The Heat of Christmas: A Stonewall Investigation

There was a murmur of yeses from the collected group. We had detectives and their spouses from both the New York office and the Miami one. It was good getting to meet the Miami branch and finally putting some faces to names I’d been hearing about since I started at Stonewall a few months ago.

“Perfect.” Zane smiled as Enzo handed him an envelope. “So first off, Merry Christmas, everyone! Thanks for coming. I know a few of you had a long way to get here. Looking at you, Shy.” He pointed to Shiro, who lifted his glass of eggnog and took a drink. He’d come all the way from Spain, where he had to leave his partner since, well, he was the prince of freaking Spain and all.

Does that make him a prince, too?

“Now, this wouldn’t be a party of world-class detectives if there weren’t a mystery to solve.” Zane lifted the envelope and gave it a shake. “In here is the identity of the one and only Secret Santa Slayer.”

A mixture of comical gasps filtered through the room. For dramatic effect, Enzo flicked the lights on and off.

“One of you has been secretly assigned to be the killer. No one but Enzo knows who it is, so, my love, that means you can’t play along.”

“That’s fine, it’s going to be fun watching.”

“I’m sure it will be,” Zane said. “Now, one of us is the killer. That person, in order to kill, will whisper ‘ho, ho, ho’ near you. If you hear that, you count to thirty in your head and then drop down to the ground in the most dramatic fashion you possibly can. If more than one person hears it, then they all drop, but the killer can’t take out more than three people at a time.”

People started shooting narrow-eyed looks at each other. Oliver and Beckham, who were still wearing their shorts after hopping off the plane from Miami and running straight here, seemed slightly extra suspicious with the way both of them were looking at their shoes.

Already, my detective gears were spinning. I fucking loved this job, my next biggest passion aside from naked men, and I was determined to figure this out.

“Around the mansion, clues are hidden,” Zane continued. Enzo took his place next to his husband’s side, grabbing the card with the killer in it. He pocketed it and crossed his arms, smiling as he observed the crowd. “The clues can be anywhere, so keep a sharp eye out. Once you’ve gathered some clues and think you’ve got a guess, you need to call a meeting. We’ll come back into this room and discuss. If you’re wrong, the game continues, but you have to sit out for ten minutes. If you’re right, then you win this $200 gift card and bragging rights for at least a year. This is looking like a tradition, so don’t hold on to that crown for too long.”

“You mean that Santa hat?” Liam asked, giving the hat on his head a little shake.

“Yes, exactly.” Zane looked around, something like pride showing in his eyes. He had brought all of these people together, and among us all, we’d managed to help a whole hell of a lot of people. Today’s holiday romp was very well earned.

“Now, everyone ready to start?”

Andrew raised his hand. “Just one question.” He looked around. “Where’s Mrs. Claus? I’ve been working around you guys long enough to know the spouse is always the culprit.”

“Cazzo,” Enzo said. “He’s right.”

“She called. Her sleigh broke down on the way,” Zane answered.

“Mhmm,” Andrew replied, crossing his arms, eyebrow arching. “Likely story.”

The room broke into laughter, a sound as merry and bright as the music currently playing through the hidden speakers around the room.

Maverick’s hand found mine, and the moment turned even brighter. In that room, it felt like one big family had gathered, and fuck me if that wasn’t a great feeling.

Actually, well… fuck me regardless.

CHAPTER 2

Maverick Gold

This was one of the best damn holiday parties I’d ever been to, and I’d been to a lot. One time, one of the other lawyers in my firm had rented out an entire Christmas theme park just for the office and had hired a couple of Santa strippers to cap off the night inside the cafeteria. That shit was close to topping this, but still not as good.

Speaking of topping…

Theo walked next to me as we went down a hallway lined with large wreaths on the wooden walls, red and blue and golden bows tied into the frosted white green wreaths. He looked so fucking handsome, with his five-o’clock shadow and his sexy lips and smoldering eyes. His tan skin and dark, short cut hair. The way his muscles filled out his shirt, and the way his thighs pushed against his jeans. How his jeans fit around his crotch, always looking full.