Chapter Seventy-five: You Don't Know
The man never once made a move to take the Pharaoh hound from his owner. Though Speed did witness him writing down information in a little notebook. It looked to him like the man was logging the make of the car and the license plate. A lot could be learned about a person from their license plate, such as their name and where they lived. This man had to have the right sort of database to run the license plate though; which gave Speed a pretty good lead to go on. This person either worked in some form of law enforcement or at the department of motor vehicles. That was something to go on, something he planned to tell Ryan when the opportunity presented itself. His fellow investigator might very well figure out who was kidnapping dogs and murdering people.
He continued to follow the man in hopes of learning more information. He learned a long time ago that following a suspect around could be boring and tedious work. He was willing to do whatever it took to get his dog back, to get this man off the streets before he murdered another innocent person. Over the hours Speed followed him to a café, through a bookstore and waited patiently while the guy chatted up a girl completely uninterested in him. The hours of the day were wasting away and he wasn't any closer to finding Mite. Or to figuring out where this man was going.
Sitting on a bench outside a restaurant while the guy enjoyed his dinner, Speed noted that he sure seemed to eat out a lot, someone sat down beside him.
"What exactly are you doing, Tim?"
Speed looked at Horatio, then turned his gaze back to the man at the table across the street. "Why did I bother saying anything to Ryan? I knew I couldn't trust him."
"He's only looking out for you, Tim. He's worried just like the rest of us," Horatio pointed out. "So tell me, what the hell are you doing?"
"That guy over there," he pointed to the man, "he took Mite."
"Are you sure?"
Speed nodded. He felt a jolt of nausea as he looked at the man. He'd been walking through the park with Mite when someone came up behind him. The man smiled apologetically. To Speed he looked like the typical businessman dressed in a suit, a briefcase in one hand. He asked Tim for the time, seemed like a normal moment, something he wouldn't have thought twice about. Then the next thing he knew he woke up in bed at Delko's apartment. "He took Mite, Horatio. I remember him."
His boss studied the man. "Be that as it may, Speed; I don't want you out here following this guy. You don't know where this going to lead. I don't want you getting hurt."
"I won't get hurt."
"You don't know that."
"I have to get Mite back, H," Speed stressed. "That dog is the only reason I'm still alive. When I left…you had every right to worry that I was never going to come back. I had many nights when the thoughts running through my head got dark. Nights when I might have done something regrettable if it hadn't been for Mite. His company….I never felt alone."
Horatio put his hand on Speed's arm. "Don't worry, Tim. Do you really think I would come all this way just to turn back with nothing? This guy has been murdering people, kidnapping dogs. I can't have him running loose in my city." He pointed toward a black van a short distance away. "They're going to watch him, Tim. He won't spend a minute out of their sight. I promise. Now come back to the lab with me. Please."
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Horatio actually took him back to Delko's apartment instead of heading to the lab like he said. Before leaving Horatio promised to call him if anything happened. Speed reluctantly headed upstairs to Delko's, wondering why he didn't just head back to his own apartment. He was a full grown man capable of taking care of himself. Yet when he opened the door and found Delko waiting for him there was an odd feeling in the pit of his stomach. Something he hadn't felt for a very long time. An emotion he'd been running from for years. He stood there staring at Delko.
"Something on your mind, Tim?" inquired Delko, not even bothering to chastise him for going out during the day and doing something potentially stupid.
He kept staring, thoughts running rampant through his mind.
"Speed?" Delko asked as he walked over to him.
On impulse Speed reached out, taking hold of Delko, then leaned in and kissed him on the lips. He recalled the last time that their lips had met, the last time that they kissed. He put everything he had into the kiss, all the depression and anger and the hunger of needing someone to love him. He felt the stirring of emotions, a friendship set on fire. At that moment he wanted to forget the world, to fall into another space and time where he could forget everything that was going on, all the horrible things happening in his life. He tugged at the hem of Delko's shirt, suddenly wanting the object of his affection to be without clothing.
"Speed," Delko whispered.
"Shut up."
Delko stepped away. "Timmy, please, don't make me do this, it isn't fair."
"What isn't fair?" He could feel the mood starting to wane.
"We can't do this because you want to escape," Delko said, holding him. "If we're going to take this to that level…I want it to be real." He pulled Speed close, kissing him one more time on the lips. They stood there for hours just holding each other.