Act XIII
"Nnn," moaned Ryo as he slowly regained consciousness. His eyes flickered open and he let out a gasp of pain. He never knew his head could hurt so much. He tried to put his hands up to his head but discovered a pair of handcuffs fastened them to the metal railing of the headboard.
"Hi, honey. Welcome back," crooned Touin softly.
"Where...where are we?" Ryo asked, awareness fully coming back to him through the haze of pain.
"My neighbor's place," Touin informed him, tracing the bruise on Ryo's cheek with his finger. "I'm sorry I had to hurt you," he continued. "But I couldn't let you get away."
"Won't your neighbor object to your keeping me here?" asked Ryo, trying to scoot as far away from Touin as possible.
"No," Touin replied, starting to unbutton Ryo's shirt. "I took care of him. A lonely, old man with no living relatives," he explained casually. "He won't be missed."
"Stop!" commanded Ryo as Touin put his mouth on his chest.
"No" kiss...kiss... "can" kiss...kiss... "do," Touin refused, punctuating each word with two slobbery kisses and then letting his tongue slide from the Ryo's left nipple to his belly button.
"They'll find out it's you when you miss work," Ryo warned Touin as the top button of Ryo's pants was undone by Touin's restless hands.
"No, they won't," Touin replied, laughing softly, and leaning up to look down into Ryo's fearful eyes. "As far as everyone is concerned, I'm following a suspect. I just checked in before I came to join you in here. They won't be expecting me for awhile."
"But...but.." Ryo stammered as Touin finished undoing his pants and reached beneath the fabric for the prize.
"Hush, baby," Touin told him in a raspy whisper. "It's playtime."
"Touin?" Rose repeated in disbelief. "Explain," he ordered Dee.
Dee told Rose everything they had come up with on their case. "It's a good thing Ryo isn't working with Touin anymore," Rose said when Dee had finished.
"You think so?" mocked Dee. "If Touin is frustrated because he hasn't been able to get Ryo, separating them may make him desperate enough to go after him," Dee theorized. He stood up straight and stared Rose in the eyes. "I'm going to Ryo's. I don't think he should be left alone until Touin is dead, er...in custody," he said, hoping Rose hadn't caught his slip of the tongue.
"Agreed," Rose nodded his approval, ignoring the slip even though he had caught it. "Send JJ in here and we will get ready to apprehend Touin."
"JJ. Commissioner's office. Now," ordered Dee, running through the CI lobby and out the door.
Dee ran for his car, sliding over the hood to reach the driver's side more quickly. Inside, he grabbed the siren and set it on top of his car. Minutes later, he was double-parked in front of Ryo's apartment building.
"Ryo, open up!" Dee shouted after knocking and receiving no answer. "Open up or I'm going to break it down!"
"What did you do to him this time?" demanded Bikky, coming down the hall behind Dee.
"I thought you were at school," snapped Dee, not in the mood to deal with Bikky.
"Half a day," Bikky replied with a nonchalant shrug. He pulled out his key to the apartment and spun it around on his finger, taunting Dee with it. "Go away," he said. "Ryo obviously doesn't want you around."
"Ryo's in danger," Dee informed him, snatching the key and inserting it into the lock.
"What do you mean?" Bikky asked, blinking his big blue eyes as he looked up at Dee questioningly. "What kind of danger?"
"I mean..." whatever Dee had been about to say was lost when the door opened and the destruction inside assaulted their eyes.
"What happened?" Bikky asked softly.
"Ryo!" shouted Dee, rushing straight for the bedroom. "Ryo!"
"Where is he?" Bikky demanded, still a bit awestruck by the damage to the once immaculate house.
"Touin." Dee spat out the name with as much hate as any human being had ever possessed.
"Touin," Bikky repeated. "But...but why? He likes Ryo."
"He's a psycho, that's why," snarled Dee, grabbing the phone. "He's been attacking guys that look like Ryo because he couldn't have Ryo."
"What?" Bikky demanded, shocked.
"Put me through to Commissioner Rose," Dee said into the receiver. "It's urgent!"
Bikky left the room to give Dee the time he needed to make the call. "I don't care if he is on a case!" Dee's voice reverberated throughout the apartment. "He took time out to kidnap Ryo. Get an address! And if he calls in get a current location and I don't mean the cockamamie one he gives you!" Dee slammed down the phone.
"Bikky!" he shouted, bringing the boy running. "Stay here and don't let anyone inside. If Ryo calls, find out where he is and then call me on my cell. Got it?"
"Yeah," agreed Bikky but Dee had already left.
