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.All kinds of regular people.Maybe knowing you willmake some other cop break up that fight sooner, or listen moresympathetically to a gay witness.Because if Jared MacLean is gay,then it s not such a freaky thing after all. Or maybe they ll just decide I m a freak. Some will, Tony had to admit. But some won t.Whatabout Oliver? You said he helped you out? Yeah.He s hanging in with me so far. Good, Tony told him firmly. What are you most afraid oftomorrow?After a moment, Mac said,  I walk in the door and the faggotcomments start, and the rest of the guys won t work with me,and I get fired. Um, is that likely? Tony was no longer sure he had a graspon the reality of the police department.Mac sighed deeply. The comments, yeah, some.Most of theteam will still work with me, but they won t like it.A couple willtreat me like I have the plague.I won t get fired, but Severs willstart washing his hands after he touches me, which he ll do as230 Kaje Harperlittle as possible. Can you survive that? I don t know, Mac admitted. I just don t know.Tony lay down flat again and snuggled in against Mac sshoulder. I wish I could help.Hey, I could start insulting you,help you get used to it and grow a thicker skin.I could call youfudge-packer and cock-sucker.Mac growled. Cut it out.Anyway from you they sound likeinvitations.Tony snickered. Boy-lover, ass-fucker.Mac stopped his mouth with a kiss.Tony sighed contentedly when Mac finally let him go. I loveyou, you know that, he told his man. Yeah. Mac pulled him into a warm hold, their bodiestouching from shoulder to thigh, skin on skin.Mac s breathfanned over his cheek.Tony was almost asleep when Mac said in his ear,  Thatnightmare& Tony fought himself back up to awareness to say,  Tell me. I m at the station, and everyone s looking at me.And theystart calling me a faggot, and saying I m sick and perverted.And then Anna s there, but they pull her away from me.Theytell her they re going to put her in a nice normal family.Andthey re taking her away.And I try to go after her, but I m cuffedto something and I can t break loose.Anna s crying but she won tlook at me and she walks away with them. Oh, babe. Tony kissed his shoulder. You re a great dad andAnna loves you.She won t care that you re gay, and no one cantake her away from you.Hell, they gave me Ben and I m not evenrelated to him.Anna is yours.Mac breathed a sigh into his hair. Yeah.I know.But it helpsto hear you say it.Tony slid back into sleep.CHAPTER 14Mac imagined that conversations stopped when he walkedback into the station around nine the next morning.When he gotto Homicide, he knew it was no longer his imagination.Only acouple of people were at their desks.The rest were out trackingleads or working the gang-related killing that had hit their desksyesterday.But those who were there paused just a moment tolook at him, then got very busy with something.Mac shrugged.No Loes, no Terrance, it could be worse.He sat at his desk to write up his last two calls.He had alreadycome in really early that morning, grabbed the first two messageson the stack, and headed out before the rest of the team arrived.But both sightings had been simple mistakes, people with only avague resemblance to Anderson, and with solid ID.Unlike yesterday.The lady in Roseville had actually been right.Someone was squatting in the empty house next door.It wasn tAnderson, unfortunately, but a background check had revealedthat the man had outstanding warrants for burglary and assault,and Mac had picked the guy up.It had taken a while to processhim, but Mac hadn t begrudged the time at that point.It felt likethe only productive thing he had done in days.He was finishing his notes when Captain Severs appearedmomentarily at the door of his office. MacLean, he snapped. In my office, now.Mac rose slowly, straightened the papers on his desk, andheaded that way.Before he reached the office door, Oliverappeared. Hey, Mac, he called. Got a live one for us.Mac shook his head and pointed. Captain wants me. About?Mac shrugged one shoulder.Nothing good, he suspected.232 Kaje HarperOliver peered at him, then strode ahead to pull open thecaptain s door. Well, let s get it over with so we can move onthis.Mac hesitated, then followed him into Severs office andclosed the door.The captain looked up from his seat with afrown. Oliver, this doesn t concern you. My partner, Oliver said, leaning casually on the wall besidethe door. My case.And I need him, so go for it.Severs hesitated, and then turned to Mac. I ve had acomplaint of unprofessional conduct.Mac just shook his head, wondering what was coming. The complaint states that you are a homosexual and youengaged in sexual activities with the witness, Walter Sinclair, ina way that could jeopardize our whole investigation. He staredcoldly at Mac.Mac sputtered. I ve seen Walter Sinclair all of three times.Once with Loes present, once with Oliver, and one time withhalf the squad watching.I ve barely shaken hands with the man. Good. Severs appeared to relax drastically. I thought it hadto be a mistake.I mean, of all the people on my team, you reobviously not queer. No, Mac heard himself say. That part is right.I m gay.I just never had any kind of relationship with Walter Sinclair.He stopped abruptly and fought the inclination to put his handsover his mouth.After all these years, why was he suddenly losingcontrol over what he said? Although the last time his mouth got thatfar out of control, he d asked Tony to marry him.Maybe his mouth wassmarter than he thought.He watched as Severs face went red.The man coughed, thensputtered,  And why wasn t I informed of this? Because it was really no one s business but my own.WhatI do on my own time, as long as it s legal, has no bearing on mywork.For all you know, Loes could be keeping a harem, but that sBREAKING COVER 233his business. It s not a joke, Severs snapped. This could affect the wholedepartment. I know it s not a joke.It s my personal life, and it has noinfluence on my work.What I do at home should have no placein the department.Severs stared at him, the color in his face deepening. Youcan t& don t tell me what has a place in my department.Howlong& ?Mac kept his face bland. Since I was twelve, actually. Ask forTMI, get TMI.Severs looked about ready to burst, the veins in hisforehead standing out against his flushed skin. Are we done here? Oliver put in from his place by the door. Because we ve got work to do.Mac told you the complaint sbullshit.He has witnesses.So can we get out of here? You! Severs turned his glare on the other detective. Youknew about this! Yeah, so? Oliver took a step forward. Look, I like girls.Ireally like girls.But if Mac doesn t, so what? More for the rest ofus.He does the job, better than most of the clowns out there.Why should I care who he goes home to? It looks bad for the department! The only thing that looks bad, Oliver said,  is you invitinga discrimination complaint.Are we done?Severs turned angrily back to Mac. You better toe the line,he snarled [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]