| A Matter of Trust |
| This is my third 'universe' of Jack/Lennie stories. The story begins in the summer of 1996, shortly after the events of 'Aftershock.' Where I tried very hard to keep 'Phoenix' consistent with the events of the show, this one is an Alternate Universe which will not be worrying about what happened on screen. I had originally started this series running parallel to the "Love Songs" universe, but got myself so confused on which story was which I had to put this one aside. Once"Love Songs" was complete, I returned to this series. The entire story was completed on April 16, 2005, almost a year after I started writing it. |
| Something was making noise, dragging Lennie Briscoe out of a sound sleep. The phone kept ringing, and he just knew that if he ignored it, they�d just call right back. So he rolled over and fumbled on the nightstand, finally finding the receiver. �Yeah?� he barked into it. His bleary eyes focused on the clock � 4:26 AM. �Detective Briscoe? Sorry to wake you sir, but we�ve got a homicide over on 110th street, and you�re on call tonight.� Lennie groaned. �You call Curtis yet?� �As soon as I get off the phone with you.� �OK, tell him to meet me there.� Lennie wrote down the address, hung up the phone and blearily stumbled into the bathroom. The water at least woke him up as he took a hurried shower. He dressed, combed his hair, and quietly slipped out of his apartment, hoping the phone hadn�t awakened the nice old lady next door. Down the stairs to his car parked in the alley behind the building. Luckily there was an all-night diner at the end of the block where he could get some coffee to go � He pulled up at the crime scene and got out of the car, carrying his coffee with him. CSU techs were already there, documenting all the physical evidence they could find. He spotted a couple of uniforms off to the side. �You guys find the body?� he asked. The older of the two cops answered. �Yeah. Just doing a routine patrol, spotted a junkie rolling the body.� �Where�s the junkie?� �In our unit. We were just waiting for you to get here before we take him in and book him.� �You think he�s not the killer?� The uniforms looked at each other. �No way, Detective. He�s high as a kite, didn�t even have the good sense to run when we spotted him.� Lennie nodded. �OK, take him in, we�ll talk to him later, not that it�ll accomplish anything.� Rey Curtis pulled into the alley, spotted Lennie talking to the Uniforms, and came over to join them. �Morning, Lennie.� Lennie glared at him; for somebody rudely awakened at 4:30 in the morning, he looked awfully bright eyed and chipper. // Ah, the benefits of youth � // �I don�t think this qualifies as �morning� yet, Rey. Especially not on a Saturday.� Curtis chuckled. �So what do we have?� Lennie pointed to the body surrounded by CSU techs. �Dead vic, a junkie was trying to roll him for his cash when the patrol car spotted them. Let�s see what else we know �� The walked over to the body. Lennie seemed to know every CSU tech in the city, even the ones on the graveyard shift. He spotted a familiar face. �Joey, what have we got?� The tech came over to them and handed Lennie a wallet. Lennie pulled out the license. �Martin Travers. Address in the city. Well, at least he has a name.� ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ By 8AM, they were back at the 27th precinct, their day already well under way. Van Buren called them into her office moments after she arrived. �So what have we got?� Lennie shrugged. �Victim is Martin Travers of 115 Marbury Street over on the West Side. White male, 55 years old according to his driver�s license. Single gunshot to the head, left in the alley behind 77th Street. Not too far from home. Junkie was rolling the body, but he says it was already dead when he got there. ME puts time of death around 2AM, so that agrees. Didn�t find much on him, just the wallet and a cocktail napkin from �The Jade Palace� stuffed into his pocket. Figured we�d check his place, then check out the bar when it opens later.� Van Buren nodded. �OK, get on it.� They got the keys from Travers� personal effects just in case and headed to Marbury Street. It was a nice apartment building. Rey checked the mailbox on the way in. �No other name listed � looks like he lived alone.� Just in case, they knocked on the door several times before finally using the key to get in. The apartment was small, but nicely furnished. �Guy obviously did OK for himself,� Lennie muttered as he paced around the living room. �Hey Rey, he left a tape in the VCR. Let�s see what he was watching when he left.� Lennie switched on the TV and punched �play� on the VCR. The tape picked up where it had been shut off, in the middle of a porno flick. Two guys were flopped on a bed, breathing hard, obviously having just finished something Travers had found interesting �Lennie quickly shut the thing off. �What do you want to bet this �Jade Palace� is a gay bar,� he grumbled to his partner. Curtis suppressed a grin at his partner�s discomfort. He knew Lennie wasn�t a homophobe, but still the very idea seemed to make him twitchy, at least when it got that graphic. �OK, so he�s lonely and horny, gives up in the middle of a video and goes to find the real thing?� Briscoe nodded. �Sounds like a safe bet. Course, the place isn�t going to be open any time soon. You want to get something to eat?� So they finished going through Travers� apartment, finding nothing else out of the ordinary. A CSU team would be over later to go over the place with a fine tooth comb. After lunch, they headed uptown a few blocks to the Jade Palace. The sign on the door said �closed� but they could see people inside, getting the place ready for the afternoon business. Lennie pounded on the door and flashed his badge. A nice looking, sharply dressed middle-aged man came to the door and let them in. �I�m Det. Briscoe, this is Det. Curtis. I wonder if we can ask you a few questions?� �Yes, of course.� Lennie reached for his notebook. �You are?� The man smiled. �Damian Jade. This is my club.� Lennie sighed. // Does he HAVE to broadcast like that? // Curtis cut in with the photo of Travers. �Do you know this man?� Jade gave the photo a good once over. �Nope. But wish I did!� Lennie shrugged. �Sorry, missed your chance. He was killed last night. We found a napkin from here in his pocket.� Jade sighed. �Oh, well. I wasn�t working last night, my assistant manager was. He should be here shortly. Can I get you gentlemen something while you wait?� His smile was all for Lennie � It was all Rey could do to keep from laughing at Briscoe�s discomfort. �Come on, Lennie. We�ll wait over here, if that�s all right?� Luckily, it wasn�t long before the assistant manager showed up. Rey showed him the picture. �Oh, yes, I remember him. He left around 10PM with somebody else. Guess he found what he was looking for.� �Do you remember who he left with?� �Let me think. Oh, yes, I remember. Don�t know the guy�s name, he�s sort of a semi-regular here. Tall, thin, VERY striking salt-and-pepper hair, mid-50�s.� �What do you mean by �semi-regular?� �This place has a distinct reputation. Upscale men looking for occasional �companionship� come here. We get a lot of wall street types, lawyers, high-power types. They�re usually the type who work too much and have no personal life, so every couple of weeks they turn up here to find a no-obligations date. This guy comes in about once a month. Oh, yeah, he rides a motorcycle.� Rey asked the question. �This guy ever pay with a credit card?� �Sure, doesn�t everybody?� �OK, we�re going to need your receipts from last night� They took the printouts from the cash register over to one of the tables and began quickly scanning through them, looking for receipts from around 10PM. Rey found it. �Here we go, Lennie. This one starts at 9:30.� His eyes scanned the tape until they settled on a familiar name: John James McCoy. // no way � it couldn�t be! // �Lennie �� Rey handed him the tape. 10:05, right about the time Travers left with his �mystery man.� �What do we do about this, Lennie? He fits the description.� Lennie sighed. // Jack McCoy, gay? // OK, maybe he could buy that, the evidence seemed pretty strong. But a killer? God, he hoped not. There had to be some other explanation � �We take it back to Van Buren, that�s what we do.� ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Anita looked at the credit card receipt in her hand as if it was an alien thing. It was bad enough working on a Saturday, to have this turn up now � but she�d have to deal with it. Briscoe and Curtis were looking at her, waiting for her to decide how to proceed. This would have to be handled sensitively. �OK, at least it�s the weekend. Go talk to him at home. I want this kept between us until we know for sure what his involvement is. He could be the killer, or he could just be the unlucky shmuck who happened to be the last to see Travers before he was killed. IF we need to, I�ll talk to the DA on Monday.� ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jack McCoy was enjoying a quiet Saturday afternoon at home. He was in a good mood; there were no nasty cases casting a shadow on his weekend, Jamie was on call for anything that did turn up, and best of all he had gotten laid last night. Life was good. He was surprised when he heard the doorbell � he really wasn�t expecting anybody today. He was doubly surprised when he opened the door to see Briscoe and Curtis standing there looking extremely unhappy. �Detectives? Jamie�s on call this weekend.� They looked at each other, then finally Lennie spoke. �I think you�ll want to handle this yourself, counselor. Can we come in?� // So much for my perfect weekend, // he thought as he ushered them in. From their expressions, it was a bad one. He closed the door behind them and turned around. �So what�s up?� Curtis handed him the photo of Travers from the morgue. They couldn�t help noticing the moment of recognition. Briscoe asked the question. �Do you recognize him, counselor?� McCoy suddenly realized this wasn�t a case for Jack McCoy the prosecutor; his heart began pounding as he realized he might actually be a suspect. Worse, they might KNOW � He blinked and forced himself to focus. It wouldn�t help to lie. �You wouldn�t be asking if you didn�t already think I do, detective. He�s dead?� Lennie nodded. �He had a napkin from the Jade Palace in his pocket. The assistant manager remembers him leaving with you around 10PM.� Jack closed his eyes and fell back into his chair. // oh god, they knew. // He looked up at them. �I presume you found the credit card receipt?� Rey nodded. �That confirmed the description, yeah.� �Detectives, I assure you I had nothing to do with his death.� Briscoe and Curtis accepted his gestured offer of seating on the couch. Lennie finally prodded him. �So what happened?� Jack took a deep breath. �I was there last night at the club. Marty and I started talking, hit it off, decided to come back here.� He stared at the detectives, almost daring them to push the issue. Rey took the bait. �For sex?� Jack could feel the heat rising up his neck. �Yes, detective. For sex.� Lennie jumped in. �Did you know him before tonight?� Jack shook his head. �Never saw him before, and frankly never expected to see him again. I didn�t even get his last name.� Lennie nodded; it fit with the type of clientele the assistant manager had described. �So?� Jack shrugged. �We did what we came to do and then he left around midnight. I went to bed.� Lennie sighed. This was going nowhere. He wasn�t sure if he was relieved; it left them with nothing to go on. If the ME was right about the time of death, it was well after he left McCoy�s place. If McCoy was telling the truth � Too many if�s � The detectives looked at each other. Curtis asked �Can you give us anything to go on, counselor? Did he say where he was going when he left?� McCoy shook his head. �Nothing. I�m sorry.� Briscoe�s turn. �You said you were talking at the bar. He say what he did for a living?� �Sorry. Our conversation was more of a negotiation. We were both looking for a one-night stand, not a relationship.� That was a little more information than Lennie the person wanted to know, even though Lennie the cop needed it. His brain was doing all it could to reject this information; he wanted out of here, and now. Rey could see his partner�s discomfort. It was obvious to him that McCoy wasn�t going to tell them anything else. It was possible he was hiding something, but Curtis had a feeling they had all there was to know. He stood up. �OK, I guess that�s it, then.� Jack nodded and got up to show them to the door. Before opening it, he turned to face them. �I realize I have no right to ask this, but there are certain aspects of this that I�d rather not discuss around the office.� Lennie nodded. �We understand. Van Buren says for the weekend this goes no further than the four of us. Hopefully we�ll find something that leads to the murderer before Monday morning. If not, she�ll talk to the DA personally. We�ll keep this as quiet as possible, Jack.� �Thank you.� The knot his stomach had tied itself into relaxed just a bit. There was one more thing � �Rey, Lennie, presuming I am cleared, are we going to have a problem with this?� His shift from the formal titles to their names made the question personal. They looked at each other and shook their heads. Lennie shrugged. �Jack, what you do on your own time is your business. We�ll keep your secret if we can.� �Yeah, no problem here,� seconded Rey. Jack sighed. �Thanks, guys.� ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In the car on the way back to the station, they discussed the situation. Rey looked at his partner, whose eyes were fixed on the road in front of him. �You�ve known him longer than me, Lennie. What do you think?� Lennie shook his head. �I think he�s telling the truth. At least I want to believe it. Jack�s one of the good guys. We�ve had our disagreements over the years, but he�s basically at the core a good man. I don�t believe he could be a stone killer. I do think if he wanted to hide something, we�d have a hell of a time finding it. The man�s smart, there�s no question of that. Hell, he hid the fact that he�s gay completely. I still have problems believing that, even though he admitted it. His reputation with women is so well known, nobody would even consider the alternative. Until I find something pointing in another direction, I have to consider that we�re being manipulated by somebody who knows the system better than most.� Rey sighed. He didn�t want to believe McCoy could be behind this either. But Lennie was right � at the moment they had nothing except their personal acquaintance with him to make his testimony believable. They needed evidence, hard evidence, to point in another direction before they could accept his story. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Once the detectives left, Jack collapsed back into his chair, shaking. The man he had picked up last night was dead, shortly after leaving his place. He knew he was innocent, but still, this could have some nasty repercussions if he wasn�t careful. He desperately wished Claire was here. He knew the detectives had all thought they were lovers. That was exactly what they wanted them to think. Like several of his previous assistants, she had known his secret, and let the world think they were lovers to help him hide it. But Claire had been special; she had been like a kid sister to him. He wished he could talk to her now, wished he could talk to somebody. But since she had died, he hadn�t found someone to confide in. Jamie was a good assistant, once he got past his original resentment of having anybody replace Claire. But they had never clicked on the personal level. She was already seeing somebody, so it wouldn�t make sense to continue that particular deception anyway. He wished things had turned out differently, he needed a friend to talk to. But they hadn�t, so he had to find a way to get through this on his own. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ By the time Lennie and Rey got back to the station, the CSU team had gone over Travers� apartment. Rey was looking over the inventory of what they�d found. �Hey Lennie, they found his laptop. Maybe that will turn up some motive for the killing.� Lennie suppressed a yawn as he agreed with his partner. This day had started way too damned early, and it was supposed to be his day off. �Tell you what, Rey. Until forensics goes over it, we�ve got nothing to go on. Enough overtime for one day?� Curtis nodded. �I hear you, Lennie. Let�s get out of here.� Lennie fought another yawn as he pulled his car out of the precinct parking lot. Hell of a Saturday. He still couldn�t believe it � Jack McCoy was gay. The rest really didn�t bother him; as a cop he had to cover every angle, especially when the suspect was somebody inside the system, but he realized he believed McCoy. His cop instinct told him that this man didn�t do it; he just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was confident that the computer geeks would find something on that laptop that would point to the real motive for the murder. But Jack � gay? His mind kept coming back to that one point. The man who ALWAYS had affairs with his female assistants. Except for now; Jamie was already spoken for when she came to the DA�s office. So was Jack actually bi, or were the assistants not really his lovers after all? Claire � he had been devastated by her death. Could it have been something else? He shook his head, trying to clear it. Finally, he pulled into the alley behind his building and trudged up the steps to his second floor hole-in-the-wall apartment. He quickly stripped down to boxers and undershirt, tossing the suit over a chair rather than hanging it up, and crawled back into bed. A couple of hours later, he woke up, feeling wonderfully relaxed and more than a little horny. He barely remembered a dream, long fingers caressing him, coaxing him. Eyes like deep, dark pools, drawing him in. Lips, finding his tenderest spots, driving him mad with desire. A hot, hard cock pressed against his leg � He let himself run with the fantasy, slipping a hand inside his boxers. He imagined himself reaching out with trembling fingers to touch his phantom lover, caressing the soft skin tight over the hardness beneath. His breathing became shallow as he imagined his lover�s pleasure at his touch. A brutal kiss, taking his breath away, as his lover thrust into his hand, pleasure mounting rapidly. As he felt his climax coming, he looked up into his lover�s eyes � into the eyes of Jack McCoy. �Oh god!� he gasped as he came, making a mess of the underwear. He laid there for a while, catching his breath as coherent thought reformed. // should have known that was coming, pal. // he thought. For the last couple of years, he�d been having these fantasies. After two divorces and too many other failed relationships, he�d finally figured out that women weren�t the be-all and end-all of the world. He was curious. Part of him wanted to try it with a man; what had the guy at the club said? The guys there were looking for fun, not relationships. He�d definitely had it in the relationship game. Maybe a male lover was the answer. But he�d never gotten up the nerve to try. Gay cops had a decidedly shorter life expectancy than their straight �brothers.� And for better or worse, Lennie�s entire life revolved around the NYPD. His few friends were cops. Even if he was willing to risk it, he just didn�t know anybody he could trust to tell. And the idea of starting off with a total stranger scared the shit out of him. He knew there were some really kinky bastards out there who might enjoy playing games with a �virgin.� But now that had changed. McCoy was gay. He actually knew somebody he could at least talk to about it. He�d never been particularly close to the attorney, but they got along well enough in the course of their duties. It wasn�t really surprising that his usually nameless, faceless lover had taken Jack�s face today � Continue on to Chapter 2 Send me some Feedback Back to the Story Index Disclaimer: These characters belong to Dick Wolf and NBC. I'm just borrowing them for fun, not profit. |
| Chapter 1 |