Lost in New England

In the office on the second floor of Stop 'N Shop, Tommy drummed his fingers on the manager's desk. An assistant manager, who was acne-ridden and looked to Tommy as if he couldn't have been more than twelve, punched numbers into a calculator.

Tommy had been sitting there waiting for somebody to help him for nearly an hour, and his patience had worn thin.

"How much longer do you think?" Tommy asked the kid.

The kid, whose name was Harry or Ezekiel or something looked up from what he was doing and shrugged his shoulders.

"Dunno," he said. "Do you want me to go down and check again?"

Tommy sighed. The last time the kid had gone downstairs to the front of the store to check in his manager's whereabouts had been pointless. He had returned empty-handed, and without a clue when the manager was coming up. But what the fuck! It couldn't hurt, maybe the kid could hurry the manager along.

"Sure," Tommy answered. "Do you mind?"

The kid put down his pen and got up.

"Be right back," he said, and he walked out again

Tommy looked over at the screen of the desktop computer humming quietly on the manager's desk.

What if he just unplugged it from the wall and then just took the whole thing! Call it evidence in a possible crime. Tommy could figure out how to find the store videotape that he was looking for from the computer's hard drive back at his condo. Then he could get out of here, and tend again to the handcuffed teenager in his bedroom.

But then Tommy would not be absolutely certain that he'd gotten every copy of the tape that existed. And that was critical. If Tommy was going to finish cleaning up this whole mess he'd gotten himself mixed up with, he had to be sure that nobody else watched that video tape. He had to be sure that nobody else could identify Tommy in that group of guys who bashed Danny.

That kind of thing was not easily explained. And that kind of thing would definitely get in the way of Tommy's plan to be a chief one day. So he would wait a bit more for the night duty store manager.

Fuck! He drummed his fingers on the desk again, more loudly than before.

A few minutes later, the kid came back. This time his mission had been successful. He brought the store manager with him.

"Sorry to keep you waiting officer," the manager said. "There was problem downstairs with one of our delivery trucks."

The manager exhaled and plopped down into the seat directly adjacent to Tommy.

"Mmm," Tommy said, trying not to sound as frustrated as he was. "Officer Tom McKeon. Sorry to pull you away from your work so late on a Saturday night. This should only take a moment."

Tommy flashed his badge from the New Haven police department.

"Sunil Patel," the manager said, extending his hand and smiling. "Very happy to make your acquaintance. How can I help you officer?"

Tommy detected a tiny glint of recognition in the man's eye. He let it pass.

"Well, I am here investigating the assault incident that occurred last Saturday night."

"Oh my gosh. Such messy business. So sad. I hated to hear that the lad was kidnapped. And to have such a thing happen right here at Stop 'N Shop. Terrible, terrible!"

"Yes, terrible," Tommy replied. "We think we are close to apprehending the perpetrators however. We just need a little more help from you and your team here at Stop 'N Shop."

"Anything officer, happy to help. Such unhappy business."

The manager was looking at Tommy again. Tommy would need to move things along more quickly if he hoped to get out of there with what he wanted.

"Great, and on behalf of the city of New Haven, may I just say that the cooperation of you and the management team, as well as all of the other staff here at Stop 'N Shop has been exemplary. You are all outstanding citizens. Clearly, we would not be able to solve this horrific crime without your assistance."

Tommy knew he was blowing smoke, but the manager was smiling broadly, eating it up. So it seemed that his attempt at flattery had had the intended effect. From here on out, Tommy knew that Sunil Patel would be putty in his hands.

"You were here last Saturday night, is that correct? During the incident, I mean?" Tommy asked. He already knew that Sunil had been working that night. He had seen the man with his own eyes.

"Yes of course, I work every weekend night. Always the night shift. I am in training to be general manager of my own store. Working the night shift is a very important step toward this goal. They tell me that I am likely to get my own store very soon," Sunil answered.

"I am sure that you will. You seem like an outstanding manager."

"Thank you very much officer. Very kind."

Aware that the store manager was now examining Tommy's face even more closely, Tommy started to feel uncomfortable. He stood up, if only to get the guy to stop looking at him like that.

"Mr. Patel, I'd like to have a closer look at those videotapes recorded by the store security system last Saturday night," Tommy said, one hand over the bottom half of his face.

Mr. Patel smiled and stared intently at Tommy.

"Call me Sunil. Please."

"Thank you very kindly Sunil," Tommy said, his voice as syrupy sweet as he could manage.

Sunil turned his face toward the computer monitor on the desk.

"Yes officer, right away. You are in fact the second member of the New Haven Police Department to request to look at these tapes today. The day manager reported to me that a member of the police was already here. And that he had brought with him some family members of the..."

"Victim," Tommy offered.

Sunil smiled at his error.

"Yes, the victim. Family members of the...victim. You all are very busy on this case indeed. Very, very serious business indeed. That is a pleasure to my ears. I am sure you will get to the bottom of it quickly."

Tommy knew that his friend Brian was the police officer assigned to the Danny Leeman investigation. It was likely that Brian had been over to see the tapes at Stop 'N Shop earlier in the day today But why would Brian bring along members of the family of the Vic? That was weird and Tommy had no idea why he would do that.

The store manager tapped his password into the system and was rewarded with the happy chimes indicating that it was booting.

Tommy stepped away a little bit further and lined against a wall. He tapped his fingers on a filing cabinet during the boot. Sunil sat forward in his chair and began to hum. Tommy wanted to throttle him with his night stick, steal the computer and just get the fuck out of there.

The twelve year old kid entering numbers on the calculator looked up at Tommy, who was about ready to jump out of his skin. The kid looked first at Tommy's chest, then his arms, and then his eyes landed somewhere in the neighborhood of Tommy's crotch.

Well, at least the kid appreciated the finer things in life. Tommy knew he had a kick-ass body. For as much time as he spent in the gym, he deserved the looks he got. From girls, guys, whoever! Despite his foul mood, Tommy gave the kid a smile.

Over at the computer, the store manager seemed finally to have located the file he was looking for.

"Okay, we are just about ready here," the manager said. "Shall I play it for you?"

Tommy fished around in his pocket for a memory stick.

"No, just put it on here if you would," Tommy said. He handed Sunil the stick.

The store manager rubbed his chain with Tommy's stick and thought about that. Tommy's insides churned. He would have to clean the stick off with alcohol. He didn't want little bits of skin from Sunil's face on his memory stick.

"I would very much like to give you our tape on this USB device, however I am uncertain if I am authorized to do that," Sunil said.

Tommy exploded.

"Authorized. Of course you are authorized, this is official police business and I am a police officer with the New Have Police Department."

Sunil now rubbed the corner of his lip with Tommy's memory stick. Tommy watched him and wanted to retch.

"This is the official property of Stop 'N Shop supermarkets. I will have to check with my district manager. I am very sorry to inform you of this fact, officer."

"But it's late on a Saturday night, how will you reach your manager tonight. I need this tape on that stick tonight," Tommy shrieked.

Sunil raised a hand to try and calm Tommy down.

Tommy argued his case with the manager for a few more minutes. But unfortunately the store manager wouldn't budge from his position and they didn't get anywhere.

The manager insisted that he couldn't turn over the tape without authorization from a manager superior to him. And Tommy insisted that it was the right of the New Haven police to help himself to anything in the store that would help in solving the disappearance of Danny Leeman.

"But I don't understand, officer, why is not just possible for you to view the videotape right here? On my desktop computer?"

"Because it's not," Tommy said. "In fact, I'll need to delete the videotape from your hard drive while we conduct our investigation."

Sunil shook his head.

"That will not be possible, I'm very sorry officer."

"It must be done. We can't have any employees of this market interfering with evidence while we are conducting this investigation," Tommy said, his voice louder now.

"This is a Stop 'N Shop private tape. We need to keep it until our private security officer says it is okay for us to discard it." Sunil was now quite resolute in his objection.

Tommy stepped a few feet closer to Sunil. Quite a physical presence, Tommy was hoping that Sunil would just shut the fuck up and let him do what he needed to. There was no Plan B, he needed that god dammed tape! Unless of course Tommy was going to take both the store manager and the twelve year old kid at the calculator and beat them to a pulp.

The manager sat up more upright in his chair as Tommy approached. His right hand covered the mouse, preventing Tommy from touching it. The kid stopped pecking on his calculator, his red blotchy face frozen, his mouth open as he watched to see what would happen next.

"Threatening with your imposing physical presence me will not lead to anything worthwhile, as a management trainee of this company, I am aware of my rights. And I am aware of the rights of this story. I need to make a call if you are to receive what you are requesting." Sunil said with a firmness in his voice. Tommy continued inching forward.

"I don't give a flying fuck about the rights of this store! Get me the authorization you need," Tommy said through clenched teeth. "And get it right now! I want that videotape tonight, and I want the file deleted from your hard drive. This is an official police investigation. And you should not be interfering."

"Sir, I am trying to be helpful to you."

"So far, you have not been helpful. I would hate to have to provide that assessment to your district manager. Not with the life of our victim at stake. A life, by the way, that was probably changed forever right here at the Stop 'N Shop supermarket. I'm sure you don't want to be responsible for that do you Sunil? You want to help find this young man, right Sunil?"

Sunil had started to perspire. His forehead was covered in tiny droplets of sweat. Tommy wanted to gag again.

"Yes I do! I do want to help officer, but..."

"But what? It's your job, your precious little fucking promotion to store manager? Is that so god dammed important compared with the life of this your boy who was kidnapped?"

"But..." Sunil was stuttering now, his resolve breaking.

"There's not much time left, Sunil," Tommy said, pounding away at the poor man's emotions now. "Let's hope that it's just not too late already!"

"I don't want to interfere with your job officer," Sunil pleaded. "I just need to make a phone call."

"Good," Tommy said. He picked up the receiver from the desk phone and handed it to Sunil. Tommy was standing directly over the terrified manager now, the pants of his police uniform in contact with Sunil's leg.

"Then make it. Right now. Make the call."

Sunil looked up at an old yellowed page that was taped to the wall. He dialed.

Tommy waited, tapping his fingers on the desk beside the manager. Tommy could hear the ringing of the phone even though Sunil had the receiver against his head.

There was no answer. Tommy thought that Plan B, where he pounded Sunil's head into the desk, was becoming increasingly more likely.

**

Paolo parked his car in front of a fire hydrant in downtown Boston and waited for Jeremy M to finish with his massage. He opened his phone and began to read through some of his email. As an accountant, most of his work had to be done in the office, with full access to the applications on his Mac, but maybe he could skim a little bit off the surface late on a Saturday night. If everything went as planned, he and Jeremy M would have a whole lot of time to read their email for the rest of the weekend.

After only a couple minutes, Jeremy M came up to the car and knocked on the window lightly. Paolo smiled. Such a hot boy, why on earth was he still single?

Paolo unlocked the doors and Jeremy M opened the back door to toss his bag inside. He then opened up the front door and climbed inside.

"Hey handsome," Jeremy M said, beaming. "What a nice treat this is! Twice in one day!"

Paolo leaned across the console and kissed him on the mouth.

"Mmm, you taste great," Paolo said, licking his lips.

Jeremy M laughed.

"Right, probably like of lot of biker sweat with massage oil mixed in."

Paolo thought for a moment.

"With just a hint of Brazilian sperm mixed in."

Now Jeremy M had to think.

"Wait, I thought you came in my ass. Did you cum in my mouth too? I can't remember anymore, it's been a really long day."

Paolo pulled Jeremy M's face toward him and placed his tongue inside his mouth.

"Hmm, maybe you're right, no sperm," Paolo agreed.

Jeremy M put his palm on Paolo's thigh.

"But you could cum in my mouth if you want," Jeremy M teased. "Once we get on the road."

"I want," Paolo said.

"Good, then drive. I'm starved."

Paolo pulled away from the curb. Jeremy M was sound asleep in his seat before they hit the Mass Pike.

Two hours later, Jeremy M woke up.

For a moment, he had no idea where he was. He looked over at Paolo, the silhouette of his face lit by the dashboard lights. Then he remembered . This was a road trip to New Haven. It was probably still Saturday night. He stretched his arms over his head. Fortunately he was short enough that he could extend his arms completely and touch the inside roof of the car. It felt good to bend his wrists back. He yawned.

"That must have felt good," Paolo said, grinning.

Jeremy M looked at him. He wiped his mouth with his forearm. He suddenly had the thought that his breath might be bad following his nap. He covered his mouth and exhaled to check.

Hard to say.

"How long did I sleep?"

Paolo laughed. "The whole way. We're like five minutes away from the house."

"Really? I'm sorry."

Jeremy M put a hand on Paolo's thigh again, the edge of his palm against Paolo's zipper.

"It's okay, you probably needed it," Paolo said. He shifted slightly in his seat so that Jeremy M's hand was cupping his cock and balls.

Jeremy M smiled and applied a little downward pressure. Paolo's dick, already large on even his worst days, pushed back.

"Wow," Jeremy M said. "I can't believe I had this up my butt just this morning."

Jeremy M looked down at himself. His pants were open and his underwear had been pushed downward. His own dick peeked out from under the waistband and pointed toward Paolo.

Paolo saw him notice and smiled.

"Wait! What happened?"

Paolo didn't answer so Jeremy M put his right hand into his briefs to feel what he could. It was a little sticky.

Jeremy M smiled back.

"Did you actually...I mean, did you jack me off? While you were driving?"

Paolo nodded yes. He placed his right palm under Jeremy M's nose. The bleachy cum smell of his own spunk was obvious. He laughed out loud. Jeremy M lifted up his own underwear to inspect himself more closely.

"It's a good thing we didn't crash."

Jeremy M nodded.

"You were quick," Paolo noted.

"And I didn't even wake up?"

"Nope."

"Unbelievable. Did I cum very much? It's been kind of a crazy day, I think I've gotten off like three times already."

Jeremy M rubbed his eyes and looked out the window. Absently he rubbed the top of his underwear, just a force of habit. One eye on the road, Paolo watched his friend closely with the other one.

"I really need food, I haven't eaten," Jeremy M said.

"Okay, like what?"

"Well, dinner would be good. And lunch too. I seemed to have missed both of those."

"I don't think there's not much open this late," Paolo said. "Do you want to go to a bar? We could get wings or something."

"No! Please no! How about just a yogurt or an apple or something?" Jeremy M asked. He moved his hand from his dick up to his stomach and made a circle.

"Market?" How about we find a supermarket that's open?" Paolo suggested.

"Yes!" Jeremy M cried out enthusiastically. He leaned over and grabbed Paolo's bicep with both hands. "Oreos!"

"Oreos? Really?"

"Yes! Oreos! My favorite!"

"Really? I am a little surprised. Aren't you like a fitness geek? How is it that you love Oreos?"

Jeremy M drew back and looked at Paolo as if he were from another planet.

"You're kidding right? How could anybody not like Oreos? They are amazing!"

"Okay then, we'll get you some Oreos then."

"Double stuffed!" Jeremy M said with a mischievous grin.

Paolo laughed.

"Of course it would have to be double stuffed."

They both giggled.

"So there's a Stop 'N Shop on the way to our house. I'm pretty sure they are open late on Saturday night. We can stop there." Paolo said. He merged onto the off ramp.

"Yay! I am so starving! I may finish them off before we even get back into the car!" Jeremy M said.

Paolo stopped at the light at the bottom of the exit. Then he made a left turn to so that he could get Jeremy M his Oreos at the Stop 'N Shop.

**

Sunil Patel put the telephone receiver back into its cradle very slowly.

"Sorry chief, no answer," he said.

Tommy seethed.

"Do you have his cell phone or something?" Tommy asked. "I need to take these files off the premises tonight!"

"Officer, I will check. As you can clearly see, I am trying to be most cooperative with you."

Tommy grunted. Sunil opened up the desk drawer in front of him and began to move papers around. The twelve year old kid on the calculator stood up.

"I think I'll go check on the front," he said.

Neither Sunil or Tommy even bothered to look his way. He left the room. Tommy heard the kid's footsteps fade away as he walked toward the main part of the store. Tommy moved closer to Sunil to see what he was doing in the drawer.

"I must admit that I am quite surprised by this reaction from the New Haven Police Department," Sunil said while he scanned scraps of paper in the drawer. "I am helping you all I can. I don't understand why you cannot simply view the videotape here in the store."

Tommy glared at the store manager.

"Because I can't," Tommy said, gritting his teeth.

Finally, Sunil found what he was looking for. He lifted up a note card with a phone number written in blue ink on it.

"See officer, just have a little faith. I knew it was here somewhere."

"Dial it," Tommy commanded.

Sunil did as he was told. Then he waited for the district manager to answer.

Tommy drummed his fingertips on the arm rest of Sunil's chair. His crotch was less than an inch away from the manager's elbow. Tommy became aware of a faint spicy smell. Without thinking he sniffed his own upper arm, close to the armpit. Sunil was staring straight ahead and appeared not to notice.

"Hello?"

Tommy breathed in deeply, secretly relieved he wouldn't have to beat the shit out of the store manager to get what he needed.

"Yes, Mr. Peterman, this is Mr. Sunil Patel. Night manager, store 238, New Haven, Connecticut."

Tommy wondered if Mr. Peterman had ever before even met Mr. Patel. He doubted it. He wondered if Patel would ever make it to store manager. He doubted that too. One didn't get ahead by hassling your district manager on a matter of simple store protocol late on a Saturday night.

"Yes, Mr. Peterman, thank you very much. I am ever so sorry for having to bother you so late at night."

Tommy watched Sunil's forehead break out into tiny droplets of sweat once again. Gross! The guy was just sitting in a chair talking on the phone and he was perspiring. Tommy wondered what would happen to him if he had to run a ten miler along the sound, like he had done just this morning.

"Well you see, Mr. Peterman, it's about the incident that occurred here at the store last weekend. You have read the report, I am certain, about the assault?"

Without thinking, the zipper of Tommy's pants brushed the skin on the side of Sunil's elbow. Sunil glanced up, then moved his elbow away slightly.

"Yes, I know. Terrible business, you're so right."

Tommy made a circular spinning motion with his hands. He wanted the store manager to get to the point already. While Tommy rocked back and forth against the arm rest of Sunil's chair, Sunil explained the situation to his district manager in excruciating detail. Three separate times, Tommy rolled his eyes and made the same circular motion with his hands.

There was a pause while Sunil listened to something that the district manager was saying.

"Oh. I see," Sunil said.

"What?" Tommy asked. "What did he say?"

Sunil raised a hand to quiet Tommy.

"Yes he is here, Mr. Peterman. He is dressed in his police uniform. And yes, I did see his badge. It all looks very official to me."

Tommy grabbed for the telephone receiver. "Let me talk to the guy already," Tommy said.

"No, he didn't have that," Sunil said, his eyes looking up at Tommy. "I'm quite certain."

"Didn't have what?" Tommy asked.

"Okay, I'll ask him," Sunil said into the phone. He put the phone receiver into his palm and spoke quietly to Tommy.

"Mr. Peterman would like to know if you have a judge's order, authorizing you to remove the security tapes from the premises."

Tommy blew his stack. Of course he didn't have a judge's order, no judge would grant such a request so he hadn't even asked one! Tommy grabbed the phone out of Sunil's hand.

"What the hell are you talking about? A judge's order? I'm here trying to investigate a missing person! This particular missing person had the crap beaten out of him right here in this supermarket! You have tapes that will assist the New Haven Police Department in finding out who carried out this crime. You have tapes that will help us to locate the perpetrators of this crime! And if we can locate these fucking shitheads, maybe we can god dammed save this young student's life!"

Sunil backed away from the desk. He had about as much as he could take of Officer Tommy McKeon for one evening.

"You finish talking, I'm going downstairs to check on my store."

Tommy continued yelling into the phone for the next five minutes. In the end, he got what he wanted. Almost. He could make a copy of the videotape and take it back to police headquarters, but he could not erase the store's copy from their hard drive. That was going to require either a judge's order, or at the very least some approval from a manager higher up than Mr. Peterman. And that was not going to be able to happen tonight.

He thanked Peterman with as much kindness as he could summon and hung up the phone gently.

Not ideal, but maybe Tommy could figure something else out. He had to get that entire tape erased off of the store's computer hard drive. As he hung up the phone, he finally realized that the store manager had left. He was alone in the office.

Tommy had the memory stick. He looked at the screen, flashing some strange color pattern as a screen saver. If he could copy the videotape and 'accidentally' erase the hard drive as he did so, he might just be able to chalk that up to his lousy tech skills. That was believable enough. He was a jock, not a computer nerd.

Tommy stuck his stick into a USB port on the side of the computer and jiggled the mouse.

'Please, let there NOT be a password requirement that kicked in while he and Sunil had been on the phone. Please!'

"Shit!" Tommy cried out when the password request window lit up the computer monitor.

He sat back in the office chair and blew air up at the ceiling. He was going to need help from somebody on staff. Tommy stared at the screen and considered his next move. Maybe it was just a simple password that all the management staff could remember easily?

Stop 'N Shop? No way. Too complicated with the apostrophe.

Food? Nope. Too short.

New Haven? Possibly, but did it have caps?

Douche bags? Hmm, that could be the password. At least that would fit the staff quite nicely, Tommy told himself.

The door opened and in walked Harry or Ezekiel or whatever his name was.

Tommy leaned backward and looked over his shoulder, trying to keep the desperation out of his face. The twelve year old kid with the acne closed the door behind him and walked over to the desk, very close to Tommy. He set a paper shopping bag on the desk beside Tommy.

"Here," the kid said. I thought you could use one of these."

Tommy scowled. Then his curiosity got the better of him and he looked inside the paper bag. There was a six-pack of beer inside.

"Seemed to me like you were a little stressed out," he added. "These should help." He reached into the bag, pulled two cans out, and popped the top of one.

"Wait, how old are you?" Tommy asked.

"Twenty five." He took a long swig from his beer and glared at Tommy.

"Gimme a fucking break! Show me some I.D."

The kid hesitated, then took another long swallow. Tommy didn't move.

"Okay, I'm 19. I'll be 20 next May. I just look young for my age."

Tommy cracked up. It was true, the kid looked to Tommy like he couldn't be older than 12 or 13, certainly not much past puberty.

"Yeah, I'll say you look young. And May is practically a year from now. You're just a punk kid."

The kid grunted and finished off most of the rest of his beer.

"I am not just a punk kid. I am the assistant night manager at Stop 'N Shop. On the weekends at least."

"Hooray," Tommy said, mocking him. "But you still look like a punk kid."

The kid finished his beer while Tommy watched him. After he put down the empty can, he looked over at the computer screen. The little window asking for the password was now flashing.

Tommy reached for a beer from the sixer.

"What the hell?" Tommy said to the ceiling. "I'm drinking with a fucking adolescent."

"I'm 19. Going on 20. Stop 'n Shop does not hire adolescents."

This time Tommy grunted, his lips still attached to the metal lip of his beer.

"I'd still like to see some I.D. Drinking age in this state is 21," Tommy said.

"Arrest me."

Tommy smiled. The kid wouldn't last 20 minutes in the holding tank they had back at the station. Tommy took another gulp of beer. Despite his could mood, the beer was already having its intended effect. He was starting to relax a tiny bit.

The kid looked closely at Tommy's uniform. Tommy was proud of how he looked in it, he'd been told as much on quite a few occasions.

"Do you want to be a cop some day?" Tommy asked.

"What? So I can shoot people? No fucking way."

Tommy smiled. He thought about trying to explain that cops didn't really shoot people. In fact, Tommy had never once even fired his gun. But what was the point? Tonight was not supposed to be about recruiting an adolescent to join the force.

Tommy scanned the boy from head to toe. He had on the usual supermarket garb. Dark slacks, a white dress shirt, and a green apron. Tommy thought to himself that the kid was probably packing a pretty killer body underneath.

"I swim," the kid said.

"What?"

"I said that I swim. I saw you checking me out. That's where I get this body. I used to do triathlons, my whole family did. But now I just swim. A few miles every day. And I'm fast too."

"I wasn't checking you out," Tommy objected.

"Yes you were, you just did, just now. You've been thinking of me as just a stupid little teenager, but then you finally noticed. I'm fully grown. And I've got a pretty fucking great body. Cause I swim."

"I wasn't...." Tommy started to say again. But then he stopped. What was the use?

"It's just my stupid acne. I can't really help that. That's what makes me look young. But like I said..."

"You're 19." Tommy interrupted.

The kid smiled.

"That's right. See? You're learning. I'm 19, I swim, and I'm the assistant night manager at the New Haven Stop 'N Shop."

"On the weekends." Tommy added.

The kid nodded. Tommy turned his attention back to the screen.

"So, now that you've told me all about yourself, how about you get me into this fucking computer so that I can download this videotape that I need."

"Maybe I will," the kid taunted him.

Tommy took a sip of beer and glanced over at him again.

"Maybe I will fucking kick your ass all over this office, you punk? How about that Mr. Weekend Assistant Manager?"

The kid shrugged.

"You won't. You need the password. You need my help."

Tommy lunged out of the chair and stood up. He put his face up very close to the kids face. Tommy could smell the beer on his breath. And something faintly antiseptic on the skin of the kids face.

The kid stood his ground. Tommy blinked and took a breath. Intimidation was not going to work here.

"What's your name, Mr. Assistant Manager?"

The kid smiled.

"I told you before when you came into the office, but you were not paying any attention. I was just a little punk kid who you were never going to see again, so it didn't really matter if you knew my name."

Tommy sighed and stepped back from the kid. He looked at the computer screen. It was getting late. He needed the stupid password.

"I'm sorry," Tommy said. "You're right, that was not very nice of me. Now what's your name again please?"

The kid smiled. He opened another beer and took another long drink. Tommy waited. He tried very hard not to tap his fingers against the desk.

"It's Carey," the kid said. "Carey M."

Carey? Where the heck had Tommy gotten Ezekiel from?

"Okay Carey M, what's the god dammed password for this computer?"

"We're not supposed to tell anyone," Carey M said smugly. "How about if I just type it in for you?"

Tommy took a long slow, deep breath. Then he focused his eyes on Carey M's green apron.

How about if I wrap your fucking apron around your neck and hang you from the light fixture until your eyes bulge out of your skull? Tommy made himself calm down. Again.

"Okay, go ahead, type it in. I will look away," Tommy said, grinning as best he could through his teeth.

Carey M leaned in to type in the password. Before he did, he paused, thinking.

"Hmm, what's in all this for me?" he asked, his eyes in the center of Tommy's body.

"What's in it for you? How about your god dammed civic fucking duty?"

"Tisk, tisk. Such language officer. Nope, I'm not interested in civic duty. Not here in New Haven at least."

Tommy was beside himself. When would this nightmare ever end?

"Twenty bucks. I've got twenty bucks in my pocket, you want that?"

Carey M laughed out loud.

"You're joking right? You think that twenty dollars is enough for me to let you have what you want off of this computer, even though my store manager and my district manager says that you can't have it?"

Tommy rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Um, I'm guessing that the answer to that question is no?" Tommy asked sheepishly.

"You're right, officer. I don't want your twenty dollars, don't insult me."

"Then what?"

Carey M stared directly into Tommy's eyes. Then he moved them quickly down to Tommy's mid section. Then back again to Tommy's eyes.

"Seriously?" Tommy asked, incredulous. "You want to see my penis? My cock?"

A thin smile crossed Carey M's face. He shook his head, then repeated the same move as before with his eyes.

"Oh!" Tommy said, suddenly realizing that the kid was not really such a kid at all. "You don't want to just see my cock, you want to suck my cock!"

Carey M nodded.

"Lock the door," Carey M commanded.

Seconds later, Tommy got up out of the chair. He walked over and locked the officer door.

At the New Haven Police Department, he had frequently been praised for how well he followed orders. And if that was all that it was going to take to get the password to this computer, collect his videotape and erase the hard drive, then he was going to follow orders again.

This time he might even like it.

**

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, we're going to Stop 'N Shop?" Jeremy M asked.

Paolo smiled at his cute passenger. Jeremy M was buttoning his pants.

"Um, I don't think we have a lot of choice in the matter. It's late, not too many places are open. So if you want those Oreos..."

Jeremy M sniffed his own hand. It smelled like sex to him. That was weird, he hadn't even really had sex. Paolo did. Jeremy M furrowed his eyebrows and grabbed Paolo's hand. He sniffed it. Sure enough, Paolo's hand smelled like sex too. That made more sense.

"No, no, it's not that at all. Stop 'N Shop is totally fine. It's just that, well, it's just that I think my younger brother works there, that's all. And I didn't get a chance to call him to tell him that I'm in town."

"You have a younger brother?" Paolo asked. "And he lives here in New Haven? Why am I only finding out about this now?"

Jeremy M smiled.

"You never asked, his name is Carey," Jeremy M said.

"Does he look anything like you? We may just have to take. him home with us and have a ménage 'a Jeremy and Carey."

"That's completely disgusting. And it's not gonna happen," Jeremy M said flatly.

"Damn!"

"Besides, Carey is just sort of still growing up. He's 19, and still trying to figure things out. We used to do triathlons together. But he stopped, and we've grown apart a little bit. Now he just swims."

"So, has he figured out if he's gay or not?" Paolo asked. "I'm happy to help out, if he needs any guidance in that department."

"You're demented!"

"Yes I am. But is your brother gay?"

Jeremy M nodded.

"Yup, and he's a top."

"Hmm. Not for me. But how convenient for someone else I know," Paolo teased. "I'll have to pawn him off on Donnie. I'm keeping you for myself."

Paolo gave Jeremy M's left butt cheek a squeeze as they pulled into the parking lot of the supermarket. Jeremy M looked out the car window to the inside of Stop 'N Shop. Was his brother on duty tonight? It would be a really nice surprise to see him.

**

Tommy looked at the little head bobbing up and down between his legs. When he walked into the store a few hours earlier, he hadn't had any intention of receiving a blow job, but well, what the fuck!

He didn't care if the guy was 19 but looked like he was twelve. He gave some really rocking head.

With his pants around his ankles, and the reddish brown hair of Carey M moving rhythmically over his crotch, Tommy watched the videotape file slowly move over to the memory stick that he had inserted into the computer. He wondered which would happen first. Would the file finish or would he? Given the slow speed of the old computer, Tommy was sure he'd be the first to finish.

Tommy jiggled the mouse to kill the screen saver. Carey M came up for air.

"What?" Carey M asked, his mouth moist with spit and Tommy's juice.

"No, no, nothing," Tommy said. "I just moved the mouse a little. Keep going. This is fucking great!"

Carey M smiled.

"Thanks, you've got a great dick. I love foreskin!" He held it in one fist like an awarded just one for Tommy to see.

"Good. I'm keeping it," Tommy replied.

Carey M went back to work on Tommy's uncut cock. Tommy went back to watching the computer.

The phone rang. It scared them both out of their wits. Carey M took his lips off of Tommy's hard-on.

"Shit," Carey M said. "It's probably Sunil. From downstairs."

Tommy was definitely not ready for Carey M to stop. He was so close.

"Should I answer it?" Tommy asked.

Carey M eased himself up from the floor.

"No. Better not. I'll get it," Carey M sighed.

Tommy's dick bounced lightly between his thighs. It was thin, curved at the base, and darker red near the top. And just this moment, it was glistening with the saliva from the assistant store manager's mouth.

Carey M answered the phone. Tommy strained his ears to hear what was being said on the other end of the line.

"You're kidding? Really?" He used the edge of his green apron to wipe a drop of spittle from the corner of his mouth.

"What?" Tommy mouthed silently.

"Wow! That's so cool. Okay then, tell them I'll be right down."

"What?" Tommy asked again, this time out loud as Carey M hung up the phone.

"My brother is here. He's downstairs right now," he said.

"Your brother?" Tommy was confused.

Carey M wiped his forearm across his face, ran his fingers through his hair and tried straightening his apron.

"Yeah. Crazy right? He lives in Boston. I have no idea what he's doing here."

At the same moment, both of them noticed Tommy's cock, pointing upward from the base of the chair. It began to wilt.

"What about?" Tommy asked, nodding his head toward his penis.

"Well, I'm sorry. I guess I can't finish you off right this second. We can work something out later."

"Later? When later?"

" I don't know officer," Carey M said. "Just later, we'll figure it out."

Tommy took a deep breath. This was fucking crazy!

"But consider your debt paid," Carey M said. "I pretty much got what I wanted. All except the creamy topping at the end."

Despite himself, Tommy chuckled.

As Tommy pulled his pants up over his tumescent dick, a little ding from the computer signaled that the file had finished loading. Tommy deleted the only copy from the hard drive with one click. He stood up and adjusted his pants. Then he watched as Carey M unlocked the office door so that they could both go downstairs.