Jan Suzukawa - Time Gone By, ☂ UPLOADED (Unsorted) ☂, ★ ♂♂ Romance, [G]ay 1
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Time Gone By |
Jan Suzukawa
2
Chapter One
O
F ALL
the places the guy had to run towhy Montana?
Nick sighed as he stuffed the last items of clothing into
his rolling suitcasethe big one, the one reserved for long-ass
tripsand gritted his teeth as he pushed in more underwear.
He had no idea how long this job would take but hoped it
would be over in a matter of days.
Famous last words.
Being a private investigator who found people who didn’t
want to be foundand a fairly decent one at thatmeant that
Nick Cutter had to travel a lot. He had tracked down missing
adult
children
of
rich
parents,
long-lost
relations,
ex-boyfriends, ex-girlfriends, you name it.
Most of the time it was ridiculously easy. There was this
thing called “the Internet” that enabled anyone with the skills
of your average twelve-year-old to find almost anybody who
was “missing.” And most of the time, those who were “missing”
weren’t trying too hard to cover their tracks.
Only a few people genuinely tried to disappear.
This guy was one of them.
Nick stopped packing for a moment and sat down on the
bed. Outside, the cold San Francisco nightmade colder by
the wind whipping up off the bayset off the stars in the black
sky in sharp relief. He turned his attention to the photo and
brief bio in the open file folder on the bed.
Time Gone By |
Jan Suzukawa
3
Peter Satoru Kimura. Age twenty-seven. Ethnicity:
Japanese. Not married, no children, no pets. Born and raised
in Los Angeles, one elder sister.
He stared at the photo for the thousandth time.
A pale, narrowly drawn face. Intelligent brown eyes, a
slender nose, and a thin-lipped mouth that looked like it
would quirk upwards if amused. His features were
delicate-looking. It was the kind of fine-boned look that had
always gotten Nick in trouble.
Peter had short black hair in the picture. If he had tried to
change his appearance, he might have dyed his hair a lighter
shade, perhaps dark brown, something an Asian person could
get away with and still have it look natural. He’d gone missing
for two months, so maybe he’d grown his hair out as well.
Though a long-haired Asian guy might look somewhat out of
place in Montana.
Nick ran his hand through his dark-blond hair.
Fortunately, his blue eyes and standard-issue Caucasian
features would stand him in good stead for blending in to a
small mountain town like Weller Falls.
He’d traced Peter to that town in the far western reaches
of the Big Sky state. Weller Falls was originally a cattle and
mining town, but in recent years Hollywood celebrities and
other fashionable types had “discovered” this charming place
nestled up against a mountain range, with its small but scenic
waterfall located on its eastern edge.
As the Hollywood celebrities built summer homes, the
people that supported the chic and the cool moved in to serve
the beautiful people. Fancy boutiques, art galleries, and smart
cafés opened up, and the once-rustic community turned into
a rural western version of Beverly Hills or the Hamptons.
Time Gone By |
Jan Suzukawa
4
Some of the old-time citizens, Nick had read online, were
none too happy with the changes in their small town. Weller
Falls was rapidly dividing into those who welcomed the
gentrification of the town and those who favored the old way of
life. It was big-city folk versus cowboys and mining folk, and
Weller Falls was uncomfortably settling into hardened camps.
And the guy thought he could disappear in this town…?
Peter Kimura had been staying at a short-term residence
hotel in North Beach, the kind frequented by European
tourists and artists, for two weeks before he suddenly
disappeared from San Francisco without a trace.
Nick had been hired by Jack Williams, a sometimes client
and casual friend, to find Peter. “This one’s a personal request
from a friend of mine,” Jack had told him. “Just find the guy,
get me an address, and send me the bill. If needed, consider
travel expenses okayed in advance.”
When Nick began his investigation, he’d been surprised
at what he found. Peter Kimura had no Facebook page, no
Twitter, no blog. He was a librarian and had graduated from
UCLA, so his initial search was from that angle. No hits for
librarians across the country for a Peter Kimura, but there
was one for a “Tori Tanaka.”
The post he’d found online had been a “Welcome Our New
Librarian”-type post for the Nahala branch library of the
public library system in Weller Falls, Montana. No photo or
other information, other than naming a Mr. Tori Tanaka as
one of their new librarians.
The timing was righthe was hired two months agoand
given the very small number of male Japanese-American
librarians in the country, Nick’s attention was caught
immediately.
Time Gone By |
Jan Suzukawa
5
On a hunch, Nick dug further and researched Peter
Kimura’s mother’s maiden name. It took some finagling, but
he’d been a private eye for ten years and any information
could be discovered if you knew how to get it. When he found
it and saw that it was Tanaka, he could guess the rest.
The guy’s full name was Peter Satoru Kimura. “Tori” was
conceivably a nickname that could be derived from
Satoruand henceTori Tanaka.
Nick had phoned the Nahala branch, pretending to be
from UCLA’s Library and Information Studies alumni
association, and asked to speak with whoever was in charge of
personnel. He received confirmation that Tori Tanaka had
graduated from UCLA, and finished by saying that he’d mail
the alumni newsletters to Tori at the branch, no need to tell
him he’d called.
So he’d found Peter Kimura. His job didn’t actually
require him to fly to Montana to confirm that Tori Tanaka was
Peter Kimura, though Jack had said he’d cover travel
expenses. He’d reimbursed Nick for flying to LA to check old
court records a few times before, so Nick knew a short trip to
Montana wouldn’t be a problem.
He shut his eyes and sighed again. Why was he doing this?
He was taking a personal interest in this onewhich was on
the edge of being unethical. Peter’s photo just did something
to him. He couldn’t let it go. There was something about that
face.
He picked up the photo and stared again at the beautiful
man with the shy, startled look on his face.
How long has it
been… since someone caught your eye like this?
His cock
moved a little, desire lighting a slow burn down below.
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