Chapter 16
Hungover
Thorsen
After the most annoying sound in the universe woke me up, I opened my eyes, blinking against the sunlight streaming through the window.
What the fuck was that? A car crash? An alien invasion? A nuclear detonation?
It turned out it was only my phone.
“What?” I answered, rubbing my eyes.
“Tye?”
“What do you want, Bazooka?”
“Are you okay? Your voice sounds funny.”
“I think I’m in glove.”
“What?”
The wet spot on the pillow told me I was drooling all night long. And the nausea I felt indicated I drank way too much last night.
“I think I’m in love,” I repeated, because who was I kidding?
Bazooka chuckled. “Are you by any chance drunk, Tye?”
“Yeah, I probably still am, although it doesn’t make it any less true.”
After Carter left last night, I returned to Nirvana. I asked around for a blue-haired guy, but no one knew a person by that description. Surprise? Not really. People weren’t exactly chatty in this town. After that wild goose chase, I got drunk, drowning my sorrows in the cheap scotch until I ended up hugging a toilet bowl.
“So, what’s the problem, lover boy?” Levi said, sounding amused.
“His girlfriend,” I replied, vaguely remembering my drunken attempts to reach Carter. My calls went unanswered, the same as my texts. No surprise there, either.
Me: Carter, please.
Me: Don’t be such a child.
Me: Answer me, or I’m coming over.
Me: Wheve are you? I went to youv apartment, and you weren’t there.
Me: I drank the wine you gave me and now I feel suck.
Me: I puked and I blamme it all on you.
“I presume he’s straight?” Bazooka guessed.
“As an arrow.”
“Then you know what to do. Move on.”
“Easier said than done.”
“Why?”
“Because…”
I paused, not knowing what to say when he cut in.
“Don’t say it’s love, Viking.”
“Why?” I grumbled, putting him on speaker so I could send a text to Carter.
Me: I’m sorry. Don’t be a dick and answer me.
“Because love is a bad, bad thing.”
It was a very insightful thing to say coming from a guy called Bazooka.
“I presume we’re talking about Trigger?” Levi added. “You always sounded weird when you talked about him. Although I saw his photo and I can’t blame you one bit. I’m straight, and I would do him in a heartbeat.”
“Please, don’t,” I said with a sigh. “He’s getting enough attention as it is. I don’t need your hairy ass in the mix.”
“You don’t know that my ass is hairy.”
“And you don’t know that love is a bad, bad thing.”
After our chat, I gave up on sleeping and went to the station. It was early in the morning, and I expected it to be empty. This was the LD, after all, and none of the cops working here wanted to be on their jobs. As it turned out, almost none of them.
“What’s up, Tye?” Adam said when I came in, keeping his eyes on his screen. “What are you doing here so early?”
“Restless night,” I replied because it sounded better than a broken heart, blue balls, and the TV not working.
I sat behind my desk, staring at the stress ball he was squeezing with his hand.
“What exactly happened to Raj Taylor?” I asked him, deciding not to beat around the bush.
He looked at me with a wide smile.
“I was wondering when you’ll ask me that.”
I cocked my eyebrows. “So… What happened?”
He shrugged. “Long story short, Raj fell from a ten-story building.”
“Shit,” I murmured.
“Yeah. Not a pretty sight. And I’m telling you this because I saw him splattered on the asphalt. It was the first time I’d cried in my life. His face was just… a pulp, man. But your psycho partner…” Adam laughed bitterly, shaking his head. “He came up to him. He lifted the cover off him, and then he just stared at him for, like, forever. Then he stood up and walked away without a word.”
I could feel the bile rising to my throat.
“That’s why I mess with Carter,” Adam added grimly. “Because he was supposed to have Raj’s back, and he didn’t.”
“You liked Raj?” I said what was obvious.
“You bet I did. You see, I knew Raj from the police academy. We spent a lot of time together way back when. And he liked me. He wasn’t like the rest of you… laughing at me behind my back. Mocking me. Making fun of me. He was like a brother to me.”
“You’re not exactly making it easy for people to like you, Adam.” I told him the truth.
“Perhaps. But the point is that Raj is dead because he trusted his partner. And Carter doesn’t give a shit about anyone. He has Vicky, but he doesn’t care about her. He had Raj, but he didn’t care about him either.”
I shook my head in disagreement. “Carter feels a lot. He just won’t let anyone see it.”
Adam gave me a knowing look.
“I like you, Tye. And I don’t like a lot of people. So, listen to my advice and stay away from Carter. He’s not worth it.”
“What is that supposed—?”
He raised his hand. “Please, don’t. I’m a senior detective here. I’m neither blind nor stupid. Carter is a loaded gun hanging over the fireplace in the first chapter. Don’t be his victim when it fires in the end.”