Chapter 3
CHAPTER
THREE
CHASE
Danny’s house didn’t look like a serial killer’s house.
It didn’t not look like one either, which was probably how they got you.
It was a small house with a porch out front and a massive tree taking up most of the front yard.
It was nicer than our place in Macon, but not by much.
All the glass was intact in the windows, though, so that was something.
There was a beat-up old truck parked in the driveway when we got there.
Danny nodded at it. “My roommate’s. He’s cool, though. Come on in.”
Maybe the roommate was the serial killer and Danny was the bait.
I shot Cash a look to see if he was having second thoughts, but he didn’t seem worried, so we followed Danny up the worn porch steps.
Cash leaned on me for support, and beads of sweat stood out on his forehead and upper lip despite the cold.
Danny unlocked the front door and showed us inside. The warmth hit me first, making my face and my fingers tingle after so long outside.
“You guys want a shower?” he asked, and my stomach clenched. “Bathroom’s down here. The hot water runs out pretty quickly, sorry. I’ll grab you some towels and make up the spare room. It’s a bit of a mess in there. It was my grandma’s junk room, and I haven’t gotten it all cleared out yet.”
Danny didn’t comment when we went into the bathroom together.
No way was I leaving Cash alone and sick and naked in some weirdo’s house.
So I sat on the toilet lid while Cash coughed his lungs up in the hot steam of the shower.
Danny was right about the hot water—it was already lukewarm by the time Cash got out and I got in, but I didn’t care.
We changed into our least filthy clothes, which was still gross after being properly clean for the first time in a week, and slunk back out into the house again.
We found Danny in the room across the hall, fighting to get a fitted sheet on a sagging old bed. The room was full of stacked plastic boxes and other junk.
Danny straightened up when he saw us. “You guys want something else to eat? I’ve got some soup I can heat up for you.”
“Okay,” I said, telling myself I’d watch him like a hawk to make sure he didn’t slip us roofies or whatever, but it was just tomato soup from a can, creamy and hot and filling.
Danny leaned against the kitchen counter while we sat at the little table in the kitchen and ate our soup. “You can use the washer, if you want. Hell, anything in the place, feel free. Just so long as you keep the noise down while I’m sleeping, that’d be cool.”
“You’re worried we’ll turn the TV on too loud?” I asked. “Not steal it?”
Danny shrugged and snorted. “The TV’s a piece of shit. I’d say you’re welcome to it, except I don’t really want to go through the hassle of buying a new one right now. Also I’ve been kicking Wilder’s ass in Gran Turismo, so it’d suck if I had to break my winning streak because we couldn’t play.”
Cash elbowed me and leaned in close to whisper.
I rolled my eyes. “Cash says we’re not gonna steal your TV.”
“Cash,” Danny said. “Nice to meet you, man.” Then he gave me an expectant look.
“Chase,” I mumbled into my soup.
“Nice to meet you too.”
He couldn’t be real, right? He was too fucking nice. He had to be hiding something. But hell if I could spot it, because I was cleanish and warm and eating soup. I was so pathetic right now that even a can of soup could get right past my defenses.
“So, yeah,” Danny said. “Feel free to use the washer and grab what you need from the kitchen. There’s Advil and stuff in the bathroom cabinet, but I can take you to urgent care in South Hill if you need it.”
I shook my head. We didn’t have any money for that.
Danny nodded, like that was the answer he’d been expecting. “Okay. Let me know if you change your mind, though.”
He let out a yawn, and a second later so did Cash.
His soup bowl was empty and he had some color in his cheeks now, and the knot of worry in my chest eased the tiniest bit.
If we took turns to stay awake and keep watch, maybe we’d both get some sleep.
Although watching Danny as he let out another yawn, I had to admit that he didn’t look like a guy who was waiting to creep on us.
He just looked like a guy who’d worked a night shift and now really wanted to go to bed.
I let myself relax, just a little—which was when a scream rang out.
“Jesus Christ!”
Cash jolted in his seat. I was out of mine and standing in front of him even before the guy in the towel appeared in the kitchen doorway.
He had long hair, and he was wet enough that the light gleamed on all the hard planes of his body.
And he was hard in all the right places—well, the ones I could see at least.
The guy’s mouth dropped open when he saw us at the rickety little table, and he adjusted his towel. “Uh, what’s going on? And why’s there no hot water?”
“This is Chase and Cash,” Danny said. “They’re staying for a bit.”
I bristled at that.
“If they want,” Danny amended. “Guys, this is Wilder, my roommate. Sorry about the hot water. The guys already showered this morning.”
Wilder exchanged a glance with Danny that seemed laden with unspoken meaning. So long as that unspoken meaning wasn’t Let’s kill them and wear their skins as suits, I guessed it was none of my business.
“Hey,” he said. “How’s it going?”
I glared at him as I sat slowly back down, ready to jump back up if he tried anything, but he just ran a hand through his wet hair and shook it.
“Okaaay.” He shot Danny another look and said, “I guess I’ll shower after work.”
Cash whispered in my ear. “Say something.”
I wanted to ignore him, but he was right. If we were going to stay here and sleep and we didn’t want this Wilder guy to kick us out, I should at least say hello. I swallowed and said, “Cash used the hot water.”
Cash shot me an incredulous look that clearly called me out on my bullshit.
“Fine,” I grumbled. “We both did. Sorry, man.”
“It’s fine.” Wilder shrugged. It made all those muscles of his move in really interesting ways, and I had to drag my gaze away before I was the creep. “I’m gonna get dressed before I freeze my tits off. Danny, you need me to pick up groceries after work?”
“I think we’re good,” Danny said. Then his gaze fell on us. “Well, if I think of anything, I’ll text you.”
Wilder nodded. “Okay. Nice meeting you guys.”
“He’s a good guy,” Danny said when Wilder had left.
I gave a sharp nod.
Danny yawned again and picked up our empty bowls and dumped them in the sink. “I gotta get some sleep. You guys hang around, watch TV, sleep, do whatever you want.”
Cash whispered in my ear.
“Cash wants to do laundry,” I said.
“Sure.” Danny looked us up and down for a second and said, “Wait here.”
Like we had anywhere else to go.
He disappeared and came back a minute later with two ratty pairs of sweats and a couple of worn tees. He scrunched up his nose and said, “They’re old and they might not fit, but this way you can wash what you’re wearing.”
I opened my mouth to tell him we didn’t need his clothes—we already owed this guy for hot dogs and soup and a place to sleep, and I hated to think what he was going to want as payment—but Cash elbowed me, and one look at him told me that he was about to fall off his chair if I didn’t get him into a bed soon.
I took the clothes and muttered, “Thanks.”
Danny showed me where the laundry room was, then disappeared into one of the bedrooms, closing the door with a click.
Cash practically stumbled into the bedroom we were using. He sat on the edge of the bed and bent down to pull off his boots, and it took a long time before he sat up again.
“Give me your clothes and I’ll start the laundry,” I told him, tossing the clean clothes in his direction.
By the time he’d stripped out of his clothes and gotten dressed, those beads of sweat were back on his forehead again.
He got in bed and I pulled the blanket up over him, but he was still shivering, so I got changed and climbed in next to him.
He put his head on my chest and fell asleep almost instantly.
Not me, though. I kept imagining I saw flashes of movement out of the corner of my eye, and unfamiliar noises drifted in from outside and kept me on edge.
Next to me, Cash slept on. I laid the back of my hand against his forehead and maybe I was imagining it, but it didn’t feel like he was running quite as hot as he had been.
I breathed a quiet sigh of relief. Once he was well, we could make a plan.
Since Cash was solidly asleep now, I eased back the blankets and slid out of bed, grabbing our clothes and our backpacks and making my way to the laundry room.
The washer wasn’t anything fancy and it could only take a small load, so I split our clothes into two piles and put the grossest stuff in first.
Once that was done, I went and poked around Danny’s house. First, I checked the bathroom cabinets. There was a bottle of lube, a small first aid kit, shaving stuff, some Advil, and a bottle of kiddie Tylenol. No roofies or duct tape to be seen.
The living room was kind of a mess, with paper and junk stacked on a battered coffee table and empty beer cans and Cheetos bags on the floor. The normality of it made me feel a bit better, to tell the truth.
Maybe Danny really was trying to help. It didn’t seem like him and Wilder had much, so maybe he knew what it was like to be broke and hungry.
I still didn’t trust him, though.
I wandered into the kitchen and opened the drawers, but I didn’t find anything suspicious there either.
The refrigerator held some cheese and bologna and mayo and not much else.
I ate two slices of cheese and then went and sat on the ugly brown sofa in the living room while I waited for the laundry to finish.