Page 46 of Hell Bent

19

THE SITUATION

Alix

The front door to 1301 was ajar, so I walked right in.

A few things hit me right away, the first literal, since Lexi came bounding forward, tail wagging furiously, and shoved her head between my thighs so hard, she had me backing up with an “oof.”

The second was a fortyish blonde woman who looked like a high-end realtor or possibly an investment advisor—in other words, like my mother—saying, “Hi. I’m Francine. And I’m sorry, but I’m headed out the door to pick up Callie from taekwondo, so can you …”

“Of course,” I said, still patting Lexi. “You go on. Thanks for checking on him.”

“No problem,” she said, then glanced at her watch. “I really do have to go. Good luck.”

I shut the door behind her, took a breath, and regretted it a little. There was a definite odor of vomit in here. I called, “Ben?” but didn’t get an answer, so I started to look.

Not in the living/dining room, obviously. The main thing in here, besides some high-end but very bland furniture anda very large television, was many, many windows. Serious floor-to-ceiling windows on two sides, because it was a corner unit, overlooking half of Portland. The stylish kitchen, which featured flat-front black cabinets and marble countertops, didn’t look great, because half those cabinets were open, and the fancy countertops were littered with trash and dirty dishes. I couldn’t believe Ben had done all this in less than twenty-four hours, but I also couldn’t believe Sebastian had. I moved on fast.

One door down a hallway to the left. I knocked, Lexi panting happily at my side, then opened it. Whoops. Master bedroom. Dark-gray duvet pulled up neatly on a king bed, another wall of windows, and no mess at all.

Back out and down another hallway. Another door. More windows, and a desk with a laptop on top and nothing else. Office, equally neat. A bathroom across the hall, not neat at all. I backed away fast from that one.

Last door, this one half-open. Lexi beat me inside, feathered tail waving, with a happyWoof!

This was it. Clothes scattered over the floor, and a boy sitting on the bed, his head bowed.

“Hi, Ben,” I said. “I’m Alix.”

He looked up. Red eyes, white face, and misery.

Well, yeah. This was an obvious one. Good thing I was a foreman.

Ben said, “Hi,”and then nothing else. Lexi, though, put her front paws on the bed and whined, and he put his hand on her, so that was something.

I asked, “Have you taken her out this morning? Fed her?”

“Huh?” He blinked.

“I’m going to take that as a ‘no,’ I said. “I’ll be back.”

Basic dog care, Parts One and Two. A trip outside, then food and water. I looked at my watch while I was waiting for her to do her business, and, yeah, we were going to miss part of the game, but that couldn’t be helped.

Lexi and I headed to the bedroom again, and this time, I picked up the bottle that had rolled halfway under the bed. Scotch, and not just Scotch. Laphroaig. “16 Years,” the label said, and I’d bet that wasn’t its cheapest age. The bottle was almost half full, but there were a lot of shots in a whisky bottle. Or in half of one.

First things first.I said, “A dog needs to be walked and fed. Imagine how uncomfortable it would be to hold your pee for, what, fifteen hours?”

“I was sick.” He looked guilty, though, which was good.

“And yet you’re clearly a caring guy,” I said, as if he hadn’t spoken. “So I’m going to figure you weren’t thinking, and that another time, you will. Dogs are totally dependent on us. They give so much and ask so little.” Since Lexi was on the bed now, shoving her head under Ben’s hand, he might see that.

“I get it, all right?” he said.

“I thought you would,” I said. “So how full was this bottle when you started?”

“I don’t know.” Gaze averted.

“Try that answer again, please,” I said, keeping my tone even. “There’s a reason I need to know. Hey, at least I didn’t call the ambulance and tell them to pump your stomach or whatever they do for alcohol poisoning. Just imagine how embarrassingthatwould have been. Worse than having some strange woman show up in your bedroom.”