Page 13 of Wandering in Darkness
“That you told me that you dream about Lane’s muscles?”
“I’m positive that’s never happened.”
“That you hunger to touch Lane’s rock-hard abs?”
It is at that point that Felix tosses a photograph onto the desk. There’s a Post-it note stuck to it, nearly covering the man’s face. I snatch it up and peel the Post-it note off, revealing the face underneath. My brow furrows as I look at the man.
Why the hell would Grayson have a picture of him? And why would he keep it?
I look at the note I peeled up.
6432 West Rock.
“What’s so interesting about that?” Felix asks, nosy as usual.
“I don’t know. Just… why would he have a picture of this guy?”
“Maybe to make you jealous.”
I shift my attention to him and raise an eyebrow. “If you knew who the guy was, you’d realize that’s the absolute last reason he’d have this.”
“How do you know him?”
I stare at the photograph for a long moment before tossing it onto the pile. “I shot him in the head.”
“Uh… I see,” Felix says as he watches me. I can tell he’s nervous he brought up something that could send me spiraling, but I’m doing okay so far. Honestly, I’m just more than curious why the hell this would be in his drawer. Who keeps something like this?
I start going through everything in the drawer and realize that it’s not junk like Felix had assumed. Instead, it’s strange things like receipts for hotel rooms booked by Devon Jefferson as well as personal information on him. I shuffle through the papers, unsure what I’m even looking for or why.
The man in the photograph died nearly a year and a half ago, so why did Grayson keep it and what’s with the address?
I pull out my phone and type the address into it, but because it’s out in the middle of nowhere, I’m given nothing but what looks like a field or trees or something.
“What’s wrong?” Lane asks.
“Nothing,” I say as I quickly shuffle all of the papers back into order and cram them into the drawer on top of Felix’s hands.
Felix looks offended, even though he’s the one going through someone’s private information. “Hey! I was still being nosy.”
“Be nosy elsewhere,” I decide.
“Well, that’s no fun,” he mutters, but he willingly walks away from the desk without question.
I look around as my mind races, and I practically have to tell myself that I need to stop. I can’t focus on any of this shit. “The dog is obviously not here. We drove here for nothing. Let’s go… get some breakfast and see if he’ll reply by then. And if he doesn’t, I’m going to be enraged that I wasted the entire day for this bullshit.”
I pull out my phone and begin to write, “Why the fuck do you have a picture of Devon Jefferson in your drawer?” before erasing it and replacing it with, “Where is Traveler? I’m at your house and he’s not here. I’m losing my patience.”
I send it, but if he has his phone off, it’s not like he’s going to respond anytime soon. “I’m hungry. Let’s get some breakfast.”
“But…” Felix looks absolutely crestfallen. “I’ve only gotten through the desk. There are so many more things to go through.”
“I can leave you here with your pan of brownies and we’ll pick you up if we think about it,” Lane says.
“Lane! No! You’re supposed to be incapable of being even more than one inch from me without body-consuming longing!” Felix sighs and then picks up a small bag he seems to havedug out of the closet. He’s acting like it’s some briefcase he’s grabbing on his way out the door to work.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
“You never know when you need a bargaining chip,” he explains.
