Chapter 25

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Martin should have known better than to try and trick a natural born trickster. Leave it Danny to find pleasure in doing something he himself would find mortifying. Danny finished his seventh song and the audience gave him a thundering ovation. He gave a bow, threw up his fingers in peace and walked, scratch that, sauntered off the stage. As he headed back to the booth men patted him on the back and stopped him to say what a great job he did. When he finally sat down he had a big grin on his face and looked incredibly pleased with himself.

"Well, that totally backfired." Martin commented. "I didn't even know you could sing."

"I'm Cuban; music is in my blood. I was born to groove." Danny smiled, all sweaty from his performance. He took a long drink of his now watery daiquiri.

"Damn, you fibbies are good." Paul smiled mischievously at Danny who had a surprised look in his eyes.

"They knew." Martin said before Danny had a chance to jump to any conclusions. "Apparently Nate called up Rick beforehand and told him the F.B.I. was asking questions. And since Tuesday is a night when the regulars come they put two and two together."

"Wait a minute, are you telling me you guys knew I was F.B.I. all along but you still made me wait outside, made me endure that little relationship talk, force me to go up on stage and serenade Martin? And you," Danny pointed at Mike. "You called me a bitch." Danny glared at the three men who nodded at him guiltily before he leaned back, smiled and said, "Damn that was a good joke."

Martin chuckled as he took another drink deciding they had enough fun and needed to get back to the case. "So, Danny, now that you are through trying to romance me, Paul gave me some good information about Jeremy. Apparently Jeremy has been coming here close to six months. He was using a fake I.D. under the name Mark Piper."

"Mark…sorry, Jeremy, was a sweet boy, if a bit naïve." Paul sighed. "I think he was just struggling to find his way in the world and this place made him feel like he wasn't alone."

Danny nodded before turning to Martin and asking, "Did you find out who his mystery guy is?"

"Well, Paul thinks it might be an Adam Weller. Apparently, he and Jeremy hooked up on a few occasion and they haven't seen Adam or Jeremy here for over three weeks."

"Do you know where we can find Adam?" Danny asked.

"No, I didn't know much about him other than he was a troubled young man who seemed to find a lot of comfort in a bottle." Paul turned and eyed Martin who had told them about Danny's membership in AA because they were planning on having a daiquiri ready when they told Chris to let him in. "He had a lot of self-hate if you want my opinion. For some men coming to terms with their homosexuality is very difficult if you don't have a good support system."

Mike contributed, "Word around the lounge is that Adam's parents disowned him when he came out. Well, he didn't so much 'come out' as get caught in the act by his very conservative Christian father." He sighed and continued, "It seems that his father's reaction was to beat the living daylights out of Adam. He broke Adam's nose and jaw, a couple of ribs and his arm in two places."

Martin took a moment to process that information. If Jeremy's friend had a traumatic experience with his coming-out then it was possible that fed on Jeremy's own fears; particularly with his father's outburst at the gym. He looked over at Danny who, based on his expression, had the same thought.

"Is there anything else?" Danny asked.

"Why don't you tell Danny what you told me about the last time you saw them both here." Martin asked Paul.

"Sure. It was about three weeks ago." Paul began….

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The bar was jam packed; everyone was having a merry time. Paul was laughing with a group of men before breaking away and walking over to the bar to talk to Rick. Rick was on the other end of the bar taking an order so he leaned against the counter to wait. Sitting on stools next to him were Adam and Jeremy/Mark talking.

"I think you've had enough to drink, Adam." Jeremy said, trying to pull the glass away.

"I'm fine. What do you care? You said you don't want to be with me anymore!" Adam laughed mirthlessly as he grabbed the glass back and took another drink.

"It doesn't mean I don't care what happens to you." Jeremy implored as he caressed Adam's hair.

"Screw you. Why don't you just leave! Leave me like everyone else!" Adam shoved him causing Jeremy to spill his drink on himself as well as on the bar. He stormed off while Jeremy tried to wipe the drink off of his clothes. Jeremy met Paul's eyes before he chased after Adam.

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"And you haven't seen either one of them since?" Danny asked.

"No." Paul replied. "I have to admit, I had hoped that the two of them ran off together to start a new life but that's the hopeless romantic in me." Paul's face softened as he gently asked, "Promise me that when you find out what happened to Jeremy you'll come back and tell us."

"Of course, we will." Martin promised. He looked over at Danny and thought that they need to find this Adam Weller. He might be the key to Jeremy's disappearance.