Highway Butcher – Chapter Three

NOT EDITED

Chapter Three

6:30 PM; LOS ANGELES, THE ATLANTIS HOTEL, PARKING LOT

After Bo successfully ignored all of his text and call attempts, David climbed out of his car and headed up for the door. As long as Bo hadn’t switched rooms, he’d be on the second floor. For a while, he had practically been playing musical chairs with different rooms and different hotels, but he’d been at The Atlantis for almost a month now. It was the first sign of any true stability he had seen in Bo’s life in a disturbingly long time.

David rode the elevator up to the second floor and headed for Room 213. After taking a moment to prepare himself for whatever state Bo might be in, he rapped two knuckles on the door. He heard shuffling inside and several lock clicks before Bo pulled the door open a crack, quickly filling the crack with his body. His hair was shaggy and a little greasy. He was wearing the same purple flannel he’d been in the last time David had seen him, though it wasn’t even buttoned up today, and he was pretty sure the small probable-coffee stain on the thigh of his jeans had been there last time too.

He’d known Bo would be in bad shape, but even at his lowest point during the Kathy-Dallas case, he had still been showering and changing clothes. The roots of Bo’s depression were buried so damn deep in him that no amount of unidentified dead women would bring him outside.

“David,” Bo said when it was clear David wasn’t going to start the conversation. “What, uh… mm.” He glanced up, clearing his throat. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Just, umm, just thought I’d visit. See how you’re doing.”

“I’m fine.”

“Bo, you don’t have to lie to me.”

Bo shook his head, offering a little shrug. “It’s not a lie. I’m fine.”

“When was the last time you showered?”

“What’s today?”

“Umm, Sunday?”

“No, I mean the actual literal day. The month and the number.”

Jesus. “June fourteenth.”

“Mm. June,” Bo whispered. “Sometime last month, probably.”

“What if we get you a quick shower and a change of clothes, huh? And then we could go grab a bite somewhere. That diner with the pie you like?”

“That’s all right.”

“What if I just hang out for a bit?”

Bo shifted in the doorway, but not enough for David to get a good look inside. He could see overtop the blonde’s head, but the sliver of visible wall behind him wasn’t exactly offering any helpful clues. “I’m sure you have better things to do.”

“My schedule is totally clear. Come on, we used to hang out all the time. Whaddya say? Don’t even have to shower. No judgment.”

Bo shook his head. “That’s okay, thanks.”

David forced a laugh. “What, are you hiding a body in there?”

Bo didn’t look amused, just… far away. Glassy-eyed. Not quite there anymore.

“I’m just fuckin’ with you,” David offered.

“I assumed.”

“I miss hangin’ out all the damn time, Bo. I don’t know what the hell to do with all my free time anymore. I miss you. I miss having my best friend around.”

Bo chewed on the corner of his bottom lip. “We can go out.”

“Perfect,” David whispered. “Yeah, absolutely, man. You name the place and we’ll go.”

“Sure.” Bo cleared his throat. “Just a moment.” He leaned back just enough to close the door.

David sighed, leaning his forehead against it as one of the locks clicked. “You’re not leaving that room, are you?”

“I’m sorry, David,” Bo said from the other side of the door.

“Talk to me, Bo. Tell me what’s going on in your head. Let me help you.” David waited for a response but didn’t receive one. “Bo, I don’t care what’s going on in there. I don’t care if you do have a corpse in there. Let me help you figure it out.”

He heard Bo twist the lock again. He pulled open the door, far enough to expose the room this time. He grabbed David’s sleeve and tugged him inside, quickly closing the door behind him. David’s eyes scanned the room before settling on the woman seated on the bed. The ridiculously tall high heels, the pink short-shorts, and the yellow crochet halter top told David pretty much all he needed to know.

She reapplied her lipstick and touched up the corners with her pinky before tucking the makeup and her application mirror back into her purse. She stood up and made her way over to both men, reaching around Bo to cup a hand around his hip. “I’ll see you in a few days, sweetheart. You let me know what you need.”

“Yeah. Thank you.”

“Mmhmm.” She looked David up and down, a cute little smile playing around either corner of her mouth. “You have the cutest friends, Bo.”

“Okay, shoo,” Bo said with the tiniest chuckle David had ever heard.

She laughed, slipped past David, and left the room.

“So… you were hiding a hooker?”

“Sex worker. And no, I wasn’t hiding her. I would’ve asked her to stand in the bathroom before you came in if I were hiding her,” Bo said as he made his way back to the bed. He sat down on the edge of the mattress, hands in his lap. “I’m not sleeping with her, if that’s your assumption. She brings me food every few days, and I pay her for an hour of her time. She gets a paid break, and I don’t have to leave the building. It’s a win-win.”

“Right,” David said slowly. “So… what are you hiding?”

“Nothing.”

“Right,” he repeated. He crossed the room and sat down beside Bo. He took another look around the room, this time catching the blanket hanging on the wall. “Okay, surely you know that looks like you’re hiding something.”

Bo followed his gaze. “It’s blocking a window.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t want to look out it. Why does it matter?”

“It doesn’t. Not really. I just want to know what’s going on in here, in there,” David said, touching two fingers to Bo’s temple. “I want to be able to help you, Bo. Like the old days.”

“The old days,” Bo echoed. “You say that like it was a million years ago.”

“At this point, it might as well be. I just… Christ, Bo. I miss you, man. I miss going down to the lab and talking with you. I miss running out for some greasy fast food and sitting in the car in the parking lot while we ate. I miss going out for drinks with you and Bridget. I miss you coming over to binge-play a new video game on release night. I miss solving crimes with you.” Gently, Daid elbowed him in the side. “Don’t you miss it too?”

“I… don’t know,” Bo said after a moment. “If you want transparency, honesty, I try to stay… numb these days. If I don’t, if I allow myself to truly feel things and focus on the way those things feel, this… this crushing darkness presses down on my shoulders and in on my chest, and it twists my stomach all kind of horrid ways, and it squeezes on my heart and makes the edges of my vision dark, and…” He cleared his throat. “Well, I try not to focus on it.”

“You need help, Bo,” David whispered. “I-I mean, you can’t even leave your hotel room. Even if you’re numb, you have to know that’s not you.”

“I can leave the hotel room, I simply choose not to.” Bo dropped to his back on the bed, one arm shielding his eyes from the overhead light. “Someone is following me, David. Watching me.”

“What, like Jamal?”

“No, I don’t know who it is. It’s not a suspiciously nice or expensive car like Jamal would have someone drive. He’s everywhere I go. The station, the diner, the grocery store, the damn park. I even saw him in Clinstone a couple times. He’s watching me. I just don’t know why or what he’s planning to do about it.”

Most people would probably blame Bo’s certainty on being stalked on alcohol-driven paranoia, but despite what the rumors were at the station, Bo’s hotel room was primarily booze-free. There was a half-drank beer on the little coffee table by the couch, and there was one with a few sips missing on the nightstand, but the absolute lack of condensation insinuated it had been there for quite some time. Long enough to condensate, long enough to warm to room temperature, long enough for the condensation to completely go away. Bo was drinking, sure, but he wasn’t an alcoholic. Hell, from the looks of it, David drank more after work than Bo did. Most cops drank more than Bo did.

“Have you gotten a good look at him?”

“No, his windows are tinted a little too well for a good enough look. I’ve never seen him get out of the car, either. I never see him following me, just watching after I’ve settled into a singular location.”

“Have you checked you car for a tracking device?”

“Oh, yes, many times. And my phone. And my satchel. I’ve checked everything.”

“So he’s good at following undercover. He’s just bad at watching undercover.”

“I suppose.” Bo lifted his arm long enough to meet David’s gaze. “You believe me?”

“Of course I do. If you’ve seen this guy’s car, if you’ve seen him everywhere you go, you’re being watched. I don’t doubt that for even a second. I don’t doubt you for even a second.” David grabbed Bo’s wrist and lifted his arm again, forcing him to look his way once more. “Let’s find out who this fucker is. Like old times.”

Bo cracked the tiniest of smiles, but by God, it was there. “Like old times.”

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