Garner working as a waiter at an upscale restaurant with a growing attraction to a man named Alonzo, who always asks to be put in his section for dinner. One night after work, the man is assaulted while trailing Garner. Garner goes to his aid, but is shot for his trouble.<br><br>Taking time off from work to recover, Garner is resting on a park bench when Alonzo suddenly appears at the other end of the bench. Garner never saw him approach. He asks why Alonzo is trailing him.<br><br>After some hesitation, Alonzo explains he wants to recruit Garner to help fight against others who systematically hunt people like himself. Garner isn’t inclined to get involved in anything dangerous, but he does finds Alonzo more and more attractive, so he agrees to consider the idea. As he learns more about Alonzo’s bizarre and dangerous subculture, what Garner really wants to know is whether Alonzo is romantically interested in him at all.

Call to Love

Lunch with Vera was briefer than he had expected.


“Sorry!” was her first word to him as she joined him at the table on the front patio of the restaurant. “I’ve got to be somewhere—earlier than I thought.”


After assuring her that that was not a problem, they ordered, and then settled back in their respective chairs.


“Well?” Vera asked after studying him. “You’ve got something on your mind.”


Garner smiled and nodded. Then, leaning forward, he half-whispered, “I met him, last night.”


Vera blinked several times. “Met who?”


“The guy at the restaurant who was taken down by your friends the night I got shot.”


Vera’s face tightened and she gave a rapid shake of her head. “Don’t call them my friends.”


“Okay. Whatever. His name is Alonzo.”


Chapter 32