Busted (32 page)

“He dumped me, okay?” Joe snapped. “The last time I saw him I asked him to move in and he just fucking ran.”

Steve swore under his breath. “Idiot.” He wasn’t surprised. Even comparing notes he was still convinced this was some game Chris was playing

“I’m gay, and I should’ve known better. No happily ever afters, that’s not how it works. I should’ve been content with a good time and some good sex.”

“Not you,” Steve said sharply. “Though maybe you’re an idiot too.”

“Thanks,” Joe muttered. What Steve said hurt. He dropped his pizza and threw twenty bucks on the table. “Didn’t mean to bother you.”

“Ah, I’m sorry,” Steve said. He was trying to be placating, though he really wanted to kick Joe for being an ass. “That’s got to be rough, being dumped. Maybe you should give him some time or something. Moving in’s a big thing.”

“Maybe. I don’t know.” Joe fussed with his napkin. “It just… it felt final, y’know? Like I said the one thing I shouldn’t have.”

“Ah, I wouldn’t worry,” Steve said. “It’ll blow over. He’s like that. You hit him with something big an unexpected and he does something stupid, but he wises up later. You get used to it.”

“He? Who, Alex? I thought you didn’t know Alex,” Joe said, sounding puzzled.

“I mean Chris. Give him a couple of days, it’ll sort itself out,” Steve said. Chris was like that, and always had been. Whenever something big came it took him by surprise and he just shut down while he dealt with it. Steve had seen Chris do it plenty of times over the years.

“Steve,” Joe said. “They’re not the same person.”

“Whatever,” Steve replied, brushing off Joe’s protests. “Probably a family trait. Anyway, I’ve…” Steve trailed off. Joe was looking completely miserable, and it was more than he was willing to deal with.

“Y’know what? Maybe you’re right, and they’re not the same guy. Let’s go see.”

“What?” Joe looked up, surprised at Steve’s sudden change.

“Let’s go see Alex,” Steve said. “He lives nearby, right? You’re his boyfriend, right? He’s like Chris, so he’s being stupid, and someone needs to go smack him in the head.”

Steve stood up and grabbed Joe’s shoulder. “I’ve a newspaper in the car. Up, come on, we’re going visiting.”

“We can’t just—” Joe started to say as they left the restaurant, but Steve cut him off.

“We can just,” he said. “Boyfriend. Detective. Plenty of can. In the car, and tell me where we’re going.”

“River Oaks Apartments, 1355, unit 4F,” Joe said reluctantly. He buckled his seatbelt and tried not to look at Steve. He had a feeling this was a really bad idea. “It’s a studio.”

Steve raised an eyebrow. “Really? Brave man,” he said as he started the car.

“Why? It’s a nice complex,” Joe said.

“Oh, I know that,” Steve said. “We don’t get called out there too much. It’s just that particular apartment.”

“Drop the mystery,” Joe snapped. “What’s the big deal about that apartment?”

“About four and a half months ago two people were killed there. Pretty gruesomely.”

What Steve wasn’t saying was that it was the Ramirez killings. The ones that Chris figured were the first in the series that had ended with Stephanie’s family. The series Steve was worried would continue with Joe. He didn’t remember it being a studio apartment, either.

“What?”

“Yep. I’m surprised Alex hasn’t heard of it. The management companies don’t usually say anything, but word gets around. Neighbors talk.”

It was only a few minutes to the apartments, but Joe didn’t say anything the rest of the trip. His brain was just churning. This was one more thing he didn’t know about Alex. Someone died in his apartment, and only a little while before he moved in. Hell, they’d only met about four and a half months ago. He must’ve moved in while the chalk corpse outlines were still on the carpet

“Why don’t you go up and see if loverboy’s in? I want to stop at the office first.”

“And when we find Alex is there?” The question was pure bravado. He was worried they’d find someone else living there. After Saturday, he was a little afraid they’d find he’d moved out already.

“When we find he’s not,” Steve said with a grin, “the beer’s on you for a month.”

“Yeah, right,” Joe said.

He strode up to the building and climbed the stairs. Three flights up, and it only took a minute or two. That left him standing in front of Alex’s door at one in the afternoon full of doubts. What if he was there with someone else? What if he was there and just slammed the door on Joe? What if he wasn’t there?

He knocked twice, but there was no answer. Mrs. Durgan, the widow who lived in 4E, stuck her head out and smiled at Joe. He waved and tried to look nonchalant. He’d taken her trash out a few times he’d stayed over. She was nice enough, though lonely.

Steve walked out of the elevator a minute later. Joe was half-tempted to make a crack about it, but he was honestly too nervous. That worried him.

“Sorry ‘bout that,” Steve said. “Waiting out here for me? That’s sweet.”

“I don’t have a key,” Joe said. Saying it stung. Alex had a key to his apartment – he’d certainly shown up enough times. Alex hadn’t ever returned the favor.

“That’s okay. I do.” He held up a key on a big plastic key chain.

“The office gave you a key just because you asked and you were a cop? Dammit, that’s just wrong, Steve, and you know it.”

Steve unlocked the door. “That wasn’t exactly what happened,” he said. He pushed the door open and let Joe go first.

Joe would’ve gone, but he was too busy being shocked. “They gave me the key because the apartment was vacant, and has been since February.”

Joe was paying almost no attention.

It wasn’t just that the apartment was empty. It was that it was huge. He was looking into a good-sized living room, at least the size of his own. There was a large kitchen off it, and there had to be at least two bedrooms. There was no furniture. No bed. No couch. No nightstand. No walls. Almost no light.

“This… this isn’t Alex’s apartment,” he whispered.

“It’s 4F,” Steve said.

“And that’s Mrs. Durgan next door. But this isn’t Alex’s apartment.”

Steve cocked his head. “I think I’m missing something.”

Joe walked into the apartment like he was in a dream.

“His couch was over there. It was small, and blue. There should be a wall here,” he said, stopping halfway to the windows.

“Over there,” he said, spinning around, “his bed was over there. It was a queen, took up most of the room. There was a nightstand next to it, with an ugly blue lamp. And here,” he said, stopping. “There was a chair here. We… we celebrated my birthday on that chair.” His blush gave Steve a good idea how they’d celebrated.

Joe looked up. There was an empty, haunted look in his eyes that worried Steve.

“Where is it all, Steve? Where’s Alex?” His voice was quiet, almost plaintive.

“I don’t think Alex is here,” he said gently. Steve knelt down and looked at the carpet. “There aren’t any signs there’s been furniture. Or walls,” he added.

“Where did they go? I was only here last week. I’ve been here.” Joe’s voice started to rise. He was getting a little hysterical. “I’ve left clothes here. We’ve had sex here. Alex lived here. Where is he?”

Alex hadn’t just backed away from him, he’d left. Left without saying a word, left without leaving a trace. It had all been a sham. The apartment, Alex, their relationship… all of it. The man he’d loved was gone, and everything he thought he’d had was a lie. He started to shake.

Joe found himself enveloped in an unexpected hug. He wasn’t going to lose it, he swore in his head that he wouldn’t. It was hard to stop the shaking.

“How could he do this to me, Steve? How could he just go?”

“Chris has been…”

“Fuck Chris!” Joe shouted. He pushed away from Steve. “I’m talking about Alex. Alex isn’t Chris. Can Chris duck out for twenty minutes and make a whole goddamn apartment disappear? Can he be in two places at once? Can he work fucking miracles?”

Joe slumped on the floor in the center of where the bed had been.

“He could have just told me he couldn’t move in with me,” Joe said softly. “I would have understood.”

“Um, Joe? Do you wear boxers or briefs?” Steve asked.

The utter absurdity of the question left Joe stunned for a moment. He couldn’t stop himself and he burst into hysterical laughter. Steve was kneeling in the deep shadows by the corner and waited for Joe to finish.

“Briefs,” Joe finally choked out. “Grey. Why?”

“Because I think these are yours,” he said. In his left hand were three pairs of grey underwear, a couple of mismatched socks, and a rumpled t-shirt. They were all dirty.

“I think this is maybe Chris’,” he continued.

He reached into the corner and pulled out a teddy bear. It was battered and worn, with a red checked bow tie and only one eye.

“Snuffles?” Joe reached out and pulled the bear into a tight hug.

It almost hurt to see Joe like that, and for a moment Steve regretted dragging him over to see it. He shook his head. “Why don’t we take you back home,” he said.

Joe took a deep, shuddering breath and stood up, still clutching the teddy bear. “No. Thank you, but no. It’s not even one, I still have stuff to do.”

“Joe…”

“
No
.” Joe stopped and grabbed hold of the pain that was threatening to break free. “No. I’ve been dumped. I get it. Not the first time. Won’t be the last.” Joe gave himself a shake and squared off his shoulders. “That’s the way it works. Now, can you take me back to my car? It’s still early and I’ve got to get back to the office.”

* * *

Joe walked down the hallway to his office with Snuffles tucked under his arm. He was trying to act normal, like it was like any other Monday afternoon. He wasn’t sure whether it was a good thing that he seemed to be succeeding, but he’d spoken to a half dozen people so far and nobody had noticed anything wrong.