Page 15 of Rising Storm

“You and Gareth are like oil and water, so yeah, I think you could be short with the guy. You are at home.”

“I’ll keep in mind what a baby he is,” he said, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

Reid snorted.

“So what else is going on there?” Helix asked.

“Same old things. I think Lane and Quincy plan to do a few returns and Reid has been rearranging the basement.”

“How?”

Reid leaned in. “I’m putting all the local items in one area, so we can start doing more of their returns. It’s going to take a while because I have to check everything in the database and that’s still not done. But he did a lot of local steals, so it’ll keep us busy awhile.”

“That’s a good idea.” Helix had probably done most of those local steals himself, so he’d be very interested in the returns. “I’ll start working harder on those when I come back.”

“Sounds good,” Shelli said. “We’ll let you get back to whatever you were doing when I interrupted you.” She and Reid waved goodbye and shut the program down.

He got up, feeling restless. The waiting around part didn’t sit well with him. He flipped on the television and tried to settle back on the bed, but nothing grabbed his interest. If Lane had been here, he’d pick some obscure movie, then show off how many quotes he knew by heart. He wondered if Gareth was a movie buff, then scoffed at himself. Wondering anything about Gareth was a mistake. He would be lying if he didn’t admit that he wanted to explore more with Gareth. He’d seen the man without a shirt, so he knew he had a gorgeous body. Helix wouldn’t mind touching it. Being underneath it.

He jumped up off the bed and grabbed his key card. The whole time he walked to the soda machine, he wondered what Gareth was doing. He’d taken the car. Helix paid for a soda and walked back to his room.

It was times like this he wished he did have friends, someone to call and chat with. He supposed he could consider Shelli and Reid friends. They sure tried to be his friends. So did Quincy and Lane. Hell, even Gareth was trying. A little too hard.

Helix had just always been alone. At least since his parents had been killed. He let himself back into the room and decided to take a nap. There was nothing else to do.

* * *

Gareth hadn’t broughta suit with him, so he spent the afternoon looking around different stores. Finding a suit off the rack to fit his long body wasn’t easy, but he finally got lucky in Quail Springs Mall off Memorial. The pants were a little loose in the waist so he could get the length, but he bought a belt to help with that.

He stared in the mirror, realizing he hadn’t worn a suit since his uncle’s funeral. The jacket was slightly tight in the shoulders, but it would work for what they were doing.

When he was getting into the car, his cell phone rang and Quincy’s face popped up on his screen. “Hey you,” he said into the phone.

“I was just checking in to see how it’s going with Helix. Making sure you haven’t killed him.”

“Nope. He’s still alive. Things are going okay, only I spooked off the thief we were supposed to meet this morning.” He didn’t say anything about it being Helix’s brother. Didn’t feel like it was his place. But keeping secrets from Quincy didn’t sit right with him. He thought about his feelings toward Helix. He was definitely starting to develop some and that made him nervous. He always did get attached too fast.

“What’s going on with the Monteague?” Quincy asked.

“We’re going into the building tomorrow afternoon to get the layout and learn all the particulars. This should be an easy re-steal once we know what we’re up against. I’m buying a suit now so I can blend in.”

“You doing all right with this being your first one?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I really want to get this back to Larry, so I feel good about it.”

“How are Liam, Carter, and Isaac?”

“I haven’t seen Isaac yet, but Liam and Carter are good. You should work harder on talking them into moving. They’ve got nothing going on here now. Carter’s talents are wasted with him working as a bouncer.”

“I will. You work on them, too, while you’re there.”

“Doing my best. How’s Lane? The last re-steal was a success?”

“It was. He said Reid’s good. I was thinking he was too soft for the re-steals, but he’s determined to get back everything he stole. He’s been going through the database and also rearranging things in the basement. I’d still like to get Liam in that basement. He’d have this down so fast. But Reid is getting a lot done.”

“Guess you’re glad to have Lane back.”

“I am. I worry every time he goes out without me.”

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