Gaia
It sounded like a joke when she said it. It had to be. “What the fuck do you mean my brother is missing? I just saw him last night. He was off to a bar with Ryan.”
I had arrived home late, there was a piano recital that my students were practicing for, and I stayed until the last one left.
“He wasn’t here this morning, and his bed hasn’t been slept in.”
“Have you called him?” I asked, pulling out my cell phone.
“His phone goes to voicemail.” My mother’s voice was shaky. Gabriel was always doing shit like this and she barely noticed, so I had no idea what all the fuss was about this time.
I logged into my tracker app, waiting for it to start up.
“Gaia, there’s more. I called Ryan, and he said he lost sight of him in the club they went to, and when he left, Gabe’s car was still in the lot.”
I closed the app and hung my head. “Where the fuck could he be?”
My mother looked every bit the concerned parent when she wanted to be.
“The police have been notified, and because he is a high-profile individual, they promised they’d do all they could.”
I stood, picking up my keys from the coffee table.
“Where are you going?” My mother asked.
“To find my brother,” I said, walking out the door. I would search every whorehouse and crack house in this city if I had to, but I would bring Gabe home. The police would not be prioritizing anything. He was just a junkie as far as they were concerned. That was probably what the bitch told them.
I pulled up outside the crack house he most often frequented. I sucked in a breath as I opened the front door. Music was blaring, and the room was filled with smoke. I covered my mouth with my arm so I didn’t inhale the shit. The woman who ran this establishment, Star, as she called herself, waved in greeting from her place on the lap of a burly tattooed guy. His mouth was latched on to her nipples, his hands under her skirt.
“Seen Gabe?” I shouted at her over the music. She swatted the man away, and he offered me a growl. I flipped him off and stood to wait as Star stumbled over to me.
“Haven’t seen him since last week. He had a pissing contest with another regular, and I don’t think he’ll be back here for a while.” I thanked her and left, letting out a breath as I held on to the porch railing.
I hopped in my car and was knocking at Ryan’s apartment door half an hour later. He lived in an upper middle-class area, and I was never worried about Gabe going out with him. They’d been friends since school, and Ryan was hardly a crackhead. He opened the door shirtless and in boxers, obviously not expecting company.
“Gaia? What are you doing here?”
“I’m sure you know, Ryan. I am sure you’ve got someone inside, so step out here for a bit. I want to know everything that happened last night.
“Can I get a shirt and some pants on?”
I motioned to the door, leaning against the wall outside his apartment. He emerged a few minutes later, fully clothed.
He gave me a rundown of what happened last night, including him hooking up with the woman who was likely naked in his bed right now.
“Gabe told me to go ahead, that he’d be at the bar when I was ready to leave. When I got there, he was nowhere to be found. I asked the barman, but he said he hadn’t seen anything. I feel like shit now.” He sighed.
“Don’t, he’s probably in a whorehouse, and you’re the furthest thing from his mind.”
We smiled sadly at each other then he wrapped his arms around me. I tried not to think where his hands had been as I sank into the warmth of his chest.
“He’ll be okay, Gai, and if you need help looking, I don’t mind coming with you.”
I looked toward the apartment. “It is rude to keep a woman waiting.” I grinned. “I’ll be fine; you know I can take care of myself.”
“That is what scares me most.” He knew that although I was focused and calculated, when it came to my brother I was a wild card.
We hugged one more time, and I bounded down the stairs and walked to my car. The night was chilly, so I wrapped my jacket closer around me, and that was when I felt it. Eyes on me. There is a feeling I get when I am being watched, and I was definitely being watched. I turned on the alarm of my car, and it began blaring, likely freaking out the whole neighborhood. People looked out of their windows, and that was when I hopped into my car and drove off. I looked in the rearview mirror, certain that I was being followed. “A public place it is.”
