Untouchable (LGBT - SciFi - Romance)

Chapter 44

Lieutenant Alan Stewart let himself into Banner's apartment. He had some news that he wanted to share in person and he wanted to surprise him by having lunch ready when he returned from his shift at the hospital. Sure, he'd picked the two noodle dishes up from the local Asian restaurant, but it was the thought that counted, right? He put the bowls down in the kitchen then froze as he heard a sound from inside the apartment behind him. He stuck his head around the corner of the kitchen, was Banner home already?

A murmur of low male voices reached him. Someone laughed. From Jae's bedroom. Where the door was shut. It was obvious Jae was in there with a lover, but ... who?

Alan swallowed a lump of ice in his throat. It wasn't Banner, it couldn't be, he knew that. Banner wouldn't cheat on him, if he was getting impatient with the constant delays in Alan's transfer he would have told him to his face, not gone behind his back with someone else. He knew that, so why could he hear his heart pounding in his ears, feel a clammy sweat breaking out on his back?

He knew all he had to do to put himself out of his misery was to call Banner on his wristcom, catch him on his way home from the hospital, tell him he was at his apartment. But he hesitated. Part of him knew he could trust Banner. Part of him knew he simply couldn't bear it if he answered from Jae's room.

This is silly! Don't be an idiot, just do it, he told himself and rang his lover.

A second later, the sound of a wristcom beeping a warning came from Jae's room. Alan stared at the door in total horror, he thought his heart had stopped. He found himself shaking his head, no he didn't believe it, it wasn't true! It couldn't be true! There must be another explanation. Despite his fears, deep down in his heart he hadn't really believed Banner would betray him. Before he could decide whether to run away or smash in the door, it swung open and Max dashed out, still fastening his uniform.

"Alan? Uh, Lieutenant?" He braked to a halt. "What are you doing here?"

"Sorry," Alan apologised, quite giddy with relief, "Michael gave me a key."

"Are you all right? You look as white as a sheet."

"I'll just sit down a moment, I'll be fine in a bit." Sweet god, thank you thank you thank you!

"I have to go," Max said, looking at him uneasily. "I've already missed this morning's shuttle, the Captain is going to kill me."

"I'll be fine. You go."

"I suppose a few more minutes won't make it any worse. Have you heard the news about Dad?" Max continued, pulling a chair towards the Lieutenant, making him sit down. He'd really looked as if he was going to pass out there for a minute.

"No, what news?"

"He's alive!"

Max brought him up to date quickly before racing out the door as Banner entered the apartment. Alan's first thought was thank god Robin was still alive. His second was relief that maybe he could use that news to explain to Banner why he looked so shaken. There was no way he was ever going to tell him that he'd doubted him.

Luckily, Banner had no thoughts of protesting when Alan swept him straight into the bedroom, muttering hoarsely, "I need you now, right now! We can have lunch later."

When they eventually sat down to a reheated lunch, Alan told him the reason for his visit.

"Good news, finally! I've got the job in headquarters that I applied for, here on Capella. I start next week. Just one more week on the Qatar."

Banner's face lit up. "That's wonderful, Alan! I can't believe we're finally going to be together."

Until the events of that morning, the Lieutenant had been planning to ask Michael if he could move in straight away, so he didn't have to keep sharing with Jae. Now he felt guilty for being so jealous and possessive. True, it would be rather ... awkward, with Max and Jae in one room, he and Michael in the other, but he, and Max for that matter, would just have to get over it. After all, it would only be for a couple of weeks.

"I was thinking, it wouldn't be fair to ask Jae to move out with such a short time to go, so maybe I'll stay in a hotel. Then, when he goes back to the Qatar, do you think it would be all right if I moved in with you?"

Banner's thoughts jumped immediately to the idea of sleeping with Alan every night, in the same bed, even if technically, he had his own room. Waking up together in the morning, maybe even sharing the same shower. "Oh yes!"

XXX

Martinez finally remembered who else had really pale white skin.

"Ron Pearce!"

The two men looked at each other directly for the first time since Lang had kissed him.

"Can we do a DNA match?" queried Lang, meeting his eyes steadily. He wasn't going to apologise unless Martinez asked him to.

"I'm pretty sure we don't have Pearce's DNA on the official record, but I'll check," Martinez answered, turning to request the search from the console unit. "No record. As I thought," he said regretfully a few moments later.

"Wait a bit ... let me think." He shut his eyes for a minute, frowning in concentration.

"But I know what we do have!" he said excitedly. "DNA from the man who assaulted Max. We know from Rossi that the man was Pearce, but that isn't official yet."

"And the good news is, Pearce doesn't know that we know!" Lang smiled, waiting as the console called up the information they wanted. "He won't be expecting us to make a connection."

The console checked the DNA records of the two men, confirming their suspicions. "Aaron Myles is Pearce's son! That's why Pearce wants the evidence lost and the charges dropped, to keep his son out of prison."

Martinez was still examining the information appearing on the console. "There is no record anywhere of Pearce having a son, or a daughter for that matter. It's evidently something he's kept very secret, probably to protect himself and the boy from being targeted by his rivals."

Lang nodded in agreement. How ironic, Pearce had been quite prepared to blow up Max on the space yacht, but now wanted his, Robin's, help to save his own son. "I assume he's scared that if Myles goes to prison it will only be a matter of time before their relationship is exposed, and then the boy will be a target for every criminal who wants to get a lever on Pearce."

"What exactly is the evidence that they want you to 'lose'?"

"I don't remember. I'll have to check, but I imagine it would be the actual dragon skins in question. The recording of their capture and arrest won't carry much weight without the physical evidence to back it up."

"When's the trial scheduled again?"

"Next Tuesday. That only gives us four days. You know, I've been thinking. Pearce intends me to think that this is just another test, he wants to keep everything as low profile as possible." Lang was pacing back and forth as he thought out loud. "I 'lose' the evidence, either the charges against Myles and Wentworth are dropped or they're acquitted. Pearce has what he wants. I sit back, anxiously waiting for the genuine demand, the real reason he's gone to all this trouble. He'll pick something big that'll get my attention, probably something to do with a valuable shipment or an important security issue. It won't matter, he won't actually care if the scheme works or not. If I get caught or killed as a result, probably all the better."

Martinez found himself nodding in agreement, what Lang was saying made a lot of sense. The bigger man continued, a frown between his eyes.

"Even if we caught the man who sent this to me, I bet there won't be any trail back to Pearce." He stopped pacing and turned to look directly at Martinez. "The only way that I can see to turn this into a trap, is for me to call his bluff, refuse to destroy the evidence and provoke him into taking further action against me."

Reluctantly, Martinez could only agree.