by D. B. Watson
“I understand. I want to reassure all of you that I love Patrick and would never intentionally put him in harm’s way.” Adam looked at Patrick again and saw a big grin on his face as his mother squeezed his hand.
“Such valiant words, Mr. Potter,” Raoul said, standing by the window looking out.
Drusilla quickly jumped in, to Adam’s defense. “Yes, they were,” she said, smiling at Adam, who smiled back.
Raoul sighed at the window and turned to his guests.
“How about we all swim in the heated pool later? To unwind before the party,” Raoul suggested.
Patrick’s cousins grinned in unison as they both glanced at Adam.
“You’ll come swim with us, won’t you Adam?” Reyes asked.
Adam looked at the green eyes that matched his brother’s and smiled. “Only if Patrick wants to,” Adam said.
Patrick smirked when he saw the look on his cousins’ faces.
“That’s a wonderful ideal, Raoul,” said Drusilla.
Carlos entered the room and went straight to Raoul and whispered in his ear.
Drusilla noticed. “Is there a problem, Raoul?”
Carlos gave Drusilla a slight bow before leaving the room.
“I was just informed we have two more guests, but they wanted to go freshen up first.”
“Well, I should go and say hello and invite them to the pool.”
“I can do that, Drusilla,” Raoul interjected.
“No, I want to.” But when she stood her legs buckled, sending her forward. Adam leaped up, catching her. Everyone rushed to her aid as Raoul hurried to his true love.
“Drusilla,” he said in a panic, taking her from Adam and picking her up into his arms.
“It’s—all right, Raoul. I’m—fine,” she stammered, feeling another dizzy spell as she lay her head on Raoul’s shoulder.
“Mother!” cried Patrick. Adam went to him, placing his hands on his waist to let him know he was close.
“I’m putting you to bed. Carlos, summon the doctor!”
“Father,” said Patrick, shaking against Adam’s chest.
“Let your father take care of her, Patrick,” Bernardo said. Patrick leaned back into Adam’s arms and watched as his father carried his mother away.
“Pat, if you need to be with your mother, go on, I’ll wait here.” Patrick turned to Adam, thanking him with a kiss as he rushed off after his parents.
Bernardo walked up to Adam and placed his hand on his shoulder.
“You’re a good man, Adam. I’m sorry I grilled you.”
“You were concerned about your nephew,” Adam responded.
“Miguel, Reyes, let’s go for a walk around the garden.”
“Why don’t you come with us, Adam?” suggested Reyes.
“I’d like to stay in case Patrick needs me.”
“You won’t be far,” Miguel protested.
“Adam is worried about Patrick now. Let’s leave him alone.”
“Thank you, Mr. Valdez,” Adam said.
“Please, call me Bernardo.”
“Thank you, Bernardo.” The three men left the room, leaving Adam alone.
****
Adam returned to Patrick’s bedroom to wait for him. He continued to call Justin’s cell, but still no answer. It was driving him crazy.
“Where can he be?” he said out loud. He walked over to the French doors that led to a balcony overlooking an enchanting garden. The balcony was large enough to have two double lounges, a steel table, and padded chairs. There was room to move around and a staircase leading down to the garden.
If it weren’t for Drusilla falling ill, he would leave Patrick a note promising him he’d return by the party. A knock came on the door. Adam wasn’t sure what to do so, he approached it and opened it. One of Patrick’s cousins, Miguel, stood beaming at him.
“Hola, Adam,” he said with his hands behind his back.
“Hello, Miguel. I thought you went for a walk?”
“I wanted to check on you. So, I excused myself.”
“Why?”
“I was worried about you.”
“Shouldn’t that worry be for your aunt?”
“She has my uncle and cousin to look after her. I know she is in excellent hands.”
“So, you thought you should check in on your cousin’s boyfriend?”
Miguel ignored him. “Aren’t you going to invite me in?”
“I’m not sure that’s a good—"
Miguel didn’t give him time to finish as he slipped past him and entered the bedroom. Adam stood by the open door, not wanting to close it.
The same heat that radiated off Patrick seemed to come from Miguel. Was it a family trait? he wondered. Leaving the door open, he moved to the bedroom entrance.
Miguel sat on the bench at the foot of Patrick’s bed. He glanced at Adam, patting at the seat beside him. “Don’t be shy, Adam. Come sit with me.”
“I’d rather stand.”
“Okay, suit yourself.”
“Miguel, why are you really here?”
“As I said, I was worried about you.”
“Well, as you can see, I’m fine.”
“Yes, you are.” Adam heard the undertone in his voice, and he knew he needed to get the precocious man out of Patrick’s room.
“Miguel—” But Adam’s ringing cell interrupted him. He looked at the caller ID and saw—unknown. He answered anyway. “Hello?”
“A-dam,” a cracking voice of Justin rang into his ear.
“Justin,” said Adam, relieved.
“A-dam, I—can—hardly—”
“Damnit,” said Adam, hearing Justin’s voice dropping in and out.
“Who’s Justin?” asked Miguel. Adam forgot he was in the room.
“Miguel, I have to make a private call.” Adam pulled the reluctant man to his feet. He pushed gently on Miguel’s lower back, hurrying him out of the room, closing the door on the baffled man.
Miguel stood dismayed, staring at the door, fuming. He had competed with his cousin Patrick over the attention of men. And every time, they preferred Patrick. He wanted to kick his foot through the door but decided it would only hurt him more than the door. He stormed off, heading for the stairs when a door opened, presenting someone Miguel recognized right away.
“I didn’t know you’d be here.” Miguel glowed as he was invited inside.
****
Adam pressed his cell close to his ear as he shoved his finger into his other ear.
“Justin, where are you?” Adam demanded.
“I’m—at—Moss—”
“What? Did you say, Moss. Where’s that?”
“Adam, I can’t—any—what—” This time, the call dropped. Adam tried calling him back, but the line was busy. He kept trying—but kept failing.
“Fuck,” he snapped. “What did he say? Moss? Could he have meant? No, no, he can’t be, he can’t be there.” Again, he called, but still a busy single. He knew he had to find Justin. He found paper and a pen and wrote a note for Patrick. He left not telling him he was looking for Justin but that there was a problem with the alarm at his building. Lying was the only way for now. He didn’t want to upset Patrick anymore now that his mother was sick. He grabbed his coat, made sure he had his car keys, and left the back way that Patrick showed him.
CHAPTER 31
ReseARcH
Justin stared at the red, rectangular phonebooth they found behind the garage. It took him a minute to fathom the logic of a rotary dial instead of a push pad. He still clutched the receiver, wanting to smash it into the device, but instead, hung up. He stood in the glass window box and glared out at nothing. Justin had never been so frustrated in all his life. He glanced around for Ethan and saw him talking to a mechanic.
Justin couldn’t see the man’s face. From behind, he stood a foot taller than Ethan. He had a stocky build, with solid muscle. He tried Adam’s number again, but like his cell, the call never went through. He gave up, leaving the booth.
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Ethan saw Justin approaching.
The mechanic glanced back at him. Justin viewed the normal wear and tear on his work clothes, traces of dirt and oil stains. His hair was thick and wavy, and tied in a crooked ponytail.
“Any luck?” Ethan asked.
“No, the call kept breaking up, then it dropped,” said Justin.
Ethan looked at the mechanic. “Conner told me there were never cell phones here. They just use landlines.”
“Then why can’t I call someone out of town?” Justin asked Conner.
“We never had that trouble. Everything we need and everyone we know is here,” Conner said.
“No one here has family outside of town?” asked Justin.
“Not that I know of.”
“What about ordering things you don’t have here?”
“We have everything we need.”
Justin and Ethan glanced at each other, then Justin asked something different.
“Do you know someone by the name of Christopher Huge?”
Conner glanced away from Justin, not answering. Justin just assumed he was thinking it over.
“Well, hello,” said an approaching voice. Justin turned and saw a police officer walking up. He was as tall as Conner but smaller in his waist. His full, gray hair came just to his collar. He wore sunglasses and chewed gum.
“Hi Sheriff,” said Conner.
“Conner, how have you been?”
“Fine, sir.”
“And your mom, is she on her feet yet?”
“No, the doc said she should stay in bed for the rest of the week. But she is feeling better.”
“Well, that’s good to hear. Tell her I’ll be around with some hot plates for all of you. I know you must miss her cooking.”
“We do.” The sheriff glanced from Ethan, then to Justin.
“And who do we have here?”
Conner looked at Ethan and said nothing.
Ethan smiled and looked at the sheriff. “Ethan Troy,” he said, holding out his hand.
The sheriff didn’t hesitate to shake.
“And—" continued Ethan. “—this is Justin Shi.”
The sheriff looked at Justin and, unknown to him, scanned his eyes up and down the attractive blonde.
“You work for Detective Potter, don’t you?” This shocked Justin and Ethan. The sheriff smiled. “He told me you might be coming down here to pick up some information about our lovely town.”
“He did?” Justin asked.
“Well, that’s why you’re here, isn’t it?”
“Yes, but we’ve been coming up short.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that. You both come with me, and I’ll get you that information, and then maybe you can enjoy our little town.”
“Come with you?” asked Justin.
“My truck is just over here. I can take you back to my house, grab the files, and get you back to your vehicle.”
“That would be great,” said Justin, thrilled that he could leave the town before dark.
“See you later, Conner,” said the sheriff.
“Bye Sheriff.”
“Yeah, thanks Conner,” said Ethan, holding his hand out to shake. Conner shook Ethan’s hand. As Ethan went to let go, Conner held on, brushing Ethan’s fingers as they slipped from his hand.
Justin and Ethan boarded the sheriff’s SUV. Justin sat up front while Ethan climbed into the back seat. Conner watched as they took off. Another man walked up who wore the same work clothes as Conner. He was shorter but built like Conner, with black hair and a close-shaved beard. Once they were out of sight they hurried and shut down the garage, turning the sign to closed.
****
Adam arrived at his office building. He entered, ignoring the elevator, and headed up the steps to the second floor.
The locked office door and the darkness inside raised red flags. He considered driving to WillowMoss when his cell phone rang. He retrieved it from his coat pocket and felt a weight lifted off his shoulder once he saw Justin’s name.
“Thank God, Justin.”
“Hey, boss.”
“Where are you?”
“I’m with Ethan.”
“Who?”
“The skater boy.”
“Oh, right. But weren’t you researching for me?”
“All done, I sent it to your email.”
“Good. It’s just—your last phone call to me broke up and. You said, Moss.”
“Oh, yeah, well—we were in the library’s basement.”
“Okay. Good work.”
“No problem, boss. Bye.”
“Bye.”
****
Justin never heard Adam’s goodbye. The person holding his cell phone to his ear pulled it away and shut it off. The hard floor he sat on was cold, even with wearing his jeans and underwear. He had no shirt on, and someone had bound his wrists behind his back. His conversation with Adam was clear in his mind, but he didn’t remember saying anything. Words were coming out of his mouth, but he was trying to say something different to Adam.
“Where are you?” Adam had asked.
“Help me, Adam!” Justin tried to cry out. “They have us, I think they’re going to kill us!” But another voice that sounded like his blocked his pleas.
“Ahhh!” Ethan’s screams echoed in his ears as Justin sat helplessly. He tried to focus on the room he was in, but all he could see was black walls with graffiti that cast an eerie glow. When he tried to read the words, his body temperature dropped. A brain-crushing headache attacked him. He tried to shut his eyes, but the words kept appearing under his lids.
“Make it stop! Please!” Justin cried.
A figure stepped in front of him and stooped down. Justin kept his eyes shut as fingers outlined his face. The touch sent tingles throughout his flesh, causing his body to shiver.
“Now don’t you worry. The stages have their faults, but—they are—necessary. In a few hours, you’ll start to feel a lot better.”
“Ah, fuck you,” Justin moaned through his agony. The roaming fingers moved from his face to his chest. Justin struggled through the anguish as Ethan’s cries continued to resonate in the room.
“It’s a shame. You would have made a wonderful addition to our family. But you’re too old and the treatments work better when they’re young.”
“What—the fuck—are you talking about?” Justin got out in gasps.
“Nothing you’ll remember.” The fingers stopped touching him as Justin panted his relief. He opened his eyes and glimpsed at someone stroking him. He tried to concentrate on the person, but all he saw was a moving shadow. Justin played video games, watched horror movies, even visited haunted houses. He never thought he’d see something so unnerving, so real. His mind had to be playing tricks on him. He tried to scream but his throat seized up, preventing him. He wanted to close his eyes as the figure stared back with dead, glowing eyes. Justin shook his head frantically as the figure came closer. The pain in his head overwhelmed him. He blacked out as a hand reached out for him.
****
“Justin.”
A voice floated in Justin’s head as he lay unmoving.
“Come on, Justin, get up.”
Justin felt a nudge in his head as his eyes fluttered open. Ethan’s smiling face came into focus.
“Hey, sleepyhead, time to get up. You slept all night.”
“I did?” Justin asked in a groggy voice. His throat was dry, and he had cottonmouth, which only happened when he drank too much. His vision cleared, and he saw he was in his living room on his couch with a blanket over him. Upon closer inspection, he realized he was naked.
“You had a wild night last night, cutie,” said Ethan, sitting on the coffee table.
“What happened?”
“We went to a party, and you drank too much.”
“A party? I don’t—remember a party,” Justin sighed as he slowly sat up, holding the blanket.
“Remember we went right after we got the history of the
town.”
Justin looked around, and even though he was in his apartment, he didn’t feel like he was home. He swung his leg off the couch and pressed his back against the plush cushion. Resting his head back, he stared at the ceiling.