Page 42 of Come As You Are
I nodded, then held my breath and pressed Play.
The screen came to life and showed the three of us sitting on the couch in grainy black and white. I began rewinding. It didn’t take long before we caught up to someone exiting my office, and then watched them sit back down at my desk. Even in the tiny screen at four times the speed, we could clearly see Andrew doing something at my computer. I kept scrolling back until we reached the moment he entered my office, then I released the rewind and let the action unfold.
By the time the Andrew on the screen left my office, I felt like I was going to throw up. I couldn’t believe how much it feltlike someone had punched me in the guts. Beside me, Sebastian vibrated with rage, muttering curses under his breath.
“At least I know,” I said, my voice small. I hated how hurt I felt, and was grateful Sebastian was able to express the anger I should have been experiencing.
“Can I see that?” Vee asked and held his hands out for the screen.
I passed it over without a word, happy to relinquish it to someone else so I wouldn’t be tempted to watch the scene again. When Vee started to rewind it, I got up and began to pace.
“I don’t understand why he would do this,” I said as I attempted to wear a groove in my carpet.
“We’ll ask him when we talk to him,” Sebastian said.
“Hold on.” Vee motioned me over. “I don’t think this is Andrew.”
I returned to my place between Sebastian and Vee, and Vee put the screen on the coffee table. He scrolled back to the beginning, and we watched what appeared to be Andrew opening the door to my office and slipping inside, then walking to my desk.
“Here,” Vee said as he paused the video. “This guy’s got a bit of a hitch in his step, like he’s got an old injury, or a stiff joint. Andrew doesn’t walk like that.”
Sebastian rewound the video, then pressed Play, and we watched maybe-not-Andrew walk across my office, sit at my desk, do something with my computer, and then stand up. The tiny figure on the screen momentarily steadied himself with a hand on the desktop before heading for the door with a slightly rolling gait. Without Vee pointing it out, I would have missed it.
We watched the video again, and I wished we could zoom in on this person’s face. How could one person look so much like another? My gaze strayed to my desk and the photo I had of Antonio and myself from my first day at Illyria. We lookedsimilar, definitely related, but before my transition, we were almost carbon copies of each other. It had been disconcerting to see photos of one of us and not know whether I was looking at myself or Antonio unless I knew when the photo was taken.
“Does Andrew have a brother?” I asked.
Sebastian startled and turned the video off. “Not that I’ve heard him talk about, but…the dancers at the Grotto called him Aaron. Do you think…?”
Vee had his phone out and was searching for Andrew and Aaron Hughes. “Identical twins,” he said and put his phone on the coffee table so we could see the search results as he scrolled through them. “Looks like Aaron was in a bit of trouble,” he said as he clicked on a police blotter from a couple of years ago. “Holy…” Vee’s eyes got round. “The dude was arrested for hacking into his employer’s payroll system and giving himself a five-figure raise.”
I’d been leaning forward to see Vee’s phone, but now I sat back with my hand over my mouth, so many thoughts whirling through my head, I had no idea where to start. Do I call Andrew in now and confront him? Wait until tomorrow when it was his regular shift? I wanted to believe the best, that Andrew was clueless and his brother had taken advantage of his position at Illyria to make a few extra bucks, but I had a hard time convincing myself that he knew nothing about this.
Sebastian and Vee watched me intently as I made up my mind. I told Sebastian to make sure Aaron wasn’t still lurking in the club somewhere, and asked Vee to tell Festus I wanted to see him in my office. I still needed to clear up the issue of Sebastian seeing him at the Grotto, and if he happened to see Aaron or Andrew there, so much the better.
Once I was alone, I stood and walked to the window overlooking the club. The drag show was underway, and the crowd was lively. At the bar, Toby flirted and made drinks allwith a big smile on his face. Maria stood to one side of the stage, watching the show, as avidly as the customers. Even Mal seemed to be having a good time tonight as he leaned against the bar and watched the stage, his tablet nowhere in sight.
Illyria was a beautiful place. I loved the pulsing lights, and the steady beat of the music, the flamboyant queens with their exquisite costumes and makeup, and the customers who came to Illyria to have a good time. This was my home, the people who worked and played within these walls like family to me. I hated the idea that one of them had tried to hurt all of this, that one of them might have allowed Illyria to be in danger of closing. This wasn’t how family was supposed to treat each other, but I also knew I had a responsibility to protect those who depended on me.
A knock on the door clued me in that Festus had arrived. I turned, greeted him, asked him to come in and close the door.
“It’s not one of your usual nights,” he said.
“No, it isn’t.”
“Am I in trouble?”
“I have some questions,” I said. “Please sit.”
I returned to the couch, and Festus sat opposite me in one of the chairs.
“I know you’re aware of the problems the club has been having,” I said, and he nodded. “Sebastian went undercover at the Grotto by auditioning for their pageant.”
“He saw me there,” Festus said, and I was relieved at how easily he admitted it. In my heart, I had doubted my head of security was doing something underhanded.
“He did. Do you want to explain to me why?”
“Claudio, who’s in charge of their security, found a number of bottles of what looked like our liquor in a closet. We’ve been friends for years, so he called me and asked me to come take a look. He was correct. A number of the bottles were ours.Sebastian started labeling them about a month ago with a black light marker, so it was easy enough to figure out.”
