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

[MaineWriter]

Hello re-readers,

Today, chapters 31-35

http://louisev.livejournal.com/83372.html

Ennis took the wheel Friday morning at 7:30, refusing to allow Ellery to treat him as a cripple now that he had the doctor’s assurances in hand, and busied himself driving as Ellery fussed with a tie.

“What are ya fuckin with that for?”

“Couldn’t find my clip-on, don’t know how ta tie em,” Ellery said helplessly.

“I’ll do it when we get there. Clip on is under the bed.”

“What’s it doin there?”

“I dunno, you probably flung it there last time Mr. Coyote came sniffin around. You got a way a gettin rid a that uniform real fast, boy,” Ennis said with a little smile.

I find it suprising that Ellery, who wears a tie every day for work, doesn't know how to tie one!

L

[MaineWriter]

More from 31:

Dowd stared at Ennis. “You got a problem, mister?”

Ellery stood up. “No, Mr. Dowd, you have a problem. Could you please have Mel Ruskin give the Sheriff a call at his convenience... this deposition is over.”

“Now hold on,” Dowd said, standing up himself, waving a manila folder. “This man...”

“The name is Del Mar,” Ennis bit out through his teeth, standing up, leaning on his hands as he loomed over the blond Assistant D.A. “An yer pissin me off somethin awful.”

“C’mon Ennis. If Mr. Dowd wants a deposition he can come down ta Wes’s office an be polite about it.”

“Cantrell, you are gettin in the way of our arraignment,” Dowd said, breath choking his throat. “You can’t walk that witness outta here!”

“Oh no? Watch me. Ennis?” Ellery offered his arm, and Ennis took it. Neither of them looked back at the speechless Dowd as he watched them go.

“I think yer wrong, Ellery,” Ennis said as they got to the stairs, disentangling his arm from Ellery’s as he reached for the bannister.

“What did I get wrong?”

“I think he’s just as bad as Amos Marigold.”

L

[MaineWriter]

Chapter 32:

“Ellery, what in the blue blazes has got Mel on the phone ta me first thing in the mornin for?” Wes blustered.

Ennis spoke up before Ellery could reply. “It’s my fault, Wes. That new D.A guy, the blond one, kept callin me “the victim” right ta my face an when I corrected em he pissed me off. Ellery just got me out a there so I wouldn’t punch em.”

Wes bridled. “Oh. That true, Ellery?”

“Pretty much, Wes,” he shrugged. “Ennis asked em a couple a times ta call em by name an he treated Ennis like he was a bump on a log instead a the injured party lookin fer justice in the eyes a the law.”

“He say anythin to ya that was insultin?” Wes narrowed his eyes further.

“He said, real smarty like, ‘You got a problem, mister?’ an before I could haul off on em, Ellery said fer Mel ta call the sheriff an the deposition was over.

“How old is this chucklehead, Ellery?”

“I dunno, but he sure likes the sound of his own voice, Mel. Didn’t impress me much.”

“An we know how much you love prosecutors, Ellery, don’t we?” Wes shook his head. “I’ll call Mel back an tell em his new stallion is throwin riders.”

“Victims, Wes,” Ellery said. “I am sure both of us can get a deposition out, but not when this new kid is throwin all sorts of high an mighty attitude an treatin Ennis like he is yesterday’s newspaper that his poodle just shit on.”

“I get the point, Ellery. Now let me go do my job.”

[MaineWriter]

Chapter 33:

“Ennis?”

Ennis opened his eyes and sat up. “Can’t believe I fell asleep in the middle a that.”

Ellery came over and sat down, reaching for his hand and caressing it between both of his own. “You okay, sweetheart?”

Ennis slipped an arm around him. “I am now. What about you?”

Ellery smiled, leaned in, and pressed his lips against Ennis’s neck, nibbling up toward his cheek. “Everythin’s all right. I shot the bad guy.”

“Ya shot em?”

“Yep.”

“He shoot at you?”

“Yep.”

“But yer okay.”

“Yep. I got a confession ta make, Ennis.”

“What’s that?”

“I’m the best shot in the Sheriff’s department. That’s why Wes puts me in charge a these kinda things.”

“He dead?”

“By now, maybe. He’s in an ambulance on his way ta Ivinson.”

“Do we get ta go home now?”

“Got ta take photos a the truck an all that for the case, but we could have the Chevy dealer bring the El Camino over an leave that all ta Dupree.”

“I want ta go home. I don’t feel good.”

“Yeah, okay. Then lemme call Natale an have em bring over the car, you want ta stay here fer now?”

Ennis nodded. Ellery stood up, then stepped close, slipping his long fingers along Ennis’s jaw, tilting his face up, then leaned close, brushing his lips against Ennis’s mouth, kissing him softly. “It’s gonna be okay Ennis. I love you.”

[MaineWriter]

Chapter 34:

Wes was walking back to his office when Dupree hopped up from his desk. “Wes, got ta see you. Corinne Allen – you know, the wife a victim One, just had her lawyer from Cheyenne send somethin registered mail, unopened, to us.”

“Oh? Anythin we can use?”

“You be the judge a that, Wes. I think we got ourselves a brand new suspect in the murder a Jim Allen.” He placed the envelope on Wes’s desk, and Wes pulled out the contents onto his desk.

Inside was a letter to a lawyer named Seamus Kelley, with an address in Cheyenne, was a set of grainy enlarged photographs, clearly taken at the same time. A view through a bedroom window, and the subject, in lacey, feminine lingerie, posing before a mirror: Amos Marigold.

“Holy hell...” Wes whispered. “I’ll call Mel’s office. We better get Amos Marigold in here for questionin. Mel is gonna be real unhappy to hear from me for the third time today.”

Dupree nodded. “I better call Ellery about this.”

“Leave Ellery alone, he had a good shoot, let em rest on his laurels an calm Ennis down before hell breaks loose again on Monday.”

“Right Sheriff.”

Wes picked up the phone. “This is the Sheriff, I need to speak to the D.A.”

[MaineWriter]

Good news in Chapter 35...

“Or was usin the same rifle. In addition, someone went by and threatened Rudy as he was leavin the Red Stallion.” Ellery opened his cigar box and lighted one. “You want yer own or are we sharin?”

“Sharin. I smoke less when we share one.”

Ellery raised an eyebrow. You cuttin down now?”

Ennis nodded. “Got short a breath the other day after jumpin out a the truck. Maybe smokin ain’t such a good idea anymore.”

“Sharin then.” He lit up, inhaled, then passed it to Ennis.

[MaineWriter]

More from Chapter 35:

“There is somethin I feel like doin though, Ennis...” Ellery said, his voice dropping in tone and volume, and he set down his glass, putting the smoldering cigar in the ashtray.

“Huh, what’s that?”

“C’mere, sweetie,” he held out his arms, and Ennis rose, shuffling over to the sofa. Ellery opened his knees and reached up, pulling Ennis down into a kneeling position between his thighs, his hands sliding up to smooth back Ennis’s hair and then rest on his shoulders. “I love you, Ennis. I want ta kiss you an hold you an never ever let go.”

“That was a fuckin scary thing down there,” Ennis said, his voice rasping.

“I know. I hate it that you were in danger like that.”

“Both of us,” Ennis said, resting his cheek on Ellery’s shoulder. Ellery leaned back, and Ennis moved against him, bringing his feet down onto the floor and slipping his hands around Ellery’s back, clinching him into a close embrace. Ellery tugged on him and lay down on the sofa, Ennis moving on top of him, his mouth seeking Ellery’s mouth, closing on it in a passionate kiss.

“Oh sweetheart,” Ellery whispered against his mouth, his body now completely covered by Ennis’s, their thighs tangled together, Ennis’s arms around his back, holding him close.

“Mmmm...” Ennis replied, his tongue snaking out of his mouth and flicking between Ellery’s lips, passion sparked by insecurity and anxiety, and the muzzy stimulation of scotch and tobacco.

They kissed, the only sounds in the room the rustle of denim against Ellery’s sheer cotton dress uniform, his empty holster slipping off his shoulder as they moved together in a slow grind of rising passion, the wet sound of their mouths as they tasted each other, hungry for intimacy, and small moans mingling together as they aroused, gradually but steadily.

“Ya want ta go ta bed now?” Ellery eventually managed to gasp when they came up for air.

“Yeah.”

“Want ta sleep?”

“Nope.”

[mariez]

Good Morning!  Thanks for the quotes, Leslie.  These chapters keep us moving at a fast clip - a lot of stuff hitting the fan!

More from 31:

“I think yer wrong, Ellery,” Ennis said as they got to the stairs, disentangling his arm from Ellery’s as he reached for the bannister.

“What did I get wrong?”

“I think he’s just as bad as Amos Marigold.”[/i]

L

Mel has certainly done a piss poor job of vetting his A.D.A.'s!  Perhaps he was distracted by Bunny problems at home, but there's really no excuse for such incompetence.

Marie

[mariez]

From Chapter 32:

“Wes, what the hell did he say?”

Wes took a breath. “He said he doesn’t know why a man in my position would be mollycoddlin a bunch a sexual perverts an makin a felony case out of it an I should just let the queers beat each other ta death an good riddance.”

Ellery blinked, shocked. “You are jokin about that, right?”

Wes’s expression almost made Ellery’s heart skip. “I am serious as death, Ellery. I thought I heard a some close minded bigotry from the city councilmen an other good ol boys livin in the 16th century, but he was the first one ta actually dare open his collar an show how red his neck was without an invite. If I have my way that boy’ll be on a plane back ta Denver by the end of the week. We don’t need his kind a justice.”

Ennis looked down at his trembling hands. “Does this mean I got ta appear in court today?”

“No it don’t, because we are postponin the arraignment till Mel can get his own ass down here, even if it means the Langs can sit in Holdin before they get to see a judge. Ellery, take Ennis home, he don’t look too well.”

“I’m fine, Wes, really.”

“It wouldn’t be a good time ta be talkin back right now, Ennis. Yer on leave from yer job at my ranch, an I say go home. Both a you. Take the weekend off, I’ll have Dupree an Joe follow up on yer case right now, we’re waitin on Grimes an the ballistics, an the APB. This is just grade A number one bullshit an I am gettin to the bottom of it right fuckin now.”

“Yes sir. Thanks Wes.” Ellery got up, and offered Ennis his hand. To his mild surprise, Ennis took it, and as they clasped, Ellery could feel him shaking.

Ellery looked back at Wes as they went out. “You’ll have Joe call me if they get Prescott or anythin else turns up?”

“You bet. Now get outta here.”

Ennis let Ellery’s hand go as they left the office, but said nothing as he got in the truck. But he did not turn the key, instead looking out the front window, dazed. “I guess I can understand somebody hatin me after they get ta know me, or if I punched em or somethin. But ta wish somebody dead just because they’re queer....” his voice faded out.

“Ennis... Dowd is just a bigoted redneck asshole.”

“Ellery, I got ta tell ya somethin I ain’t never told anybody but Jack,” Ennis said, voice hollow.

“Sure.”

“When we get home, okay? After a couple a Glenfiddles.”

“Okay, Ennis.”

“In bed, holdin ya.”

“Sure,” Ellery felt a sense of alarm.



This exchange made me so angry . . . but, at the same time, I felt so sorry for Ennis.  His worst fear is a reality.  Thank God for Ellery and Wes and all the other good people in Laramie.

Marie

[MaineWriter]

Hello all...

Chapters 36-40, and we start off with some real HAWTNESS in 36...

http://louisev.livejournal.com/84704.html

“Had ta look an see if it was you,” Ennis said softly.

“Huh?”

“You ain’t never fucked me like that before, boy,” he said, voice husky still.

“Like what?” Ellery was surprised.

“Like ... you were... I dunno. Dominant I guess.”

Ellery laughed, reaching over Ennis to get the box of cigars. “Dominant, huh?” He patted Ennis’s ass gently with one hand as he put a cigar between his lips.

“Yeah.”

“Maybe it was all that beggin you were doin, brought it out in me.”

“Maybe,” Ennis said, rolling onto his side gingerly. “I kept thinkin a you with that rifle, goin after that guy.”

Ellery blinked. “You were thinkin a that when I was fuckin you?”

Ennis nodded, blushing with sudden embarrassment. “Made me hot I guess. Didn’t know I was sleepin with no sharpshooter expert before.”

“I didn’t know that was a sexy thing ta be, Ennis,” he laughed, and lit up.

“Neither did I,” Ennis said, easing onto his back.

Ellery took a puff of the cigar and offered it to Ennis, who took a languid drag, handing it back. “So now what’re we gonna do? I think it just struck noon.”

“Take a shower, cool down, do it again,” Ennis said.

“Sure,” Ellery laughed again.