Dangerous Obsession

by Richard Hunter

Chapter Eight

Sterling was in his office, going over some paperwork related to an upcoming budget meeting when the intercom buzzed and his secretary broke in.

“Sorry, Chief. I know you didn’t want to be disturbed but I was sure you’d want to know about this.”

“Go ahead, Shirley.”

“We just dispatched a few of minutes ago on a call from someone who found a dead body on the beach down at the foot of fourteenth, bottom of the stairs. Patrol thirty eight just reported in and Abbott from Homicide is on the way. The Watch Commander thought you should be notified.”

“Okay, thanks. Let me know what develops.” It wasn’t every day that they had a dead body in Laguna Shores but winos and drug addicts did occasionally choose the beach for their big send off. It might be unusual but not so much that he was going to get alarmed and abandon this damn budget! That’s why he had detectives and a chain of command.

“Uh, Chief. There’s more to it. The body was reported as being that of a teenaged boy, a very young teenaged boy. And he was beaten to death.”

“Oh, shit! Sorry Shirley, that slipped out.”

“Quite alright Chief, I said something a lot stronger than that when I first heard.”

“Log me out of the office. I’m going over there. Have dispatch let the patrol unit and detectives know I’m coming. And call the Mayor and give him a heads up on this. I think this is going to be a bad day for all of us.”

Sterling was in his car, racing down the coast highway at greater than the speed limit, his lights flashing, siren blaring, creating quite a stir along the highway of the usually peaceful city. Shop owners and art gallery patrons stepped out to the sidewalk as the Chief’s very distinctive patrol vehicle raced past. Sterling was the only one who drove a big Ford Expedition so everyone who was a resident immediately knew it was the Chief that was going past. This caused an instantaneous buzz of excitement as everyone began questioning what it was that was so important that the Chief was personally responding code three. Had a police officer been shot, injured, killed? Was there a bomb or a terrorist threat? With the big nuclear power plant just fifteen miles south of the city, people began to wonder if there was a plot to blow up the plant which would release the equivalent of a thirty megaton nuclear bomb and spread radiation far and wide. Everyone was quickly turning on their radios and television sets to the news stations and emergency channels to get the latest news.

Pulling up behind the detectives cruiser, Sterling jumped out of his vehicle and moved quickly toward and then down the old and cracked concrete stairs to the beach below. The patrolman first on the scene had taped a border around the body and placed a blanket over it to shield it from the eyes of onlookers and the press. It was inevitable that they would arrive shortly.

Paying no attention to anything or anyone except the mound beneath the wool blanket to the right of the stairs, the Chief moved purposefully toward the body. He crouched down, took a deep breath, and lifted one side of the blanket to view the body. He was shocked and sickened by what he saw. He had not expected such savagery, especially toward a young boy. That, as well as the fact that the boy was naked, shouted in his mind and he knew this was going to be a major event in this little beach community for years to come.

Sterling rose and looked toward the patrolman from unit thirty eight. “What’ve you got, so far?”

We got a citizen call about a dead body, sir, and I was first responder. When I saw the body I knew this was no junkie overdose so I called it in and got them to send someone from homicide. Abbott got here a few minutes before you and is over there talking with the two guys who found the body and called it in.” The patrolman motioned to his left where Sterling saw Abbot talking with two young guys.

As Sterling approached, he first realized the two young guys being questioned were naked, their bodies tanned a deep bronze all over, obviously nudists enjoying this unusually warm weather today. The second thing he realized was that one of the young guys was Tyler Williams, the bartender from Mark’s restaurant.

Trying to keep his face impassive, grateful to be wearing his mirrored sunglasses, Sterling approached the detective and the two young men. “What’s the story, Abbott?”

“Chief, this is David Greene and Tyler Williams. They found the body.”

“Thank you, Mr. Greene, Tyler.” He paused, noting the questioning look on Abbott’s face at the familiarity of his greeting toward Tyler. “Tyler and I are acquainted. He’s the bartender at the restaurant where I frequently eat dinner.”

Abbott nodded, the question cleared up. “They were just walking back from the mens room when they saw the body. Mr. Greene called it in on his cell phone.”

Sterling was trying to pay attention to what Abbott was saying but was distracted by the sight of Tyler standing in front of him, totally naked. He hadn’t actually realized before but he had been longing to know what Tyler might look like naked, whether the substantial bulge that was always so prominent in the crotch of his dress slacks was all him. Now he knew. The boy was truly blessed. It was all him. Even in his current flaccid state, Sterling could tell that Tyler was sporting about seven inches soft.

Tyler was immensely uncomfortable. It was one thing to be naked on the beach, to be seen by strangers or even friends, but to encounter the Chief for the first time outside of the restaurant, stark naked, was embarrassing. Tyler kept trying to cover his privates with his hands while not looking as though he was doing it intentionally. He couldn’t tell where the Chief was looking because of those glasses but he hoped he was looking at their faces.

“Mitchell had put a blanket over the body and put up the crime tape well around the body before I got here. Good officer, chief. He knew instinctively what to do. Anyway, I was just getting some details from Mr. Greene and Mr. Williams for the report.”

“What about CIU?”

“They’re already on their way, Chief. Mitchell called for them when he called for me.”

“Think you need some additional help for crowd control?”

“Maybe. You think it might be necessary?”

“Well, the fact that everyone along the downtown strip saw the chief of police roaring down the highway at break neck speed with lights and siren kind of tells me there are going to be a whole lot of looky-lou’s showing up here.”

“I’ll go radio for two additional units.”

“Make it three. And tell them I want the PIO out here, as well. When the press starts showing up, we need Public Information to field all the questions they’re gonna be throwing out.”

“You got it, Chief.”

Sterling turned back to the still very embarrassed Tyler and grinned. Tyler motioned his friend to walk away so he could talk to the chief privately. “Sorry, Chief. I’d have preferred to have gotten dressed but when we called this in they told us to stay right with the body and keep everyone away. When the patrolman arrived he wouldn’t let us leave to go and get our swim trunks on.”

“Nothing to worry about. Look at it this way. For six months you’ve been trying to get my attention. This may be your best effort yet.” Sterling grinned and then smiled even more when Tyler blushed. “So, tell me. Did you talk to Schofield at the hospital?”

“Yes, I did. But he said he had filled the position just the previous day. He wanted me to extend his apologies to you. He took my application and said if he heard of anything at all come open that I might be a good fit for that he would call me or you immediately.”

“Well, crap! I really hoped that might be your ticket to get something going for yourself. But, you’re still at the restaurant, right?”

“Yea, for now. I think everything is coming to a head soon though. Mark brought this little eighteen year old home with him a few nights ago and the kid hasn’t left yet. That’s a hint if ever I saw one.”

“Well, look at it this way. It may be the end of your relationship but not the end of your job. An eighteen year old kid can’t be the bartender. Especially not when the chief of police eats dinner in that bar so often. So maybe you job is safer than we thought.”

“Well, I’m not taking chances chief. I...”

“Look, I told you that you could call me Drew, not chief. Okay?”

“Sure, Drew. Uh...I... the reason I’m here at the beach today is to try and add a little extra color to my tan. My friend there,” he nodded his head toward David Greene, “is doing a model shoot for that clothing store in West Hollywood that always features a lot a sexy undergarments for men, and he talked them into giving me a look. So I wanted to get my tan a little darker before going to see them at the end of the week.”

“Well, you look great and I’m sure they’ll think so too. If they turn you down it will only be because they’re brain dead.”

Tyler’s expression twitched with surprise. Drew had been throwing out a lot of comments and compliments and he wondered if that meant that he was finally getting interested. The thought made Tyler’s dick twitch and it reminded him how completely exposed he was and his hands moved reflexively in front of his crotch again. The thought that Drew might have an interest in him was like his own private fantasy. He had felt an instant attraction the first time he saw Drew walk into the restaurant and sit down in the bar. He was raw masculinity tempered by a sensitive, pouting sort of look that always seemed to be on his face keeping everyone off guard. He looked remarkably like the actor that had starred several years ago in the science fiction television series about aliens landing in Roswell, New Mexico. He had the same dark hair, muscular build and full lips and eyes that were like burning coals. He was just immensely gorgeous as a man and was a thoughtful, caring person as well.

Tyler forced himself to stop thinking good thoughts, hopeful thoughts, about the chief....Drew. His dick had climbed another three twitches while he was ruminating on the merits of Drew as a person and he knew if he didn’t put his mind on something else very quickly he would be giving the chief yet another big surprise.

Sterling had glanced down when Tyler moved his hands in front of him and had continued to watch discreetly from behind his mirrored sunglasses as Tyler’s dick jerked upward. The boys dick was already thick and long and still a long way to grow and he could see the very strong unease on the boys handsome face as he stood fearful that his dick was going to rise to full mast and completely humiliate him.

“Well, good seeing you, Tyler. Good luck on the model job. Let me know how it goes and remember to keep in touch if anything changes for you.”

Sterling held out his hand causing Tyler to unshield his privates in order to shake hands goodbye. Sterling took one last, long look at the growing erection that had Tyler so distressed, and then walked away. He moved several feet then turned to look back, stopping to watch for a few moments. Tyler truly had a magnificently beautiful ass as he walked away. It was a real trial to live in a predominantly gay town, surrounded by so many absolutely perfect boys, and not be able to touch. But what joy could be had from touching a hundred boys that could not be exceeded by just one special guy that he could share himself with, his life with, a complete sharing of everything.... till death do ye part.

Tyler was whispering something to his friend who looked back at Sterling, standing there watching, and then turned back and poked Tyler in the ribs as though to congratulate him on catching the prize fish.

When Sterling returned to the blonde boy’s body, CIU was already examining the crime scene, looking for and photographing footprints around the body, looking for any foreign objects which might reveal something about the murderer, photographing the body, taking samples and then enclosing the body in a black body bag for transport to the coroners office for additional tests and inspections. The CIU team moved quickly and efficiently. The bright sunlight prevented them from doing some of the testing that they would prefer to do so the crime tape was left up and an officer assigned to remain at the location until the CIU investigators could return after dark to complete their tests. A large tarp was thrown over the outlined area to prevent any wind from disturbing the surface of the sand or blowing any foreign objects into or out of the outlined area.

At the top of the stairs, Michelle Carson, the departments Public Information Officer, was sidestepping questions from members of the press, allowing only that a body had been found and that it was being investigated as a homicide because of evidence of a beating. She allowed that the body was that of a young man but that no specific identity could yet be determined and no guess had been made as to the specific age.

Sterling moved through the crowd, ignoring all calls for his attention and questions shouted at him and just pointed to the PIO, indicating all questions would be handled by Michelle. Climbing into his vehicle, he killed the flashing red and blues and pulled out onto the highway and headed back uptown toward the police building.

Lifting the receiver on his mobile phone, he called the Mayor’s office and asked for the Mayor after identifying himself to Cassandra, the Mayor’s secretary.

“Give me the details, Drew. How bad is this?”

“It’s gonna be a bear, Tad. It’s a boy, not more than fourteen or fifteen years of age. The boy was completely naked and he had been beaten to death with such savagery that I can’t believe one human being could do that to another. His face was like raw meat.”

“Any idea who the boy is?”

“None. But if he’s one of our own, we are going to have a community up in arms like we haven’t seen before. I’ve told everyone that this one is played by the book and close to the chest. No talking to the press by anyone other than the PIO. I want to have some answers before we start letting out too much info that sends everyone into a panic. And I want this one taken slowly, step by step, no mistakes.”

“Good. Thanks, Drew. I knew you were the right person for the job and you keep proving me right. Keep me informed, will ya?”

“Sure thing, Tad. Oh, and say hello to Charlie for me. His twenty fifth birthday is coming up, isn’t it?”

“Sure I will, thanks. Yea, and he’s fretting about it. Thinks he’s getting too old and will stop being attractive to me before long. Imagine, feeling too old because you’re turning twenty five.”

“Wish I had that problem. Take care.” Drew replaced the receiver in the cradle mounted on the center console and picked up the radio mike. “Patrol one.”

The radio crackled and came back. “Patrol one.”

“Show me enroute to the station. Have Patrol Two meet me there.”

“Ten-four, Patrol One.”

In the Laguna Shores Police Department, Patrol One was always the Chief and Patrol Two always the Deputy Chief. Patrol Three was likewise permanently assigned to the Commander of the day shift, with Patrol Four and Five being permanent call designations for the commanders of the second and third shifts, respectively. Whomever served as the commanders of the three shifts carried those call designations. Beyond these five individuals, the call designators were assigned to the patrol areas within the city.

Sterling wanted to run down the details of this matter quickly with his Deputy Chief and intended to assign him to take personal control and supervise the investigation. This would be a hot potato and would need close supervision at the highest levels.

The mobile phone rang and Sterling picked it up. “Sterling.”

It was Shirley. “Chief, we’ve got a missing persons report from a very frantic mother in town. She says her fourteen year old son didn’t come home last night and didn’t show up for school this morning.”

“Got a description?”

“Like I said, fourteen years old, blonde hair, athletic - he’s on the swim team at the high school. About five seven one hundred five pounds.”

“Oh hell. That really does sound like our victim. What’s his name?”

“Christopher Reynolds.”

“Okay. Feed me everything you’ve got over the computer and then get in touch with Randall and tell him to assign a detective to contact the mother and then do a follow up at the high school. But tell him to keep it very low key. Don’t let on yet that we have found a dead boy until we’ve got some kind of positive identification. I’ll meet Randall at my office at one o’clock to go over this mess.”

 This was not turning out to be the kind of day he had expected when he awoke this morning to the bright sunshine and the deep blue waters of the Pacific crashing beneath his bedroom window.

It pained him beyond measure to think of a child being so brutally killed. He hoped they would not find that the boy had also been raped or there was likely to be a backlash against the gay community in town in spite of the peace and harmony that the gay and straight communities enjoyed with one another in Laguna Shores. And such a backlash would almost certainly affect the city government because there were so many gay men and women in positions of leadership and power. It was amazing how much political and social damage could be caused by just one evil persons misdeeds.