“Hey, man, it’s good to see you.”
Adam hadn’t realized how lonely he had been, even with a town full of people. But now that Craig was here, someone who knew him, someone from his past, he could feel the sadness of solitary.
“You have no idea how good it is to see you.” Adam grinned, his cheeks burning from the neglected act. “What are you doing here? Is everything okay?”
“Everything’s fine, or at least as fine as it can be. I can’t stay long because I’m doing this off the grid, but I had something I wanted to give you. Can we… uh?” Craig nodded at the house.
Adam followed his shrug and fumbled for his key in his pocket. “Of course, right! Yes, come inside.”
After opening the door, Adam led the way into his small cottage home, the house seeming even smaller as Craig’s large frame filled the entryway. Craig followed Adam into a small sitting room big enough only for a couple of chairs and a small table.
“Off the grid, huh?” Adam asked, smiling at the ridiculousness of it all. Craig and he had been working together for better than five years. Adam had been undercover and Craig his point of contact. They’d found ways over the years to contact each other “off the grid.”
Craig sat in one of the small chairs, leaning forward, his elbows on his knees. “The cartel has been a mess since both Natasha and Jacob have been out of commission. Boredega has recruited a shit-ton of new dealers and enforcers, and the word right now is that there is a very hefty fee for any information regarding the whereabouts of you and any knowledge regarding Drake.”
Hearing Drake’s name out loud after so long made Adam flinch. He thought about him constantly, could still see a clear image of him in his mind, but he never spoke his name out loud. His heart missed a beat, stealing a breath. He placed a hand over the spot he could feel the palpitation and let the sensation roll over him.
“If the danger is so high, why would you risk coming here?”
Shifting uncomfortably, Craig dropped his gaze to the floor. He was silent a few moments before bringing his eyes back up to meet Adam’s. He pulled his jacket open to reach a hand in to rummage in the inside pocket. “Because your appeal finally went through, and I wanted to give this to you in person.”
He pulled out a plastic-wrapped square of glossy paper and Adam’s heart sped up uncontrollably fast as it was handed to him. Reaching out tentatively, he took the photo from Craig. Swallowing to prepare himself, he looked down and found a very young, innocent Drake smiling up at him, his eyes bright with love and laughter, snuggled securely in the arms of his family.
“I—” Adam began, but his voice came out in an emotional waver. He cleared his throat. “Thank you,” he managed, still staring down at the dark brown eyes that he’d fallen in love with.
Craig shifted again, but Adam didn’t look up; he couldn’t. Now that he had an image of Drake, even if it was a time before he knew him, before he’d become the man Adam knew, he couldn’t look away.
“I, uh, I also have this for you,” Craig said, holding out a small dark object.
Still unable to look up, Adam reached for it blindly. He positioned it so it was adjacent to the photo so he could see it without looking away from the smiling faces. He frowned, turning it over in his hand.
“What’s this?”
“It’s a burner phone. I know you have some from your transition and that you probably bought some to have just in case, and you know that if you have trouble you can call me anytime, right? Right?” He waited for Adam to nod before continuing. “Well, I wanted you to have one without any connection to you whatsoever. There is nothing to tie this phone to you, no paper trail, nothing.”
Adam frowned, finally gathering the nerve to look up at Craig. “Why would I need that?”
Hesitating for just a moment, Craig seemed to deliberate in his head, but he’d made the trip out here and he’d gone through all the work to give him whatever else it was he had, so the debate didn’t last too long. His face hardened to one of determination, and he reached back into his jacket pocket for another piece of paper.
This one was small, hardly larger than a sticky note. Adam cocked his head as Craig offered it to him. He took the paper cautiously, only noticing that his fingers were shaking when he tried unsuccessfully to take the slip from Craig the first time. Looking down, he saw an unfamiliar combination of numbers. There was nothing else. No name. No note. Nothing but a ten-digit phone number.
His mouth went dry as he stared at the black writing that seemed to jump out from the pale sheet. He fingered the piece of paper and then looked at Craig in confusion, too scared to hope.
Craig stood, straightening his clothes. “I shouldn’t stay any longer. I still have a long walk back to my car.”
Adam, overwhelmed from the entirety of the visit, nodded, his face unable to express a single emotion and his tongue too dry to speak.
Craig headed toward Adam’s back door, turning back to face him as he reached to pull it open. He smiled warmly. “Take care of yourself, okay? And remember what I said about calling me.”
“Of course,” Adam stammered, clutching all the items Craig had brought him to his chest.
Craig gave him one last up and down before nodding and opening the door. “See you around, partner.”
“Bye,” Adam managed as the door shut with a soft click.
Silence stretched around Adam, and he sat in his chair with the picture, phone, and slip of paper cradled in his arms. Slowly, as if all the items would disappear if he moved too quickly, he set them each on the table.
His breathing hard and shallow, his heart pounding, he picked up the small piece of paper. The excitement, fear, and anticipation raged through his limbs. He was suddenly having an out-of-body experience, as he no longer felt as if he controlled any aspect of his limbs. He watched as trembling fingers gingerly picked up the phone, turning it so they could dial. The numbers from the paper lit up the screen as they were entered, and he stared at them a moment before finally pushing Send.
The buzzing in his ears was practically deafening as the phone rang. Once. Twice. Three times.
Finally, there was a click and pause as someone answered the phone. A deep, gruff voice answered, sending Adam’s already thumping heart into super overdrive. So surprised to hear the voice that he’d thought he would never hear again, he didn’t say anything.
“Hello?” the voice intoned again, this time curter than the last, and Adam couldn’t control the euphoric smile that took over his lips, even as his eyes released a myriad of tears.
Suddenly, everything was back in its place. His heart back in his chest, the ocean out of his ears, the fog out of his head, and his tongue back in his mouth. The world was once again solid around him.
“Hi,” he said softly, imagining what the man on the other end of the line looked like as his own voice filtered through the phone.
There was a short pause, and then a hiss intoned through the phone as if a sharp inhalation of breath was taken. Then finally, with a voice filled to the brim with emotion, came the familiar response.
“Hi,” Drake responded.
CHRIS E. SAROS lives in the beautiful Mitten State, surrounded by the exhilaration of the Great Lakes. In her free time, she enjoys swimming, reading, ministering to her cats’ needs, and watching TV. An avid traveler, she loves immersing herself in different cultures, discovering new foods, and meeting new people. Always game for a new adventure, she covets stimulating experiences such as working on locally filmed movies, coaching students in after-school activities, and spending time spoiling and sugaring-up her nieces and nephew to keep her status as “the fun aunt.” Though ideally an optimist, Chris E. is intrigued by the darkness life has to offer. Using writing as an outlet for her darker nature, she loves constructing characters and tossing them into dangerous situations, just to see what happens.
Reach out to Chris E. Saros through email at [email protected] or visit her on Facebook.
By Chr
is E. Saros
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Published by DSP PUBLICATIONS
www.dsppublications.com
Published by
DSP PUBLICATIONS
5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886 USA
www.dsppublications.com
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of author imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Semblance
© 2018 Chris E. Saros.
Cover Art
© 2018 Kanaxa.
Cover content is for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted on the cover is a model.
All rights reserved. This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of international copyright law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines, and/or imprisonment. Any eBook format cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact DSP Publications, 5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886, USA, or www.dsppublications.com.
ISBN: 978-1-64080-119-6
Digital ISBN: 978-1-64080-120-2
Library of Congress Control Number: 2017911502
Published February 2018
v. 1.0
Printed in the United States of America
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