Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
Dan stepped out of the shower and reached for a towel from the handrail.
The nap had done him a world of good, and he was hungry.
He ignored the temptation to call room service: He didn’t want to spoil his appetite.
A glance at the Noodle Barn’s photos online had him salivating, and he was looking forward to the experience.
He wasn’t sure if he felt the same way about spending an evening with Gary Mitchell.
He’d made a great first impression, recognizing quotes from Dan’s favorite movies, thus establishing common ground. He’d been courteous—a damn sight more courteous than Lewis—and accommodating. All indications were that he was a fine detective and a thoroughly nice guy, but….
Dan knew what was fouling up his antenna—it was that scent. He was still clinging to the idea that it was coincidental, but his resolve was waning.
I want it to be him.
He’d waited long enough, hadn’t he? And if it was Gary then some greater power really liked Dan, because holy hell, he was freaking perfect.
I always did have a thing for redheads.
Except having a thing was as far as it had ever gotten. Once bitten and all that.
He’s my reward for all the crap I’ve endured for the last ten years or so.
Although the concept made him smile, sending warmth curling through him, Dan doubted its veracity.
The universe didn’t work like that, at least not where Dan had been concerned.
In his universe he kept his distance from men he found attractive. Experience had taught him well.
His phone buzzed, and he walked over to the nightstand to pick it up. He peered at the screen and warmth became heat, spreading through his chest, up his neck, and reaching his face.
Gary here. Can I give you a ride? Parking can be a nightmare in Jamaica Plain, plus I know the area.
Dan’s thumbs got busy. Sounds good. When will you get here?
Seconds later, a reply pinged back. Six thirty?
Sure. See you then. He tossed the phone onto the bed, then sat.
An hour to wait.
An hour of trying not to think about Gary.
It was more than that familiar scent, and Dan knew it.
Their fingers had touched, and… he couldn’t quantify the sensation.
He’d never felt anything like it. He hadn’t lied when he’d told Gary he’d like company while he ate, but he was honest enough to admit if Gary hadn’t made the suggestion, Dan would have invited him.
This is not good.
He needed to remember he was there to do a job, to help the police find a killer. That had to be his focus.
Except that focus had already become blurred.
What is it about you, Gary Mitchell, that turns me inside out?
It wasn’t a large restaurant, and Gary had nailed it when he said it wasn’t fancy, but the atmosphere felt right.
One wall was plain brick with the words Noodle Barn stenciled on it in white paint, and the opposite wall was a deep shade of red.
Bare bulbs in metal cages hung from cables descending from a ceiling track.
A red padded bench ran the length of the brick wall, and dotted along it were wooden tables to seat two or four customers.
The rest of the floor space was taken up with tables arranged to leave enough walking space around them, surrounded by black-painted chairs.
The food was a blend of Vietnamese and Thai, and one mouthful of the dumplings had been all Dan had needed. “You weren’t lying.” His taste buds were in heaven. “This is awesome.”
“Wait till you try the mango rice. I know I suggested it, but—”
“You had me at mango. Then you went and mentioned shrimp, and that was it, I was drooling.” And the fact you’re looking edible in a casual brown sport coat that picks out the color in your hair has nothing to do with it. Dan had removed his own coat not long after they’d arrived.
Gary took a long drink of water. He hadn’t suggested alcohol, which was a relief. Dan wanted to keep a clear head, and he was having enough of a problem achieving that with Gary facing him. “There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask.”
Dan steeled himself for the usual questions.
How long have you known you were psychic?
Tell me about some of your experiences.
Can you read minds?
“Ask. If I can answer, I will.”
Gary pushed away his empty plate and wiped his lips on a napkin. “Lieutenant Travers told us you’d requested that your involvement be kept secret. Surely publicity means more work?”
He relaxed. “Do you recall Lewis asking if I did this for a living?”
Gary huffed. “Not a conversation I’m likely to forget. Is this where I apologize again?”
Dan smiled. “There’s no need. And Lewis’s behavior only reflects badly on him. I told him it didn’t pay well, but that I didn’t do it for the money. That was partly true.”
“Which part?”
He sighed. “I don’t charge for my services. And I like to keep things private. I prefer to work in the background, helping where I can.”
Gary arched his eyebrows. “A man of independent means?”
“You could say that. Lewis’s barb about me being a rich kid? Guilty as charged. But that has meant I have the time and the finances to go where I’m needed. I don’t need publicity because believe me, word of mouth is more than enough.”
Dan’s brush with unasked-for publicity had left him wary and scarred, and he didn’t intend repeating the experience.
Their entrées arrived, and he was grateful for the welcome interruption.
He wasn’t about to reveal his history, and he hoped to God Gary wouldn’t press him further.
Thankfully the food occupied them for a while, but the knot in Dan’s stomach prevented total enjoyment.
He couldn’t finish it, so he contented himself with eating all the chicken, the fat shrimps, and the succulent pieces of mango.
Gary seemed to be suffering from a similar affliction. Then Dan remembered he wasn’t the only one who’d had a stressful day.
He put his fork down. “I think I’m the one who should be apologizing.”
Gary’s brow furrowed. “For what?”
“I put you through the wringer today. You should’ve told me.” His and Cory’s relationship must have been pretty special. Dan envied him. He’d never been that close to anyone his entire life.
“That was sort of the point of the exercise.”
Dan froze. “You gave me that ring on purpose?” Gary dipped his chin to his chest. “Why?” Then he saw the light.
“It was a test, wasn’t it? You’re as skeptical as Lewis—you’re just not as vocal about it.
” An iron band tightened around his chest, and his appetite deserted him.
God, the only one who’d been honest with him was Riley.
Gary jerked his head up, his cheeks flushed.
“Look, I’m not proud of what I did, but I had my reasons, okay?
I don’t have a clue what Lewis has against…
people like you, but believe me when I say you’re not the first psychic to cross my path.
My experience has taught me to have no faith in stuff like this. ”
“We’re all fakers and charlatans, is that it?”
Gary held up his hands. “Hey, I’ll admit it, I thought that. When Travers first mentioned bringing you in on this, I shot him down without a second’s hesitation.”
Dan reined in his bitterness. “And now? What about now?”
“Lewis probably thinks you had inside help, that someone told you about Cory, but I don’t believe that.” A shiver rippled through him. “I watched you. I saw how deeply you were affected by… by whatever you felt. You’re no fake.”
Gary’s words rang with sincerity, and Dan experienced an unexpected release of tension, leaving him weak and giddy. “Thank you. I meet so many people who think I’m a fraud. And even when I give them the answers they’re looking for, some of them still doubt.”
“When did you first know you could do this?”
Dan wiped his lips, then dropped the napkin onto his plate.
“When I was nine or ten. I was always the one who could ‘find’ things,” he said, air-quoting.
“Mom was forever misplacing her scissors, her reading glasses, her keys, and I’d tell her where she’d left them.
I think my parents found it amusing… until the day they discovered it was more than guesswork. ”
“What happened?”
“I walked into the kitchen one morning, and Mom was standing at the sink, staring out the window. I went over to her and hugged her, because it seemed like that was what she needed. That wasn’t what caused the upset that followed—it was when I told her it was okay, Aunt Jane would be fine.
She gazed at me with a frown and asked me what I meant.
I said Aunt Jane and Uncle Frank could always try again, and that she wasn’t to be sad about the baby. ”
“Oh God. Had she miscarried?”
Dan nodded. “But what spooked my parents was that they hadn’t told me about it. Mom had only heard it from my grandmother less than ten minutes before I walked into the kitchen. There was no way I could’ve known.”
“What happened then?”
Dan could still see the kitchen, his parents on one side of the table and him on the other.
They’d sent his older brother and two sisters outside to rake up the autumn leaves that covered the backyard.
“They sat me down and asked questions. How had I known? Were there other things that I knew that no one had told me? I didn’t understand myself what was going on—how could I hope to explain it to them? ”
“Did it affect your relationship with your parents?”
Another nod. “They don’t talk about it. When I was working with NYPD and Chicago PD, I didn’t tell them.
My sisters think I’m weird. My brother? He’s much more laid back about it.
When I moved to Litchfield, he asked if I’d gone there to get a job with Spooky World’s Nightmare New England.
” Gary frowned, and Dan gave him an inquiring glance.
“Your parents never took you there when you were a kid? It’s a commercial haunted park. ”
Something flitted across Gary’s face, and then it was gone. “No, they never did. It wasn’t their kind of thing.” He gave a half smile. “Your brother sounds okay.”
“One Christmas he gave me a DVD of The Dead Zone, that movie with Christopher Walken about the guy who knows things?” Dan chuckled. “He said I’d like it because it was about people like me.”
“You live on your own?”
Dan cocked his head. “What you really mean is, am I single, married….” He held up his left hand.
“Look, no ring. I don’t do relationships.
I don’t even do friends all that well. High school was a nightmare, especially when word got out.
I was ‘that creepy kid.’ I learned to keep my hands in my pockets and other kids at a distance. ”
“Then it does work primarily by touch?”
He nodded. “Most of the time. I sometimes get visions. We all have weird dreams from time to time, right? I’ve learned to differentiate between the I-ate-cheese-before-bed weird dreams and the ones that mean something.”
What came to mind was a warm, damp chest pressed against his back, a slow rocking of hips, exquisite friction—and the scent of patchouli and cedar.
Gary mentions cedar and suddenly you know what that other aroma was? Talk about wishful thinking.
Sometimes Dan’s inner voice could be a real bitch.
“I can understand why you avoided other kids.” Gary’s eyes were kind. “High school… ugh. Don’t even go there. But surely adults are more understanding.”
He arched his eyebrows. “Think about Lewis’s reaction, then say that again.” He drank some water. “To be honest, I’m wary of relationships.” And when was the last time I told anyone this much about myself?
Maybe it was because Gary was listening that Dan leveled with him.
“The thing is, this… gift of mine—although there are times when it feels more like a curse—has made it difficult to get close to people. Imagine being intimate with someone you think could be important to you, and the next minute, your head is spinning because you got a glimpse of something you really didn’t want to see.
I meant what I said to Riley. I can’t turn it on and off. ”
Gary’s breathing caught. “That’s happened to you, hasn’t it?”
He nodded. “I couldn’t look at him the same after that.” His heart slipped into overdrive. Why did I do that? The use of a male pronoun had been deliberate, and he had no clue what had prompted the impulse. Why should it matter to a straight man that I’m gay?
Except he was lying to himself. His attraction to Gary lay at the root of it.
Gary wiped his brow. “I think they’ve just turned the heat up in here.” He shrugged out of his sport coat, and Dan drank in the sight of the white shirt that clung to his body, the short sleeves tight around his biceps, the creamy skin of his inner forearm, the—
Oh sweet Jesus.
On Gary’s left arm, two words were etched in black. Never Forget.
It was him.
Holy fuck, it was him.
“Dan?”
His hands shook, and he hid them out of sight below the table, unable to tear his gaze away from Gary’s tattoo.
And Gary noticed. He covered up the words with his right hand.
Dan did his damnedest to inject a note of calm into his voice. “I’m sorry. What did you say?”
“I know I said I wouldn’t ask questions, and it feels as if that’s all I done this evening, but I do have one last question. Do your visions always come true?”
Oh dear Lord.
“When I can make sense of them? Yes. Sometimes trying to work out what a vision is telling me is the hardest part. It doesn’t always happen.”
Those were the visions that haunted him. Was there something he could have done, some truth he could have grasped but failed to because the message proved too ambiguous?
There was nothing ambiguous about the vision that had visited him time and time again, though. Here at last was his unseen lover.
And he’s straight.
Dan had to get out of there, back to the safety of his hotel room. He needed quiet to think things through. Because none of it made sense.