Title: Turtle Bay

Series: Tides of Change, Book Two

Author: John Patrick

Publisher: NineStar Press

Release Date: 06/28/2022

Length: 85400

Genre: Historical, LGBTQIA+, gender-bending, cross-dressing, businessman, humor, law enforcement, political, PTSD, Postwar America, sexual discovery

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Description

It’s 1947, and New York City is awaiting the construction of the new United Nations building, the FBI is actively pursuing Communists and Soviet spies as the Cold War begins to build, and homosexual men have even more reasons to hide who they are.

Uptight FBI Agent Arthur Mason is so deep in the closet he doesn’t even realize he’s in one. Clueless about his own sexuality, he’s surprised at his reaction to both Hans Schmidt and his twin sister, Ada. Under pressure from work, Mason investigates Hans and his boarders, including the highly suspicious Hank Mannix, a known member of the Communist Party. Though Mason can’t seem to locate Ada, he can’t stop thinking about Hans and keeps going back to visit.

Hans Schmidt is a cross-dressing German immigrant running a boarding house for “a certain type of man,” and he wants nothing to do with Agent Mason and his ill-fitting suits and bad haircut. Until he begins to see Mason more as a man and less as a government official.

Hans enjoys dressing as a woman from time to time, and once his feelings for Arthur begin to change, he realizes he needs to share his Ada persona if they are to have a future together.

Secrets on both sides must be revealed and cherished beliefs challenged if these two men are to find the love and happiness they deserve.

This story can be read on its own; however, characters from book one, Dublin Bay, play a prominent role as secondary characters, so it’s recommended to read that first.

Turtle Bay
John Patrick © 2022
All Rights Reserved

 

Every once in a while, FBI Agent Arthur Mason wished he had someone he could talk to. He watched the easy camaraderie of his fellow agents with envy. That masculine blending of rivalry and partnership had always eluded Mason, even as a boy.

“Mason! You coming?” Cordero slammed his locker shut and slipped on his overcoat. “We’re celebrating tonight. We got a tip on the Rosenbergs. This might be the info we’ve been looking for.”

That would certainly be worth celebrating. Their informant had said the Rosenbergs were trying to sell atomic weapon secrets to the Soviets. Imagine! If the Russians ever got the bomb, this new Cold War would get mighty hot in hurry.

Cordero was holding his fedora, waiting for Mason’s response.

Cordero was one of the younger FBI agents, a dark-skinned Italian, tall with slicked-back hair and eyes that could really drill into a man. When Mason looked at him, he felt…felt…

“No, sorry. I can’t tonight,” Mason said.

“Suit yourself.” Cordero put on his hat. “We’re gonna get sauced, though, so you’ll miss out.” He laughed. “There’ll be girls there too.” Cordero stepped forward and gripped Mason’s bicep. “Listen, chief. You ain’t getting younger. You’re what, nearly thirty now?”

“Near enough,” Mason responded. He was thirty-five. He followed a strict calisthenics regimen that kept him fit and was proud he could pass for a much younger man.

“You need to step out more,” Cordero continued. “The dames will still go for you. I’ve seen the muscles hiding under your baggy suits. Maybe you’re a bit on the short side, but at least you have a full head of hair—even if it does look like your mother still cuts it.”

Mason sighed, disconcerted by Cordero’s grip on his arm. He couldn’t go out tonight, and it wasn’t the dames he was worried about. It was the “getting sauced” bit Mason needed to avoid. It’s not that he had a drinking problem, not exactly. Not like those guys who got mean and started fights for no reason, or the sloppy ones who couldn’t stop once they started and ended up drinking their paycheck away. No, Mason’s problem was alcohol loosened him up.

And there were things in Mason—okay, feelings—that had to be kept tightly locked inside. They didn’t bear close examination, and Mason had years of practice ignoring them. But after a drink or two, with Cordero right there, leaning into him in that over-friendly way he had—well, that’s when the feelings locked up inside started scratching at their cage.

It was getting harder to keep them clamped down.

 

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Author John Patrick is a Lambda Literary Award finalist living in the Berkshire Hills of Massachusetts, where he is supported in his writing by his husband and their terrier, who is convinced he could do battle with the bears that come through the woods on occasion (the terrier, that is, not the husband). An introvert, John can often be found doing introverted things like reading or writing, cooking, and thinking deep, contemplative thoughts (his husband might call this napping). He loves to spend time in nature—“forest bathing” is the Japanese term for it—feeling connected with the universe. But he also loathes heat and humidity, bugs of any sort, and unsteady footing in the form of rocks, mud, tree roots, snow, or ice. So his love of nature is tempered—he’s complicated that way.

John and his husband enjoy traveling and have visited over a dozen countries, meeting new people, exploring new cultures, and—most importantly—discovering new foods.

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