The Highway Axeman – 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 to the hotel. As long as Bo hadn’t switched rooms, he’d be on the second floor. For a while, he had 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. Jamal would be disappointed, but David was simply… terrified. Terrified of the path Bo kept walking on and the eventual turn he’d take at the final fork in the road.

“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 thought I’d visit. See how you’re doing.”

“I’m fine.”

“Bo, we’ve known each other a long time. You don’t have to lie to me.”

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

“Yeah? When was the last time you showered?”

“What’s today?”

“Umm, Sunday?”

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

Jesus. “June fourteenth.”

“June,” Bo whispered. “Sometime last month, I suppose.”

“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. I’m pretty content here.”

“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 over top 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 than hang out in my hotel room.”

“My schedule is totally clear. Come on, we used to hang out all the time. Whaddya say? Don’t even have to shower first. 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. Honestly, if it wasn’t for him sounding like Bo, David wouldn’t be certain he was still in there at all.

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

“I assumed.”

“I miss hanging 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.” When Bo didn’t answer, David continued, “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. The closest he got was Bo moving his hands enough to snap that damn rubber band against the underside of his wrist. “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. Let me help. Please.”

Bo pulled open the door the rest of the way, far enough to expose the room. 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 man seated on the edge of the bed, fiddling with his phone.

He stood up and tucked his phone into his pocket before making his way over to both men. He was a little shorter than David, taller than Bo. David was ninety-nine percent sure he’d almost arrested the guy before. “I should get going anyway. You know where I’ll be if you need me.”

“I’ll be in touch,” Bo said without looking over at him.

He looked David up and down, a little smile playing around either corner of his mouth. Yep, David had almost arrested him. Lyle something. He slipped past David and left the room, closing the door behind him.

“You were hiding a hooker?”

“I think they prefer sex worker. And no, I wasn’t hiding him. I would’ve asked him to stand in the bathroom before you came in if I were hiding him,” 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 him. He brought me supper and some groceries, and I paid him for his time. He gets a paid break, and I don’t have to leave the building. It’s a win-win.”

“Right,” David said slowly. At the very least, the two Walmart bags on the floor near the ‘kitchen’ area of the room indicated Bo was telling the truth. About that part, anyway. “You know they make actual services for that, yeah?”

“I prefer mine.”

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

“Nothing.”

“Right.” 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 that 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, David 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 go to the diner at least once a week. I simply choose not to outside of that, unless necessary.” 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. I mostly just see he vehicle. 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 dry up completely. 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?”

“Not a good one, no. I know he has dark hair, and I could probably point him out if he were right in front of me, but I’ve never even seen him get out of the car. I never see him following me, just watching me after I’ve settled into a singular location.”

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

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

“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. “So 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 from his eyes 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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