Chapter 23
TWENTY-THREE
CAL
“As much as I’m all for lying around the house, having sex, and watching movies, I think we really should do something more. It has been nearly a week, after all.”
I lie face down, butt naked on my bed. “Has it?”
Grayson looks at me from where he’s equally naked. “Sure has.”
“I… feel like… maybe you’re right,” I say with a grin. “While I’ve been loving the hell out of this, I’m not sure how much more my body can take.”
“Says the man who literally jumps me every minute you can.”
“You’re really cute. And then I’ll just be like minding my own business and you’ll like… smile at me, and then suddenly I’ll be horny and then… you know the rest.”
He playfully smacks my bare ass as he walks by. “I do know the rest.”
“Maybe we should get some more groceries if we’re going to loaf around. But first… I must shower. Did you already shower?”
“No, but… can I trust getting in a shower with you?” he teases.
“I… I don’t know,” I joke. “I’ll be good. I promise.”
“Do I need to tape your hands to your body so you can’t touch me?”
“Oh… there’s a lot I can do without my hands,” I say. “Would you like me to show you?”
“Fuck! And now I’m horny again.”
I laugh as I roll onto my back. “You’re as bad as me, so stop pretending it’s just me. Let’s go, let’s go.”
He grabs my legs, pulling me off the bed and into the shower where I try my best to keep my hands to myself before failing horribly.
As I drive to Arthur’s, Grayson pulls out his phone. “Oh… interesting.”
“What?”
“A buddy of mine said that Lt. Allen didn’t show up today and the higher-ups are keeping quiet about why.”
“Oh yeah?” I ask. I was starting to feel a bit discouraged earlier when it seemed like nothing was happening with Allen. Grayson assured me that it would probably take time for them to figure out if the accusations were true and that they wouldn’t want to blacken his name if it was all lies.
Which makes sense… but is also not what I want. I do want instant gratification, after all. I want to watch that man burn in hell.
“Should I be worried that he’s going to try to bring to light what I did?” I ask.
“No. You have the contracts and even though they were fake, you couldn’t have known that. We have proof that people reaching out for help led to deaths. We’ll just hope that your name never comes up, alright?”
“Okay,” I say, hoping he’s right.
When we reach Arthur’s, I go to knock on the door, but he’s already opened it just to glower at me. I’m really not at all put off by the glower, as it seems to be his main form of greeting.
“If you keep glowering, your face is going to get stuck like that.”
“I think it already is,” he says, which just makes me laugh.
“You up for shooting today?” I ask. “Or… let me clarify. I’ll shoot while you yell at me and threaten to kick me in the nuts.”
“I see you brought your boyfriend-not boyfriend.”
“He’s my boyfriend now.”
Arthur scoffs. “Didn’t take you long.”
“Shush it. Took me long enough. We’ve known each other for like two years now. We obviously enjoyed dragging it out.”
“ Did we enjoy it?” Grayson asks.
“Absolutely not. But hey, we got there in the end.”
“Somehow.”
“Somehow is right.”
“This lovey-dovey shit is disgusting. Let’s go,” Arthur says.
“You’re the one who asked!”
“And I regretted it immediately,” he grumbles as he heads over to the golf cart. “Hurry up.”
“I’m coming!”
I hastily get into the golf cart and Grayson gets in the back.
“You two are meant for each other. Both slow as molasses.”
“You know, I could just like… push you off this golf cart out in some random field. Take away your Life Alert… no one would find you,” I threaten.
“I’m not wearing no damn Life Alert!”
“You will be when I’m done with you.”
“You just think you’re all tough because your boyfriend is here, dontcha?” he asks.
“Maybe a little bit,” I tease.
“Well, you’re not.”
“I hear ya,” I say as I reach the field we use for shooting.
He huffs about something. “You live around here, Grayson?”
“I rent a place about three hours from here. I haven’t bought a house yet since I didn’t know where I wanted to settle down… I have a lot to figure out still,” Grayson admits.
“You shouldn’t be renting! Wasting your money, you hear me? I try to tell Cal over here the same thing. He’s just throwing money away!”
“I… don’t have money at this point to buy a house,” I say.
“What the hell did you do with it all?”
I hesitate before saying, “I gave it away… to the families affected by what I did.”
“You need to stop trying to make yourself suffer, you hear me?” Arthur asks. “If you want to suffer, I can make you suffer and you won’t have to spend a dime!”
“I was thinking of buying a place near Cal’s current apartment. And then I can help Cal with whatever plans he has for his future.” Grayson hesitates and turns to me. “I know you once talked about social work, but with the new business, I’m not sure if that’s still something you’re interested in.”
I stare at him as I realize that when I made the shot that killed Eddie, that bullet shattered everything. All plans for my future, all confidence I had in myself, all care I had for myself.
It was all gone.
But that doesn’t mean it has to stay gone.
“I really wanted to be able to help people and I’m finally getting to. But I have considered some classes to help me become more specialized in some areas.”
“I’ll give you some money. If starting this detective agency is really what you want, I’ll give you some money toward it. Or if you plan to take classes to help out with it, I’ll give you the money … if you off my ex-wife,” Arthur says.
I laugh as I look over at him. “You’re so evil.”
He’s grinning, proud of himself. “I suppose even if you don’t, I will.”
“I’m not taking your money.”
“What do you think I’m going to do with it? You get it when I die anyway, but I’m not planning on dying for a long fucking time. So you might as well use some of it while you can.”
“I’m not taking money from you. Don’t even think about it,” I say.
“I do whatever I want, no matter what you say. How do you possibly think you’re going to change that?”
“Because I’ll refuse.”
“Get your ass on the ground and start shooting and stop pretending like you have a say in anything I do.”
“I’m going to have a say in which retirement home I’m going to toss you in if you keep acting like that. I’m going to put you in the same one your ex-wife is in.”
“Who made you so evil?”
“It’s from being around you,” I assure him.
After showing off my precious rifle and shooting a few rounds, I look at Grayson. “Want to try?”
“What if I miss?”
“Do something close, then, and even if you do miss, there are no houses or people for many miles. It’s very safe.”
Grayson hesitates before kneeling down. “Can’t believe you’re going to let me touch your baby.”
I grin. “Right?”
“Where’s the rest of the ammo?” Grayson asks.
I head over to the golf cart before realizing that I didn’t put any more in it. “Well, shit. I’ll be right back. It’ll take me a couple of minutes to get some from the car. Don’t talk about me while I’m gone.”
“I’m going to tell him everything embarrassing that you’ve ever done.”
“You’re just… so delightful, Arthur,” I say.
He cackles, and I drive off as fast as the golf cart will go. My dignity is clearly on the line.
I stop next to the car and trot over to the rear door. Just as I pull it open and reach in for the ammo, I hear a noise behind me. Quickly, I pull back a moment before something slams into the back of my head and darkness consumes me.