Solo by Carol Lynne Page A

threatening.”
    “You were lucky,” Mr. Lee said.
    Eric didn’t feel lucky. When he’d opened his eyes after getting out of surgery, Captain Wallace had been at his bedside, waiting to take his statement. He knew he couldn’t get away with a complete lie, after all, he had to have had a reason to kick Stevie’s door down, but he couldn’t tell the truth either. The whole thing had been a cluster fuck of epic proportions.
    “Something you want to tell me?” Martin asked.
    Eric stared at the only father figure in his life. Mr. Lee was a retired police officer, which severely limited the amount of information Eric could share. “Better not,” he mumbled.
    Martin glanced down at his loud paisley print shirt. “I don’t see a badge, do you?”
    Eric grinned. “I told Captain Wallace that I didn’t know the men Stevie held at gunpoint, but I did.”
    Martin’s dark eyebrows drew together. “How do you know ‘em?”
    “They didn’t do anything wrong,” Eric felt the need to explain. “They were at Stevie’s house for the same reason I was. All they want is to keep drugs away from the schools, but I know they won’t be treated fairly by the cops because of who they are.”
    “So who are they?”
    “Grave Diggers,” Eric confessed. He sighed heavily, wincing when the action pulled at his stitches. “I’m in love with one of them.”
    Martin whistled. “Shit.”
    “Yeah,” Eric agreed. “The thing that gets me is knowing they’ll be treated unfairly while another player in the game is being overlooked on purpose because of who his dad is. I can’t come to terms with that.”
    “What if the cops find out who was with you in that apartment?” Martin asked.
    Eric shrugged. “I don’t know. I won’t tell them no matter what they do to me.” He’d given it a lot of thought and had come to the conclusion that perhaps he was in the wrong profession. “I’ve been thinking about resigning anyway. I know Internal Affairs is looking into it, but I think it’s pretty obvious who shot first.”
    “You’re quitting because you got shot? I thought you were made of tougher stuff than that.”
    “It’s not the shooting. I thought about it before the shooting. The truth is, I’m in love, and I want that more than I want to be a cop.” Eric wasn’t sure how he and Solo could make it work, but from what he understood, it was his job that made life dangerous for them to be together. Eliminating the job seemed like a no-brainer. “Who knows, maybe I’ll take up photography as a career instead of just a hobby.”
    Mr. Lee stared at Eric for several moments before digging into his pocket. He handed Eric a cell phone. “I got a call this morning from a man who seemed very concerned about you. Said his name was Sam. He asked me how you were doing, and when I thought you’d be out of the hospital. Don’t ask me why, probably something honest in the guy’s voice, but I told him the truth. I didn’t know when you’d be out, but I told him you’d be fine.”
    Eric bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself from smiling. The thought of Solo tracking Mr. Lee down and actually calling him, filled Eric’s heart to near bursting. “Thank you for trusting him.”
    Mr. Lee nodded before handing Eric the phone. “I’m gonna go downstairs and grab something for lunch. Why don’t you give Sam a call and let him know you’re okay?”
    Eric clutched the phone to his chest. “Thanks,” he said again.
    Martin got to his feet and headed for the door. “By the way,” he said without turning around, “you’re one hell of a photographer. I’m sure you could make a go of it.”
    Eric smiled, knowing it was Mr. Lee’s way of telling him he agreed with his decision.
    * * * *
    Solo sat in his regular booth alone, cleaning the blood from his knuckles. There had only been three brothers who’d met him in the parking lot after Church, and all three beefs had been settled by the time the fights were over. Switch