Hold Your Fire

Ten years ago, Greg didn't have enough courage to go after what

he wanted, so he left the only man he'd ever loved. He's

determined not to repeat this mistake.

Now he has to convince Jay he is worth the risk. The stakes are

upped when someone shoots at him. Who is this mysterious

enemy, and what does he want from Jay?

The first time, Greg needed only to fight himself. Now, if he wants

to keep his lover, he has to fight against both his lover and

whoever wants them dead.

Genre: Alternative (M/M or F/F), Contemporary
Length: 26,154 words

HOLD YOUR FIRE

Sunny Day

EROTIC ROMANCE

MANLOVE

Siren Publishing, Inc.

www.SirenPublishing.com

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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Erotic Romance ManLove

HOLD YOUR FIRE
Copyright © 2011 by Sunny Day
E-book ISBN: 1-61034-720-X

First E-book Publication: August 2011

Cover design by Jinger Heaston
All cover art and logo copyright © 2011 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

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All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance
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Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com

Letter to Readers

Dear Readers,

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thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.

Regarding E-book Piracy

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HOLD YOUR FIRE

SUNNY DAY

Chapter 1

Jay plopped down on the sofa in his living room, the buttery soft

leather sighing when he sank into it. He had shelled out some serious
money for the sofa, but damn if it wasn’t worth it. Without looking,
he reached with one hand to dig out the remote. He was sure the
blasted thing was around there somewhere, since he’d most likely just
tossed it down the last time he was watching television. His fingers
closed around the cool plastic and he grunted in satisfaction.

Once the TV was on, he raised his legs on the coffee table in front

of him—what the hell, no one was around to bitch about his manners,
his last boyfriend being a half-forgotten memory.

“My house, my rules,” he muttered to himself, eyes glued to the

screen. Hm, let’s see, what have we got here. Commercial,
commercial, news—blah. He paused on one channel to try and figure
out what the show was about, grimacing as he realized it was police
procedural. “Thanks, but no thanks,” he muttered as he flicked
another channel on, this one with a different commercial. At least the
pictures were pretty. He was really not into police shows—he had
enough of those on the job. It was his day off and he was supposed to
relax. Finally he settled on a sports game that looked like it might be
interesting. Jay dropped the remote and leaned back to watch. Two
innings later he was starting to doze off.

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His doorbell rang.
Jay started, hand automatically going to his waist before he

remembered he was at home, and his service weapon was safely
stored inside his home safe. He blinked blearily at the screen, his
mind fuzzy. He wondered what had woken him up, since the sound
from the game was turned down.

The doorbell rang again. Jay snapped his head up, turned to stare

at the narrow hallway. He glanced at his wristwatch. Three in the
afternoon. Who the hell was it? He wasn’t expecting anyone, and
most of his friends knew better than to drop in unannounced. His
partner, Dan, was known to do it sometimes, but last Jay’d heard from
the guy, which was this morning after they wrapped up a particularly
gruesome case, he planned to spend the day much the same as Jay—
catching up on lost sleep and generally lazing about the house.

Whoever was at the door had no intention of giving up. He leaned

on the doorbell like it was a matter of life and death.

“Shit.” Jay cursed under his breath, the half-baked idea of just

leaning back and ignoring it discarded.

“I’m coming!” he yelled at his unknown visitor. “Coming, you

don’t have to—” He yanked the door open only to stop dead in his
tracks and blink at the sight which greeted him.

“Greg?” he blurted out before he could stop himself. His eyes

hungrily raked his ex-lover’s body.

Jesus, he was hot.
Jay reeled back from that line of thinking. Oh, no, that’s what got

you in trouble last time. But there was no denying that Greg looked
good. He was big, bigger than Jay. It wasn’t only his six-foot-three
frame. He was built like a linebacker, his broad shoulders dwarfing
Jay’s more slender frame. He was wearing jeans and a leather jacket,
open in front to reveal the broad expanse of his chest. His hair was
longer than Jay remembered, falling to his shoulders. His eyes were
still baby blue, heat flashing in them as he looked Jay over. Jay
remembered that heat, too, as his cock gave an excited twitch. Jay

Hold Your Fire

muffled a curse. Greg noticed. He dragged his eyes off from where
they wandered to Jay’s hips and smiled his trademark crooked smile.

“Hello, Jay.”
He sounded hesitant.
Ought to. It was more than ten years since they parted ways—if

the way they split could be called that, considering that what they had
hadn’t really been a relationship, at least not as far as Greg was
concerned. Why was Greg now at his door, eyeing him like he was
the last candy on the tray?

“Greg,” he answered in clipped tones, crossing his arms over his

chest. He immediately regretted it, as the shirt he was wearing
stretched over his chest, teasing his hard nipples. Greg dropped his
gaze again for a millisecond, but hastily raised it again. Jay glanced
down to check if it was that noticeable—yes, it was—then decided to
ignore it.

“What are you doing here?” he asked.
There was a quick shift of Greg’s expression, but it was too fast

for Jay to figure what it was about.

“I wanted to see you.”
“You saw me,” Jay answered, deciding this was a fucked-up way

to spend his free afternoon, chitchatting with his ex. He sighed and
took a step back, reaching for the door handle.

“Now you can leave.”
“Wait.” Greg stepped closer, his massive frame stopping the door

from closing. “I want to talk to you. Can I come in?”

Despite the way Greg looked—good enough to eat, his eyes dark

with feeling and beseeching, a sexy shadow of stubble on his face—
Jay knew it was a bad idea.

“No,” he ground out through clenched teeth, but Greg was already

moving, crowding him, pushing him inside.

The door closed with an ominous click. Jay found himself trapped

between the wall and Greg’s muscular body. The hallway of his
apartment was really narrow, he noticed absently, since Greg was

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pressed really close to him, his scent, mixed with the scent of leather
from his jacket, wrapping around Jay, desire spilling inside him. His
cock twitched, Greg’s hip digging into his belly. Jay took a deep
breath, trying to get himself under control.

“Back off,” he ordered.
“Why?” Greg asked, laying his palms flat against the wall on both

sides of Jay’s head. His lips curved into smile which made Jay’s
knees weak. “I like it here.” He nuzzled Jay’s neck. Jay let out an
involuntary gasp, his body shifting automatically to fit Greg’s bigger
one. “Whoa!” He put a hand on Greg’s chest, pushing him back. Hard
muscles twitched under his palm, Greg’s body warm and oh-so-
familiar. He brushed a nipple with his fingers. Greg murmured
contentedly and rubbed his hips against Jay.

“Damn you, don’t—”
It was too late. Greg’s mouth descended on his, cutting out any

protest he might have had. A warm tongue dipped inside, Greg’s taste
exploding on his lips. Jay moaned into Greg’s mouth then shifted his
head so he could suck on Greg’s neck and shoulder. He yelled as
Greg reached down, palms skimming his sides, and gripped his ass.
He sucked at Greg’s skin furiously, desire pooling in his groin. He felt
Greg shift, put a knee between Jay’s legs, teasing his already hard
dick. Jay grabbed a fistful of his shirt, held him close as he humped
the other man’s leg.

“Easy,” Greg murmured into his ear. “Easy, I’ve got you.”
Jay didn’t pay any attention to what the other man was saying. His

mind was hazy with lust and need. He growled in frustration, friction
on his dick not enough to feed his mounting need and his sweatpants
an unwelcome obstacle. Greg chuckled, lips sliding down Jay’s
cheek. He slipped one big hand under Jay’s waistband and exhaled
sharply.

“You are not wearing anything under this.”
Jay shook his head, pushing into his grip shamelessly. His cock

was rock-hard and wanting. He heard a wet slap as a hard column of

Hold Your Fire

flesh landed on Greg’s palm.

A bolt of pleasure shot through him, his mind dimly noting that

Greg was much more sure and a lot less gentle than he was in Jay’s
embarrassingly clear memories from ten years ago. He whimpered as
Greg squeezed him, thumb rubbing over the sensitive head of Jay’s
dick.

“I’ve forgotten how passionate you are,” Greg murmured.
Huh? Jay thought, but his brain was too hazy with lust to supply

the answer.

He rocked into Greg’s grip, happy for now to let his dick do the

thinking.

Greg moved away. Jay growled, his dick, engorged and already

leaking pre-cum, slapping against his belly.

Greg gave him a heated glance then pulled him inside his living

room.

“Come on. We need more space.”
Jay slanted him a glance then jumped happily at him.
They crashed to the floor, Jay on top of Greg, the other man

letting out an oomph as his back hit the wooden floor. Jay didn’t wait
for him to recover, attacking his mouth with ferocity. He drank Greg’s
sighs, letting the sound spill inside him like the most intoxicating
wine. Sprawled atop the other man’s muscular frame, Jay searched for
his hand, found it, and squeezed it encouragingly before pushing it
between their heated bodies. He closed Greg’s fingers around his
length and cried out at the intense pleasure. His balls tightened. He
was close to finishing.

“Jay, we shouldn’t—” Greg tried, but Jay just growled at him,

sucking at his lower lip. Apparently giving up, Greg gripped him
harder, started pumping him furiously. Jay gasped, his whole world
narrowing to the heat between his legs, Greg’s scent filling his
nostrils, and the sweat-dampened cotton barrier between their bodies.

“Uh!” He was forcefully pushed to the precipice of orgasm. He bit

his lip to stop himself from screaming and quietly spilled in Greg’s

Sunny Day

hand, their fingers entwined together.

With one arm on the small of his back, Greg held him close while

convulsions gripped his body. Limp and sweaty, Jay collapsed on
him. He barely reacted when Greg rolled them over, pushing Jay to
his belly. Leather rustled when Greg pulled his jacket off then pushed
it under Jay. Still reeling from the force of his orgasm, Jay blinked at
it.

“What?” he asked. Greg patted his naked ass. “My turn.” He slid

down Jay’s body, dropping a kiss on the first inch of naked skin.

Jay twisted sharply to look. “What are you?”
Greg caught and parted the globes of his ass. He bent his head,

and something tickled Jay’s hole. Jay’s body went taut. A groan
ripped out of his throat. Dark pleasure leaped inside him.

“What—what are you doing?” he managed to force out.
He didn’t get an answer, warm lips fluttering over his anus. Jay

panted, buried his head into the supple leather that smelled of Greg.
His hole twitched, Greg lapping at it until it was open and wet.

All too soon it was over, and Jay found out he could breathe

again. His cum-smeared dick was half-hard again. He tried to push
himself up on his knees, only to have Greg press him back.

“Stay still.”
Jay felt the other man move until he was straddling him. He heard

a click of belt buckle, hiss of a zipper, and then something ripped.

Condom? his mind suggested, and then something hot and hard

was pushing at his hole. Jay moaned.

Greg stretched atop him, all the strength in two hundred fifty

pounds of muscles focused on him. Greg let out a long suffering moan
as his dick found his way into Jay’s ass.

“Push back,” he ordered, his voice deep and tight with need.

“Push back, it will make things easier.”

“I know that, you idiot,” Jay answered, his body moving

instinctively.

He shuddered as the other man finally stopped moving. He

Hold Your Fire

panted. Shit! He had forgotten how big Greg was. It wasn’t all in
proportion.

His cock obviously didn’t mind, encouraging him to move. Greg

rolled onto his side, holding Jay tight against him. Jay hissed as the
other man lodged himself once again in his ass.

Greg chuckled. “It’s okay. I’ll take care of you.”
What?
Wrapping an arm around Jay’s prick, Greg dropped a kiss onto his

shoulder.

He started moving.
Jay sucked in a breath. Greg was fucking him hard, but slow, his

cock never leaving Jay’s ass completely.

Once again, pleasure rose inside him as Greg’s cock was pistoning

in and out of him.

He choked on a scream.
Greg pushed inside him forcefully, burying himself as deep as he

could go. He grunted as he emptied himself.

Jay stayed quiet while the other man followed his orgasm. His

fingers went slack around the base of Jay’s cock. Jay squirmed, trying
to get him to move.

A weak laugh came from Greg. “Sorry,” he said, and then his

fingers once again wrapped around Jay’s dick. He shuddered and
slammed his head against Greg’s shoulder.

Pleasure blossomed inside him once again, leaving him weak and

tired. His oxygen-deprived brain disconnected.

The sound of their harsh breathing filled the room. Greg carefully

extracted himself, and Jay felt a quick pang of regret as Greg’s cock
left his body. He watched from half-lidded eyes as Greg stood up,
somewhat shakily. He had to pause to dispose of the condom.

“Bathroom?” he asked in a soft voice.
“Down the hall,” Jay answered. He made himself sit up,

grumbling at the mess on his belly. He had to wait until Greg had left
the bathroom. Jay went inside without a glance at the other man. Once

Sunny Day

inside, he wet a towel and cleaned himself. He turned the faucet on
and splashed cold water over his face. His cheeks were still flushed
and his eyes were dark. He had the look of someone who had just had
fantastic sex and enjoyed every moment of it. It was quite a time since
Jay saw it on himself. Shaking his head, he washed his face once
again before leaving.

Greg waited for him, leaning on the wall.
“We didn’t progress a lot since last time,” he said, his gaze

flickering to Jay.

Jay grimaced. Ten years ago they also couldn’t keep their hands

off each other. He glanced at the window opposite them, remembered
looking through it while Greg was fucking him, and had to shake his
head to get rid of the erotic images.

He went over to pick up Greg’s jacket.
“What are you doing here, Greg?” he asked.
Greg’s gaze dropped to the floor then slowly rose over Jay’s body.
“I didn’t come for that, though I have no complaints,” he said

pointedly.

Jay gritted his teeth. “Never mind that.” And how fucked up was

it that Greg could get him so worked up in a matter of minutes that he
was ready to screw on the floor with a man he hadn’t seen for years?

“How did you find me?”
“It wasn’t hard,” Greg answered. Now he looked tense, too. “We

are both cops. You know how that goes.”

He did at that. Jay acknowledged that if Greg wanted to find him,

it would be relatively easy. He just never envisioned Greg would want
to find him. He certainly never wanted to find out where his erstwhile
partner was, though it was hard to avoid any mention of him. They
were still in same city, worked the same job. He knew when Greg had
made detective.

Six years ago he had even been wasted enough to call him.

Luckily he had dropped the call as soon as Greg answered. Greg’s
husky “Hello” had sent shivers through him. The female voice asking

Hold Your Fire

who it was caused icy-cold frustration. Greg was still playing it
straight. He had raced to the bathroom and thrown up. In the morning,
he made a resolve not to think anymore about his ex.

It worked admirably, too, until Greg showed up at his door to

show Jay that he was still not over Greg.

“Why?”
“Why would you want to find me? Ten years ago I wasn’t good

enough to stay your friend.”

It wasn’t only that Greg had left him. He had broken any contact

between them, avoiding his previous partner completely.

“I wanted to talk.”
Jay couldn’t suppress a snort of derisive laughter. Greg looked

him squarely in the eye. “All right, that hadn’t worked exactly how I
planned. I still want you. I always wanted you, Jay, that hasn’t
changed.”

“Everything changed,” Jay reminded him. “We have nothing to

talk about. Go away, Greg. I’m not in the mood for ten-year-old
fights.”

Greg stayed where he was.
“We need to talk, Jay. If nothing else, what just happened showed

that we have a lot to talk about.”

“That was an accident.”
“You often have sex with men on accident?”
“No,” Jay threw back, furious now. “How about you?”
A light went out from Greg’s eyes.
“You are not making this easy for me.”
Jay laughed hysterically. “I’m not making this easy for you? You

show up after ten years, Greg. Ten years and you haven’t bothered to
send a postcard during all that time. Not to mention what happened.”

He crossed his arms over his chest and glared at the other man. He

was surprised at the depth of resentment he still felt. “Let’s recap.
You and I were lovers. Then you freak out and tell everyone how I’ve
hit on you. The next thing I know, everyone is giving me derisive

Sunny Day

looks and you’re asking for transfer.”

Greg didn’t flinch. “I know I made a mistake.”
“Not as far as I was concerned. It helped me get things into

perspective. We are done, Greg. We were done ten years ago. There is
nothing to discuss.”

“You have a right to be angry.”
Jay rubbed his face in exasperation. “That’s right. This is my

place and I don’t want you here. Please go.”

Greg hesitated. Finally he moved, starting toward the door. Jay

was relieved. He was completely drained and unwilling to argue this
further.

“I’m leaving.” Greg paused with his hand on the knob. He

searched Jay’s face for something he apparently didn’t find. “But I’ll
be back.”

Jay bit back an angry retort.
“I told you it doesn’t matter.”
“I don’t think so. We just had sex. Great sex.”
Damn him for reminding Jay of that.
“It was just sex. I’ve been known to do it occasionally.”
“You don’t sleep with men for kicks.”
“And how would you know that? It was ten years, Greg. You may

have been my first, but you weren’t my last.”

“You haven’t changed that much,” Greg said without inflection.
Jay narrowed his eyes at Greg. He seemed sure, too sure.
“How do you know that?” he demanded. “Have you kept tabs on

me?”

He wasn’t sure how to feel about that. Part of him was thrilled.

Part of him was terrified. He remembered well how painful it was the
last time Greg left him.

“Like I said, we will talk about it.” With that parting shot, Greg

disappeared.

Jay was left staring at the door.
“Shit,” he said. “Shit.”

Hold Your Fire

Chapter 2

Jay stared at the mountain of paperwork on his desk and scowled.
“I hate paperwork,” he grumbled to no one in particular.
His partner of six years, Dan, just laughed, coming to sit on Jay’s

desk.

“I seem to recall you mentioning that before,” he said in a droll

tone, raising a hand to greet detective Miller, who happened to be
passing by. It was quiet in the squad room. Detectives Callahan and
Preston were engaged in quiet conversation on the other end of the
room. Miller was now on the phone, frowning at whomever was on
the other end, and the door to the lieutenant’s office was closed.

“Why don’t you help me?” Jay asked, though he already knew the

answer. Dan hated paperwork, and paperwork hated him. It was the
only drawback of being partnered with him. After one uncomfortable
interview in lieutenant’s office at the beginning of their partnership
Jay had simply started taking care of all the paperwork himself. He
started rummaging through the drawers for correct forms. He cursed
when some of them floated to the floor, and cursed again when, in his
haste to pick them up, he managed to knock down some more from
the pile on his desk.

“Let me,” Dan said, bending down to gather the wayward papers.

“Here.” He stuck them at Jay.

“Thanks,” Jay muttered under his breath. “Can you sort through it,

see what is what? It’s bound to be mixed up.”

“Sure,” his partner answered obligingly, and Jay busied himself

with the report.

He should be thankful he was stuck behind the desk. Over the last

Sunny Day

two weeks, ever since Greg’s visit, Jay had found his mind wandering
to the blue-eyed cop more than once. Greg hadn’t called. Jay wasn’t
sure if that was a good or bad thing. He wasn’t sure if he wanted Greg
to call. He just knew it was hard to focus on the job, and in the state
he was, he was liable to get himself killed if he didn’t stop thinking
about Greg. He couldn’t count the number of times he had woken up
sweaty and heart pounding, his cock hard and thoughts twisted in
erotic dreams. Ten years ago, when Greg betrayed him, he was too
busy salvaging his career to think about his broken heart. It was hard
to miss Greg when so many other things could go wrong. Now,
though, without that distraction, Jay found out he still wanted Greg.
Wanted him with a ferocity that surprised him.

“You are pathetic,” he muttered to himself. With renewed interest,

he tried to focus on the report.

He was halfway through it when Dan said,
“Jay?”
“Mmm?”
“Jay? What’s this?”
Jay raised his eyes to look at his partner. “Oh. Never mind that.

That’s mine.”

“Yours?” Dan raised his eyebrows in question.
Jay nodded. “It was there this morning with my mail. I just picked

it up. Didn’t have time to look it over yet. Why?”

“It’s heavy.” Dan turned it in his hand. Judging by his partner’s

expression he was intrigued. “No return address, either.”

Jay snorted. “Probably some catalog.”
He tried to go back to his report.
Dan poked him. Jay batted his hand away. “Hey! Cut it out!”
“It’s heavy,” Dan said, still staring at the envelope. He weighed it

experimentally. “You said you don’t know who sent it?”

Jay rolled his eyes. “Go ahead and open it if it will shut you up.”
Dan immediately did so. Jay ignored him. His partner went quiet.
“Jay?”

Hold Your Fire

“What now?”
“I don’t think you want anyone looking at this.”
His tone was uncharacteristically somber. Puzzled, Jay pushed the

papers away. “What is it?”

Dan glanced around then offered Jay glossy papers he had taken

out of the envelope. “Take a look.”

Not expecting much, but intrigued by his partner’s attitude, Jay

took it. The surface of the papers was shiny and smooth. Photographs.
He put them on the table in front of himself then stared at them in
stupefied silence.

He flicked through rest of the stack, but they were all the same.

Air left his lungs.

“Son of a bitch!”
His loud curse made everyone in the room look at him.
“Something wrong?” Miller asked, putting the phone on his

shoulder. Callahan and Preston were also looking at him.

Jay leaned on his elbows on the desk, covering the photographs in

an automatic motion.

“Nothing. Never mind it,” he answered quickly. Relief flooded

him when his colleagues went back to ignoring him. He pulled his
arm off the photographs and took another look at them. Frustrated, he
raked a hand trough his hair.

“I take it you didn’t know about this,” Dan said, and Jay looked

up at him.

“Of course not,” he bit out.
“I don’t know who the guy is,” Dan continued, “but that’s your

apartment, right?”

Jay grimaced, feeling his cheeks heat. He and Dan were friends,

and most people he worked with knew about his sexual orientation,
but if he had to pick ten things he didn’t want his partner to see, the
pictures of him fucking another man made the top of the list. He
shuffled through the photographs again. Yep, they were still the same.
It looked like they were taken through his living room window, and

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the quality was undeniable.

“Where is the envelope?” he asked. Wordlessly, Dan handed it

over. “There is nothing there, only your address.”

“Great. Maybe there is a note inside.”
“There wasn’t.” Jay sifted through the photos again, this time

careful to turn them face down. His cheeks heated.

“What about the guy?” Dan asked in careful tone of voice. “Could

he have arranged for someone to take them?”

Jay shook his head. “He’s not out.”
He paused. At least, not that he knew of.
“Maybe he has enemies.”
“Then he would be the one to get them, not me.” Jay paused, hand

hovering as one of the photos turned out to have an inscription.

Detective, the note read, you have a cute boyfriend.
“Shit. What’s that supposed to mean?”
His hands shook as he returned the photos back into the envelope.

With a sigh, he buried his head into his hands, a sick feeling starting
to develop in his gut.

Dan’s hand landed on his shoulder.
“Come on,” he said.
“What?”
“We need to talk to the lieutenant,” Dan answered.
“Hell, no,” Jay objected, but Dan had already moved to pull the

envelope from under his arms.

“Wait. Dan!”
He was too late. Dan had already poked his head into Richards’s

office.

“Got a minute, lieutenant?”
Gabriel Richards gave them both a piercing stare. “Come on in,”

he said, pushing away the papers he was perusing before they came
in. Jay let out a heartfelt sigh as he followed his partner inside. He
closed the door behind them carefully.

“What’s this about?” Richards inquired.

Hold Your Fire

“We may have a problem,” Dan replied, putting the pictures on

the desk.

Jay squeezed his eyes shut.
“Jay says they arrived today. He doesn’t know who the sender is.”
Richards glanced at Jay then picked up the photos. To his credit,

he didn’t show visible reaction, carefully going through them. He cast
a sharp glance at Jay.

“So what’s this about?” Richards wanted to know. “Jealous ex? A

stalker? A blackmail attempt?”

“More like a threat,” Dan answered then reached to flip one of

photos over. “See? This one has an inscription.”

He glanced at Jay warningly. “We had a deal, Madison,” he

reminded his partner. Jay winced. Their byplay wasn’t lost on their
lieutenant, since he said, “Sit.”

Jay reluctantly did just that.
“What’s going on?”
Jay hesitated. “It’s not the first time I received something like

this.”

Richards’s gaze sharpened. “Oh?”
“I mean, not like this. Just—about six, maybe eight months ago, I

started getting crank calls. Something like—’Lonely tonight,
Detective? No date tonight? Long day at work?’ Such crap. Then I got
the first photo.”

“First photo?”
“Nothing alarming.” Jay hurried to reassure him. He still

remembered how he felt when he opened the envelope to see a picture
of himself entering the small coffee shop. The next was the menu
from the same shop, and finally picture of Jay on the street, holding a
cup in one hand as he entered Dan’s car. He had been freaked out and
hadn’t told anything to Dan.

“Then there was a Valentine’s Day card—Are you alone tonight?

I am.”

Richards leaned back into his chair.

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“Eight months, you said?” he asked in level voice.
Jay swallowed nervously. “There was no overt threat in either of

those, sir. They were just...unsettling.”

“It didn’t occur to you to have those investigated?”
It had. But he preferred not to think about them, and since the gifts

trickled out to nothing during the last two months, it was easy to put
them out of his mind. When Dan found out, he insisted they report to
the lieutenant. Jay refused. Finally they reached a compromise. They
were going to talk to the lieutenant if another gift showed up.

Jay cursed himself for not opening the package as soon as it

arrived. Truth was, he had totally forgotten about the threat, and the
package looked unassuming.

“I didn’t think they were serious.”
Dan snorted.
“I didn’t,” Jay defended himself. “I mean, whoever it was hasn’t

done anything serious, and what was I going to charge him with?
Sending a postcard? He hasn’t even approached me.”

“When was the last time you talked to Laren?” Richards asked

unexpectedly.

Jay blinked. Dan hadn’t recognized Greg. His lieutenant

obviously had. Great. Greg is going to blame me for this.

“Laren?” he repeated stupidly.
“Detective Greg Laren,” Richards answered. “That’s him on the

pictures isn’t it?”

“Yes. But we haven’t talked since then.” He winced, realizing

how that sounded. “And not even before that, really. It was
a...surprise visit.”

After more than ten years, he amended to himself.
He got a speculative glance from his superior. “So you don’t

know.”

“Don’t know what?”
“Laren was shot three days ago.”
“What?!”

Hold Your Fire

Jay was paralyzed with shock. He stared at his commander

uncomprehendingly.

“Didn’t you hear?”
“We’ve heard that someone from his precinct was shot,” Dan

answered. “We didn’t know it was Laren. He was shot off duty,
wasn’t he?”

Still stunned, Jay tried to collect himself so he could listen to their

conversation.

“He was. He was returning home from work when he was shot. It

was dark, and whoever it was didn’t want anything else. He just...shot
him.”

“Jesus,” Jay said, taking a deep breath. He was hyperventilating.
“Hey,” Dan said, giving him a worried look. “Snap out of it.”
“Calm down, Madison,” Richards said. “Laren was shot high in

the shoulder. He is in hospital, but he’ll recover.”

Jay nodded in thanks.
“Unfortunately, they haven’t got the perp yet.”
“Great.”
“We don’t know if it’s the same,” he felt obligated to point out.
“It doesn’t have to be,” Richards confessed. “Still, it might be.

You still have the other letters you received?”

Jay nodded, and then his gaze dropped to the pictures still on the

desk.

“I’ll take those,” he said.
“Suit yourself. Don’t burn them, no matter how tempted you are. I

assume both of you handled it.”

Jay felt rather like a deer caught in the headlights. “Yes.”
“It’s doubtful there are any prints left, then. Still, it might be

worth checking. Drop by forensics and ask them.”

“I understand, sir.”
Both Dan and Jay stood up and went to leave the office.
“Oh, and Madison—” Richards’s voice stopped him before he

left. “Be careful.”

Sunny Day

* * * *

“Detective Madison?” a polite voice inquired over his shoulder.

Jay paused with his cup halfway to his mouth. He turned slowly to
face two men. Adrenaline spiked in his blood. “Yes?” he answered in
an equally polite tone.

“Detectives Rawlins and Morgensen,” one of them answered.

“Can we talk?”

Jay felt himself relaxing, his heartbeat slowing down. Cops. Not

his mysterious stalker. He gave the two men a scrutinizing glance.
One of them was about his age, big and muscular, with dark hair and
eyes. He wore a bomber jacket. The other was older, shorter, with
piercing blue eyes. Their faces were expressionless. Jay looked
around. They were in a small café where Jay usually dropped in for
lunch. Dan was back at the precinct, so Jay was alone.

“Sure thing,” he answered. Something kept nagging at him as he

led them to a booth in the corner, where he would be able to see
everyone who entered.

“The two of you want something?” Jay offered.
Morgensen—that was the older one—nodded amiably. “Sure.

Take care of it, Vic.”

So Victor returned to the counter, and Jay and Morgensen seated

themselves. As he put his mug on the table in front of him, Jay
remembered why their names were familiar.

They were from Greg’s precinct, and Greg’s shooting was their

case. He suddenly had a bad feeling about this.

“You on your lunch break?” Morgensen asked.
“Yes. A snitch was supposed to show up. He didn’t. So, how may

I help you gentlemen?”

Jay sipped his coffee. He had no intention of revealing anything to

them.

Victor returned with two cups of coffee and slid one to his partner.

Hold Your Fire

His dark eyes found Jay, scrutinizing him intently.

“Thanks, Vic. You were asking around about one of our cases.”
“Which one?” Jay asked in bland tone. Their approach was

friendly, which didn’t mean their intentions were. In any case, they
cared enough to find out what his usual hangout was.

“Laren shooting.” That was Victor, speaking for the first time.
“That yours?” Jay asked, continuing without waiting for an

answer. “Yes, I thought there was a tie-in with something we are
working on. It was a mistake.”

The words slid from his tongue easily. It was the truth, as far as it

went. He and Dan hadn’t found anything about Jay’s mysterious
photographer. They were still looking into possibilities. There were
no leads in Greg’s case, so there was no evidence the two things were
connected.

“Care to inform us?”
“No,” Jay answered shortly. “It will jeopardize my case. And

anyway, there isn’t a connection.”

“You seem very sure of that.” Morgensen prodded further.
Jay smiled. “I’ll call if something else pops up.”
“The thing is,” Rawlins said, “we’ve asked around.”
Jay kept his face blank.
“About you,” he clarified.
The bad feeling intensified. “You did?” he asked, not taking his

eyes off the other cop.

Morgensen nodded. “Turned out you and Laren knew each other.”
You have no idea, was the first thought that popped in Jay’s head.

“We’ve met,” he answered. “Back when we were rookies. We were
even partnered for a short while.”

“According to what we heard,” Morgensen continued, “the two of

you didn’t part on the best terms.”

Ah. Gloves off.
Jay leaned back in his chair.
“No, we didn’t,” he answered shortly. Jay had sidestepped the

Sunny Day

story about him and Greg more than once during the last ten years. He
knew what to say and what to avoid. It never failed to make him feel
angry and inadequate.

Morgensen put his own cup on the table. “The story didn’t make

you any friends on the force.”

It didn’t.
Jay reminded himself not to volunteer any information.
“You had to be pissed at Laren.”
“I was.”
He wasn’t going to deny it.
“And now he’s been shot,” Victor said.
Jay cocked his head. “Don’t tell me you’re suspecting me for it?”
He burst into laughter. He didn’t feel like laughing, a coldness

spreading in his chest. Did Greg suspect him? Was he the one who
gave the heads-up to his friends?

“That was ten years ago,” he said, watching both men intently.

“We haven’t seen each other since.” Okay, so that was a lie, but he
didn’t think Greg was going to mention it. “I decided to shoot at him
now?”

The looks on the faces of two detectives said it all. They were

fishing in the dark.

“You must be pretty desperate,” Jay added conversationally. “No

progress, then?”

Morgensen shrugged, took a sip of his coffee. “The investigation

is still ongoing. We were just asking around.” He smiled a slow smile
that didn’t reach his eyes.

“You must have done it once or twice.”
“Sure I did,” Jay agreed. “Which is why we are having this

conversation.” He leaned over the table. “Let me tell you something,
detectives.” His voice cooled. “I’m a crack shot. Feel free to check
that out. If I’d wanted to kill Greg, he’d be dead, not lying in a
hospital from a shoulder wound. And,” he added for good measure,
“there would be no chance of pinning that to me.”

Hold Your Fire

He stood up and nodded curtly at them. “Detectives,” he said in a

cool tone.

He was seething all the way back to precinct. Maybe it was time

for another chitchat with Greg.

Sunny Day

Chapter 3

There was nothing on TV. Greg shifted impatiently in his hospital

bed. He couldn’t wait until he was discharged and back in his own
home. His shoulder ached, reminding him why he was in hospital. He
resisted the urge to rub it.

“Bored, Laren?” a familiar voice teased. Greg’s gaze shot to the

hospital room door. He grinned as he recognized Victor and his
partner, Frank.

“Hey,” he said, brightening. They went to his bed, Victor patting

his uninjured arm.

“What brings you boys here?” Greg asked.
Frank pulled one chair close. “Maybe we just came to visit.”
“I appreciate that.” Greg looked longingly at the stack of

magazines Victor was putting on his nightstand. “But you have your
official face on.”

“I’m that easy to read?” Frank wanted to know.
“You always have your official face on,” Victor said to his

partner.

“Any leads?”
“They going to spring you out soon?” Frank answered, avoiding

the question.

“Tomorrow, actually,” Greg answered. “It’s not that bad, really.”

He frowned.

“Remembered anything else?” Frank inquired.
Greg shook his head. He’d expected the question, Frank repeating

it every chance he got, probably hoping to jar his memory. “No.
Sorry. I told you, I was just getting out of the car when the bullet hit

Hold Your Fire

me. I didn’t see who it was. I didn’t even expect it, and whoever it
was didn’t stick around.”

“An ambush.”
“Well, yeah.” Greg always knew he might get injured while on the

job. What bothered him was that this time he had no clue who or why.

“Could be. But if they wanted me dead that badly, why not finish

the job? And why not find a better marksman?”

“It was dark,” Frank offered blandly.
“The parking lot was empty. And I’m a pretty big target,” Greg

reminded his friends.

“That you are. And yes, from the distance the shot was fired you

would have thought any decent shooter would’ve hit his target.” He
saw Victor and Frank exchange looks.

“What is it?” Greg demanded.
“We talked with an old flame of yours today,” Frank said.
Greg snorted. “Which one?”
“Jay Madison.”
Greg’s body went taut. They talked to Jay?
“You remember him?”
Greg nodded, warily. “Why?”
How did Frank even know about Jay? Was Jay the one who found

Frank?

“Because days after your shooting he was asking questions about

it.”

“He was?” Greg was surprised. When he was admitted to the

hospital he’d wanted Jay to be there. Bitterly he remembered that Jay
probably didn’t even know he was shot. He gave Frank a searching
glance. What did Jay say? Was he worried about him? On their last
meeting Greg didn’t get that impression. Jay was still pissed off at
him, not that Greg blamed him. On the other hand, he also knew Jay
was still interested, even if it was against his will. Greg was ready to
exploit anything that could work to his advantage. He wanted Jay.
He’d wanted him ten years ago, too, but this time he was ready to

Sunny Day

fight for it. Whatever Jay did, Greg wasn’t going to back down that
easily.

“We went to talk to him,” Frank continued, seemingly unaware of

Greg’s inner turmoil.

“Why?”
“Because you and he didn’t part on the best terms, Laren.” Frank

looked at him like he was an idiot.

Oh. That.
“Jay wouldn’t have shot at me,” Greg said. Something in his tone

must have set Frank’s alarms off.

“You sound very sure of that.”
“I’m sure. This is Jay we are talking about.”
“You know him that well? You haven’t seen the man for ten

years.”

“Jay wouldn’t have shot at me,” Greg repeated, disliking Frank’s

shrewd expression.

“He said something similar,” Victor commented from his position

at Greg’s left side.

“Oh?”
“Yes. He said he wouldn’t have missed.”
That sounded like Jay, all right.
“When we were rookies, Jay never let me forget he shot better

than me,” Greg said. He remembered him and Jay standing at the gun
range, Jay’s hands on his arm, helping him direct his gun. Jay was
talking, but Greg wasn’t listening, too focused on the close proximity
of Jay’s body to his. Desire hummed in his body. He was half-hard
and thinking hungrily of the moment when they would be off duty
and alone.

Greg took a deep breath, focusing again on Frank.
“You broke up your partnership, outing him in the process,” Frank

reminded him. “I can’t imagine it was easy for him.”

His gut clenched. Greg licked his suddenly dry lips. Yes, but he

had known it would be hard getting Jay to forgive him.

Hold Your Fire

“It wasn’t Jay,” he said.
In a flash he was back at that parking lot, closing the car door.
It was late, the darkness shadowing more than the half-empty

parking lot. Then there was a popping sound which his brain
registered as a gunshot. He was bending down before the sound died.
There was pain, and he remembered hearing the sickening thud of
metal hitting flesh. I’m shot, he thought dizzily, and groped for his
own gun. He turned, leaning heavily on his car, but he didn’t see
anything in the darkness.

“Police!” he yelled. “Drop it!”
He heard footsteps disappearing into the darkness even as he

realized it was a stupid thing to do. He waited, his heartbeat loud in
his ears.

He is not coming back, he realized, and almost cried out in relief.

He wasn’t going to die tonight. He dropped down to his knees, one
hand pressing his aching and throbbing shoulder, wetness oozing
between his fingers. His breathing morphed into shallow bursts. He
didn’t want to die tonight. He wanted Jay. In the distance he heard an
ambulance siren wailing.

Greg exhaled loudly as he returned to reality. “It wasn’t Jay.”
“Actually I don’t think it was him either,” Frank confessed.

“But...”

“But what?”
“But he didn’t tell us the whole truth. There was something he

didn’t want to tell. He knew who we were, he’d asked about the case.
He just wasn’t willing to talk.”

Greg tried to shrug and winced as pain shot through his shoulder.
“We tried talking to people from his precinct,” Victor said.

“Nothing serious, just general questions. The moment his name was
mentioned, they became exceedingly closemouthed. They wanted to
know why we were interested in Jay. They closed ranks.”

“Meaning?”
“Meaning, there is something going on,” Victor said simply. “I

Sunny Day

know that his partner left something at the forensic laboratory. He
didn’t say which case, and he warned them to only give results to
either him or Jay.”

“You are paranoid. He and Dan might be working on something

sensitive,” Greg answered. He could guess easily what Jay hadn’t
wanted to say. God, your lies always catch up with you, he thought
wryly.

“Maybe,” Frank said. “I would talk to him, if I was in your place.”
“I’ll try,” Greg agreed.
He caught the faint smile on Frank’s face.
“What now?”
“Nothing really. It was just that Jay said you haven’t seen each

other for ten years.”

“And?”
“And you knew his partner was named Dan. I didn’t say that.”
Busted.

* * * *

Jay shouldered his way past Greg into his house. He whirled

around to face him.

“What the fuck do you think you are doing?” he demanded. He

was ready to explode.

“Good day to you, too.” Greg calmly closed the door. “Want

something to drink?”

Jay followed him into the spacious living room, glancing absently

at the brick fireplace. The shades were down, filtering sounds from
the street. The small house in the suburbs was what Greg had wanted
ten years ago. Apparently he had achieved that dream. Jay idly
wondered whether there was a woman involved in decorating. A wife
and family were also part of Greg’s dreams.

He clenched his teeth. “No, I don’t want a drink. I want to know

what the fuck you think you are doing.”

Hold Your Fire

Greg sighed, settling himself on the couch and wrapping a blanket

around himself. He was wearing a shirt and sweatpants that hung
loosely on his hips. He was paler than usual. There were dark circles
under his eyes, and his face was drawn. “I suppose this is about
Morgensen and Rawlins.”

Jay throttled down the impulse to touch him. Greg looked

vulnerable and tired, blue eyes huge and shadowed.

“Perceptive, aren’t we?” he said sarcastically. “You should be a

detective.”

Greg rubbed his cheek. “They are from my squad and they’re

investigating the shooting. But you already know that. They don’t
suspect you, not really.”

Jay snorted. “Right.” Nervous, Jay started pacing the room. He

avoided looking at Greg.

“Seriously, Jay. They are just doing their job.”
Once again Jay stopped in front of Greg.
“What do you have to do with this?”
Greg’s lips parted in surprise. “Sorry?” He sounded taken aback.
Jay refused to feel remorse. “Look, I’m not that naive. I trusted

you ten years ago. We both know how that ended. Now I know
better,” he accused harshly.

“You think I accused you?” Greg asked, disbelief evident in his

voice. He straightened, letting the blanket fall down.

“You want to know what I think? Well, I think it’s damned

suspicious that you show up on my doorstep ten years after we split
up with some fairy tale, and the next thing I know, I’m a leading
suspect in an investigation!”

“That’s not true. I meant what I said. I want you back.”
“So now you are gay? I seem to remember that you didn’t want to

be ten years ago.” Jay balled his hands into fists. Pain flashed across
Greg’s face.

“I was young. I made a mistake. I’m sorry,” he insisted.
Jay snorted. “And if I believe that, you have a bridge to sell me.”

Sunny Day

“No, it’s true. What do you want me to say?” Greg raised his

voice, his sky-blue eyes holding Jay’s captive. “That I was an idiot? I
was. I had ten years, ten damned years to regret what I did. You think
it was easy for me? I was so fucking unhappy, and all the time I knew
I had only myself to blame.”

He sounded sincere. His ferocity surprised Jay. Maybe he really—

No. Stop it. Jay rubbed his aching forehead. He hadn’t come to talk
about this. “Never mind. Just keep your friends away from me, all
right?”

“Jay, wait!” he heard Greg exclaim, but ignored him as he turned

to go. Greg reached for his shoulder. His nerves on the edge, Jay
shoved him back. Greg gasped, a pained expression covering his face.
He dropped to his knees, hissing and clutching his injured arm.
Shocked by his outburst, Jay stared at him. He had totally forgotten
that Greg was injured.

“Shit,” he said, kneeling down to the other man. Blue eyes, damp

from pain, blinked at him.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—shit. Do you need to go back to the

hospital?”

“No,” Greg answered, still pale. “Could you—help me back on

the couch?”

“Sure.” Jay let the other man lean on him, and ignored the quick

tug of satisfaction as the heat from Greg’s body seeped into his. He
carefully lowered Greg on the couch then unbuttoned his shirt so he
could look at his wound. The bandages looked unharmed. He
breathed out a sigh of relief.

“It seems that the wound hasn’t started to seep.” He glanced at

Greg once again.

“You sure you will be okay? Want a pain pill?”
“It wouldn’t be...amiss,” Greg whispered. His fingers clutched

Jay’s arm.

A pitcher with water, a glass, and a bottle with pills sat on a small

table next to the couch. Jay uncapped it and handed one pill to Greg.

Hold Your Fire

“Thanks,” Greg said, gulping water to wash the pill down. He still

held fast to Jay’s arm.

Jay hesitated.
“I didn’t mean to hurt you,” he said quietly. His anger had

dissipated in the face of the other man’s pain.

“I...know.” Greg shifted, making a place for him on the couch.

“Sit here...for a little while, please.”

Jay obeyed, Greg latching immediately onto him. He crawled into

Jay’s lap, letting his head rest on Jay’s shoulder, and sighed
contentedly, the gust of air teasing Jay’s skin. Jay pulled the blanket
over both of them and squeezed Greg’s hip. The other man’s weight
was comforting. His scent wrapped around Jay, achingly familiar.

* * * *

As Jay woke up, he realized someone’s hand was gently sifting

through his hair and that he lay curled up next to a muscular,
undeniably male body, his head pillowed on the other man’s chest.
Still groggy and disoriented, he twisted his head to look up. Greg was
awake, his blue eyes open.

“Morning,” he said softly, his hand dropping to squeeze Jay’s

shoulder. A small smile played on his lips.

Jay blinked up at him.
“I fell asleep?” he asked.
“We both fell asleep.”
“God. That couldn’t have been good for your arm.” Jay groaned

and started to get up. He paused when he realized they were both on a
relatively narrow couch and the only reason he hadn’t fallen off
during the night was that he was sprawled on top of Greg, his leg
thrown over the other man.

Greg’s hand cupped the back of his neck and tugged him closer.

Greg nuzzled his neck then raised his lips to Jay’s. Jay hesitated at
first, but Greg continued to gently nibble at his lips until Jay opened,

Sunny Day

allowing Greg to kiss him.

“That’s better,” Greg murmured, his mouth taking Jay’s in a

fierce, passionate kiss. Jay moaned into his mouth, his body stirring.
His thigh pressed between Greg’s legs, and he realized Greg was fully
erect.

Gasping, he pulled back, resting his forehead on Greg’s chest.
“You were shot and now you are on pain pills,” he grumbled

unhappily. “How could you be so—?”

Greg laughed, raising his hips to rub his groin invitingly against

Jay. Their cocks brushed through layers of cotton. Jay bit back a
groan.

“Maybe you inspire me.”
Jay snorted, raising his head to look at him.
“I’ll believe it when I see it,” he muttered to himself. Greg’s

wicked smile made him realize what he’d said.

“Not like that,” he warned.
“If you say so.” Greg dipped his hand between their bodies.

Somewhere during the night Jay’s shirt had come untucked, so it was
easy for Greg to slide his hand under it, fingers ghosting over warm
skin. He pushed it up, exploring further.

“I like this,” Greg said, looking at him with a disarming smile.

“How come we haven’t done this before?

“What?”
“Woken up together?”
Greg’s hand found his nipple and pinched experimentally.
“Back then you were too paranoid to spend the night because you

were afraid someone was going to find out about us,” Jay replied, old
bitterness seeping into his voice.

He was surprised by another sweet smile.
“Didn’t know what I was missing.” His thumb swept Jay’s nipple

until he sucked in breath.

“Stop that.”
“Why?”

Hold Your Fire

“We are not having sex.”
So why, then, don’t you move up, genius? a sarcastic voice

demanded in his head. It’s not like he can stop you. His cock jumped.
He ground his hips against Greg’s.

“Don’t think I’m up for that,” Greg said seriously.
“Doesn’t feel that way,” Jay quipped.
Greg had the audacity to grin. He did a slow roll with his hips.

Their cocks bumped against each other. A bolt of desire ran up Jay’s
spine. He shivered.

“I’ve nothing against a little play.”
He tugged at Jay’s shirt. “Up. I want this off.” Jay rose up on his

knees, breathing easier now that his cock wasn’t pressed up to Greg’s.
He glanced at still-drawn shades, then at his wristwatch. 6:30 a.m., he
still had time.

Greg slipped his fingers inside his belt, tugged him close.
Jay shivered once he lay back atop Greg, naked skin meeting

naked skin. Goose bumps covered his arms. Wrapping an arm around
his waist, Greg pulled him close. His hungry mouth met and found
Jay’s, Greg’s tongue slipping in to reacquaint itself with Jay’s mouth.

Jay’s blood heated. Greg moved his hand down and splayed it

across Jay’s ass, squeezing it. Jay whimpered, his cock now hard and
leaking. Greg’s lips moved over to his ear.

“Take your jeans off.”
Jay, his mind still hazy from the kiss, didn’t react. Greg nipped his

jaw warningly. “Take them off.”

Jay leaned in for another kiss, but Greg turned his head, his lips

ghosting over Jay’s cheek. Jay growled in displeasure then rose up on
his knees, reaching down to unsnap his belt and lower Greg’s
sweatpants. He hissed as his fingers brushed his erection, swift
pleasure flooding his groin. As he pulled Greg’s sweats down, Greg’s
cock jumped eagerly in his hand. Jay wrapped his fingers around it,
giving it one slow stroke that had Greg moaning and bucking his hips
upward.

Sunny Day

“Don’t,” Greg warned. “I want to feel you on me when we come.”
Glancing up in Greg’s blue eyes, his cheeks now flushed with

desire, Jay debated quickly with himself before lowering himself once
again on his lover. Greg’s dick dug into his hip, rubbing enticingly
against his own. Something wet smeared his belly, and Jay found
himself wondering if it was him or Greg. Both of them were rock hard
and ready. The smell of lust filled the room. He shifted, gasping at the
quick jolt of pleasure that the first thrust against Greg brought on.

Greg squeezed his ass, fingernails raking Jay’s skin.
As Greg’s fingers slid over his hole, Jay couldn’t hold it together

anymore. A moan escaped his throat. Sweaty and breathless, he
buried his head in Greg’s shoulder, his body shaking with the force of
his orgasm.

His cum spilled between them, heating Jay’s skin. He moaned

again as he felt Greg roll his hips against him, his dick moving over
cum-smeared skin. Greg groaned and used his hand to hold Jay in
place as he came.

Jay stayed still as spurt after spurt from Greg’s dick spilled over

his belly and his own softened cock. Both men were now breathing
hard, their bodies slack from pleasure.

Greg’s hand cupped the back of his head. Warm lips touched the

top of his head. Jay blinked, wondering if he’d imagined that. Greg’d
never...

Since that thought brought a flood of unwelcome memories, Jay

shifted, pulling away from Greg’s hands.

He grimaced. “We made a mess,” he commented, then leaned

over Greg to grab a pack of tissues from the table. He quickly cleaned
himself. He had to stand up to pull his jeans up. When he turned to
face Greg again he noticed the other man’s eyes were glued to his ass.

“Quit it,” he muttered warningly.
Greg smiled lazily.
“Not going to help me?” he asked, his voice husky. Jay

remembered that, too.

Hold Your Fire

“You can do it yourself.”
“I’ll enjoy it more if you do it,” Greg countered.
Rolling his eyes, Jay picked up another wad of tissues and sat on

the couch again.

“Going to tell me what’s wrong?”
Jay glanced at him. “What do you mean?”
“You were pissed off last night. And Frank said that you were

hiding something. At first I thought it was just the fact that we were
sleeping together—”

“Used to sleep together,” Jay corrected, then winced at the

stupidity of that statement. He was just cleaning the evidence that
spoke that yes, he and Greg were sleeping together.

“But something set you off last night, and I don’t think it was just

that.”

Jay sighed. “Did you tell anyone you were coming to see me?”
Greg seemed surprised with this question.
“How do you mean?”
“Someone took photos of us.” Jay crumpled the tissues and patted

Greg’s thigh. Greg obediently raised his hips to help him pull his
sweats back up.

Greg blinked. “Photos of us fucking?”
“That, too.”
Jay went to the bathroom, dropped the soiled tissues into the trash

can, then looked at himself in the mirror. His lips were swollen, his
hair was in disarray, and his eyes had a dreamy, satisfied look. He
grimaced. He couldn’t help but remember this was how his last
meeting with Greg had ended, too. Neither time he’d planned on it. It
was like his brain refused to work when Greg was around. “You are
pitiful, Madison.” He turned the faucet on and started vigorously
rubbing his hands. The scent of soap, woodsy and something green,
reminded him of Greg, and he had an unwelcome flashback of Greg
bucking under him, his dick dragging across Jay’s belly. His own
cock hardened in his jeans.

Sunny Day

“Geez. Haven’t you had enough?” he muttered, splashing the cold

water on his face for good measure, and combed his fingers through
his hair. He toweled himself briskly. Greg watched him with interest
when he returned.

“You didn’t answer my question. Did you tell anyone you were

coming to see me?”

“No.”
“Oh. Right. Still relegated to the dirty secret, then,” Jay said

sarcastically. Hollow pain started in his chest. Why had he ever
thought it would be different?

“It’s not what you think,” Greg said.
“You’ve no idea what I think,” Jay snapped, grabbing his shirt

from the floor and pulling it over his head. Angry tears prickled at his
eyes. “Anyway, the creep who took them sent them to me. It was the
last in a series of slightly weird gifts. The thing is”—he tucked the
shirt into his jeans—“this time one of photos had an inscription.
Something about how I’ve got a cute boyfriend.” He saw Greg’s eyes
widen.

“When was this?”
“After you got shot,” Jay replied.
“You think it’s connected.”
“I don’t know,” Jay confessed. “It could be. That’s why Dan and I

asked about your case.”

He hesitated then said, “Dan saw the photos. And my lieutenant

did, he was the one who told us you were shot.”

Greg’s gaze grew uncharacteristically somber.
“If this guy is after you, promise me you’ll be careful.”
Jay, who was about to pull his jacket on, paused to stare at Greg in

disbelief.

“You got shot, I just told you there are photos of you with another

man, and the first thing you say is for me to be careful?”

Greg gave a frustrated sigh. “I told you I don’t care about that

anymore.” He rose up to sit on the couch. “Am I going to get a kiss

Hold Your Fire

before you leave?”

Jay didn’t answer, heading for the door.
“Jay. Just one kiss.”
Jay sighed, thumping his head against the door. He should have

remembered Greg was nothing if not persistent.

Sunny Day

Chapter 4

He was just approaching his car when a voice said, “Detective

Madison.”

His nerves frayed, Jay was reaching for his gun before he turned

to face the speaker.

Detective Frank Morgensen quirked a brow up, apparently

undisturbed. “A little on the edge, are we?” He didn’t move, eyeing
Jay languidly.

With a curse, Jay reholstered his gun. “Damn you, Morgensen.

You want to get killed?” he demanded in an annoyed voice.

“Not particularly,” Frank answered, approaching him. Jay looked

around. He didn’t see anyone else on the street. Then again, it was
still pretty early, a faint morning breeze cooling his body. He
shivered.

“I was on my way to the station,” Frank said amiably, his eyes

raking Jay’s appearance. “I thought I would drop by to see Greg.
Check how he is. Check if he remembered something.”

He leaned companionably on Jay’s car. “You have something to

tell me, Detective?”

Jay was cursing a blue storm in his mind. Busted.
“All right, maybe I wasn’t completely honest last time,” he said.

Everything he found out about Morgensen spoke that the guy was
good cop. “But I really didn’t have anything to tell you,”

“Why don’t you let me be the judge of that?”
What the hell. Jay came to a decision.
“You said you found out the story about Greg and me, about what

happened ten years ago.”

Hold Your Fire

“Yes.”
“The story wasn’t 100 percent truth.” Jay watched the other man

carefully.

“Had a feeling there was something like that.” Frank didn’t even

blink.

“You had a feeling?” Jay said incredulously.
“Greg usually doesn’t have a problem with gay cops. And nothing

about you suggested you’re flamboyant about your orientation.”
Frank shrugged. “Added to that, he asked about you.”

That last sentence didn’t make any sense.
“Asked about me?” Jay repeated.
“We were on the scene after he got shot. Paramedics had already

gotten to him. They shot him full of anesthetic. The paramedic who
took care of him said Greg kept repeating he wanted to see Jay.”

Jay leaned back on the car in surprise.
“He hadn’t said a last name, or anything else for that matter, so we

didn’t know who Jay was. When he was out of the surgery and back
to normal he didn’t mention it again. I thought it was curious. He was
desperate to see you, and now he doesn’t even remember? Then,
when Vic asked around about possible enemies, people Greg might
have pissed off, your name came back. Jay Madison. Jay.”

Frank shrugged. “In my experience, the man who is just shot

doesn’t mention the name of a passing acquaintance.”

Jay’s world tilted on its axis then realigned itself. The picture was

now totally different. Greg was asking about him? Something flip-
flopped in his belly.

“I didn’t know he was shot,” he said in a dull voice.
Frank didn’t say anything.
“I haven’t seen Greg for years until about three weeks ago. He

came to see me,” he explained. “He...we...never mind it. Anyway,
someone must have been following either me or him because I got
photographs of that meeting later.”

The look in Frank eyes sharpened. “Before or after the shooting?”

Sunny Day

“After. That’s how I found out. There was a...comment on the

back of one of photos, something about Greg.”

“A threat?”
“Not really. Just a comment. I got couple of similar mementos

during the last couple of months.”

“Forensics hasn’t found anything on them?” Frank wanted to

know.

Jay started. “How do you...No. Nothing.”
Frank muttered something under his breath.
“So this guy—or gal—has it for you?”
“It’s a guess,” Jay answered.
“Can I see what you have?”
Jay had to think about that. “I can arrange that.”
“See that you do.”

* * * *

“You going to tell me what this is about?” Jay asked Dan as he

and his partner left the car. The street was busy at this time of day. Jay
pointedly glanced left at his apartment building. “Well?” he asked.

“It’s simple, really. Remember the photos?” Dan answered, his

eyes glittering.

“I could hardly forget them,” Jay answered dryly.
“They were taken through your living room window.”
“Yes. So?”
“So, we haven’t found prints on them, or on the envelope, nothing

to point us to who took them. But we do know whoever it was had to
have a good look at your apartment.”

“And?”
Dan lost patience with him. “And you live on what floor, man? If

your spy doesn’t have wings, he had to be somewhere up there.” Dan
pointed at the nearest building.

Jay followed his gaze.

Hold Your Fire

“Dan,” he asked in what he hoped was reasonable tone, “do you

have any idea how many apartments are in that building?”

Dan shrugged. “It’s not like we have anything else to do.”
“So what, you want us to knock on every door and ask every

tenant if they happen to have voyeuristic tendencies?”

Dan gave his partner an annoyed stare.
“He had to have some serious equipment to take that photograph.

Look at the distance. Second, if it’s the same guy who bothered you
for the last couple of months, he doesn’t live here. He just had access
to it sometime during the last few months.”

Jay sighed. Dan had a point. “Fine, you convinced me. Let’s go

inside and ask.”

As it turned out, they didn’t have long to look.
Dan struck up a conversation with the girl who was just entering

the building. He asked about available apartments. She directed him
to the building’s janitor.

“Come on, let’s talk to the guy,” Dan said excitedly. They

knocked on the guy’s door. The middle-aged man with sandy-colored
hair, wearing a simple shirt and sweatpants, opened the door, giving
them a wary look. “Can I help you?”

Dan flashed his badge at him.
“We need some information,” he said.
Jay frowned. Was it his imagination or did the guy become

nervous after seeing the badge?

The guy hesitated a fraction. “Sure, sure, come in,” the guy said,

ushering them inside. Jay glanced around. Simple, one-bedroom
apartment. The TV was still on. He glanced again at their host.

“We need to ask some questions about some of your tenants.”
“I’m not sure I—”
“The guy, or girl, should be new here. As in, about six months or

so,” Dan cajoled. “He might have some photography equipment with
him, and not much else. He goes out and about at strange times.”

This time he didn’t imagine it, a quick flash of panic crossing the

Sunny Day

guy’s face.

“What’s your name?” Jay demanded. He stepped closer to the

guy, invading his personal space.

“Mike.”
“All right, Mike, you’re not in trouble. We just want answers. You

know who my partner is talking about?”

Mike swallowed audibly.
“Spill it, buddy,” Dan advised. “Or we are going to haul you to

the station and you can talk there.”

“Hey, wait a minute,” Mike protested, the threat of an arrest

obviously too much for him. “I’m a janitor here. I rent apartments.
The guy came in, asked about a place. He is going to pay for it, but
doesn’t want to sign a lease. I think, why not? Maybe he needs some
secret place for chicks, or something else. Except, he never brings
anyone else. It’s just him.”

“Did he have equipment with him?” Jay wanted to know.
Mike’s Adam’s apple bobbed. “Yeah.”
“Which apartment? Is he there now?”
“350B,” the guy answered. “I’ll show you.”
Dan and Jay exchanged looks.
“Yeah, do that.”

* * * *

“All clear,” Dan yelled, his voice echoing hollowly in the empty

apartment.

“All clear here, too,” Jay answered, lowering his gun. He turned to

see Dan leaving the bedroom. “Anything there?”

His partner shook his head. “No one lives here. But someone

definitely stays here over periods of time. There is food in the fridge.
And look at that.” He nodded at huge window. Jay approached it,
looked down.

“Great view at your building,” Dan quipped, coming to stand

Hold Your Fire

behind him. “A fairly strong objective and you could photograph
anything from here.”

Jay grimaced. “Probably.” His heart lurched.
“He has a nice view of the parking lot, too,” Dan continued.

“Meaning, he could easily monitor your comings and goings.”

Black dots swam in Jay’s field of vision. His mouth went dry. He

was aware of Dan’s voice coming from a great distance. It morphed
into an insistent hum in his ears.

“Shit!” He bolted for the bathroom.
“What the...” he heard Dan say.
Jay had to brace himself on the floor to stay upright, and

proceeded to lose his lunch.

He heard water running, and a glass appeared under his nose.
He blinked and accepted it.
“Thanks,” he muttered, taking a healthy gulp and spitting it to

clear his mouth.

“You okay there, partner?” Dan asked.
“Yeah. Yeah, I think I’m—” Jay wiped his mouth and tried to

gather himself. His partner was giving him worried look. “I'm just
shaken, that’s all. Took me by surprise.”

“Understandable,” Dan said. “I’ll call the lieutenant, we’ll see if

we can lift the prints from here. Maybe we’ll figure out who it is.”

“Yeah. Do that,” Jay agreed. His heart was still beating madly.

* * * *

“A Valentine’s Day card,” Victor said in disbelief, staring at the

items spread on the table. All five men sat in Greg’s living room.

Greg snorted. “What, you never saw one?”
He was sitting next to Jay, his good arm thrown over his shoulder.

He had taken this position as soon as Jay and Dan arrived. Neither
Frank nor Victor, who were already there, commented.

“It seems a weird choice to deliver a threat, that’s all,” the

Sunny Day

younger cop muttered. “You said there were phone calls.”

Jay nodded, uncomfortably aware of Greg right next to him. He

rubbed his eyes.

“Again, nothing conclusive.”
“And you have no idea who that may be.”
“Could be anyone we arrested,” Dan said. “Though that does pose

a question—why focus on Jay? I mean, for any arrest we made, both
of us were involved.”

“Maybe it’s a guy,” Victor ventured. He suddenly looked

uncomfortable. “I mean, a guy who was seeing a guy.”

“Could be,” Jay agreed. “Just seems flimsy. And I don’t get it.

Why go after Greg? Why not try for me?”

“Because he, or she, lost his boyfriend, and wants you to feel the

same?” Frank offered. “The tone of the messages seems to indicate
that. Like this one—Lonely tonight, Detective?”

Dan grimaced, reaching to sift through the papers. “We already

thought about that. Problem is, in that case, the pool of suspects is
pretty big. Where do we start?”

“Didn’t you get something from the janitor guy?”
“We have a description, and we tried to lift as many fingerprints

from the apartment as possible. We might get lucky and get a hit.”

“Good luck with that,” Greg muttered.
A doorbell rang.
“That would be pizza,” Victor said. “I’ll go get it.”
Jay leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “You realize

that, even if we find who’s behind the gifts, we don’t know it’s the
same person who shot Greg.”

“I don’t see the reason to wait until he shoots you.” Greg sounded

annoyed. Puzzled, Jay glanced at his lover.

“He hasn’t done anything up until now,” he objected.
Dan snorted. He pulled a beer from a six-pack sitting on the floor.

All of them had taken one, except Greg, who was still on medicine.
Jay, who usually didn’t drink, now could feel a faint buzz in his head.

Hold Your Fire

He had picked up one as soon as they arrived and drained it in record
time. He was halfway through his second before he and Dan finished
explaining the situation to Victor and Frank.

“He is escalating. He started with crank calls, then started sending

postcards, then the photos of you on the streets. Now he sends photos
of you in your home. I would say he is gearing up for something
bigger.”

“Lucky me,” Jay muttered. Greg pulled him back. Without

thinking, Jay leaned into him. Greg’s solid frame was comforting.

“Lucky you, indeed,” Frank said dryly. “I have to ask you

something, though.”

“Food is here,” Victor announced. Dan glanced at him, then

shoved the papers they brought from the small table to make a place
for the cardboard box. It sat a little wobbly, but didn’t fall. Dan
immediately opened it, the enticing smells of tomato sauce and ham
filling the room. Jay felt queasy. Strange, since he could’ve sworn he
was hungry earlier.

Greg rubbed his shoulder in a comforting gesture. “You should eat

something,” he said. “You drank two beers. That’s more than you can
usually stand, especially on an empty stomach.”

Dan snorted. “And it is empty. He threw up this morning.”
“I was freaked out,” Jay complained then reached for another

beer.

“Don’t,” Greg said warningly.
Jay ignored him. Or tried to until Greg grabbed the can from his

hand. “Hey!” Jay objected, starting to crawl over Greg to take it back.
The room tilted as dizziness swamped him. A small moan escaped
him. He had to grab Greg’s thigh to steady himself.

Greg snorted, pulling him close again.
“Yep, you are drunk.”
“Shut up,” Jay groused, but his voice was muffled in Greg’s shirt.

“You are just pissed off you can’t drink.”

“Of course I am,” Greg said soothingly, rubbing Jay’s back. Jay

Sunny Day

wanted to say something sarcastic, but he figured it wouldn’t have the
same effect while he was tucked in Greg’s embrace.

“What did you want to know?” Dan asked Frank.
“You said this started seven months ago.”
“Yes. Why?”
“Were you in a relationship then?”
“I see where you are going with this,” Dan glanced at Jay. “No, he

wasn’t.”

“No one-night stands, going out for drinks?” Frank persisted.
Jay groaned. “No. Nothing.”
“So he waited, then,” Frank speculated. “He might have been

ready to kill from the beginning, but then there was no one in your
life. So he waited until there was.”

“That’s...scary,” Jay commented, cold fear gripping him inside.
“What I don’t get is why he decided Greg was Jay’s boyfriend.

Him dropping by one day wouldn’t really indicate that,” Victor
wondered in between bites of pizza.

Jay winced. He remembered that he and Dan hadn’t brought the

photos he last received.

He heard laughter in Dan’s voice. “Trust me, he couldn’t have

missed that.”

“What was in those photos anyway?” Victor wanted to know.
“I’ll show you later,” Greg promised.
Jay raised his head to glare at him. “You will not.”
Greg blinked innocently at him. “Come on, they won’t mind.”
“I mind,” Jay muttered.
“The handwriting on the inscription was the same as on the other

messages,” Dan chimed in. “You want a piece, Jay?” he added
through a mouth full of pizza.

His stomach vehemently objected that idea.
“Better not.”
He heard Frank say something, but he just didn’t care anymore,

their voices dropping to white noise.

Hold Your Fire

* * * *

Dan yawned and stretched his arms above his head, the files on

his lap which he was perusing moments ago leaning precariously. Dan
reached to grab them. “What time is it?” he asked, then without
waiting for an answer glanced at his wristwatch. “Shit. It’s late. Let’s
wrap it up for the night.”

Victor sighed. “Not that we discovered anything conclusive,” he

complained. They went through Dan and Jay’s old cases, looking for
someone, anyone, who might be involved in recent events. They came
up with nothing, but at least they cleared some of the suspects. Frank
had left some hours ago, while Victor and Dan had stayed.

“At least we know who isn’t guilty,” Greg reminded him. “It’s

better than nothing.”

“If you say so.” Victor stood up and started picking up the empty

pizza box, beer bottles, and glasses. “I’ll just drop this into the trash.”
He disappeared toward the kitchen. Dan stayed to gather all the files
and stack them into two separate piles. One they went through, the
other they still had to check.

“I can drop you off!” Dan yelled at Victor.
Greg heard Victor’s muffled answer and looked at Dan. “You can

just leave those. I’ll look them over tomorrow,” he offered.

“Right,” Dan responded, then spared a glance at his partner.

“Should probably wake up Jay.”

Greg followed his gaze. Jay was curled up on the couch, his head

resting comfortably on Greg’s thigh. He had fallen asleep sometime
after the pizza arrived and barely stirred since then.

“Um, no, that’s okay. He can stay here.”
Dan raised his brows. He gave Greg a long stare. Greg met it

squarely. He wasn’t going to look away. Dan looked over to where
Greg’s uninjured arm was lying on Jay’s shoulder.

“I guess he can,” Dan finally said.

Sunny Day

“I’m done!” Victor suddenly reappeared, breaking the tense

silence between the two men. “Should we get going?”

“No need to follow us out,” Dan said.
“Thanks for your help.” Greg offered his hand for a handshake.

He waited until the two men left the room and then until he heard the
door open and close. He glanced down at his lap, giving Jay an
indulgent gaze. He didn’t notice at first when Jay had fallen asleep.
He had grown quiet during the evening, while Greg, comforted with
Jay’s weight resting on his side, had been able to concentrate on the
files. He laid a finger on Jay’s cheek. Jay’s breathing was even, and
his lips were slightly parted. The alcohol must have knocked him out.
Greg snorted. Jay never had a head for drink. Still, he wouldn’t have
fallen asleep if he wasn’t feeling safe here, or trusted Greg on some
level. There was still a chance for them. He gently slid his fingers
over Jay’s scalp. Jay had dark hair, and now he kept it short, a
difference from ten years ago, when it was longer.

Greg pushed Jay against the wall in his living room almost as

soon as they entered his apartment. They had just come from a long
shift. “Wait, you...”Jay was obviously surprised. Pushing his body
into Jay’s, Greg cradled the back of Jay’s head, grabbing a handful
of dark hair and using it to hold Jay in place while he kissed him
passionately. He could feel Jay melting in his arms. His breath teased
Greg’s skin. He was aware that what they were doing was wrong, but
it was soo good...

Greg shivered under the sudden onslaught of memories. He

glanced again at Jay. “Hey,” he said in gentle tone, “wake up. We
need to go to bed.”

One dark eye opened and, unfocused, looked at him. “What?

Who?” Jay’s voice was thick from sleep.

Greg laughed softly. “You and me. We need to go to bed.”
Jay blinked, then carefully straightened himself. Greg stifled a

sound of protest. He missed Jay’s warmth immediately.

Jay ran a hand through his hair. “Where are the guys?”

Hold Your Fire

“They left. It’s late.”
Since Dan was the one who drove them here, Greg knew the only

way Jay was leaving tonight was if he called a cab. “Come on,” he
said, standing up and offering his hand to Jay. “Dan said he’ll come
by in the morning.”

He wasn’t aware he was holding his breath until Jay accepted his

hand and followed him to his bedroom.

“God, I’m tired,” he said, before flopping down on the bed. He

immediately turned his head into the pillow. Mindful of his injured
arm, Greg started undressing. He didn’t bother with pajamas. Instead
he sat on the bed and touched Jay’s shoulder. “Hey,” he said, “we
need to get rid of your clothes.”

“I’m fine like this,” came Jay’s muffled answer. Greg rolled his

eyes. “Come on. Sit up so I can take off your shirt.”

With a put-upon sigh, Jay did just that. He pulled off his shirt and

dropped it over the bed in one irritated move. Chuckling, Greg
reached for his belt and started unsnapping his jeans.

“Why did you leave?” Greg froze. Jay was now lying again, and

his dark eyes were staring seriously at Greg. Greg knew Jay wouldn’t
have asked this question if the buzz from the beers had worn off. His
hand stilled. He waited a beat before resuming his task.

“I was afraid.”
“Why not tell me? Why did you just leave, without any warning?

Our sergeant had to tell me you asked for a transfer.”

Jay didn’t sound angry. He sounded honestly puzzled, and in

some way, that was harder to take.

Greg sighed. “Lift your hips. I...knew I wouldn’t be able to leave

if I talked to you.” He avoided Jay’s gaze. “It wasn’t hard just for you,
you know.”

Jay appeared to absorb this. “That why you told I had hit on you?

So I would be angry and not go after you? Because the way I
remember”—his tone suddenly sharpened—“you were the one who
put the moves on me.”

Sunny Day

“I didn’t trust myself around you.”
“Huh,” Jay replied, closing his eyes. Greg waited for him to say

something else. When he didn’t, he finished pulling Jay’s jeans off,
then threw them at the chair. He stood up to turn off the light and
settled on the other side off the bed. He gripped the covers, debating
with himself. He stared into the darkness. Finally he reached with one
arm to tug Jay closer. Jay murmured something, but not in protest. He
obediently settled on Greg’s side, throwing one arm around his waist.
His breath tickled Greg’s naked shoulder. Feeling more content than
he had in years, Greg allowed himself to relax.

Yeah. He still had a chance.

Hold Your Fire

Chapter 5

“Madison,” Jay said into the phone, his mind still on the crime

scene. Dan barely glanced at him then returned to questioning the
witness.

“I know who you are, Detective.”
Icy shards of fear stabbed his spine. The voice was too distorted to

identify it, but Jay’d heard it before.

“What do you want?” he asked, his hand clenching on the phone.

Suddenly it was hard to breathe.

An evil chuckle came from the other side of the line.
“Why, just to talk, Detective. Have you missed me?”
“I haven’t met you yet,” Jay countered.
“Your boyfriend did.”
Jay almost dropped the phone. Son of a bitch.
“My...boyfriend?” he repeated with dry lips. Dan glanced at him

then frowned. Jay signaled him with his hand. Dan excused himself
and approached him.

“What is it?” he mouthed. Jay just tapped his phone with a finger.
Dan leaned in to listen.
“Come on, Detective, you aren’t going to deny it, are you?”
“Deny what?”
“You did get my last package?”
“Your last...package?”
There was a hum coming from the cell. “Yep. Long time no see.

Your reunion was certainly...steamy. I enjoyed it, too, though for
quite different reasons.”

“Which would be?”

Sunny Day

“I had my target now, you see. I took care of him.”
“You shot at Greg?”
“Who else? Though I don’t doubt there are other people you

destroyed with your lies. But this time? It was me.”

Dan glanced sharply at Jay.
“You missed,” Jay challenged.
“Maybe I planned to miss.”
Hm, I don’t think so. You are too angry for it to be an accident.

Jay could clearly hear the edge of anger in the speaker’s voice, no
matter how distorted it was. Out loud, he said only, “If you say so.”

“I say so, Detective, and this game is being played by my rules.

Took you long enough to catch up.” The voice sounded sure of itself.
Gritting his teeth, Jay wondered who it could be.

“You sent the valentine, didn’t you?” he asked.
“And all the rest of the intriguing little gifts you received. Have

they amused you, Detective? Did you look at them and realize that
your crimes are catching up to you? Were you...scared?” Again, there
was an edge of anticipation in the voice. The psycho was enjoying
this.

Jay made a noncommittal noise. “Maybe I was.”
“Didn’t see you visit your lover in the hospital. Then again,

looked to me like you hadn’t parted on the most amicable terms. Had
yourselves a lovers’ spat?”

“Something like that,” Jay answered carefully.
He heard the spooky laugh again.
“There is nothing worse than saying things you can’t take back.

Before you turn around, your chance is lost. Are you familiar with the
concept, Detective?”

Jay closed his eyes, white-hot rage coursing through his veins.
“Yes.”
“Good. I wanted you to be.”
“Why go after Greg? Why didn’t you face me? You claim I

wronged you.”

Hold Your Fire

His stalker sounded unimpressed.
“Face you like a man, you think? Ah, but I want you to hurt,

Detective. I want you to feel the pain, same as I had. Only after that
you will have, as you say, to face me.”

“You lost your boyfriend?” Jay asked. “Or would that be

girlfriend?”

“You will find out soon enough.” The call disconnected. Jay

cursed.

“Shit, shit!”
“Yes, I know what you mean,” Dan muttered. “You don’t know

the number?”

“No. We can check it, but I don’t think we’ll find out anything.”

Jay rubbed his face.

“At least now we know it’s the same person. Your stalker and

Greg’s shooter.”

“Somehow that fact doesn’t reassure me. It’s not like—” His

phone beeped again.

Jay stared at it, reluctant to move.
“Give it to me,” Dan said.
“No, I can answer my own phone.” Jay flipped it open. Despite

his bravado, he breathed in relief when he noticed it was only a
message.

“A message,” he said. “Someone sent me—” He cut himself off

abruptly. His knees buckled.

“What now?”
Dan swiped the cell from Jay’s hand, taking a look at the display.
“Damn.”
His mysterious enemy had sent Jay Greg’s picture.

* * * *

Jay pounded at Greg’s door. “Open up,” he yelled. When there

was no answer, he reached for his gun. He noticed Dan grimacing, but

Sunny Day

his partner did the same.

It was a wonder they didn’t crash on the way here. Jay’s heart was

still beating unsteadily and he was running on the adrenaline. He’d
parked the car and raced toward the door. Greg’s house looked quiet
and unassuming. Jay knew it didn’t guarantee anything.

“What do you think you are—” Greg demanded, yanking the door

open. He took one look at his lover and went white. “What’s wrong?”

Jay exhaled a long sigh of relief. He raked his lover with his gaze.
“You are fine,” he said, almost limp with relief. He leaned heavily

on the wall.

“Of course I am,” Greg retorted. “What’s wrong with you?”
Dan, who kept glancing at the street behind them and curious

neighbors giving them questioning looks, cleared his throat. “Not that
I mind, but can we have the tearful reunion inside?”

Jay took deep breath. “You’re right. Come in.”
“Morgensen and Rawlins should be on their way,” Dan added.
Greg closed the door after them, giving the two men a puzzled

stare. His brows knotted. Jay resisted the urge to kiss him.

“Why? What’s going on?”
Jay dropped onto the couch and sighed. “Wait until Morgensen

and Rawlins arrive and I’ll tell you. I don’t have the nerves to tell the
story twice.”

* * * *

His lover was fairly brimming with tension, Greg noticed. He

didn’t ask questions. He brought two bottles of water from the
kitchen, handing one to Jay and the second one to Dan. Jay uncapped
it right away and drank hungrily. Dan just nodded at him, leaning on
the wall.

“Noticed anything unusual today?” he queried.
Greg considered. “No. Why?”
“You were out,” Dan said as a statement

Hold Your Fire

“Yeah. I was. Had a smoke.” He wondered what this was about.

Jay was obviously upset, and Greg didn’t think it smart to press his
lover. He glanced questioningly at Dan. Dan just shrugged.

They lapsed into silence.
Greg snapped his head up when he heard his door open. “Laren?”

he heard Frank call.

“Inside,” he answered. Something in Jay’s expression informed

him he had better stay in his line of sight. Jay swigged from the bottle,
then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

“We got your call,” Frank said. Victor followed on his heels.

“What’s wrong?”

“This.” Jay unclipped his cell from his belt and tossed it at Frank.

Frank caught it without missing a beat.

“Check the last message.”
Greg wondered what this was about. Frank’s eyes widened and he

threw him a sharp glance. He handed the phone over to Victor.

The big detective cursed. “Shit.”
“We were on the crime scene when Jay got a call,” Dan explained.

“It was our man. He wanted to make sure Jay knew what to expect.”

Victor looked sick.
“He made that call from here?”
“I guess so.”
Greg finally had his hands on the cell. He flipped it open then

swallowed. There it was, a picture of him standing on the porch. It
must have been taken minutes before Jay and Dan arrived. No wonder
his lover was freaked out.

“The number?”
“I’ve someone checking it,” Dan said. “You didn’t notice

anything suspicious?”

Greg shook his head. “It’s the middle of the day, and this is my

home. I honestly didn’t even think something could be amiss.” He
paused. “Although...”

“What?” All four men focused on him.

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“It may be nothing. There was a dark-blue Mercedes outside. I

don’t think I’ve seen it before.” He furrowed his brows in thought.

“You notice the license?” Victor asked sharply. Greg shook his

head apologetically.

“Sorry. I just thought it was unusual. That’s all.”
“Our perp might have stolen a car,” Frank reminded them.
“Could be. Did you see who was in the car?”
“A girl.” Greg shrugged. “Expensive clothes.”
“Someone might’ve been with her,” Frank suggested.
Greg thought back, but was forced to shake his head once again.

“I don’t know about that.”

“Would you recognize her if you saw her?”
“Maybe.” Greg hesitated. “I don’t know.”
Frank sighed. “We will see when we get to that point.”

* * * *

Jay parked his car in front of Greg’s house and sighed, putting his

head on his arms, crossed on the steering wheel. Dan, who had
reached for the door knob, paused to look at him. “You coming?”

Jay raised his head to rub his aching temple.
“Yeah.”
He unfolded from the car seat, had to drag small duffel he’d

packed that morning from backseat, and slammed the door with
vicious force.

Dan raised an eyebrow at him.
“Go on,” Jay said crossly, then followed his partner into the

house.

Greg wasn’t alone. Victor was with him, and both men sat at the

long, gleaming wood table installed in a small alcove of the kitchen.
Delicious smells of roasted meat filled the air.

“You guys ordered dinner?” Dan demanded, coming to the table

and eyeing the tray. Jay couldn’t blame his partner. They had a long

Hold Your Fire

day and the smell of food made his stomach cramp. He was hungry.

Greg snorted. “Ordered, hell. I cooked it.”
“You cooked it?”
Dan paused with his hand over the meat.
“He is actually quite good at that,” Victor said, busily shoving

food in his mouth. “Try it and see.”

“Don’t mind if I do.” Dan sat and started piling food onto the

plate Greg handed him.

“So you cook?”
“I’m at home all day. I have to amuse myself with something,”

Greg answered wryly.

“Mhhm. Hey, this is quite good.”
“Thanks. I think.”
“Grab a chair,” Dan said to Jay, then added, his mouth full,

“Lucky bastard.”

Jay was not in the mood for his partner’s jokes. He hefted the

duffel bag and headed for the bedroom.

The blinds were closed, so it was still dark in the room. When Jay

opened the door, his nose twitched. The room smelled like Greg.
Desire stirred in his groin. He bit back an oath. He didn’t need this.
He turned the light on and carelessly dumped the bag on unmade bed.

“Hey.”
Jay whirled around. Greg stood at the doorway, watching him

closely.

“Something wrong?” he asked.
“How can you ask me that? There is a lunatic outside who wants

either me or you dead,” Jay demanded.

“Wish him luck with that,” Greg said, not taking his eyes off Jay.

“Victor is just the last of my colleagues who found an excuse to drop
by and hang around. I couldn’t even go out for groceries. Not to
mention the patrol car that every so often seems to pass my house.”

“Don’t joke,” Jay chastised. “This is fucked up.”
“Sure it is,” Greg agreed. “Had a hard day today?”

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“None of your business,” Jay groused. He frowned as he realized

Greg’s big body was effectively blocking his way out. “Move. I want
out.”

“Not just yet.” Greg reached behind with one hand to close the

door.

“What are you doing?”
“You are practically vibrating with tension,” Greg answered,

advancing on him. “I think I’d better do something about that.”

Unnerved by the glint in his lover’s eyes, Jay took a step back.

And another. Until the backs of his knees hit the bed, and with a yelp,
he landed on his back.

He sat up almost immediately, only to see Greg dropping to his

knees in front of him. Breath left his lungs as Greg leaned close.
Greg’s lips gently touched his. Jay threw his head back, opening
himself up for the kiss. His hand clenched on Greg’s shoulder. His
blood heated.

“That’s better,” Greg said, laughing as he broke the kiss. “But not

good enough.”

“What?” Jay started then cut himself off as Greg unzipped his

pants, fishing his cock out.

“Greg!” Jay hissed warningly, grabbing the other man’s hand.
Greg rested his head on Jay’s shoulder. His mouth teased Jay’s

neck, where the collar of his shirt left it bare. “Yes, darling?”

“What do you think you are doing?” Pleasure swirled inside him

as Greg slowly pumped him, the circle of his fingers sliding down to
the base of Jay’s cock then tightening as he moved up. Despite
himself, he could feel his cock hardening, pushing eagerly into Greg’s
grip.

“What does it feel like?”
“We are not alone! Vic and Dan—”
“Should know better than to come in here,” Greg answered. “You

looked ready to bite someone’s head off just now.”

“I do not...oh God, don’t stop.”

Hold Your Fire

He could have sworn he heard Greg laugh.
“Lay back,” Greg ordered softly, and Jay complied, raising his

hips obediently to make it easier for Greg to pull his jeans and
underwear all the way down. He threw a hand over his eyes as Greg’s
hand returned to pumping. Need rose sharply inside him, pulsing in
rhythm with the movements of Greg’s hand. He was completely hard
now. He heard Greg make a noise of approval then withdrew his
hand. Jay raised his head to see what happened, only to slam it back
into the mattress as his cock was engulfed in Greg’s warm mouth.

“Fuck!” Jay panted, his body arching, greedy for more.
Greg wrapped his lips around his shaft, bobbing his head up and

down, his tongue idly playing on Jay’s skin. Jay could feel himself
leaking profusely.

As Greg sucked the head, cold air teased Jay’s dampened shaft,

adding to the sensations. Then Greg swallowed him whole, and Jay
had to bite his hand to stop himself from screaming.

He moaned, shifting restlessly on the bed, but Greg was gripping

his hips, holding him securely in place.

His muscles clenched as orgasm swept over him, making him spill

into Greg’s mouth. His vision blackened, and he tasted his own blood
on his lips.

Panting, he lay limp on the bedspread. Greg licked him clean then

tugged his clothes back in place.

The mattress dipped under Greg’s weight as the other man sat

next to him.

“Feel better now?” he asked, his hand going to the sweat-

dampened strands on Jay’s face.

Jay forced himself up in the sitting position, swallowing a laugh.
“I sure do.” He leaned into Greg, feeling oddly comforted when

the other man’s arm wrapped around him. He reached for Greg’s belt.

“What about you?”
“Don’t think you have to worry about that,” Greg answered

sarcastically.

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Jay’s head snapped up.
“What?”
“I need to go and clean myself up,” Greg said. “You go and amuse

the guys.”

“Well, sure, but...”
“I saw the bag. You staying tonight?”
Jay felt tension in the muscular body next to his.
He’d told himself he was staying to make sure nothing happened

to Greg. But it was more than that. He hesitated, unwilling to commit
himself.

Greg sighed, shifting so he could stand up. “Never mind,” he said.
Jay’s heart lurched. He grabbed Greg’s hand. Their eyes met.

Greg looked at him with a resigned expression.

“You can stay on the couch,” he offered.
“No, I’m...it’s all right.” He squeezed Greg’s fingers. “I’ll stay

with you?”

Something flashed in those pale-blue eyes. “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” he breathed softly. “I will.”

Hold Your Fire

Chapter 6

“We’ll be there,” Dan said into the phone, then pocketed it. Jay,

his hands on the wheel, glanced at him. “What was that?”

“The lieutenant,” Dan answered. “He wants us back at the

precinct.”

Jay obligingly started to turn the car.
“Something came up?”
“You could say that. The prints we took from that apartment?

They came back.”

“Oh?”
“Get this. It’s some PI.”
“What?”
“Yeah, go figure. Richards said he already sent guys to pick him

up. He is now waiting for us.”

“Good.”
Jay felt his heartbeat speed up. Finally, he was going to get some

answers.

He made record time, zipping through the traffic to get to the

station. Once he parked the car, both he and Dan hurried inside.

The lieutenant was waiting for them in front of the interrogation

room.

“Well?” Jay demanded, his breathing still uneven. He glanced

through the one-way mirror.

“Name is Rick Maxwell,” the lieutenant answered. “You know

him?”

Jay scrutinized the other man. Maxwell was in his forties, with big

hands and a beer belly. He did his best to appear calm, but his eyes

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kept darting around the room.

Jay shook his head. “No.”
Richards didn’t seem surprised by this.
“I asked around. Chances are better that he was hired to follow

you.”

“A stalker who lets a PI do their job?” Dan wondered aloud.
“There are all kinds,” the lieutenant said. “I called the detectives

from Laren’s case. They will be there shortly.”

“Should we go in?” Dan looked questioningly at Jay.
“We go in,” Jay agreed.
Rick glanced at them curiously as they entered the room.
Finally he grumbled, “I was starting to worry everyone forgot

me.”

“Oh, you are in no danger of that,” Jay answered, coming to sit on

the desk. Rick’s eyes flickered over to him. He saw recognition in his
face.

“You remember my partner?” Dan inquired, leaning on the wall

behind Rick.

Jay just smiled.
“Should I?”
Jay pushed the photos on the surface between them.
“Don’t play coy. You took those.”
Rick looked at photos then at Jay. “So what if I did?” he sneered.
“Then say so.”
“All right, I took them. So what?”
“You followed me. Those aren’t the only ones you took.”
Rick snorted.
“Answer me!” Jay’s voice rose like a whip. Dan threw him a

warning glance. “Answer me,” Jay repeated, reining in his temper. He
couldn’t afford to lose it now.

“No. So what? It’s my job.”
“Of course it is,” Jay agreed. “Who hired you?”
“Why do you want to know?”

Hold Your Fire

“It’s not your concern.”
“I can’t tell you the name of my client. I’m bound by the

confidentiality,” Rick said pompously.

Dan laughed, approaching them.
“You going to take the rap for attempted murder alone, then?”
Rick’s eyes bugged out. “Attempted murder?” he said. “What are

you boys talking about?”

“Someone shot your target. You expect us to believe you weren’t

involved in that?”

Rick sputtered. “Of course not.”
“Then tell us who your client is.”
“You know this is going to be bad for my business,” Rick

complained.

“Too bad. Give us the name, Maxwell.”
Rick’s gaze once again strayed to Jay. “You seem fine.”
Jay kept his face neutral.
“I wasn’t the one shot. Your accomplice shot my lover.” He

leaned closer to Rick. “He is a cop, too.”

“Shit.” Beads of sweat showed on Rick’s forehead. “It wasn’t

supposed to happen like this. It wasn’t.”

“What happened?”
“A chick came into my office. Said she wanted me to follow

someone. She was willing to pay, so why not? Thought it was a
boyfriend. She said it was her boyfriend.”

“And the fact that I never met with your client didn’t ring any

bells?”

“Hell, it wasn’t any of my business.”
“What did she want?”
“She wanted to know who you are seeing now. Wanted the

proof.”

“You followed me around for months.”
“She insisted. I didn’t know anything about murder, I swear!”
“Write the name for us.” Dan threw a notebook at him. “Then

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we’ll talk.”

They left the room to find their lieutenant and both Victor and

Frank waiting for them.

“You saw?” Jay wanted to know. He leaned heavily onto the wall.
Frank nodded. “What’s the name?”
“Amanda Donahue.” Dan frowned. “Doesn’t ring any bells.” Jay

shook his head.

“We can go and talk. Maybe she was working for someone.”
“True.”
“We got another lead,” Victor said. Jay’s head snapped up.

“Yeah? What is it?”

“The bullet they dug out of Greg’s shoulder,” Frank explained.
Chills spread through Jay’s body. “Yes?”
“They finally matched it. Turns out the same gun was used in a

murder last year.”

That was something, at least. “One of our cases?” Jay asked,

propping his shoulder against the wall.

“Don’t we wish,” Victor muttered, running a hand through his

hair. “It would fit in nicely,” Frank agreed. “But no. It was what I
thought at first, so I checked it. I know the guys who worked it. It had
nothing to do with you.”

“If it’s not solved it might tie in with one of ours,” Dan suggested.
“It could. But it was solved, and the perp is now in jail. It doesn’t

exclude involvement, of course. We will have to check that case to
see if there are any leads.”

“What happened with the gun?” Jay asked, his mind working

furiously.

“Now that was a weird thing. According to the notes I have, they

never found the gun.”

That caused Jay to look up at him. “What do you mean, they never

found the gun? How did they convict the guy if they didn’t have the
murder weapon?”

“Don’t know yet,” Frank informed him. “I already had a call from

Hold Your Fire

the DA. It appears the defense is pushing for appeal, arguing the same
thing. It was the Draven case. I don’t know if you are familiar with it.
As far as I was able to find out, it was some rich kid. He tracked a guy
and killed him for some imagined slur. They had a hell of a time
finding him.”

“Draven case?” Dan repeated, glancing at Jay. Both Frank and

Victor stopped to look at them, no doubt noticing the sudden tension.

“You are familiar with the case?” Frank asked.
A sick feeling was spreading inside Jay’s chest. He rubbed his

forehead. “Yeah,” he said in hollow voice, “I know which case it is.”

* * * *

“How’d you get involved in that case?” Frank wanted to know, as

all of them filled Victor’s car and he eased it into the traffic. “It
wasn’t even close to your precinct. The kid didn’t have any priors,
there was no match to any other case. It appeared to be a random
robbery gone wrong.” He turned completely in his seat to stare at Dan
and Jay. Jay sighed. Dan gave him brief look, then asked, “What did
they tell you about the case?”

“That it was closed, the perp was in jail,” Frank explained. “It

didn’t jibe with what we know of Greg’s shooter, so I asked how sure
they were.”

Dan snorted. “I would have loved to hear the DA’s response to

that.”

“Yeah, he was somewhat snarky, too,” Frank agreed. “So what is

the story?”

“There was a witness who saw the whole thing,” Dan explained.

“It was what turned the tide. He was the one who identified the
suspect—Max Warden—and he was the one who testified at the trial,
since there really wasn’t any hard evidence against Warden. Added to
that, his parents were rich and able to afford a really expensive and
good lawyer. On the stand, Warden looked like a nice, upstanding

Sunny Day

citizen, no problems, going to college, not at all the kind of guy who
would kill someone in a back alley.”

Frank frowned. “As far as I know, the murder happened late at

night,” he pointed out reasonably. “The victim went on a dinner in an
upscale restaurant. It was dark. How sure was the witness?”

“Very sure,” Jay answered, leaning back in his seat. “I was very

sure.”

“You?” Victor exclaimed from his seat. He started to turn to look

at Jay. “You were the witness?”

His partner slapped his shoulder. “Watch where you’re driving,”

he chastised.

“Right. Sorry. You were the witness?”
Jay nodded closing his eyes. “It was my day off. I went to a club. I

didn’t drink, or else the defense would’ve had a field day with it.
When I went out, I heard voices coming from the alley behind. They
argued. So I wandered over to see what it was. I almost, almost turned
back. Both of them were dressed expensively, and one of the guys
was waving a cell phone. He probably got out to make a call. Turned
out they met before. They had an altercation about the parking space,
or something equally stupid. I figure it’s nothing serious. I already—
already made a decision to back out without them seeing me.” He
shook his head. “Then the younger guy pulls the gun and shoots the
other guy. Just like that, no warning.”

“You didn’t chase him?” Frank asked, clearly intrigued.
“Draven was still alive. I called 911, stayed with him.” Jay

shivered, wrapping both arms around himself. He remembered the
blood that coated them that night.

“He died on the way to hospital,” he added, remembering. “Stupid

reason to die, because you scratched someone’s car.”

“You were able to identify him.”
“Oh yeah, I was. I had a really good look at him. The initial

assumption was that it was a robbery gone wrong. There were two in
the last three months in same neighborhood.”

Hold Your Fire

“That was the theory the defense pushed. Draven resisted, and the

robber killed him, then panicked and ran when Jay showed up,” Dan
added. “They really insisted on it. Still do.”

“Except that Jay witnessed an exchange beforehand,” Frank

concluded.

“That’s right. Miles and Corigan were able to track Warden from

information I gave them. Once they had a name to go with the face,
they had him.”

“Sort of, anyway,” Dan corrected wryly. “There was still a trial to

go through.”

Jay let out a deep breath. “Yeah. We weren’t able to find a

gun,”—he winced, remembering where that gun ended up—“and the
fact that he argued with the guy lately wasn’t really enough. I mean,
seriously. Draven hit his car. Accidentally, the friend who was with
him said. Barely scratched it. He offered to pay the damages, but Max
was incensed and stormed off. Turned out it was a new car, an
expensive one. Draven just forgot about it. It wasn’t a big deal.”

“It was for Warden, obviously.”
Jay let out a short bark of laughter. “Obviously.”
“You testified against him.”
“There really wasn’t a choice.”
“Defense did all it could to shake him up,” Dan told them. “He

was really vicious. Jay refused to react. He gave a detailed description
of both the victim and the shooter, the way they were dressed, the cell
phone Warden wore on his belt.”

“His jacket opened when he raised his hand to shoot,” Jay

murmured, remembering. “It was a damn expensive gadget.”

“You convinced the jury.” Frank nodded at him, drawing his

brows in thought. “Essentially, the prosecution’s case rested on you.”

Jay nodded. “That’s right.”
“And this didn’t occur to you when the packages started

arriving?”

“To tell you the truth, no. I thought it might be someone I

Sunny Day

arrested, or a family member in a case we didn’t solve. As far as I
knew, Warden was in jail.”

“He had a girlfriend,” Frank prompted him. Jay cast his mind back

to the courtroom. “I guess so,” he agreed reluctantly. “I think she
testified for the defense. I wasn’t there then. I don’t know if it’s
Amanda.”

“We are here,” Vic announced, slowing the car. He stopped and

they filed out.

All of them looked up at the imposing-looking house.
“I take it that Amanda’s parents aren’t poor, either,” Victor said

wryly, locking the car.

“I guess.” Jay followed Frank to the door. Frank rang the doorbell.
“Let’s see what we can find out,” Frank said, then glanced at Jay.

“Let me talk.” He didn’t have time for anything else as the door
opened.

A woman stood in the doorway, blonde and elegantly dressed. She

gave them a puzzled glance. “Yes?”

“Police, ma’am.” Frank pulled out his badge. “Can we come in?”
The woman frowned. “I guess so.” She retreated, letting them

inside.

“Vernon! The cops are here.”
A man about Frank’s age showed up, glancing at them

contemptuously. “What’s this about?” he demanded.

“Is your daughter here?”
Mrs. Donahue frowned. “Amanda? No, she is at her friend’s.

Why, is something wrong?”

“We would like to talk to her,” Frank explained.
“What about?” Amanda’s father insisted, looking less than thrilled

with their visit.

Jay noticed the woman looking at him, like she was trying to place

him. Then her eyes widened.

“You know who I am,” Jay said suddenly. “Your daughter knew

Max?”

Hold Your Fire

The woman nodded hesitantly.
“This is about Max?” The man glared at them. “You finally find

the right man?”

“You believe he was innocent.”
“Of course he was innocent.” Donahue snorted condescendingly.

“Why would he rob anyone? He had more money than you.”

The robbery, with an as yet unknown assailant, Jay remembered,

was what Warden’s defense insisted Draven case was about.

“People don’t always kill for the money,” Jay countered. He

wasn’t about to argue with Amanda’s father right now. They had
more important business. “Your daughter believed he was innocent,
too?”

“You are the cop who testified at Max’s trial.” Vernon Donahue

curled his lip.

“He is,” Frank intervened. “And your daughter hired a PI to

follow him.”

That was obviously news to her parents.
“Does your daughter drive a blue Mercedes?” Frank pressed.
“She does. Why—” The man cut himself off. “What do you want,

Detective? Even if my daughter hired someone to follow Detective
Madison, I still don’t think—”

“That wasn’t the only thing she did. She kept sending messages to

Detective Madison. Finally, she shot one of his friends.”

“Amanda?” There was disbelief in the man’s voice. He hugged his

wife protectively. “You must be mistaken.”

“Which is why we want to talk to her, Mr. Donahue,” Victor said.
“Do you own a gun?” Frank asked.
“A gun?” Donahue was startled. “Yes, I own a gun. I have a

license for it.”

The cops exchanged glances.
“Can we see it?” Jay inquired.
The man’s eyes hardened. “Do you have a warrant for it?”
“No,” Victor said matter-of-factly. “But we can get it easily. Now,

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can we see it?”

The man exhaled noisily. “If you insist. Follow me.”
The gun was locked in the safe in Vernon Donahue’s office. Still,

it didn’t mean it wasn’t used.

“Here.” Donahue opened it and reached inside.
“Allow me,” Frank said, gently insinuating himself. He pulled out

the gun and carefully laid it onto the desk.

“Thirty-eight,” Jay said. “Same as whoever shot at Greg. And,” he

added, glancing at the man, “same as the Draven murder.”

“We will take this,” Frank said.
“Feel free,” the man said. “You won’t find anything.”
Frank glanced at Jay. “Call the station to have someone pick up

Miss Donahue.”

Jay nodded, pulling his cell out. His gaze stayed glued to the gun.

He almost lost Greg because of it.

“Madison!” Frank barked.
Jay blinked, returning to reality. “Sorry. I’m calling.”

Hold Your Fire

Chapter 7

“So that’s her?” Greg asked, approaching the one-way mirror and

staring curiously at Amanda, who was sitting in stubborn silence with
her lawyer beside her as Victor and Frank continued to interrogate
her.

“That’s her,” his lieutenant, Natasha Walters, confirmed. She and

Richards were present almost from the beginning of the conversation.
“Do you recognize her?”

Greg gave Amanda a hard stare. “Yes, I think she’s the girl who

was outside my house the day the photo was taken. But that doesn’t
amount to much.”

“The gun taken from her father’s safe is a match,” Richards

mused. “It doesn’t matter.”

“She’s going to deny. She is not telling anything now.” Frustrated,

Jay started pacing around the small room. He shrugged off Greg’s
arm impatiently when his lover reached to comfort him.

“Morgensen and Rawlins are good,” their lieutenant offered.

“They’ll get what they can.”

Jay whirled to face her. He caught a warning glance from his

superior. “I know they are good. I’m not disputing that. They were
close to breaking her when the lawyer showed up. He is good. He
won’t let her incriminate herself.”

“Her daddy has money. He won’t let his princess end up in jail.

He called the lawyer, not her.” Natasha glanced at the group behind
the mirror.

“Exactly.” Jay looked at Richards. “She wants to tell. She is sure

her boyfriend is innocent and what she did is right.”

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“The bullets match the ones from the Draven case,” Greg

reminded him. “He is guilty.”

“She doesn’t know that. She could have just shot at me. She

didn’t. She focused on Greg because she figured that would hurt
more. She waited for months before she had her target, and then went
personally to take care of it. The PI followed me around to get the
photos, but she is the one who shot Greg.”

“What’s your point, Madison?” Richards asked reluctantly,

acknowledging Jay’s point. He pressed his advantage.

“She wanted me to know. That was the whole point of calling,

sending postcards, even of sending me the photo of Greg outside his
house. She taunted me.” He hesitated. “Let me inside.”

“No way,” Natasha Walters said emphatically. “You are too

involved. You can’t get in.”

“Chances are bigger she’ll crack if I go inside,” Jay argued. “She

wants to tell me. She is dying to tell me, sir, you know that.”

“Her lawyer...”
“I won’t do anything to jeopardize the case,” Jay insisted. “And

why would her lawyer object? It’s not like I’m the one she shot at.”

Richards stirred. “He has a point,” he agreed. “She is more likely

to talk to him.”

Natasha pursed her lips. “Greg?”
Jay glanced at his lover. Greg appeared unhappy. “I’m not thrilled

with the idea, but yes, chances are Jay will be able to make her talk.”

He cast a warning glance at Jay.
“All right, Madison, you can go in.” Richards fixed him with a

steely glance. “But watch what you are doing. You almost lost it with
Maxwell.”

“I won’t lose it now, sir.”
“Rawlins and Morgensen are staying. You make one step over the

line, they will haul you out.” Natasha looked again into the
interrogation room.

Jay nodded in acknowledgment and, taking a deep breath, entered

Hold Your Fire

the room.

Victor, sitting at the edge of the desk, glanced at him. His eyes

widened. Giving Jay an imperceptive nod, he pulled back slightly,
allowing Amanda to catch sight of Jay.

“Hello, Amanda,” Jay said, crossing over to the desk.
Mr. Benson, Amanda’s lawyer, stared sharply at him.
“What’s Detective Madison doing here?”
“She wants me here,” Jay said, before he could further object.

“She did all this to get my attention. Didn’t you, Amanda? Fine. You
have my attention.”

The girl stared at him with hateful eyes. Jay was reminded of her

boyfriend, Max. He had spoiled Max’s plans, too, and as they led him
out of the courtroom after the sentencing he had thrown Jay a warning
glare. He had largely ignored it. Max was guilty, a true criminal.
There was really no reason for him to kill anyone. He’d wanted to.
That’s why he had a gun that evening. He wanted something to
happen. Ultimately, it had.

“Seen your boyfriend lately?” he inquired in a friendly enough

voice. “Must be hard, him in jail. Probably not what either of you
expected in the future.”

“Why do you want to know?”
Jay shrugged, dragging a chair and straddling it so he could face

Amanda. Out of the corner of his eye, he was aware of Victor pulling
back slightly, letting both Amanda and her lawyer concentrate on
him.

“Just having a conversation,” he said in a mild enough tone. “You

wanted to talk. You called me. How did you get my number,
anyway?”

“Don’t say anything,” Benson ordered. “Trying to trick us,

Detective? There is no tie between my client and that phone. You
can’t prove she was the one who called.”

That much was true.
“I know,” Jay agreed. “That was smart, by the way. Prepaid

Sunny Day

phone, no records on who bought it. You are clear on that, at least,”
he said to Amanda. She gave him a smug smile. “It’s not like that
with the PI. He was able to give us your name. You were the one who
hired him, weren’t you Amanda? You were the one he gave the
photos he took to.” He leaned over the desk, staring at her. “You sent
them to me. You watched me all those months, haven’t you?”

“What if I was?”Amanda answered.
Benson hurried before she could say anything else. “That’s not

exactly illegal, Detective. I have looked the evidence over. I didn’t
see any overt threat in the letters she sent you. Are you claiming
differently?”

Glancing at Frank, Jay noticed a flash of annoyance on the other

man’s face. He doubted Benson would’ve read him correctly, but Jay
did. The lawyer irritated Frank. It must not have been the first time
Benson stepped in. He scrutinized him for a moment before focusing
on Amanda again. He needed to make her lose her temper. She was
like Max in that regard. He remembered that Max hadn’t allowed
himself to slip on the witness stand. There was a sharp contrast with
the way he acted in the alley and the way he later acted in the
courtroom. He would have to tread carefully.

“They spooked me a little,” he said, giving Amanda an intent

stare. “Hell, they spooked me more than a little. I wondered who it
was.” He caught a beginning of a smug smile on Amanda’s lips.
“Then the PI gave us your name and I was totally confused. I didn’t
get it. Why would you do that? You had a life. Max was in jail, but
heck, you were better off without him. You are young, pretty, rich.
You could have anyone. You didn’t need to wait for a criminal. Is that
the way it happened? You started to move on,” Jay continued,
noticing the flaring of Amanda’s nostrils. “Maybe you met someone
else, someone new, someone you liked more than Max? And you felt
guilty. Warden could even have noticed it and played on your
feelings, told you what to do. He made you think you owed him,
thought it wasn’t a big deal, not the way he made it look. After all,

Hold Your Fire

like your lawyer said, hiring a PI to follow someone is hardly illegal.
You can tell us. You don’t owe him anything...”

He almost smiled in satisfaction when he saw Amanda’s reaction

to his casual dismissal of Max. “He is already in jail. No need for you
to take the fall,” he coaxed.

“You won’t get to blame Max for this,” Amanda said in a sharp

tone. The lawyer, recognizing danger in her tone, hurried to interfere.

“My client already asserted—”
“Max had nothing to do with this. He can’t say otherwise!”

Amanda interrupted her lawyer. She glared at Jay. “You just don’t get
it, do you? I tried to explain it, but you didn’t understand. I love Max.
If he wasn’t in jail, we’d still be together. We will be again when he is
released. Nothing you say will change that.”

Jay snorted. “So what you are telling me is that was all your idea?

“You hired Maxwell, you sent me the messages, you called me? You
planned everything and he had nothing to do with this?”

Benson opened his mouth to protest.
“Shut up,” Amanda ordered. “I didn’t ask you to be here.” She

turned to Jay again. “Yes, it was all me. And you know what? I did
even more than that. I shot your boyfriend. Bet you didn’t like that.
Did you wonder he would end up dead? I wish he’d ended up dead.
You deserved it. You deserved all of it. I hope it hurt you. I hope you
felt like your world was falling apart because someone you loved
wasn’t with you and you didn’t know if he ever would be.”

Close enough, Jay thought, remembering all too well how it felt

when Richards told him Greg had been shot. For a moment he wasn’t
sure...

“That’s enough!” Benson’s voice brought him back to the present.

“I need a moment with my client.”

“Does your client want a moment?” Frank inquired in a bland

voice. “We have the gun. It’s registered to your father’s name. It sat
in his safe. It’s not like many people could get it. If it wasn’t you, it
was either your father, or your mother.”

Sunny Day

Amanda made a sound of disgust. “It was me. So what? You think

that’s going to help you? So what if I hired a PI to follow you? You
were the one who put my boyfriend in jail. Maybe I wanted to find
out more about you, get what motivated you to lie on the stand. So
what if I sent you messages? I missed Max. Maybe I thought you had
a conscience and you’d eventually come forward. And maybe,” she
added with twisted smile, “maybe I lost it just a little when you
appeared to give no thought to someone whose life you ruined, to
everyone who was unhappy because of you.”

“You’re going to try to fool out the jury,” Jay said in calm voice.

“The same as Max tried. He almost succeeded. He was good.”

“You are the one who lied to the jury,” Amanda said, calming

down. “I’m just going to tell them the truth. We’ll see who they like
more.”

“I guess we will,” Jay agreed, standing up. “I saw what I wanted

to see, I’m going now.”

He nodded at both Frank and Victor, started to leave. His hand hit

the doorknob. He paused, turning to face Amanda. He crossed his
arms over his chest.

He pulled back, until he was almost at the door. “I’m curious

though,” he said, turning to face Amanda. “Why are you so sure I
lied? Why would I lie?”

“I know Max didn’t shoot that man. You know it, too.”
Actually, what he knew was exactly the opposite. “Not really.

Come on, Amanda. You are a smart girl. You had me watched for
months. What motive did I have to hurt him? I never even met the
guy. I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.” Just like
Draven, he wanted to add, but didn’t.

“How should I know that? You needed someone to blame, and

your friends found out Max, and he had an argument about a parking
space. I know that wasn’t a first robbery. I also know the police were
pressured to solve the case. You took the easiest way out.”

“Amanda,” Benson tried to object in a tired voice.

Hold Your Fire

“I told you to shut up.”
“That’s not the way it works,” Jay said. “And you sound like

Max.”

It was what Max insinuated on the witness stand. The DA wasn’t

able to break him. He didn’t tell it, just hinted at it, which gave it
more credibility. Jay remembered Corigan being incensed about his
tactic. They still had no suspect about the other robberies. Something
clicked in his brain. The robberies. They were big news. And Max
wore his cell on his belt. Expensive suit. Expensive car. He knew
about the robberies. He played the bait. Then he would’ve had an
excuse to shoot.

“So you do remember him.”
“I remember him very well, actually,” Jay said in a flat tone. “I

watched him kill a man. Something like that tends to stick.”

“He didn’t kill that man,” Amanda said in derisive tone. “Where

would he get the gun? You never found the gun. You know why?
Because it’s still on the streets, in the hands of whoever shot that
guy.”

“We do have the gun,” Frank said at that.
“Sure we do,” Victor confirmed. He went to the door, opened it,

and returned seconds later. He tossed the gun on the table in front of
Amanda. She glanced at it, then raised her eyes to Jay. “That’s not his
gun. That’s my father’s gun. What, you didn’t think I would
remember?”

“Trying to trick my client, Detective?” Benson appeared on safe

ground again.

“Not really,” Jay said mildly. “You’re right about one point. That

is your father’s gun.” He uncrossed his arms and approached the desk.
“That was a surprise, you know.”

“What?”
Benson was now uneasy.
“You told Max about the gun.”
Amanda frowned at him. “So what?”

Sunny Day

“Or did he ask about it? Either way, you told him, showed him

perhaps? He was fascinated by it, liked it, didn’t he?”

Something flickered in Amanda’s eyes.
“You must’ve told him the code for your father’s safe. Can’t see

any other way he would’ve got it,” Jay continued conversationally.
“He wanted to use it. He was used to power the money gave him over
the people, now he wanted to see what kind the gun would give him.
It was just bad luck I was there to see him. He must’ve been high after
it happened. Did you notice it? Maybe you did. I bet you did. You’re
an observant girl. We didn’t arrest him right away. He had enough
time to get rid of the gun. He went to see you, and put it back from
where he took it. A brilliant move, I’ll admit. We’d never have found
it. It wouldn’t have occurred to us.”

He smiled thinly at her. “At least not until you used it to commit

another crime.”

Speechless, she just stared at him. “You lie.” But she looked

shaken. Satisfied, Jay took a step back.

“Detective.” Benson found it prudent to interfere. “Throwing lies

at my client—”

“He isn’t lying,” Victor said helpfully. “The bullets do match the

gun. Don’t think his appeal will work, not now that we have the
murder weapon.” He tapped the gun on the table meaningfully.

“He isn’t going to be grateful for the stunt you pulled.”
“You lie,” Amanda repeated, this time in a louder voice.
“Whatever lets you sleep at night.” Shrugging, Jay left the room.
“You are lying!”Amanda screamed at him. He ignored her. Once

he was outside, he leaned heavily onto the wall and took a big gulp of
air. This was more tiring than he’d anticipated. He felt drained.

“Well done, Madison,” Richards congratulated him. “You rattled

her. Morgensen and Rawlins should be able to take it from here.”

“Yeah.” Jay closed his eyes, willing himself to calm down. He

was starting to get a headache. He couldn’t believe this was all over.

He felt Greg put his hand on his shoulder. Without thinking, Jay

Hold Your Fire

leaned into him. He inhaled his lover’s scent and willed himself to
relax. They were both safe.

“I almost feel sorry for her,” Greg said softly, looking at Amanda.

“She did all that for love.”

Stunned, Jay raised his head. “What?”
Greg’s lieutenant made a sound of disbelief. “You feel sorry for

her? She shot you.”

“I know.”Greg looked at Amanda again. “She was in love. People

do crazy things for love.” Greg’s grip on Jay tightened. He glanced at
the two lieutenants still in the room, but he couldn’t make himself
move away from Greg.

“Yeah,” he said, closing his eyes and resting his forehead on

Greg’s shoulder. “People do.”

* * * *

“I can’t believe you did that.” Jay fumed, striding over the

hospital parking lot toward his car. He didn’t bother slowing down to
check if Greg was still behind him. When he’d offered to drive him to
the hospital for his checkup, he hadn’t planned on this. His cheeks
heated as he remembered what happened.

“Come on, it wasn’t that bad,” Greg answered. He sounded

amused, the bastard. Jay, who had almost reached his car, whirled
around to face him. It wasn’t the smartest move he could have made,
because it put him between Greg’s muscular body and the car. Greg
grinned, his eyes gleaming. He backed Jay up against the car. Jay
refused to feel intimidated.

“It wasn’t that bad?” he demanded incredulously. “It wasn’t that

bad?” Jay had guessed he would only be needed to drive Greg to the
hospital and back. He figured he should hang around in case Greg
needed him. The guilt was still eating at him. Greg wouldn’t have
been shot if it wasn’t for him. Amanda had confessed that much. So
he had taken a half day off the job and followed Greg into the

Sunny Day

doctor’s office, a cup of hot coffee in his hand. He’d almost choked
on it when he heard Greg’s words.

“Have I embarrassed you?” Greg purred, his hands landing on the

car on either side of Jay’s body. Jay shifted uneasily, Greg’s body
pushing into his, his scent causing desire to quickly rise up inside
him.

“You asked him if you can have sex. With your boyfriend, and all

that while I was inside!”

“It was a reasonable question to ask,” Greg answered mildly. Jay

cast a nervous look over his shoulder. The parking lot was half empty,
but they still were in public.

“It was not!”
Greg grinned devilishly. He leaned to nip at Jay’s earlobe. “Don’t

you want to know?” A gust of hot breath teased the skin behind Jay’s
ear. He shivered in anticipation, and his cock twitched. Images
flashed in his mind of the last time he was this close to Greg.

Jay closed his eyes in mortification.
“Did you have to go into such...detail?”
Asking the question apparently wasn’t enough for Greg. While

Jay was sputtering, he and the doc continued to talk.

“It was necessary,” Greg answered matter-of-factly. Jay sighed.
Greg’s arm was apparently healing nicely, but the doctor still

wanted him to avoid putting unnecessary strain on it. That led to a
lengthy discussion about possible positions that would be easiest on
Greg. Some of the doc’s suggestions appeared to have stuck, since Jay
suddenly had a vivid image of Greg sprawled out on his bed, his
muscular arms spread and gripping the bedsheets, head thrown back,
and sweat dripping down the long line of his neck while Jay rode his
cock.

“Just get into the car.”
A flash of heat surged through him. Looking like he knew exactly

what Jay was thinking, Greg backed up and obediently went to the
passenger door.

Hold Your Fire

He waited for Jay to strap himself in and put the key in ignition

before asking,

“So which one was your favorite?”
Jay swallowed. His cock strained in his jeans and he had to reach

down to adjust it.

Greg put his arm on his knee, heat instantly searing Jay’s skin.
“Want to know which one I liked?” he asked.
Jay swallowed. His fingers went white on the wheel. “Yes,” he

said, not looking at Greg.

“I’m on my bed, completely naked. I fist my cock. You are

watching me, that big cock of yours flushed and ready. Then you
move closer, pull my legs off the bed, and I wrap them around your
waist. I want to feel you. You don’t mind. You are too busy sinking
your dick into my tight hole, stretching me up until I’m full and can’t
take any more.”

“Fuck, Greg.” Jay licked his suddenly dry lips.
“I take it”—Greg’s hand dipped briefly between his legs, giving a

tantalizing caress to the hard ridge in his jeans—“that you approve.”

“Yes, yes,” Jay hissed, turning the key in the ignition. The engine

roared to life, bringing him back to reality. “Save it for when we are
home, all right?”

He heard Greg laugh, and fruitlessly tried to concentrate on the

road. Greg retreated to his seat, but he continued to describe his
fantasy in a voice that was now harsh with desire. Jay’s mind clouded
with lust. He sighed in relief when the car finally pulled up in front of
Greg’s house. He turned and fisted his hand into Greg’s leather jacket,
yanking him closer. He attacked his mouth with ferocity. Greg
moaned, but didn’t try to get away. His moans excited Jay even more.
He growled in frustration when his seatbelt cut into his chest.

They broke up, panting. A heated gaze met his.
“Inside,” Greg said. “Now.”
Jay was vaguely aware of the door closing behind them. His mind

was filled with Greg, with the way the muscles in his arms flexed

Sunny Day

when he reached for Jay, hunger evident in his expression. He ran his
hand through the other man’s hair while Greg ravaged his mouth.
They stumbled toward the bedroom, shedding their clothes on the
way.

Jay lapped at the just-uncovered skin on Greg’s shoulder and

chest, where the bandages used to be. The other man shivered, his
eyes darkening with lust. Jay retreated to unbuckle his belt and take
his jeans down. Greg groaned, hips pushing eagerly into Jay’s hand.
Jay ignored the fat, slick dick that nudged his hand, instead tugging
on his lover’s clothes. Greg stepped out of them. “Jay, please...”
Ignoring his words, Jay put a hand on his chest, grazing his nipple
deliberately. He walked Greg back to the bed and pushed him until
the bigger man sat down.

Jay stepped back, running a hand down his own sweat-slicked

torso. He watched as Greg’s eyes glazed. He sighed in relief as he
opened his own zipper and his cock sprang free. He fisted it, pleasure
zinging up his spine. He hissed.

“So you wanted to know which is my fantasy?” he asked Greg.

The other man, eyes glued to Jay’s cock, just nodded.

“Lie down on the bed, then, and spread your legs.”
Greg licked his lips, but obeyed, sheets rustling as he positioned

himself. His cock was now resting over his belly, his balls heavy.

Jay went over to the nightstand and pulled out a bottle of lube. He

heard Greg suck in breath as he uncapped it, the sound loud in the
semidarkness of the room. Shafts of light spilled from the half-closed
blinds, playing enticingly over Greg’s skin. Jay paused to eye him
hungrily as he reached behind to slick himself up. The sting of pain as
he stretched himself was almost nonexistent, his own arousal
overriding the pain.

Greg shifted restlessly.
Jay climbed on the bed, straddling Greg’s hips.
He took in a deep breath as he aimed Greg’s dick at his hole then

gasped as the other man breached him.

Hold Your Fire

He felt so big this way. Jay screwed his eyes shut as he slid all the

way down. Greg rolled his hips, his slick shaft rubbing Jay’s prostate.

He opened his eyes to see Greg staring at him. Jay shifted, letting

Greg’s cock almost slip out of him. His ass muscles clenched in
protest. He eagerly slid down, shivering as he was penetrated once
more.

He braced both hands on either side of Greg as he continued to

fuck himself on Greg’s cock.

He almost lost it when Greg wrapped a hand around the base of

his cock. He whimpered when Greg refused to move.

“What are...you waiting for?” he asked, pleasure slowly building

inside him.

“Look at me,” Greg demanded. “I want you to know who’s doing

this to you, whose dick is in your ass.”

Like he could forget. Jay forced himself to look up. Greg

tightened the grip almost punishingly, setting the fast and furious
pace. He arched his hips as orgasm took hold of him. Jay gasped and
followed him, shooting his load all over Greg’s hand.

He collapsed on top of his lover, stars dancing in front of his eyes.

His heart beat madly, drunk from pleasure.

* * * *

His phone rang, chasing away remnants of sleep. Greg, his heavy

body spooning Jay’s, one arm thrown around him possessively,
murmured something, dropping a kiss on Jay’s naked shoulder.

Jay cracked one eye open and eyed the phone balefully.
Finally, with a heavy sigh, he pushed himself upright and reached

for the phone. Greg readily settled onto his hip, apparently
undisturbed.

“Yes,” Jay said into phone.
“We have a problem.” Frank didn’t waste time on niceties.
“What kind of a problem?” Jay shifted until he could lean on the

Sunny Day

pillows, fingers tangling into Greg’s hair.

“Donahue’s lawyer demands we drop the charges.”
Jay snorted. “In exchange for what? She confessed everything.”
“That’s it, Jay, they have a bargaining chip.”
“What kind of a chip?” Greg rolled his head to look up at Jay.
“It’s Frank,” Jay mouthed at him. Greg rolled himself up, and a

slow grin curved his lips. His lips brushed Jay’s, the kiss quickly
morphing into a passionate one.

“...think we ‘d better do it,” Frank’s voice said in his ear.
Jay blinked. “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that.” He glared at Greg,

who just grinned before snatching the phone.

“Hey,” Jay objected.
“Hello to you, too,” Greg said to Frank, then offered the phone to

his incensed lover. He stood up, stretching like a well-pleasured cat.
Jay’s gaze dipped down his chest. He quickly dragged it away.

“Sorry about that,” he said into the phone.
“Nah, it’s all right. Is Greg okay? I thought he had an appointment

with the doc today.”

Jay mind flashed to the moment when Greg’s dick stretched his

hole, his fingers digging into Jay’s hip, lips parted and eyes filled with
lust.

He shifted, wincing as he felt pleasurable soreness in his ass.

“Yes, he is perfectly okay,” he said through gritted teeth. “What were
you saying?”

“Amanda pulled a large amount of money from her account. As I

understood it, the lawyer pressed her about that. Finally she caved in
and said she hired someone to do the job. Apparently she changed her
mind about doing it personally when she hadn’t managed to kill Greg.
It rankled her.”

Jay frowned. “So she hired someone to do her dirty job?”
Frank heaved a sigh. “Apparently. The lawyer wants us to reduce

the charge for giving up the name.”

Anger rolled inside his chest. “To hell with it,” he said harshly.

Hold Your Fire

“She missed. She could have killed Greg. She wanted to kill him. I
want her serving time for that.”

“We may not be able to find out who she hired, Jay. And the man

could go after you before the word is out that she is locked up.”

“I’ll risk it.” He heard the water stop running and the bathroom

door closing. Pulling his jeans on, Greg glanced at him.

“Hold on a sec, Greg wants to tell me something.” He covered the

receiver with his hand.

“What is it?”
“You don’t trust me?” Greg asked, a wounded expression on his

face. Jay wasn’t fooled in the slightest.

“Frank doesn’t need to know more than he already does,” Jay

answered pointedly. His cock jumped at the wolfish grin his lover
gave him.

“I wasn’t going to grope you,” Greg said mildly.
“Everything aside, I’m hungry. I need more fuel if we are going to

continue with fun and games.”

Jay considered it. “All right.”
“Do you want something?”
When he mentioned it...
“Order pizza,” he said. “We will stay in tonight.”
“Okay. Frank wants something important?”
“No, just following up with me,” Jay answered. He waited until

Greg left the room to return to the phone.

“Sorry about that. Frank, I don’t care. She stays locked.”
“Figured you would say that,” Frank said. “I can understand that.

Hell, both my and your lieutenants are with you on this. But, Jay, we
may never find out who she hired. You will be in danger until we nail
the man.”

“I’m aware of that. I’ll risk it. I’m a cop. It’s not like I’ve never

been in danger before.”

“We are running out of leads, Madison.”
“Think about it, Frank. She is a pampered little girl. It’s not like

Sunny Day

she had a lot of options when it came to hired guns. Who could she
have found?”

Frank went quiet. “It’s a point. Hey, the PI might know

something. She found him. Maybe she ran into someone around his
office. It’s not exactly in a prestigious part of town.”

“That’s a good idea.”
“Vic and I will check it out,” Frank promised then said his good-

byes.

Jay snapped the phone shut and for a moment just stared at the

wall. He would need to find a reason to keep away from Greg
tomorrow, at least until the killer was caught. He didn’t want to
endanger him more than he already had. But that was tomorrow.
Tonight he planned to enjoy his lover. He left the bed and quickly
donned his jeans and shirt. Barefooted, he padded to the living room.

As the kitchen came into his view, his breath stopped.
Greg wasn’t alone.
A skinny, dark-clad guy in an oversize shirt and sweats, with a

sharp-colored bandana around his head, stood in their kitchen. He was
hissing something furiously at Greg. He held a gun at his lover. Greg
had both of his arms up and was talking softly.

Jay had a split second to make a decision. “Hey!” he yelled, and

grabbed a pillow from the sofa. He threw it at the intruder with all the
force he could muster. Surprised, the guy whirled around to face him.
His gun went off. The shot echoed in the room. Jay cursed as he dove
behind the sofa, his body hitting the hardwood floor with a loud
thump. His heart in his throat, he crawled out from behind it. Greg
used the attacker’s momentary distraction and lunged at him. They
were grappling and rolling on the floor. There was a loud crash as a
glass bowl fell from the table as they hit it. Jay ran toward them,
hissing when sharp pieces bit into his foot. Out of the corner of his
eye, he spotted the gun and kicked it. It twirled around on its axis and
skittered across the floor to end up under the kitchen cabinets. With
strength born from rage, Jay grabbed the guy’s shoulder and hauled

Hold Your Fire

him off Greg. His vision darkened when he noticed Greg’s split lip.
He was breathing heavily. “Thanks,” he said, his hand going to his
shoulder to rub it furtively. Jay yanked the man’s arm viciously,
almost dislocating it out of its socket, and threw him down. His knee
dug into the man’s back, drawing a painful groan.

Jay ignored it, focusing instead on his lover.
“You okay?” he demanded.
Greg nodded, wiping the blood from his lip.
“Can you hold him?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“You sure...”
“Greg! I’m sure.” Jay took a deep breath. “Go bring the

handcuffs. Then we’re going to call the cavalry.”

* * * *

“I turned around and there he was,” Greg said quietly. He sat

slumped on his own porch shivering under the blanket wrapped
around his shoulders. He glanced at the open door of his house and
winced unconsciously. The ambulance had come and gone. There
were still police cars parked on his street, their lights flashing, making
the whole scene even more surreal. The men went in and out of the
house. The crime scene—God, his kitchen was a crime scene—was
still being processed. He wasn’t sure he liked it. On the other hand, he
was still alive, so he should count himself lucky. His eyes strayed to
Jay, where he was talking with one of uniformed officers. Jay was
still alive. Yeah, he was definitely lucky. He shook his head ruefully.

“He broke in,” Victor said. “By the way, your security system

sucks.”

“I don’t have security system,” Greg objected. Frank and Victor

exchanged looks. He could easily guess what their thoughts were.
“Well, I don’t,” he defended himself. “It’s my home, for God’s sake.”

“Right. So what happened after?” Victor obviously decided to lay

Sunny Day

off the subject. “What happened next?”

“How did he get in, anyway?” Greg asked, stalling.
“Through the window,” Frank said, giving no sign he recognized

Greg’s tactic for what it was. “When we ran him through the system,
it returned a couple priors. Breaking and entering, among other
things.”

“No murder?” Victor asked, frowning. Frank shook his head. “No.

He wasn’t involved in anything like that before. He was involved in
armed robbery, but that’s it.”

“Next level in his career,” Victor said dryly. “So you turned

around and then what?”

“He was startled,” Greg answered. “At least I think so. He stared

at me for a full minute before reacting.”

He remembered his own brain working furiously during that short

reprieve. The guy hadn’t started shooting right away, which meant he
wasn’t a cold-blooded killer. He had quickly considered and
discarded several courses of action. He was unarmed, he was in his
kitchen, and there weren’t any places to hide. And, he realized with a
sinking feeling, the guy was too far away for him to successfully
tackle him. Shit. He was so screwed. His arm had started throbbing.
His breath quickened. He was in a similar situation once before.

The gunman appeared to come to a decision. He took a step closer

and raised his weapon. “Don’t move! Don’t fucking move!” he hissed
through clenched teeth, his eyes darting around the room madly.

“Easy,” he said, raising both arms. “Easy there.”
He took an experimental step forward.
“I said don’t move!”
“Okay, I won’t. Sorry.”
“You are a fucking cop, man. A cop. She didn’t say that.”
Greg was confused for only a moment. “She?” He quickly made

connection. “You mean Amanda? Amanda hired you?”

He figured talking was his best chance. He wondered quickly

whether the gunman knew Jay was in the house. The adrenaline in his

Hold Your Fire

blood spiked. It was only a matter of time before Jay showed up. Then
they would both be in trouble. There was no telling how his attacker
would react.

“Amanda, Amelia, who cares,” the gunman answered in

annoyance. “She showed up on my doorstep one day, says she has a
job for me. I was going to tell her to get lost, but then...”

“You realized she has money.”
“Well, yeah. She wants me to kill someone. Not really my thing,

but heck, I do as she says and I can press her later for more money. I
would be set for life, man. Got a tape and everything.”

Greg blinked. The guy was confessing to planning a blackmail.

Did that mean that he had a recording of Amanda hiring him for
murder?

“You were going to blackmail her?”
“Of course I was! Do I look stupid to you? You know what a

chance that was?”

“I do think that was pretty smart,” Greg agreed. Especially if I

get a hold of that tape. But he didn’t say that aloud.

“But you are a cop, man. The damned pictures are all over your

living room. I can’t kill a cop. She didn’t say you were a cop.” The
guy sounded disgusted. “The rest of your friends are goin’ to make
sure they catch me, and they ain’t gonna ask me polite questions when
they find me.”

“Probably the reason she didn’t tell you,” Greg offered. “She

wouldn’t want you to refuse the job.”

The guy gave him a speculative glance. His nostrils flared. “On

the other hand, the money is really good. And I could go into hiding.”

“She is already in custody,” Greg said flatly. “It’s only a question

of time when she will roll on you. Don’t think your friends are going
to be thankful to you for making cops crawl all over them.”

He needed to disarm the guy before Jay appeared. Keep talking to

him, Frank.

The guy frowned. “How do you mean, she’s in custody? She

Sunny Day

wasn’t when she gave me the money.”

“She is now,” Greg said conversationally. He slowly raised his

arm to touch his still-bandaged shoulder. “She made this.”

“Yeah? She try to take you out herself?” The guy appeared

intrigued. “Man, you must have really pissed her off.”

Greg leaned back on the counter, trying to look as harmless as

possible. “A friend of mine did. Took us some time to get her, but the
weapon she used”—he eyed the gun in the guy’s hand—“was used in
a previous crime.”

“You won’t be able to trace this one,” the guy said, correctly

interpreting his gaze.

“Figured that one myself.” He decided to distract the guy from

the idea of using the gun. “You said you recorded her talking to
you?”

“Yeah. Why do you ask?”
“We could be able to use it.” Greg carefully angled himself,

presenting the smallest possible target. He raised his arms up in a
defensive gesture. “And it could be useful to you, too.”

“I won’t get the money.”
“I thought you already got a payment,” Greg guessed.
“I did. Whether I’ll be able to keep it...”
His heart beat unsteadily. “Well, if you had already spent it, I

doubt anyone could take it back.”

The gunman gave a short bark of laughter. “You got that right. If

I already spent it...” His expression grew thoughtful. Greg held his
breath. “I don’t know man...” he started.

Greg paused, remembering what happened next. His gut cramped.

He looked at Jay again.

“And?” Victor prompted him, jerking him back to reality.

Startled, Greg looked at him. He exhaled a deep breath.

“Frank finished talking to Jay,” he said as he shot a look at his

friend. “Jay showed up.”

“We found out about the hired man,” Frank said apologetically. “I

Hold Your Fire

had to inform Jay.”

“You could have informed me,” Greg complained, though without

heat. He rubbed his aching temple. “When do you think I’ll have my
home back?”

“The kitchen will be a mess,” Victor sympathized. “So the guy

has a tape with him and Amanda?”

Greg nodded. “That’s what he said.”
“That’s interesting.” Frank stood up. “You wanted to offer him a

deal, make him accuse Amanda?”

“Yes.”
“You still want it?” Frank asked point blank. “Jay was insistent

about Amanda being charged.”

“I think that’s best course of action,” Greg said slowly. “Donahue

has good lawyers. Let’s wrap this case as tightly as possible.”

“The Draven case is getting another point for the prosecution,”

Frank added. “What with the murder weapon and all.”

A hand landed on his shoulder. Greg looked up to meet Jay’s

eyes. His lover looked tired. And worried. “You finished here,
Morgensen?” he asked.

“Almost,” Frank answered.
“My house is a crime scene,” Greg said, reaching to cover Jay’s

hand with his own. He immediately felt better as their fingers
intertwined.

“We could spend the night at my apartment,” Jay offered, his gaze

sliding idly over the gathered police cars.

Victor muttered something that sounded suspiciously like “Make

sure to cover all the windows.”

“What?” Jay asked in a puzzled tone. Frank cleared his throat.
“Nothing. Come on, let’s find someone to drop you off. We’ll be

questioning the hit man.”

Silently, Greg agreed with Frank. Now was not the best time to

have Jay find out that Victor obviously saw the pictures Amanda sent.

“What was that?” Jay asked suspiciously as he watched the two of

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them leave. “They almost looked...amused.”

“I’m sure it was nothing important. Help me up,” Greg demanded.

He once used to be scared of his colleagues finding out about him and
Jay. It was all a matter of priorities, and he finally had his straight.

He snickered. In a manner of speaking.

* * * *

Jay focused on the paper target which was waiting for him on the

opposite side of the gun range. His world was sunk into silence that
only headphones could provide, barricading him from reality and
allowing him to concentrate on his target. He raised his gun, cocked
his head so he could look over the barrel. His finger hesitated on the
trigger.

Arms wrapped around his waist, bringing him flush with a hard,

muscular body. His concentration broken, Jay yelped and his shot
went wide. Yanking his headphones off, he turned to face Greg.

“What the fuck do you think you are doing?”
Grinning, his lover just pulled him closer. “I always loved to

watch you do that.” He leaned in until he could lick at the corner of
Jay’s lips. “It turns me on.”

“Everything turns you on,” Jay groused, pulling back. Excitement

shivered through him. He checked Greg’s jeans and realized yes,
Greg was more than half-hard.

“Your turn,” he said, pulling the safety goggles off. He cast a

suspicious glance at Greg. “I thought we were here to practice
shooting.”

“We are. Ogling you is just a bonus.”
Greg took his place, checking his own gun. Leaning back on the

wall separating them from the adjoining booth, Jay raked him from
head from toe. Almost completely recovered, Greg was now back at
the job. Jay still woke in a cold sweat occasionally, remembering how
close he was to losing Greg. They should both be safe, reasonably

Hold Your Fire

safe, now, as Amanda and her henchman were both locked up and
likely to stay so for a long time.

His gaze slid over bulging biceps and broad shoulders as Greg

assumed position. Jay groaned as his cock gave an interested twitch.

Greg looked at him through hooded eyes. “What was that?”
“Nothing.”
Greg took the first shot, and Jay craned his neck to estimate how

good it was. Pretty good. He hesitated.

“If you get a better score than me, I’ll move in this weekend,” he

said.

Something twisted in his gut as the words left his mouth. He saw

Greg stiffen, then turn around to look at him. He lowered his gun.
“You serious about that?” he asked in a level voice. There was a tiny
flare of hope in his eyes.

Jay swallowed, cursing himself for bringing up the subject.

However, there was no denying he meant what he said, even if he
didn’t know it before he actually said it. And what did that mean?

Greg had insisted Jay move in with him ever since they’d wrapped

up the case. Jay stubbornly resisted. Why, he couldn’t be sure. He was
spending most of his time there anyway, so paying a lease at his
apartment was throwing away money at this point. Then again, maybe
he clung to his apartment because it was his safety net. If he broke up
with Greg, and shit, if he had to break up, that meant they were in a
relationship. He took a deep breath. “I guess I am.”

Fuck it. Suddenly he could relate to what Greg went through when

he left him all those years ago. He didn’t want to be in love with a
man, so he broke it up. Jay didn’t want to be in love with Greg,
which, he had to admit, didn’t mean he wasn’t in love with Greg. He
wasn’t going to wait ten years for another chance.

He raised his chin. “Well,” he challenged, “what do you say?”
Something flashed in Greg’s eyes. He looked Jay over, his slow

perusal making Jay’s blood heat.

“You’ve got yourself a deal.” He turned back briskly and raised

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his gun again.

He shot two times in rapid succession. Jay shifted, checking if the

room was empty. Satisfied that it was and that the two of them
appeared to be the only ones there, he stepped closer to Greg. Once he
was behind him, he let his arms slide over Greg’s hips until they were
resting on his belt buckle. He paused there, feeling Greg’s body go
taut. He pressed his lips to Greg’s shoulder. He smelled of gun oil and
sweat. A shiver went through the other man.

“That’s not,” Greg started, his breath leaving his lungs in a rush,

“fair, Jay.” Despite his words, he leaned unconsciously into Jay.

“It wasn’t meant to be.”
Greg groaned. “Jay,” he said warningly.
Rising up on his toes, Jay nipped at the bare skin of his neck,

above his shirt collar.

“Relax,” Jay said, “I’ll move in either way.”
“That’s good to know,” Greg said through clenched teeth. “Why

challenge me then?”

Jay smoothed his palm over Greg’s belly. He felt his muscles

tense and idly toyed with the idea of sneaking his hand under the
shirt.

“Maybe I want to see how motivated you are,” he suggested. “Get

you to impress me,” he added, to make sure Greg didn’t get the wrong
idea. He was going to move in, and he didn’t doubt Greg wanted him
to. It was just...fun teasing him.

“Oh, I’m...very motivated,” Greg said, grabbing his hand and

pushing it under his shirt. As his fingers skimmed over naked, warm
skin, arousal spiking in his belly, Jay found himself calculating how
many bullets Greg had left.

“Fine. Let’s see if I can distract you.”
Greg exhaled sharply, taking stance again. “You know, if you

keep this up, you’ll be the one driving us home. I don’t think I’ll be
able to concentrate.”

Jay ground his hips against Greg’s ass. “I can get behind that

Hold Your Fire

plan.”

Greg’s next shot missed the mark completely.
“I still shoot better than you,” Jay quipped. Greg twisted his head

so he could look at him. Jay shivered at the heated look he got.

“As to that,” Greg answered, “we can practice, can’t we? A lot?”

THE END

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sunny Day’s main preoccupation in life is reading and/or writing

books, though she much prefers reading what someone else wrote.
She is thirtysomething, single, and can usually be found attached to
her laptop. Her only form of exercise is bouncing up and down when
whatever story she is working on shapes well. She hopes readers will
enjoy this one.

Also by Sunny Day

Ménage and More: Hot in Space

Siren Classic ManLove: Recovery 1: Cowboy Needed

Ménage Amour: Knightly Bonds 1: Their Majesties’ Knight

Siren Classic ManLove: Raphael’s Mating

Available at

BOOKSTRAND.COM

Siren Publishing, Inc.

www.SirenPublishing.com

Document Outline

HOLD YOUR FIRE

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