The week had gone by in a whirlwind for Ray. He had barely registered he was working two investigations. He was also keenly aware that he had Mish up his ass, trying to protect him, in her own way, by harassing the hell out of him. She showed up every night with the whole damn family to cook dinner and just “check up on him.” He was going stir crazy. He also had the added bonus of having a new roommate, Liam.

He wasn’t sure what had possessed him to say it. But, as they were standing outside the wreckage of Liam’s home and his buddy was looking at it with a lost expression on his face, Ray had turned to him and said, “Second bedroom’s open.” And that had been that. Liam hadn’t really argued with him. Ray hadn’t expected him to until the shock wore off, but later that day, after questions had been answered, the bomb squad had searched Ray’s house and office, and reports had been filled out, filed, and rewritten, Ray and Liam had walked back to the truck, climbed in, and driven home. It seemed natural. They were going through some shit together that included them both, and now he was positive there was no way Liam wasn’t letting him on the case. He was the one with the keys to this kingdom, so to speak.

Over the next few days, as Liam dealt with the aftermath and internal affairs questioning him and following up, Ray split his time interviewing the florist, the mailman of the Estates community, several utility workers, and the rest of the neighbors. He had questioned the neighbors under the guise of Derrick’s uncle, but it had proved fruitless nonetheless. He guessed the real answers were going to come out that evening with the sting.

In a way, it was good they were having the party, because it was a distraction for Liam. When they had their morning coffee in awkward silence that day, Ray casually mentioned tonight was the night of the party. Liam had asked to be in the loop when he went in to question people and snapped to attention, in an almost militant style, and demanded to be brought up to speed on the investigation. Ray was sure he had missed something. Some small key piece of evidence that tied it all together. He was positive the SSK wasn’t after Derrick and Ethan. It just didn’t fit.

As he filled Liam in, he hoped something would spark in his eyes that would give Ray inspiration, but there had been nothing. He nodded and grunted occasionally, and Ray had a sinking feeling he, too, was a million miles away. He had given Liam access to his office so he could work on the SSK case after hours. Mostly, he himself sat after dinner, staring at the wall with the pictures tacked up and the lists of theories that ran down the length of it. He had asked Liam the day after the explosion what had been found at the old apartment they had rented together, but all they had found was a dusty, old bottle cork.

“That’s weird,” Ray stated.

“Tell me about it. It’s a generic cork. Could be from any bottle. I can’t make heads or tails of it,” Liam said.

Ray rubbed his jaw and thought. “Could just be kids broke in and had a party,” he suggested.

“Could be, but doubtful. The apartment is still leased for the SFPD to use as a safe house or for stings. It hasn’t been used in a decade for fear that the SSK will know when someone has entered, but we’ve kept it anyway.”

Ray nodded and thought. What did a bottle cork have to do with anything? He had been over the note again and again in his head, but nothing struck him. He also had his mind on Derrick and Ethan. The kids were ready to explode with tension. He would be amazed if they hadn’t already. He had stopped by daily to go over the plan with them and to keep them apprised of any progress on the case. Misha was still in touch with her contacts, ensuring this party would be the biggest shindig the west side of San Francisco had ever seen. Hundreds of people were invited. It was going to make his job exceedingly difficult, but Ray had tiered the list of suspects to interview. He would start with the top suspects, the Waldon’s and some of the other questionable neighbors, as well as family and immediate friends, and then work his way down.

Liam was set to interview the second tier, the friends of friends, and try to work through as many colleagues and co-workers as he could. And Misha was tasked with keeping the party flowing and snapping as many pictures as she could to have as backup evidence later. It was a technique that was used by the police when a major crime was committed and the area swelled with gawkers. Some criminals became part of the crowd, admiring their work from a distance as they watched the police scramble for answers and try to contain the situation.

The plan was set, and now Ray was banking on Derrick and Ethan to keep it together enough to make it through the evening while he conducted the interviews. He figured if the two could pull it off and show the perp that they were happy, in love, and not afraid to show it in front of their family and friends, it would incense the stalker into showing his true colors and giving himself away. Which is why Ray felt a moment of pure panic when he arrived at the house later that afternoon and found Ethan three-sheets-to-the-wind drunk and alone.

“What happened?” he demanded when he walked in and found Ethan bleary-eyed and hiccupping at the kitchen table.

“We fought,” he slurred at Ray.

“Well, I kind of figured that out, but where is he?”

“At the hotel.”

Great. At least Ethan was coherent enough to answer his questions, but Derrick was a no show.

“Mish,” he said, exasperated.

“On it.” She didn’t even have to ask what he wanted from her. She was back in her car under the guise of going out for more supplies when Ray turned back to Ethan, shaking his head in disgust.

“Damn, I knew it was a lot to ask of the two of you, and I knew this was bound to happen at some point. But man, I wish it had not happened today,” he said, partially to himself and partially to Ethan.

Ethan just looked at him stupidly as Liam walked in, wearing casual jeans and a t-shirt. He took one look at Ethan and cocked his eyebrow. “Not good, eh?”

“Nope. Come on, help me get him in the shower. If Mish can convince Derrick to get his ass back here, we have about two hours before people start showing up. We might be able to salvage this.”

Liam walked up to one side of Ethan and Ray took the other. Together, they hoisted Ethan up out of the chair. They held tight, because he swayed dangerously and they weren’t sure he wouldn’t topple over if they let him go.

“Don’t forget that.” Ethan pointed to the open bottle on the table and Ray glared at it.

“That’s not what you need right now,” Ray tried to reason with him.

Ethan began jerking in his arms, protesting, until Liam said, “We’ll come back for it after, okay?” A better tactic, because Ethan seemed to find this acceptable.

They led him down the hall to the master bedroom, and Liam reached in, turning on the cold water. They shoved Ethan in, clothes and all, and listened to the sounds of his screeching as the shock hit him, sobering him up slightly.

It took another forty-five minutes and several lurching motions to the toilet for Ethan to look like death warmed over. It was an improvement. After the third shower and a glass of orange juice that managed to stay down, Ethan sat in dry clothes at the kitchen table, clutching his head, while Ray and Liam ran over the plan one more time. They had to slightly alter things, in case Derrick wasn’t on board by the time he got back, and in case Ethan wasn’t able to perk up enough to be passable to the guests.

Ray looked out the window as Derrick’s car drove up, followed by Misha’s. He figured now was the moment of truth as Derrick slunk in the door and stood, looking sheepishly between Ray and Liam. When he caught sight of Ethan, his mouth fell open in horror.

“What happened?” he asked, and Ethan winced at the octave of his voice.

“Wine happened,” Ethan groaned, letting his head drop to the table again. Derrick rushed over and put a hand on Ethan’s shoulder, and Ray nodded to Liam and Misha to follow him out back to the pool area, where they lit up the barbecue and started getting things ready. He figured the couple needed a few moments alone together to sort things out, and based on Derrick’s reaction, he felt confident they could pull it together enough for the evening’s events.

When he returned a half an hour later, Derrick was kneeling in front of Ethan, tears streaming down his face. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered. “I shouldn’t have run away. I shouldn’t have said those things. It’s me and you, right, babe?” he pleaded. Ethan gave him a weak smile and pulled him into a hug.

Ray thanked the Lord above that whoever was listening to his prayers finally answered them. He wanted Ethan and Derrick to be okay, because they stood for all of the things he didn’t have. He wanted their life, with Liam, and he knew he’d never get it. He needed this win for them, because it was a win for all gay couples who had ever faced the kind of adversity they were now facing. He saw the way they looked at each other, when fear and anxiety didn’t mask how they truly felt about each other, and he’d probably never say it out loud to anyone, but that was something worth fighting for.

Ray cleared his throat, and both men looked up. Cars had started to line up outside and the doorbell rang just as he said, “Ready?”

Ethan and Derrick looked at each other and linked their hands together. Ray smiled as he went to answer the door, wearing his khaki shorts, a Hawaiian shirt over a white t-shirt, and that ridiculous fedora that Misha had gotten him for his birthday.

The evening went really smoothly, Ray thought later. The party was in full swing, the drinks were flowing, and the company was happy. Ethan and Derrick seemed to have pulled themselves together and were smiling, interacting with guests and openly affectionate with each other. Ray couldn’t have asked them to do better even if he wanted to. Ethan occasionally snuck off to the bathroom, and he stuck to water disguised as vodka. Ray felt for the guy. His stomach must have been so sensitive.

He had managed to check in with Misha and Liam a few times to see how the interviews were going. Misha had been snapping pics left and right, and engaging with the crowds as they made their way down the food lines. Liam had come up with the idea to pretend to hire a catering company, so he could sneak in a few undercover police officers to man the grill and keep the barbecue going.

Ray only had one mishap, when one of the neighbors, an elderly man named Shawn Worthens, asked him, “Hey, don’t I know you? You look familiar.”

The guy was at least a six pack into the Heinekens, so it was easy for Ray to shrug him off and say, “Nah, I don’t think so. I’m not from around here. Just visiting to give my nephew a fun time, you know?” He clapped the guy on the back and handed him another beer. Shawn squinted at him, and Ray was afraid he’d been recognized from the news report earlier that week, but he lucked out when the guy caught sight of a twenty-something’s bikini-clad backside. Creep, Ray thought.

Ray sauntered over to Liam. “Anything yet?” he asked. He had interviewed almost everyone and even made a few rounds a second time with some of the more promising suspects.

“Nope. Most of these people adore those two. At least they say they do. They’ve all got something to lie about, sure, but I’m not picking up anything that is specific to Ethan and Derrick.”

“Me neither,” Ray gritted in frustration. “Anyone spot you from the news? I had a close call a few minutes ago.”

“I’ve had a few people give me a good hard look, but I think the Italian accent is throwing them off. They all know me around this town as being Scottish.”

“How are you stealing my schtick? I’m the over the top Italian uncle.”

“Just because you’re wearing a fedora, doesn’t make you Italian, Ray,” he chided.

“Just because you’re an ass, doesn’t make you a loveable one, Liam,” he shot back.

Liam tipped his head back and laughed. As far as comebacks go, it was pretty lame, but Ray had his attention split between Ethan and Derrick, the sketchy guy, Shawn, and Misha’s impersonation of what looked like a dying fish. But she may have been demonstrating how to do the breast stroke in the pool to a posse of women who were all laughing with her. Ray wasn’t entirely sure. What he was sure of, was when Liam laughed like that, his blood heated, and he felt the erection he had been suppressing ever since Liam had moved in pressing behind his fly.

He took a swig of his non-alcoholic beer and gritted his teeth. The sound of Liam’s laugh was like being kicked in the gut, knowing what he couldn’t have, and being caressed and touched by Liam, the way his knuckles had grazed at the waistband of his boxers that night back in the rented apartment when they were supposedly just pretending to be a couple. They had never talked about it, and they probably never would. But that didn’t stop the raging hard-on Ray had to suffer through every morning when he heard the shower kick on down the hall, and he knew Liam was in his house, getting naked and about to step under the hot spray. He envied the water that got to lick along Liam’s skin. He wanted to be the one to use his tongue and…yeah, that train of thought was going to get him nothing but trouble tonight.

Ray scanned the crowd and caught Ethan’s eye. They needed to up the game and make the perp really irate with them. Whoever it was, was probably fuming and ready to blow. They needed something truly spectacular. Ethan made his way over, and Ray put on a huge grin for him. He clapped Ethan on the back in a hug as he whispered urgently, “Time to step it up. Get everyone’s attention.” He let go of Ethan, who nodded, and Ray hoped he was with it enough to think of something fast, before the crowd started to disperse for the evening.

After a moment he heard the tinkle of a glass. It took about five minutes for the hushed silence to cascade like a wave through the crowd as the people in the rear of the back yard began to realize that something was going on.

“I’d like to propose a toast!” Ethan shouted above the noise. Someone cut the music and all eyes were on Ethan. “To my handsome, loving, sexy fiancé. I would like everyone here to raise their glasses and recognize the love I have for you. We have been through numerous tests of our relationship. We have had ups and downs that any couple would have and, in some cases, more than that. But the hard times aren’t as important as the fact that you are the love of my life, and there is nothing that will come between us. Our love is stronger than any force in the universe, and although we have faced adversity for being gay, it remains just as fierce as any other couple who are about to be married. I challenge each and every one of you to take a look at your own lives and those you love, and recognize that love, which is natural, beautiful and can’t be broken by any means. Because I want you to know that is what Derrick and I have, and we are so grateful to all of you for coming out tonight and celebrating that with us!” He raised his glass as a thunderous chorus of cheers sang through the crowd. Then he pulled Derrick toward him and kissed him so long and passionately it began to make people blush and fan themselves.

“He’s got balls,” Liam murmured next to his ear, and Ray grinned. That he did. Ethan just issued a challenge to whoever was stalking them to dare to come between them, then cemented that challenge with a kiss that could make a prostitute blush.

Ray took the opportunity to glance through the crowd. It was one thing to be talking to someone who was probably practiced in lying to people’s faces about their prejudices. It was another to catch them unguarded, with a look of pure hatred and disgust on their face. Bingo. Ray caught sight of Shawn, who was looking at the two with such loathing that Ray was certain they should have felt it burn into their backs.

Shawn caught Ray watching him and snarled as he lunged forward and shoved the happy couple so hard they fell backward into the pool.

It wasn’t hard to catch him. He had been surrounded almost immediately when Ray had caught him and pointed him out to Liam. The barbecue masters at the grills came up on either side of Shawn, flanking him as he began screaming obscenities at Ethan and Derrick. He told them how disgusted he was and that people like them should be ashamed and not permitted to display something so vulgar in public, because it was against the natural order of things.

The crowd began to murmur as people started to figure out what was going on. Ray walked with Liam and the rest of the PD out the front door, with the screeching Shawn in their custody as he shouted vulgarities at Derrick and Ethan, cursing them and their marriage and shouting all the horrible things he wished he could do to them for being gay.

Ray listened to Liam recite the Miranda rights to Shawn and then he, Ethan, and Derrick watched as he was placed in the back of an undercover squad car and driven away for booking.

“He’s being arrested on probable cause, and we’ll secure a warrant to search his home for a trace on the printer paper, envelopes, and green Styrofoam,” Liam told them.

Derrick and Ethan looked relieved as they stood in the driveway, dripping wet, but Ray also noticed they looked shaken and exhausted. He nodded to Misha, who had also followed them out to observe the scene. She disappeared into the house and Ray could faintly hear her through the walls as she started to disperse the crowd and tell them the party was over.

It was another couple of hours before the last guests left well into the night. Mr. Waldon was looking at the general state of disarray of the house and the backyard, which was replete with empty and half-full bottles, clothing items, lost keys and wallets, and the occasional lump that turned out to be a drunk passed out on a piece of furniture or, in one guy’s case, behind a large fern.

Ray helped call taxis and usher people out the door, and as Misha was leaving, she turned to Derrick and said, “Don’t worry, doll. I’ll be by tomorrow to help clean this mess up.” She hugged him, kissing him on both cheeks before leaving, and Ray could tell Derrick was relieved he would have help cleaning.

When it was finally time for him to go, he turned, smiling, to Ethan and Derrick. “Hopefully you guys can sleep easy tonight.” He shook each of their hands. They nodded almost in unison and Ray noted the fatigued, almost zombie-like glaze in their eyes.

“Alright, I’ll be in touch tomorrow to check in,” he said as he turned to walk out the door.

“Hey, Detective?” Ethan said numbly.

He turned back. “Hmm?”

“Do you want to come next week? To the wedding, that is?” he asked. He looked down at Derrick, who looked back at him and whose whole face split into a wide grin. He leaned up, kissing Ethan, and the two became lost in each other.

Ray wasn’t sure if they heard him when he said, “I would be honored.”