Avery's Desire Pt. 12

The overall consensus was that he was a good person and no one had ever had any problems with him. One elderly lady even went so far as to say that she wished there were more young men in the world like him, and she was appalled to think that anyone would want to harm him.

The more Hanson talked to people, the better idea he got of who Avery was. He came from an upper class family, was well educated, respectful of his elders, kind hearted, and, despite having some family problems due to his sexuality, he had grown into a well adjusted young man with a bright future.

Liam, the red head from earlier, met Hanson at the door. "You get anything from the neighbors?" He asked.

"Only that he's a good kid and well liked." Hanson scratched the side of his face as he gave the front room a once over. Rick was sitting on the couch next to his buddy Trash, while Boomer stood a few feet away talking to someone on his cell. The tension in the room was so thick you could cut it with a knife, and with good reason, time was running out.

By Hanson's calculations, Avery had been accosted sometimes around midnight. Rick had discovered him missing close to seven. It was now going on 11am and they still weren't any closer to finding him.

"There been any word yet?" Hanson asked the other officer.

Liam shook his head. "We got an ATL out but so far nothing. Kern and O'Brian went to follow up on Mike Doogan. Rick and the others keep bringing him up; they seem to think he's the one behind this. He does seem to be the most obvious suspect. Ex boyfriend, jealous, was removed from their band, and he has been trying to intimidate Avery."

"We have witnesses to this alleged intimidation?" Hanson asked.

"He showed up at a Halloween concert the boys were playing at. It was held at Shaggy's down on chase. A place that Mike knows damn well he's not welcome. The whole bar saw him there. Rick says he was sitting in the front row glaring at Avery. And then there's a report filed a week later about a break in at the bar. Seems nothing was stolen and the only thing that got trashed was the bands equipment in the back."

"Hmm." Hanson watched Rick and the others for a couple seconds then looked at Liam again. "Good work." He told the officer. "Stay on the radio. Let me know if you hear anything."

"Will do boss." Liam said, grinning from ear to ear, obviously thrilled at his commanding officers affirmation of a job well done.

Hanson dismissed the younger cop and walked over to the couch. He stood next to Trash and cleared his throat. Rick and Trash both turned their attention to him now.

"You find Avery yet?" Rick asked. His voice was shaking but he was hopeful. He stared at Hanson with wide, pleading eyes.

"Not yet son." Hanson said to him. He really felt bad for the kid. The poor guy looked like his heart was breaking.

"We've radioed the entire police force to be on the lookout. If he turns up anywhere, they'll notify me immediately. Right now though, I want to talk about this guy Mikey that you keep mentioning. From what I gather, he and Avery had been involved previously, but had a pretty bad break up."

"It was worse than bad." Rick said. "Mikey was really upset that Avery dumped him. He doesn't take rejection very well and when Avery refused to take him back things got a little heated."

"Can you tell me what the break up was about?"

Rick shrugged. "Just Mikey being an ass. He's bisexual and Avery walked in on him and some girl after a gig. Avery flipped out and told him he was done with him. Things were bad before that but I guess it was the last straw. Avery was sick of being treated like a piece of garbage so he told Mikey it was over."

"You and Avery weren't together at all around that time?"

Rick shook his head. "Avery had a short fling with another guy. Brian. He's a singer of a really popular band and they hooked up while he was in town for the night. He had to go on tour though so they continued on with a long distance thing but it put too much strain on their relationship, plus Brian wanted Avery to quit Desire and move to California with him and Avery refused. I didn't start seeing Avery till after he broke it off with Brian."

"And how did Mikey deal with Avery being in a relationship with this Brian guy?"

Rick sighed and scratched his head. "Not good ya know; he came after Avery; me and Trash had to come over here and make him leave."

Hanson raised an eyebrow. "Is Mikey prone to violent outbursts? I mean, had he been violent in the past?"

Rick kind of diverted his eyes from Hanson and looked at Trash, almost questioningly. Boomer had gotten off the phone and was listening to the conversation with great interest. He looked over at Rick and Rick shifted nervously in his seat. He lit another smoke and took a long hit, exhaling the smoke thoughtfully.

"Is there something you're not telling me here?" Hanson asked. "Guy's, if there is anything you're not telling me, please, spill it. I can't do my job if I don't have all the facts. If you want me to find your friend, then you need to give me something to go on."

Rick looked up at Boomer, his eyes begging for advice.

Boomer crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the wall. "Tell him." He said.

Hanson looked from Boomer to Rick. "What, what is it?"

Rick sighed then took another hit off his smoke. "Mikey...Mikey attacked Avery once before. Right after he found out about Brian. Avery was here alone and Mikey forced his way in. Like I said before, me and Trash had to come over and make him leave, but he was out of his head that day. He was crazy jealous and Avery was scared to death. He told me he'd never seen Mikey like that before and it really shook him up."

Hanson Looked concerned now. He rubbed the stubble on chin then; grabbing a small arm chair set near the front door, dragged it over, and set it in front of Rick on the other side of the coffee table so that he was between Boomer and Rick as he sat down.

"Now, by Attack, do you mean he physically assaulted him?" Hanson asked.

Rick shook his head slowly, as he reluctantly looked Hanson in the eyes. "No, Mikey forced himself on Avery."

Hanson sat back, taking a deep breath. He began lightly drumming his finger tips on the wooden arms of the chair. "He sexually assaulted him?" He asked.

Rick nodded. "Yeah," He spoke barely above a whisper as he confirmed what Hanson had already suspected. "Avery told us that Mikey had broken in and wanted to confront him. He was crazy jealous like I'd already said. He couldn't accept that Avery had dumped him for someone else and I guess when Avery admitted that he'd slept with Brian the previous night, Mikey went nuts. He pushed Avery down on the bed and raped him, but I don't think Mikey even realized what he was doing. In his mind, he really thought that Avery wanted him."

Hanson nodded as he listened to Rick. "You know, it doesn't matter what he thought, if Avery said no..."

"Oh I know that." Rick spoke up nervously. "I'm not making excuses for him, I'm just saying, that's how it went. I don't think Mikey intended to hurt Ave, but he was out of his mind. He'd been drinking too which doesn't help with his temper; Mikey's always been kind of like a ticking time bomb and I guess he finally went off."

"To your knowledge, has Mikey ever sexually assaulted anyone else, male or female?"

Rick took a deep breath as he looked down. He was holding what was left of his cigarette between his fingers, watching the smoke from it rise up into the air, twisting and turning like a snake being summoned by a snake charmer. He put the end between his lips and sucked hard, then smashed it out in the ash tray.

He put his fingers to his temples and rubbed them as he nodded. "Yeah, he has."

Trash put an arm protectively around Rick's shoulders.

Tears had formed in Rick's eyes and were falling down his cheeks in a steady stream. "I never should have left him alone." He cried. "I never should have allowed Mikey near him to begin with. I knew better, I knew what Mikey was and I...I..." He put his head in his hands and sobbed, unable to control his emotions anymore. "It's my fault. All of it, I let this happen!"

Trash wrapped his arms around Rick, pulling him close and allowing Rick's head to rest on his shoulder as he cried. "Bro, it ain't your fault. If you're gonna blame anybody, blame Mikey. He's the asshole that did this; I'd stake my life on it!"

Boomer placed a hand on Rick's shoulder. He wasn't sure what to say to comfort him. He'd never been good at that sort of thing; he just wasn't an emotional type of guy. Still, Rick was hurting, and Boomer couldn't stand to see him so upset. He understood how he felt though, at least in part. Boomer was kicking himself for not doing more. He should have seen this coming, they all should have. They were family and family was supposed to look out for one another, protect each other. He couldn't help but feel like each of them had let Avery down in some way.

"It ain't your fault kid. I know you feel responsible, hell we all do, but beating yourself up over it ain't helping Avery any. You need to stay strong for him. When we do find Avery, he's gonna need all of us strong. That's what we gotta think about now."

"Your friends absolutely right," Hanson looked at Rick sympathetically. "Tossing around blame isn't doing any good in this situation. The important thing is finding your partner and making sure he's okay. I have two officers that are going to question this Mike guy, so hopefully we'll get some answers there. Otherwise, we just have to wait until we hear something."

"Waiting's driving me crazy. I feel like I should be out there looking myself, or doing something, anything, other than just sitting here." Rick ran his fingers through his hair nervously. "There has to be something that I could be doing to help."

Hanson shook his head. "Just keep your cell phone on in case Avery tries to call you and try to think if there's anything you haven't told me yet. Anything that might help us figure out where he is, even the smallest piece of information is important."

"I can't think of anything." Rick sighed. "I've told you everything but if I think of something later, something I missed, I'll let you know."

"Good, you do that." Hanson smiled at him. "You haven't mentioned Avery's parents. Are they still living? Would he contact them or go to them for help?"

"No." Rick told him. "Avery doesn't speak to his parents. They send him a check each month but that's it, no other contact. They aren't exactly thrilled with his lifestyle."

"No other friends that he'd go to? Anyone close to him that you can think of, someone he'd call on if he couldn't get a hold of you or Mr. Rhoads?"

Rick shrugged. "He doesn't have a lot of friends outside present company. I guess he might call Cole but Boomer already checked with him."

"Cole is your son?" Hanson looked at Boomer.

Boomer nodded. "I spoke to him about an hour ago and he hasn't seen Avery since their last rehearsal."

"Okay," Hanson wrote quickly wrote in his notebook then looked up again, focusing his eyes on Rick. "Well, I think I've got all I need for now. We've still got some work to do here so is there someplace you can stay for a day or two?"

"He's coming home with me." Boomer spoke up. "I got a spare room and I don't think he needs to be alone right now anyway."

"That sounds good." Hanson said. "I'll need your contact information before you leave though."

"Not a problem." Boomer said.

Hanson looked back to Rick. He took in a deep breath then exhaled slowly. "Now, I know this is a sensitive subject, but we have people we can call that specialize in cleaning crime scenes. If you would like I can arrange to have them come in after we've completed our investigation."

Rick thought for a moment then nodded. "Yeah," He told him. "Go ahead and do that."

"Okay," Hanson smiled weakly. "I'll do that then. Is there anything else that I can do for you, anyone that you need me to contact?"

Rick shook his head. "My family's in this room, aside from Avery, I don't have anyone else."

"Alright," Hanson made a note in his booklet, then looked up again. "Does Avery have a smart phone by chance?"

"Umm, yeah, he does." Rick said.

"Is it here?" Hanson asked, sounding hopeful suddenly.

Rick shrugged a bit as he stood up, looking around the room. "If he doesn't have it on him then he usually has it on the charger."

"And where is the charger?"

"Either the kitchen or sometimes he plugs it in beside the desk in our bed room." Rick looked down the hall way. Two police officers were standing against the wall next to the bathroom. There was a female cop in the kitchen along with a young guy in jeans and a dress shirt who was crouched on the floor with a blue tool box, taking blood samples.

Another police officer was in the bed room but Rick wasn't able to see what he was doing, but several others came in and out of the room carrying camera's, plastic bags, measuring tape and other essential items needed to collect evidence.

Hanson stood up and walked behind Rick, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I can't have you walking through the crime scene son."

Rick shuttered when he again heard the words "crime scene." He didn't want to think about what Avery had suffered in those rooms, the fear he must have felt, or the pain that he had to have been in. Guilt overcame him once again as his mind began playing images in his head about what he supposed had happened, how Avery had probably begged, cried, and prayed for an escape. He should have been there for him, he should have protected him.

Avery didn't even want Rick to leave for work at night but Rick didn't listen to him. His own pride had gotten in the way and he cared more about proving that he was a man than actually being there to take care of the one that he loved. He wondered if Avery called out for him. He wondered if Avery wished for him to come and save him. He supposed that he did, and he supposed that Avery was probably heart broken when he never came.

"Don't worry," Rick said softly. "I don't want to go back in there, I can't, it's too painful."

"That's alright son, no one blames you." Hanson gave Rick a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

'No one blames me..." Rick thought, 'No one but me, I blame myself.'

"Hey Elly?" Hanson called out.

The female officer stuck her out of the kitchen. "Yeah Boss?"

"Did you find a cell phone plugged in anywhere in there?"

"That's a negative Boss. There is a phone charger in here." She told him. "We found it lying on the floor next to the stove. Want me to bag it for evidence?"

Hanson rolled his eyes. "Would you call a phone charger lying on the floor in the middle of a crime scene evidence?" He asked her.

Elly blinked. "Umm...right Boss, sorry." She ducked back into the kitchen and went back to work as Hanson shook his head.

"So, he probably took his phone with him?" Rick asked.

Hanson nodded. "That's a good thing though. We can track his GPS."

Rick's head shot up as he stared at Hanson. His breathing increased and Hanson could see the glimmer of hope returning to the young man's eyes. "How soon can you do that?" He asked him.

"As soon as I get the name of his service provider."

"His last bill should be on the computer desk in the bedroom. If it's not on the desk then it's in the black file box on the floor right next to it. He keeps all the bills in there, even the ones that he's already paid."

"Smart Kid," Hanson smiled. "I'll have one of my officers look for that bill. In the mean time, go to your friend's house, try to get some rest. I know you worked all night so you're probably exhausted. I'll contact you the minute I hear something."

"Thanks, but I'm not going to rest until I know Avery's safe."

Hanson nodded. "I figured as much. Just try not to worry alright. We're going to find him."

Rick thanked him again then went back to where Boomer and Trash were waiting by the door. He'd noticed that Hanson never promised to find Avery alive. This worried Rick. The entire situation worried Rick. A year ago he never would have thought that Mikey would be capable of killing anyone, but now Rick wasn't too sure. Mikey had gone off the deep end and there was no telling what he might have done to Avery.

Until he heard that Avery had been found, was alive, and was safe from any further harm, Rick wasn't going to be able to relax. That boy meant more to him than he would ever have thought possible. Not knowing where he was, was slowly killing him inside, though he wasn't entirely sure that knowing the truth would be any better, not if it meant that Avery was gone, but he couldn't think about that right now, he had to believe that he was alive. Though, the one thing he did know for certain was that if Avery was dead, Mikey would be next. Rick was gonna kill the bastard himself, and that was a promise.

______________________________________________________

Mikey was standing in the doorway smoking a cigarette when officers, kern, and O'Brian walked up the stone side walk leading to the front door of the two story split-level house. He narrowed his eyes then flicked the cigarette into the yard as the two cops approached him.

"Something I can help you with?" Mikey asked, though his demeanor was anything but friendly.

"Are you Michael Doogan?" Officer Kern asked.

"Mike Doogan Junior." He told them. "What's this about?"

"Mr. Doogan, we just have a few questions to ask you regarding an Ex of yours, Avery Duprey."

"Avery? I haven't seen or spoken to him in weeks, what's he done?"

"Well Sir, he hasn't done anything. We're here because he's missing and we were wondering if you might have any idea of where he could have gone." Officer Kern stopped about two feet from Mikey, while O'Brian hung back, glancing around the property while the two men spoke.

"How the hell would I know where he is?" Mikey glared at the officers coldly. "He's an Ex for a reason. I don't know nor do I care where he is."

"It doesn't concern you that he's missing?" Officer Kern asked.

Mikey shrugged. "Should it? He's probably run off with his big rock star boyfriend or any other guy that's happened through town. He's not known for being very picky on who he invites into his bed, which is why we're no longer together."

"Well, we have reason to believe that he was assaulted in his residence late last night and then taken from the residence against his will."

"Really, and what lead you to that conclusion?"

"We can't really give any more details than that at this time. We're just following up with people who knew Mr. Duprey or might have information as to his whereabouts."

"Hmm," Mikey raised an eye brow as he studied the officers. "I don't think I can help you. As I said, I haven't spoken to him in weeks."

"Fair enough," Kern pulled out a pen and a small notebook, flipping the notebook open he scribbled down a few notes then looked back up at Mikey. "For our records, could you tell us where you were last night?"

"I was here mostly. I went to O'Malley's and had a few drinks with some friends until around midnight, then I ran to the store, grabbed a case of beer and came back home. I sat up and watched a movie with my parents."

"Can your parents vouch for you?" O'Brian asked.

"They could if they were here." Mikey answered. "Dads at work and my mom had to run some errands in town. She should be back in an hour or so if you wanna wait for her."

"That's not necessary." Kern told him, "Do you mind if we look around the property?"

Again Mikey shrugged. "Suit yourself." He said. "Just be mindful of the dog pen out back. My dad's got four hunting dogs and ain't none of em friendly to strangers."