Disclaimers in Part 1

Jim versus the Volcano
Part 4-Los Angeles-BJ

My brother had long since escaped from our mother's influence. I envied him 
his freedom, and I wondered what Naomi had used to 'persuade' him to take on 
this task for her. I didn't think I would ever know. Sandburgs weren't what 
you would call 'close.'

It was so early in the morning on a weekday that the marina was empty for the 
most part. The beautiful white yacht rode gently at her mooring while two men 
wrestled Jim's trunks below deck. Blair sat by the helm, one foot up on the 
railing. A light breeze was blowing off the land, and it teased my brother's 
hair back away from his face.

"Hello, Blair." 

"BJ." He frowned disapprovingly as he watched me take a cigarette from my 
case and light it.

"Do you know where Naomi is?" "Have you seen Naomi?" We spoke at the same 
time.

Blair bared his teeth in a feral grin. "Mom loves a secret almost as much as 
she loves money." His eyes ran over the figure of the man standing next to 
me. I knew him well enough to see the sudden interest in his eyes, but I was 
startled by his rancorous words. "That outfit's wearing you, Felix!"

"Why are you calling me Felix?"

"I do what I want," Blair snapped. "And that's a fucking silly hat you've got 
on!"

Jim's eyes narrowed, and he opened his mouth to say something equally 
spiteful, but I cut him off. "You know Naomi, Blair," I drawled. "It's all 
phone calls and telegrams. I haven't seen her in nine months." 

"Nine months to birth you, nine months between visits. Coincidence? With 
Naomi, who knows?" No one could do mockery like a Sandburg, and my brother 
was definitely a Sandburg.

"You're in a mood. What crawled up your ass and died?"

"It's the sunshine, BJ. It gets me down." He rose to his feet and crossed to 
the gangway, and stared at Jim, his stance aggressive. "Listen up. I don't 
work for Naomi. This transport is strictly a favor." He ran his eyes over 
Jim's figure disdainfully. "Okay, get ready to heave, Felix!"

Jim's gaze was cold, his voice flat. "My name is James or Jim."

"All right, Jim." Blair's eyes were just as cold, and I wondered why he was 
taking out his ire on someone to whom he was attracted. What was he doing? 
*I* was the Sandburg who threw away the main chance. "Come aboard. If we want 
to catch the tide, we'll have to cast off now. H, hoist the mainsail. Joel, 
get ready to raise the anchor."

Jim swallowed heavily and turned to take my hand. "Wish me luck?"

"You're shaking!"

"Am I?" He took a couple of deep breaths. "Don't let life pass you by, BJ. 
Grab it with both hands and wring every drop of happiness you can from it!" 
He leaned forward and kissed me on the cheek. "Good-bye."

"Good-bye, Jim," I whispered. I flicked my cigarette into the harbor and 
watched as he stepped onto the gangplank and boarded the Tweedle Dee. He 
walked to the rail amidships, and I raised my hand in farewell. Jim took the 
bushman's hat off his head and waved it back at me. His arm lowered, and he 
stared at the hat for a long second before flinging it into the yacht's wake. 
It floated on the surface of the water, rocking gently, and then it slowly 
sank.

My brother stood at the wheel, his body angled so he could see me. His eyes 
seemed to be on something beyond me, and then they dropped to mine, and he 
smiled and shouted something at me. 

"What?" I shouted back. The wind whipped his words back at him. "*What*?"

"He said, 'You have company.'"

I stiffened. "Adam," I breathed. I turned to face him. "How did you know 
where to find me?"

"I called your house, pretending to be someone from the hotel. It was a lead 
pipe cinch." He stared into my eyes dispassionately. "Did you mean it, about 
wanting a second chance?"

I remembered what Jim said about grabbing onto happiness with both hands. 
"Yes."

"Beej, you broke my heart yesterday."

"I'm sorry. I won't do it again. I promise." 

"Don't you want to know where I was last night when you called?"

I opened my cigarette case and took out another cigarette, and placed it 
between my lips. "It doesn't matter."

"No? Not even if I was in someone else's bed?"

"Not even that." My hand was shaking so hard I couldn't get the lighter to 
ignite the wick. 

"You're lying." He took the cigarette from my mouth and tossed it into the 
water.

"Fuck it, I smoke too much anyway." I stuffed the lighter into my pocket. 

"Yes, you do. So. Are you going to ask if I was sleeping with someone else?"

The pain was almost unbearable, and I closed my eyes against it. "No. 
Whatever you did last night, it was my fault. If you give me another chance, 
I swear I'll... Will you give me another chance, Adam?"

"Are you asking me to forgive you?" 

I couldn't face him, waiting for his answer. I looked out to sea, where the 
Tweedle Dee's sails billowed, and she ran before the wind. "Yes."

"All right."

"What?" I spun around. It couldn't be that easy. Nothing in my life was that 
easy.

"You asked me to forgive you." He shrugged, and his lips curved into a 
lightly mocking grin. "I forgive you."

"Will you..."

"I already said I'd forgive you." He scowled. "I'd think you'd realize that 
would mean I'd be taking you back as well." 

"No, Adam. I was going to ask if you would move in with me."

His breath caught in his throat, and he turned pale, clearly not expecting 
that. "BJ, you really want me to... What's your mother going to say?"

"Do you really think she'll care? You know she thinks I'm a flibberti..." The 
rest of the word was cut off by his mouth. With a sigh I sank into his kiss. 
I buried my fingers in his hair, the strands filling the emptiness of my 
hands.

Finally, he pulled his lips away, and we struggled to calm our breathing. 
"She's wrong. You're not."

"Adam..."

He kissed me again. "Shut up, BJ. If you're serious about me moving in with 
you, I'm going to need to pack. Why don't you take me home, and I'll show you 
my bedroom? Which, by the way, is where I was last night when you called. All 
alone."

"But you didn't pick up."

"Beej, I was pissed at you. And I wanted to make you suffer a little."

"You succeeded." I leaned my forehead against his for a brief moment, and 
then we started to walk to the other side of the dock where my Mustang was 
parked. 

"You ever going to let me drive her?"

"I *so* don't think so!" I looked back out over the ocean, and the sun 
glinted off a bit of glass, undoubtedly my brother's telescope. I raised my 
hand in one last farewell, and then let it drop around my lover's shoulder.  
"Let's go, Adam."  


The Tweedle Dee-Jim 

I stood at the rail of the sailboat and watched as the California coastline 
began to recede. In Hawaii, when you left, you threw a lei in the water. If 
it floated back to land it meant you'd return.  I didn't have a lei, but I 
had the hat that Blair Sandburg had made fun of. I tossed it into the blue 
waters of the Pacific Ocean. It sank quickly, and I sighed. What had I 
expected? I would never return.

"BJ!" his brother yelled, startling me, and I hurried to dial down my 
hearing. "You've got company!"

"What?" The wind carried his voice to us.

"*You've got company*!" But it was obvious the young man on the pier couldn't 
hear him. Blair lowered the telescope he'd had to his eye and was smiling, 
and I caught my breath. The sullen expression was gone. His dark blue eyes 
were warm, and the wind blew his sun-streaked hair about his face. My dick 
chose that moment to rise from the dead. For a moment I was certain I had 
seen him somewhere before. Blair looked toward me, and his expression 
sobered. "Would you like to go below deck, Jim, and get settled in?" I 
nodded, pleased we would be in close quarters together, but then he 
continued, "Joel, will you take Jim to his cabin, please?"

"Sure thing, boss." The big, black man walked toward me. 

"Jim." There was something about Blair's voice that made my dick even harder, 
and I shifted as unobtrusively as possible. Much to my relief, he didn't seem 
to notice. After all, how embarrassing would that be, sporting wood like a 
randy teenager? "First night out is always formal. Do you have a tux?"

"I have a tux." 

I heard his softly whispered, "Why aren't I surprised?" And had to hide my 
grin at his disgruntled tone.

So, apparently did Joel. He was grinning as he crossed the deck to the 
wheelhouse. "This way, Mr. Ellison." 

"Please, call me Jim." I followed Joel down the stairs to the companionway 
that led to my cabin.

"Jim." He threw open the door and ushered me in. "The VIP cabin," he said 
with some pride. It was a big room even for this size boat, furnished with a 
queen berth, a leather settee, built in bookshelves and a desk, and plenty of 
stowage. There was even room for one of my trunks, which had already been 
placed over to the side. "This cabin has a private head, which is right 
through here. If you need anything from your other trunks, just let Henri or 
me know. We usually sleep up on deck unless the weather is really bad." Joel 
saw my look of concern and shook his head. "Bad storms aren't too likely, 
we're almost out of the typhoon season."

I relaxed. "And where does the... uh... captain sleep?"

Joel looked intrigued. "Blair's in the starboard cabin." But he didn't ask me 
why I was interested in where the younger man slept. Instead, he showed me 
how to work the lights and the plumbing in the luxurious head that adjoined 
my stateroom.

I nodded my understanding and couldn't prevent a sudden yawn. The lack of 
sleep the night before was starting to catch up with me.

"You look tired, Jim. Why don't you get some rest? One of us will come get 
you when it's time for dinner." His smile was a slash of white in his dark 
face.  "I think you're going to enjoy sailing on the Tweedle Dee." He shut my 
cabin door, and I heard his footsteps going up the stairs and then across the 
deck. 

I visited the head and played with the fixtures for a couple of minutes, then 
unpacked, my thoughts tangling around Blair Sandburg, his curly brown hair 
and blue, blue eyes, those lush lips. I bit back a moan. They would look so 
good wrapped around my dick, not to mention how they would feel. 

Fuck it. Who was I trying to kid? A young man as gorgeous as that, he had to 
have a string of lovers, male or female, maybe both, just waiting for him to 
return to port. What would he want with a beat-up ex-cop like me? 

I lay down on my berth. It was covered with a soft, down-filled comforter 
that carried the scent of ocean breezes. I turned onto my stomach, cuddled a 
pillow in my arms, and immediately fell asleep.

~~~~

In spite of the fact that the smoking mountain was miles away, I could feel 
the ground shake and tremble beneath feet that were tipped with deadly, r
etractable claws. The volcano wasn't important, however. Finding my Guide 
was. I ran through the rainforest on four legs that were covered in black 
fur. 

The volcano rumbled, its tip glowing a sullen red, and then with unrestrained 
fury, it erupted. Molten lava spewed out, deadly gases polluted the air, and 
boulders the size of tanks were flung with careless abandon high into the air 
to fall with vicious force to the ground below.

I yowled in protest, flattened my body closer to the ground, and raced on as 
burning embers ignited my coat. 

Somewhere up ahead was my Guide, I was certain of it. Trees had begun to 
topple from the resulting earth tremors, and the forest shrieked an 
imprecation to the heavens as it was torn apart. I twisted and dodged and 
tried desperately to evade the falling, burning trees. And then I zigged when 
I should have zagged. A tree crashed down on me, pinning me to the forest 
floor, and the world went from bright red to black.

I regained my senses almost immediately, to find myself awash in pain and 
being dragged out from under the tree with jerky, sporadic movements. Strong 
teeth were sunk in the skin of my neck, and an act that under other 
circumstances would have been erotic, was now a matter of desperation. Once 
he had me away from the circle of blazing branches, the wolf began nudging my 
body with his head. //Up! You must get up!//

//I can't. I can't move my legs! //

//You have to!// 

//My back is broken.//

//Noooo!//

//You have to go. You can't save me!//

The deep blue eyes of the wolf stared into mine. Instead of running away to 
save himself, he lay down beside me gently, his thick fur caressing my side, 
which heaved with erratic pants. I was almost overcome by the smell of 
sulfur. Ash descended, falling like fouled, tainted snow. //I will not leave 
you.// No one had done that for me before, been willing to die with me. He 
licked my muzzle, then rested his head on my neck, and we closed our eyes, 
waiting for the end to overtake us.

~~~~

I woke up with a start, covered in clammy sweat, so relieved to find it was 
just a nightmare that I didn't stop to wonder about panthers and wolves, and 
why the wolf in my dream had blue eyes.

There was a tap on my door. "Jim, Blair said to let you know dinner will be 
ready soon. Oh, and he also said to remind you to wear your tux."

I recognized the voice. "Thanks, Joel. I wasn't going to forget. I'll just 
take a quick shower, and then I'll be right along."

"Okay, Jim." I heard him as he turned to leave, singing softly under his 
breath. "'Down the way where the men are gay, and the sun shines daily on the 
mountain top...'"

I stifled my laughter; he would have wondered what I found so funny, and I 
could hardly explain that I'd actually been able to hear him. I heard Blair 
holler, "Joel, I want you to lower the mizzenmast. We're putting to for the 
night!" I listened to the sounds as Joel bounded up the stairs to the main 
deck and then hurried aft. I could hear the creak of the winch as the rigging 
was lowered, and the muted splash as the anchor was dropped.

The light that came in through the porthole was fading and growing dim, and I 
rolled off the berth. After laying out the tux and some clean underclothes, I 
went into the head to wash the miasma of that nightmare from my body. 

I began to look forward to dinner with the captain. So sue me; I always had a 
soft spot for a sailor.

####

The Tweedle Dee-Blair  

Naomi Sandburg had two yachts, E-I-E-I-O. 

Sorry. Poor joke. 

The Tweedle Dum was a hundred and fifty feet of sheer, unadulterated beauty 
and decadence. Her maximum speed was fourteen and a half knots, which wasn't 
too shabby in anyone's books. She could accommodate twelve people in the 
utmost comfort, and there were four cabins just to house the crew. She had a 
Jacuzzi and a Turkish bath, a fully appointed galley, and a sixty-inch large 
screen TV, as well as heads for each of the five guest cabins. More than 
twice as large as her sister ship, she was used by my mother when she wanted 
to impress potential clients. Otherwise, the Tweedle Dum rode at her anchor 
in the marina and had her bottom scraped periodically.

And then there was the Tweedle Dee. I loved that boat. She was the first one 
I'd ever skippered all by myself. Naomi had promised her to me, had been 
promising her to me since the year I'd turned twenty. She was sixty-three 
feet from stem to stern, a pip-squeak in comparison to the Tweedle Dum. Aside 
from the master's cabin, there was one other for guests, plus one for the 
crew. She had a nice-sized galley, a main salon that contained a sound system 
to die for, and a few other amenities I had paid for and installed myself, 
before I discovered she would never be mine. I wised up then, and set out to 
earn enough to buy my own boat. 

Only, three-quarters of a mil was kind of hard to come by when you were 
trying to teach anthropology to first year college students who would rather 
be out partying or getting laid. I was on the verge of giving up on the boat 
completely when I heard from Naomi.

The ringing of the phone jerked me awake, and I scrabbled to pick up the 
receiver. My heart was pounding so painfully I was afraid it would actually 
do an imitation of one of those Alien chestbursters. "Hullo?"

"Blair, darling." A woman's voice.

"Who is this?" I'd stopped dating women when I realized I liked fucking men 
better.

"Blair, this is your mother!"

Naomi? It had been a long time since I'd heard from her, even longer since 
I'd seen her; she was living somewhere on the East coast now. "Mom, what's 
wrong? Did something happen to BJ?" I kept in sporadic touch with my younger 
brother, but I hadn't spoken to him in a few months.

"Oh, sweetheart, your scamp of a brother is fine! Why would you think 
anything was the matter with him?" 

"You woke me out of a sound sleep, Naomi. Why *wouldn't* I think something 
was wrong?"

"Why were you still asleep, you slugabed?" she teased. "You'll never amount 
to anything if you spend the day in bed!"

I pushed the hair out of my eyes and stared through gummed lashes at my 
alarm. "Naomi, it's not quite five in the morning. Time difference," I 
reminded her patiently.

"Oh, dear. Of course. Oh, well, since I've already got you up, I may as well 
tell you the news. You remember that mineral, chatarra, that I was desperate 
to find for the new line of super conductor?"

"Not really."

"Really, dear, you must try to keep au courant. Anyway, I've found it!" 

"You mean one of your flunkies found it." I yawned hugely. "So?"

"So, Blair, I have someone who is going to seal the deal for me, but he'll 
need to be on Isla del Volcan Repugnante in three weeks."

"And you're telling me this at five A.M. Washington State time because...?"

"I'm going to need you to transport him there."

I'd sworn off doing any little favors for her after I'd received my 
undergraduate degree in anthropology. That time it had been an esoteric plant 
that could only be found on a tiny island in the Vanuatu chain in the Coral 
Sea, and I'd nearly wound up in some native tribe's dinner pot. If it hadn't 
been for Eli Stoddard ... I'd gotten the plant, but she'd never wanted to 
know how I'd had to repay the older anthropologist for saving my skin. "Why 
would I do that, Naomi?"

I could almost see her examining her nails and frowning as she tried to 
decide whether or not she needed a manicure. "You want the Tweedle Dee, don't 
you, Blair?"

"I want to find Prince Charming, too. So what? The odds of me getting either 
are too slim to even consider."

"I'll sign over the title if you do this for mommy."

"Naomi..." Geez, I hated when she tried at this late date to get maternal.

"Blair, I'll have Frank Hagen bring the papers to you within the hour." Naomi 
could do that, could have one of the highest paid corporate attorneys in the 
country out of bed, on a private jet with the pertinent paperwork, and at my 
front door before seven o'clock on a Sunday morning. 

"Naomi, did you ever hear the saying, 'Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me 
twice, shame on me?'"

"Blair, I'll pinkie swear, if you'd like. I'll even let you hire whoever you 
like to crew the Tweedle Dee, even those two reprobates, Henri Brown and Joel 
Taggart." 

H and Joel had been my friends for a long time, but she'd never cared for 
them. It hadn't been the color of their skin, but rather the fact that both 
their fathers had been cops. Joel's had been a beat cop, and Henri's wound up 
working for Naomi. My mother was nothing if not a snob.

"This must be really important to you." I wanted that boat. I could almost 
taste how much I wanted her. "All right, look. I have to do some research on 
a paper I'm doing for my dissertation, and I need to be at the University 
library." I'd come across a monograph by Sir Richard Burton, in which he 
discussed the possibility of the existence of sentinels, men and women whose 
enhanced senses allowed them to find water, track game, warn of the approach 
of the tribe's enemies, protect the tribe. Something in the monograph, the 
mention of guides, who protected the protector, struck a chord. That would 
have been a worthy vocation. Unfortunately, I was stuck teaching students who 
stubbornly refused to learn.  "If Hagen gets here before I have to leave, 
I'll let my own lawyer look over the papers. If they're all in order, I'll do 
it."

"'If'? Oh, sweetheart, you cut me to the quick!"

"Yeah, yeah. That's my offer, take it or leave it."

"I'll call Frank and get the ball rolling. There are a few other things I 
need to do, and then... Gotta go, sweetie. Bye."

I threw back the covers and got up. I'd take a shower and start the coffee, 
just on the off chance that my mother's lawyer did show up with the authentic 
title.

****

Frank Hagen arrived with minutes to spare. I took the papers to my own lawyer 
the next morning. Son of a bitch, they were the real thing. Naomi had got me, 
fair and square.

****

It wasn't this Jim Ellison's fault, whoever he was. I had been in a piss-poor 
mood ever since I'd realized I'd been suckered into doing this favor for 
Naomi. I snapped and snarled at everyone. Henri and Joel just made rude 
gestures and ignored me, and went about the business of preparing the Tweedle 
Dee for a long ocean voyage.

When I saw BJ on the dock, about to light up one of his ever-present 
cigarettes, I scowled at him. "BJ." And then I saw the pain in his eyes and 
decided not to chastise him for endangering his health. "Do you know where 
Naomi is?" 

"Have you seen Naomi?" Our questions emerged simultaneously.

"Mom loves a secret almost as much as she loves money." Of course, neither of 
us knew her whereabouts. I studied the man who stood beside BJ. About six 
feet, pale blue eyes, close-cropped brown hair. He was wearing walking 
shorts, and I eyed his legs with interest, and wondered if the rest of his 
body was as firmly muscled. Then I wondered what the fuck was wrong with me. 
This was one of Naomi's flunkies.  "That outfit's wearing you, Felix!"

"Why are you calling me Felix?"

"I do what I want! And that's a fucking silly hat you've got on!"

"You know Naomi, Blair," my brother interrupted. "It's all phone calls and 
telegrams. I haven't seen her in nine months." 

"Nine months to birth you, nine months between visits. Coincidence? With 
Naomi, who knows?" 

"You're in a mood. What crawled up your ass and died?"

"It's the sunshine, BJ." I'd grown accustomed to the perennial rain of 
Washington State. "It gets me down." I didn't want to argue with my younger 
brother; it wasn't his fault that I'd sold out. I glanced at the man beside 
him. "Listen up. I don't work for Naomi. This transport is strictly a favor. 
Okay, get ready to heave, Felix!"

"My name is James or Jim." His stance was challenging.

"All right, *Jim*. Come aboard. If we want to catch the tide, we'll have to 
cast off now. H, hoist the mainsail. Joel, get ready to raise the anchor." I 
took the wheel and opened the mic of the ship to shore radio, notifying the 
Harbormaster that the Tweedle Dee would be getting under sail. 

Jim Ellison was standing by the rail waving to my brother. On the dock, I 
could see someone come up behind BJ, and I shouted, "You've got company!" He 
couldn't distinguish my words, not even when I repeated them. I picked up my 
telescope to get a better view of what was happening. 

The two men confronted each other, and I was prepared to come about, when the 
taller one suddenly pulled my brother into an embrace and kissed him. I hoped 
this might be more than just another of BJ's casual fucks. And while he had 
constant hot and cold running flings, I went the other way and rarely let 
anyone close enough to get in my bed. Naomi had often said she was 
disappointed in both of us, BJ for being so indiscriminate, and me being too 
picky.

"Would you like to go below deck, Jim, and get settled in?" He looked pleased 
until I continued, "Joel, will you take Jim to his cabin, please?" And then 
his expression became disappointed. Quickly he smoothed it out.

"Sure thing, boss. This way, Mr. Ellison."

"Jim. First night out is always formal. Do you have a tux?"

"I have a tux." 

"Why aren't I surprised?" I muttered to myself. "With all the trunks this guy 
has, I'll bet the only thing he doesn't have is the kitchen sink!"

His hand came up to cover his mouth, and I had the strangest feeling that he 
was trying to conceal a grin. But he couldn't have heard what I'd said!

I watched his ass until he and Joel disappeared into the wheelhouse, and then 
I sighed. This guy works for Naomi, I reminded myself sternly. You *don't* 
want to get involved with him!

tbc