PHOTO above - Tony Costello

The clash of two of Verinica's 'secrets' ...

"Whoa! Take it easy," Mike croaked, pushing back in his seat. "You almost hit that fuckin' taxi."

Giorgio had changed lanes three times in about the last ten seconds as he dodged in and out of the traffic headed uptown on Madison Avenue. He turned to look at Mike. "Hey, it's a race. The only way to drive in this town is to leave the others in the dust."

Mike grabbed the roll bar above him and held on. "If I get an Escalade you'll have to slow down. Those things are big. You'll flip it over."

"Fuck. I'm the new James Dean," Giorgio hooted and looked back ahead. "I can do anything!"

Mike rolled his eyes, knowing Giorgio was going to be more hepped up with himself now than ever. "Yah right. He killed himself speeding in a sports car."

"And became a legend. Not bad, huh?"

Mike flew forward as Giorgio downshifted and slammed the brakes for a traffic light. "Come on, man. Watch it! I want you alive ... not a freakin' dead legend."

Giorgio grinned at him. "I'll be a legend while I'm still alive. You just wait and see."

Mike figured his cousin would be lucky to make it through the day at this rate. "Are you cutting classes to work for Ronnie?"

"Yup. Just a couple. And I'll be able to work around my schedule a lot. We only talked briefly about it this morning, but she definitely wants me. Says she wants us doing projects together. Imagine that, Mike. The two of us sporting Amedeo thong bikinis. Ha! We'll kill 'em."

"Yah sure, and kill our junk too. But you're right, me and you. We're so fuckin' New York they'll go nuts. And we'll have to pass as brothers, that'd be even better. Every designer in town will want us walking runway. And they all suck up to Ronnie, the others at the agency tell me. But what about your dad and mom and the pizza shop?"

Giorgio shrugged. "They'll get along fine. I'll work there when I can so they don't feel deserted. They'll hire somebody to replace me. And that new gal who replaced you likes to deliver but she can't drive stick shift, so she uses my dad's Toyota. I get to have the Jeep when I need it. And my dad knows I'll make a ton of money modeling. He's all for it. It's a perfect tie-in for my theater ambitions. Lots of actors start out modeling."

He looked at Mike with a wild grin. "You should've seen me last night with Kent. I out James-Deaned James Dean himself. And Brando and Pacino and De Niro got nothin' on me either. Kent bought the whole act - hook, line, and fuckin' sinker. Totally."

His enthusiasm was catchy and it made Mike believe in him. "You're perfect to take over from those guys. Most of today's young actors suck. There's only a few who really stand out. None of them have the looks you do, bro, and they're not too hot on the talent either. It's gonna be you. I can feel it in my bones."

"It'll happen," Giorgio laughed. "Don'cha worry. Getting my face and bod out there will be a big help, especially if I'm together with you. Cuz everybody's gonna be droolin' the fuck over you, dream boy."

Then he snorted. "My mom's not happy about it, though."

Mike nodded. "She never is if it means she can't watch over you day and night."

"Tell me about it. She knows the male modeling world is more gay than straight and she sure as hell doesn't like it. But she'll just ramp up the praying big time." He downshifted to turn onto East 67th Street and hooted loudly. "The way she storms those gates of heaven you'd think it'd be doing some good. But let me tell you, I ain't never been this fucking queer. I'm goddamn out-of-my-head in love with Kent. And he's all man, if you haven't noticed. And I love every square, cubic, and linear inch of him."

Mike had to laugh at that. "Especially those linear ones, huh?"

"You betcha. You don't know what you're missing, bro."

Mike shrugged. "You gave me a pretty good idea the other night. And I can honestly tell you I'm not missing it."

Mike was happy for him. But he couldn't ignore the pangs of jealousy clawing at him. His heart was actually hurting, deep down in his chest, and he figured it was probably broken. He was nuts in love, too, with Jax, but she was gone out into the big naked city all around them, and who knew when the fuck he'd see her again. If ever.

When Giorgio pulled up in front of the precinct station, Mike punched him playfully on the arm. "Drive safely, huh? Stay alive a while and enjoy your relationship with Kent. And good luck at Abercrombie. You'll drive 'em wild. The girls are gonna want to touch you all over."

Giorgio made a face. "Hey, some dudes too, no?"

"Fuck yeah, but they're way more aggressive. They'll push you in a corner and molest you."

That got Giorgio to beam happily. "All right! Now you're talkin'."

Mike grabbed the overnight bag from the back seat and jumped out to the sidewalk. "I'll see you later. Are you coming over with Kent for the night?"

"Definitely. See you then."

Mike paused for a moment. "And tell Adam I owe him a couple broken ribs for not letting me know about Jax. And if he hears from her again, he better let me know about it or he'll not only look like Elvis, he'll be dead like Elvis, too."

Giorgio agreed and pulled away from the curb like he was taking off for the moon. Mike stood there watching the Jeep get lost in the cross-town traffic. In less than half a minute he could no longer make it out from the rest of the rushing vehicles. And Giorgio and the Jeep really stood out. But that was New York. You could get totally lost in it in less than a minute, and nobody might ever see you again. Like Jax. Mike felt his chest constrict at the thought of her. She could be somewhere downtown or perhaps uptown, or she could be right on the next block, for all he knew. But it didn't make a difference where she was. Finding her was far worse than finding a needle in a haystack. The hay all looked the same. For sure not New York and its people.

Mike walked up the stairs into the station pondering this mystery of life, how to find a girl who could change her looks like a chameleon in a densely populated city of eight-and-a-half million people. It made him think of that old New York TV cop show on the reruns, the one where the announcer said at the end, "There are eight million stories in the naked city ... this has been one of them."

He loved to sit and watch episode after episode of that show, the way New York had been over fifty years ago, and they'd had some pretty weird stories on there too, especially for the times. But New York was weird, and so its people and its stories. And Jax's story ... Mike knew it had to be the weirdest of them all. His whole life had been turned upside down by it in just a week, and he knew there would never be any going back to the way it had been before.

The 19th Precinct offices looked like the sets on the NYPD BLUE shows, busy and crowded with people rushing around all over. Only difference was, the cops and other workers weren't all so good looking. No Hollywood effect here. Mike got the usual admiring glances as he wended his way through the clutter of desks following a Latina woman who was either a secretary or a cop herself. Which one, he didn't know. She happened to ask him what he wanted, and when he'd answered 'Tony Costello' she'd said to follow.

The detective had a private office at the far end of the room, the door standing open. The woman barged right in and announced to Costello that he had a visitor. Upon leaving, she shut the door behind her.

Mike snorted. Here was the missing Hollywood part. The lieutenant was seated behind his desk just placing his phone handset back in the cradle. His suit jacket was off, his shirt sleeves rolled up, his tie off and collar unbuttoned, and even George Clooney couldn't possibly have looked any better waiting for the camera crew to show up. But no one was coming here to film, Mike knew. This was real life and it sucked. When Costello looked up at him a big smile lit up his handsome face.

Mike flinched. He wasn't sexually attracted to men, he knew that for a certainty. But because of all the gay issues going on in his life right now, he couldn't help thinking that if he was into men this guy would be one of them. And that really pissed him off.

"Hey there, Mike." Costello motioned to the two chairs in front of his desk. "Have a seat." Humor flashed in his eyes. "You sure look good. A whole lot better than when I saw you earlier."

Mike sat down and set the bag on the floor. "Fuck you, Costello. That wasn't funny this morning. And it still isn't funny."

The man sat back in his chair, brows raised and bottom lip caught in his teeth. Mike knew he was trying not to laugh and it infuriated him. He knew the man had a whole lot of reasons to feel a kinship with him and Giorgio, but Costello's familiar manner grated on him uncomfortably.

"Yo!" The man forced a frown and assumed a tough demeanor. "I'm a cop. You're supposed to be respectful."

Mike remembered what Jax had said last night about being young and rich and crazy. So he said it too. "And I'm young, rich, and crazy out outta my mind because of what's goin' on. I can do what the fuck I want."

His fists were clenched. He still could not believe that Costello and Giorgio had found his being bound to the bed amusing.

The detective frowned. He leaned forward with his elbows on the desk and let out an exasperated sigh. "Okay, Mike. I'm sorry. That was not the proper reaction in the hotel room for someone in my position. But as awful as this case is, you and your cousin have brightened up my dreary job considerably. I love you two guys. You remind me of myself when I was your age."

Mike was still pissed off at him. "Flirting with me won't do you any good. It may turn on Giorgio but not me. I'm not gay."

Costello's expression brightened. "Oh? So you think he likes me, huh?"

Mike had expected him to back off, not increase his informality. He stiffened. "For cryin' out loud. He just started a relationship. Leave him alone."

Costello blinked, his eyes widening. "Leave him alone? What the hell makes you think I'm trying to get him?"

"Oh come on, this morning you two were acting like you'd been best buds since birth."

Sitting back in his chair again, the detective's jaw tightened. "Wow. You are really protective of him, aren't you? Jealous, too."

Mike just sat there and glared at the man, knowing he was right. This was as crazy as his being so angry at Eric last weekend at Zingga. He'd thought he was over that, but the detective was bringing it all back out again.

Costello raised his brows. "You're not jealous of the priest?"

Totally annoyed at where this conversation was going, Mike grimaced and slowly shook his head. He struggled to get control of himself. "No. We've known Kent since we were kids. He's an old friend. He was our football coach. They'd been crushing on each other for years. I heard you barged right in on them this morning."

The man laughed. "I was hoping to barge in just on Giorgio. I did not expect to find another man in bed with him."

"So you do want him," Mike challenged.

The lieutenant let out a groan. "Jeezus. Of course I do. Who the hell wouldn't? He's almost as fucking gorgeous as you. But I'm not gonna bust up his relationship. We get along really well and there's no reason not to be friends." He looked shrewdly at Mike. "But as little as I know about the two of you, it's easy to sense he'll never be closer to anyone than he is to you."

Exasperated, Mike nodded slowly, wondering why they were even talking about this. "I know. Damn it, I know. I just get so stupid jealous – him with all these ... guys. And I'm all fucked up because of Jax. I ..."

"Then tell me about it," Costello interrupted. "That's enough about Giorgio. Let's get down to business. What happened after the kidnapping and how did she escape?"

Relieved to change the subject, Mike told him what he knew about the kidnapping at his house and the part Henry had played in it, that he was one of the cult and they had killed him because he tried to help Jax.

"Those fucking bastards!" the detective growled.

"But Henry was a practicing Catholic," Mike added. "Very devout, religious, or so he always acted, and active at Sacred Heart. There may be others from that church involved in the cult."

"Yeah, we'll definitely look into that. There were a bunch of them from there the last time this cult was active. So they drugged Jax and took her to Ms. Bond's house, eh? What happened there?"

Mike related how Jax had awakened gagged, naked, and bound to the bed. How she had tricked Ms. Bond by tempting her, cuffed her to the bed and dresser, and then escaped wearing some of the woman's clothes.

Costello's stare bore right into Mike's eyes. "The fuck? She bound you to that bed this morning after she had endured the very same thing yesterday?"

Mike seethed out an aggravated sigh. "Yah, that's why it's not funny. She should fucking know better."

The detective shook his head. "Real sweet girl, huh? And you're in love with her?"

"Yes! What the hell? She is a real sweet girl. But she's really fucked up because of what those people did to her. What ... oh shit ... what the hell can I say ...?"

Costello pointed his finger at Mike. "Nah, the question is what is she trying to say. To you, Mike. It should be real clear the way she bound you to the bed. Leave her alone. She knows how fucked up she is. She's had to live with it all these years. And she knows the cult will stop at nothing to kill her. She wants you to lay off, stay out of it. You'll only get yourself killed too."

Mike wanted to hit him. "She told me all that herself, goddammit! And it'll never happen. I'll find her again. I love her!"

Costello shook his head. His years of experience told him there was no way he was going to talk Mike into staying off the case. But he said it anyway, "You shouldn't interfere with police work. This is Satanically motivated crime. Those people are monsters. They sacrifice humans. They rip open victim's chests and pull out their hearts."

"I know all that and it's all the more reason to find her," Mike challenged.

He could see that the detective understood nothing would stop him. The man obviously didn't like it, but he gave up that line of attack and said, "Giorgio told me the girl had gotten together with one of Ronnie's boys to change her hair color and appearance."

Mike grimaced. "Yah, Adam. He'd better the fuck not do it again."

"I'll call Ronnie and arrange it so I can talk to him. The girl had been kidnapped. She was missing. The fellow should have notified the police. If she calls him again, he's gotta understand she's got those murderers after her."

"No shit. Good thing Giorgio took my place today. He'll be working with Adam. I probably would've strangled him."

That totally interested Costello. "Is that right, huh? Maybe I'll stop at Abercrombie to see them. I can talk to Adam right there at the store."

Mike rolled his eyes and just had to bust Costello's balls. It irked him that this older man was hot on Giorgio. "Good excuse to go see Giorgio, huh? He'll be shirtless too, and Adam will have shaved his chest. He'll be nice and smooth and pretty."

The lieutenant grinned. "Keep talking like that and I'll have to leave right now. I gotta have some perks in a day spent chasing murderers and devil worshipers."

Mike let out a grunt, feeling deflated. There was no way he was going to get the best of this guy. He was way too experienced and sophisticated. "True. Maybe you'll like Adam too. He looks like Elvis."

Mike had no doubt the man would put the make on Giorgio every chance he got, regardless what he said.

Costello shrugged. "Nah, Elvis never interested me. Strictly hot Italian boys. Like your cousin and you."

Mike flinched at that. The guy was as bad as Eric. "Do you always come on to straight guys?"

"Why you so sure I'm hitting on you? Wouldn't you be complimentary to a hot broad you were just getting to know?"

"Well sure. But ..."

Costello interrupted him. "I'm gay, Mike. Get over it. This is the way I act. You think I should change because you don't like it?"

"I'm not used to men sexualizing me."

"You'd better get used to it if you're gonna work for Ronnie."

"It hasn't been bothering me there. The guys are young, closer to my age. You ... you're older. You could be my dad. And you're a cop."

Costello snorted. "Yah, cops aren't supposed to be gay. I've heard that a million times. And men my age aren't supposed to be interested in guys your age. Well, good luck with that, sonny. And thanks for reminding me I'm not a hot young hunk like you anymore."

"I didn't mean it that way. I ..."

"Forget about it," Costello interrupted, assuming his tough detective stance again. "Nothing to worry about. I promise to stop acting like you're the hottest fucking dude I've ever laid my eyes on. Okay? And I'll stop trying to be your friend too, 'cause you obviously aren't interested. I'll just be a cop."

Mike felt like he'd just been smacked in the face. "All right, dammit!"

"Now tell me, what do you think Jax is gonna do now? Where will she go? We've got to find her. She's not a suspect, but we have to protect her from the cult, whether she likes it or not."

Mike shrugged helplessly. "I don't know what she'll do. I don't know if she has any connections here in New York other than her uncle or her boss at the publishing company. And that fuckin' Santoro down at the House of Pain."

"We're looking for him, Mike. And we may raid that place, perhaps tonight. Do you think Jax would actually kill him?"

"She'd like to, but I don't know if she's capable of it. Maybe if they capture her again and she can shoot her way out. She witnessed those rituals as a little girl and she does not want to end up as a sacrifice victim on their altar. She'll probably change her appearance again. She's got money. She can go anywhere, do anything, pay people to keep quiet about her if she has to."

"Giorgio thinks she'll stick around here. She'll want to get together with you."

"I hope he's right. I want her to call me. Right the fuck now, dammit!"

"So do we." Costello rapped his knuckles on the desk. "We'll have our eyes on you."

"What the hell for?"

"What don't you understand about 'dangerous people'? If these fuckers don't get her, they'll take you. You'd make a hella yummy sacrifice to Satan. From what I hear, he likes dudes just as much as gals, maybe even better."

"Fuck him," Mike growled. "He's about as dangerous as the Easter Bunny."

Costello got to his feet. "Yah, but not his followers. Look what they did to Henry. They're as bad as they come. I'll be over to your house later. The city engineers are there checking out the tunnels, figuring the best way to shut them up again. There's the obvious connection to the apartment building in back, so we're checking that out, and there's been another discovery relating to the tunnels. Now I gotta go down to the morgue about those two men found in the river earlier this morning."

Mike stood up and grabbed the strap of the overnight bag. "Well at least we know Jax can't be a suspect. She was with me last night, at the club and at the hotel."

"Don't worry about it. These particular dudes wouldn't be involved in a high class cult with the likes of your housekeeper and Ms. Bond in it. Probably just drug related deaths. Both cracked on the head and then tossed in the East River. No I.D. on either one of them. One's a tall black man, the other a short white man. Both muscle dudes, leather, tattoos, piercings all over. They ..."

Costello stopped speaking when he saw the expression on Mike's face. "Hey! What? What's wrong?"

Mike whooshed out a pent-up breath. "That sounds like the two guys who work at the House of Pain and took Jax home last Friday night. That's them ... exactly. We saw them at Zingga the following night and Jax ran out of there terrified ... literally scared to death. They're the ones who told me about the Red Club. I went down there with Giorgio's buddy and that led us to the House of Pain, where Jax later told me they worked. The fucking cult must have killed them too!"

Costello grabbed Mike by the arm and pulled him toward the door. "Come on. Come with me to the morgue, Mike. Maybe you can identify them. If this is another cult killing we'll have to issue an APB to get Jax under our protection before those mother fuckers get their hands on her."

Subdued by the threat of two more possible murders by the cult and an ever-tightening web that Mike knew was focused entirely on getting Jax again, he went along with Lieutenant Costello, quickly forgetting his anger at the man and hardly aware that he was being held by the arm all the way through the offices, down the elevator, and out the back to Tony's unmarked car.

As the detective navigated the heavy traffic across town, Mike watched the crowds, scarcely hearing what the man was saying to him. His head went this way and that following every blond and raven-haired girl he saw walking by. He couldn't stop looking, eyes following, thinking ... if those bastards found Jax again ...

But there were so many people! Never had the New York crowds looked so humungous to him. How could you possibly find one person in the midst of all of them? It had to be impossible.

There was gridlock at every corner in the midday rush. Getting through the traffic lights across the avenues was difficult. But it gave Mike the time to check out every girl in the crosswalks.

Waiting to get through the intersection at Third Avenue, Costello placed his hand on Mike's knee. "Take it easy, kid. You're not going to find her by looking through these crowds. There's not a chance in a million of that happening. Any New York cop can tell you that."

Surprisingly, Mike didn't mind the man's touch. His anger at him had been refocused to the cult now and he knew, of course, that Tony was on his side. "That's how I ran into her again after she got away the first time ... watching the crowds on Fifth Avenue."

Costello squeezed Mike's knee then pulled his hand back up to the steering wheel. "Then if it already happened once, there's not a chance in hell it'll happen again. We'll get that APB out and dragnet all of New York to find her. I promise."

"Thanks, Tony." Mike tried sitting back and looking straight ahead but his eyes kept roving over to the sidewalks as the car finally moved along again. "I really appreciate everything you're doing. I don't mean to be pissed off at you. I'm having a really hard time controlling myself. I proposed to her last night. Asked her to marry me. She was supposed to give me her answer this morning." He was so overwhelmed just talking about it that he wanted to punch his hand through the window. "Ha! I guess she did, huh? Cuffed me to the bed and cut out."

"Oh man, Mike, that's awful. You've got every reason to be angry. Don't worry about it. I'm always working with people who are stressed out to the max. There's a whole lot of shit going on in your life right now."

"But I don't get it!" There was the plea of desperation in Mike's tone. He couldn't comprehend this latest development. "Why would they kill those two guys? All they did was drive Jax home because Santoro asked them. They wouldn't give me any information about it. The only reason they told me about the Red Club is because I gave them four hundred dollars. It doesn't make any sense. How would the cult know about it?"

"Because they already had their eyes on you, Mike. Through Henry. Did you tell him about the girl? How you found her, how she got to your back yard that night?"

"Well ... sure. He didn't get the whole story, but he knew about it."

Costello blew the horn at a taxi that was trying to cut in front of them. "And Henry probably told the cult members about it, and that the girl was over at your house. So they fuckin' came to get her and scare the crap out of you. Maybe he didn't know exactly what they had in mind to do, but he was letting them reopen the tunnel into the house. And if these dead men are those same two, it's because they didn't take Jax home like they were supposed to. Dropping her off at the corner instead caused her to end up in your back yard and drag you into the whole mess in ways they hadn't planned on."

Mike shuddered, his fists clenched as anger roiled up in him. "You're right. They are evil mother fuckers."

"Don't underestimate them. I'm surprised they didn't kill you too. But they know the kind of scrutiny that would bring to the case because of who you are." Costello snorted a laugh. "But between you and Ronnie and her editor friends at the newspapers, it's already a bigger story than anybody would've imagined, even the cult. Ms. Bond really fucked up letting the girl escape, so they had to get rid of her too, even though that's a really big headline. Henry and these other two guys ... meh ... they're nobody. But you, kid, you're the Big Kahuna. And they wanted to be able to go in and out of your house. They couldn't afford to kill you ... yet."

Mike looked out to the crowds along First Avenue as the car turned onto it and headed uptown. He knew by the way Tony had said 'yet' that the man believed the cult wasn't finished with him. A dangerous plan began to form in Mike's mind. He wasn't through with the cult yet either. They wanted him, he'd let them find him. They wanted a sacrifice to their stupid Easter Bunny devil, he'd gladly step in. If the cops were going to be following him then he'd use himself as bait to find the cult members, then let the cops take care of them. After all, Jax might be doing the same damn thing herself ... looking for them so she could kill them before they killed her.

Yah, this crazy new Jax could probably do it, he was thinking. And, as angry as he was now, so could he.

He reached over and squeezed Costello's knee. "Thanks for looking after me, dude."

Shocked, the detective looked at him ... speechless.

Mike laughed at him. "Hey, I told you ... I'm young, rich, and crazy. And over-my-head in love with that girl. And you better have a whole squad of cops following me, maybe even a SWAT team, 'cause who knows what the fuck I may end up doing?"

**

Thanks everyone for reading! Next chapter ... THE ALTAR OF THE DAMNED ...