22 Ollie
Ollie
Ollie isn’t too sure about leaving Brandon alone with Jon or whatever his name is, but getting him to a game night is enough of a win that he’s making himself okay with it.
What’s the worst that happens, they fuck in the bathroom?
They had very get-a-room energy, as his mother would say (he should call her, but after the party).
It’s more important he prep for game night—game night could solve this whole case.
Back at the Strongs’, he looks over his board, moving the red string and putting up a new Post-it: Connor?
Why use a different name? Sure, maybe he does that with hookups, but to have a fake ID for it?
Unless trolling hotels for concierges is his fetish.
Ollie’s heard of weirder. But that combined with him talking to the man who got shot makes the whole thing feel like even more.
A conspiracy. Guns, fake names, hotel hookups—it’s just like the Behind Closed Doors podcast, where it turned out the husband was a former KGB agent who had fled to the U.S.
, changed his name and given up that life until the drama following his and his wife’s key party.
It’s spy stuff. Or it could be a con-artist thing, maybe, like in Two-Faced and Three-Assed .
But either way, what’s the angle? What could Connor/Jon want with Brandon?
Maybe he’s planning to use Brandon as a drug mule, like in Open Heart, Open Throat .
Drugs would make sense with the shady meeting with a guy who got shot.
He adds a new Post-it: Drugs? And takes a step back. There’s one more thing to consider.
Ollie puts another Post-it up on the board: True love?
Maybe Jon really did fall for Brandon in one night and all this is him trying to get out of his old life.
Ollie smiles to think about it. Brandon deserves that kind of love.
But Ollie needs to make sure they know about Jon’s past—so they can help him escape it, maybe.
Victor works for the marshals. If Ian is back in touch with him, maybe he can help find Jon a new life—though then maybe Brandon would have to go with him. Ollie swallows. He doesn’t want that.
And what does the private military Nicole mentioned have to do with any of it? Or the EU?
Ollie sighs and sits back down on the bed.
Pete was curled up sleeping and lets out a soft, surprised bark before trotting over and laying his head in Ollie’s lap.
Ollie absently pets him while staring at the board.
He has to figure out what’s going on. He has to solve the case.
And he has one big chance to do it: game night.
The games are usually trivia, celebrity, and Pictionary.
Since Ollie is hosting, that makes him trivia master—which means he needs to come up with the categories and questions, and that’s where he will lay his trap.
This is just like the end of the Play Stupid Games podcast, where they killed the trivia-night host at the bar in that small town in Idaho.
Except Ollie’s not going to get himself killed, of course.
What’s important is having questions that only some types of people would know—like, EU stuff, spy stuff, drug stuff.
Stuff that Jon would only really know if he was into one or more of those things.
Theories that can be tested in the form of questions, and Jon’s answers will paint a picture of who he is.
And once Ollie knows that, he’ll be close to solving the case.
He thinks. Certainly it’ll make him give something away.
Ollie isn’t so sure what’s going on at this point, but if he can figure out exactly what kind of trouble Jon is mixed up in, he can tell Nicole, and then Nicole can fix it.
Somehow. Either tell them to go to the cops, or the FBI, or maybe to the heart-eyes-tattoo guy and give him whatever he wants so that everyone gets left alone.
Hopefully Jon too. And then everyone will be safe. Case closed.
But to pull this off, he needs to figure out exactly what trivia questions to ask, and that means research. Also he should probably clean the house, and he still has to walk the dogs again. He makes a list on a new sheet of paper and pins it to the board: Dogs, research, clean, write trivia.
A text comes in as he smiles at the board.
SAFIYA
What kind of dog should I get?
Ollie smiles wider and looks at Pete, wondering if he has an opinion. Pete drools on his leg.
OLLIE
Depends on how much time and space you have and what you want.
SAFIYA
Not much of either.
Nevermind I shouldn’t get one.
OLLIE
Some dogs are okay being left alone for a while, and small. A few are even both.
SAFIYA
Like lap dogs?
OLLIE
Yeah. Think the store would let you bring a calm dog in?
SAFIYA
Probably not. I can ask.
OLLIE
Well, you can always come walking with me if you want.
SAFIYA
I’ll keep that in mind.
OLLIE
Want to come to a party tonight?
He knows he shouldn’t really ask this early in the relationship, despite Brandon’s suggestion, but he can’t help himself. He likes her. He wants to see more of her. Even if it’s too soon. She’ll probably say no.
SAFIYA
What kind of party?
OLLIE
Game night. I’m housesitting this fancy, like, mansion, so I’m hosting a little game night. Trivia, Pictionary, celebrity. Snacks, drinks, probably pizza.
They always order pizza, which suddenly makes Ollie nervous about the white carpets. The Strongs didn’t explicitly say no parties, but they definitely implied no stains. White pizza maybe. No toppings.
SAFIYA
Sure!
OLLIE
Really?
SAFIYA
Thought I’d say no?
OLLIE
Kind of. I just worried it was too much too soon.
SAFIYA
Nah. I don’t care about rules. Just go with my gut. And my gut says Pete will be at this party.
Ollie laughs, making Pete’s ears perk up questioningly. Maybe he knows they’re texting about him.
OLLIE
I see the real lure.
SAFIYA
Just being honest.
OLLIE
I’ll put him in a bow tie for you.
SAFIYA
For real? I will die
Ollie swallows at the word, wondering if inviting her to the party where he’s trying to dig up dirt on someone potentially involved in murder is actually a very bad idea.
Well, too late now.
OLLIE
Please don’t
But I’ll see you tonight!
He texts her the address and then flips back to his list. He has a lot to do before what he hopes will be a really fun party.