16. Rishi
16
Rishi
I knew something was wrong immediately.
“We’re done here.” Cas’s tone told me everything I needed to know.
“Right away,” I said. I gestured toward the handles on the back of his chair, silently asking if he wanted me to push him, but he shook his head and wheeled himself out of the automatic doors and onto the sidewalk.
We were parked in a handicapped spot, with Luis sitting in the car with the placard on the rearview mirror. Cas wheeled over to the car and locked his brakes, pulled the door open, and transferred himself so hard that it looked like he was throwing himself into the front seat of the minivan.
I quickly folded down the chair and loaded it into the back, then got into the seat behind Cas. Luis put the car in gear and drove us out of the lot, turning in the direction of Cas’s apartment. “Did anyone want to stop anywhere on the way back?” he asked the car at large.
Cas shook his head, staring intently out of the windshield, and I made a small, negative hum.
“Homeward bound, then,” Luis said.
The ride home was silent. I didn’t know if Cas would want to talk about it in front of Luis, or even if he wanted to talk about it at all. Luis was excellent at keeping his mouth shut, so he didn’t press either.
Cas refused help to get back into this chair and into the apartment, which gave me a few more hints about how the whole thing had gone.
I nibbled my lower lip, looked at the time, and pulled Luis aside. “Go get something for dinner. Something far away and pricey as fuck. Go all out.”
Luis frowned, nodded, and took my credit card.
“Take your time coming back, and let me know when you pull into the lot,” I added, and he nodded again.
We glanced at Cas, who was logging on to his desktop, and Luis cleared his throat. “If nobody minds, I’m in the mood for something new for dinner. Rishi, I’m sure you can hold down the fort while I go out to get it.”
“I certainly can,” I responded and waved as Luis took himself back out the door.
When Luis was gone, I sat down on the sofa. I was kitty-corner from Cas this way, and we could either look at one another or he could tuck behind his monitor for privacy. “Didn’t go well, I take it.”
Cas shook his head.
“Are you okay? Is there anything I can do for you?”
Cas shook his head again.
“All right. I take this to mean you would like to be alone for a while?” I asked.
Cas nodded.
I stood up and walked over to him, standing patiently until he looked up. I cradled his jaw and laid a gentle kiss on his lips. “I’ll do a perimeter check.”
Cas didn’t smile, but his eyes softened enough for me to notice, and I was glad that I could do that much.
After the perimeter check, I mixed up a couple of drinks and took one to Cas, then sat back down.
“They’re not letting you come back, are they?” I asked quietly.
“No,” Cas said. “They advised that I use the rest of my medical leave and my vacation time and start looking for another job.”
I nodded. “I’m sorry, Cas,” I said.
Cas sighed harshly. “I didn’t expect this. I saw the HR woman today and was blindsided. Then she all but patted me on the head.”
I hummed. “Ableism is alive and well in this world,” I agreed. “I am sorry, though… Do you want to wallow for the rest of today? I could give you another back rub.” I wiggled my eyebrows obnoxiously to make him smile.
Cas did smile briefly, but he shook his head. “Tempting, but no. I’m going to run around shooting at aliens for a while, then I’m going to eat something, and then I may work on my story for a while. Greg’s about to lose out on one of his happy endings.”
“Okay. I asked Luis to bring back dinner for all of us, if you want to see what he got.”
Cas nodded. “I’ll take a look when he gets back.”
I sat in silence for a few minutes, listening to him use the controller. “Do you have multiplayer mode?” I finally asked.
Cas leaned around the monitor and looked at me in surprise. I hadn’t asked to play with him before. “Yeah…”
I stood up. “Can I play, too?”
Cas looked at me for a long minute before he gave a ghost of a smile. “Sure. Suit up, soldier.”
I took his other controller and grinned. “Sir, yes, sir.”
***
Luis brought back enough food to get us through three days. At least it seemed that way when he hauled two separate loads into the kitchen. “I couldn’t decide,” he said simply, and I chuckled.
Cas sniffed, then zeroed in. “You did not,” he murmured, looking more animated than he’d been since we got home.
“I didn’t what?” Luis asked, watching him with brows drawn together.
“Cazuela. Did you find a place with cazuela?”
Luis glanced at me. “Yes? Is that—”
“I love it,” Cas said, finding the large container of soup. “Lamb?” He asked hopefully.
“Yeah,” Luis said, and I watched his body language with interest. He was clearly pleased with himself, his spine straightened even more, and his shoulders went back.
“Thanks, man,” Cas said. He pulled a bowl out of the cupboard and poured more than half of the container of soup into it, grabbed a spoon on his way past the drawer, and wheeled himself to the table.
I smiled at Luis. “Thanks,” I said, glad he had found something that seemed to have made Cas a little happier.
***
I went to pick up Cas’s mail the next day. We had discontinued the delivery since there were two of us now. I didn’t go every day, he didn’t get that much mail, but I tried to go twice a week. I flipped through the letters warily, looking for any that appeared to have come from an individual rather than a business, remembering the photograph of the spider.
There was nothing of note, however, and I took it all back to the apartment and gave it to Cas.
Cas sorted them, opened some and discarded others, then sighed. “Let’s go out.”
“Out?” We did not go out other than for appointments.
“Yeah. I’m tired of the same walls, the same places, the same routine. Let’s go out. Let’s go see Saint. Let’s go to the shelter. Let’s do something.” He rubbed his hands together, then rubbed his palms up and down his thighs.
Going to the shelter seemed like the last thing Cas should do. I would bet my life on there being eyes on it twenty-four seven just in case Cas did exactly what he was proposing to do. Same with Saint’s apartment. I was sure Fernandez had a tail on Saint and Rio, just in case. “I do not think that would be a good thing to do,” I said. “Fernandez is probably watching them in the hope of them leading him to you.”
Cas scrubbed at his face. “Fuck,” he groaned into his palms. “Fuck it, you’re right. Dammit!” he burst out.
“I’m sorry,” I began, but he cut me off.
“Don’t. I’ve had enough ‘I’m sorry’s lately. Everybody is sorry. Saint was sorry, you’re sorry, Ms. Perez is sorry. Everybody is fucking sorry but Fernandez goddammit, but someday he will be,” Cas finished with a growl. He turned himself and went into the bedroom, slamming the door after him.
Luis and I looked at one another and sighed.
I didn’t have time to dwell on Cas’s upset, however, because my phone rang. “It’s Marcus,” I told Luis before I picked up the phone.
“Rishi. How goes it? Seen anything hinky?” Marcus asked as soon as the call connected.
“No… But that question and the way you ask it make me think that you have,” I said.
Marcus laughed lightly. “I’m so transparent. Yes, I have. A gentleman trying to import an earless monitor lizard was detained yesterday, and questioning yielded promising news. The mule mentioned Fernandez by name.”
I had read the story of the earless monitor lizard. A specimen wandered into a campsite and was photographed in the early 2010s, and while the scientists did not realize at the time what it was, they did know it was rare. They attempted to censor the location, to no avail, and soon the rare lizard was on the black market.
“That’s good news,” I said. “I assume he’s too protected to reach with only one man’s word, but still.”
“You’re right, but yeah, it’s another brick in the wall. I also have some intel on how closely Cas is being watched. They don’t know where his new apartment is yet, but some of Fernandez’s men have been identified near medical facilities. The current supposition is they’re trying to find out which clinic he goes to.”
That wasn’t ideal. The new rental would help a bit, but Cas was recognizable in his chair. I would need to brainstorm with Cas and Luis about this. He had an orthopedic appointment next week and the re-fit for the prosthetic and crutches. Thankfully, because he had me to help him and his rigorous compliance with the exercises, his weekly PT sessions were virtual. After that, he might have more fitting appointments for the prosthesis, and once they got it right he’d have training classes with it, but I had no idea what the schedule for those would be.
I wondered if Saint was still being tailed and if Fernandez would get the idea to scoop him up to question him.
I sighed. “Thank you, Marcus,” I said.
“NP, Rishi. If you need anything, reach out.” Marcus ended the call, and I looked at Luis.
“I don’t like that face,” Luis said, and I shook my head.
“No,” I said. “We have to talk to Cas.”