Risking It All Read online

  “Risking It All”

  An M/M Gay Romance

  Max Hudson

  © 2020

  Max Hudson

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  This book is intended for Adults (ages 18+) only. The contents may be offensive to some readers. It may contain graphic language, explicit sexual content, and adult situations. May contain scenes of unprotected sex. Please do not read this book if you are offended by content as mentioned above or if you are under the age of 18.

  Please educate yourself on safe sex practices before making potentially life-changing decisions about sex in real life. If you’re not sure where to start, see here: http://www.jerrycoleauthor.com/safe-sex-resources/ (courtesy of Jerry Cole).

  This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner & are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. Products or brand names mentioned are trademarks of their respective holders or companies. The cover uses licensed images & are shown for illustrative purposes only. Any person(s) that may be depicted on the cover are simply models.

  Edition v1.00 (2020.05.06)

  http://www.maxhudsonauthor.com

  Special thanks to the following volunteer readers who helped with proofreading: E.W. Gregg, Bob, RB, Jaybee, Jenny and those who assisted but wished to be anonymous. Thank you so much for your support.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter One

  Drew Martindale entered the FBI building whistling and swinging his bag. He always felt rejuvenated after going to the gym. A couple of hours first thing in the morning made the day look better before he stepped into the building. At least his insomnia was dealt with; the gym across the street from his apartment was open at all hours. It was better than lying in bed staring at the ceiling.

  His team thought he was mad to be so obsessed with working out. It was either that or Drew would end up lost in his own thoughts, which were far darker than anyone realized.

  He entered the bullpen his team worked in and headed over to his desk. It was almost empty, with only nine people sitting at the twenty desks. The current pandemic had wiped out most of the workforce in Houston, including the FBI and other law enforcement. Everyone was either in isolation because they had the virus spreading across the country or someone in their immediate family had it. Drew was lucky due to living on his own, and he was rarely ill. Even then, it scared him to see so many people affected.

  Jason Carlyle was at his desk across from Drew’s, head bent as he read a file. Drew dropped his gym bag onto the floor.

  “Morning.”

  Jason glanced up, raising his eyebrows.

  “Don’t you ever take a break? I swear I’ve never seen you sit down for more than ten minutes.”

  “Well, I’m not one to sit still for long.” Drew dropped into his chair, stretching out his legs. “I need to keep doing something.”

  “You could always take up another hobby.”

  Drew laughed.

  “Not a chance. Besides, it works.” He drew up his t-shirt and flashed his rock-hard abs. “The guys love it.”

  “I prefer breasts to six-packs. By the way,” Jason gestured toward the closed-off office at the far end of the room. “Martin wants to talk to you.”

  “Why?”

  “Why don’t you go and find out?”

  Drew sighed. He had hoped that he could get through his paperwork today and not need to deal with anyone else. Thankfully, their active cases had gone down dramatically, so all the agents needed to do apart from the occasional investigation was to catch up on their paperwork. It seemed the criminals were suffering from the coronavirus as well. Made their job a little easier, barely.

  “I’ll just get my coffee and get changed.”

  “No, now.” Jason shook his head. “Martin said as soon as you stepped into the office. Everything else can wait.”

  Drew groaned. He always fixed his coffee once he arrived at work, and he was a bit more human after a shower as well. Martin knew that. It had to be bad if he was telling Drew to bypass his usual routine. Sighing, he rose to his feet and headed through the empty desks to the office. Martin Rogate had not been hit by the virus, even with his wife being a nurse in the emergency room. He seemed to have a stronger immune system than everyone else. Drew didn’t think he had seen Martin take a sick day in the four years they had worked together.

  He knocked on the door, hearing Martin’s bark of permitted entry. Stepping into the office, Drew saw that Martin was at his desk typing on his laptop. The lead special agent of major crimes was an exemplary federal agent, but he was terrible at paperwork on the computer. He only used his forefingers and seemed to stab at the keys. Drew was surprised that none of the keys had actually fallen off.

  “You wanted to see me, Martin?”

  Martin glanced up, his typing pausing momentarily. An eyebrow arched ever so slightly.

  “Forgotten your work clothes again, Drew?”

  “They’re in my locker. You said you wanted to see me as soon as I came into the building.” Drew folded his arms. “What’s up?”

  “Sit down.”

  Drew frowned. Martin never told him to sit down. If anything, Martin stood up. Now curious, Drew took a seat in the chair across from him. Martin closed his laptop and moved it to the side. Then he turned to Drew.

  “Do you remember Alex Callow?”

  Alex Callow. Drew hadn’t heard that name in over three years. The man had been a thorn in their team’s side for about four months before he had vanished into thin air. After Drew had had a face-to-face standoff with the bastard.

  “Drew?”

  Martin was looking at him strangely. Drew realized he hadn’t responded and cleared his throat.

  “I remember him.” How could he forget? “Stalked and murdered five women in quick succession in Houston’s suburbs. Then he disappeared just as we were about to arrest him. We had no idea where he was and had to close the case unsolved.”

  “That part never settled well with me. Serial killers can go to ground if not caught in time.” Martin reached for a file at his elbow. “Well, we have reason to believe that he’s come back.”

  “How do you know?”

  “A woman went into the police station yesterday and said she was being stalked.” Martin brought out a photograph and passed it across the desk. “Her name is Rosalie Muleham. She’s twenty-seven and a high school English teacher.”

  Drew leaned over and picked up the picture. He found himself looking down at a pretty dark-haired woman with a lovely smile.

  “Dark-haired, a teacher in the right age group. Exactly the same as Callow’s other victims.”

  Callow was back. Drew felt his gut tighten and his chest started to burn. The wounds had healed, but the scars were still there.

  “That’s what I thought. Miss Muleham said that she had confronted him as well.”

  “What?” Drew sat up. “She confronted him?”

  “She suspected that someone was following her and doubled back on her usual route, confront
ing him.”

  Drew whistled.

  “That was brazen. But Callow doesn’t like strong women. He prefers them more submissive, less taking to task.”

  “Well, we’re lucky that Miss Muleham was daring enough to face him. Because we have a photograph.” Martin picked out another picture. “She took this on her cell phone before he took off.”

  Drew took one look at the picture and knew exactly who it was. He had stared into those dark eyes before.

  “That’s Callow, for certain. He didn’t have the beard before, but that’s him.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “I’m positive.” Drew said grimly.

  Callow was back. Drew felt a shiver down his spine. That man had terrorized the public and made female teachers fear for their lives. Drew had thought this would be the arrest that would have him promoted and be in the position Martin now held. But instead he had ended up in hospital for two weeks and PT for nearly six months. Callow had done a lot of damage to him as well as his victims.

  “The director said it’s our case now as we had worked on it before years ago.” Martin put the pictures down and sat back. “We’re to find Callow and arrest him before he hurts anyone else.”

  “Do we have any help from the police department?”

  “Not those we would recognize. With the current pandemic, Detectives Marks and Euron have needed to self-isolate with their families. I said we would take it and ask for police assistance as and when needed.”

  “But we’ve been hit by the pandemic as well.” Drew pointed out. “Our team only consists of us, Jason and Mitch. Everyone else is self-isolating.”

  “Well, we’re going to have to work as best as we can with what we’ve got.”

  “What happens if Rosalie Muleham is murdered because we didn’t have the manpower?”

  “I’m sure we’ll be fine.” Martin linked his fingers together, pointing at Drew. “I need you to go to Miss Muleham with Jason and make sure she has constant protection until Callow is caught. He stalks his victims for three days and today is day three. Mitch will coordinate from his office. We have to make certain that the intended victim is safe while we’re searching for him.”

  That was going to be easier said than done. With their usual team of ten, they could split the work out between them. It worked well that way. But Drew knew this was going to be a stretch. Martin would be there, but only in a supervisory capacity. He was a good agent, but since word had got out that the coronavirus was sweeping through the country, he refused to step out of the office unless he absolutely had to. Not that he would admit it, but Martin Rogate was scared.

  Which left just Jason and Drew. They were going to have to ask for favors from other departments and more so from the police force. This wasn’t going to be easy. Drew hated that something like a virus was completely laying them all out. But they didn’t have much of a choice right now. They had to go with what they had.

  “I’ll get myself ready to go to Miss Muleham’s home.” Drew rose to his feet. “We’ll sort out a plan then.”

  “Drew?” Martin was frowning at him as Drew started to turn away. “I remember what happened to you when the two of you faced off. Just don’t kill him when you get hold of him.”

  Drew smirked.

  “Would I do that?”

  Martin shook his head.

  “Don’t make me answer that.”

  ***

  Harry Bryant was worn out. He couldn’t wait to go home and see his children. They would have been picked up from school by now. Maggie would be looking after them until Harry came home. She was a godsend to him in this time. Harry wanted to be there for his kids, but he had a job to do. Neither of them was sick. And, as children of a single parent who worked in law enforcement, they got to go to school. That was a slight relief.

  But not much. This pandemic had everyone scared. Harry was just as scared as everyone else. This coronavirus had come out of nowhere and had spread far quicker than anyone anticipated. Social distancing and self-isolation were happening more and more, leaving the streets mostly dead.

  Mostly dead. There were always those stupid idiots who thought they could commit crimes because they wouldn’t be caught. They must have thought the social distancing included the police putting their hands on them to make an arrest.

  These idiots included the drunk idiot in the back of his patrol cruiser. He had thought it was a good idea to have a few drinks before driving. The fool couldn’t even stand up properly while Harry was talking to him. There was no way he would let the man go on his way.

  If he wasn’t infected before, he was more likely infected now. If the coronavirus wasn’t completely drunk while inhabiting his arrested driver’s body.

  Harry pulled into the police station parking lot and got out, opening the back of the car.

  “Come on, you.” He stepped aside to allow the man to get out on his own. “Let’s get you inside before you do yourself more mischief.”

  “Fuck you.” The drunk slurred. He was swaying even though he was sitting down. “I want my lawyer. I won’t speak to anyone without my lawyer.”

  Harry sighed. He was not in the mood for any of this.

  “That’s your right but considering what you were doing before you were arrested and that you’ve been caught on several cameras, I’d say he would be a bit superfluous.”

  The arrested man simply glared at him, his eyes glazed over. Considering how much Harry suspected him of drinking, it was a wonder he was still conscious. And he wasn’t moving. Harry leaned in and hauled him out.

  “Let me go! I’m moving!”

  “No, you weren’t.” Harry nudged the cruiser door closed with his hip. “We need to get you inside to be processed and put in a cell. Sitting in the back of my car isn’t going to stop that from happening.

  The drunk started yelling and wriggling like mad. Harry almost lost his grip on his arm, having to tug him along.

  “You’re infecting me!” The drunk started screaming. “Help! This pig is infecting me!”

  “Shut up.” Harry growled.

  He wasn’t in the mood to be dealing with this idiot. Harry would rather be out making sure everyone was safe and getting the help they needed, not dealing with someone who had drunk a little too much and thought it was a good idea to go out in the car. Sadly, stupidity didn’t get wiped out as well.

  They entered the station, the man stumbling and screaming even as he reached the main desk by the cells.

  “This is against my rights!” He bellowed. “I was only driving home! Why aren’t you catching real criminals?”

  “Shut up.”

  The sergeant looked up from his computer as Harry brought the drunk to his desk. He sighed.

  “Another one?”

  “Another one.” Harry made the drunk stand at the desk, making sure he didn’t sway too much before letting go. “And he’s very mouthy.”

  “Go catch some real criminals!” The drunk sneered. “I’m not a criminal.”

  The sergeant stood.

  “If you were drinking and driving, you most certainly are.” He glanced over at the burly officer behind the desk with him. “Give him a breathalyzer test. We need a reading.”

  “Yes, Sarge.”

  Harry thankfully passed the drunk idiot off to his colleague, who led the man down a hall toward the room where their intricate machine would measure how much alcohol he had been consuming. The driver was screaming his head off, cursing so much with words Harry hadn’t even heard of before. He was surprised that his ears weren’t burning.

  “I have a feeling that machine is going to end up broken with so many people using it.” The sergeant grunted.

  “Same here.” Harry rolled his shoulders. Dragging the drunk along had tightened the muscles in his back with trying to restrain him. “I think there’s a consensus that they’re going to make the coronavirus drunk.”

  “Well, it’s not working.” The sergeant shook his head with a scowl. “That�
�s the fifth one tonight and the twenty-ninth this week. And it’s only Wednesday.”

  They were going to be busy. Harry didn’t mind being kept busy, but not like that. With fewer cars out on the streets, it was far easier to spot those who had been drinking or were doing something stupid. It seemed to be one of the few crimes still going on; the coronavirus didn’t discriminate, so there was the saving grace that while the police force’s numbers had been reduced, so had the number of criminals.

  At least they weren’t out in Florida. There were a bunch of young men and women, more than likely college students, who had decided they were going to head off to the beach and have a party or sunbathe. Social distancing went out the window when people thought it was a good idea to go outside and everyone had the same idea. New laws had been enforced so the police could arrest people who weren’t following self-isolation and social distancing rules. Harry wasn’t keen on that, but it was either that or the entire city went into lockdown, which meant nobody could go out. Harry didn’t think he could cope with that.

  This isolation period had barely started and his twin boys were already climbing the walls. They, at least, got to go to school because he was a single parent and worked on the frontline, but being at home and not being able to see their friends was frustrating. Harry found it frustrating as well, but as long as everyone knuckled down and did as they were told, this isolation part would pass.

  He hoped so. Having his routine thrown out of whack was a massive struggle.

  There was a buzzing coming from his pocket. It took a moment for Harry to realize that it was his cell phone. His mind started racing. Was it Jamie or Adam? Had one of them started coughing? Harry told himself to stop panicking. His children were young and healthy. They were going to be fine.

  “Harry?” His sergeant was looking at him oddly. “You going to get that?”

  “Hmm? Oh.” Harry fished out his cell phone and glanced at the number. He didn’t recognize it. “I’ll be back in a moment.”