Ray and Liam were conversing with Elise who was waiting for the other guests when they saw a figure in black streak around the side of the house and head toward the road.

“What the hell?” He and Liam ran to the front door and were just beginning to pursue the figure when they heard muffled yells from around the house.

“You go after him, I’ll go around back!” Ray and Liam split up, and Ray dashed around the house, in between the cellar and towards the outbuildings where the barrels were housed. He headed for the building that had the door swinging open in the early morning breeze and dashed inside to find Elijah and Noah lying on the floor. Wine was pouring out everywhere, coating the cobblestones and soaking into their clothes.

“What the hell happened?” He shouted, and Elijah picked up his head, squinting at Ray. He crouched down next to the two men and noticed Noah’s temple bleeding. He heard the sounds of footsteps approaching from behind, and he reached into his jacket pocket and wrapped his fingers around the hilt of a small knife he kept for self-defense in any of his clothes. He had a permit to carry a concealed firearm, but he preferred not to use that if possible. He turned to find Elise running towards them. Her high heels clacked on the stones, and her pristine cream and navy-blue business suit swished as she walked.

“Is everyone alright? What happened? Oh my—” Elise froze as she looked at the scene before her.

“Call 911. I think Elijah might have a concussion, and Noah is unconscious.” Ray bent over the two men. Elijah tried to sit up, but Ray put a hand on his back as he listened for Noah’s breathing. It was there, it just might take him a while to wake up. He had been clocked pretty good by something.

“Elijah, can you hear me? Focus on me, man.” Ray looked into Elijah’s eyes, and the man nodded, then winced. “Okay, Elise is calling an ambulance, and we’re going to get you checked out, okay?”

“Alright.” Elijah’s voice was shaky, but Ray was glad to see he was coherent enough to answer him. Ray heard footsteps running up behind them, and he turned to see Liam taking in the scene.

“Did you get him?”

“No, he hopped in a truck and took off. I got a partial plate though.” He knelt beside the two men and looked over them. He shrugged off his jacket and balled it up, placing it under Noah’s head.

“Can you shut that spigot off before the wine drowns us all?” Liam stood and did as Ray asked, and then he frowned at something.

“Hey, did you see this?”

Ray looked over and he was holding a piece of paper with a key attached to it. The paper was covered in wine splotches, and Liam held it gingerly so as not to smudge the ink. Judging by the look on his face, Ray knew exactly who it was from.

“The ambulance is on its way. Ten minutes.” Elise said. She flipped her dark hair over her shoulder and squatted down.

“Elijah, are you okay?” Her voice quavered, and her hazel eyes shimmered with unshed tears.

“Yeah, I’m okay. Can you direct the ambulance around back and escort the guests that are sure to be out front to their rooms? The less publicity this gets, the better.”

“Elijah, after all this, are you sure you want to go on with the weekend?”

“Yes, it has to happen. All of these people are coming in from all over California and some other states. It would ruin me if I don’t host this event. Please, Elise.”

She nodded and rose, and Ray noticed she had been careful not to soil her impeccable suit. Did she really have Elijah’s best interests at heart? Was she conspiring with the SSK against Elijah to get to him and Liam? A whole new world of possibilities and suspects had just presented itself, and Ray knew that they were in for a longer stay than just the night and the next day.

He looked at Liam and shook his head, and Liam understood that he wanted to wait until Elijah and Noah were packed off in the ambulance before he read the note out loud. It didn’t take long, and Noah had already started to stir when the ambulance arrived. He was beginning to open his eyes when the paramedics came rushing in. Despite Elise’s best efforts, Ray noticed several classy looking gentlemen gawking through the barn door at the scene. He had also seen several of the vineyard workers peer in to see what all the ruckus was about, but they went on their way when the well-to-do men appeared.

It took the paramedics a half an hour to get Noah to a sitting position and also several words of caution to Elijah to go straight to the hospital if he started feeling woozy. He refused to get in the ambulance, which just meant that Noah also mumbled his refusal, and wasn’t that just adorable? Both men were sticking tight to one another, and it appeared as if Elijah was going to forgive Noah all his transgressions based on the events of the attack. Liam had stepped out and called the incident in and spoken with the local police to keep them apprised of the situation. Then, with a genial smile, he herded the other men back into the house, where Elise had uncorked a few bottles of Lascivious Libations to kick off the party, insisting that there was just a slight mishap and that Mr. Montgomery would be with them shortly. She was all business and knew how to handle her surroundings. She had apparently sent someone out to the barn to clean up the mess of wine, because when Ray finally stood up, his knees were soaked from the liquid, and he smelled like an alcoholic it was wafting off of him so badly.

Elise had cleared a route from the back door to the back staircase so that the four men could trod up the stairs and shower off before rejoining the festivities downstairs. When they got to their room, and Elijah and Noah had shut themselves away in the master suite, Ray kicked off his pants, careful not to get any of the wine on the carpet, and peeled off his socks.

“Is it me, or is Elise proving that she can efficiently run things around here without the aid of her employer?” He looked at Liam, who was likewise removing his clothing.

“I was thinking the same thing. Do we know who the beneficiary is if anything were to happen to Elijah?”

“I’m going to put in a call to Mish right after I wash off. This crap is making my butt cheeks stick together.”

“How in the hell did you get wine in your ass crack, Raymond?”

“I walked through it, then sat back on my heels, and it soaked through my pants.”

“Only you.”

“Only me prefers Scotch for this very reason.”

“You think Scotch would be any less sticky?”

Ray was trying to think of a tactful way to answer that, but there was none. Instead, he turned and hobbled toward the shower and turned the spray on and stepped under it for the second time that day. What he wasn’t expecting, because Liam had far less wine on him, was the feel of the man standing behind him, under the opposite shower head, washing off.

Ray closed his eyes, and he wasn’t sure if he wished it was a mirage, or if he wanted to open them, turn around, and bask in the presence and sight of Liam Ferguson. He was in the shower behind him, naked and slick with wine and soap. Oh man, the friction that would—no, no, no!

“What was in the letter?” He croaked. There was no masking the raw sound in his throat, and he knew Liam heard it too.

“We’ll talk about that after.” The words were whispered in his ear, and it made him jump. He felt the Liam’s strong palm land on his shoulder and froze like a deer in headlights.

“Liam.” The whisper was returned.

“When are we going to talk about this, Ray? After the SSK is caught? What happens when the next killer comes along, and the next? Will there always be an excuse for you to look away when I catch you staring?”

Ray tried to find the words to say. He knew this conversation had been coming, he just never expected it to happen in this manner. He felt the soft rub of the washcloth move down his back. The suds that dripped down his spine washed away the previous issue he had been having, and Liam continued to run the terrycloth over his shoulders. Ray dropped his head under the shower, almost wishing the water would turn cold so he could be shocked awake from the current fugue his mind was in. Was he dreaming? Had the SSK gotten him in that barn, and he was lying dead on the floor, finally able to succumb to his own fantasies without the risk of being found out and scorned? Ray moaned as he felt Liam’s lips on the back of his neck. He had to be dreaming.

“Ray, answer me.” Liam’s arm snaked around his torso and cupped him under the chin, forcing his head up and back. He rested his head on Liam’s shoulder and stared into his eyes, knowing his own were wild and scared.

“Liam, don’t. Don’t do this. We…we’re partners.”

“We’re a lot more than just partners, Ray. We always have been. We’re best friends, we’re roommates, and we could be a whole lot more if you opened up to me and let me in.”

“It could all go wrong. It almost did all go wrong. At the apartment. He tried to destroy…we were undercover, but it wasn’t just that. We…”

Liam lowered his head, and when his lips brushed over Ray’s, Ray wanted to cry. This wasn’t a dream, it was a nightmare, and he was going to wake up and discover he had fantasized it all and they were back in the barn waiting for the ambulance to come. At least, he thought it was a nightmare, until Liam broke off the kiss and then began placing small, soft kisses, up the side of his face along his scar. Ray’s lips trembled. He wasn’t usually prone to crying. He prided himself on having some little manly attributes. His father, a man he knew very little about, was from Britain, and Ray had never been sure if he received the tough guy act from him because of that, or if it was just in his nature because of the work he did. Ray had heard time and time again, when people found out he was gay, well, you don’t look gay. He never understood what that meant, but he supposed there was an iconic image people came to associate with being gay, and his button-down shirts, jeans, and work boots with a five o’clock shadow and some chest hair poking up made him look more like a lumberjack than anything. But he supposed that it didn’t matter. It didn’t stop the tears that welled up at Liam’s tenderness as he ended with the last kiss at his temple, right where his eye had been dug into and damaged.

Ray could just make out his face through the haze of steam and the rapid blinking, and Liam had wrapped both arms around him. He was acutely aware of the feel of Liam pressed against his ass and back, and he held perfectly still, hoping beyond hope that this wasn’t a dream, but too scared to make a move to see if it all went away.

“You’ve been scared to make a move since that night,” Liam commented. He was rubbing the cloth over Ray’s chest, and it felt so incredible.

“Hmm?”

“Just that, you made a move against the SSK when he made his move, got injured, and you’ve been scared to make a move ever since.”

Ray turned his head to look up at him. He was giving him the blunt, honest to god truth of the matter, which Ray had been too afraid to admit himself. He was just about to respond when a knock came on the door.

“Sirs? I’ll take your clothing to the wash?” He and Liam both looked at the door and groaned. This was a terrible time for Maria, a sweet, middle-aged Mexican woman to interrupt them. Her voice sounding through the bathroom door was enough to drive them back to the present, and Ray quickly slipped out of Liam’s arms and exited the shower. He glanced back and saw the look of disappointment on Liam’s face, and he wondered if he had just blown it for good or not.

Liam hurried to wash himself off and Ray called, “Thank you, Maria. We’ll be out in a minute!” He wrapped himself in a towel and made sure Liam was also properly robed before he opened the door. He knew it was a cheap escape. He would be surprised if Liam wasn’t calling him a coward in his head for running right now. He felt suffocated in the heat of that bathroom, and when he stepped into the bedroom, he took a few gulps of fresh air. Maria had opened the windows since their clothes were making the room smell like wine.

Ray hurried over to his bag and dressed, pulling his boxers up under the robe and then his pants. He noticed Liam was also dressing hurriedly, as Maria made her way around the room, seemingly unperturbed by their state of undress or that they had just left the bathroom together.

“Thanks Maria. That’s very kind of you.”

“Oh yes, I knocked. There was no answer, and Mr. Montgomery told me if there is no answer, it is okay to come in. Then I saw the bathroom door was shut.”

“It’s okay, Maria. Again, I really appreciate this.” Ray knew he was babbling. Mostly so he wouldn’t have to turn around and look at Liam. All too soon, however, Maria left and shut the door behind her, and Ray dropped the robe and pulled a clean shirt on.

“I won’t make the next move, Ray. I’ll wait for you to come to me.” Liam’s voice was quiet but firm. Ray froze, wondering if he would say anything further, but he didn’t.

When he turned around, Liam was just as genial and carefree looking as he usually was when they were around each other, and Ray knew he wouldn’t be the one to make things awkward. That was right up Ray’s alley.

“Where’s the note?” His voice was steady, but the tension was evident. He needed safe ground, and looking over evidence was it for him. Liam nodded to the table where the note was drying, and Ray picked it up.

I know where you are, I know what you did,

You think you can beat me? Come find what I hid.

The last was first, but you’ve figured that out,

It’s hidden where no one could hear the voices shout.

The first is second, it escaped in 1962

Did you figure out the third was you?

But you cheated, you lived, and you took a piece of me,

I’ll have my retribution, just you wait and see.

In two weeks’ time, come to the gate,

You will learn then, the secret, your fate.

Across bay of sunken bones, it’s depths they did swell,

Like ants stacked in cages too many for the deep deep well.

Come play Ray and Liam, you know you want to,

But don’t let those ghosts come back to haunt you.

Come find what I took, you will want it back,

But hurry up, before its life goes all black.

S.S.K.

Ray felt the chill sweep through him as he read the words again. He wanted to leave immediately, but he looked at Liam and saw the frustration of his hands being tied too. They would have to wait two weeks to discover what the SSK took, and he was sure that even if they went to the place the letter indicated, they wouldn’t find anything.

“Where—” Liam started, but Ray held up a hand. Liam started to ask about the meaning of the note, and Ray was already fishing the monocle and wine cork from his bag. He had carried it with him since the first letter was left at his home. He put the monocle on and turned the wine cork over in his hand. Nothing. He began to pace around the room and Liam watched him as he re-read the letter, wondering what it could possibly mean.

Ray passed the couch and table that the phone had been placed on earlier. A complimentary bottle of wine had been placed on the table, with two wine glasses. Ray took the cork screw and uncorked the bottle then poured a healthy doze into a glass.

“I don’t think now is the best time to…” Ray dropped the first cork into the glass of wine and waited. He bobbed it up and down a bit as Liam watched. When he thought it was sufficient, he fished the cork from the glass and shook off the excess wine and then looked at the cork through the monocle in his good eye. Sure enough, the word Alcatraz was written along the cork on the side and had been penned in such a way that would only be revealed by the pungency of the alcohol in the wine.

“Alcatraz.” Liam immediately thumbed on his phone and began making calls. Ray sank into his chair, turning the cork over in his hand and thinking. They weren’t going to find anything there, not until the SSK wanted them to find something, but it was Liam’s duty to send out a patrol and scour the now vacant and deserted prison. The poem had made enough sense. There were three escaped convicts in 1962. The cells were stacked in a deep well in one part of the prison and at one point, they had been teaming with inmates, like ants. Even the quip about the bay and the hauntings were a dead giveaway. Alcatraz was known for its supposed ghost sightings.

Liam got off the phone and sank down on the couch beside him. “He’s toying with us.”

“Yes, he has been all along.”

“How did he know where we were? We just decided to come last night. How could he have known?”

“I think, perhaps, he knows all of our moves. Or at least, pretty damn near all of them.” Ray took a sip of the glass of wine. It was sweet and went down, calming his nerves. This letter scared the bejesus out of him more than the first one. This letter indicated the SSK was aggressive and angry. He literally said he was going to get payback.

“He’s escalating.” Ray said calmly as he looked at the glass.

“How do you figure?”

“Because this note is more personal. He gave us answers to the first note, trusting that we’re smart enough to have figured it out, and he called us out by name this time. He has also indicated emotion in this letter, which was practically void in the last one. He’s angry we haven’t caught him yet, which is going to make him more dangerous.”

“Do you think he will go after other gay couples again?”

“No. I think he has target fixation, and we’re the targets.” Ray had felt like this might be the case for some time. Whatever had happened on Alcatraz clearly had some connection to he and Liam, but he wasn’t sure what yet.

“Do you think he was the one in the storage barn?”

“It’s difficult to say, at this point, I’m going to wager no despite the note being left near the area. Only because, we got the SSK that night. I know you injured him. I don’t know that the SSK would have been able to run that fast and get away.”

“This is true, but we can’t leave it to chance. I think we should have Elijah call off the retreat and send everyone home.”

“I would advise against it. It will scare off whoever stole that bottle, and besides, the SSK clearly states that whatever is going to happen, it’s going to happen in two weeks.”

“You think I give a damn about a stolen bottle of wine? These are people’s lives at risk, Ray. Just by the mere fact that we are here!” Liam stood and began pacing.

“I agree, Liam, but we need to look at the facts of the letter. Despite the jumbled clues, the SSK has clearly demonstrated that he sticks to what he says he is going to do in those letters. He already knows we are here. If he was going to do anything, it won’t be at this retreat, or he would have done it.”

Liam flopped back down on the couch, and Ray chanced reaching over and giving his hand a squeeze. Liam didn’t say anything, but he squeezed back. It was an acknowledgment that Ray might take slow steps, but he was trying.

Ray stared at the note a long moment and continued to twirl the cork in his hands. The SSK had indicated he had taken something, but what? Ray reached into his pocket and pulled out his cellphone and called Misha to check on her. She and her family were fine, and she had no news about any of their suspects, so Ray told her he had to go when she started squawking about the resurfacing of the SSK. There would be hell to pay when he got back to the office, that was for sure, but he couldn’t handle her nagging right now, even if it was done out of love.

“What are we going to do about this wine thief? I want this done so we can get back to San Francisco. I want to be there if anything is found at Alcatraz.”

“I agree.” Ray ran his hands through his damp hair. “So, let’s set a trap.”