Read When Love Intrudes (When the Mission Ends) for Free Online

womanly curves filled out those jeans in all the perfect places. When he turned back, Eddie watched him with a single eyebrow raised. Not good. He groaned inwardly. He needed to be more subtle, because his new partner rarely missed much.
    Brian pulled the tape recorder out of his suit jacket pocket and waved it in the air. “We’re going to record this, if that’s okay with you?”
    The kid scowled thunderously at Brian. “Stay away from her.”
    Obviously, Nathan knew quite a bit about what went down between Toni and him. Hopefully, that wouldn’t cause a problem with his cooperation. Brian ignored the curious look from his partner and just raised the tape recorder again in question.
    Nathan sent a second backward glance toward the door where Toni had disappeared. “I guess that’s fine,” he said as he eyed the recorder warily.
    From the research he’d done on Nathan Morrow, he learned that he’d earned his GED a year and a half earlier than he should have and had set to work developing computer software, as well as taking online college classes, and working at a local coffee shop. At this point, he was just barely getting by financially, but the kid was smart.
    As he glanced around the hospital room, Brian wondered how much this little attack was going to cost Nathan, because there’s no way this kid had any kind of health insurance. The senator just wanted them to brush it off, but this wasn’t a victimless crime. Nathan was going to lose more than just a few days of work. And those few days were more than he could afford even before the hospital bills arrived. All it took was one little setback for someone in Nathan’s financial position and he could end up living on the streets. It was just one more reason to stick it to the guys who did this to him.
    Brian clicked on the tape recorder. “Okay, Nathan, take your time, but we need you to tell us exactly what you remember from yesterday’s attack.”
    “I’d just gotten home from work.”
    “Were you working at the Grind yesterday?” Eddie asked, consulting his notes.
    “Yes.” His startled gaze lingered on the folder Eddie held. “What else do you know about me?” But immediately he raised his unbroken arm and shook his head. “Never mind, I don’t really want to know.”
    Nathan took another deep breath and began again. “I didn’t realize anyone followed me home, so I headed to the laundry room. There are vending machines in there and I wanted to get a candy bar.” His eyes darted to his hands folded in his lap, his fingers nervously working the edge of the cast that extended down onto his hand. “I was standing in front of the machine, digging the change out of my pocket when they jumped me. I didn’t hear anyone enter the room behind me, but I don’t remember hearing the door shut behind me, either.”
    “Did you see who grabbed you?” Eddie asked.
    “No, I was grabbed from behind and someone pinned my arms to my sides while someone else pulled something over my head and face—maybe a stocking cap.” He glanced up at the two detectives. “It felt itchy and hot like a winter stocking cap usually does.”
    “Did they say anything?” Brian asked.
    Nathan swallowed hard and his voice lowered as he began to recount the details of his attack. “The guy holding me said, ‘You shouldn’t look at the ass of straight guys, faggot.’ And then someone kicked me in the balls. The guy holding me let go and it became a free-for-all. I curled up on the floor and tried to protect my head and torso.”
    “Was anything else ever said?”
    “There was a lot of laughing and homophobic stuff said. They threatened to rape me and kept shoving something against my ass,” he looked down at his hands, “but one of the guys stopped it. Then they just beat on me some more using their fists, feet, and some sort of stick. I must have passed out at some point because the next thing I remember was waking up, and Toni was there.”
    “You said they