Love Lies Bleeding Read Online Free PDF Page B

yet?"
    Leo shook his head. "I think he suspects. He said my name sounded familiar. But who knows? I just have to find the right time. He's going through enough as it is."
    "There's never the right time, man. Just tell him."
    "I have to…"
    A uniform walked up to them and Leo addressed him.
    "Sorry to interrupt, detective, but an Anderson Williams is here to see you."
    Leo and Daniel exchanged glances before Leo stood.
    "We will talk later," he assured his partner before following the officer out to the front. He greeted Anderson with a handshake then escorted him into an interrogation room.
    "Have a seat." Leo motioned to the chair.
    "That's fine. I think I'll stand." Anderson folded his arms over his massive chest.
    Leo took a seat. "What can I do for you?"
    I'm here to check the progress of my father's case."
    "These cases don't move as fast as on television and we don't have any fancy music montage to pass the time."
    "In other words, you have nothing."
    Leo bit his lower lip and tilted his head. He leaned forward in the chair, resting his elbows on the desk and met Anderson's eyes. "We have nothing definitive right now. But you can't rush these cases. They will take time and you have to be prepared for that."
    "May I ask what exactly are you doing to find this bastard?"
    "We just got the full report back from the medical examiner and we're still waiting for a bunch of other lab results that could put us where we need to be. But until then, you have to be patient. I can understand you're upset right now but I—"
    "Of course I'm upset. Wouldn't you be, walking in and finding your father in that state? But I'm also enraged at the killer who could do this to another human being. Have you looked into the fact this guy may have done this to someone else? I mean who just makes their first kill and starts with cutting someone's head off?"
    Leo felt like a moron. He hadn't even thought to look into that. He made a mental note not to let his feelings for Jazmon Williams cloud his judgment but it was getting to be a major pain in his ass.
    "Of course we're looking into that," he lied. "Like I said, you have to give us a chance to do our work and do it properly."
    "I get it. You can't rush this."
    He watched the way Anderson walked over to the two-way mirror and stared through it as though he could see beyond it. Leo knew better.
    "There's something I need to talk to you about, Anderson."
    The dark-skinned Adonis turned and leveled sad eyes on Leo. Any control Leo had then was quickly vanishing. Anderson's beautiful lips pressed into a determined line left his perfectly chiseled features brimming with dark danger. Rubbing his sweat-covered palms against his thighs, he took a breath and rose to stand beside Anderson.
    "There's another reason why I have to be careful with this case," Leo explained. "I knew your father."
    "What do you mean you knew my father?"
    "I mean your father and I had been friends."
    "My father isn't gay, detective, so you're going to have to be a little bit more specific with this kind of conversation."
    Leo frowned. "That's not what I meant. Your father is the straightest straight man I've met. I never had a father growing up and my mother was very ill. Your father helped her the best he could, whenever he could—made sure I went to school, had enough to eat, saw a doctor, and stayed out of trouble—that kind of thing. So I have a personal stake in this case too."
    "Should you even be working this investigation?"
    "Yes. As long as I show I am not being blinded by that relationship, I can work it. But they are watching me like a hawk. The thing is, I know this may be upsetting to you, but I have as much to lose as you do. I have a big stake in this case too. So whenever you get the idea to question my loyalty to it and your father, just remember without your father, I could very well be dead."
     
    * * * *
     
    Anderson stared at the detective, trying to rein in his temper by squeezing his thumb into his