by Clancy Nacht
Lance looked at Guy, surprised by his concern. “A jealous lover?”
“That’s all I can figure without more information. Though why a sex worker gave you a freebie…doesn’t fit neatly into that scenario.”
“But you think it was about me.”
“I don’t see the upside to behaving as if it wasn’t until we know that for sure.” Guy sat on the edge of the bed and cupped Lance’s cheek. “What is your gut telling you?”
Lance looked down at Guy’s shiny shoes. “You think Elliot ordered him killed?”
“I don’t know. Maybe someone was trying to get Rios in with you. Or maybe Rios wanted to have some fun on his own and wound up somewhere he didn’t expect. Or it could be nothing to do with you.”
Lance sighed. He wasn’t fucking Elliot yet when he fucked Mikey. He hadn’t even known Elliot was interested. “It’s the sexual assault that makes you think it was jealousy.”
“Yeah. That’s special ordered if it was a hire and not... Who knows? Rios’s own jealous lover? Not everyone will do that.” Guy slid his thumb over Lance’s lips.
“What should I do?” Lance searched Guy’s eyes.
“Let me look into it. Proceed as if you know nothing.”
“Okay.” Lance wasn’t sure he could do that, but he’d do his best. “You’ll be watching?”
“If I see anything that looks bad, I’ll get you out of there.”
“Free of charge?”
Guy smirked. “Well…”
Lance snorted and lifted his chin out of Guy’s reach. “All right.”
Guy ruffled his hair. “Later, Kitten.”
✽ ✽ ✽
Lance sat at one of the banquet tables, alone at the gathering for Elliot’s latest television appearance on remote. The night before the New Hampshire primary, and Elliot was a stunning eight points ahead. It had looked like New Hampshire was all sewn up until Elliot did a remote feed for Rachel Maddow’s show.
When Lance had booked it, they’d been pumped. Even as someone without much interest in politics, Lance knew how amazing Rachel Maddow was. Going on a liberal show the night before the New Hampshire primary had seemed like a solid strategy, right up until Elliot mentioned Lance. “Of course I’m for gay rights. This religious liberties argument as an end run against the Supreme Court ruling is a dangerous door to open. While most politicians and Republican constituents are Christian, we forget that religious liberties would extend to all religions, and I worry about the unintended consequences once that door is open.”
“Right. That’s a great point, Senator Swardson, but are you also affected by your public relations man, uhh… Lance Gatsby—great name—being an out gay man?”
That smile. That look of fondness. Lance blushed and recoiled from the television. “No, Elliot!”
Elliot straightened up and cleared his throat, going serious again. “All of us, every one of us, has a homosexual person in our lives. Lance has become one of my best friends and greatest allies over the past few weeks, but my position on equality and religious liberties exists without regard to friendship or working relationships. In this day and age, it’s not just petty to deny people their rights, it’s morally objectionable.”
“Fair enough.” Maddow turned to the camera to throw to commercial while Lance facepalmed.
All in all, it was a good answer. Lance hoped that no one else had noticed that goofy grin or read too much into it. Whether they did or not, apparently most of the campaign workers in the room didn’t share Elliot’s liberal view of homosexuals.
Or maybe they did, in concept, but talking to an actual gay man was pushing their limits too far.
A hand landed on his shoulder. Lance looked up at Jeff, one of the volunteers from the campaign. He insisted on wearing a bow tie, which made him look like a knock off Tucker Carlson, but either it was intentional or he didn’t care. Politically, Lance agreed with Jeff on little, but his ambition to get into public relations meant that he shadowed Lance occasionally.
Before that last meeting with Guy, Lance had found it kind of cute. However, introduced to the idea Elliot might grow jealous enough to murder perceived competitors, talking to Jeff made Lance uncomfortable.
Seemingly oblivious, Jeff leaned down to bring his face level with Lance’s. “Don’t worry. I think they just don’t want to be the first to break the ice. Once someone comes over to talk, you’ll be mobbed, and all of them will go home and talk about how they had contact with a real, live gay man.”
Lance chuckled as he scanned the crowd. Elliot turned and squinted at the two of them, which made Lance squirm away from Jeff’s contact. “This is New Hampshire; there are lots of gays here.”
“They don’t think about it like that.” Jeff took the seat next to him.
“Not worried about people thinking you’re gay?”
“I’m not.” Jeff eyed Lance. “Do you think I am?”
In truth, Lance did, but if Jeff was gay, he was deep in the closet. Not that it was any of Lance’s business, nor had he given it much thought—he had too much else on his mind. “No, of course not. I just didn’t want you to queer your relationships with these people. I’m leaving day after tomorrow. You’ve gotta live with these guys.”
Jeff shrugged. “Maybe I want to be able to say that I worked with the great Lance Gatsby before he was famous. Corey says once Elliot’s in office, you’ll move to DC and be press secretary.”
That was news to Lance. There were so many assumptions built into that statement that Lance didn’t know where to start.
Jeff elbowed Lance playfully. “Oh, come on, you knew that. That’s why you’re doing this, right?”
A few yards away, Elliot appeared to be breaking off his conversation, headed toward them.
Lance pinched the bridge of his nose. That couldn’t be good. Granted, he wasn’t always at Elliot’s side, but how much sex did the man think Lance needed? “It’s a nice thought, but he’s just a first term senator. The polls look promising, or did.”
“The Maddow thing? They’re saying democrats are switching parties to support Senator Swardson. If anything, that widened the gap.”
Lance blinked at Jeff, but before he could respond, Elliot was before them. His face was red, nostrils flaring. “Isn’t this cozy?”
Jeff tilted his head and looked between them. “We were just discussing how well you did on Maddow.”
“Really?” Elliot didn’t even look at Jeff, just glared at Lance. “Is that what you were whispering about?”
Lance turned to Jeff. “Could you see about getting me another glass of wine? I think they stopped serving after dessert.”
“Yeah, I’ll be right back.” Jeff looked between them again and then headed for one of the bars along the perimeter.
Elliot leaned in so they were nose to nose. “What was that?”
“I could ask you the same thing. We’re in public, Elliot. You need to stop looking like a deranged lover.” Lance grinned and sat back, affecting a casualness he didn’t feel. He turned to see Susan watching them. He gave her a slight nod he hoped she’d interpret as his needing help.
She turned her back on him. Though it was possible she misread the situation, he’d been feeling a chilly vibe from her for a while. She probably, and rightly, didn’t see how Elliot getting jealous over Lance was her problem.
Fuck.
Elliot took Jeff’s seat. “Were you really talking about Maddow?”
“Yes, Elliot. He came over because he felt sorry for me that your people were icing me out. That’s all.” Lance drained what was left of his coffee from dessert, then checked on where Jeff was in the line to get wine.
“He’s been all over you since we got here.”
“He wants to do what I do.”
“Yeah, I got that feeling.” Elliot’s gaze bored into him until they both smiled.
Lance rolled his eyes. “Be a public relations guy. He says you’ve already decided I’ll be your press secretary. If he’s sucking u
p to me, that’s why. That’s all the sucking going on. He’s straight.”
Elliot snorted. “There’s a lot of that going on in this party.”
“I’m starting to wonder if there are any Republicans that want to have sex with women.”
“Corey.”
Lance exhaled. “Well that should solve our overpopulation problem.”
“Hey, there are lots of women into powerful men.”
“Most of them take credit cards, I hear.” Lance turned his head to see Susan had, indeed, arrived.
She put her hands on Lance’s shoulders and gave them a squeeze, smiling pleasantly at them both. “You two can have your lovers’ quarrels all night for all I care, but for now, Elliot, you need to get back to pressing the flesh.”
Lance patted her hand. “She’s right, Elliot. I’m just going to head up to my room where I can be ignored in peace.”
He stood and gave her a long hug. “Thank you, Susan.”
She broke the embrace and beamed at him. “It would help greatly if you didn’t flirt with attractive young men in front of him.” She straightened his tie with seeming affection. “Though after that Maddow interview, it may have been called for.”
Elliot looked sheepishly between them before he offered his hand to Lance. “I’ll be with you in a couple of hours.”
Jeff returned with the glass of wine, which Lance took with a smile. “Thank you. The people of New Hampshire had their chance. I’m going to head up before any more staffers waste time comforting me.”
He hesitated, hating himself a little, and then hugged Jeff. Lance knew what it would look like; he needed it to look that way. He’d make it up to Jeff later. “Good night.”
Finishing his wine, Lance left the glass on a cart and headed to his room.
Press secretary.
That sounded amazing, but also very exposed. He’d done his best to keep a low profile. Too many interested parties might recognize him from a previous life and cause trouble, but it was a nice idea. He didn’t want to leave Austin, but returning without Elliot seemed unimaginable.
Provided Elliot was the person Lance thought he was, and not the man Lance feared he might be. That jealous rage was disturbing, and over so little. Or was it? Had he spent more time with Jeff than he realized? Lance had been glad to have someone interested in the art of press releases. How had that translated to someone observing from afar, witnessing their camaraderie without the accompanying dull minutiae?
Even so, Elliot’s lack of trust disturbed Lance. Not to mention there was a dead man who’d been erased from existence.
In the relative safety of his room, Lance called Talia. “See if you can find Michael Rios’s parents.”
Chapter Five
As it turned out, Michael Rios didn’t have family, or at least none Talia could track down in the few minutes it took her to get to dig in. Going strictly by his phone records, only one number had been called consistently. It belonged to his roommate, a young woman named Kate Johnson.
Lance needed to talk to her.
Elliot had won the New Hampshire primary. The margin was slimmer than had been predicted, but it had been a solid win.
“That’s good, right? He doesn’t need me. I just need to—”
Corey held up his hand. “He needs you now more than ever. This isn’t the first time an insurgent candidate has done well in the first couple of primaries. South Carolina is up next and—”
“That’s not for another week!”
“That’s the crucial primary!”
“You said Iowa was, then New Hampshire…”
“Lance, look, they’re all crucial, but South Carolina is where the party usually shuts this sort of thing down. And to be honest, his liberal slant isn’t gonna play there. He needs you to stay strong.”
If Lance had possessed any idea how many mini-elections led up to the general election, he might’ve had a different answer as to whether he wanted to obligate himself. But then he thought of that look Elliot had worn on Maddow.
But what about Mikey, assaulted, strangled, and left in the lake to be found naked, then wiped from existence? Lance had no proof that was done on Elliot’s orders, but that conspicuous bout of Jeff-related jealousy had stayed with Lance.
“Fine.”
Instead, Lance scheduled a Skype meeting with Kate. Maybe he could’ve handled the situation by phone, but he’d wanted to see her, verify she was real, that Mikey was real and that he’d lived in a real place. She’d been terse on the phone but, after some cajoling, willing to talk.
Was she nervous? Body language would be easier read than word choices and breathing.
The campaign planned to decamp for South Carolina early the next morning, where the process would start again for the third time. After that was Nevada, which Lance assumed was also critical, and then Super Tuesday, which he understood meant being flown hither and thither to whatever states had shown themselves worth being fought over. The campaign had a map of the United States on a board around which they gathered to speculate which locations those would be. That week sounded the most exhausting but also the most fun.
Fewer literal prize hogs to coo over, maybe.
Before Lance’s appointment with Kate, he sat through Elliot’s speech to the New Hampshire campaign volunteers. It was as stirring as all his other speeches, full of thanks for their efforts, and Lance clapped for him with the rest. He paused only long enough to give Elliot a hearty handshake afterward before heading to his hotel room. Elliot would probably be in the conference room for at least another hour or two doing soundbites for news programs, then he would likely detour to Lance’s bed before heading to his own room.
Usually Lance looked forward to their time together, but now… What did it all mean?
With any luck, Kate would allay Lance’s suspicions. She could reveal a jealous lover or that Mikey was a Grindr fanatic who’d tried to blackmail a former Texas governor with a reputation for such dalliances.
Lance settled in with his laptop, pulled up Skype, and called Kate, feeling as if he couldn’t wait another moment.
What had he expected her to look like? Somehow her big, black glasses and blunt, angular haircut seemed exactly right. She was round in the face, pleasingly plump, and wore a David Bowie t-shirt that made Lance like her instantly.
Something about her reminded him of Talia, more attitude and set of jaw than anything else. How quickly he warmed to women, versus his suspicion regarding most men. He’d simply had more experience being done dirty by men.
But he could ill-afford to be naive around women, so he greeted her with his professional smile. “Hey.”
She peered into the camera, lips pursed and brows drawn. “You in a hotel?”
“Yes. I live in Austin, but I’m out of town right now. I wanted to talk to you as soon as possible about Mikey.” Lance looked behind her, at the bookcases filled with reference books and a very old television. A string of Christmas lights reminded Lance of college.
How old had Mikey been? He hadn’t struck Lance as that much younger than himself, but if Lance were being honest, he hadn’t cared much about Mikey at the time beyond his slight resemblance to Elliot.
“Hm.” She frowned. How strange this must be for her. “How’d you know Mikey?”
Lance brought his hands up to hide his warming cheeks. “Oh. Um. Grindr.”
Her gaze narrowed. “Yeah? Well, he’s missing.”
Mikey was more than missing. How could she not know that?
“Yes, I’m trying to find him. We had a, uh… I enjoyed his company, and I’d like to see him again when I’m back, but I haven’t been able to reach him. I wondered if he was seeing anyone? I’m embarrassed to say that I didn’t ask.”
“Right.” Her gaze shifted, and a mug filled the screen as she drank. “I don’t think he’s seeing anyone but his job. Or at least he wasn’t.”
“Oh, maybe I could reach him at his work. Do you have his number?” His job. Maybe Mikey’s
work got him killed, nothing to do with Lance or Elliot.
Lance preferred that to his more self-absorbed ideas.
“No, he uh… freelanced.” Kate stared into her mug, a portrait of concentration. “Thing is, he got… wrongly accused… of solicitation. Mikey wasn’t a hustler, not ever. He was just kind of, I dunno, awkward, I guess you’d say? Most really brilliant people are.”
Lance leaned in, displaying rapt attention, and nodded. “So what happened?”
She sighed. “It happened in a public bathroom. He wouldn't tell me much about it or why he was charged with solicitation rather than indecent exposure, but the thing is, he had this really cushy job at Global Intelligence, Inc. They fired him, and he had a hard time getting a full time gig anywhere.”
“But you said he worked a lot.”
She pressed her lips together and then stared at Lance’s image on the screen. “Freelance, like I said. He wouldn’t tell me where. He did it mostly from here. I don’t think he was very happy doing what he was doing. I think it was illegal, some of it. That’s what I worry about, that someone from that world did something to him.”
Lance nodded soberly. No family, down on his luck… That definitely sounded like a recipe for bad elements whacking him. He exhaled in relief. The more he learned about Mikey, the less he thought it was Elliot.
Kate took another long drink from her mug. “I don’t know if this helps or makes it worse, but he acted like something good had happened to him right before he disappeared. Like maybe he was going to get his life back. I don’t know what it was. He acted like he’d met someone who could help him.”
Lance’s gut twisted, but he tried not to show it, just tilted his head. “Did he? Did he seem afraid?”
“More secretive than scared, I guess. I don’t know. I guess he was nervous, but he got manic sometimes. I thought it was just that.”
“And then he was gone.”
She nodded. “Yeah. Gone. I filed a missing person report with the APD. They say they’re looking into it, but I get the feeling they’re not. I don’t know what happened.”