but it’s like every mystery in Wilde City seems to have dried up. I ain’t sure whether this town suddenly decided to clean up its act, or this is just the quiet before a storm.”

Harry tugged himself out of my arms and stepped away, that distracted, faraway look on his face once more. “I’m sure something will turn up. You know what they say about trouble; it always finds a way of creeping back.”

“I hope you’re right. Trouble is the only way this Buck makes a buck. Hell, even Mamma Marlow and Bugsy Brown have quitwarring for a spell.” Of course, I had my own theories on that, namely the fact that Bugsy had recently fessed up that he was none other than my dear old pops, something I was still coming to terms with, as no doubt he was too. I even went so far as to guess he was taking a break from the cement boot business just to try and prove himself as some sort of sensitive, caring, fatherly type, setting a good example to his son by easing back on the number of stiffs he dumped in the river. I had to admit that finally knowing who my old man was made me wonder whether my love of crime came from the fact that bad news didn’t just run in the family, it practically galloped. It also begged the question—if Bugsy was my father, who the heck was my mother?

I guess it was fair to say that Harry wasn’t the only one with a lot on his mind lately.

Not that I was about to let him in on the thoughts running through the twisted labyrinth inside my brain because, well, there were some things thathedidn’t need to know either… forhisown good.

And if there was one thing I was sure about, Harry was nothing if not a good person.

He was the best thing that had ever happened to me.

And if I needed to keep him safe from my secrets, maybe I needed to respect his need to protect me from his.

I stepped up behind Harry as he stood in front of the mirror, changing his tie once more. I took his hips in my hands and looked at his reflection over his shoulder. He stopped flip-flopping the damn tie into a knot for a moment as I said, “I know something’s bothering you. I know you don’t want my help, but I want you to believe me when I say there ain’t nothing you can’t tell me. I’m the one person who’ll keep your secrets safe. Of course, if you don’t wanna talk, I get it. Just promise me you won’t shut me out.”

He turned and this time it was he whokissed me. “I won’t. I need you, Buck. I love you. What’s bothering me has nothing to do with you. I guess I just need a little time to figure things out.”

I smiled. “I love you too, my handsome Harry.” I planted another one on his kisser, long and sweet.

Maybe he’d tell me his secret in time.

And maybe I’d tell him mine.

CHAPTER 2

I pushed openthe door to my office and tilted my head to one side, gazing in confusion at a sight I wasn’t exactly expecting to see.

“What the fuck are you doing up there?”

Like a cat that had tried clawing its way up the wall, my self-appointed assistant, Stella Darling, was hanging from the thick black curtains covering the windows. Only then did I realize—“And where the fuck did those curtains come from?”

Stella responded by waggling her little legs and screaming at me. “Don’t just stand there, you big stupid lug! Get me down from here before I plunge to my death, would ya?”

I shut the door behind me, kicked aside the two chairs lying on the floor—obviously Stella had stacked one on top of the other to climb as high as she did—then casually reached up to rescue her.

“Jeepers, that was a close call,” she said as I sat her on the edge of my desk. “At one stage I saw my whole life flash before my eyes. I tell ya, it’s like a maze of muttonheads inside my skull. This gal’s had the displeasure of meeting way too many yellow-bellied alligators in her time. Speaking of unreliable men,where’ve you been, anyway? I was expecting you back here an hour ago.”

“Is that how long you’ve been hanging there? And what the heck is with the curtains anyway?”

“It’s a security measure, you dummy. Ever since you told me that Bugsy Brown was your daddy dearest, I’ve been expecting one of Mamma Marlow’s boys to stake out the abandoned apartment building across the street, pull out his pistol and pop one right between the eyes… first you, then me.”

Ah yes. Despite the fact that I didn’t want to mention my parental predicament to Harry, I had inadvertently blurted the news to Stella in a state of shock, minutes after Bugsy confronted me in the dark alley that night. It was a moment of weakness, and one I was expecting to regret for some time.

“Stella, why would anyone wanna killyou?”

“Because clearly I’m the brains of this operation. Did you ever think to put curtains up? No, because you’re too stupid.”

“I ain’t toostupidnot to put curtains up, I’m toobroke. Stella, you know all too well we ain’t had a client knock on that door in weeks. We ain’t got the money for curtains. How the hell did you pay for them, anyway?”

“I sold your pot to some dirt-bucket on the boulevard.”

“You what? Jesus, that was my last stash. Where am I gonna find the money for another visit to Madame Chang’s?”

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