"I said shut up!" In a flash Eckert had Tom by the back of the neck again and pulled the gun out of his waistband, shoving it hard into Tom's stomach. As Tom leaned forward with a grunt, Eckert pushed the gun harder and pulled Tom into an awkward embrace. "No more stalling," he whispered into his captive's ear. "Let's get on with this."

Eckert released Tom and stood up, pointing the gun at him. "Get up." Tom did as he was told, and Eckert motioned with the gun toward the bedroom. "In there. Go."

Tom walked slowly toward the room. "I didn't think so," he said quietly.

"Didn't think what, cop?" Eckert put the gun against Tom's back and shoved him forward. "Move it!"

Tom stumbled a bit as he reached the bedroom entrance. Eckert shoved him again and Tom was through the door. He turned around to face Eckert. "I didn't think you planned it. You're not that smart." He tried hard to keep his voice from trembling.

Eckert laughed. "So…what? You think you're gonna insult me and I'll want to prove to you how smart I am? That I'll want to tell you everything?"

Tom shrugged. "No. I really don't think you planned it. I think you got lucky. You probably didn't even kill Walsh, did you? I know you didn't kill Kern."

"Kern was a pussy," Eckert scoffed. "I didn't have to worry about killing him. Even if he testified, I would have taken care of it." He motioned with the gun to the bed. "Sit."

Tom sat down and watched as Eckert laid the gun on the dresser again and then took off the long sleeved plaid shirt he was wearing, leaving just the white, tight fitting, muscle shirt that he wore underneath. The sight of him undressing, even partially, disgusted Tom. He cleared his throat and spoke. "How?"

"Huh? Eckert walked over to the bed.

"How? How would you have taken care of it?"

Eckert stood close in front of Tom, looking down on him as he laughed. "Same way I took care of you. I'd have made it look like he was lying. Wasn't any evidence left. Hell, even the money and dope I gave him was gone by the next day." He crouched down in from of Tom and touched his cheek with the back of his hand. "I'll bet I could have even made him cry…like I made you cry."

Tom fought down the fury that was rising inside of him and asked, "What about Walsh? You weren't so confident about him testifying, were you? Or else you wouldn't have killed him."

Eckert shook his head. "Tommy, Tommy, Tommy…see, there you go again. See that's…" He slapped Tom hard across the face. "…what got you into this mess…trying to get me to confess to a murder. You just keep proving to me over and over that you haven't learned your lesson." He stood up and began to unbuckle his belt. "I still have a lot to teach you."

Tom was reeling from the sharp sting of the blow to his face, but he saw what Eckert was doing and tried again to keep him talking. "I don't give a shit if you killed him or not. There was no evidence. Just like everything else you did. You got away with it."

Eckert stepped forward between Tom's legs as the officer sat on the edge of the bed. Eckert's crotch was now in front of the young man's face, and he put his arms around Tom, pulling him closer. He put a hand behind Tom's head and forced it against his crotch, holding it there as he sighed, "Yeah…I got away with a lot of stuff, didn't I?"

The side of Tom's face was pressed against Eckert, and he could feel the hardness beneath the fabric of the man's pants. He moaned a little as Eckert began grinding against him, the hard mound growing larger.

Eckert sucked in his breath. "Oh God…yes…I love to hear you moan, Tommy…pain or pleasure…doesn't matter." He released Tom's head and pulled his belt out of the loops of his pants. With his other hand he pulled his zipper down and reached inside, letting out his own moan as he grasped himself. "You're gonna be good at this, Tommy…I can tell."

Tom shook his head and tried to back away. "No…I won't do it."

Eckert still held his belt in one hand, looped partway, and he swung it down hard against Tom's back. "I think you will," he said as he swung the belt one more time.

Tom let out a cry with each strike, the pain bringing tears to his eyes, but he still shook his head. "I won't."

Eckert dropped the belt and used both hands to unbutton his pants, pushing them down past his hips. His large, hard cock was straining against his briefs, fighting to be released. "Open up."

Tom watched as Eckert leaned over a bit, dropping his pants until they were around his knees, but he did not step out of them. Before he could stand up straight again, Tom gave him a hard shove and Eckert fell over backward, his entangled legs and his hands in the air like an upturned turtle.

Tom jumped to his feet and ran for the door, making a wide berth around the furious man on the floor. But it wasn't wide enough. He felt a hand grab his ankle, and although he fought hard to push away with his free leg, he was brought down to the ground. He reached forward, trying desperately to grab onto something, but the hardwood floor slid beneath his empty hands as he was dragged backward. He felt something wrap around his neck and then he was flipped over onto his back. A raging Lee Eckert loomed above him. Tom tried to squirm away, but Eckert pinned him by putting a knee in his gut. Eckert put all his weight behind it, and Tom groaned in pain. His throat was tightening, and Eckert's face danced above him, dotted with spots of light and color before blackness crowded in. He couldn't breathe…he couldn't breathe. His head felt like it was going to explode and then suddenly the tightness around his neck let up a little and the light came back bringing with it the sight of Eckert's angry face.

Eckert's belt was wrapped around Tom's neck as he held him to the floor. When he saw Tom starting to black out, he released some of the tension until he saw that Tom was alert again. "You wanna know why I killed that shit Walsh?! Huh?!" He was yelling…spittle flying from his mouth as he sputtered. He repositioned himself above Tom and planted his knee again hard into Tom's stomach. "I wasn't worried about his fuckin' testimony!" He pulled his hands sharply and fast in opposite directions, the belt clamping harder around Tom's throat. Eckert kept pulling, the belt tightening. "It was because he…pissed…me…off!" Tighter…tighter. "Just like you're doing!"

Tom's vision was swimming. His head was pounding, longing for the blood supply that was being cut off. His chest was aching, longing for the oxygen that was being cut off. He clawed at his assailant, desperately trying to get free, but to no avail. He could barely hear Eckert's ranting as his consciousness began to fade away, but then he did hear something loud and clear.

Thump…thump….thump thump.

Eckert immediately grew quiet and looked up at the wall.

"Knock it off! I'm trying to sleep!"

Although the belt loosened a bit when Eckert had looked up, Tom hadn't quite recovered yet. Still, he opened his mouth and tried to shout for help, but nothing came out except a small, scratchy squeak.

It was loud enough for Eckert to hear, however. He grabbed his discarded shirt and stuffed as much of it as he could into Tom's mouth, placing his hand over it and holding it firmly in place. He stayed like that for at least five minutes, making sure there was no more noise from the apartment next door before he looked down at Tom again.

Tom's eyes were wide with fear and pain, but he moaned with some relief as Eckert removed his knee from his stomach. Eckert stood up and harshly pulled Tom up with him. Tom was pushed onto the bed and Eckert clambered on top of him. The weight of the man's body on his chest along with the choking from the belt and the shirt stuffed into his mouth made breathing all but impossible, and Tom began to struggle in panic.

"Stop it!" Eckert hissed. He pulled the shirt out of Tom's mouth and leaned in so close to Tom's face that their noses were almost touching. "Listen carefully. This is what's gonna happen, okay? I was being nice to you…no gag…no restraints…I wasn't even hurting you. But you listen to me. If you make any more trouble…any more noise…if you scream…if you fuckin' move without me telling you to…I'm gonna turn you over and hold your face in that pillow…quietly…until you're good and dead. And then I'm still gonna fuck your lousy dead body all night long. And when I'm done…then…I'm gonna pay your mom a nice little visit."

Tom's face crumpled in fear and despair and he shook his head. "No…please…" he begged softly.

"Then we understand each other?"

Tom nodded slowly.

"Good. See…thing is…the problem with Walsh…he never did what he was told. And it got him killed. That little lesson is a freebie, got it?"

Tom nodded again, wondering anxiously how much time had passed. Everything seemed to be moving so quickly, and yet then everything was going in slow motion. Eckert was still straddling him and he began sliding back and forth, rubbing his crotch against Tom's chest. The man's head was back, eyes closed, as he relished the sensation. Tom's first priority had been to somehow get Eckert out of here without anything…happening. But now, after Eckert's threats against his mother, Tom didn't want him to leave. He knew that Eckert meant what he had said…that he would kill Tom and go after his mother. But he also believed that he would go after her even if Tom was left alive. He couldn't let that happen.

"What did he do to piss you off?" Tom asked quietly.

"Hmmmm?" Eckert opened his eyes and looked down.

"Walsh. You said he pissed you off."

"Yeah," Eckert snorted. "What didn't he do? He pushed me far enough in the bar, bragging like he was some big shit. Then he couldn't do a simple thing like hold your ass down for me. And I told the fucker to disappear…told both of 'em. Then the son of a bitch gets himself arrested. He was gonna roll over…I know he was." He looked down at Tom and smiled. "You know, I think he thought I was gonna do to him what I did to you. Scared the shit out of him. I think he was glad all I did was kill him."

Tom did not doubt that Eckert was right. After all, that's what he would have preferred at the time he was attacked. Even now there were times when he thought death would have been a better option than what actually happened.

Eckert lay down on top of Tom, keeping his knees at Tom's sides. He slid his hands through the young man's hair and nuzzled his neck, mumbling, "He didn't know how good it would feel. But you know, don't you, Tommy? Huh?" He took one of his hands and put it under Tom's t-shirt, running it up and down the smooth, firm skin underneath. He slid his body farther down Tom's until their crotches met and ground against him.

"Please stop…don't do this." Tom's voice was shaking as he pleaded.

"You don't like it, Tommy?" Eckert whispered against his neck before sliding his mouth up to Tom's ear and nipping at it.

Tom squirmed and tried to pull away. "No…I don't…please…just stop. Let me up. We'll…we'll talk or something."

"I think you're lying, Tommy. You like it. I can feel how much you like it." Eckert laughed and sat up. He slid farther back so that he was straddling Tom's legs. "See that?" He gestured downward with his head, but Tom didn't have to look to see what he meant. "I can see how much you like it. Can't you?"

Tom still refused to look. "Any sort of physical contact with the genitals can cause an erection, whether or not the man is engaged in sexual activity. And if something sexual is going on, whether he's enjoying it or not, his body is going to respond to the stimulation." Tom recalled Dr. Marcus' words from the trial. They hadn't made him feel much better then…or now…but he did his best to stay calm and ignore Eckert's taunts.

Eckert tilted his head to the side. "What? Got nothing to say? Come on…say something." As Tom remained silent, Eckert's face hardened. "You know what?" He got off of the bed and went to the nightstand, picking up the alarm clock and yanking the cord out of the wall. Tom lay still, afraid to move, and watched as Eckert tore the cord from the clock, tossing the now defunct timepiece into the corner wastebasket. He leaned over Tom with the cord stretched out between his hands. "I changed my mind." He climbed back onto the bed and on top of the young man who was watching him with wide, fearful eyes. Eckert grabbed Tom's right wrist and wound one end of the cord around it, tying it tightly. He then threaded the cord through the slats of the headboard and pulled it so that Tom's right arm was drawn up above his head.

"Why?" Tom whimpered as Eckert secured the cord around his other wrist, his hopes of escape dwindling quickly.

"Because," said Eckert as he double checked the bindings on Tom's wrists. He sat back and admired his work, smiling at the sight of the young man with his arms stretched tight above his head. He leaned over and whispered against Tom's ear. "You pissed me off."

Hi again! Just to let you know, there are probably...ohhhh....two chapters left. Hope you can hold out until then!

One thing I wanted to mention that several people have asked about. Lee Eckert is a character that was completely made up by me. He was never in an episode, so the backstory case was made up by me as well. I have to say, I'm pleased that you guys hate him so much. LOL! It means I accomplished what I set out to do. But...I must admit, sometimes it scares me a bit wondering where I came up with it all and how I had that much evil in me to give to him. ;-)

Anyway, once again I really love hearing what you have to say about the story, and I really appreciate everyone who reads and especially those who review. Someone told me once that there was no need to thank them, but there certainly is! I really couldn't have continued on with the story without your encouragement. So thanks again!!