Page 24 of Stalked By Shadows

“Tim,” Micah grumbled, “Brad. Come in.”

The younger of the two held up a bag, “Brought you breakfast.” His smile was infectious. They came in and I rolled over to sit up and rub my face. “Hello,” the young one said. “You’re Alex, right? I’m Brad.”

“Good morning, Brad,” I said without much emotion. I’d need coffee before I could be intelligent and civil. It was still my drug of choice. Then my brain kicked in and began to work. Tim had to be Timothy; the guy Micah used to make videos with. And the young guy had to be the new boyfriend. Wow.

A dozen things snapped into place in that second. First, that while Brad was cute in a very young and unfinished way, Micah was plain hot in a cute real way. I examined the two of them, making a thousand comparisons and then tried to figure out what had been so great about Timothy. Well, other than the fact that he’d had a great cock. It was funny how jealous I was in that moment, like he had some hold on Micah’s life, or that I did. A hundred things went through my head and I had to bite my tongue to keep them from spilling out. Stupid, broken filter.

“Coffee?” I asked as Brad set the bag down on the small table, pulling out bagels and cream cheese.

Micah went to the kitchen and opened a cupboard to reveal a coffee maker. It was one of the small drip kinds with a four-cup pot. “A cup or want a whole pot?”

“Oh my God, a whole pot or twelve maybe,” I begged.

He filled the pot with water and grounds, something from a fancy looking bag I couldn’t identify, and then pushed the ‘on’ button, then he vanished into the bathroom for a minute.

“You’re hot,” Brad said to me.

I blinked at him. “Thanks, I think. Sorry. I’m not awake before coffee.”

“That’s okay. We aren’t staying long. Micah texted me earlier to see if I could open the shop for him. You guys are all over the local news. Maybe national since that girl is missing,” Tim said. “Can’t believe Mark is dead. He was a total twatwaffle though. Always up in Micah’s business because Micah does his own tours.”

I processed that. Sarah was missing. Mark was dead. So the body had been Mark’s? Did Micah know? The coffee pot made a gurgling, almost finished noise, and I got up to make my way to it and look for a cup. I found something that looked like a soup mug and poured the entire contents of the pot into it. There was also a batch of almond milk creamer in the tiny fridge so I added that until it became a nice tan. The smell was divine. Not the Folgers crap Lukas kept at home and drank by the bucket full, but something with a butterscotch scent that made me sigh before taking a sip. The flavor of it rolled over my tongue, a sweet but smooth hint of butterscotch under the firm bite of a good bean.

I groaned. “Oh shit, that’s good.”

“That was hot,” Brad said. “You ever do movies? Porn?”

I could feel his gaze on me. Did I have morning wood? I glanced down, no that was still not working, or maybe it had been the abrupt awakening that had dampened it.

“You’d be great in porn. I heard you were in the military. Do you still have a uniform? Those draw viewers in like a magnet. Plus you’re good looking, thin, and only a little hairy. Lots of great muscle definition.”

I gaped at him, the old Southern boy my mother raised waking up in me like a cat being rubbed the wrong way. “Haven’t you heard? I’m crazy. Certified and everything by good old Uncle Sam.” I took another long sip of the heavenly coffee, thinking I would have to interrogate Micah later about where to get some. “Wasn’t useful anymore. Wouldn’t make porn on a bet.” Couldn’t seem to get it up unless I was fantasizing about inappropriate things about my new boss.

“You know about Micah, right?” Tim asked.

“About his old job?” I asked.

“About what happened to him,” Tim corrected. Was he implying Micah was crazy too? Because he’d vanished for a while? Was that why they’d broken up? Or was it because Tim had found a younger model?

“I know what I need to,” I told him. What Micah wanted me to know was what I knew. The rest was up to him to share, even if I had been a little nosey and read a book with a story about his disappearance in it.

Micah reappeared with his hair pulled back in a ponytail and he’d found pants and a T-shirt somewhere.

“Did you want some?” I asked him, realizing I’d taken the entire pot of coffee. “Sorry… this is good shit. I took the whole pot.” I offered the cup to him. He actually took it and took a long gulp before giving it back and going to the table of offered food.

“Is it true you found a body?” Brad asked him as Micah picked a bagel that appeared to be covered in salt then dug through the cream cheese for a minute.

“Almond cream cheese is there,” Tim said. He pointed to the blue container. Micah picked it up and opened it to slather his bagel in it.

“Yes, there was a body. No, it wasn’t pretty,” Micah said before he took a huge bite of bagel. He sighed much the way I had with the coffee. He chewed and swallowed for a minute. “I can’t tell you anything because the police are investigating.”

“Was it gross?” Brad wanted to know.

“Yes,” Micah assured him.

“Cool. Maybe there will be a real ghost in St. Louis Number One now.”

Micah sighed. I wondered if I’d ever been that young, but in truth I had been, before my first tour. By the third, bodies were a regular thing even if I couldn’t stomach them anymore. Some of those nightmares came back just when I thought I’d finally forgotten them. That last attack the most vivid of all. Sometimes I wish I could forget their faces, their names, and their deaths.