Ghost
I told him to stay out of trouble.
So why in all that is holy was that blond-haired, gray-eyed little pipgeek wandering through the Buffalo streets, looking for trouble?
And no, it’s not an excuse that he was sort of unconscious at the time. He heard. Ears always be hearing. That’s what they do. Every time I spoke that night, his face turned a little more in my direction.
It was kinda endearing.
The kind of thing to make a guy like me obsessed.
Which was exactly why I left.
But this wasn’t about me. This was about him and how I told him to behave.
Did he listen?
Considering how I’d just watched him stroll into a dark alley reeking of bad deeds, I’m going with hell no.
I kept a close distance, haunting the shadows while watching him get stupider with every step. At least he had thedecency to look a little on guard, body tense and eyes alert. But really, what was he going to do? Beat someone with his library card? Recite the dictionary and bore them to death?
He was obviously looking for something. I’d been following for a while now, and this was the second Rat Boulevard he’d slunk into. The first one was just as sketchy as this one, and he would have gotten mugged if I hadn’t dropped the weasel that practically crawled out of a trash can to rob him.
What’s worse? He didn’t even notice. Just kept creeping around like some urban Dora the Explorer on an epic quest. And he didn’t even have a backpack.
Dumpster funk lingered in the air, a combination of spoiled food, damp cardboard, and the faint hint of piss—all of it ripe with bad decisions and regret. At this point, my guy could see a neon sign that read:Murderers ahead!Turn back!and he’d still keep going.
Had those thugs taken something of his that I hadn’t noticed? Something he was willing to risk his safety to find?
Impossible.I wouldn’t have missed something like that.
His sneakers scuffed when he halted, head tilted like he was listening to a sound no one else could hear. “Come out,” he beckoned, the sound of his voice silencing my thoughts. He didn’t yell or demand, just spoke as though he knew someone was there.
Slowly rotating, he searched the shadows and then, softer than before, repeated, “Come out. Please.”
He’s looking for me.
The realization was like a bullet between the eyes, jumbling my brain and stalling my heart. A surge of adrenalinebrought me back, punching through my limbs and making my heart thump unevenly. Training allowed me to ignore the urge to step out of concealment, but my eyes never left him.
In that moment, the city seemed to hush, or maybe I was so focused on him that nothing else registered because his little huff of frustration seemed loud to my ears. I was part flattered he was looking for me, part pissed he would put himself in danger to do it.
After all, he had no idea who I was. What I was capable of. He was playing with fire, strolling through danger-laden places, chasing a ghost.
He never even saw me the other night, not even a glimpse. His eyes didn’t once flicker when I hauled him into a motel room, cleaned him up, then came and went as I washed his clothes and replaced the meal he’d lost.
I would have been worried if not for his steady breathing and the way he gravitated toward my attention when I was in the room. How long had it been since he’d had a good night’s sleep? Clearly, too long if he somehow decided rest trumped trusting someone you’d never met.
Angry I didn’t answer his plea, he pushed off the balls of his feet and strolled deeper into the alley, passing a dumpster through a cloud of steam rushing out of a vent in the building beside him.
A few feet down, a side door opened, the unoiled hinges screaming in the cold. A man carrying a large trash bag appeared, door banging shut behind him as he moved. Cans and bottles rattled as he hauled it toward the dumpster, footsteps stopping when he realized he wasn’t alone.
“What the hell are you doing out here?” he demanded.
“Nothing,” Pip answered, his voice rising a little at the end.
The man cocked his head, instantly suspicious. “You trying to sneak into my bar?”
“What? No,” he replied, hair ruffling with the adamant shake of his head.
