Page 3 of Carnage
“I don’t think so. I think he just has a lot of irons in the fire. Whatever he’s doing tonight took him away from us.”
“So are we going to where he is, or what?”
Whisper shakes his head. “Nah. He’s going back to his home base. Too many people to deal with. We gotta draw him out somewhere alone.”
“How we gonna do that?”
“I’m thinking.” Whisper sighs, rubbing his forehead. He looks tired.
“You okay, man?”
He nods, gazing at me with heavy eyes. “I didn’t sleep well last night. The storm made so much noise, and the tree outside kept slamming into my window.”
“You should’ve gone to one of the guest rooms.”
“I can’t. I’ve tried that before, but I can’t sleep in new places.”
“Oh, that’s right.”
Whisper is a complicated fellow.
My attention shifts out the window again, and down the street as a group of people laughing passes by. They look like they’ve been or are about to be partying.
“Let’s get a drink.”
“Where?”
I shrug. “Follow those people who just walked by.”
We exit the van, lock up, and hurry to catch up with the group I saw. They get in line in front of a club I’ve been at before, Redlight. It’s not the best in the city, not even close, but the drinks are cheap and the ass is plentiful.
“Redlight?” Whisper says. “Isn’t this place pretty shady?”
“Yep.” I wrap my arm around his shoulders, pulling him into me as he grumbles his displeasure. “One drink, then we’ll go. Never know what we might find inside.”
“Yeah, okay. I could use a drink.”
We join the line, and a few minutes later we enter the dark, dingy nightclub. I used to come here in my younger days looking for cheap hustles. It’s notorious for having any vice you seek and shady dealings are a dime a dozen. But they also have hot employees who are always down for a quick hookup. I could use one of those tonight. It’s been a while.
The club is crowded already, and while not exclusively gay, it attracts the men loving men crowd. Not that I’m picky about gender. Whatever someone’s got, I’m into it, but I’ve noticed my own preferences leaning towards men in the past few years. My sexuality is cloudy, but it works for me.
Whisper and I make our way to the bar, jockeying to get the bartender’s attention. When we finally do, Whisper orders two beers on tap and pays while I linger behind him, checking out the scene. I’m taller than Whisper, taller than a lot of people, which gives me a nice advantage at times.
Whisper hands me my drink and we lean against a column. I bop my head to the heavy electronic music playing, nodding at the few people who make eye contact with me. No one in particular catches my eye though.
“I need to get laid.”
Whisper snorts. “Dry spell?”
“A long one. It’s been, like...” I shrug. “Months.”
“Why?”
“Focus. My last assignment had me low-key obsessed.”
“I heard about that.” He pats my arm. “Felt good to end it, huh?”
“Almost as good as an orgasm.”
