Taking Chances, by E. L. Van Hine and L.H. Nicoll

[MaineWriter]

Chapter 40...

Ellery came out of the bathroom, hair combed back wet, a little smile on his face. “Well Wayne, just like you ta come unannounced.”

“Sorry, I guess I interrupted ya fuckin.”

“Well, almost,” he said neutrally and sat down on the sofa nearby. “Ya look better Wayne, you over that pneumonia?”

“Still on the antibiotics, nasty shit too,” he said. “Listen Ellery I wanted ta ask ya about somethin about the bar...”

But Ellery was no longer listening to Wayne, and had turned his attention on Ennis, who was now sagging in the recliner, fingers squeezing his temples. “Ennis what’s wrong?”

“Headache...” Ennis said, his entire body tense. “Real... bad headache.”

Wayne looked at Ennis. “You just come real hard?” he asked.

Ennis took his fingers away form his head and gave Wayne his bouncer glare. “Do you have ta keep talkin about it?”

“No I mean... it’s probably sex headache. I’ve gotten it a few times. Sometimes when you come real hard or after three times or somethin. Did ya come three or four times, somethin like that?”

“Wayne,” Ennis growled.

“Ennis he might be right. Lemme get ya a Motrin, those are real strong.” Ellery brought back one of his orange pills and offered it to Ennis, who was rubbing his temples again. “There is such a thing ya know. Can really kill the moment if yer in the middle of it.”

Wayne nodded. “That’s what I think. Either that or maybe it’s a stroke.”

L

[MaineWriter]

And to finish our re-reading today, also from Chapter 40, one of my favorite lines...(I put it in bold).

Wayne hung his head. “Then it’s already a no. I know Ennis don’t like me.”

“Wayne come on ...” Ennis said, “it ain’t like that.”

“Is so. Forget I asked Ellery. An I’m sorry I got in the mix on yer fuckin. But if you want a call ahead don’t turn off yer phone.” He stood up, obviously dejected.

“I said I’d think about it Wayne,” Ellery said. “Don’t go off in a pout. Finish yer beer.”

“Don’t feel so good right now Ellery. We can talk tomorrow maybe, gimme a call...” Wayne said, and turned at the door. “I don’t blame ya fer not likin me Ennis. I just ain’t yer kind a boy.” And with that he left, the door clicking quietly behind him.

“Goddammit Ellery,” Ennis said.

“He was tryin ta manipulate us, Ennis. Try not ta let em get to ya.” But Ellery’s face was pensive, and despite his words, Wayne’s self pity had gotten to him at least somewhat. “How’s yer headache?”

“Painful. Ya know, like a headache,” Ennis said irritably. “I got ta lie down.”

Ellery rose. “Good idea. Let’s both of us lie down. I think we missed out on our kissin an intimate chat after the spankin an sex.”

“Sure enough,” Ennis agreed, and, still rubbing his temples, led the way back to the bedroom, unzipping his denims and dropping them on the floor as he climbed back into bed. Ellery was right behind him.



L

[mariez]

Hi kids - wow - you've been busy this morning, Leslie!  Thanks again for the great quotes. 

Couldn't pass up this conversation from Chapter 37:

Ellery followed him out. “Hey Dupree, can you c’mere a sec?” Dupree unfolded himself from his too-small office chair and approached.

“Sure. What’s up Chief?” He collapsed in the more comfortable seat in Ellery’s office. “Wish I had this ta sit in all day.”

“Take it, put the torture chair in here an Amos Marigold can sit in it when he shows up.”

“Thanks.”

“Close the door, Dupree.”

Dupree leaned over and batted at the doorhandle and closed the door, his face growing serious.

“I wanted ta ask ya about Saturday night at the Red Stallion. How bad did that gun dealer antagonize Ennis?”

“He was goin at it hot an heavy in my humble opinion, Chief. A miracle Ennis didn’t realign his septum an thicken his lips a bit, if you get my meanin.”

“Ennis wasn’t lookin for trouble?”

“Nah, he was spoilin, that guy. Made some really rude comments about you too. Not the kind a thing somebody who respects you would ever let stand.”

“Like…?”

“Like first of all he strutted in an made right fer Ennis, an called him Del Monte, you know, like the canned peaches… an said he wanted ta talk to Ellie Mae’s new buck.”

Ellery shook his head. “You know how when somebody wants somethin, they put on their best clothes an their best manner an act like they were momma’s little angel an butter don’t melt in their mouth, an the minute things don’t go their way they are just hell on wheels? That is Gabe Blackwell I swear.”

“Well he was cruisin ta get Ennis into a fistfight for sure, Ellery, no question.”

“Okay. Just checkin.”

“Don’t ya trust Ennis with his temper?”

“He got a temper Dupree, I was just easin my conscience.”

“He holds it well, Ellery, I don’t think ya got ta worry about Ennis haulin off, he endured a good deal a provocation from em. You know one a them femboys there hauled off an slapped em right across the face an he didn’t hardly flinch.”

“I knew it happened but I didn’t know he handled it so well. Those boys ain’t Ennis’s favourite people.”

“Yeah but they respect em mostly. Was that all a what this is about?”

“Well I was thinkin since you an me an Ennis all sort a work together whether you’d like ta socialize a bit, ya know maybe Friday after work before goin in to the bar. I thought I’d ask you first an see how ya felt before talking ta Ennis.”

“Sure, Chief,” he grinned. “If you ain’t afraid a me flirtin with Ennis.”

Ellery laughed softly. “Dupree, you are so straight I can smell it.”

Dupree blinked back at him. “It’s a smell?”

“Yeah. Smells a little like Marlboro cigarettes an a lot like Old Spice.”

“Maybe that’ll keep the femboys away then, they haven’t got such discriminatin taste. I got asked ta dance Saturday.”

“Good for you Dupree, give ya some exercise.”



I always love an Ellery/Dupree discussion - and this was especially interesting - and it leads to socializing between E&E and Jeremy, which is always a good thing!

Thanks - Marie

[mariez]

Ha ha, a little trip down memory lane...

After chapter 36, the annnouncement of this thread!

http://louisev.livejournal.com/59433.html

The good old days...hey, the days are still good in Ennis and Ellery-land!

L

A big Thank You to you, Leslie.  And those numbers certainly did go up, didn't they! 

Marie

[belbbmfan]

A big Thank You to you, Leslie.  And those numbers certainly did go up, didn't they! 

Marie

I agree Marie. If Leslie hadn't started this thread, chances are i never would have known about Ennis and Ellery    So thank you Leslie!


And great quotes! There can never be enough intimate chat....

[MaineWriter]

Thanks for the thanks, everyone!

And on to the re-reading. Today, chapters 41-45:

http://louisev.livejournal.com/61012.html

From Chapter 41:

“An you told Ennis Del Mar only a few weeks ago that you had met him and had made a decision about his fate as well, implying that you knew him and had interacted with him. Can you detail that interaction?”

“Maybe,” Worrell tilted his head saucily, “Maybe I just touched him with my pinky,” he said, voice dropping, clenching his hand closed so that only his little finger pointed out at Ellery. “An in one little minute… he got it. That’s what ya want ta know.”

“Something more than speculation would be what we are seeking,” Ellery said tiredly, giving up hope.

“And maybe…” he continued on as though Ellery hadn’t spoken, “maybe I had em bent over the tailgate a his blue Chevy an givin em the fuck of a lifetime with my diseased cock, hosin em down with spunk an makin em lick it off me after.”

Ellery felt more than saw Mel flinch. Score one against the queers, he thought, his mind racing.

Ellery turned to Mel, screening Worrell’s face out of his mind by an effort of will. “Sir, I don’t think we’re getting any useful information from the suspect at this time, I suggest we close the interview.”

Mel regarded Worrell coolly. “It takes a mighty big ego to sit there facing the rest of your natural life waiting for electrocution to make a mockery a the judicial system that might have spared you, Worrell,” he said, voice low and calm. “By week end, we are going to be preparing our indictment and once we are through you’ll be in the hands of the Austin prosecutor’s office on capital murder charges. If you have anything substantive to say, I suggest you say it before close of business Friday.”

Worrell sat back, and when he raised one leg to cross it over the other, the guard flinched and stepped toward him, and he raised a staying hand. “Let’s just say, I ain’t convinced things will all be goin the way you say, Mr. D.A.”

“I imagine not,” Mel said, politely agreeing as he rose. “Chief Deputy, if you have nothing more…” he gestured, and Ellery stood up.


L

[MaineWriter]

Chapter 42:

Ellery found it difficult to talk. “Thank you, Wes. No I ain’t got anythin to append ta my reports, I did what it says in em.”

Wes nodded. “I know. One day you might get ta be the first queer Sheriff in Wyomin, Ellery, you got it in ya. When I say I got full confidence in you I mean... full confidence. You hear me boy?”

Ellery nodded, gulping. Wes’s grave manner alarmed him more than his words, and his words were alarming enough.

“Right now this Worrell an Amos thing is an internal affairs issue, but for the moment, do not say word one to anyone about Amos for any reason whatsoever. If someone like this Eagleton asks you somethin about the D.A. tell em it ain’t yer department.”

“Right, Wes.”

“He is persona non grata an no one is gonna be talkin about Worrell, Amos or the D.A.’s office until we finish the joint investigation. An if Amos calls you, hang up on em. Don’t talk to em. He’ll get the picture quick enough, if he has a brain cell left in his head."

“Shit, Wes, this is a fuckin scandal.”

“Well if I trusted everyone in the city council, an all the senior level brass in Internal Affairs in this county then I could rest easy. It comes down to how much power I have, an I am gonna find that out pretty fuckin quick. But Mel is a smart man, an he’s a good man, an he is not gonna let fiction stand in the way a fact, regardless of how he feels about men sodomizin one another in their own private homes.”

“Very delicately put, Wes,” Ellery said, daring a wry smile.

L

[MaineWriter]

Chapter 43:

Bruce Senior was looking at him soberly. “I told him to call you, Mr. Cantrell. I knew he probably wouldn’t on his own.”

“I don’t understand.” Ellery’s mind was racing now as he stared at the man across from him.

“I always knew somethin went badly wrong when he came down here to go to college, an he never told me what it was. He dropped his scholarship, came home unannounced, and in September he announced a shotgun engagement. We whipped together a wedding for em because he asked us to, an we were not surprised it didn’t last. I thought it was providence when a friend of his showed up in my hospital room saying he knew him in Laramie. Then the D.A., this Marigold jackass, told me, that you were...was he lying?”

“You can say the word, Eagleton, the technical term is homosexual,” Ellery said, his voice dry, clipped. “No, he wasn’t lying.”

Eagleton nodded, looking as uncomfortable as Ellery felt. “That’s when I knew. It was you, wasn’t it?”

“If you are askin about the nature a my relationship with yer son I think you’d better ask em yerself,” Ellery said, a little too archly.

“I did. An he said it was you.”

Ellery said nothing, working hard to keep his eyes on Eagleton’s face.

“You were the reason he dropped out a school. He was running away from you.”

“He did a damn good job of it too,” Ellery said.

“Well there are things ya can’t run away from. I ain’t like the good old boys. I know the law, I know that while I never woke up in the mornin wishin for my son to grow up gay, I don’t think it’s what they call a mental illness.”

“Mightly liberal of you Counselor,” Ellery said, and it sounded sarcastic.

“I know I am probably makin you real uncomfortable, an I am sorry. But I told Bruce I wanted em to come clean an deal with this thing an if he didn’t I was gonna put some pressure on em.”

Ellery’s heart fell. So, Beagle had not called him on the strength of his own conscience, but on his father’s. He had been right not to expect him to call himself.

“Mr. Cantrell I told em I had spoke ta you, that you’re a good an decent person, an maybe if he got a good look at that he might think a little different about himself. I love my son, an right now he is doin his best to go to hell in a handbasket.”

“I... I think you understand that for professional reasons there isn’t anythin I can say ta corroborate what you are talkin about in my office, here. In addition there are some extenuatin circumstances that make this a really inappropriate topic right now,” Ellery said, his tongue feeling like wool in his mouth.

“I’m sorry. I would have asked you to come out an have a drink an talk it over outside the office but I didn’t want you to get the wrong idea.”

Ellery smiled wryly at that. “I don’t think I would a got the idea you were tryin ta ask me on a date, Counselor, no fear a that.”

Eagleton blushed then. “Anyway, you agreed ta see him?”

Ellery nodded. “He said a couple a weeks or so.”

“He has a business trip ta go on an he... he’s gonna talk to his psychiatrist first. I’ll tell you this much about Bruce... he’s been in the hospital a couple of times. Psychiatric hospital.”

“Oh.” Once again Ellery felt a sense of disorientation, as if he were reevaluating moment by moment his attitudes and feelings about Beagle. “All right.”


L

[MaineWriter]

Chapter 44:

Ellery opened his door a half an hour later. “Hey Dupree, could you do me a favor?”

Dupree got up and crossed the room. The station was emptying out. Carol’s fishbowl was empty. “Sure Chief.”

“I’m drunk Dupree. Can you drive me home?“

Dupree gulped visibly. “Everything okay Chief?”

“No, but I ain’t at liberty to talk about it. Very important, very bad, an nothin ta do with you.”

“This is about Amos Marigold,” he said bluntly.

Ellery pressed his lips together and nodded slowly.

“I’m real sorry, Ellery. Are you in trouble?”

“No. I mean, yeah, there’s trouble, but no it ain’t me that’s in trouble. That really don’t much matter because when there’s trouble it’s ... it’s trouble. I said too much Dupree.”

He nodded. “Sorry ta press ya.”

“When I can talk about it I’ll talk about it, okay?”

“Sure.”

“Wes has got everythin in hand an I trust em. So don’t worry there, I ain’t goin anywhere, if that is what yer worried about.”

“Well yeah, an ... Ellery I never seen you drink alcohol at the office.”

“It’s my emergency scotch. For days like this when the shit hits the fan. I want ta go home, Dupree.”

“Sure, Chief.”

“An if you don’t mind, please don’t come in. I got ta talk ta Ennis.”

“No problem, I’ll just drop ya off, you want me ta pick ya up tomorrow?”

“Please, if you would.”

L

[MaineWriter]

More from Chapter 44:

“You look nice. An clean.”

“A coyote does his best,” Ennis said, combing his hair back smoothly, smiling.

“Speakin a which, the other night you was whalin so hard on my ass you fergot ta give me my love bite.”

Ennis blinked, staring down at him. “So I did.”

“I feel kinda neglected,” Ellery said, voice coy.

“We’ll have ta remedy that then.”

Ellery held a hand up to him, and Ennis took it, wondering at the unusual gesture. “Sweetheart... all kiddin aside, I think I need a lot a kissin an huggin. Not that we can’t do all the rest but... I guess I just need some makin love, ya know?”

Ennis gave him a tender look. “Kissin an huggin, sure. You want it slow?”

“Well, after we get goin...” Ellery said, doubtfully... “maybe not.”

Ennis put his hand on the top of Ellery’s fly, unzipping him. “First we get ya naked, okay?”

He lay back as Ennis pulled his cutoffs down his thighs, his right hand wandering up and cupping his balls gently as he tugged up the tank top and nuzzled his chest, and Ellery’s arms went around him, untucking the towel at his waist and letting it unravel as his fingers move down over Ennis’s warm ass, still damp from the shower.

Ennis laid him down, pushing the hair away from his forehead and kissing it, his right hand still idly manipulating his balls and stiffening cock, pushing his thighs open and moving one leg over between them, bringing his cock up against the outside of his thigh, hot and firm, moaning softly as he closed his mouth over Ellery’s, sliding his tongue in and muffling the rising moan from the slow, gentle manipulation of his cock and scrotum.

Ennis broke the kiss gradually, looking down at Ellery’s face, now suffused with lust. “You been drinkin, Officer.”

“I had Dupree drop me off home. I wasn’t drivin..” he said softly.

“Good. Um... if you want ta... if you want ta fuck me... you could.”

Ellery smiled, his eyes widening. “Wow, hey. But maybe not this time... I’m not sure I could do that right now."

Ennis nodded. “Thought maybe... if you was feelin low...”

“I need my man inside me, Ennis...”

L