State of Mind - 15. Chapter 15

Two weeks after Grier watched Keev's bodyguards hustle him into his limo and down the mountain, and thirteen days after Aleck decided they'd return to the beach house, Grier woke to his cell phone vibrating on the bedside table. He caught it on the second ring, answering before he was fully awake. "I'm getting tired of this, Keev," he said. No need to check the caller ID. Only two people had his number, and one was in bed next to him.

"No, you're not. You love the sound of my voice in the morning."

"It's the middle of the night here. As you well know." Grier rolled onto his back and stretched. "Just like it was when you called yesterday."

"Don't be a baby. Want to know what I'm having for breakfast?"

"Are you really that lonely?" Grier propped the phone between his ear and the pillow.

"Crepes," Keev said. "Tell me crepes aren't the most decadent thing in the world."

"They suit you," Grier agreed. "Goodbye."

"So you're retired now," Keev said before Grier could punch the end button. Silverware clattered in the background.

His eyes felt gritty. Grier scrubbed at them, noticing how his hands still smelled like Aleck. "I'm not having this conversation right now."

"Why? Are the two of you busy?"

Grier stretched an arm to the opposite side of the bed. His fingers touched nothing but bare sheets.

"Grier?"

"What do you want?" He sat up, squinting around the dark bedroom. No Aleck.

"I had another call." Chewing filled the line.

"Congratulations.''

"I'm not your message service." Keev's voice faded, then returned stronger. "This is getting tiresome."

The pop of a champagne bottle in his ear made Grier jump. Giving up on sleep, he wrestled into a pair of jeans and padded into the living room. "Tell them you don't know where I am," he said, scanning the room.

"That would be a lie."

"Which goes against your moral code all of a sudden?"

"Grier, all these people are looking for is information. Some guidance."

"No, they want someone to tell them what to do. Not interested."

The kitchen was empty. Frowing, Grier wandered back into the bedroom. Keev's voice turned sharp, leaving laziness behind. "You're talking like this war ended on top of that mountain."

"Didn’t it?"

Keev snorted. "You think I wouldn’t like to say yes?"

The grudging tone gave Grier pause. "So your father’s goons are making trouble."

"They’re trying. I can only do so much. They want nothing to do with me, and I can’t say I don’t return the sentiment. Your people have a chance of keeping them in line, but they're too disorganized at the moment."

Back to that. "They're not my people."

"Deny all you like."

"Goodbye, Keev." He'd started to snap the phone closed when Keev's frustrated reply came through.

"Shall I give them Aleck’s number, then?"

Grier froze. Silent, he put the phone back to his ear.

"That got you," Keev said. "You can’t wrap him in cotton and keep him locked in that beach house forever. He’s going to get restless."

Grier kept his gaze averted from the empty bed.

"Your apathy isn’t helping anything. If you have no intention of getting involved, at least make that public knowledge." He took a sip of something, his champagne, Grier assumed, then smacked his lips. "They’re waiting for you."

Grier set his hand on Aleck's pillow. He hadn't been gone long. The case still felt warm. "Enjoy the crepes," Grier said. He hung up.

Back in the living room, he noticed what he hadn't before: a low whistle of wind, like the breathy sound of a flute. There was a two inch gap in the sliding door. Grier pushed it open and stepped out onto the deck.

The breeze held a touch of spring chill, not enough to warrant a jacket, but Grier swiped his shirt from the bench by the shower – where he'd left it earlier when Aleck had stripped it from him – then followed the boardwalk to the beach.

The moon reflecting off the water bathed the sand in a pale yellow light. He saw Aleck right away. Seated just above the tide line, he was tossing shells into the waves. Grier watched for a long time, Keev's words playing in his head in an endless loop. After several minutes, Aleck turned and waved him forward.

"How long were you going to stand there?" he asked when Grier sat down next to him. Aleck's knees were bent. His fingers dug in the sand between his legs, looking for shell fragments.

Grier had no idea. Most likely, if Aleck hadn't beckoned him forward, he would've gone back to bed and brooded, as he had the last three nights he'd awakened to find Aleck gone. "Keev called."

Aleck gave a low laugh. "Again?"

"He says," Grier found a stick and began twisting it through the wet sand, "that he's tired of being my message service."

"I bet. So he got another call."

Grier opened his mouth to answer before he realized it wasn't a question.

"Anything else? No report on today's breakfast?"

"Crepes."

"Of course." Aleck wiped his hands on his jeans and scooted closer. His thigh pressed against Grier's. He fell silent, something that made Grier more nervous than not.

Soon it grew too thick to tolerate. "Aleck—"

"You're not going to return this message either, are you?"

"I don't know," Grier answered. His fingers crept into Aleck's hair, taming where the wind had blown it wild. "There's appeal to letting them find their own feet. Elect new leadership."

"They've done that."

"Someone who gives a shit would make more sense."

No laugh from Aleck. He stared at the ocean.

"Graviel asked— Before he died—" Grier stabbed his stick into the sand. "He wanted me to take care of them."

"You can't be held hostage by a dying man's request."

Grier shot him a look. "Do you believe that?"

"Isn't that what you want to hear?"

"I'd rather hear your honest opinion." His hand sank through Aleck's hair to his neck. Aleck arched into the touch. He turned to look Grier in the eye.

"You don't owe him anything, Grier, but we could use your help."

Grier's gut twisted. "We?"

"Don't look so surprised. Because I know you're not. Disappointed, maybe."

An accurate summation. He pushed it aside and let his fingers wander. Aleck's skin was sandy. The ridges of his spine felt cool under Grier's fingers.

Aleck shivered, but his voice held steady. "I'll be leaving soon. Roman may have been our biggest threat, but he wasn't the only one."

"Now who's living a dead man's dream?"

"Same rules as before," Aleck said, ignoring the cutting remark. "No hard feelings if you choose to chase the things you want instead of coming along."

The things he wanted were mutually exclusive. "I'll need to think about it," Grier murmured. He curled a hand around Aleck's hip, and Aleck leaned into him, his surge of contentment a sure sign he'd picked up on the lie.

"Okay. How long do you want?"

Grier kissed him. "One more day."

"One more day," Aleck agreed.

One more day of invisibility. Then they'd deal with what had to be done.

End